BACKGROUND Trypanosoma cruzi is the causative agent of the life-threatening Chagas disease, in which increased platelet aggregation related to myocarditis is observed. Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a potent intercellular lipid mediator and second messenger that exerts its activity through a PAF-specific receptor (PAFR). Previous data from our group suggested that T. cruzi synthesizes a ph...

The sarcoplasmic reticulum of skeletal muscle contains anionic phospholipids as well as the zwitterionic phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine. Here we study the effects of anionic phospholipids on the activity of the Ca2+-ATPase purified from the membrane. Reconstitution of the Ca2+-ATPase into dioleoylphosphatidylserine [di(C18:1)PS] or dioleoylphosphatidic acid [di(C18:1)PA] leads...

In this study, endogenous long chain ceramides were measured in 32 human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and 10 nonsquamous head and neck carcinoma tumor tissues, as compared with adjacent noncancerous tissues, by liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy. Interestingly, only one specific ceramide, C(18:0)-ceramide, was selectively down-regulated in the majority of HNSCC tumor tissu...

There is an increasing interest in including intramuscular fat (IMF) content and fatty acid composition, particularly oleic acid (C18:1) content, in the selection objectives of pig lines for quality pork markets. These traits are costly and can be measured in more than 1 location, so knowing their correlation structure across muscles and with subcutaneous fat (SF) is necessary for developing op...

1-Palmitoyl phosphatidylcholines (1-palmitoyl PCs), in which the 2-position was occupied respectively by C10:0, C12:0, C14:0, C14:1, n-7, C16:0, C16:1, n-7, C18:0, C18:1(t), n-9, C18:1, n-9, C18:2, n-6, C18:3, N-3, C18:3, n-6, C18:3(5t,9,12), C22:0, C22:1, n-9, C22:2, n-6, C22:3, n-3, C22:4, n-6, C22:5, n-6 or C22:6, n-3 fatty acids, were studied as monolayer films at the air/water interface. R...

This study evaluated the effect of vitamin E supplementation source, and the dose given to sows or piglets, on the fatty acid profile of colostrum, milk, subcutaneous and intramuscular fat, and the oxidative status of piglets at 39 days of age. Sows (n = 10) were given 150 mg dl-α-tocopheryl acetate/d in feed, or 75 or 50 mg micellized-d-α-tocopherol/d in water from Day 103 of pregnancy. Weanin...

Lipase from Thermomyces lanuginosus (TLL) has been immobilized on Purolite Lifetech® ECR8806F (viz. methacrylate macroporous resin containing octadecyl groups, designated as C18-TLL), and the enzyme performance compared to that of octyl-agarose, agarose C8-TLL. The hydrolytic activity versus p-nitrophenol butyrate decreased significantly, a lower extent S-methyl mandelate (more than twofold), w...

Vibrational spectroscopic investigations of hydrocarbon chain ordering in phosphatidylcholines (PCs) adsorbed from aqueous solution to a carbon tetrachloride-water interface presented here examine on a molecular level the organization pertinent to the surface characteristics displayed by these films. In a series of saturated symmetric and asymmetric chain PCs, both symmetric PCs with 16 or fewe...

Separation of alkyl sulfate ethoxymers is investigated on various high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) stationary phases: Acclaim C18 Surfactant, Surfactant C8, and Hypercarb. For a fixed alkyl chain length, ethoxymers are eluted in the order of increasing number of ethoxylated units on Acclaim C18 Surfactant, whereas a reversed elution order is observed on Surfactant C8 and Hypercarb....

Diets high in polyunsaturated fatty acids may protect against duodenal ulcer, possibly through inhibiting the growth of Helicobacter pylori. This hypothesis was tested in vitro by incubating H pylori microaerophilically with a range of polyunsaturated fatty acids. omega-3 Linolenic acid significantly, but reversibly, inhibited growth at 1.8, 2.5, and 5 x 10(-4) M (p < 0.01), while concentration...