To explore the associations among semen quality, oxidative DNA damage in human spermatozoa and concentrations of cadmium, lead and selenium in seminal plasma, 56 non-smoking subjects were asked to collect semen by masturbation into a sterile wide-mouth metal-free plastic container after 3 days of abstinence. The conventional semen parameters were analysed. The concentrations of Cd, Pb and Se in...

The synthesis, base-pairing properties and in vitro and in vivo characteristics of 5-methyl-isocytosine (isoC(Me) ) and isoguanine (isoG) nucleosides, incorporated in an HNA(h) (hexitol nucleic acid)-DNA(d) mosaic backbone, are described. The required h-isoG phosphoramidite was prepared by a selective deamination as a key step. As demonstrated by Tm measurements the hexitol sugar showed slightl...

Gold-thiol chemistry is widely used in nanotechnology but has not been exploited in optical-trapping experiments due to laser-induced ablation of gold. We circumvented this problem by using an array of gold nanoposts (r = 50-250 nm, h approximately 20 nm) that allowed for quantitative optical-trapping assays without direct irradiation of the gold. DNA was covalently attached to the gold via dit...

Cereal Chem. 86(2):197–203 This study investigated relationships between molecular weight distributions of unreduced grain proteins and grain, flour, and end-use quality characteristics of soft white winter wheats grown in Oregon. Absorbance area and area percentage values of protein fractions separated by sizeexclusion HPLC (SE-HPLC) showed significant correlations with quality characteristics...

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of the ergot alkaloid, ergotamine (ET), on the induction of CYP3A and the interaction in vivo and in vitro with ET. Sprague-Dawley rats were treated intraperitoneally for 4 days as follows: control (injecting with 0.5 ml of only corn oil); dexamethasone treatment (injecting with 100 mg/kg of dexamethasone in corn oil); and ergotamine treatment ...

Selenium is an essential element known to take part in human antioxidative defense and to protect against cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Consequently, supplementation of the diet with this element is necessary in order to achieve the protective effect. Several allium plants, radish etc have demonstrated the ability to preconcentrate and biotransform inorganic selenium into selenoaminoacids...

Arsenic toxicity in adults is associated with methylation efficiency, influenced by factors such as gender, genetics, and nutrition. The aim of this study was to evaluate influencing factors for arsenic metabolism in children. For 488 children (9 years), whose mothers participated in a study on arsenic exposure during pregnancy (nested into the MINIMat trial) in rural Bangladesh, we measured ur...

Neste trabalho é proposto um método espectrofotométrico modificado para a determinação de diclofenaco em preparações farmacêuticas. Usa-se solução de cobre(II) como reagente, o que leva à formação de um complexo cobre(II)-diclofenaco de cor verde, com máximo de absorção em 680 nm. Foram estudadas as influências: do pH; da concentração de cobre(II); do uso de ácido acético na solução de cobre(II...