Epidemiological evidence shows an inverse relationship between dietary fibre intake and body weight gain. Oat beta-glucan, a soluble fibre alters appetite hormones and subjective satiety in acute meal test studies, but its effects have not been demonstrated with chronic consumption. The present study aimed to test the effects in women of two different doses of oat beta-glucan on weight loss and...

Schizosaccharomyces pombe rho1(+) is required for maintenance of cell integrity and polarization of the actin cytoskeleton. However, no other effector besides the (1,3)beta-D-glucan synthase enzyme has been identified in S. pombe. We have further investigated if rho1(+ )signalling could be also mediated by the two protein kinase C homologues, pck1p and pck2p. We show in this study that both kin...

PGG-Glucan [Betafectin], a highly purified soluble beta-(1-6)-branched beta-(1 3)-linked glucan isolated from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has broad in vitro and in vivo anti-infective activities unrelated to cytokine induction. Here we present in vivo results on the anti-infective activity of PGG-Glucan against a multiple antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus. PGG-Glucan (0.25-4 mg/kg) was a...

Decline of estrogen during menopause has been associated with numerous significant changes that have been linked to many pathophysiological complications. In addition, ovarian hormone deficiency increases the production of reactive oxygen radicals which could result in oxidative stress and cell damage. While estrogen therapy is often considered to overcome the behavioral and physiological short...

Protective capabilities were studied of carboxymethylated (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan from Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell wall against lipid peroxidation in phosphatidylcholine liposomes induced by OH radicals produced with Fenton's reagent (H2O2/Fe2+) and also by microwave radiation using absorption UV-VIS spectrophotometry. A significant decrease in the conjugated diene production, quantified as Kle...

BACKGROUND Binding of beta 1,3/1,6 glucan of Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum) with the receptor results in a series of signal transfers (signalling cascades), which activates the transcription factors for regulating inflammation. Excess cholesterol intake leads to an increase in the distance between fat cells and capillaries, which may cause hypoxia in the fat tissue of obese mice. This hypoxia i...

Zymosan activates phagocytes through the innate immune system and causes inflammatory responses in animals. Because of the complexity of the active substances included in Zymosan preparations, simplifying the active moiety actually responsible for innate immune recognition is needed. One way to remove possible active substances from commercially available Zymosan preparations is to wash then wi...

We previously isolated the Saccharomyces cerevisiae HKR1 gene that confers on S. cerevisiae cells resistance to HM-1 killer toxin secreted by Hansenula mrakii (S. Kasahara, H. Yamada, T. Mio, Y. Shiratori, C. Miyamoto, T. Yabe, T. Nakajima, E. Ichishima, and Y. Furuichi, J. Bacteriol. 176:1488-1499, 1994). HKR1 encodes a type 1 membrane protein that contains a calcium-binding consensus sequence...

Proteolysis of connective tissue by enzymes such as PMN-elastase (PMNE) is a crucial step during inflammation and metastasis. Semisynthetic sulfated carbohydrates (SC) were shown to exhibit potent antiinflammatory and antimetastatic activity in vivo. The aim of the present study was to examine whether interferences with PMN-elastase may contribute to these effects. Therefore, the interactions o...