Bioassay-guided fractionation of an EtOAc extract of the stem wood of Euphorbia quinquecostata using a phorbol dibutyrate receptor-binding assay system as a monitor yielded four inhibitory isolates (1-4), inclusive of one new compound, 17-hydroxyingenol 20-hexadecanoate (1), and three previously known compounds, ingenol 20-hexadecanoate (2), ent-16 alpha,17-dihydroxyatisan-3-one (3), and ent-3 ...

Feeding experiments with ent-kaurenoic acid (4), 15 alpha-hydroxy-ent-kaurenoic acid (5), 15 beta-hydroxy-ent-kaurenoic acid (6), and mixtures of 4 plus 5 and 4 plus 6 were conducted using the SG138 mutant of Gibberella fujikuroi, to gain information about the phenotype of this unique strain. The biotransformation of 5 gave 7 beta,15 alpha-dihydroxykaurenolide (9) and 7 beta,15 alpha-dihydroxy-...

The antioxidant activities of astaxanthin and related carotenoids have been measured by employing a newly developed fluorometric assay. This assay is based on 4,4-difluoro-3,5-bis(4-phenyl-1, 3-butadienyl)-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY 665/676) as an indicator; 2,2'-azobis-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile (AMVN) as a peroxyl radical generator; and 6-hydroxy-2,5,7, 8-tetramethylchroman-2-carbox...

We report the development of direct catalytic, enantioselective, anti-selective Mannich-type reactions between unmodified ketones and alpha-imino esters under mild conditions. The reactions were performed using 5-10 mol % of (R)-3-pyrrolidinecarboxylic or (R)-beta-proline as catalyst in an environmentally benign solvent, 2-PrOH, at room temperature. The anti-Mannich products were obtained in go...

In an in vitro study, the cytochrome P-450 3A (CYP3A)-dependent metabolism and drug interactions of the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-Co A reductase inhibitors lovastatin and pravastatin were compared. Lovastatin was metabolized by human liver microsomes to two major metabolites: 6'beta-hydroxy [Michaelis-Menten constant (Km): 7.8 +/- 2.7 microM] and 6'-exomethylene lovastatin (Km,10.3 +/- 2.6 mic...

We previously reported that the 7 alpha-dehydroxylation of cholic acid appears to be carried out by a multi-step pathway in intestinal anaerobic bacteria both in vitro and in vivo. The pathway is hypothesized to involve an initial oxidation of the 3 alpha-hydroxy group and the introduction of a double bond at C4-C5 generating a 3-oxo-4-cholenoic bile acid intermediate. The loss of water generat...

Six strains of lecithinase-lipase-negative Clostridia, isolated from human feces, were capable of oxidizing chenodeoxycholic acid to 3 alpha-hydroxy-7 keto-5 beta-cholanoic acid and of epimerizing it to ursodeoxycholic acid. The identity of the reaction products was confirmed by comparing their mass spectra, obtained by combined gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, with those of authent...

BACKGROUND Nutritional manipulations during fetal growth may induce long-term metabolic effects in postnatal life. The aim of the study was to test whether combined treatment of pregnant sows with alpha-ketoglutarate and β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate induces additive long-term effects on skeletal system properties in the offspring. METHODS The study was performed on 290 pigs obtained from 24 sow...

Novel derivatives of puberulic acid were synthesized and their antimalarial properties evaluated in vitro against the Plasmodium falciparum K1 parasite strain, cytotoxicity a human diploid embryonic cell line MRC-5, vivo efficacy using berghei-infected mouse model. From previous information that three hydroxy groups on tropone framework essential for activity, we converted carboxylic moiety int...