In this study, we evaluated on a comparative basis the dietary effect between eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5, EPA)- containing soyphospholipid and soyphospholipid without EPA when added at 5% or 10% level by weight in soybean oil as the dietary oil on the proportions of lipid components in serum of rats. Rats were taken in five groups. One group was fed 20% soybean oil. Two groups received soybean oil containing 5% and 10% soyphospholipid by weight, respectively. Two other groups were fed soybean oil containing 5% and 10% EPA- containing soyphospholipid by weight, respectively. The other dietary components remained same for all the groups. The feeding experiment was conducted for 4 weeks. After the feeding period there was no significant change in weight gain, food intake and food efficiency ratio (FER). No significant change was observed in serum lipid profiles between the rats fed soybean oil and soybean oil with 5% or 10% soyphospholipid. There was significant decrease in serum triglyceride (TG) level in the rats fed soybean oil blended with EPA containing soyphospholipid at 5% level. The contents of total cholesterol (TC), TG, very low density lipoprotein (VLDL)-cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol decreased significantly while high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol increased compared to the soyphospholipid group at 10% level.

View full abstract

This study evaluated the effects of dietary supplementation of γ-Linolenic acid (18:3n-6, GLA) on the lipid profile of serum and other tissues of rats fed erucic acid (C22:1) rich oil like mustard oil. The rats were fed diet containing 20% mustard oil as erucic acid rich oil and 20% groundnut oil as dietary fat. These groups were kept as reference groups. Another group fed diet containing 20% fat to which evening primrose oil as a source of GLA was blended with mustard oil and groundnut oil at 5% level. The feeding experiment was done for 4 weeks. In another set mustard oil fed group was kept as control while the experimental group was fed evening primrose oil as a source of GLA blended with mustard oil at 2.5% level. The feeding experiment was carried out for 12 weeks. The other dietary components remained same for all the groups. After the scheduled feeding period, it was found that there was no significant change in weight gain, food intake and food efficiency ratio. It was found that dietary GLA resulted in significant decrease in serum triglyceride (TG) and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol and significant increase in high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in serum in the experimental group. In liver total cholesterol (TC) is significantly higher and in heart and liver TG is significantly lower in GLA fed group.

View full abstract

Absorption and fluorescence spectra, fluorescence lifetimes, and steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence anisotropies were measured for 4-methyl-4’-cynanobiphenyl (1CB) and 4-hexyl-4’-cynanobiphenyl (6CB) in glycerol at various temperatures. The energies and intensities of the absorption and emission spectra for 1CB and 6CB were almost equally observed, and the fluorescence lifetimes around 1.0 ns were also almost equally obtained and did not depend on temperature. However, the time-resolved fluorescence anisotropies measured in glycerol solution indicated that the molecules of 1CB rotate more rapidly than those of 6CB: the rigid-sphere radii for 1CB and 6CB obtained by using the pulsed exciting light were evaluated as 1.3×10^-10 m (1CB) and 1.8×10^-10 m (6CB) in the low temperature region (2-10°C), whereas those evaluated in the high temperature regions (20-60°C for 1CB and 30-60 for 6CB) were 2.7×10^-10 m (1CB) and 3.6×10^-10 m (6CB). These radii evaluated in the high temperature region were in good agreement with those obtained by using steady-state exciting light, 2.9×10^-10 m (1CB) and 3.4×10^-10 m (6CB). It is noted that the increase of radius was observed across an intermediate temperature region (10-30°C for 1CB or 10-40°C for 6CB), and was more remarkable for 6CB than for 1CB. This implies that the movements of hexyl-chain are much more enhanced at high temperature, and are effectively reflected to the increase in radius of rotational diffusion. The changing phenomenon of movements of peripheral alkyl-chain in liquid-crystal molecules is important for the phase transition between liquid crystal and isotropic liquid phases: the changing to less vigorous movements of the alkyl-chain in 6CB is thought enough to contribute to the liquid-crystal formation of 6CB molecule.

View full abstract

We developed new benzofurazan (NBD) labeled probes for fluorocarbon surfactant systems. The fluorescence behavior depended on the solubilization site of the fluorescent probes in the surfactant aggregates. The NBD-labeled probes suffered virtually complete reduction in the presence of Na₂S₂O₄ owing to the solubilization at the surface of 2-hydroxy-1,1,2,3,3-pentahydroperfluoroundecyldiethylammonium bromide (FC₈DAB) aggregates. On the other hand, N-(3-sulfopropyl)acridinium (SPA) in FC₈DAB aggregates showed residual fluorescence in spite of NaBH₄ addition. The large vesicles of FC₈DAB were confirmed by DLS measurements. These facts suggest that SPA is solubilized in an inner water phase of the vesicles. The NBD labeled fluorescence probe is quite effective for the study of the aggregation behavior of fluorocarbon surfactants.

View full abstract

The DNA damage caused by TiO₂ under in vitro conditions by UV-A exposure in the presence of anionic vesicles of Aerosol OT (AOT) was investigated. The supercoiled form (S) in DNA plasmids was converted to the linear form (L) via the relaxed form (R). The DNA damage was slower in the presence of AOT vesicles prepared in aqueous NaCl solution. Moreover, the presence of AOT vesicles in solution after 6 h of UV irradiation was confirmed with an optical microscope. Probably, a fraction of the DNA was protected by random trapping during sonication. However, the addition of NaCl needed for the vesicle formation can decrease the TiO₂ activity. On the other hand, in the absence of vesicles the NaCl concentration led to a profound influence on the adsorption of DNA onto the TiO₂ surface. During UV irradiation, the degradation rate of DNA increased with increasing the salt concentration.
   Solutions containing vesicles were prepared at various NaCl concentrations between 10 mM and 75 mM. Consequently, the salt concentration had no significant effect on the DNA damage. The presence of NaCl can play a deleterious role during the photoinduced process. However, the encapsulation of a fraction of DNA is not excluded. In such conditions, the DNA could be protected against the reactive oxygen species.

View full abstract

It is rather difficult to design a multilayer photocurrent generator system on the ITO electrode, however, the preparation of thin film with high surface concentration of donor units is indispensable in order to achieve high conversion efficiency. The polymer film of porphyrin bearing pyroles on the electrode was prepared by the potential sweep method. It was indicated that the self-aggregation can be suppressed by encapsulation of the porphyrin unit in the cavity of macro-cyclic host molecule, cyclodextrin. We established the non-equilibrium host-guest system with porphyrins and cyclodextrins for the first time. The photocurrent density and the quantum yield in the porphyrin-cyclodextrin system are remarkably improved. It was demonstrated that the high quantum yield, perhaps 25 times larger, arises from the isolation of the porphyrin unit by cyclodextrin through host-guest interactions.

View full abstract

During the course of our research into the use of cane by-products from sugar manufacturing, we have studied the isolation and structural determination of bioactive compounds present in sugarcane molasses. In this study, dehydrodiconiferylalcohol-9’-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (1) and isoorientin-7, 3’-O-dimethyl ether (2) were isolated as antibacterial active compounds against cariogenic bacteria. Their structures were elucidated by ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR and ESI-MS. The activities of these isolated compounds against Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus were assessed by a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) test. The MICs of compounds 1 and 2 against both S. mutans and S. sobrinus were >4 mg/mL and 4 mg/mL, respectively.

View full abstract