Procyanidins in Theobroma cacao Reduce Plasma Cholesterol Levels in High Cholesterol-Fed Rats

We evaluated the effect of cacao procyanidins (CP) on plasma lipid levels in high cholesterol-fed rats. Animals were divided into 4 groups, and each group was fed on either a normal diet, high cholesterol diet (HCD) containing 1% cholesterol (HCD without CP), HCD with 0.5% (HCD with 0.5% CP) or 1.0% CP (HCD with 1.0% CP) for 4 weeks. Plasma cholesterol level was significantly higher in the HCD without CP group than the normal diet group (p<0.01). Supplementation of CP significantly decreased plasma cholesterol (p<0.01) to levels similar to those of the normal diet group. The liver cholesterol and triglyceride levels in all HCD groups were significantly higher (p<0.01), but 1.0% CP feeding significantly reduced this increase. Fecal excretion of neutral sterol and triglyceride was significantly increased in all HCD groups (p<0.01), and the excreted amounts tended to be higher in the HCD with CP groups. The procyanidins dose-dependently reduced micellar solubility of cholesterol and this activity increased with increasing molecular weight. These results suggest that one of the mechanisms of CP to lower plasma cholesterol is inhibition of intestinal absorption of cholesterol

Complications after orthognathic surgery - 10 year review

In practice, the single most critical problem limiting the application of membrane processes for liquid separation is fouling [1]. The flux decline which accompanies fouling affects the operational reliability and economics in microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and reverse osmosis [1]. Fouling occurs predominately on the membrane surface due to the deposition of one or more system constituents including organics, sparingly soluble inorganic salts dissolved in the feed stream, and colloidal and/or paniculate matter. In addition, a gel layer can be formed from organic molecules in the system due to concentration effects adjacent to the membrane surface and compaction can occur when the operating pressure causes a decrease in membrane thickness. Although the occurrence of fouling is often inferred from a time-dependent decline in flux, the interpretation of results in such studies is complicated by the fact that during operation gel formation and compaction as well as fouling may all occur simultaneously [2]. Since each of these processes can produce a flux decrease [3], it is often impossible to distinguish the particular combination of phenomena associated with an observed overall flux decline [1, 4]