1,667 research outputs found
Molecular Structure of Selected Tuber and Root Starches and Effect of Amylopectin Structure on Their Physical Properties
The objectives of this study were to characterize starches isolated from potato, canna, fern, and kudzu, grown in Hangzhou, China, for potential food and nonfood applications and to gain understandings of the structures and properties of tuber and root starches. Potato and canna starches with B-type X-ray patterns had larger proportions of amylopectin (AP) long branch chains (DP g37) than did fern (C-type) and kudzu (CA-type) starches. The analysis of Naegeli dextrins suggested that fern and kudzu starches had more branch points, R-(1,6)-D-glycosidic linkages, located within the double-helical crystalline lamella than did the B-type starches. Dispersed molecular densities of the C- and CA-type APs (11.6-13.5 g/mol/nm3) were significantly larger than those of the B-type APs (1.4-6.1 g/mol/nm3) in dilute solutions. The larger proportion of the long AP branch chains in the B-type starch granules resulted in greater gelatinization enthalpy changes (ΔH). Retrograded kudzu starch, which had the shortest average chain length (DP 25.1), melted at a lower temperature (37.9 °C) than the others. Higher peak viscosities (550-749 RVU at 8%, dsb) of potato starches were attributed to the greater concentrations of phosphate monoesters, longer branch chains, and larger granule sizes compared with other tuber and root starches
Evaluating the Allergic Risk of Genetically Modified Soybean
Genetically modified (GM) soybean (carrying the EPSPS transgene) is the most common GM food in Korea. In order to assess whether genetic modification increases the allergenic risk of soybeans, the allergenicity and IgE-reactive components of wild-type and GM soybean extracts were compared in allergic adults who had been sensitized to soybeans. We enrolled 1,716 adult allergy patients and 40 healthy, non-atopic controls. Skin prick tests and IgE enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were performed using wild-type and GM soybean extracts, along with other common inhaled allergens. The specificities of serum IgE antibodies from allergic patients and the identities of the IgE-reactive components of the soybean extracts were compared using ELISA inhibition testing, 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and IgE immunoblotting. To evaluate the effects of digestive enzymes and heat treatment, the soybean extracts were heated or pre- incubated with or without simulated gastric and intestinal fluids. The IgE sensitization rates to wild-type and GM soybeans were identical (3.8% of allergic adults), and circulating IgE antibodies specific for the two extracts were comparable. The results of the ELISA inhibition test, SDS-PAGE, and IgE immunoblotting showed a similar composition of IgE-binding components within the wild-type and GM extracts, which was confirmed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, IgE immunoblotting, and amino acid sequencing. None of the subjects had a positive response to purified EPSPS protein in the skin prick test, ELISA, or IgE immunoblot analysis. These findings suggest that the IgE sensitization rate to GM soybean extracts is identical to that of wild-type soybean extracts in adult allergy patients. In addition, based on both in vivo and in vitro methods, the allergenicity of wild type and GM soybean extracts was identical
Neurocutaneous Melanosis Presenting as Chronic Partial Epilepsy
BACKGROUND: Neurocutaneous melanosis (NCM) is a rare neurocutaneous syndrome characterized by the presence of multiple congenital melanocytic nevi (CMN) and the proliferation of melanocytes in the central nervous system, usually involving the leptomeninges. Chronic partial epilepsy as a sole manifestation is rare in NCM.
CASE REPORT: A 32-year-old man suffering from chronic partial epilepsy presented with multiple CMN on his trunk and scalp. Brain MRI demonstrated a focal lesion in the right amygdala that was consistent with interictal epileptiform discharges in the right temporal region on electroencephalography (EEG). An anterior temporal lobectomy was performed, and the pathology investigation revealed numerous melanophages in the amygdala. The patient was seizure-free after surgery.
CONCLUSIONS: We report a patient with NCM presenting as chronic partial epilepsy who was successfully treated by anterior temporal lobectomy.ope
Sammelrezension
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Circulating Autoantibodies in Patients with Aspirin-intolerant Asthma: An Epiphenomenon Related to Airway Inflammation
Several studies have suggested the involvement of an autoimmune mechanism in aspirin (ASA)-intolerant asthma. To test this hypothesis, we measured the levels of circulating autoantibodies, such as IgG and IgA to tissue transglutaminase (TGase), IgG to cytokeratins (CKs) 8, 18, and 19, Clq-binding immune complex (CIC), and antinuclear antibody (ANA), in the sera of 79 patients with ASA-intolerant asthma (Group I) and those of two control groups, consisting of 61 patients with ASA-tolerant asthma (Group II) and 88 healthy control subjects (Group III) by means of ELISA. Significantly higher prevalences of IgG antibodies to CK18 (13.9%) and CK19 (17.7%) were noted in Group I, as compared with Group III (p<0.05 for all) not with Group II. Regarding the prevalences of other autoantibodies, the levels of ANA (1.3%), IgG to TGase (3.8%), and CIC (24.7%) in Group I were not significantly different from those in Groups II and III. Significant correlations were found between positivities for the anti-CK18 and anti-CK19 autoantibodies and the PC20 methacholine values in the analysis of asthma Groups I and II vs. normal controls, (p=0.001 and p=0.003, respectively). Further studies are needed to explore the potential involvement of an autoantibody-mediated mechanism in the clinical manifestation of bronchial asthma
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