Glavni proteini matične mliječi kao markeri izvornosti i kakvoće meda

Until now, the properties of honey have been defined based exclusively on the content of plant components in the nectar of given plant. We showed that apalbumin1, the major royal jelly (RJ) protein, is an authentic and regular component of honey. Apalbumin1 and other RJ proteins and peptides are responsible for the immunostimulatory properties and antibiotic activity of honey. For the quantification of apalbumin1, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed using polyclonal anti-apalbumin1 antibody. The method is suitable for honey authenticity determination; moreover it is useful for detection of the honey, honeybee pollen and RJ in products of medicine, pharmacy, cosmetics, and food industry, where presences of these honeybee products are declared. Results from the analysis for presence and amount of apalbumin1 in honeys will be used for high-throughput screening of honey samples over the world. On the basis of our experiments which show that royal jelly proteins are regular and physiologically active components of honey we propose to change the definition of honey (according to the EU Honey Directive 2001/110/EC) as follows: Honey is a natural sweet substance produced by honey bees from nectar of plants or from secretions of plants, or excretions of plant sucking insects, which honey bees collect, transform by combining with major royal jelly proteins and other specific substances of their own, deposit, dehydrate, store and leave in the honey comb to ripen and mature.Do sada su svojstva meda bila definirana isključivo na temelju sadržaja komponenti nektara određene biljke. Mi smo pokazali da je apalbumin1, glavni protein matične mliječi, izvoran i uobičajeni sastojak meda. Apalbumin1, ostali proteini matične mliječi i peptidi odgovorni su za imunostimulatorna svojstva i antibiotsko djelovanje meda. Korištenjem poliklonalnog anti-apalbumin 1 protutijela osmišljen je imunoenzimski test (ELISA) za kvantifikaciju apalbumina 1. Metoda je ne samo prikladna za utvrđivanje izvornosti meda nego i korisna za detekciju meda, peluda i matične mliječi u medicinskim, farmaceutskim, kozmetičkim i prehrambenim proizvodima na kojima je naznačena prisutnost pčelinjih proizvoda. Rezultati analize prisutnosti i količine apalbumina 1 koristit će se za probir velike količine uzoraka meda diljem svijeta. Na temelju naših eksperimenata, koji pokazuju da su proteini matične mliječi uobičajene i fiziološki aktivne komponente meda, predlažemo izmjenu definicije meda (na temelju Direktive EU-a o medu 2001/110/EC): Med je prirodna slatka tvar koju pčele proizvode od nektara ili izlučevina biljaka ili izlučevina insekata koji sišu biljke. Nju pčele skupljaju, pretvaraju kombinacijom glavnih proteina matične mliječi i ostalih vlastitih specifičnih tvari, polažu, dehidriraju, pohranjuju i ostavljaju u saću da sazrije

The Influence of Hyperactivity of the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal Axis and Hyperglycemia on the 5-HT2A Receptor-mediated Wet-dog Shake Responses in Rats

Hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis induces hyperglycemia and serotonin (5-HT)2A receptor supersensitivity. In the present study, to investigate the effect of hyperglycemia on the function of 5-HT2A receptors, we compared the 5-HT2A receptor-mediated wet-dog shake responses in rats treated with adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), dexamethasone and streptozotocin. ACTH (100 &#956;g/rat per day, s.c.), dexamethasone (1 mg/kg per day, s.c.) and streptozotocin (60 mg/kg, i.p.) produced significant hyperglycemia at 14 days after the start of these treatments, and the hyperglycemia was most pronounced in the streptozotocin-treated rats. The wet-dog shake responses induced by (±)-1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane (DOI), a 5-HT2A receptor agonist, were significantly enhanced at 14 days after repeated treatment with ACTH and dexamethasone. However, streptozotocin-induced diabetes had no effect on the wet-dog shake responses. The results of the present study suggest that hyperglycemia is not strongly associated with the enhanced susceptibility of 5-HT2A receptors under the condition of hyperactivity of the HPA axis.</p

Intra-Day Variation of Urinary Nuclear Matrix Protein 22

Nuclear Matrix Protein 22 (NMP22), a urinary tumor marker for urothelial cancers, is directly released into the urine from the nucleus after cell death, Accordingly, values of NMP22 do not requlre adjustment using other substances such as urinary creatinine. On the other hand, its values might vary according to urine concentration. This study investigated the intra-day variation in the urinary level of NMP22. NMP22 and urinary creatinine were measured in a 24-hour urine sample and 4 spot urine samples obtained from 20 inpatients (10 with bladder cancer, and 10 with non-urothelial cancer or benign tumors). The spot urine samples were collected at 6 a.m., 10 a.m., 2p.m. and 9 p.m. There were no significant differences in NMP22 values between the 24-hour and spot samples in all patients. Out of 10 bladder cancer patients, 6 had positive 24-hour samples. Among these 6 patients, only 3 had 4 positive spot samples (>12.O U/ml): one had 3 positive samples, and 2 had one positive sample. Among the controls, only one patient with renal cancer had a positive 24-hour sample. Only 3 controls, 2 With prostatic cancer and one with renal cancer, had a single positive spot sample. The highest margin between the maximum and minimum levels in the 4 spot samples was 237.8 U/ml in the bladder cancer patients and 16.6 U/ml in the controIs. When the ratios of NMP22 and urinary creatinine values for the 24-hour to spot samples were calculated in each patient, a significant correlation was observed between the ratios of NMP22 and urinary creatinine (r=0.575, p<0.001). The urinary level of NMP22 shows intra-day variation and might be affected by the extent of the concentration of urine samples. The measurement results must be judged with this in mind, especially when judging the results around the cut-off value