ε-Acetamidocaproic acid pharmacokinetics in rats with gastric ulcer or small bowel inflammation

The pharmacokinetics of ϵ-acetamidocaproic acid (AACA) were evaluated after the intravenous and oral administration of an antiulcer agent, zinc acexamate (ZAC) at a dose of 20 mg kg⁻¹ (ion pairing between zinc and AACA) in rats with indomethacin-induced acute gastric ulcer (IAGU) or indomethacin-induced small bowel inflammation (ISBI). In IAGU rats, the area under the curves (AUCs) of AACA were significantly smaller after both the intravenous (551 versus 1270 μg min ml⁻¹) and oral (397 versus 562 μg min ml⁻¹) administration of ZAC than controls, possible due to the significantly faster CL(R) of AACA. In ISBI rats, however, the AUCs of AACA were comparable with controls after both the intravenous and oral administration of ZAC. In IAGU rats, the significantly smaller AUCs of AACA were due to the significantly faster CL(R) (due to the decreased urinary pH by indomethacin treatment) than controls. AACA has a basic secondary amine group. On the other hand, the comparable AUCs of AACA in ISBI rats were due to the comparable CL(R)s between ISBI and control rats. AACA was excreted in the urine via active renal tubular secretion in all rats studied.

Production of live foals via intracytoplasmic injection of lyophilized sperm and sperm extract in the horse

Work with lyophilized sperm helps delineate the factors required for successful fertilization. We investigated the use of lyophilized sperm in equine embryo production. In Experiment 1, sperm DNA fragmentation index was not affected by three freeze/thaw or lyophilization cycles. In Experiment 2, oocytes injected with lyophilized sperm or with sperm from a treatment in which lyophilized sperm were suspended in sperm cytoplasmic extract (SE) yielded blastocyst development rates of 0 and 28% respectively (P<0.05). In Experiment 3, blastocyst development rate was 6–11% after injection of sperm lyophilized from fresh or frozen–thawed semen, suspended in SE. In Experiment 4, sperm lyophilized 3.5 months or 1 week previously, suspended in SE, yielded similar blastocyst rates (6 and 3% respectively). Rates of normal pregnancy after transfer were 7/10 and 5/7 for embryos from control and lyophilized sperm treatments respectively. Three pregnancies from the lyophilized sperm treatments were not terminated, resulting in two healthy foals. Parentage testing determined that one foal originated from the lyophilized sperm; the other was the offspring of the stallion providing the sperm extract. Further testing indicated that two of five additional embryos in the lyophilized sperm treatment originated from the stallion providing the sperm extract. We conclude that both lyophilized stallion sperm and stallion sperm processed by multiple unprotected freeze–thaw cycles (as for sperm extract) can support production of viable foals. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on production of live offspring by fertilization with lyophilized sperm in a non-laboratory animal species.

Metabolic fingerprinting reveals differences between shoots of wild and cultivated carrot (Daucus carota L.) and suggests maternal inheritance or wild trait dominance in hybrids

Differences between the metabolic content of cultivars and their related wild species not only have implications for breeding and food quality, but also for the increasingly studied area of crop to wild introgression. Wild and cultivated western carrots belong to the same outcrossing species and hybridize under natural conditions. The metabolic fingerprinting of Dutch wild carrot and of western orange carrot cultivar shoots using (1)H NMR showed only quantitative differences in chemical content, indicating relatively low divergence after domestication. Main differences reside in the primary metabolite content and in the concentrations of chlorogenic acid and feruloyl quinic acid in the shoots of the different carrot types. Wild×cultivar hybrids cannot be distinguished from wild plants based on the metabolome, suggesting maternal, maternal environment, or dominance effects, and indicating high hybrid fitness in wild conditions. Considering these similarities, introgression is a real possibility in carrots, but understanding its consequences would require further studies using backcrosses in a multiple environments.

Comprehensive review on herbal medicine for energy intake suppression

The obesity drug development is present not a bright and successful story. So far, drugs reported to be effective, either from synthetic or natural sources, mostly stimulated controversy because of serious adverse effects, which ended with stopping clinical trials or even withdrawal from the market. However, obesity and its comorbidities have become rapidly a major problem in both developed and developing countries. This has encouraged pharmaceutical companies and academia to keep on struggling on developing novel effective but safe obesity drugs, and on characterizing novel obesity drug targets. From existing scientific work on obesity drug discovery and commercial slimming preparations, compounds originating from nature, especially from plants, seem to be the first choice. Traditional belief that herbal medicine is safer than synthetic ones is one of the classical arguments, although scientifically this is not always true (e.g. ban on Ephedra). But in general, it has been widely acknowledged that a plant compound, with its unique scaffolds and rich diversity is an unlimited source of novel lead compounds. This paper aims to summarize all works focused on screening plant materials by targeting important pathways related to energy intake regulation, either by in vivo or in vitro experiments.

274 EFFECT OF HOLDING ASPIRATED FLUID FROM IMMATURE EQUINE FOLLICLES ON OOCYTE MATURATION AND BLASTOCYST PRODUCTION AFTER INTRACYTOPLASMIC SPERM INJECTION

Transvaginal ultrasound-guided follicle aspiration (TVA) is the most effective way to recover multiple immature oocytes from live mares. Because of the tight attachment of the equine immature oocyte to the follicle wall, TVA in this species is time consuming, taking up to 1 h per horse. Thus, it may be difficult to search follicular aspirates immediately after recovery. In 2009 in a series of 6 replicates, we observed a blastocyst development rate of 32% (13/41) after intracytoplasmic sperm injection of oocytes collected by TVA and held for ∼1.5 h at ambient temperature (26 to 32°C) before isolation from aspirated fluid (unpublished data). Therefore, in the present study we compared the effects of immediate oocyte isolation v. holding the follicular aspirate before oocyte isolation on oocyte maturation and blastocyst rates. Ten mares were used for this study; TVA was performed on each mare every 14 days, for 4 aspiration sessions per mare. Collected aspiration fluid was either processed immediately or held for 2 h at 32°C before processing. At each aspiration, one ovary was randomly assigned to each treatment [immediate (Imm) or 2-h holding (2-H)]. Follicle aspiration was performed as previously described (Jacobson et al. 2010 Theriogenology 73, 1116–1126) using M199 with Hank’s salts to flush the follicle lumen up to 8 times per follicle. Oocytes were recovered from the aspirates by filtration. Overall, 325 follicles were aspirated and 140 oocytes were obtained (43% recovery). The proportion of degenerating oocytes was not significantly different between treatments (1/68 and 0/72 for Imm and 2-H, respectively). Oocytes were held overnight in modified M199 as previously described (Choi et al. 2006 Theriogenology 66, 955–963) before maturation culture. After 30 h of maturation culture, there was no significant difference in maturation rates between treatments [75% (50/67) and 65% (46/71) for Imm and 2-H, respectively]. Fertilization was performed by intracytoplasmic sperm injection, and injected oocytes were cultured 7 to 10 days, as previously described (Choi et al. 2006). The rates of blastocyst development per injected oocyte were 23% (11/47) for Imm and 16% (7/44) for 2-H; these were not significantly different (P > 0.3). The reason for the discrepancy in blastocyst rates for held oocytes in this study (16%) compared with our 2009 observations (32%) is unclear; this could be a factor of the time held (∼1.5 v. 2 h), the temperature (26–32°C v. 32°C), or minor changes in protocol between the 2 years. From these results, we conclude that holding oocytes in the follicular aspirate for up to 2 h following collection may be performed when necessary without significantly affecting the rate of subsequent blastocyst development. This work was supported by the Link Equine Research Endowment Fund, Texas A&M University, and by Ms. Kit Knotts.

32 A CLONED FOAL PRODUCED USING OOCYTES RECOVERED BY TRANSVAGINAL ASPIRATION OF IMMATURE FOLLICLES

Closure of all the horse slaughterhouses in the US has reduced the availability of equine oocytes in this country. We investigated the use of oocytes collected from immature follicles of live mares for cloning research. Because blastocyst development of equine cloned embryos is typically low (<10%), we also investigated the effect of Scriptaid, a histone deacetylase inhibitor that increases blastocyst development, live birth rate, and neonatal health in cloned mice and pigs. Immature oocytes were transvaginally aspirated from all follicles ≥8 mm diameter in a herd of 11 mares. The oocytes were cultured in modified M199 for 24 to 26 h. Donor fibroblasts from a 27-year old stallion were treated with roscovitine for 24 h, then were directly injected into enucleated oocytes using the Piezo drill. Reconstructed oocytes were activated with ionomycin followed by injection of sperm extract and culture with 6- dimethylaminopurine (6-DMAP) for 4 h. Recombined oocytes in the Scriptaid treatment were cultured in the presence of Scriptaid, 250 nM, starting at the onset of 6-DMAP treatment and continuing for a total of 18 to 20 h. After embryo culture, blastocysts were shipped for transfer to recipient mares. Overall, each oocyte donor mare underwent aspiration up to 10 times; 653 follicles were aspirated and 271 oocytes were recovered. The in vitro maturation rate was 65% (172/263). After nuclear transfer procedures, 147 oocytes survived; 130 were used for the study. The blastocyst development rate was 2/47 (4%) in the control treatment and 1/83 (1%) in the Scriptaid treatment. All 3 blastocysts yielded pregnancies after transfer. Both control pregnancies were lost, 1 at 30 days and other at 9 months. The mare pregnant with the embryo from the Scriptaid treatment foaled at 326 days of gestation. The foal had medical issues at birth similar to those seen in some cloned foals previously, including maladjustment, patent urachus, and poor oxygenation. These issues were resolved with medical care; the foal is 3 months of age and healthy at the time of writing. These results indicate that immature oocytes obtained from a limited number of mares can be used successfully for nuclear transfer, providing the opportunity to control the mitochondrial identity of the host cytoplast. Scriptaid treatment did not improve the rate of blastocyst development or prevent health problems at birth; however, transfer of 1 embryo in this treatment produced a viable foal. More work is needed to determine the effect of histone deacetylase treatment on efficiency of cloning in the horse. This work was supported by the Link Equine Research Endowment Fund, Texas A&M University, and by Ms. Kit Knotts. We thank Drs. Malgorzata Pozor, Margo Macpherson, and the Medicine team at the University of Florida for medical care of the foal.

Estimation of relative defect densities in InGaN laser diodes by induced absorption of photoexcited carriers

Defects are one of the most important factors influencing the optical properties of groups III-V nitride semiconductor materials and thereby their applicability to light-emitting diodes. In this paper, we demonstrate that it is possible to estimate the presence of defects in InGaN laser diodes by performing pump-probe measurements and observing the induced absorptions. We have confirmed that the induced absorption originates from defects by performing experiments in which the pump intensity is varied. We believe that our method provides a powerful tool for evaluating the optical quality of InGaN materials before processing them into device fabrications.

Pharmacokinetic interaction between itraconazole and metformin in rats: competitive inhibition of metabolism of each drug by each other via hepatic and intestinal CYP3A1/2

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Fungal infection is prevalent in patients with diabetes mellitus. Thus, we investigated whether a pharmacokinetic interaction occurs between the anti-fungal agent itraconazole and the anti-glycaemic drug metformin, as both drugs are commonly administered together to diabetic patients and are metabolized via hepatic CYP3A subfamily in rats.

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH

Itraconazole (20 mg·kg(-1)) and metformin (100 mg·kg(-1)) were simultaneously administered i.v. and p.o. to rats. Concentrations (I) of each drug in the liver and intestine, maximum velocity (V(max)), Michaelis-Menten constant (K(m)) and intrinsic clearance (CL(int) ) for the disappearance of each drug, apparent inhibition constant (K(i) ) and [I]/K(i) ratios of each drug in the liver and intestine were determined. Also the metabolism of each drug in rat and human CYPs was measured in vitro.

KEY RESULTS

After simultaneous administration of both drugs, either i.v. or p.o., the total area under the plasma concentration-time curve from time zero to infinity (AUC)s of itraconazole and metformin were significantly greater than that of either drug administered alone. The metabolism of itraconazole and metformin was significantly inhibited by each other via CYP3A1 and 3A2 in rat and 3A4 in human microsomes.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The significantly greater AUCs of itraconazole and metformin after i.v. administration of both drugs are probably due to competitive inhibition of the metabolism of each drug by each other via hepatic CYP3A1/2. Whereas after oral administration of both drugs, the significantly greater AUCs of each drug administered together than that of either drug alone is mainly due to competitive inhibition of intestinal metabolism of each drug by each other via intestinal CYP3A1/2.

Myocardial protection in cardiac surgery patients requiring prolonged aortic cross-clamp times: a single-center evaluation of clinical outcomes comparing two blood cardioplegic strategies

AIM

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of intermittent warm (IWC) versus intermittent cold blood cardioplegia (ICC) in high-risk patients that require prolonged periods of aortic cross-clamping during on-pump cardiac surgery.

METHODS

From 3527 consecutive patients undergoing on-pump cardiac surgery, 520 patients were retrospectively identified that required prolonged aortic cross-clamp ≥ 75 min. Myocardial protection was performed with ICC (N.=280) or IWC (N.=240). Groups were compared regarding clinical outcomes, myocardial injury (CK-MB, cTnT) and multivariate analysis was performed to assess the impact of applied cardioplegia on 30-day all-cause mortality, cardiac death, perioperative myocardial injury (PM) and major adverse cardiac events (MACE).

RESULTS

Demographic data, mean logistic Euroscore, aortic-cross-clamping and CPB time were comparable between groups. Patients with ICC needed more intraoperative defibrillations, had more postoperative blood transfusions and a prolonged hospital stay when compared to the IWC-group (P < 0.05). Thirty-day all-cause mortality tended to be higher in IWC (11% vs. 6%; P = 0.083) with significantly higher cardiac mortality (9% vs. 4%; P=0.015) compared to ICC. Myocardial injury was more pronounced in the IWC-group with a higher incidence of PMI (IWC: 17% vs. ICC:6%; P < 0.05) and MACE (IWC:37% vs. ICC:25%; P < 0.05). Groups did not differ regarding other postoperative clinical outcomes. Multivariate analysis revealed IWC to be independently predictive (P < 0.05) for 30-day all-cause mortality (OR:2.42; 95% CI:1.04-5.05), cardiac death (OR:3.57; 95% CI:1.49-8.85), MACE (OR:1.87; 95% CI:1.22-2.87) and PMI (OR:3.46; 95% CI:1.86-6.41).

CONCLUSION

ICC results in less myocardial damage and reduced postoperative cardiac mortality and morbidity in patients requiring extended periods of aortic-cross-clamping during on-pump cardiac surgery, suggesting superior cardioprotection when compared to IWC.

Viability of equine embryos after puncture of the capsule and biopsy for preimplantation genetic diagnosis

The equine embryo possesses a capsule that is considered essential for its survival. We assessed viability after breaching the capsule of early (Day 6) and expanded (Day 7 and 8) equine blastocysts by micromanipulation. The capsule was penetrated using a Piezo drill, and trophoblast biopsy samples were obtained for genetic analysis. Pregnancy rates for Day-6 embryos, which had intact zonae pellucidae at the time of recovery, were 3/3 for those biopsied immediately after recovery and 2/3 for those biopsied after being shipped overnight under warm (∼28 °C) conditions. The pregnancy rates for encapsulated Day-7 expanded blastocysts were 5/6 for those biopsied immediately and 5/6 for those biopsied after being shipped overnight warm. Two of four encapsulated Day-8 blastocysts, 790 and 1350 μm in diameter, established normal pregnancies after biopsy. Nine mares were allowed to maintain pregnancy, and they gave birth to nine normal foals. Biopsied cells from eight embryos that produced foals were subjected to whole-genome amplification. Sex was successfully determined from amplified DNA in 8/8 embryos. Identification of disease-causing mutations matched in the analyses of 6/6 samples for the sodium channel, voltage-gated, type IV, alpha subunit (SCN4A) gene and in 6/7 samples for the peptidylprolyl isomerase B (PPIB) gene, in embryo-foal pairs. Thus, the capsule of the equine embryo can be breached without impairing viability. Further work is needed to determine whether this breach is transient or permanent. These findings are relevant to the understanding of equine embryo development and to the establishment of methods for micromanipulation and embryo cryopreservation in this species.