Moderate Weight Loss Modifies Leptin and Ghrelin Synthesis Rhythms but Not the Subjective Sensations of Appetite in Obesity Patients.

Obesity is characterized by a resistance to appetite-regulating hormones, leading to a misalignment between the physiological signals and the perceived hunger/satiety signal. A disruption of the synthesis rhythm may explain this situation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary-induced weight loss on the daily rhythms of leptin and ghrelin and its influence on the daily variability of the appetite sensations of patients with obesity. Twenty subjects with obesity underwent a hypocaloric dietary intervention for 12 weeks. Plasma leptin and ghrelin were analyzed at baseline and at the end of the intervention and in 13 normal-weight controls. Appetite ratings were analyzed. Weight loss decreased leptin synthesis (pauc < 0.001) but not the rhythm characteristics, except the mean variability value (pmesor = 0.020). By contrast, the mean ghrelin level increased after weight loss. The rhythm characteristics were also modified until a rhythm similar to the normal-weight subjects was reached. The amount of variability of leptin and ghrelin was correlated with the effectiveness of the dietary intervention (p < 0.020 and p < 0.001, respectively). Losing weight partially restores the daily rhythms of leptin and modifies the ghrelin rhythms, but appetite sensations are barely modified, thus confirming that these hormones cannot exercise their physiological function properly.

Preparation of nanocrystalline forsterite by combustion of different fuels and their comparative in-vitro bioactivity, dissolution behaviour and antibacterial studies.

This study presents different fuels (Glycine and Urea) that can be used to synthesize nanocrystalline forsterite by the sol-gel combustion method. The weight change of precursor during thermal treatment was studied by thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA). Pure forsterite was characterized by heating microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The HAP (hydroxyapatite) deposition ability, degradation and dissolution behaviour of forsterite was examined in simulated body fluid (SBF). The combusted forsterite precursor showed distinct thermal behaviour for each fuel when analyzed by heating microscopy. BET analysis showed that the particle size of forsterite synthesized using glycine was 28nm, specific surface area 65.11m2/g and average pore diameter 16.4nm while using urea 1.951µm, 0.939m2/g, and 30.5nm are the respective parameters. The dissolution of forsterite pointed to the consumption of Ca and P ions from SBF, the negligible release of Si ion into the SBF and these ionic interactions with SBF can be altered as per the material properties. The forsterite showed good antibacterial activity against S. aureus but lower activity against E. coli. The bactericidal activity of forsterite indicated that it can be used to inhibit biofilm formation in dental, bone implants and bacterial infection during surgical operations.

Hantzsch-Type dihydropyridines and Biginelli-type tetra-hydropyrimidines: a review of their chemotherapeutic activities.

Years after the first report on 1,4-dihydropyridines (1,4-DHPs) and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidines (1,2,3,4-THPMs) appeared, they are revisited as plausible therapeutic agents. This is mainly due to the convenient methods that exist for their synthesis and the diverse pharmacologic properties that these scaffolds present. 1,4-Dihydropyridines and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidines are usually regarded as analogous in several aspects. They are both prepared in multi-component reactions using very similar starting materials and synthesis protocols. This leads to common structural features between 1,4-DHPs and 1,2,3,4-THPMs, as well several related biological effects. For example, they share many pharmacological features such as analgesic, anti-tumor, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antitubercular, antibacterial, cardiovascular and adrenoceptor blocking activities. Numerous reviews have been devoted to the chemistry and cardiovascular effects of these compounds. However, the lack of a comprehensive literature overview on the chemotherapeutic ability of these scaffolds is behind the present attempt to provide a detailed survey of 1,4-DHPs and 1,2,3,4-THPMs and their structural features as chemotherapeutic agents.