A new formula for a mild body cleanser: sodium laureth sulphate supplemented with sodium laureth carboxylate and lauryl glucoside.

OBJECTIVE: Sodium laureth sulphate (SLES) is an anionic detergent, which has been used globally for personal care products because of its mildness and good foaming ability. However, SLES is somewhat invasive and stimulatory to the skin, and many consumers with sensitive skin desire milder detergents for daily use skin cleansers. We enhanced the mildness of SLES by formulating it with sodium laureth carboxylate (AEC) and lauryl glucoside (LG). METHODS: In skin soak tests, 5% detergent solutions were applied to the forearms of 10 Japanese healthy volunteers for 30 min followed by washing with tap water once a day for 4 days. Twenty-four hours after the last treatment, cutaneous capacitance measurements and visual analyses were performed. In a controlled usage study, 16 Japanese healthy volunteers used the test body cleanser for 4 weeks. Assessment of efficacy and mildness was conducted prior to the start of the study and at the end of week 4 by cutaneous conductance, dermoscopic evaluation of the stratum corneum and visual assessment by a dermatologist. RESULTS: In soak tests, cutaneous capacitance was significantly decreased on the soap-treated region and on the SLES-treated region. No significant decrease was identified on the SLES/AEC/LG-treated region with less induction of erythema or dryness. In the controlled usage study, no significant changes in cutaneous conductance or texture or damage of corneocytes on the forearm and lower thigh were found. However, visual assessment revealed a significant decrease in scaling and erythema on the lower thigh after 4 weeks of usage with an improvement of the discomfort of the consumer. The favourability rating of this formulated detergent in several questionnaire items was very good. CONCLUSION: The newly formulated skin cleanser with the combination of anionic surfactants SLES and AEC and the non-ionic surfactant LG provides a mild surfactant with a satisfactory cleansing activity for body washing.

[Molecular diagnosis of acquired human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in pooled plasma from blood donors at the Regional Blood Transfusion Center in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso]. / Diagnostic moléculaire du virus de l'immunodéficience humaine acquise (VIH) sur les pools de plasmas de donneurs de sang au centre régional de transfusion sanguine de Ouagadougou (CRST-O), Burkina Faso.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the use of viral genome diagnosis of HIV-1 infection in blood donors in the regional blood transfusion center in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. METHODOLOGY: This prospective study was carried out from August to December 2009 at the regional blood transfusion center in Ouagadougou (RBTC-O). Detection of HIV-1 was performed by RT-PCR on pooled plasma and individual samples from blood donors. Samples were selected based on reactivity with fourth generation ELISA. RESULTS: ELISA assays on 20 plasma pools demonstrated 10 negative samples, 8 positive and 2 undeterminable. All positive and negative ELISA tests were confirmed by RT-PCR. Findings of RT-PCR on individual samples confirmed those obtained on pooled plasma samples. For the two undeterminable pools, RT-PCR identified one as negative and the other as positive. Individual RT-PCR testing of donations contained in positive and negative pooled plasma samples confirmed negative or positive findings. CONCLUSIONS: Because of the high cost of RT-PCR, we recommend use first on minipools or individual samples from blood donors with questionable HIV-1 status to confirm status quickly and minimize loss of blood bags.

Production of antimicrobial defensin in Nicotiana benthamiana with a potato virus X vector.

A recombinant plasmid, pTXS.TH, was constructed to express the gene-encoding wasabi (Wasabia japonica) defensin with the potato virus X (PVX) vector. pTXS.TH allows the expression of defensin in the host Nicotiana benthamiana, and the defensin protein WT1 can be purified from virus-infected leaves by heat treatment and affinity chromatography. WT1 exhibits strong antifungal activity toward the phytopathogenic fungi Magnaporthe grisea (50% inhibitory concentration [IC50] = 5 microg/ml) and Botrytis cinerea (IC50 = 20 microg/ml) but is weakly active against the phytopathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas cichorii. This virus-mediated expression system is a rapid and efficient method to produce and characterize antimicrobial proteins in plants. It is particularly useful for the study of proteins that are difficult to produce with other expression systems.

Superoxide generation in extracts from isolated plant cell walls is regulated by fungal signal molecules.

ABSTRACT Fractions solubilized with NaCl from cell walls of pea and cowpea plants catalyzed the formation of blue formazan from nitroblue tetrazolium. Because superoxide dismutase decreased formazan production by over 90%, superoxide anion (O(2) ) may participate in the formation of formazan in the solubilized cell wall fractions. The formazan formation in the fractions solubilized from pea and cowpea cell walls was markedly reduced by exclusion of NAD(P)H, manganese ion, or p-coumaric acid from the reaction mixture. The formazan formation was severely inhibited by salicylhydroxamic acid and catalase, but not by imidazole, pyridine, quinacrine, and diphenyleneiodonium. An elicitor preparation from the pea pathogen Mycosphaerella pinodes enhanced the activities of formazan formation nonspecifically in both pea and cowpea fractions. The suppressor preparation from M. pinodes inhibited the activity in the pea fraction in the presence or absence of the elicitor. In the cowpea fraction, however, the suppressor did not inhibit the elicitor-enhanced activity, and the suppressor alone stimulated formazan formation. These results indicated that O(2) generation in the fractions solubilized from pea and cowpea cell walls seems to be catalyzed by cell wall-bound peroxidase(s) and that the plant cell walls alone are able to respond to the elicitor non-specifically and to the suppressor in a species-specific manner, suggesting the plant cell walls may play an important role in determination of plant-fungal pathogen specificity.

The role of Xmsx-2 in the anterior-posterior patterning of the mesoderm in Xenopus laevis.

Many molecules are involved in defining mesodermal patterning of the Xenopus embryo. In this paper, evidence is provided that a member of the msx family of genes, the Xmsx-2 gene, is involved in anterior-posterior patterning of the mesoderm. A comparison of its sequence to another previously cloned msx-2 Xenopus homolog, Xhox-7.1' [45] showed that they are closely related. The Xmsx-2 gene is first expressed at midgastrulation predominantly in the dorsal part of the embryo. It showed a complex pattern of spatial expression, consistent with a role in patterning of the anterior-posterior axis. This inference is confirmed by gain-of-function experiments in which overexpressed msx-2 mRNA in developing Xenopus embryos resulted in embryos lacking anterior structures. Analysis of markers in mutant embryos showed that genes involved in ventral-posterior patterning such as Xhox-3, Xwnt-8, and Xvent-1 were upregulated, confirming the posteriorized nature of the embryos. We believe that the Xmsx-2 gene is involved in refining the patterning of the anterior-posterior part of the dorsal mesoderm after the initial signals determining the dorsal or ventral nature of the mesoderm have been specified.

Induction of defense responses by synthetic glycopeptides that have a partial structure of the elicitor in the spore germination fluid of Mycosphaerella pinodes.

A high molecular weight elicitor (> 70 kDa) from spore germination fluid of a pea pathogen, Mycosphaerella pinodes, has a partial structure of beta-D-Glc-(1-->6)-alpha-D-Man-(1-->6)-D-Man, which is O-glycosidically attached to serine in the protein moiety. To elucidate the minimum structure for the elicitor activity to pea plants, the effects of nine glycopeptides including beta-D-Glc-(1-->6)-alpha-D-Man-(1-->6)-D-Man-O-Ser (No. 1) to [beta-D-Glc-(1-->6)-alpha-D-Man-(1-->6)-D-Man]3-O-Ser3-Pro3 (No. 9) on the infection by M. pinodes, superoxide generation and ATPase activity were measured. The glycopeptides [beta-D-Glc-(1-->6)-alpha-D-Man-(1-->6)-D-Man]-O-Ser2-Pro2 (No. 3) to No. 9 induced rejection reaction of pea tissue against M. pinodes. The glycopeptides No. 3 to No. 9 also induced superoxide generation on uninjured pea leaves. Moreover, the glycopeptides No. 3 to No. 9 induced in vitro the activation of cell wall-bound ATPase and superoxide generation system in the protein fraction solubilized from pea cell wall. The results indicate that the synthetic glycopeptides, No. 3 to No. 9, are available to analyze the signal transduction cascade leading to defense responses and the receptor for the elicitor.

Geographical distribution of genes for resistance to formae speciales of Erysiphe graminis in common wheat.

The geographical distribution of Pm10, Pm11, Pm14, and Pm15 wheat genes for resistance to inappropriate formae speciales of Erysiphe graminis was investigated using gene-for-gene relationships. Pm10 and Pm15 were very common among many indigenous accessions of common wheat collected from various areas in the world. The diversity of genotypes, which consisted of allelic combination at those loci, was high near the center of origin of common wheat and decreased with increasing distance from the center. In Europe, an apparent contrast of predominant genotypes occurred between the south and the north, suggesting that these genes are useful markers for revealing the routes by which common wheat spread in Europe. On a whole, the genes for resistance to inappropriate formae speciales were observed to be widely distributed throughout the world. We suggest that the difference between these genes and the genes for resistance to races of an appropriate forma specialis may only be in their distribution and that of their corresponding avirulence genes.

Overexpression of Bax inhibitor suppresses the fungal elicitor-induced cell death in rice (Oryza sativa L) cells.

Treatment of suspension-cultured cells of rice (Oryza sativa L.) with cell wall extract of rice blast fungus (Magnaporthe grisea) elicits a rapid generation of H2O2, alkalinization of culture medium, and eventual cell death. To elucidate genes involved in these processes, we exploited SAGE (Serial Analysis of Gene Expression) technique for the molecular analysis of cell death in suspension-cultured cells treated with the elicitor. Among the downregulated genes in the elicitor-treated cells, a BI-1 gene coding for Bax inhibitor was identified. Transgenic rice cells overexpressing Arabidopsis BI-1 gene showed sustainable cell survival when challenged with M. grisea elicitor. Thus, the plant Bax inhibitor plays a functional role in regulating cell death in the rice cell culture system.