Ethyl 1-benzyl-3-(4-methyl-phen-yl)-1H-pyrazole-5-carboxyl-ate.

In the title compound, C(20)H(20)N(2)O(2), the pyrazole ring makes dihedral angles of 15.68 (4) and 83.40 (4)°, respectively, with the tolyl and benzyl rings, respectively.

[Quantitative structure activity relationship models based on heuristic method and gene expression programming for the prediction of the pK(a) values of sulfa drugs].

Quantitative structure-property relationships (QSPR) were developed to predict the pK(a) values of sulfa drugs via heuristic method (HM) and gene expression programming (GEP). The descriptors of 31 sulfa drugs were calculated by the software CODESSA, which can calculate constitutional, topological, geometrical, electrostatic, and quantum chemical descriptors. HM was also used for the preselection of 4 appropriate molecular descriptors. Linear and nonlinear QSPR models were developed based on the HM and GEP separately and two prediction models lead to a good correlation coefficient (R) of 0.90 and 0.95. The two QSPR models are tseful in predicting pK(a) during the discovery of new drugs and providing theory information for studying the new drugs.

2-(2-Methyl-5-nitro-1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethyl N-methyl-carbamate.

In the title compound, C(8)H(12)N(4)O(4), the essentially planar methyl-carbamoyloxymethyl group [maximum deviation 0.038 (3) Å] and the imidazole ring make a dihedral angle of 48.47 (3)°. The crystal packing is stabilized by inter-molecular N-H⋯N and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, which link the mol-ecules into infinite ribbons running along the a axis, and by weak π-π stacking inter-actions [centroid-centroid distance = 3.894 (2) Å].

11H-Dibenzo[b,e]azepine-6-carbonitrile.

The title compound, C(15)H(10)N(2), crystallizes with two independent mol-ecules in the asymmetric unit. The two benzene rings make dihedral angles of 60.32 (2) and 61.35 (3)°. The crystal packing is stabilized by weak π-π stacking inter-actions [centroid-to-centroid distances = 3.673 (4) and 3.793 (4) Å].

6-Gingerol attenuates LPS-induced neuroinflammation and cognitive impairment partially via suppressing astrocyte overactivation.

6-Gingerol, the major component of gingerols extracted from Zingiber officinale, has been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory and antioxidant bioactivities. Since neuroinflammation plays an important role in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), and astrocytes have been considered important in the process of neurodegeneration, it was of interest to know whether 6-gingerol reduced astrocytes activation or even attenuated cognitive impairment. Here we examined the neuroprotective effects of 6-gingerol in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced disorder models both in vitro and in vivo. C6 astroglioma cells treated with LPS were found to release excessive pro-inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α and IL-6, and also increase intercellular ROS, NO, and iNOS (i.e. NOS2). All these were blocked by 6-gingerol in a concentration-dependent manner. The spatial learning and memory of rats challenged with LPS (10 µg, i.c.v.) in the absence or presence of 6-gingerol were evaluated using the Morris water-maze (MWM) test. 6-Gingerol attenuated LPS-induced imapirement of MWM learning and memory in a dose-dependent manner. Besides, 6-gingerol inhibited LPS-induced increases in levels of GFAP and TNF-α in the rat brain. The results suggest that 6-gingerol suppresses astrocyte overactivation, through which it contributes to improvement of cognitive ability.

Gene expression profiles in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of ulcerative colitis patients.

AIM: To identify peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) gene expression profiles of ulcerative colitis (UC) patients, using oligonucleotide microarrays, to gain insights into UC molecular mechanisms. METHODS: The Human OneArray microarrays were used for a complete genome-wide transcript profiling of PBMCs from 12 UC patients and 6 controls. Differential analysis per gene was performed with a random variance model; t test and P values were adjusted to control the false discovery rate (5%). Gene ontology (GO) was deployed to analyze differentially expressed genes at significant levels between patients and controls to identify the biological processes involved in UC. RESULTS: Comparative analysis revealed that 4438 probes (4188 genes) were differentially expressed between the two groups, of which 3689 probes (3590 genes) were down-regulated whereas 749 probes (598 genes) were up-regulated. Many disregulated genes in our data have been reported by previous microarray studies carried out on intestinal mucosa samples, such as S100A8, CEACAM1 and S100A9. GO enrichment analysis revealed 67 high enrichment up-regulated categories and one significant down-regulated category. The up-regulated genes were mainly involved in immune and inflammatory response, cell cycle and proliferation, DNA metabolism and repair. CONCLUSION: Gene expression profiling of PBMCs from patients with UC has highlighted several novel gene categories that could contribute to the pathogenesis of UC.