Catechols from abietic acid synthesis and evaluation as bioactive compounds.

Catechols from abietic acid were prepared by a short and good yielding chemical process and further evaluated for several biological activities namely, antifungal, antitumoral, antimutagenic, antiviral, antiproliferative and inhibition of nitric oxide. Their properties were compared with those of carnosic acid (6), a naturally occurring catechol with an abietane skeleton and known to possess potent antioxidant activity, as well as anticancer and antiviral properties. From all the synthetic catechols tested compound 2 showed the best activities, stronger than carnosic acid.

Calcium-parathyroid hormone-vitamin D axis and metabolic bone disease in chronic viral liver disease.

BACKGROUND: The main process involved in hepatic osteodystrophy seems to be osteoporosis, but decreased 25-hydroxylation of vitamin D might lead to osteomalacia and secondary hyperparathyroidism. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied bone mineral density (BMD) by using DEXA-Expert Lunar, biochemical markers of bone turnover and calcium-parathyroid hormone (PTH)-vitamin D axis in 100 patients with chronic viral hepatitis secondary to hepatitis C virus: 49 non-cirrhotic (NCir) and 51 with cirrhosis (Cir) confirmed by liver biopsy and/or clinical and biochemical features. When compared to the age-matched population, 25% of the patients had low BMD at the lumbar spine (LS), 26.2% at Ward's triangle, 15.5% at the femoral neck (FN), and 20.2% at the trochanter. No difference was found either between Cir and NCir groups or between sexes. Urinary N-telopeptide was increased in 31.86% of the patients, and negatively correlated with BMD at the LS and trochanter (P < 0.02). Serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase was elevated in 21% of the patients and negatively correlated with BMD at the trochanter and Ward's triangle (P < 0.02). Fasting 25-hydroxyvitamin D was low in only three Cir patients, with no difference between the Cir and NCir groups, but it was higher in men (51.8 +/- 16.0 ng/mL) compared to women (40.4 +/- 14.4 ng/mL; P = 0.001). Fasting serum calcium was lower in Cir than NCir patients, P = 0.019. Fasting intact PTH was elevated in 42% of the patients, but the mean serum levels were similar in Cir and NCir groups. CONCLUSION: We found no evidence of vitamin D deficiency, but cannot exclude the participation of PTH in the high bone turnover and bone loss in the population with chronic viral hepatitis.

Genotoxicity of instant coffee and of some phenolic compounds present in coffee upon nitrosation.

Instant coffee exhibits genotoxic activity upon nitrosation at acidic pH values in the Ames tester strain TA100. Using adsorption chromatography (Amberlit XAD-2) it was observed that the major fraction of molecules responsible for the genotoxic activity upon nitrosation was not retained on this resin, suggesting that the polar molecules present in instant coffee could be responsible for the genotoxicity observed upon nitrosation. Some phenolic molecules present in instant coffee (catechol, caffeic acid, and chlorogenic acid) were also genotoxic upon nitrosation under the same experimental conditions. The concentrations of nitrosatable phenolic compounds in the studied coffee were determined by HPLC and their contributions to the total genotoxicity observed were studied. The results obtained suggest that besides phenolic compounds other molecules were also involved in the genotoxicity of this beverage upon nitrosation. Teratogenesis Carcinog. Mutagen. 20:241-249, 2000.

Incidência de mortalidade embrionária em ovelhas submetidas à inseminaçäo artificial / Embryonic mortality in sheep inseminated artificially

A pesquisa incidiu sobre 170 ovelhas adultas da raça Corriedale, criadas em regime extensivo, sob moderadas condiçöes de nutriçäo, com peso médio de 35-40 kg, divididas em cinco grupos, sendo dois com estro induzido hormonalmente. O trabalho foi efetuado durante as estaçöes reprodutivas de 1986 e 1988, e os animais foram inseminados com sêmen fresco e congelado, pelas vias cervical e intra-uterina, esta mediante laparoscopia. A mortalidade embrionária foi medida indiretamente, pela relaçäo entre o número de fetos e o número de corpos lúteos encontrados nas ovelhas abatidas e que näo retornaram ao estro no prazo de 20 dias. A incidência da mortalidade embrionária mostrou-se equivalente quando se empregou o sêmen congelado pelas vias cervical e intra-uterina. O mesmo ocorreu com o uso do sêmen fresco e congelado pela via cervical, quando se utilizou o estro espontâneo. A mortalidade embrionária foi significativamente maior quando se aplicou sêmen congelado, tanto pela via cervical como intra-uterina, no estro induzido. O tratamento hormonal apesar de lograr aumento da taxa ovulatória näo influiu favoravelmente na prolificidade das ovelhas tratadas näo sendo por isso indicado para rebanhos que näo estejam em condiçöes nutritivas favoráveis