Asparaginase Treatment of Sea Buckthorn Berries as an Effective Tool for Acrylamide Reduction in Nutritionally Enriched Wholegrain Wheat, Rye and Triticale Biscuits.

Sea buckthorn pomace is a by-product of juice production, which is still rich in bioactive compounds. After drying, the pomace can be effectively used as a valuable addition to bakery products supporting their nutritional value. However, due to the high content of the amino acid asparagine in sea buckthorn, this promising material contributes to the undesirable formation of acrylamide. To reduce the risk from this potentially carcinogenic compound, enzymatic treatment of sea buckthorn with asparaginase was applied, which resulted in a substantial reduction of asparagine content from 1834 mg/kg in untreated dried sea buckthorn pomace to 89 mg/kg in enzymatically treated dried sea buckthorn pomace. 10% substitution of wholegrain cereal flour with enzymatically treated sea buckthorn pomace powder in rye and triticale biscuits resulted in a 35% reduction in acrylamide content, in the case of wholegrain wheat biscuits up to a 64% reduction, compared to biscuits with untreated sea buckthorn pomace powder. This study confirmed that treating fruit with asparaginase is an effective way to reduce health risk caused by acrylamide in biscuits enriched with nutritionally valuable fruit pomace.

Synthesis of structural analogues of hexadecylphosphocholine and their antineoplastic, antimicrobial and amoebicidal activity.

Twelve derivatives of hexadecylphosphocholine (miltefosine) were synthesized to determine how the position and length of the alkyl chain within the molecule influence their biological activities. The prepared alkylphosphocholines have the same molecular formula as miltefosine. Activity of the compounds was studied against a spectrum of tumour cells, two species of protozoans, bacteria and yeast. Antitumour efficacy of some alkylphosphocholines measured up on MCF-7, A2780, HUT-78 and THP-1 cell lines was higher than that of miltefosine. The compounds showed antiprotozoal activity against Acanthamoeba lugdunensis and Acanthamoeba quina. Some of them also possess fungicidal activity against Candida albicans equal to miltefosine. No antibacterial activity was observed against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. A difference in position of a long hydrocarbon chain within the structure with maximum efficacy was observed for antitumour, antiprotozoal and antifungal activity.

Synthesis, self-aggregation and biological properties of alkylphosphocholine and alkylphosphohomocholine derivatives of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, cetylpyridinium bromide, benzalkonium bromide (C16) and benzethonium chloride.

A series of alkylphosphocholine and alkylphosphohomocholine derivatives of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, cetylpyridinium bromide, benzalkonium bromide (C16) and benzethonium chloride have been synthesized. Their physicochemical properties were also investigated. The critical micelle concentration (cmc), the surface tension value at the cmc (γcmc), and the surface area at the surface saturation per head group (Acmc) were determined by means of surface tension measurements. The prepared compounds exhibit significant cytotoxic, antifungal and antiprotozoal activities. Alkylphosphocholines and alkylphosphohomocholines possess higher antifungal activity against Candida albicans in comparison with quaternary ammonium compounds in general. However, quaternary ammonium compounds exhibit significantly higher activity against human tumor cells and pathogenic free-living amoebae Acanthamoeba lugdunensis and Acanthamoeba quina compared to alkylphosphocholines. The relationship between structure, physicochemical properties and biological activity of the tested compounds is discussed.

Determination of sevoflurane and its metabolite hexafluoroisopropanol by direct injection of human plasma into gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

The developed method for trace analysis of volatile components in plasma allows direct injection of up to 150 samples to the GC-MS/MS system without injector cleaning. This method requires no modification of plasma and the working environment does not interfere with the determination of these analytes. The method allows simultaneous quantification of non-polar sevoflurane and its polar metabolite hexafluoroisopropanol (free, unconjugated form). It is characterized by high repeatability and sensitivity with the detection limit of 0.009 mg L(-1) for sevoflurane and 0.018 mg L(-1) for hexafluoroisopropanol and the linear range 0.050-150 mg L(-1). The method was used to determine the concentration of sevoflurane and hexafluoroisopropanol in plasma samples of 7 patients undergoing general anesthesia with sevoflurane. The average concentration of sevoflurane and free hexafluoroisopropanol was 57.2 mg L(-1) and 0.39 mg L(-1), respectively. The method can be applied for clinical monitoring, as well as for analytical toxicology.