New High-performance Liquid Chromatography-DAD Method for Analytical Determination of Arbutin and Hydroquinone in Rat Plasma.

Natural substances present in herbal preparations should be carefully used because they can give toxic or therapeutic effects despite of their amount or the way of administration. The safety of products of vegetable origin must be assessed before commercialisation by monitoring the active ingredients and their metabolites. This study was therefore designed to identify and quantify arbutin and its metabolite hydroquinone, naturally present in Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng plant in rat plasma, after an acute and subacute administration of aqueous arbutin solution in Wistar rats. For this purpose a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection was developed to assess the pharmacokinetic of arbutin and hydroquinone in plasma of female rats treated with aqueous arbutin solutions. The detection (arbutin: 0.0617 µg/ml and hydroquinone 0.0120 µg/ml) and quantification (arbutin: 0.2060 µg/ml and hydroquinone: 0.0400 µg/ml) limits were determined. At the arbutin concentration level of 10.7 µg/ml repeatability was 13.33% and its recovery 93.4±6.93%, while at the hydroquinone concentration level of 10.6 µg/ml repeatability was 11.66% and its recovery 92.9±7.75%. Furthermore the method was fully validated and the obtained data indicate that the new method provides good performances.

Evaluation of allergenicity of genetically modified soybean protein extract in a murine model of oral allergen-specific sensitization.

BACKGROUND: With the development of genetically modified crop plants there has been a growing interest in the approaches available to assess the potential allergenicity of novel gene products. For additional assessment of the potential allergenicity of expressed proteins, informative data can be generated using animal models. Soybean is one of the major source of protein in human and animal nutrition, and has also been well characterized as a major allergenic source. Advances in biotechnology have resulted in an increasing number of genetically engineered foods, and among these soybean is one of the most widespread. OBJECTIVE: To develop and characterize a murine model of IgE-mediated soybean sensitization induced by intragastric immunization, in the presence of Cholera Toxin, with wild-type soybean extract (wt-SE) or with genetically modified soybean extract (gm-SE). METHODS: Balb/c mice born in our animal facilities, from females fed on soy-free food, were fed with the same soy-free food and used in all the experiments. Mice were sensitized by gavages with soybean extracts, and allergen-specific IgE and IgG responses were studied by direct ELISA and ELISA inhibition. Antigen-specific cell proliferation and cytokine production were evaluated in spleen cell cultures. Results Sensitization with both soybean extracts induced high levels of antigen-specific IgE and IgG1 and low levels of specific IgG2a. Both wt-SE and gm-SE were able to inhibit the binding of specific IgE from mice immunized with gm-SE to the same antigen used for the ELISA coating. A comparable proliferative response was obtained with the homologous as well as with the heterologous extracts. CONCLUSION: In sensitized mice, we observed a predominantly T-helper type 2 (Th2)-type immune response, with increased soybean-specific IgE and IgG1 antibodies and a concomitant increase of IL-4 and IL-5 production. RESULTS: obtained by specific IgE ELISA inhibition and by antigen-specific T cell proliferation demonstrated that wt-SE and gm-SE shared B and T epitopes. The present murine model of soybean sensitization established by the oral route should provide valuable information about risk assessment for food allergy from new proteins of genetically modified foods.

Study of immunological and virological parameters during thalidomide treatment of SIV-infected cynomolgus monkeys.

The potential therapeutic utility of thalidomide (Thd), an effective inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in vitro, was investigated in cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) at 10 months after infection with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). Thd-treated macaques (n = 8) received an oral dose (10 mg) daily for 7 days, followed by a wash-out period of 5 weeks. A 2nd cycle of treatment was performed on the same animals at higher doses (20 mg Thd/day) for 14 days. The control monkeys (n = 7) received a placebo for the same period of time. In the present study, we show that Thd, in addition to inhibiting TNF-alpha production after in vitro mitogen stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), was able to restore the proliferative responses to SIV peptides in monkeys that were infected with SIV. Interestingly, we found that such effects are associated with an increased expression of CD28 cell surface receptors on CD4+ T-cells paralleled by a decrease on CD8+ T-cells. At the same time, significant reduction in either cell-associated viral load or plasma viral RNA was not observed among the SIV-infected monkeys during the two treatment cycles, when compared with the placebo group.

Vaginal immunization of Cynomolgus monkeys with Streptococcus gordonii expressing HIV-1 and HPV 16 antigens.

Cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were immunized by intravaginal administration of live recombinant Streptococcus gordonii. The vaccine strains of S. gordonii expressed the V3 domain of the gpl20 of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), and the E7 protein of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV 16). Multiple inocula of recombinant bacteria were used, since S. gordonii could persist for no longer than 3 days in the monkey vagina. Vaginal immunization was found to induce a local and systemic immune response specific for the heterologous antigen expressed by the bacteria. This antigen-specific immune response consisted of vaginal IgA, serum IgG, and a T-cell proliferative response measured on PBMCs. Vaginal IgG and serum IgA were not detected.

Longitudinal characterization of CD4, CD8 T-cell subsets and of haematological parameters in healthy newborns of cynomolgus monkeys.

A longitudinal characterization of immune cell subpopulations (lymphocytes, CD4+ and CD8+ cells), of routine haematological parameters and of immunoglobulin serum levels was carried out in newborn Macaca fascicularis starting from 1 week up to 1 year of life. In neonates, the percentage of CD4+ lymphocytes is almost double, while the percentage of CD8+ cells is lower than that found in adult monkeys (> 5-years old). An inverted trend in the percentage of the two T-lymphocyte subpopulations was observed during the weeks following birth, with a progressive increase of circulating CD8+, paralleled by a decrease of CD4+ cell number. Consequently, the CD4/CD8 ratio slowly decreases, even if, at 12 months of life, it is still higher than that found in adult animals. Several differences were also noted between young and adult monkeys with regard to the total number of circulating CD4+ and CD8+ cells. Haematological parameters did not show consistent differences with respect to adult values. The plasma IgG level is high at birth, then decreases until 6 months of life, while the IgM and IgA values are very low during the first weeks of life but increase in the following period. Our data showed that variations of immunological (CD4+, CD8+ cells) patterns and of some haematological parameters in M. fascicularis are dependent on age. These variations should be therefore considered whenever young animals are used in experimental protocols.

Live attenuated simian immunodeficiency virus prevents super-infection by cloned SIVmac251 in cynomolgus monkeys.

The ability of a live attenuated simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) to protect against challenge with cloned SIVmac251/BK28 was evaluated in four cynomolgus macaques. The intravenous infection of the C8 variant of the SIVmac251/32H virus, carrying an in-frame 12 bp deletion in the nef gene, did not affect the CD4+ and CD8+ cell counts, and a persistent infection associated with an extremely low virus burden in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was established. After 40 weeks, these monkeys were challenged intravenously with a 50 MID50 dose of SIVmac251/BK28 virus grown on macaque cells. Four naive monkeys were infected as controls. Monkeys were monitored for 62 weeks following challenge. Attempts to rescue virus from either PBMCs or bone marrow from the C8-vaccinated monkeys were unsuccessful, but in two cases virus was re-isolated from lymph node cells. The presence of the SIV provirus with the C8 variant genotype maintaining its original nef deletion was shown by differential PCR in PBMCs, lymph nodes and bone marrow. Furthermore, in contrast to the control monkeys, the vaccinated monkeys showed normal levels for CD4+ and CD8+ cells, minimal lymphoid hyperplasia and no clinical signs of infection. Our results confirm that vaccination with live attenuated virus can confer protection. This appears to be dependent on the ability of the C8 variant to establish a persistent but attenuated infection which is necessary for inducing an immune response, as suggested by the persistence of a strong immune B cell memory and by the over-expression of interleukin (IL)-2, interferon-gamma and IL-15 mRNAs in PBMCs of C8-vaccinated monkeys but not in those of control monkeys.

Immunization of Macaca fascicularis with inactivated SIV preparations: challenge with human- or monkey-derived SIV and the effects of a longer immunization schedule.

In cynomolgus monkeys, we compared two human-derived SIVmac251 whole virus vaccines, a long vs short immunization schedule, and two different challenge viruses. Both vaccines induced protection after challenge with human-derived SIVmac251/32H. There was no difference between the two schedules of immunization. Seven monkeys, five of which were protected following the first challenge, were reboosted and rechallenged with monkey-derived SIVmac251, but no protection was observed. The titers of anti-human cell or -SIV neutralizing antibodies were not related to protection.