Safety, Tolerability, and Pharmacokinetics of β-Cryptoxanthin Supplementation in Healthy Women: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.

Background: β-cryptoxanthin is a dietary carotenoid for which there have been few studies on the safety and pharmacokinetics following daily oral supplementation.

Methods: 90 healthy Asian women between 21 and 35 years were randomized into three groups: 3 and 6 mg/day oral β-cryptoxanthin, and placebo. At 2, 4, and 8 weeks of supplementation, plasma carotenoid levels were measured.

A curve free Bayesian decision-theoretic design for phase Ia/Ib trials considering both safety and efficacy outcomes.

A curve-free, Bayesian decision-theoretic two-stage design is proposed to select biological efficacious doses (BEDs) for phase Ia/Ib trials in which both toxicity and efficacy signals are observed. No parametric models are assumed to govern the dose-toxicity, dose-efficacy, and toxicity-efficacy relationships. We assume that the dose-toxicity curve is monotonic non-decreasing and the dose-efficacy curve is unimodal.

Higher maternal plasma β-cryptoxanthin concentration is associated with better cognitive and motor development in offspring at 2 years of age.

Purpose: Current literature on the roles of α-, β-carotene and β-cryptoxanthin in neurocognitive function has largely focused on preventing cognitive decline in older people, and less on neuro-development in children. We examined the relations of maternal plasma carotenoids concentrations with offspring cognitive development up to age 4.5 years in the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes mother-offspring cohort study.

Maternal Lutein and Zeaxanthin Concentrations in Relation to Offspring Visual Acuity at 3 Years of Age: The GUSTO Study.

Lutein and zeaxanthin play important roles in visual functions, but their influence on early visual development is unclear. We related maternal lutein and zeaxanthin concentrations during pregnancy to offspring visual acuity (VA) in 471 mother-child pairs from the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) cohort. Maternal concentrations of plasma lutein and zeaxanthin were determined at delivery.

Urine phyto-oestrogen metabolites are not significantly associated with risk of type 2 diabetes: the Singapore Chinese health study.

We evaluated the relationship between urine concentrations of phyto-oestrogens (isoflavones and lignans) and risk of incident type 2 diabetes in middle-aged and elderly Chinese residing in Singapore. Urine metabolites of isoflavones and lignans were assayed by HPLC among 564 diabetes cases and 564 matched controls in a case-control study nested within the Singapore Chinese Health Study cohort. Participants were free of diagnosed diabetes, CVD and cancer at morning urine collections during 1999-2004.

A curve-free Bayesian decision-theoretic design for two-agent Phase I trials.

Although Bayesian statistical methods are gaining attention in the medical community, as they provide a natural framework for incorporating prior information, the complexity of these methods limited their adoptions in clinical trials. This article proposes a Bayesian design for two-agent Phase I trials that is relatively easy for clinicians to understand and implement, yet performs comparably to more complex designs, so that it is more likely to be adopted in actual trials. In order to reduce model complexity and computational burden, we choose a working model with conjugate priors so that the posterior distributions have analytical expressions.

A two-dimensional search algorithm for dose-finding trials of two agents.

Existing algorithms for identifying the maximum tolerated combination in dose-finding trials of two agents are mostly one-dimensional. Moreover, these algorithms use only the frequency of observed dose-limiting toxicities as the basis for dose escalations and deescalations. In this article, we propose a two-dimensional algorithm that uses not only the frequency but also the source of dose-limiting toxicities to direct dose escalations and deescalations.

Two for the price of one: a dual treatment benefit of long-acting octreotide in occult bleeding and diuretic intractable ascites.

Transfusion-dependent anaemia and portal hypertension are recognised complications of hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT). The anaemia is a result of chronic bleeding from gastrointestinal telangiectasias, which are usually multiple and located throughout the gastrointestinal tract. As a result, treatment with argon plasma coagulation via gastroscopy and or colonoscopy is often insufficient to prevent ongoing blood loss.

Comprehensive high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the measurements of lipophilic antioxidants in human plasma.

Owing to the increasing interest in the health effects of antioxidant micronutrients on chronic diseases, a robust and rapid HPLC method for simultaneous measurement of coenzyme Q(10) (ubiquinone and ubiquinol), vitamin A (all-trans-retinol), vitamin E (tocopherols and tocotrienols) and carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene and beta-carotene) was developed. Sample preparation and analytical conditions that would affect solubility and stability of these antioxidants were investigated and optimized. The mobile phase used was made up of acetonitrile, methanol, ethanol and tert-butanol without corrosive additives such as ammonium perchlorate and perchloric acid.

A North American brain tumor consortium phase II study of poly-ICLC for adult patients with recurrent anaplastic gliomas.

This phase II study was designed to determine the objective response rate and 6-month progression free survival of adult patients with recurrent supratentorial anaplastic glioma when treated with the immune modulator, polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid stabilized with polylysine and carboxymethylcellulose (poly-ICLC). This was an open-labeled, single arm phase II study. Patients were treated with poly-ICLC alone.

Peroxyl radical scavenging capacity, polyphenolics, and lipophilic antioxidant profiles of mulberry fruits cultivated in southern China.

Twenty-seven cultivars of mulberry fruits ( Morus atropurpurea Roxb) were analyzed for their total phenolic content, total anthocyanin content, and peroxyl radical scavenging capacities. The proanthocyanidin contents of the fruit were also quantified using 4-dimethylamino-cinnamaldehyde assay, and characterization was attempted using electrospray ionization mass spectra. The phenolic compounds of mulberry fruits were characterized using HPLC with ESI-MS and diode array detection.

Association of blood lead and homocysteine levels among lead exposed subjects in Vietnam and Singapore.

Objectives: Lead and homocysteine are both linked to cardiovascular disease. With this in mind, the authors evaluated the relation between blood lead and homocysteine in people aged 19-66 years in two Asian populations.

Methods: This cross-sectional study comprised 183 workers from a lead stabiliser factory in Singapore and 323 workers from a battery factory in Vietnam.

A sensitive liquid chromatographic method for the spectrophotometric determination of urinary trans,trans-muconic acid.

Benzene is a human carcinogen and its metabolite, urinary trans,trans-muconic acid (ttMA), is a biomarker for risk assessment. However, most of the existing methods were not sensitive enough for monitoring of low level exposure. This paper describes a HPLC-UV method for ttMA determination with enhanced selectivity and sensitivity.

Monomeric C18 chromatographic method for the liquid chromatographic determination of lipophilic antioxidants in plants.

Reversed-phase liquid chromatography was used to determine lipophilic antioxidants in plants using two monomeric C18 columns operated at 30 degrees C and 4 degrees C, with a column-switching technique and acetonitrile-methanol gradient elution. The chromatograms were extracted at different wavelengths using a UV diode array detector (DAD). A wide range of plant antioxidants, including nine carotenoids (neoxanthin, violaxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, canthaxanthin, alpha-carotene and beta-carotene) together with all-trans-retinol, capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin, chlorophyll a, and chlorophyll b can be separated within 50 min.

Uracil in DNA, determined by an improved assay, is increased when deoxynucleosides are added to folate-deficient cultured human lymphocytes.

Folate deficiency leads to increased dUMP/dTMP ratios and uracil misincorporation into DNA, which may increase cancer risk. We improved a previously described gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) assay for uracil in DNA and validated the assay by analyzing the DNA-uracil content of normal, primary human lymphocytes that were cultured in 0-3000 nM folic acid. In addition, the effects of nucleoside mixtures T or TdCA (T, thymidine; A, adenosine; dC, deoxycytidine) were investigated.

Respiratory infections with Pseudomonas aeruginosa in children with cystic fibrosis: early detection by serology and assessment of risk factors.

Context: Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are susceptible to lower respiratory tract infections with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and typically acquire this organism in early childhood. Once P aeruginosa infection is established, eradication may be impossible, and progressive lung disease often aggravates morbidity and mortality risks. The ability to diagnose CF by genetic testing at birth makes it possible to determine the temporal sequence of events that result in P aeruginosa-associated pulmonary infections.

Coenzyme Q10 and differences in coronary heart disease risk in Asian Indians and Chinese.

Indians or South Asians have been found to be particularly susceptible to coronary heart disease (CHD) in many countries. A novel risk factor for CHD may be coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). In this study, plasma CoQ10 (including ubiquinol-10, CoQ10H2, and total CoQ10), various lipid parameters, and antioxidant levels were determined in a random sample of Indians and Chinese from the general population of Singapore.