Application of cytochrome P450 reactivity on the characterization of chemical compounds and its association with repeated-dose toxicity.

Repeated-dose toxicity (RDT) studies are one of the critical studies to assess chemical safety. There have been some studies attempting to predict RDT endpoints based on chemical substructures, but it remains very difficult to establish such a method, and a more detailed characterization of chemical compounds seems necessary. Cytochrome P450s (P450s) comprise multiple forms with different substrate specificities and play important roles in both the detoxification and metabolic activation of xenobiotics.

Solution structure of the major fish allergen parvalbumin Sco j 1 derived from the Pacific mackerel.

Although fish is an important part of the human diet, it is also a common source of food allergy. The major allergen in fish is parvalbumin, a well-conserved Ca-binding protein found in the white muscle of many fish species. Here, we studied the solution structure of the parvalbumin Sco j 1, derived from the Pacific mackerel, using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

[Construction of the Database of Rat Repeated-dose Toxicity Tests of Pesticides for the Toxicological Characterization of Hepatocyte Hypertrophy].

Liver and hepatocyte hypertrophy can be induced by exposure to chemical compounds, but the mechanisms and toxicological characteristics of these phenomena have not yet been investigated extensively. In particular, it remains unclear whether the hepatocyte hypertrophy induced by chemical compounds should be judged as an adaptive response or an adverse effect. Thus, understanding of the toxicological characteristics of hepatocyte hypertrophy is of great importance to the safety evaluation of pesticides and other chemical compounds.

Optimization of drug viscosity used in gas-powered liquid jet injectors.

This paper describes the effect of drug viscosity on the performance of gas powered liquid jet injectors. The analysis is accomplished utilizing a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model that obtains the stagnation pressure at the nozzle outlet. The technique is based on previous work used to predict gas power driven injector piston velocity with time.

Reactive oxygen species-independent rapid initiation of mitochondrial apoptotic pathway by chelerythrine.

Chelerythrine, formerly identified as a protein kinase C inhibitor, has also been shown to inhibit the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins. However, recent studies have now demonstrated that chelerythrine can induce the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), a membrane permeability transition (MPT), and the subsequent activation of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway, even in the cells deficient in Bax and Bak. This suggests the existence of an alternative Bax/Bak-independent pathway for apoptosis.

Reproducibility and variance of a stimulation-induced hemodynamic response in barrel cortex of awake behaving mice.

The present work evaluated the reproducibility and variance of the cerebral blood flow (CBF) response to natural whisker stimulation in the barrel cortex of awake behaving mice. The animal was placed on an air float ball that allowed the animal to walk, while the head of the animal was fixed in a custom-made stereotactic apparatus. Dynamic CBF changes in the barrel cortex and animal locomotion were simultaneously monitored with laser-Doppler flowmetry (LDF) and an optical motion sensor that detected the rotation distance of the ball, respectively.

Death due to blood transfusion-induced anaphylactic shock: A case report.

In medical practice, many clinical accidents due to blood transfusion reactions have been reported, among which, nonhemolytic transfusion reactions (NHTRs) have been mainly reported in recent years. NHTRs induce reactions such as anaphylactic shock and transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI); however, few forensic autopsy case reports with blood transfusion reactions including anaphylactic shock have been published. A marker for anaphylactic shock is serum tryptase, which indicates systematic mast cell activation in living patients.