Metformin treatment prevents gallstone formation but mimics porcelain gallbladder in C57Bl/6 mice.

Gallstone disease (GD) is highly correlated with metabolic syndrome and its related illnesses including type II diabetes (DMII) and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). While previous studies claimed that metformin decreases the chance of developing GD in PCOS patients, this phenomenon has not been investigated in animal models to date. Here we fed a high fat diet (HFD) containing 2% of cholesterol and 1% of cholic acid to ten-week-old male C57Bl/6 mice for 105 days.

Increasing thermal stability and catalytic activity of glutamate decarboxylase in E. coli: An in silico study.

Glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) is an enzyme that converts l-glutamate to gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) that is a widely used drug to treat mental disorders like Alzheimer's disease. In this study for the first time point mutation was performed virtually in the active site of the E. coli GAD in order to increase thermal stability and catalytic activity of the enzyme.

Sulfur Removal from Dibenzothiophene by Newly Isolated Paenibacillus validus Strain PD2 and Process Optimization in Aqueous and Biphasic (Model-Oil) Systems.

Dibenzothiophene (DBT) is an organic sulfur compound which remains in oil after hydrodesulfurization (HDS) process and can be removed by biodesulfurization (BDS). A new strain of Paenibacillus validus (strain PD2) was isolated from oil contaminated soils that is able to desulfurize DBT. HPLC analysis and Gibbs assay showed that this strain was capable to convert DBT to 2-Hydroxybiphenyl (2-HBP) as final product.