Alternative to Ph. Eur. pour-plate method for detection of microbial contamination in non-sterile pharmaceutical preparations.

The current European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) texts for Interferon (IFN)-alfa-2 include a nonspecific photometric protein assay using albumin as calibrator and a highly variable cell-based assay for the potency determination of the protective effects.

A new isoleucine substitution of Val-20 in transthyretin tetramers selectively impairs dimer-dimer contacts and causes systemic amyloidosis.

The most frequent form of inherited amyloidoses is associated with mutations in the transthyretin (TTR) gene coding for 127-amino acid residues of four identical, noncovalently linked subunits that form a pair of dimers in the plasma protein complex. Amyloid fibrils containing the variant and to a lesser extent the wild-type form of the TTR molecule are deposited in various organs, including peripheral nerves and the myocardium, with polyneuropathy and cardiomyopathy as major clinical manifestations. So far, more than 40 distinct amino acid substitutions distributed throughout the TTR sequence over 30 positions have been found to be correlated with an increased amyloidogenicity of TTR.

[Quantitative studies assessing daytime fatigue, vigilance and attention before and after nCPAP therapy of sleep apnea syndrome].

As far as day symptoms are concerned, excessive drowsiness and tendency to fall asleep are signposts in diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnoea syndrome exercising a decisive influence on the patient's quality of life. Recent studies (Findley et al., 1988; George et al.

Biosynthesis of gallotannins : Enzymatic 'disproportionation' of 1,6-digalloylglucose to 1,2,6-trigalloylglucose and 6-galloylglucose by an acyltransferase from leaves of Rhus typhina L.

Cell-free extracts from leaves of Rhus typhina L. (sumach) were found to transfer the 1-O-galloyl moiety of l,6-di-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose to the 2-position of the same compound, yielding 1,2,6-tri-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose and leaving 6-O-galloylglucose as the deacylated by-product. The enzyme catalyzing this 'disproportionation' was purified almost 1700-fold.

Biosynthesis of gallotannins: beta-glucogallin-dependent formation of 1,2,3,4,6-pentagalloylglucose by enzymatic galloylation of 1,2,3,6-tetragalloylglucose.

An acyltransferase was detected in young leaves of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) that catalyzed the formation of 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-beta-D-glucose, the common precursor of gallotannins and the related ellagitannins. This enzyme depended on beta-glucogallin (1-O-galloyl-beta-D-glucose) as acyl donor; 1,2,3,6-tetra-O-galloyl-beta-D-glucose was specifically required as acceptor molecule, whereas no reaction occurred with the 1,2,4,6-isomer of this substrate. The partially purified enzyme (Mr 260,000) was stable between pH 5.