Indices of iron homeostasis in asymptomatic subjects with HFE mutations and moderate ferritin elevation during iron removal treatment.

We analysed iron biomarkers and their relationships in 30 subjects with HFE mutations and moderate hyperferritinaemia undergoing iron removal at our blood donation centre. Body mass index (BMI) and liver enzymes were assessed. Serum iron (SI), ferritin, transferrin saturation (TSAT), hepcidin and non-transferrin bound iron (NTBI) were measured serially.

β-Amyloid in Cerebrospinal Fluid: How to Keep It Floating (Not Sticking) by Standardization of Preanalytic Processes and Collection Tubes.

Background: Phosphorylated tau (pTau), total tau (tTau), and β-amyloid (Aβ) are established cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers used to help diagnose Alzheimer disease. Preanalytic workups of CSF samples lack harmonization, making interlaboratory comparison of these biomarkers challenging. The Aβ adsorbs to sample tubes, yielding underestimated concentrations, and may result in false Alzheimer disease diagnosis.

Cytokine and Gene Expression Profiling in Patients with HFE-Associated Hereditary Hemochromatosis according to Genetic Profile.

Background: Hemochromatosis gene (HFE)-associated hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is characterized by downregulation of hepcidin synthesis, leading to increased intestinal iron absorption.

Objectives: The objectives were to characterize and elucidate a possible association between gene expression profile, hepcidin levels, disease severity, and markers of inflammation in HFE-associated HH patients.

Methods: Thirty-nine HFE-associated HH patients were recruited and assigned to 2 groups according to genetic profile: C282Y homozygotes in 1 group and patients with H63D, as homozygote or in combination with C282Y, in the other group.

Kidney stone compositions and frequencies in a Norwegian population.

The aim of this study was to investigate frequencies of kidney stone constituents in a Norwegian population and examine trends over time by comparing with an earlier study of this population. Upper urinary tract calculi consecutively collected from patients who underwent stone surgery at Akershus University Hospital from July 2014 to December 2017, in total 1252 calculi, were analysed by infrared spectroscopy. The results were compared with a study of 500 calculi collected from June 1975 to September 1980 at the same hospital.

Paralithocins, Antimicrobial Peptides with Unusual Disulfide Connectivity from the Red King Crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus.

As part of an ongoing exploration of marine invertebrates as a source of new antimicrobial peptides, hemocyte extracts from the red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, were studied. Three cationic cysteine (Cys)-rich peptides, named paralithocins 1-3, were isolated by bioassay-guided purification, and their amino acid sequences determined by Edman degradation and expressed sequences tag analysis. Disulfide bond mapping was performed by high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry.

Secretoneurin is a novel prognostic cardiovascular biomarker associated with cardiomyocyte calcium handling.

Background: Secretoneurin (SN) levels are increased in patients with heart failure (HF), but whether SN provides prognostic information and influences cardiomyocyte function is unknown.

Objectives: This study sought to evaluate the merit of SN as a cardiovascular biomarker and assess effects of SN on cardiomyocyte Ca(2+) handling.

Methods: We assessed the association between circulating SN levels and mortality in 2 patient cohorts and the functional properties of SN in experimental models.

Identification of peptide products from enzymatic degradation of amyloid beta.

Deposition of insoluble amyloid plaques is one of the known hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. Amyloid beta 1-42 is the main component in these plaques, and the soluble oligomers of this peptide are believed to contribute to synaptic degradation and dementia. Enzymatic hydrolysis of amyloid beta is important to keep its tissue concentration low to avoid oligomerization.

The structure of the fire fighting foam surfactant Forafac®1157 and its biological and photolytic transformation products.

For several decades, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) has widely been used as a fluorinated surfactant in aqueous film forming foams used as hydrocarbon fuel fire extinguishers. Due to concerns regarding its environmental persistence and toxicological effects, PFOS has recently been replaced by novel fluorinated surfactants such as Forafac®1157, developed by the DuPont company. The major component of Forafac®1157 is a 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonamide alkylbetaine (6:2 FTAB), and a link between the trade name and the exact chemical structure is presented here to the scientific community for the first time.

Metabolism of small antimicrobial β(2,2)-amino acid derivatives by murine liver microsomes.

We have investigated the in vitro metabolism of three small antimicrobial β(2,2)-amino acid derivatives (M (w) < 500) that are highly potent against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and are among the first compounds designed from small cationic antimicrobial peptides with potential for oral administration. The β(2,2)-amino acid derivatives are virtually completely resistant against degradation by proteases, and to further explore their drug potential, we have investigated the hepatic Phase I metabolism of this class of antimicrobial compounds. The β(2,2)-amino acid derivatives were incubated with murine liver microsomes and the metabolites analyzed semi-quantitatively by HPLC-MS and qualitatively by ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled to a tandem mass spectrometer which enabled identification of the metabolites by careful interpretation of the collision activated dissociation spectra.

Plasma concentrations of parabens in postmenopausal women and self-reported use of personal care products: the NOWAC postgenome study.

Parabens are used extensively in personal care products; however, their estrogenic properties have raised concern over risks to human health. High levels of total parabens, mainly as conjugates, have been reported in human plasma/serum, with limited data on native parabens. Our objective was to assess and link plasma concentrations of native common parabens to self-reported use of personal care products in women from the general population.

Centrocins: isolation and characterization of novel dimeric antimicrobial peptides from the green sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis.

As immune effector molecules, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) play an important role in the invertebrate immune system. Here, we present two novel AMPs, named centrocins 1 (4.5kDa) and 2 (4.

Perfluorinated compounds in maternal serum and cord blood from selected areas of South Africa: results of a pilot study.

There is limited information about both environmental and human perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) concentrations in the southern hemisphere, and for the first time, concentrations of these compounds are reported in maternal serum and cord blood of South African women. The majority of the participants were of African Black ethnicity, with a similar socioeconomic status. In maternal serum perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was found to be the most abundant PFC (1.

Separation of DNA-containing organelles from Toxoplasma gondii by CZE.

Toxoplasma gondii and other members of the family Apicomplexa have two organelles, in addition to the nucleus, that contain DNA. Herein is reported the separation of the DNA-carrying organelles from T. gondii tachyzoites, i.

Total structure characterization of unsaturated acidic phospholipids provided by vicinal di-hydroxylation of fatty acid double bonds and negative electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

In the present work, the unsaturated fatty acid substituents of some phosphatidic acid, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidylglycerol species were converted to their 1,2-di-hydroxy derivatives by OsO(4). The subsequent electrospray ionization tandem low-energy mass spectrometry analysis of the deprotonated species allowed positional determination of the double bonds by the production of specific product-ions. The product-ions are formed by charge-remote and charge-proximate homolytic cleavages as well as charge-directed heterolytic cleavages and rearrangements.

Vicinal hydroxylation of unsaturated fatty acids for structural characterization of intact neutral phospholipids by negative electrospray ionization tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry.

We report a novel method allowing the complete structural characterization of intact species of the phospholipid classes phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine by utilizing negative electrospray ionization quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Information on the molecular weight of the intact phospholipid species, the class to which it belongs, the molecular mass of the fatty acid substituents and their regioisomerism, is easily revealed by MS/MS. Throughout our investigations the R2COO- ions were more abundant than the R1COO- ions, and this observation is used for regioisomeric assignment of the two fatty acids.

Negative electrospray ionization low-energy tandem mass spectrometry of hydroxylated fatty acids: a mechanistic study.

Recently, we reported that by converting olefinic fatty acids to their saturated vicinally 1,2-di-hydroxylated derivatives, abundant ions indicative for hydroxyl group locations are produced by negative electrospray ionization low-energy tandem mass spectrometry, allowing the assignment of the olefinic site in the native fatty acid. In this report the mechanisms whereby the characteristic ions are produced are investigated. The mono-hydroxylated fatty acid, 12-hydroxyoctadecanoic acid, served as a model for the more complex 12,13-dihydroxyoctadecanoic acid, and fragmentation mechanisms accounting for the most abundant product ions generated from their deprotonated molecules are proposed.

Structure elucidation of unsaturated fatty acids after vicinal hydroxylation of the double bonds by negative electrospray ionisation low-energy tandem mass spectrometry.

A method for determining the positions of double bonds in unsaturated fatty acids by use of negative electrospray ionisation low-energy tandem mass spectrometry is described. First, a vicinal hydroxylation of the double bonds of mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids was performed. Low-energy collision activation dissociation of the deprotonated molecules produced structurally informative ions formed by a-cleavages relative to the hydroxyl groups.