Profiling of enantiopure drugs towards aryl hydrocarbon (AhR), glucocorticoid (GR) and pregnane X (PXR) receptors in human reporter cell lines.

In the past decade, a large number of enantiopure drugs were introduced to clinical practice, since improved therapeutic effects were demonstrated for one of the enantiomers from originally racemic drug. While the therapeutic effects and safety of enantiopure drugs were tested prior to their approval, various biological enantiospecific activities of these, often "old" drugs, remain to be elucidated. In the current paper, we examined enantiospecific effects of clinically used enantiopure drugs containing one chiral center in the structure (i.

Effects of artificial sweeteners on the AhR- and GR-dependent CYP1A1 expression in primary human hepatocytes and human cancer cells.

Food constituents may cause a phenomenon of food-drug interactions. In the current study, we examined the effects of artificial sweeteners (aspartame, acesulfame, cyclamate, saccharin) on the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-dependent expression of CYP1A1 in human hepatocytes, hepatic HepG2 and intestinal LS174T cancer cell lines. Sweeteners were tested in concentrations up to those occurring in non-alcoholic beverages.

Superparamagnetic maghemite nanoparticles from solid-state synthesis - their functionalization towards peroral MRI contrast agent and magnetic carrier for trypsin immobilization.

Nearly monodispersed superparamagnetic maghemite nanoparticles (15-20nm) were prepared by a one-step thermal decomposition of iron(II) acetate in air at 400 degrees C. The presented synthetic route is simple, cost effective and allows to prepare the high-quality superparamagnetic particles in a large scale. The as-prepared particles were exploited for the development of magnetic nanocomposites with the possible applicability in medicine and biochemistry.