Interleukin-33 and thymic stromal lymphopoietin, but not interleukin-25, are crucial for development of airway eosinophilia induced by chitin.

Exposure to various antigens derived from house dust mites (HDM) is considered to be a risk factor for development of certain allergic diseases such as atopic asthma, atopic dermatitis, rhinitis and conjunctivitis. Chitin is an insoluble polysaccharide (β-(1-4)-poly-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine) and a major component in the outer shell of HDMs. Mice exposed to chitin develop asthma-like airway eosinophilia.

Contribution of 2-Propenesulfenic Acid to the Antioxidant Activity of Allicin.

Unlabelled: We re-examined the antioxidative mechanism of allicin as a radical scavenger on the basis of the reactivity toward 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and peroxyl radicals. Initially, it was found that allicin decomposed more rapidly in n-hexane and chlorobenzene than in acetonitrile, ethanol, and ethanol/water solutions and decomposed into ajoene and vinyldithiins in these solvents. Furthermore, the decomposition of allicin and the following formations of ajoene and vinyldithiins from allicin were accelerated by the reaction of allicin with DPPH and peroxyl radicals.

Kinetic study of the radical scavenging of capsaicin in homogeneous solutions and aqueous Triton X-100 micellar suspensions.

A kinetic study of capsaicin (CAP) toward radicals has been performed using stopped-flow spectrophotometry in detail. The second-order rate constants (k2) for the reaction of CAP toward 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and galvinoxyl have been measured in methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol/water (5:1, v/v), and aqueous micellar suspensions containing 5% Triton X-100 (pH 4.0 to 10.

Kinetic study of Sasa veitchii extract as a radical scavenger and an antioxidant.

Unlabelled: We examined the free radical scavenging activity of Sasa veitchii extract (Hoshi's Striped Bamboo Extract(®), HSBE), well known in folk medicine as an efficient drug and antioxidant in detail. To evaluate the free radical scavenging activity of HSBE, its reactivity as hydrogen atom donor toward the 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl has been measured using stopped-flow spectrophotometry. It was found that the second-order rate constant, k(2), obtained at 25 °C was 1.

Antioxidant activity of the new thiosulfinate derivative, S-benzyl phenylmethanethiosulfinate, from Petiveria alliacea L.

The antioxidant effects of the new thiosulfinate derivative, S-benzyl phenylmethanethiosulfinate (BPT), against the oxidation of cumene and methyl linoleate (ML) in chlorobenzene were studied in detail using HPLC. The results showed that BPT provided effective inhibition with a well-defined induction period under these oxidation conditions, and it was found that the stoichiometric factor (n), the number of peroxyl radicals trapped by one antioxidant molecule, of BPT is about 2. We then undertook a thorough investigation aimed at elucidating the active structural site of BPT.

Kinetic and mechanistic studies of allicin as an antioxidant.

We have undertaken a detailed study of the antioxidant activity of allicin, one of the main thiosulfinates in garlic, in order to obtain quantitative information on it as a chain-breaking antioxidant. The antioxidant actions of allicin against the oxidation of cumene and methyl linoleate (ML) in chlorobenzene were studied in detail using HPLC. The hydroperoxides formed during the course of the inhibited oxidation of ML were analyzed as their corresponding alcohols by HPLC, and it is apparent that an allylic hydrogen atom of the allicin is responsible for the antioxidant activity.

A bacitracin-resistant Bacillus subtilis gene encodes a homologue of the membrane-spanning subunit of the Bacillus licheniformis ABC transporter.

Bacitracin is a peptide antibiotic nonribosomally produced by Bacillus licheniformis. The bcrABC genes which confer bacitracin resistance to the bacitracin producer encode ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter proteins, which are hypothesized to pump out bacitracin from the cells. Bacillus subtilis 168, which has no bacitracin synthesizing operon, has several genes homologous to bcrABC.