[Discrimination of mushrooms causing food-poisoning incidents by using DNA sequence analysis].

In this study, the identification of mushrooms by using DNA analysis was investigated. Our analysis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions revealed that a DNA-based method could be applicable for samples that are difficult to distinguish in terms of the morphological characteristics. PCR amplification using templates extracted from cooked samples gave sufficient fragments to analyze the sequence.

A survey of dietary intake of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, and dioxin-like coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls from food during 2000-2002 in Osaka City, Japan.

Studies of the dietary intake of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and dioxin-like coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (dioxin-like PCBs), collectively referred as dioxins, were conducted using the total diet study (TDS) method with food purchased in Osaka City, Japan during 2000-2002. The daily intake of dioxin-TEQ (toxic equivalent) from food per adult person was estimated respectively as 104.24 pg TEQ/person/day in 2000, 72.

Contamination levels of PCDDs, PCDFs and CoPCbs in fish oils used as raw materials for margarine and shortening and retailed fish.

Toxic equivalent (TEQ) levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDDs/DFs) and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (CoPCBs) were analyzed in both crude (n = 5) and refined-hardening fish oils (n = 2), which are used in part as the raw materials of margarine and shortening, and in some retailed fish (n = 6), which may be similar to those used as sources of fish oil. PCDDs/DFs-TEQ levels ranged from 0.1 to 13.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls in human milk in Osaka City, Japan.

Forty-eight human milk samples were collected from primiparous mothers in Osaka City from June 1999 to January 2000 and analyzed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and dioxin-like coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (CoPCBs). Mean toxic equivalents (TEQs) in the milk were 13.86 pg I-TEQ/g fat or 16.

[Usefulness of multiplex-PCR for identification of Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar].

We evaluated the usefulness of a multiplex-PCR method for differentiation of Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar, which are morphologically indistinguishable species. Cultured trophozoites of E. histolytica HM-1: IMSS and E.

A Preorganized Siderophore: Thermodynamic and Structural Characterization of Alcaligin and Bisucaberin, Microbial Macrocyclic Dihydroxamate Chelating Agents(1).

The iron coordination chemistry of two macrocyclic dihydroxamate siderophores, alcaligin (AG) and bisucaberin (BR), has been investigated thermodynamically and structurally. Alcaligin is a siderophore of freshwater bacteria as well as mammalian pathogens, including the bacterium that causes whooping cough in humans, while bisucaberin, a structural analogue of alcaligin, is produced by marine bacteria. Both alcaligin and bisucaberin form 1:1 ferric complexes (FeL(+)) in acidic conditions and 2:3 ferric complexes (Fe(2)L(3)) at and above neutral pH.

Separation of naphthalene and flavone derivatives by micellar electrokinetic chromatography with double- and triple-chain surfactants.

Three surfactants, p-bis(2-dodecyloxymethyl-3-oxa-6-sodiosulfonatohexyloxy)benz ene (BDSB) having two sulfonate groups and two lipophilic chains, disodium 10-dodecanoyl-5,15-bis(dodecyloxymethyl)-10-aza-4,7,13,16-tetra oxa-1,19-nonadecanedisulfonate (DDBTN) having two sulfonate groups and three lipophilic chains and disodium 4,11-bis(dodecyloxymethyl)-3,6,9,12-tetraoxa-1,14-tetrade canedionate (DBTT) having two carboxylate groups and two lipophilic chains, were used in micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). Eight naphthalene derivatives were baseline separated at 10 mM BDSB or 5 mM DBTT, and five flavone derivatives at 5 mM BDSB, DDBTN or DBTT. The elution order of the naphthalene derivatives in MEKC with BDSB was identical with that with DDBTN.

Hepatotoxicity of geniposide in rats.

The hepatotoxic effects of geniposide were investigated in rats. Increases in serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities as a result of oral administration of 320 mg geniposide/kg body weight were suppressed when geniposide was administered ip or when the rats were pretreated with chloramphenicol. The non-protein sulphydryl content of the liver 4 hr after oral administration of geniposide decrease in a dose-dependent manner.