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Tiselius, Peter, 1958, et al.
(författare)
High reproduction, but low biomass: mortality estimates of the copepod Acartia tonsa in a hyper-eutrophic estuary
2008
Ingår i: Aquatic Biology. - : Inter-Research Science Center. - 1864-7790 .- 1864-7782. ; 2:1, s. 93-103
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Production, abundance and mortality of the copepod Acartia tonsa were studied for a period of 9 d in a hyper-eutrophic estuary, Mariager Fjord, Denmark. The estuary is characterised by oxygen-depleted and often sulphidic bottom water, and a relatively sparse mesozooplankton community with low species diversity. During the study, an intense phytoplankton bloom consisting mainly of the diatom Skeletonema costatum developed with chlorophyll a concentrations reaching 46 mu g l(-1). Egg production rate (EPR) in A. tonsa ranged from 30 to 65 eggs female(-1) d(-1), and egg hatching success was > 90 %, yet the abundance of copepods remained low (1 to 3 nauplii l(-1), 0.3 to 1.5 copepodites l(-1)). Calculated daily copepod mortality ranged from 18 % for nauplii, 16 % for Copepodite Stage C 1, up to 70 % for C2 and C3, then declining for older stages. The vertical distribution of copepodites in relation to the depth range of mussel beds suggests strong predation by suspension-feeding Mytilus edulis at depths of 5 to 10 m. Moreover, anoxia and the presence of sulphide in deep water, which prevented hatching of A. tonsa eggs and decreased the survivorship of older life stages sinking below 20 m depth, further contributed to the low copepod abundance.
4.
Bender, Johanna, 1975, et al.
(författare)
Lipid cubic phases in topical drug delivery: Visualization of skin distribution using two-photon microscopy
2008
Ingår i: Journal of Controlled Release. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-3659 .- 1873-4995. ; 129:3, s. 163-169
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
The distribution of sulphorhodamine B (SRB), a fluorescent hydrophilic model drug, was investigated in human skin after passive diffusion using four different topical delivery systems. The delivery vehicles applied were two bicontinuous lipid cubic systems, a commercial ointment and water. The lipid cubic systems consisted of either monoolein (MO) or phytantriol (PT) and water. The formulations were applied on full-thickness human skin during 24 h. Thereafter the samples were investigated using two-photon microscopy (TPM). The TPM system consisted of an inverted microscope with a 40× water-immersion objective, laser scan-box, and a pulsed femtosecond titanium:sapphire laser operating at 780 nm. The fluorescence was detected using a 560 nm long-pass filter. Sequential optical sectioning was performed, resulting in images obtained at different tissue depths. TPM revealed that SRB mainly penetrates the skin via the intercellular lipid matrix. Samples exposed to the cubic phases showed a higher accumulation of SRB in micro-fissures, from which a fluorescent network of threadlike structures spread laterally in the tissue. These structures were also detected in some of the ointment samples, but not as frequent. The penetration of SRB into the stratum granulosum was deduced from the fluorescence of SRB present inside polygonal keratinocytes with cell nuclei. Higher SRB fluorescence was obtained in the outermost layer of the epidermis using the bicontinuous cubic phases, compared to when using the reference formulations. Thus, our results suggest that the dominating delivery route using the cubic phases is via micro-fissures caused by microscopic clustering of the keratinocytes in the skin. From these micro--fissures hydrophilic compounds, here modeled by SRB, can diffuse into the surrounding intercellular lipid matrix acting like a source for sustained release.
5.
Bender, Johanna, 1975, et al.
(författare)
Structure and dynamics of a sponge phase in the methyl delta-aminolevulinate/monoolein/water/propylene glycol system
2008
Ingår i: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 1095-7103 .- 0021-9797. ; 17:2, s. 577-584
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
The structural effect caused by the addition of up to 16% (w/w) of the hydrochloride salt of delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA, HOOC-CH(2)-CH(2)-CO-CH(2)-NH(2)HCl) or its methyl ester (m-ALA) to the sponge phase formed of monoolein/water/propylene glycol was investigated by means of crossed polarizers, small angle X-ray diffraction (SAXD) and nuclear magnetic resonance diffusometry (NMRD). Inspection with crossed polarizers revealed that additions of 4-16% (w/w) m-ALA transformed the isotropic bicontinuous sponge phase partly (4-10%) or completely (13 and 16%) into an anisotropic lamellar phase, indicating that m-ALA has a flattening effect on the bilayer curvature. The addition of 16% (w/w) ALA did not show any effect on the sponge phase. By addition of water to the anisotropic m-ALA samples, isotropic liquids were re-formed. The SAXD data for the isotropic liquids showed a diffuse Bragg peak and the NMRD self-diffusion coefficients for the drug (m-ALA) and the components of the original sponge phase (monoolein, water and propylene glycol) were shown to be essentially constant for 0-16% (w/w) added m-ALA. These results confirmed the hypothesis that the re-formed isotropic phases were indeed sponge phases. Water, for example, showed a diffusion coefficient of 3.1-3.9x10(-10)m(2)s(-1) in the sponge phase, compared to 5.3-5.7x10(-10)m(2)s(-1) in relevant water/propylene glycol solutions or 2.3x10(-9)m(2)s(-1) in pure water. The reduction can be explained as a consequence of the microstructure (congruent monoolein bilayer) of the sponge phase and of the viscosity effect caused by propylene glycol and m-ALA.
6.
Erdélyi, Máté, et al.
(författare)
Chemistry and folding of photomodulable peptides : stilbene and thioaurone-type candidates for conformational switches
2008
Ingår i: Organic and biomolecular chemistry. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1477-0520 .- 1477-0539. ; 6:23, s. 4356-4373
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Optimized synthetic strategies for the preparation of photoswitchable molecular scaffolds based on stilbene or on thioaurone chromophores and their conformationally directing properties, as studied by computations and by NMR spectroscopy, are addressed. For the stilbene peptidomimetics 1, 2 and 3, the length of connecting linkers between the chromophore and the peptide strands was varied, resulting in photochromic dipeptidomimetics with various flexibility. Building blocks of higher rigidity, based on para-substituted thioaurone ( 4 and 6) and meta-substituted thioaurone chromophores ( 5 and 7) are shown to have a stronger conformationally directing effect. Design, synthesis, theoretical and experimental conformational analyses are presented.
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Jansson, Rasmus, 1979, et al.
(författare)
Enantioselective and nonlinear intestinal absorption of eflornithine in the rat.
2008
Ingår i: Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. - 0066-4804 .- 1098-6596. ; 52:8, s. 2842-8
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
This study aimed to investigate if the absorption of the human African trypanosomiasis agent eflornithine was stereospecific and dose dependent after oral administration. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were administered single doses of racemic eflornithine hydrochloride as an oral solution (750, 1,500, 2,000, or 3,000 mg/kg of body weight) or intravenously (375 or 1,000 mg/kg of body weight). Sparse blood samples were obtained for determination of eflornithine enantiomers by liquid chromatography with evaporative light-scattering detection (lower limit of quantification [LLOQ], 83 M for 300 l plasma). The full plasma concentration-time profile of racemic eflornithine following frequent sampling was determined for another group of rats, using a high-performance liquid chromatography–UV method (LLOQ, 5 M for 50 l plasma). Pharmacokinetic data were analyzed in NONMEM for the combined racemic and enantiomeric concentrations. Upon intravenous administration, the plasma concentration-time profile of eflornithine was biphasic, with marginal differences in enantiomer kinetics (mean clearances of 14.5 and 12.6 ml/min/kg for L- and D-eflornithine, respectively). The complex absorption kinetics were modeled with a number of transit compartments to account for delayed absorption, transferring the drug into an absorption compartment from which the rate of influx was saturable. The mean bioavailabilities for L- and D-eflornithine were 41% and 62%, respectively, in the dose range of 750 to 2,000 mg/kg of body weight, with suggested increases to 47% and 83%, respectively, after a dose of 3,000 mg/kg of body weight. Eflornithine exhibited enantioselective absorption, with the more potent L-isomer being less favored, a finding which may help to explain why clinical attempts to develop an oral treatment have hitherto failed. The mechanistic explanation for the stereoselective absorption remains unclear.
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10.
Johansson, Emma, et al.
(författare)
On the formation of discoidal versus threadlike micelles in surfactant/lipid systems
2008
Ingår i: Langmuir. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0743-7463 .- 1520-5827. ; 24:5, s. 1731-1739
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
In a recent study, we showed that the surfactant 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylethanolamine-N-[methoxy(polyethylene glycol)-2000 (DSPE-PEG2000) induced mixed micelles of either threadlike or discoidal shape when mixed with different types of lipids. In this study, we have exchanged the PEG-lipid for the more conventional surfactants octaethylene glycol monododecyl ether (C12E8), hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Cryo-TEM investigations show that also these surfactants are able to induce the formation of long-lived discoidal micelles. Generally, the preference for either discoidal or threadlike micelles can be tuned by the choice of lipids and environmental conditions in much the same way as observed for the lipid/PEG-lipid system. Our investigation showed, furthermore, that the choice of surfactant may influence the type of mixed micelles formed. It is argued that the formation of discoidal rather than threadlike micelles may be rationalized as an effect of increasing bending rigidity. Our detailed theoretical model calculations show that the bending rigidity becomes significantly raised for aggregates formed by an ionic rather than a nonionic surfactant.
