SummaryThis study was designed to show the effect of boiling on the antihypertensive and antioxidant activities of onion in NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) induced hypertensive rats and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Male 6-wk-old Sprague-Daw ley rats were made hypertensive by being given distilled water containing L-NAME at a dose of 50mg/kg BW/d. These rats were fed diets containing raw or boiled onion at a concentra tion of 5%. Raw onion significantly reduced the increase in systolic blood pressure in both L NAME induced-hypertensive rats and SHR, and inhibited the increase in thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and conjugated dienes in the plasma and tissues of SHR. The antihypertensive effect of boiled onion was not found, and the antioxidant activity of it was much weaker than that of raw onion. The excretion of nitric oxide metabolites (NOx) in urine was enhanced by raw onion in both L-NAME induced-hypertensive rats and SHR, and was enhanced by boiled onion only in SHR. In conclusion, our results suggested that the anti hypertensive activity of onion disappeared during boiling, and the disappear of the antihy pertensive activity of raw onion after boiling might come, in part, from a decrease of the antioxidative activity of onion, with a consequent reduction in the saving of nitric oxide (NO).

BackgroundUnintended exposure to antitumor agents from an oral medicine may place healthcare workers and patients taking medicine at risk. In this study, the exposure to blister pack by CP (cyclophosphamide) and appropriate preventive procedures were examined.FindingsCP detected inside the blister pack of the tested seven lots by LC-MS/MS ranged from 8.2 to 199.6 ng. Raman imaging clearly showed that CP ingredient was completely covered by the tablet coating layer and had not leached out of the tablet. In addition, the amount of CP detected inside the vials was suppressed under the lower detection limit until day 28, and only 6.0 ng was detected only at day 56.ConclusionsVarious amounts of CP were contaminated to not only the inside of the blister pack but also the outside. This contamination may be caused not only by the manufacturing environment but also by the CP oral tablets themselves through volatilization of CP. Refrigerated storage of CP oral tablets may protect healthcare workers and patients from contact with CP.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40780-015-0020-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

We recently reported that various amounts of cyclophosphamide (CP) had contaminated both the inside and outside of the blister pack, and refrigerated storage of CP oral tablets can protect healthcare workers and patients from contact CP exposure. However, the contamination from a non-volatile agent, fluorouracil (FU), and its preventive procedures are not elucidated. Here we showed high levels of FU were detected from inside the blister pack. Raman imaging showed that the FU ingredient was not attached to the surface of the tablet coating layer and had not leached out of the tablet. In addition, the amount of FU detected inside the blister pack had no significant change by physical loading including shaking and heating. Thus, the FU contamination could be because of the manufacturing environment rather than the FU oral tablets themselves. We suggest that the pharmacists should instruct the patients to administer or handle tablets and capsules containing antitumor agents without direct hand contact. In addition, pharmacists should provide information about the contamination state and effective decontamination procedures for antitumor agents.

Although deep-fried foods have a role in our diet , many consumers have recently become more aware of restricting their consumption of fatty foods. The effect is investigated of breading on the amount of fatty acids and on the absorption of frying oil by deep-fried squid , onion and pork. The fatty acid composition was analyzed by gas chromatography.