Cholesterol is known to be a major risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). Current treatments for elevated blood cholesterol include dietary management, regular exercise, and drug therapy with fibrates, bile acid sequestrants, and statins. Such therapies, however, are often suboptimal and carry a risk for serious side effects. This study shows that microencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum 80 (pCBH1) cells can efficiently break down and remove bile acids, and establishes a basis for their use in lowering blood serum cholesterol. Results show that microencapsulated LP80 (pCBH1) is able to effectively break down the conjugated bile acids glycodeoxycholic acid (GDCA) and taurodeoxycholic acid (TDCA) with bile salt hydrolase (BSH) activities of 0.19 and 0.08 µmol DCA/mg CDW/h respectively. This article also summarizes the physiological interrelationship between bile acids and cholesterol and predicts the oral doses of microencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum 80 (pCBH1) cells required for lowering cholesterol.

A graphical method for analyzing enzyme data to obtain kinetic parameters, and to identify the types of inhibition and the enzyme mechanisms, is described. The method consists of plotting experimental data as nu/(V0 - nu) vs 1/(I) at different substrate concentrations. I is the inhibitor concentration; V0 and nu are the rates of enzyme reaction attained by the system in the presence of a fixed amount of substrate, and in the absence and presence of inhibitor, respectively. Complete inhibition gives straight lines that go through the origin; partial inhibition gives straight lines that converge on the 1-I axis, at a point away from the origin. For competitive inhibition, the slopes of the lines increase with increasing-substrate concentration; with noncompetitive inhibition, the slopes are independent of substrate concentration; with uncompetitive inhibition, the slopes of the lines decrease with increasing substrate concentrations. The kinetic parameters, Km, Ki, Ki', and beta (degree of partiality) can best be determined from respective secondary plots of slope and intercept vs substrate concentration, for competitive and noncompetitive inhibition mechanism or slope and intercept vs reciprocal substrate concentration for uncompetitive inhibition mechanism. Functional consequencs of these analyses are represented in terms of specific enzyme-inhibitor systems.

Image-guided percutaneous core needle biopsy of pediatric soft-tissue masses is safe, has a high diagnostic rate, and provides sufficient tissue for ancillary testing.

Recent studies have implicated the cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in the inflammation associated with Crohn's disease (CD). Thalidomide has been shown to decrease this inflammation by the suppression of TNF-alpha secretion. However, side effects associated with thalidomide have precluded its widespread usage. In the present study we investigated the efficacy of a "targeted delivery approach" for thalidomide at the site of inflammation. We observed that alginate-poly-l-lysine-alginate (APA) polymer-based microcapsule formulations that encapsulate thalidomide could be designed. These capsules could be delivered at target sites where they almost entirely suppress TNF-alpha secretion in lipopolysaccharide activated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells in vitro. These findings indicate that targeted delivery of thalidomide using APA capsules could facilitate its usage in reducing the inflammation associated with chronic conditions such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.