Oily fish consumption, dietary docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid intakes, and associations with neovascular age-related macular degeneration

Background: Fish intake, the major source of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), may reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Objective: We investigated the association of oily fish and dietary DHA and EPA with neovascular AMD (NV-AMD). Design: Participants aged =65 y in the cross-sectional population-based EUREYE study underwent fundus photography and were interviewed by using a food-frequency questionnaire. Fundus images were graded by the International Classification System for Age Related Maculopathy. Questionnaire data were converted to nutrient intakes with the use of food-composition tables. Survey logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs of energy-adjusted quartiles of EPA or DHA with NV-AMD, taking into account potential confounders. Results: Dietary intake data and fundus images were available for 105 cases with NV-AMD and for 2170 controls without any features of early or late AMD. Eating oily fish at least once per week compared with less than once per week was associated with a halving of the odds of NV-AMD (OR = 0.47; 95% CI: 0.33, 0.68; P = 0.002). Compared with the lowest quartile, there was a significant trend for decreased odds with increasing quartiles of either DHA or EPA. ORs in the highest quartiles were 0.32 (95% CI: 0.12, 0.87; P = 0.03) for DHA and 0.29 (95% CI: 0.11, 0.73; P = 0.02) for EPA. Conclusions: Eating oily fish at least once per week compared with less than once per week was associated with a halving of the OR for NV-AMD. © 2008 American Society for Nutrition.

Total Synthesis of (+)-Azinothricin and (+)-Kettapeptin

Asymmetric total syntheses of (+)-azinothricin and (+)-kettapeptin have been completed through a common new pathway that exploits a highly chemoselective coupling reaction between the fully elaborated cyclodepsipeptide 5 and the glycal activated esters 3 and 4 at the final stages of both respective syntheses.

Deep molluscan phylogeny: synthesis of palaeontological and neontological data

The position of the earliest-derived living molluscs, the Polyplacophora ( chitons) and shell-less vermiform Aplacophora, remains highly contentious despite many morphological, developmental and molecular studies of extant organisms. These two groups are thought to represent either a basal molluscan grade or a clade (Aculifera) sister to the 'higher' molluscs (Conchifera). These incompatible hypotheses result in very different predictions about the earliest molluscs. A new cladistic analysis incorporating both Palaeozoic and extant molluscs is presented here. Our results support the monophyly of Aculifera and suggest that extant aplacophorans and polyplacophorans both derive from a disparate group of multivalved molluscs in two major clades. Reanalysis of the critical Ordovician taxon 'Helminthochiton' thraivensis shows that this animal lacks a true foot despite bearing polyplacophoran-like valves. Its position within our phylogenetic reconstruction indicates that many fossil 'polyplacophorans' in the order Palaeoloricata are likely to represent footless stem-group aplacophorans. 'H.' thraivensis and similar forms such as Acaenoplax may be morphological stepping stones between chitons and the shell-less aplacophorans. Our results imply that crown-group molluscan synapomorphies include serial repetition, the presence of a foot, a mineralized scleritome and a creeping rather than worm-like mode of life.

Folic acid use and major congenital malformations in offspring of women with epilepsy: a prospective study from the UK Epilepsy and Pregnancy Register

Objective: In the general population, folic acid supplementation during pregnancy has been demonstrated to reduce the frequency of neural tube defects (NTDs) and other major congenital malformations (MCMs). It is recommended that women with epilepsy contemplating pregnancy take supplemental folic acid because of the known antifolate effect of some antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Here the aim was to determine the effectiveness of this practice.

THE SYNTHESIS, KINETIC CHARACTERIZATION AND APPLICATION OF A NOVEL BIOTINYLATED AFFINITY LABEL FOR CATHEPSIN-B

In this study we report on the synthesis, kinetic characterization and application of a novel biotinylated and active-site-directed inactivator of cathepsin B. Thus the peptidyliazomethane biotinyl-Phe-Ala-diazomethane has been synthesized by a combination of solid-phase and solution methodologies and has been shown to be a very efficient inactivator of bovine and human cathepsin B. The respective apparent second-order rate constants (k0bs./[I]) for the inactivation of the human and bovine enzymes by this reagent, namely approximately 5.4 x 10(4) M-1 and approximately 7.8 x 10(4) M-1, compare very favourably with those values determined for the urethane-protected analogue benzloxycarbonyl-Phe-Ala-chloromethane first described by Green & Shaw [(1981) J.Biol. Chem. 256, 1923-1928], thus demonstrating that the presence of the biotin moiety at the P3 position is compatible with inhibitor effectiveness. The utilization of this reagent for the detection of cathepsin B in electrophoretic gels, using Western blotting and in combination with a streptavidin/alkaline phosphatase detection system, is also demonstrated. Given that the peptidydiazomethanes exhibit a pronounced reactivity towards cysteine proteinases, we feel that the present label may well constitute the archetypal example of a wide range of reagents for the selective labelling of this class of proteinase, even in a complex biological milieu containing additional classes of proteinases.