Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health Commons^™

Rapid Identification Of Nicotine In Electronic Cigarette Liquids Based On Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering, Jun-Yi Chien, Yong-Chun Gu, Hsin-Mei Tsai, Chun-Hao Liu, Chia-Yuan Yen, Yuh-Lin Wang, Juen-Kai Wang, Chi-Hung Lin

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Nicotine-containing electronic cigarette liquid (e-liquid) is prohibited in many countries, creating requirements for rapid detection approaches for on-site inspection or screening for large amounts of samples. Here, we demonstrate a simple way to identify nicotine using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) with substrates made of silver nanoparticle arrays imbedded in anodic aluminum oxide nanochannels (Ag/AAO). Compared with the reported colloidal nanoparticle-based SERS, that required serial dilutions to enable colloid aggregation in the viscous e-liquid, a small amount of undiluted e-liquid sample can be directly added onto our solid-phase Ag/AAO substrate without any pre-treatment. The sensitivity of our SERS measurements is 2e3 …

A Multi-Analyte Lc-Ms/Ms Method For Screening And Quantification Of Nitrosamines In Sartans, Shu-Han Chang, Ching-Chia Chang, Li-Jing Wang, Wei-Ching Chen, Shu-Yu Fan, Chi-Zong Zang, Ya-Hui Hsu, Mei-Chih Lin, Su-Hsiang Tseng, Der-Yuan Wang

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

An incident of sartan medicine contamination was notified by Europe in June 2018. The contaminant was identified as a probable carcinogenic nitrosamine and the recalls of sartan medicines were soon made. Since then, more nitrosamine contaminants in sartan medicines were reported. To broaden the applicability and variety in nitrosamine determination, a multi-analyte method is required. In this study, a feasible and sensitive multi-analyte LC-MS/MS method for determination of 12 nitrosamines in sartans was established, where the active pharmaceutical ingredients and final products merchandised in Taiwan were also examined. Chromatographic separation was achieved on an Xselect® HSS T3 column (15 cm …

Anti-Inflammatory Effects Of Peptides From A Marine Algicolous Fungus Acremonium Sp. Ntu492 In Bv-2 Microglial Cells, George Hsiao, Shih-Wei Wang, Yin-Ru Chiang, Wei-Chiung Chi, Yueh-Hsiung Kuo, Do Anh Phong, Chia-Yu Chen, Tzong-Huei Lee

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Located in tropical and subtropical region, Taiwan is an island with high algal species diversity. In this study, a number of fungal strains were isolated from marine macroalgae collected from northeastern intertidal zone of Taiwan. Preliminary anti-inflammatory screening has shown that the methanolic extracts of solid fermented products of the red alga Mastophora rosea-derived fungal strain Acremonium sp. NTU492 exhibited significant bioactivity. In an attempt to disclose the active principles from this fungal strain, a series of separation and purification was thus undertaken, which has led to the isolation and characterization of seven compounds including four new peptides, namely acrepeptins …

A Rapid Strategy For Screening High-Efficiency Pcsk9 Inhibitors From Ginkgo Biloba Leaves By Ligand Fishing, Hplc-Q-Tof-Ms And Interdisciplinary Assay, Li Li, Meng-Lin Fan, Ya-Nan Li, Ya-Xuan Huang, Xiu-Feng Liu, Ji-Hua Liu

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is an attractive target for new cholesterol-lowering drug development. Here, we developed a method integrating ligand fishing, HPLC-Q-TOF-MS and interdisciplinary assay, aiming to explore potential PCSK9 inhibitors from mixtures rapidly and accurately. PCSK9 was expressed and purified firstly, and then the recombined PCSK9 was coated on the surface of magnetic beads (MBs). The PCSK9-immobilized MBs (PCSK9-MBs) were used for ligand fishing combined with HPLC and Q-TOF-MS/MS. Ginkgo biloba leaves (GBL), an herbal medicine widely used in Asia and Europe with good efficacy in treatment of hypercholesterolemia, were chosen as an illustration for ligand fishing. …

Analysis Of Flavor And Other Metabolites In Lemon Juice (Citrus Limon) From Huanglongbing-Affected Trees Grafted On Different Rootstocks, Laura Reuss, Shi Feng, Wei-Lun Hung, Qibin Yu, Frederick G. Gmitter Jr, Yu Wang

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Flavor perception integrates sensory input from chemical receptors triggered by taste- and aroma-active metabolites to contribute to food flavor quality. Many factors alter flavor quality. Disease affects aroma and flavonoid constituents, causing off-flavors in plants. Huanglongbing (HLB) disease negatively affects citrus, although lemons are more tolerant. Lemon juice quality of HLB-affected fruits is not well studied. Lemon juice aroma-active compounds were profiled in this study using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry-olfactometry, and other metabolites contributing to overall flavor quality were investigated. Lemon juice from different rootstocks was discriminated using the metabolic profile. Flavor and other lemon juice metabolites also distinguished symptomatic from …

Chemometric Authentication Of Pu'er Teas In Terms Of Multielement Stable Isotope Ratios Analysis By Ea-Irms And Icp-Ms, Honglin Liu, Yitao Zeng, Xin Zhao, Huarong Tong

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

In this work, the stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, and mineral elements and their stoichiometric methods were examined as possible factors that could certify Chinese tea based on its production years. A total of 43 multi-element stable isotope ratios of Xiangzhujing Pu'er tea in five production years were determined through inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and elemental analyzer-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (EA-IRMS) methods. Two unsupervised learning techniques (principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis) and three supervised learning techniques (partial least squares discriminant analysis [PLS-DA], back-propagation artificial neural network [BP-ANN], and linear discriminant analysis [LDA]) were …

The Chemical Aspects Of Raman Spectroscopy: Statistical Structure-Spectrum Relationship In The Analyses Of Bioflavonoids, Chih-Hsien Wang, Chia-Chi Huang, Wenlung Chen, Yen-Shi Lai

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Raman spectroscopy has been accepted as a useful tool for the characterization of natural products. However, to identify a specific compound in a mixture sample of natural products using Raman spectra alone is highly challenging if not impossible. We demonstrated an effective solution to such issues using a method combining statistical Raman spectroscopy and Mass spectrometry. The method was validated with a successful application to the identification of the major anthocyanin components in a purple yam (Dioscorea purpurea) extract. Of particular interest is that statistical grouping of the bioflavonoid standards that formed the database of this study was found to …

Screening For Malachite Green Contamination On Live Fish Skin With Chewing Gum Based Viscoelastic Sers Sensor, Wan-Li Fan, Shi-Wei Yang, Dong-Mei Wang, Zheng-Jun Gong, Mei-Kun Fan

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Malachite green (MG), a prohibited but still found antimicrobial in aquafarm and during live fish shipping, is a hot target in food safety screening. Herein, a novel chewing gum based flexible SERS (G-SERS) sensor was proposed for rapid sampling and detection of MG on live fish skin. The whole analysis takesmin, while the limit of detection for MG is 0.73 pg. Different from other reports, MG contaminated live fish was monitored daily with the G-SERS sensor, during which the fish was firstly raised in 0.5 ppm MG solution for one day, followed by freshwater for a week. It was found …

Uplc-Qtof-Ms Fingerprinting Combined With Chemometrics To Assess The Solvent Extraction Efficiency, Phytochemical Variation, And Antioxidant Activities Of Beta Vulgaris L., Junyi Wang, Guddadarangavvanahally Krishnareddy Jayaprakasha, Bhimanagouda S. Patil

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Accurate assays of plant antioxidants and other phytochemicals require efficient extraction conditions and enable rigorous assessments of crop varieties and production systems. This study assessed the extraction of phytochemicals and antioxidants from conventionally or organically grown red and golden beets (Beta vulgaris L.), using twenty solvent (S1eS20) mixtures containing water, methanol, and ethanol alone or with acids (ascorbic, formic, acetic). Red beetroot extracted with methanol with or without acid had the highest betanin content (2791.0 mg/g and 8222.3 mg/g of fresh weight [FW], respectively) and golden beetroot extracted with methanol/ascorbic acid/water had the highest vulgaxanthin I (193.7 mg/g and 15.0 …

Food Preservative Sorbic Acid Deregulates Hepatic Fatty Acid Metabolism, Chia-Hui Chen, Sin-Ni Ho, Po-An Hu, Yu Ru Kou, Tzong-Shyuan Lee

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Sorbic acid (SA) is one of the most commonly used food preservatives worldwide. Despite SA having no hepatotoxicity at legal dosages, its effect on hepatic lipid metabolism is still unclear. We investigated the effect of SA on hepatic lipid metabolism and its mechanism of action in C57BL/6 mice. Daily treatment with SA (1 g/kg in diet) for 4 weeks did not alter the body weight, organ weight, and blood lipids in mice. However, hepatic lipid accumulation, particularly that of triglycerides, fatty acids, and glycerol, but not cholesteryl ester and free cholesterol, was increased with SA treatment. Mechanistically, SA decreased the …

The Potential Role Of Phenolic Compounds On Modulating Gut Microbiota In Obesity, Gow-Chin Yen, Hsin-Lin Cheng, Li-Yu Lin, Shiuan-Chih Chen, Chin Lin Hsu

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Obesity is a rising public health issue and challenge which is tightly correlated with socio-economic development paralleled with increased energy intake and sedentary behavior that subsequently cause adipose tissue accumulation. Physiological and metabolic status changes during obesity development have been suggested with low grade inflammation of gastrointestinal tract. The gut microbiota plays an essential role in regulating whole body energy metabolism and also lipid accumulation, and immunity of host. However, the detail mechanism of which the gut microbiota composition influence obesity development in humans still need deeper investigation owing to the complex pathophysiology of such disease. Recently, the consumption of …

Transcriptome Studies On The Toxicity Of Silica Nanoparticles, Shih-Yi Hsu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nanotechnology enables more precise harmony in health condition via reducing the dosage amount, improving the delivery of hydrophobic drugs, more specific targeting to the cancerous sites, and so on. Nevertheless, issues regarding the toxicity of nanotechnology have begun to call for attention several decades later after the innovation of nanotechnology. Tools about risk management of nanotechnology have been developed, but recently not much evidence recognizes the toxicity of nanoparticles (NPs) except for some animal studies, which demonstrated organ damage after the exposure to NPs. Toxicogenomic approach refers to the method utilizing gene expression to evaluate the chemical toxicity. Databases as …

Livestock Preference For Endophyte-Infected Or Endophyte-Free Oxytropis Sericea, Ipomoea Carnea, And Ipomoea Asarifolia, James Pfister, Daniel Cook, Stephen T. Lee, Dale R. Gardner, Franklin Riet-Correa

Poisonous Plant Research (PPR)

Fungal endophyte-infected forages have been shown to alter herbivore feeding preferences. The objective of this experiment was to compare the preference of cattle, sheep, and goats for plants containing (E+) and not containing (E-) fungal endophytes using freshly harvested Oxytropis sericea, Ipomoea carnea, and Ipomoea asarifolia. Goats and sheep rejected all forage choices regardless of endophyte status except for grass and alfalfa hay. Endophyte status had no influence on cattle forage preferences. Cattle rejected all Oxytropis sericea E+ and E- choices. Cattle discriminated between Ipomoea species, preferring Ipomoea carnea to Ipomoea asarifolia (P = 0.004). In all …

Toxic Structures: Speculation And Lead Exposure In Detroit's Single-Family Rental Market, Alexa Eisenberg, Eric Seymour, Alex B. Hill, Joshua Akers

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

Foreclosure sales permitted investors to purchase large volumes of low-cost residential properties after the last financial crisis, reshaping patterns of property ownership in low-income housing markets across the US. This study links post-foreclosure property acquisitions by investor-landlords to subsequent lead poisoning cases among children under age six living in Detroit, Michigan. We find that the odds of exhibiting elevated blood lead levels (≥ 5 μg/dL) are higher for children living in investor-owned homes purchased through tax foreclosure sale. These findings highlight the potential for property speculation in post-foreclosure housing markets to exacerbate severe and racialized burdens of excess lead toxicity …

Quercetin And Vitamin C: An Experimental, Synergistic Therapy For The Prevention And Treatment Of Sars-Cov-2 Related Disease (Covid-19), Ruben Manuel Luciano Colunga Biancatelli, Max Berrill, John D. Catravas, Paul Ellis Marik

Bioelectrics Publications

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) represents an emergent global threat which is straining worldwide healthcare capacity. As of May 27th, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) has resulted in more than 340,000 deaths worldwide, with 100,000 deaths in the US alone. It is imperative to study and develop pharmacological treatments suitable for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Ascorbic acid is a crucial vitamin necessary for the correct functioning of the immune system. It plays a role in stress response and has shown promising results when administered to the critically ill. Quercetin is a well-known flavonoid whose antiviral properties …

Plant-Derived Natural Biomolecule Picein Attenuates Menadione Induced Oxidative Stress On Neuroblastoma Cell Mitochondria, Kavindra Kumar Kesari, Anupam Dhasmana, Shruti Shandilya, Neeraj Prabhakar, Ahmed Shaukat, Jinze Dou, Jessica M. Rosenholm, Tapani Vuorinen, Janne Ruokolainen

School of Medicine Publications

Several bioactive compounds are in use for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Historically, willow (salix sp.) bark has been an important source of salisylic acid and other natural compounds with anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and analgesic properties. Among these, picein isolated from hot water extract of willow bark, has been found to act as a natural secondary metabolite antioxidant. The aim of this study was to investigate the unrevealed pharmacological action of picein. In silico studies were utilized to direct the investigation towards the neuroprotection abilities of picein. Our in vitro studies demonstrate the neuroprotective properties …

New Alkaloids From Selected Malaysian Alstonia And Lycopodium Species And Their Biological Activity, Soon Yee Joanne Yeap

Student Works (2020-2029)

Two Malaysian plants, Alstonia penangiana Sidiyasa (family: Apocynaceae) and Lycopodium platyrhizoma J.H.Wilce (family: Lycopodiaceae), were investigated for their alkaloidal composition. This project represents the first reported phytochemical study on these two plant species. A total of 94 alkaloids (1−94) were isolated and characterized from the leaf and stem-bark extracts of Alstonia penangiana, a plant endemic to Penang Island, Malaysia. Of these, 32 are new alkaloids. The leaf extract of A. penangiana yielded a total of 15 new alkaloids, including a pair of type-A and type-B macroline isomers (1, 2), four macroline oxindoles (20–23), three talpinine-type oxindoles (41–43), two ajmaline alkaloids …

Isolation Of Plastic-Degrading Fungi From Landfill And Determining The Selected Plastics Biodegradation Capability, Mohan Priya

Student Works (2020-2029)

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) and High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) are the most important polymers used predominantly in present world. Since synthetic polymers hardly undergo degradation and remain in the environment for a very long time, up to 1000 years, these drawbacks increase the percentage of solid wastes in landfill and threaten the environment. To date, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) landfill is the most favored disposal method especially among the developing countries. The aim of present study is to evaluate the potential of fungus isolated from landfilled plastics to degrade PET, LDPE and HDPE. Besides, effect of different …

Toxicity Studies Of 1'-S-1'-Acetoxychavicol Acetate In Rat Model, Ali Abdalla Yasir Osman

Student Works (2020-2029)

Natural compounds are the main source of therapeutic molecules for various diseases in this era, and most of the current medicines are derived from plants, microorganisms or animals. Nevertheless, the safety profile of these natural compounds has to be confirmed prior to their medicinal use. 1'-S-1'-acetoxychavicol acetate (ACA), a type of phenylpropanoid extracted from Alpinia conchigera Griff., is one of the natural compounds being investigated for its potential therapeutic purposes. ACA was previously reported to reduce tumour volume in athymic mice at the effective dose of 1.56 mg/kg body weight intraperitoneally and induce apoptotic death of tumour cells through the …

Land Application Of Sewage Sludge: Physiological And Biochemical Response Of The Rio Grande Tomato, Nabil Charchar, Ali Elafri, Redwane Rais, Halassi Ismahen

Journal of Bioresource Management

Treated wastewater produces sewage sludge as a by-product that may have beneficial implications on agricultural practices. The effects of sludge amendments on growth, morphological and biochemical characteristics of the agro-industrial Tomato cultivar Rio Grande were observed. A pot culture experiment was carried out during 4 months (16 February 2019 to 18 June 2019), at an experimental green house in the locality of Salah Soufi, Guelma, north-eastern Algeria. There were significant differences between soil and sewage sludge samples. Total nitrogen (20.58 mg/kg) was more available in sewage sludge than in soil (N = 2.09 ± 0.3 mg/kg). In contrast, sludge …

Nanocarbon Modification Of Membranes For Enhanced Water Desalination And Water Treatment, Worawit Intrchom

Dissertations

Water scarcity is foreseen to be one of the great global issues in the coming decades. The challenges are not only in providing water supply to cope with the growing public demand, but recovering clean water to natural resources. Clean water supply, from brackish and seawater is attractive. Membrane distillation (MD) is an emerging thermal membrane-based process that has been used for desalination and other pollutant separations from water. MD can be operated at low temperature, so low-grade energy sources are a good alternative heat source for MD. High salt rejection and low membrane fouling also make MD interesting for …

Using Short Chain Fatty Acids To Inactivate Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Biofilms, Stephen Lee

Dissertations and Theses

Abstract

Using Short Chain Fatty Acids to Disinfect Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Biofilms

by

Stephen Lee

Background

The study of bacteria typically focuses on the planktonic or free-living single-cell state that is purely cultured in a laboratory for subsequent growth with appropriate media. Although this traditional way of growing bacteria has been paramount to the understanding of bacterial behavior, physiology, and pathogenesis, bacteria rarely exist as pure cultures of planktonic growth forms in the natural habitat. Bacterial contamination of environmental surfaces, in the form of biofilms, is a prime public health problem and causes numerous infections within the general public. Biofilms are …

The Value Of Iaq: A Review Of The Scientific Evidence Supporting The Benefits Of Investing In Better Indoor Air Quality, Vickie R. Hawkins,, Cheryl L. Marcham, John P. Springston, J. David Miller, Geoffrey Braybrooke, Craig Maunder, Lydia Feng, Ben Kollmeyer

Publications

Other studies have examined how ventilation rates, combined with the presence of pollutant sources, can affect productivity. These studies provide evidence that increased ventilation, including increases above common guidance levels such as ASHRAE’s ventilation standards, improve occupant productivity. Increased occupant control over ventilation has also been shown to improve productivity. Higher indoor carbon dioxide (CO2) levels have been directly associated with impaired work performance and increased health symptoms. Historically, it was believed that these associations exist only because higher indoor CO2 concentrations, resulting from lower outdoor air ventilation rates, are also correlated with higher levels of other indoor-generated pollutants that …

Development Of A Pharmaceutical Tablet Authentication System Using Spectroscopic Techniques In Combination With Multivariate Chemometric Methods, Md Nayeem Hossain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The spread of falsified drugs is increasing worldwide. Currently, 10%-30% of drugs in the world are falsified. Unfortunately, the supply chain system of developing countries (from manufacturers to customers) is not well monitored and suffers the highest rates of fraudulent activities. Also, the rise of product procurement from the internet increases the chance of American consumers' exposure to poor quality drugs. To combat this horrendous activity, surveillance of pharmaceutical materials is required in the supply chain system. Spectroscopic techniques (e.g., Near-Infrared and Raman spectroscopies) can be a potential solution to authenticate samples in different locations; they are non-destructive, safe, rapid, …

Indomethacin Exposure Is Associated With Birthweight In Extremely Preterm Infants: Non-Standard Exposure With Standard Weight-Based Dosing, Bradley C. Stockard

Research Days

No abstract provided.

Shuxuening Injection Facilitates Neurofunctional Recovery Via Down-Regulation Of G-Csf-Mediated Granulocyte Adhesion And Diapedesis Pathway In A Subacute Stroke Mouse Model, Zhixiong Li, Guangxu Xiao, Ming Lyu, Yule Wang, Shuang He, Hongxia Du, Xintong Wang, Benjamin Feng, Yan Zhu

Peer Reviewed Articles

Post-stroke neural damage is a serious health concern which does not yet have an effective treatment. We have shown previously that Shuxuening injection (SXNI), a Ginkgo biloba extract-based natural medicine, protects brain after an acute ischemic stroke, but its efficacy for post-stroke recovery is not known. This study was to investigate whether SXNI can improve the prognosis of stroke at a subacute phase. Mice with cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (CIRI) were established by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), and drugs or saline were injected by the tail vein every 12 h after reperfusion. The therapeutic effect of SXNI was evaluated by …

Hiv-1 Tat Interactions With Opioids Are Modulated By Progesterone And Estradiol, Dejun Jackson

Honors Theses

HIV infection and combined substance abuse are comorbid epidemics. Previous studies show that concurrent opioid drug use may potentiate HIV-1-mediated neurotoxicity partly via interactions with opioids. Preclinical studies suggest that the HIV-1 trans-activator of transcription (Tat), an HIV regulatory protein, can synergize with opioids to exacerbate its already neurotoxic effects. However, its interactions with clinical opioids, such as oxycodone, have yet to be elucidated. Additionally, Tat disrupts a number of systems including the dopaminergic system, which contribute to its capacity to potentiate the rewarding effects of abused drugs. Although the neurotoxic effects of Tat may be inhibited by gonadal steroids …

Impacts Of Embryonic Exposure To Cannabidiol Or ∆9-Tetrahydrocannabinol On Zebrafish (Danio Rerio) Frailty In F0 And F1 Generations, Anika Faruque

Honors Theses

Exposure to cannabinoids during critical development periods has increased with epileptic children being commonly prescribed CBD for seizures and pregnant women taking it recreationally. Many studies have been done on the possible benefits and drawbacks of cannabinoid exposure on the human brain, but not much is known about how it can affect the developing brain long-term. To see the potential adverse effects of cannabinoid exposure during critical stages of development and discover potential developmental origins of disease in consuming cannabinoids during embryogenesis, zebrafish embryos (6-96 hours post fertilization) were exposed to varying concentrations of CBD (0.02, 0.1, 0.5 µM), THC …

Study Of Pharmaceutical Tablets Using Raman Mapping, Kyle Joseph Pauly

Honors Theses

Covalent bonds are the strongest type of bonds holding molecules together. Based on the pattern of bonding of the molecule, the atoms associated with the bond will vibrate at a specific frequency. Utilizing vibrational spectroscopy, such as Raman spectroscopy, these unique vibrational frequencies can be used to detect the presence of analytes over a selected area. Furthermore, the intensities of the vibrational modes can be tracked to comparatively quantify the concentration of analytes at various locations. This is a method of great importance due to its ability to compare pharmaceutical tablets synthesized with different techniques. Here, the presence and concentration …

The Impact Of Age/Rage Signaling On Oxidative Stress Under Diabetic Conditions In Cardiac Fibroblasts, Christopher Dorroh

Honors Theses

Diabetes is a major health concern in the United States, with 1.5 million new cases diagnosed each year. Patients who suffer from diabetes have an increased risk of developing heart failure, a form of cardiovascular disease. Heart failure has been shown to result from increased left ventricular stiffness, which in turn is caused by increased remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM). This increase in ECM remodeling is a result of AGE/RAGE signaling, which occurs at a heightened level in the cardiac fibroblast cells of diabetics. Studies have shown that diabetics have elevated levels of AGEs (Advanced Glycation End-Products), which bind …