Identification and direct determination of fatty acids profile in oleic acid by HPLC-CAD and MS-IT-TOF

Pixel array-based urine biosensor for detection of trimethylamine N-oxide and glucose for early detection of diabetic kidney disease

Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) serves as a crucial biomarker for early detection and prevention of cardiovascular and chronic kidney diseases. In this study, we design and implement a novel pixel array-based urine biosensor to explore the relationship between TMAO levels and glucose in urine and the urine albumin-creatinine ratio (UACR). The urine biosensor, incorporating a specialized readout circuit, measures TMAO across various UACR ranges, revealing a linear correlation with a slope of 8.5 mV per mg/g up to 1100 mg/g UACR. Although glucose levels also rise with UACR, significant discrepancies occur beyond 30 mg/g, indicating that glucose does not consistently correlate with UACR increases. The biosensor demonstrates a sensitivity of 41 ADC counts/μM (4.5 mV/μM), a 10-s response time, 98 % reproducibility, and a drift of 0.3 mV over extended periods. It requires only 5 μL of urine for a comprehensive analysis of TMAO and glucose. This approach significantly improves time efficiency, offering a faster and more convenient solution for monitoring the risk for chronic kidney disease, such as those with diabetes.

Hyaluronic acid conjugates with controlled oleic acid substitution as new nanomaterials for improving ocular co-delivery of cyclosporine A and oleic acid

A structural conjugate (HOC) of polysaccharide, hyaluronic acid (HA) with different ratios of oleic acid (OA) via cystamine (CYS) linker as a new ocular biomaterial was developed. The HOCs with controlled degrees of substitution of OA (4.6 %, 8.3 % and 12.2 %) were synthesized to form self-assembled HA-CYS-OA nanoparticles (HONs, HON1, HON2, HON3). A poorly water-soluble cyclosporine A (CsA) to be used for the treatment of multifactorial dry eye disease (DED) was chosen as model drug. CsA-loaded HONs exhibited improved solution transparency via solubilizing capacity of HON, and increased in vitro drug permeation compared to Restasis®. The physicochemical properties of CsA-loaded HONs such as nano behaviors, solution transparency, drug release, drug permeation and ocular cytocompatibility were highly variable according to the ratios of OA substitution. Interestingly, this CsA-loaded HON1 as optimal ocular nanoformulation showed markedly augmented macrophage polarization into the M2 phenotype, downregulated the expression of proinflammatory cytokines levels in LPS-induced M1 macrophage, and effectively inhibited VEGF-induced endothelial cell proliferation and capillary-like tube formation by the synergistic effect of CsA and HON1 containing OA at the same time. Collectively, the current fatty acid conjugated to HA, named fattigation platform, providing the roles and physicochemical properties via structural features of HA could be a promising co-delivery strategy of drug and fatty acid for DED and other ophthalmic disease treatments.

A Comprehensive Study for Determination of Free Fatty Acids in Selected Biological Materials: A Review

The quality of oil is highly dependent on its free fatty acid (FFA) content, especially due to increased restrictions on renewable fuels. As a result, there has been a growing interest in free fatty acid determination methods over the last few decades. While various standard methods are currently available, such as the American Oil Chemists Society (AOCS), International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), and Japan Oil Chemists' Society (JOCS), to obtain accurate results, there is a pressing need to investigate a fast, accurate, feasible, and eco-friendly methodology for determining FFA in biological materials. This is owing to inadequate characteristics of the methods, such as solvent consumption and reproducibility, among others. This study aims to investigate FFA determination methods to identify suitable approaches and introduce a fresh perspective.

A metabolomics discrimination-based strategy for screening the antithrombin active markers of perilla seeds: A natural oil crop

Natural crops oil with high nutritional value has gradually attracted attention. Perilla seeds are regarded as a source of functional edible oil in America, Asia and European countries due to its abundant nutrients. In this research, samples were extracted by different polarity solvents and evaluated their thrombin inhibition activities in vitro. Metabolomics combined with chemometrics revealed the antithrombin active markers of perilla seeds. The enzyme kinetics and molecular docking results were useful in clarifying their inhibition of thrombin. The orthogonal experimental design was applied to optimize the extraction process of six antithrombin active markers from perilla seeds. The results showed that rosmarinic acid, luteolin, luteolin-7-O-glucoside, α-linolenic acid, linoleic acid, and oleic acid were screened out as functional and active markers. Besides, perilla seeds as a natural oil crop had the potential of antithrombin. It can also be applied in the food field because of its nutraceutical functions. Metabolomics combined with chemometrics will facilitate the discovery of functional, active markers in perilla seeds, which is conducive to accurate quality control.