Rapid and Simple Method for Measuring Petroleum Asphaltenes by the Centrifugation Technique

Asphaltenes are heavy constituents of crude oil which affect the flow and viscosity of crude oil. They also stabilize water-in-oil emulsions which makes the separation process of water from oil during the primary treatment processes for crude oils more difficult and costly. Measuring asphaltenes has great importance, especially for crude oil production companies. Gravimetric and spectroscopic measurement methods are the basic techniques used by international references such as ASTM and IP. A new methodology has been introduced as a modification of ASTM D6560 gravimetric methodology by using the centrifugation technique in the separation of asphaltenes for different oil samples with the API gravity change from 17.4 (oil S1) to 39.8 (oil S5). The new methodology has the advantages of consuming little time, and multiple sample processing and can be done in the field and also in the lab. Moreover, it has good repeatability, reproducibility, and working range values compared to the reference gravimetric ASTM and IP methods. The repeatability of the new method was found to be 8.0% at its maximum value (S1, has a low asphaltene content), while the minimum value was found to be 3.75% (S10, has the highest asphaltene content). It was found that the maximum reproducibility value was 17.0% for the S1 sample and the minimum was 0.0% for S9 and S10 samples.

Dapagliflozin improves steatohepatitis in diabetic rats via inhibition of oxidative stress and inflammation

Type-2 diabetes mellitus and NAFLD are considered as one of the greatest worldwide metabolic disorders with growing incidence. It was found that patients with T2DM have two-fold increase to develop NAFLD. Evidence that some antidiabetic agents improve NAFLD/NASH in patients with T2DM is evolving. However, there are no certain pharmacologic therapies. The current study aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms for the hepatoprotective effect of dapagliflozin against steatohepatitis in diabetic rats. Type-2 diabetes was induced by HFD followed by a single dose of STZ (30 mg/kg I.P). Fifty rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: Group1; normal control, Group 2; diabetic control, Groups (3-5); diabetic rats received daily dapagliflozin (0.75, 1.5, 3 mg/kg, p.o.) respectively for 6 weeks. At the end of the experiment, blood glucose level and serum insulin were measured. Hepatic tissue homogenization was performed for measuring inflammatory and oxidative stress markers. In addition, histopathological investigation of the hepatic tissue was done. Diabetic rats exhibited remarkable increase in liver weight and liver enzymes, along with histopathological changes, significant elevation in MDA, IL-1 β, TGFβ levels and, NF-κB, alpha-SMA expressions. Dapagliflozin treatment decreased liver weight, liver enzymes, together with marked improvement in histopathological changes. Furthermore, dapagliflozin increased antioxidant enzymes, GSH levels. Interestingly, Dapagliflozin reduced IL-1 β, TGFβ levels and, NF-κB, alpha-SMA expressions. Present data show that dapagliflozin represent a viable approach to protect the liver against diabetes-encouraged steatohepatitis through inhibiting oxidative stress, inflammation and fibrosis progression thus conserving liver function.