Dehydroabietic acid cytotoxicity in goldfish radial glial cells in vitro

Dehydroabietic acid (DHAA) is a resin acid present in aquatic environments shown to induce cellular and molecular damage in aquatic animals. In this study, the cytotoxicity of DHAA on primary cultured goldfish radial glial cells (RGCs), an important component of the central nervous system, was evaluated. Here, it is reported that a concentration of 20mg/L DHAA affected cellular morphology and expression of genes involved in RGC steroidogenesis and metabolism. Higher concentration exposures of DHAA (40mg/L) lead to RGC death based on a lactate dehydrogenase leakage assay. Together, these data have implications in understanding the effects of DHAA on an integral central nervous system cell type important for neurogenesis, steroidogenesis and structural support. Due to the continuous presence of DHAA into water systems, results from this study provide indications as to the potential impacts of DHAA and demonstrate the importance of this class of chemicals on aquatic organisms.

The atmospheric degradation reaction of dehydroabietic acid (DHAA) initiated by OH radicals and O3

Dehydroabietic acid (DHAA) is the major marker compound emitted from the burning of conifer. In this paper, the atmospheric mechanism of DHAA initiated by OH radicals and O3 was studied at the MPWB1K/6-31+G(d,p)//MPWB1K/6-311+G(3df,2p) level. For OH radicals, two types of reactions including OH addition and hydrogen abstraction were investigated. The cycloaddition reactions of O3 were considered. The rate constants over the temperature range of 200-400 K were calculated with the Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory. At 298 K and under the pressure of 760 Torr, the whole rate constants are 0.89×10(-11) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1) and 2.29×10(-20) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1) for DHAA+OH and DHAA+O3, respectively. This study can be regarded as an attempt to investigate the OH-initiated and O3-initiated photochemical reaction mechanisms of DHAA in the atmosphere.

Extraction, chemical characterization and biological activity determination of broccoli health promoting compounds

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. Italica) contains substantial amount of health-promoting compounds such as vitamins, glucosinolates, phenolic compounds, and dietary essential minerals; thus, it benefits health beyond providing just basic nutrition, and consumption of broccoli has been increasing over the years. This review gives an overview on the extraction and separation techniques, as well as the biological activity of some of the above mentioned compounds which have been published in the period January 2008 to January 2013. The work has been distributed according to the different families of health promoting compounds discussing the extraction procedures and the analytical techniques employed for their characterization. Finally, information about the different biological activities of these compounds has been also provided.