Ground out: Mechanochemical methods gave the pharmaceutical ingredient bismuth subsalicylate, as well as bismuth disalicylate and trisalicylate directly from bismuth oxide. Structure determination by powder X‐ray diffraction gave the first structure of a bismuth salicylate without auxiliary organic ligands (see picture: Bi yellow, O red, C gray, two salicylate ion coordination modes are shown in purple and green).
ObjectivesA blood-based biomarker of neuronal damage in sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) will be extremely valuable for both clinical practice and research aiming to develop effective therapies.MethodsWe used an ultrasensitive immunoassay to measure two candidate biomarkers, tau and neurofilament light (NfL), in serum from patients with sCJD and healthy controls. We tested longitudinal sample sets from six patients to investigate changes over time, and examined correlations with rate of disease progression and associations with known phenotype modifiers.ResultsSerum concentrations of both tau and NfL were increased in patients with sCJD. NfL distinguished patients from controls with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Tau did so with 91% sensitivity and 83% specificity. Both tau and NfL appeared to increase over time in individual patients, particularly in those with several samples tested late in their disease. Tau, but not NfL, was positively correlated with rate of disease progression, and was particularly increased in patients homozygous for methionine at codon 129 of PRNP.ConclusionsThese findings independently replicate other recent studies using similar methods and offer novel insights. They show clear promise for these blood-based biomarkers in prion disease. Future work should aim to fully establish their potential roles for monitoring disease progression and response to therapies.
Studying the interaction of CH3SH, methanethiol, with Cu(111) as a model system, we demonstrate the ability of chemical-shift normal incidence x-ray standing wave field measurements to identify the local adsorption geometries of coadsorbed reaction products at different temperatures, a technical problem of broad chemical significance. In the present case the local geometries of four distinct S-containing adsorbate species (intact CH3SH, two thiolate (CH3S-) reaction intermediates and atomic S) are determined.
Rat hepatic bile contains three proteins as major constituents: secretory IgA (SIgA), free secretory component (FSC) and albumin. Traces of alpha-macroglobulin, transferrin, IgG and IgM are also detectable. The bile duct daily pours between 5-12 mg each of SIgA and FSC into the rat duodenum. The origin and function of these proteins in bile may represent important clues in the understanding of the SIgA system.
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