Protegrins are 2-kDa antimicrobial peptides that contain 16-18 amino acid residues and two intramolecular disulfide bonds. We studied the contribution of these disulfide bonds to the bactericidal activity of protegrins in physiological concentrations of NaCl by comparing protegrin PG-1 with variants that lacked one or both cysteine disulfides. Whereas the bactericidal and liposome-lytic properties of protegrin PG-1 were enhanced by adding 100 mM NaCl to the phosphate-buffered medium, NaCl addition strongly inhibited the effects of its linearized, disulfide-free variant, [A6, A8, A13, A151protegrin-1. Whereas protegrin PG-1 manifested p-sheet structure by CD (circular dichroism) and ATR-FTIR (attenuated-totalreflectance-Fourier-transform-infrared) spectroscopy in buffer or membrane-mimetic environments, [A6, A8, A13, A1 Slprotegrin-1 manifested disordered structure in phosphate buffer and a-helical characteristics in membrane-mimetic environments. Both single-disulfide protegrin variants, [A8, A13lprotegrin-1 and [A6, A151protegrin-1, assumed p-sheet conformations with liposomes that simulated bacterial membranes, and both retained substantial bactericidal activity when 100 mM NaCl was present. These findings demonstrate that the intramolecular disulfide bonds of protegrins are required for their antiparallel p-sheet conformation in membrane-mimetic environments and for their potent antimicrobial activity in media containing NaCl concentrations comparable to those found in serum and extracellular fluids.

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Anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides has been destructive during pepper fruit production in outdoor fields in Korea. In vitro antifungal activities of 15 different plant essential oils or its components were evaluated during conidial germination and mycelial growth of C. gloeosporioides. In vitro conidial germination was most drastically inhibited by vapour treatments with carvacrol, cinnamon oil, trans-cinnamaldehyde, citral, p-cymene and linalool. Inhibition of the mycelial growth by indirect vapour treatment with essential oils was also demonstrated compared with untreated control. Carvacrol, cinnamon oil, trans-cinnamaldehyde, citral and eugenol were among the most inhibitory plant essential oils by the indirect antifungal efficacies. Plant protection efficacies of the plant essential oils were demonstrated by reduced lesion diameter on the C. gloeosporioides-inoculated immature green pepper fruits compared to the inoculated control fruits without any plant essential oil treatment. In planta test showed that all plant essential oils tested in this study demonstrated plant protection efficacies against pepper fruit anthracnose with similar levels. Thus, application of different plant essential oils can be used for eco-friendly disease management of anthracnose during pepper fruit production.

Intra-amniotic inflammation confers a greater risk for atypical CLD than for typical CLD with initial RDS. This novel observation strengthens the importance of prenatal inflammation as a mechanism of lung injury.

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Objective The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between the frequency of meconium-stained amniotic fluid (MSAF) and the duration of labor in term singleton gestation. Methods The clinical characteristics of women who delivered term singleton live newborns between 2001 and 2006 were examined. The cases involving neonates with major congenital anomalies were excluded. Results (1) The frequency of MSAF in term pregnancies was 18.4% (806/4376); (2) MSAF was found in only 2.8% (28/1008) of women who delivered by elective cesarean, but in 23.1% (778/3368) of women who delivered after the onset of labor (p<0.001); (3) The longer the duration of labor (first stage, second stage, or total), the higher the frequency of MSAF (p<0.001 for each); this remained significant after adjusting for other confounding variables such as parity, duration of rupture of membranes, gestational age at delivery, and mode of delivery (p<0.001 for each). Conclusion MSAF was found in only 2.8% (28/1008) of women who delivered before the onset of labor, but in 23.1% (778/3368) of women who delivered after the onset of labor. The longer the duration of labor, the higher the risk of MSAF in term singleton gestation.

Cisplatin has been one of the most widely used anticancer agents, but its nephrotoxicity remains a dose-limiting complication. Here, we evaluated the idiopathic nature and the predose prediction of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity using a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based pharmacometabonomic approach. Cisplatin produced serious toxic responses in some animals (toxic group), but had little effect in others (nontoxic group), as judged by hematological and histological results. The individual metabolic profiles, assessed by urine NMR spectra, showed large differences between the post-administration profiles of the two groups, indicating the relevance of the NMR approach. Importantly, multivariate analysis of the NMR data showed that the toxic and nontoxic groups can be differentiated based on the pretreatment metabolite profiles. Leave-one-out analysis, performed to evaluate the practical performance of our approach, gave a 66% accuracy rate in predicting toxic responses based on the pretreatment metabolite profiles. Hence, we provide a working model that can explain the idiopathic toxicity mechanism based on marker metabolites found by NMR analysis consistent with tissue NADH measurements. Thus, a pharmacometabonomic approach using pretreatment metabolite profiles may help expedite personalized chemotherapy of anticancer drugs.