Platelet and monocyte activation plays an important role in LC. Platelet activation stage does not influence monocyte activation and production of plt aggregates with monocytes in LC. With LC development, thrombocytopenia may be the result of plt consumption in platelet-monocyte aggregates.

The distribution of Ni administered as NiCl2 x 6H2O in the drinking water (300 and 1200 ppm Ni for 90 d) was studied using male Wistar rats. Next, the effect of Ni on the concentration of zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) in selected organs and serum was measured. The metals were analyzed in the liver, kidney, lung, spleen, brain, and serum by electrothermal (Ni) or flame (Zn, Cu) atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results indicate that exposed rats drank less nickel solutions than the volume of water drunk by controls, but there was no mortality of animals. In comparison to control animals, a very high increase in Ni levels was found in the kidney and then lung and serum of all exposed rats. In the liver, spleen, and brain, the metal accumulation was lower. A directly proportional relation between the nickel intake and its deposition was observed in the collected organs and in the serum. The metal level did not change significantly in the course of exposure (the first analysis was after 30 d). The administration of 300 ppm Ni did not affect the zinc and copper concentration in studied organs, except the serum, where zinc content was significantly reduced. At a dose of 1200 ppm Ni, these metals were found to be depressed in the liver, kidney, serum (zinc), and copper in the kidney.

Diosgenin (Dio) has shown many treatment properties, but the most important property is cytotoxic activity in cancer cells. In this study, we investigated monolayers of Dio, cholesterol (Ch), and phosphatidylcholine (PC) at the air/water interface. The measurements were carried with a Langmuir Teflon trough and a Nima 9000 tensiometer program. The surface tension values of pure and mixed monolayers were used to calculate π–A isotherms and determine molecular surface areas. We were able to demonstrate the formation of complexes between Dio and PC and Dio and Ch molecules also. We considered the equilibrium between individual components and the formed complexes. In addition, we established that diosgenin and the lipids formed highly stable 1:1 complexes.

Some solid lubricants are characterized by a layered structure with weak (van der Waals) inter-interlayer forces which allow for easy, low-strength shearing. Solid lubricants in natural lubrication are characterized by phospholipid bilayers in the articular joints and phospholipid lamellar phases in synovial fluid. The influence of the acid–base properties of the phospholipid bilayer on the wettability and properties of the surface have been explained by studying the interfacial tension of spherical lipid bilayers based on a model membrane. In this paper, we show that the phospholipid multi-bilayer can act as an effective solid lubricant in every aspect, ranging from a ‘corrosion inhibitor’ in the stomach to a load-bearing lubricant in bovine joints. We present evidence of the outstanding performance of phospholipids and argue that this is due to their chemical inertness and hydrophilic–hydrophobic structure, which makes them amphoteric and provides them with the ability to form lamellar structures that can facilitate functional sliding. Moreover, the friction coefficient can significantly change for a given phospholipid bilayer so it leads to a lamellar-repulsive mechanism under highly charged conditions. After this, it is quickly transformed to result in stable low-friction conditions.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction between diosgenin analogues [DioA: diosgenin acetate (DAc) and (25R)-5α,6β-dihydroxyspirostan-3β-ol acetate (DSol)] and cholesterol (Ch) monolayers at the air/water interface. The surface tension of pure and mixed lipid monolayers at 22 °C was measured by using the Langmuir method with a Teflon trough and a Nima 9002 tensiometer. The surface tension values were used to calculate the π–A isotherms and to determine the molecular surface areas. The interactions between Ch and each DioA resulted in significant deviations from the additivity rule. The theory described in this work was used to determine the stability constants, the areas occupied by one molecule of Ch–DAc or Ch–DSol, and the complex formation energy (Gibbs free energy) values.