In this experimental research, thin polyurethane films containing reactive functional groups (hydroxyl and amino groups) were synthesized. The raw materials used in the synthesis are: a hydroxyl component (Elastoflex W5516/115) and an isocyanate component (semiprepolimer type) based on 4,4'- diphenylmethane-diisocyanate (MDI) or toluene-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI). Two different antibiotics were adsorbed on these films: amikacin and ceftazidime which formed physical bonds with the polyurethane matrix. The films were characterized by SEM, DMA and a culture of Escherichia coli and a counting room was used in order to determine the antimicrobial efficiency.

In industrialized countries, many researches have highlighted a correlation between the presence of octylphenol in different plastics or detergents and its estrogenic effect. The metabolism of alkylphenols (4-n-octylphenol and 4-tert-octylphenol) is depending on alkyl chain and at testicular level act as endocrine disruptions. The purpose of our work was to evaluate the octylphenol effect on the testicular morphological changes in mice. Our experiment was performed on adult mice, divided into three experimental groups of 5 individuals each, respectively: control group (C -untreated); the vehicle group (V) treated with ethanol and corn oil mixt (1:10); and experimental group (E - treated with octylphenol in concentrations of 80 mg / kg body weight). Octylphenol is a pollutant that has to be monitoring because our study showed a decrease in male fertility due to morphological alterations as a result of exposure to a series of hormone mimetic molecules. Animals exposed to octylphenol presented morphological changes at the testicular level manifested disorganization of the seminiferous epithelium, hypertrophic and hypereosinophilic spermatocytes, presence of apoptotic bodies, as well as the diffuse hyperplasia of the Leydig interstitial cells, proving that octylphenol negative influences the male fertility.

No abstract

The reproductive system of the vertebrates - mainly of the adult males -seems to be vulnerable to the action of endocrine disruptors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of octylphenol (OP) on histological structure of testis in NMRI mice. The mice were divided in three groups (5 mice for each group) such as: control group (C - untreated); vehicle group (V - treated with a mixture of ethanol and corn oil 1:10) and experimental group (E � treated with OP in concentration of 160 mg/kg body weight). The solution of OP was prepared in ethanol, administered by subcutaneous injection in the thigh region (1 ml total volume), for seven consecutive days. For histological examination, after slaughtering, the testes were fixed in 10% neutral formalin, embedded in paraffin, sectioned to a thickness of 5 �m and stained with Mallory�s trichrome method. Microscopic analysis reveals in the individuals from the C and V groups, the normal morphology of the seminiferous tubules. In the case of individuals in the E group, treated with OP, in the testicular parenchyma occurs changes consisting in: detachment of the seminiferous tubule epithelium, mild proliferation of germ cells, the presence of apoptotic bodies among the cells of seminal line, diffuse hyperplasia of the Leydig interstitial cells and hypertrophy of the peritubular capillary. Experimental data obtained in this study demonstrated that the treatment with octylphenol induces irreversible changes in the testicular parenchyma with the disruption of spermatogenesis process.

No abstract

Structural bioinformatics approaches applied to the alpha-and beta-glycosidases from the GH4 enzyme family reveal that, despite low sequence identity, these enzymes possess quite similar global structural characteristics reflecting a common reaction mechanism. Locally, there are a few distinctive structural characteristics of GH4 alpha-and beta-glycosidases, namely, surface cavities with different geometric characteristics and two regions with highly dissimilar structural organizations and distinct physicochemical properties in the alpha-and beta-glucosidases from Thermotoga maritima. We suggest that these structurally dissimilar regions may be involved in specific protein-protein interactions and this hypothesis is sustained by the predicted distinct functional partners of the investigated proteins. Also, we predict that alpha-and beta-glycosidases from the GH4 enzyme family interact with difenoconazole, a fungicide, but there are different features of these interactions especially concerning the identified structurally distinct regions of the investigated proteins.

No abstract