We evaluated the influence of heat treatment on interfacial properties (adsorption at the oil-water interface and dilatational rheology of interfacial layers) of soy protein isolate. The related structural properties of protein affecting these interfacial behaviors, including protein unfolding and aggregation, surface hydrophobicity, and the state of sulfhydryl group, were also investigated. The structural and interfacial properties of soy protein depended strongly on heating temperature (90 and 120 °C). Heat treatment at 90 °C induced an increase in surface hydrophobicity due to partial unfolding of protein, accompanied by the formation of aggregates linked by disulfide bond, and lower surface pressure at long-term adsorption and similar dynamic interfacial rheology were observed as compared to native protein. Contrastingly, heat treatment at 120 °C led to a higher surface activity of the protein and rapid development of intermolecular interactions in the adsorbed layer, as evidenced by a faster increase of surface pressure and dilatational modulus. The interfacial behaviors of this heated protein may be mainly associated with more flexible conformation and high free sulfhydryl group, even if some exposed hydrophobic groups are involved in the formation of aggregates. These results would be useful to better understand the structure dependence of protein interfacial behaviors and to expand utilization of heat-treated protein in the formulation and production of emulsions.

In this work, different thermal aggregation behaviors of soy β-conglycinin and glycinin at pH 7.0 were characterized with size exclusion chromatography and low-angle light scattering. Limited aggregation that grew via the consumption of "monomers" was detected in β-conglycinin, forming soluble aggregates. For glycinin, the association between the aggregates that led to the appearance of insoluble materials was observed. Heated with β-conglycinin, the assembly between the glycinin aggregates was terminated and its solubility was recovered. The structure of the soluble and insoluble aggregates was analyzed by small-angle X-ray scattering and dynamic light scattering. Unlike the β-conglycinin soluble aggregates that possessed limited size and less compact conformation, particles with a denser core and a less dense outer shell were found in the glycinin insoluble aggregates. Evidence is presented to reveal the transition between the soluble and insoluble aggregates and the role of β-conglycinin in the solubilization of the soy protein aggregates during heating.

The present investigation aimed to expand the knowledge of the in vitro bioaccessibility of fatty acids and tocopherol from natural soybean oil body emulsions stabilized with different concentrations of ι-carrageenan. Several physicochemical parameters including proteolysis of the interfacial layer, interfacial composition, and microstructure were evaluated with regard to their impact on the bioaccessibility of fatty acids and tocopherol. Results from simulated human digestion in vitro indicated that the bioaccessibility of total fatty acids and tocopherol decreased (62.7-8.3 and 59.7-19.4%, respectively) with the increasing concentration of ι-carrageenan. During the in vitro digestion procedure, ι-carrageenan affected physicochemical properties of the emulsions, thereby controlling the release of fatty acids and tocopherol. These results suggested that soybean oil body emulsions stabilized with ι-carrageenan could provide natural emulsions in foods that were digested at a relatively slow rate, the important physiological consequence of which might be increasing satiety.

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AIMTo investigate the relationship between levels of iron metabolism markers and hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related chronic liver diseases.METHODSThis case-control study with 318 participants included 78 cases of chronic hepatitis B, 85 cases of HBV-related liver cirrhosis, 77 cases of HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma, and 78 healthy controls. Markers of iron metabolism were detected in participants. Hematological and biochemical parameters and HBV-DNA were assessed. Child-Pugh grade and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage were determined for each hepatocellular carcinoma patient. Perls’ staining was performed on liver sections. The SPSS program was used for all statistical analyses, and statistical significance was considered if a P-value < 0.05.RESULTSSignificantly higher serum ferritin and lower serum hepcidin levels were detected in all groups of HBV-infected patients compared with healthy controls. Serum iron, total iron binding capacity, and serum transferrin levels were significantly lower in patients with cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, whereas the hepcidin level was higher than that in chronic hepatitis B patients. Correlation analysis indicated that serum hepcidin was negatively correlated with HBV-DNA load (P < 0.01). Serum ferritin and transferrin saturation levels increased proportionally to the extent of liver cirrhosis and poorer Child-Pugh scores (P < 0.05). The decreased serum iron and transferrin saturation levels were significantly correlated with a smaller hepatocellular carcinoma tumor burden according to Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging. Liver histology showed a clearly increasing trend in iron deposition in the liver tissues with increased fibrosis, which became prominent at stages 3 (severe liver fibrosis) and 4 (cirrhosis).CONCLUSIONIron metabolism disorders occur in patients with HBV-related liver diseases. The serum markers of iron metabolism disorders vary in different stages of HBV-related liver diseases.

Noninvasive drug delivery is a promising treatment strategy for ocular posterior segment diseases. Many physiological and anatomical barriers of the eye considerably restrict effective diffusion of therapeutics to the target site. To overcome this problem, a novel cyclic arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD) hexapeptide and penetratin (PEN) co-modified PEGylation polyamidoamine (PAMAM) was designed as a nanocarriers (NCs), and its penetrating and targeting abilities were evaluated. In this study, we show that PAMAM-PEG (reaction molar ratio 1:32) has a relatively high grafting efficiency and low cytotoxicity. The particle size was within the range of 15-20 nm after modification with RGD and PEN. Cellular uptake of RGD-modified NCs involved significant affinity toward integrin avb3, which validated the targeting of neovasculature. An in vitro permeation study indicated that modification with PEN significantly improved penetration of the NCs (1.5 times higher). In vivo ocular distribution studies showed that, the NCs (modified with PEN or co-modified with RGD and PEN) were highly distributed in the cornea and retina (p < .001), and modification extended retinal retention time for more than 12 h. Therefore, these NCs appear to be a promising noninvasive ocular drug delivery system for ocular posterior segment diseases.