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Abstract: Citrinin is a toxic metabolite produced by several filamentous fungi of the genera Penicillium, Aspergillus and Monascus, which has been encountered as a natural contaminant in grains, foods, feedstuffs, as well as biological fluids. This mycotoxin is hepato-nephrotoxic and implicated in disease outbreaks in animals and humans. Some analytical systems have been developed for its detection and quantification. The purpose of this paper is to review physicochemical properties, qualitative and quantitative analytical methods of citrinin, evaluate advantages and disadvantages of various analytical techniques, and bring forward some constructive suggestions on establishment of international criteria for quality control of products contaminated with citrinin by comparing chromatographic properties, sample pre-treatment, recovery rate and detection limit of citrinin among various analytical methods. This paper concentrates the most important achievements on the analytical methods of citrinin published from 1980 to early 2004. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the involvement of the RhoA/Rho kinase (ROCK) signaling pathway in the progression of ADR-induced heart failure. Rats were administered captopril or fasudil over a period of 6days, and the ADR was injected intraperitoneally on day 4. Similar to the effect of captopril, fasudil treatment significantly protected against ADR-induced hemodynamic, histopathologic and ultra-structural changes and decreased plasma lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine phosphokinase (CPK) in a dose-dependent manner in the left ventricle of the heart. While ADR treatment induced ROCK I mRNA expression, fasudil significantly and dose-dependently reduced the incidence of apoptosis and the ratio of bax/bcl-2 protein expression. Moreover, a dose-related decrease in c-jun mRNA expression and an increase in c-FLIP (L) expression were observed in the fasudil groups. Fasudil also downregulated NF-κB activity in a dose-dependent manner. These data indicated that the RhoA/ROCK signaling pathway plays an important role in the progression of heart failure induced by ADR, while fasudil increased resistance to cardiac cell injury. The mechanisms of fasudil-mediated protection against ADR-induced apoptosis may be related to higher c-FLIP (L) and bcl-2 expression, lower c-jun expression and inhibition of NF-κB activation in the heart. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]