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Nowadays because of urban life, every vital resource has been polluted with heavy metals that are real prooxidants, Cactus fruit and Star fruit both have anti-oxidant activities and can protect animal tissues from oxidative stress. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the protective effect of Cactus Fruit and Star fruit extract on histological changes induced by cadmium in the lungs of Wistar rats. An experimental study was performed on 24 male Wistar rats over 16 days, Animals were randomly divided into four groups of six; negative control group, the positive control group that was poisoned at 2 mg/kg every 48 hours. Group 3 was the cadmium-poisoned group that was gavaged with cactus fruit extract at 200 mg/kg. Group 4 was the cadmium-poisoned group that was gavaged with star fruit extract at 200 mg/kg, administration of extracts was 90 minutes before the poisoning, After 16 days, the rats were euthanized by heart blood drainage under anesthesia. The main findings in the positive control group were the destruction of tissue architecture with the development of edema, hyperemia and congestion. Destruction of alveoli and air-space enlargement occurred. Vasculature structures were damaged and some degree of Inflammation and fibrosis happened, but the changes were much milder in the two other groups. Both fruits extract had high protective effects, each of them protected lung tissue against cadmium oxidative damage but cactus fruit extract seems to have more protection than star fruit extract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective(s): Many patients die due to vascular, gastrointestinal lumen problems, and coronary heart diseases. Synthetic vessels that are made of biodegradable-nanofiber polymers have significant properties such as proper biodegradability and efficient physical properties such as high strength and flexibility. Some of the best options for supporting cells in soft tissue engineering and design are applications of thermoplastic polyurethane polymer in the venous tissue. In this study, the first nanoparticle-reinforced polymeric artificial prosthesis was designed and tested to be used in the human body.Materials and Methods: In this study, artificial gastrointestinal lumen were fabricated and prepared using a 3D printer. To improve cell adhesion, wettability properties and mechanical stability of elastin biopolymer with magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as well as single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) were prepared as separate filaments. MNPs were made in 5–7 mm sizes and then examined for mechanical, biological, and hyperthermia properties. Then, the obtained results of the gastrointestinal lumen were simulated using the Abaqus software package with a three-branch. The results were evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for morphology and phase analysis. Results: The obtained results of the designed vessels showed remarkable improvement in mechanical properties of the SWCNT vessels and hyperthermia properties of the vessels containing the MNPs. The results of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis showed that the artificial vessels had lower shear stress at the output. Conclusion: Five-mm MNP containing vessels showed noticeable chemical and biological properties along with ideal magnetic results in the treatment of thrombosis and vascular obstruction.

Objective(s): Many patients die due to vascular, gastrointestinal lumen problems, and coronary heart diseases. Synthetic vessels that are made of biodegradable-nanofiber polymers have significant properties such as proper biodegradability and efficient physical properties such as high strength and flexibility. Some of the best options for supporting cells in soft tissue engineering and design are applications of thermoplastic polyurethane polymer in the venous tissue. In this study, the first nanoparticle-reinforced polymeric artificial prosthesis was designed and tested to be used in the human body. Materials and Methods: In this study, artificial gastrointestinal lumen were fabricated and prepared using a 3D printer. To improve cell adhesion, wettability properties and mechanical stability of elastin biopolymer with magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as well as single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) were prepared as separate filaments. MNPs were made in 5-7 mm sizes and then examined for mechanical, biological, and hyperthermia properties. Then, the obtained results of the gastrointestinal lumen were simulated using the Abaqus software package with a three-branch. The results were evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for morphology and phase analysis. Results: The obtained results of the designed vessels showed remarkable improvement in mechanical properties of the SWCNT vessels and hyperthermia properties of the vessels containing the MNPs. The results of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis showed that the artificial vessels had lower shear stress at the output. Conclusion: Five-mm MNP containing vessels showed noticeable chemical and biological properties along with ideal magnetic results in the treatment of thrombosis and vascular obstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Asymmetric β-apo-carotenoids (nonvitamin A–active metabolites) of provitamin A carotenoids have been observed in humans, but no study has investigated their formation during digestion. Objective: The aim of this study was to follow the formation and absorption of asymmetric β-apo-carotenoids during digestion. Design: Healthy men were intragastrically and intraduodenally intubated, and randomly assigned to consume a lipid-rich control meal (n = 3) or a lipid-rich test meal containing 20 mg [13C-10]-β-carotene (n = 7). Digesta samples were collected over 5 h, and blood collected over 7 h. The triglyceride-rich lipoprotein (TRL) fractions of plasma were also isolated. Lipophilic extracts of digesta, plasma, and TRL were analyzed via a high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method developed to identify [13C]-labeled β-apo-carotenals/carotenone, [13C]-β-apo-carotenols, and [13C]-β-apo-carotenoic acids. Results: Relative to [13C]-β-carotene, [13C]-β-apo-carotenal levels remained ∼3 orders of magnitude lower throughout digestion (no [13C]-β-apo-carotenols, or [13C]-β-apo-carotenoic acids were observed). A mixed model determined relative influence of digesta type and time on digesta metabolite level. Increasing time significantly increased the model levels of digesta [13C]-β-apo-10′,12′,14′,15-carotenal and [13C]-β-apo-13-carotenone (P < 0.05) and trended toward decreased [13C]-β-apo-8′-carotenal (P = 0.0876). Gastric digesta were associated with a significantly higher level of [13C]-β-apo-8′-carotenal (P = 0.0289), and lower levels of [13C]-β-apo-12′,14′,15-carotenal (P < 0.05), relative to duodenal digesta. Anticipated retinoids, but no asymmetric [13C]-β-apo-carotenals, [13C]-β-apo-carotenols, or [13C]-β-apo-carotenoic acids, were observed in the blood or TRL samples. Conclusions: β-Carotene appears to be robust to digestion, with minor amounts of β-apo-carotenals/carotenone formed. Absence of asymmetric [13C]-β-apo-carotenals in plasma and TRL suggests lack of absorption, levels below the limit of detection, lack of stability, or further conversion during the digestive process to as-yet unidentified products. Lack of asymmetric [13C]-β-apo-carotenals in plasma also suggests a lack of postprandial intestinal BCO2 activity in healthy humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are strong medical motivations to measure changes in material properties of tubular organs, in vivo and in vitro. The current approach estimates hoop stress from intraluminal pressure using the Laplace law and identifies 'elastic modulus' as the slope of a curve fitted hoop stress plotted against strain data. We show that this procedure is fundamentally flawed because muscle and other soft tissue are closely incompressible, so that the total stress includes a volume-preserving material-dependent hydrostatic response that invalidates the method. Furthermore, we show that the Laplace law incorrectly estimates total stress in biological vessels. However, the great need to estimate elastic modulus leads us to develop an alternative practical method, based on shear stress-strain, i.e. insensitive to nonelastic response from incompressibility, but that uses the same measurement data as the current (incorrect) method. The individual material parameters in the underlying (unknown) constitutive relation combine into an effective shear modulus that is a true measure of elastic response, unaffected by incompressibility and without reference to the Laplace law. Furthermore, our effective shear modulus is determined directly as a function of deformation, rather than as the slope of a fitted curve. We validate our method by comparing effective shear moduli against exact shear moduli for four theoretical materials with different degrees of nonlinearity and numbers of material parameters. To further demonstrate applicability, we reanalyse an in vivo study with our new method and show that it resolves an inconsistent change in modulus with the current method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scope: To investigate the formation and absorption of lycopene (LYC) metabolites in the human upper gastrointestinal lumen, in the absence and presence of iron., Methods: Healthy males (n = 7) consumed test meals that deliver ≈22 mg LYC + ≈0.3 mg apo-lycopenals from oleoresin without (-FeSO 4 ) and with ferrous sulfate (160 mg, +FeSO 4 ). Subjects were intubated with a naso-gastric/naso-duodenal tube. Digesta, blood plasma, and the triglyceride-rich lipoprotein (TRL) fractions of plasma were analyzed using LC-MS/MS, to measure LYC and apo-lycopenoids., Results: Digesta LYC concentrations increased with time (p = 1.2 × 10 -7 ), decrease with time × iron (p = 1.1 × 10 -5 ), and remain ≈200× higher than apo-lycopenals/lycopenone. Digesta apo-8'-, -10'-, -12'-, -14'-, -15-lycopenal, and apo-13-lycopenone concentrations increased with time (p < 0.01), apo-12'-, -14'-, -15-lycopenal, apo-13-lycopenone increase with iron (p < 0.05), and time × iron decrease apo-8'-, -10'-, -12'-, -14'-, -15-lycopenal, apo-13-lycopenone concentrations (p < 0.01). A 1.9-fold decrease in LYC TRL area-under-the-time-concentration-curve is observed after the test meal +FeSO 4 versus the test meal -FeSO 4 (p = 0.02). Apo-lycopenals were detected in later TRL fractions, and no apo-lycopenols or apo-lycopenoic acids were observed in any samples., Conclusions: FeSO 4 reduces LYC absorption. Apo-lycopenals appear to be absorbed from foods, and not made in significant quantities during digestion., (© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)