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Total oxidant scavenging capacity of Euterpe oleracea Mart. (açaí) seeds and identification of their polyphenolic compounds.

J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Jun 14;54(12):4162-7

Authors: Rodrigues RB, Lichtenthäler R, Zimmermann BF, Papagiannopoulos M, Fabricius H, Marx F, Maia JG, Almeida O

The antioxidant capacity of methanol and ethanol seed extracts from Euterpe oleracea Mart. (açaí) against the reactive oxygen species (ROS) peroxyl radicals, peroxynitrite, and hydroxyl radicals was studied with the total oxidant scavenging capacity (TOSC) assay in a modified and automated version. Cold methanol digestion was the most efficient extraction method with respect to the antioxidant capacity. The extracts exhibit good antioxidant capacity against peroxyl radicals, similar to the capacity of the pulp. The antioxidant capacity against peroxynitrite and hydroxyl radicals is even higher. The main antioxidants identified by HPLC-MS and HPLC-CEAD are five different procyanidins (di- through pentamers); furthermore, protocatechuic acid and epicatechin were identified as minor compounds. Determination of TOSC values of HPLC seed extract fractions indicates that the procyanidins contribute substantially to the overall antioxidant capacity. In addition, however, other compounds that have not yet been identified are responsible for a large part of the observed antioxidant capacity.

PMID: 16756342 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Home and hospital; hospice and palliative care: how the environment impacts the social work role.

J Soc Work End Life Palliat Care. 2007;3(2):3-17

Authors: Lawson R

Social workers play key roles on interdisciplinary hospice teams and in hospitals on oncology or palliative care teams. Though palliative care settings include both home hospice and hospital-based consultation services, the different environments and scope of practice impact the role of the social worker. The purpose of this article is to examine the similarities and differences in coordination of care, teamwork, and collaboration in these two fields in order to highlight opportunities for enhancing clinical skills and developing our confidence and presence in asserting social work expertise with our transdisciplinary colleagues.

PMID: 18069620 [PubMed - in process]

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Phytochemical and nutrient composition of the freeze-dried amazonian palm berry, Euterpe oleraceae mart. (acai).

J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Nov 1;54(22):8598-603

Authors: Schauss AG, Wu X, Prior RL, Ou B, Patel D, Huang D, Kababick JP

Euterpe oleraceae is a large palm tree indigenous to the Amazon River and its tributaries and estuaries in South America. Its fruit, known as acai, is of great economic value to native people. In this study, a standardized freeze-dried acai fruit pulp/skin powder was used for all analyses and tests. Among many findings, anthocyanins (ACNs), proanthocyanidins (PACs), and other flavonoids were found to be the major phytochemicals. Two ACNs, cyandin 3-glucoside and cyanidin 3-rutinoside were found to be predominant ACNs; three others were also found as minor ACNs. The total content of ACNs was measured as 3.1919 mg/g dry weight (DW). Polymers were found to be the major PACs. The concentration of total PACs was calculated as 12.89 mg/g DW. Other flavonoids, namely, homoorientin, orientin, isovitexin, scoparin, and taxifolin deoxyhexose, along with several unknown flavonoids, were also detected. Resveratrol was found but at a very low concentration. In addition, components including fatty acids, amino acids, sterols, minerals, and other nutrients were analyzed and quantified. Total polyunsaturated fatty acid, total monounsaturated fatty acid, and total saturated fatty acids contributed to 11.1%, 60.2%, and 28.7% of total fatty acid. Oleic acid (53.9%) and palmitic acid (26.7%) were found to be the two dominant fatty acids. Nineteen amino acids were found; the total amino acid content was determined to be 7.59% of total weight. The total sterols accounted for 0.048% by weight of powder. The three sterols B-sitosterol, campesterol, and sigmasterol were identified. A complete nutrient analysis is also presented. Microbiological analysis was also performed.

PMID: 17061839 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Characterization of the vls antigenic variation loci of the Lyme disease spirochaetes Borrelia garinii Ip90 and Borrelia afzelii ACAI.

Mol Microbiol. 2003 Mar;47(5):1407-17

Authors: Wang D, Botkin DJ, Norris SJ

The vls locus of Borrelia burgdorferi B31 consists of 15 silent cassettes and one expression site (vlsE), and the presence of the encoding plasmid lp28-1 correlates with high infectivity. Recombination between the expression cassette and silent cassettes occurs in vivo, and this process may enable B. burgdorferi to evade the immune response. To determine the characteristics of the vls loci in other Borrelia strains, we have cloned and characterized the vls silent cassette loci of Borrelia garinii Ip90 and Borrelia afzelii ACAI, consisting of 11 vls silent cassettes and 14 vls silent cassettes respectively. The silent cassettes share 90-97% nucleotide sequence identity with one another within the Ip90 vls locus and 84-91% within the ACAI vls locus. In both organisms, the silent cassettes resemble the B31 Vls sequences in overall amino acid similarity (50-65%) and in the presence of six variable regions interspersed between six relatively invariant regions. The vlsE expression sites of these two strains have not been isolated, but transcripts of vlsE were detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction for both Ip90 and ACAI. In addition, the occurrence of sequence variation within the vlsE cassette region of these transcripts was verified. This study indicates that the vls loci present in B. garinii Ip90 and B. afzelii ACAI have characteristics similar to those found in B. burgdorferi B31.

PMID: 12603744 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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