Publikationen

The biomechanical parameters of muscle gastrocnemius contraction and biochemical parameters of blood and muscle tissue in rats after chronic alcoholization for 3, 6, and 9 months were studied. The oral administration of C60 fullerene aqueous solution (C60FAS) at doses of 0.5, 1, and 2 mg/kg throughout the experiment was used as a therapeutic agent. C60FAS in each of the experimental groups was administered in three ways: 1 h before alcohol intake, together with alcohol, and 1 h after alcohol intake. The most significant positive effects were recorded when alcohol and C60FAS were administered together at the optimal dose of 1 mg/kg. So, the increase in muscle gastrocnemius contraction force was 20 ± 1%, 33 ± 2% and 65 ± 3% (p < 0.05) compared with control at 3, 6, and 9 months alcoholization, respectively, as well as a high level of its fluctuations correction was observed throughout the experiment. Biochemical parameters such as blood levels of creatinine, creatine phosphokinase, lactate and lactate dehydrogenase as well as pro- and antioxidant balance (content of hydrogen peroxide and reduced glutathione, as well as catalase, selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities) in muscle gastrocnemius tissues decreased from 15 ± 2% (3 months of alcoholization) to 45 ± 2% (9 months of alcoholization) (p < 0.05) compared to controls. The results indicate promising prospects for the use of water-soluble C60 fullerenes, as powerful antioxidants, for the correction of pathological conditions of the muscular system arising from alcohol intoxication.

Background: Being a scavenger of free radicals, C60 fullerenes can influence on the physiological processes in skeletal muscles, however, the effect of such carbon nanoparticles on muscle contractility under acute muscle inflammation remains unclear. Thus, the aim of the study was to reveal the effect of the C60 fullerene aqueous solution (C60FAS) on the muscle contractile properties under acute inflammatory pain. Methods: To induce inflammation a 2.5% formalin solution was injected into the rat triceps surae (TS) muscle. High-frequency electrical stimulation has been used to induce tetanic muscle contraction. A linear motor under servo-control with embedded semi-conductor strain gauge resistors was used to measure the muscle tension. Results: In response to formalin administration, the strength of TS muscle contractions in untreated animals was recorded at 23% of control values, whereas the muscle tension in the C60FAS-treated rats reached 48%. Thus, the treated muscle could generate 2-fold more muscle strength than the muscle in untreated rats. Conclusions: The attenuation of muscle contraction force reduction caused by preliminary injection of C60FAS is presumably associated with a decrease in the concentration of free radicals in the inflamed muscle tissue, which leads to a decrease in the intensity of nociceptive information transmission from the inflamed muscle to the CNS and thereby promotes the improvement of the functional state of the skeletal muscle.

The energies of the frontier molecular orbitals determine the optoelectronic properties in organic films, which are crucial for their application, and strongly depend on the morphology and supramolecular structure. The impact of the latter two properties on the electronic energy levels relies primarily on nearest-neighbor interactions, which are difficult to study due to their nanoscale nature and heterogeneity. Here, an automated method is presented for fabricating thin films with a tailored ratio of surface to bulk sites and a controlled extension of domain edges, both of which are used to control nearest-neighbor interactions. This method uses a Langmuir–Schaefer-type rolling transfer of Langmuir layers (rtLL) to minimize flow during the deposition of rigid Langmuir layers composed of π-conjugated molecules. Using UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, it is shown that the rtLL method advances the deposition of multi-Langmuir layers and enables the production of films with defined morphology. The variation in nearest-neighbor interactions is thus achieved and the resulting systematically tuned lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energies (determined via square-wave voltammetry) enable the establishment of a model that functionally relates the LUMO energies to a morphological descriptor, allowing for the prediction of the range of accessible LUMO energies.

Soil samples taken during archaeological investigations of a historical tannery area in the eastern suburb of the medieval city of Jena have been investigated by 16S r-RNA gene profiling. The analyses supplied a large spectrum of interesting bacteria, among them Patescibacteria, Methylomirabilota, Asgardarchaeota, Zixibacteria, Sideroxydans and Sulfurifustis. Samples taken from soil inside the residues of large vats show large differences in comparison to the environmental soil. The PCAs for different abundance classes clearly reflect the higher similarity between the bacterial communities of the outside-vat soils in comparison with three of the inside-vat soil communities. Two of the in-side vat soils are distinguishable from the other samples by separate use of each abundance class, but classes of lower abundance are better applicable than the highly abundant bacteria for distinguishing the sampling sites by PCA, in general. This effect could be interpreted by the assumption that less abundant types in the 16S r-RNA data tend to be more related to an earlier state of soil development than the more abundant and might be, therefore, better suited for conclusions on the state of the soils in an earlier local situation. In addition, the analyses allowed identification of specific features of each single sampling site. In one site specifically, DNA hints of animal residue-related bacteria were found. Obviously, the special situation in the in-site vat soils contributes to the diversity of the place, and enhances its Beta-diversity. Very high abundancies of several ammonia-metabolizing and of sulphur compound-oxidizing genera in the metagenomics data can be interpreted as an echo of the former tannery activities using urine and processing keratin-rich animal materials. In summary, it can be concluded that the 16S r-RNA analysis of such archaeological places can supply a lot of data related to ancient human impacts, representing a kind of “ecological memory of soil”.

Cholesterin hat es bis in den Alltagssprachgebrauch gebracht. Allein deshalb ist es für Praktika im Chemiestudium ein interessanter Vertreter der Steroide. Zudem ist es einfach zu gewinnen.