PURPOSE: For the production and evaluation of the tissue-equivalent phantom. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used agarous gel and oil as a basic component of the mixture and added Tween 80 for the stabilization of phantoms. We did the test for homogeneity and measured T1 and T2 relexation times of each phantom tube. RESULTS: T1 relaxation time ranged from 642 to 2781 msec and T2 relaxation times from 42 to 157 msec. Each phantom was significantly different in T1 relaxation time and T2 relaxation time (p < .0001). CONCLUSION: Tissue equivalent phantom may provide good information on the optimal sequence before MR imaging of patients and may be valuable if it is used with the patients' MR imaging.
Agar ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Polysorbates ; Relaxation

A study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant activity (AOA) of traditional medication by determining the iodine index of Tween 80 in tentative samples (with the extraction of traditional medication) and control samples (without the extraction of traditional medication). It should not apply the spectrometry to evaluate the AOA of these medication because of their complicated chemical components, especially chromatic compounds which interfere the photic density
Antioxidants ; Medicine ; Medicine, Traditional ; Iodine ; Polysorbates

Scopoletin is a coumarin compound with various biological activities including detumescence and analgesic, insecticidal, antibacterial and acaricidal effects. However, interference with scopolin and other components often leads to difficulties in purification of scopoletin with low extraction rates from plant resource. In this paper, heterologous expression of the gene encoding β-glucosidase An-bgl3 derived from Aspergillus niger were carried out. The expression product was purified and characterized with further structure-activity relationship between it and β-glucosidase analyzed. Subsequently, its ability for transforming scopolin from plant extract was studied. The results showed that the specific activity of the purified β-glucosidase An-bgl3 was 15.22 IU/mg, the apparent molecular weight was about 120 kDa. The optimum reaction temperature and pH were 55 ℃ and 4.0, respectively. Moreover, 10 mmol/L metal ions Fe²⁺ and Mn²⁺ increased the enzyme activity by 1.74-fold and 1.20-fold, respectively. A 10 mmol/L solution containing Tween-20, Tween-80 and Triton X-100 all inhibited the enzyme activity by 30%. The enzyme showed affinity towards scopolin and tolerated 10% methanol and 10% ethanol solution, respectively. The enzyme specifically hydrolyzed scopolin into scopoletin from the extract of Erycibe obtusifolia Benth with a 47.8% increase of scopoletin. This demonstrated that the β-glucosidase An-bgl3 from A. niger shows specificity on scopolin with good activities, thus providing an alternative method for increasing the extraction efficiency of scopoletin from plant material.
Aspergillus niger/genetics* ; beta-Glucosidase/chemistry* ; Scopoletin ; Polysorbates ; Coumarins

BACKGROUND: There are several media for culture of Malassezia spp., such as Leeming & Notman (LN) medium, modified Leeming & Notman (mLN) medium, Dixon's medium and modified Dixon's medium etc. It is known that Malassezia spp. grow well in these media in general, but the kind and amounts of their ingredients are various and un-uniform according to researchers. Author propose the new and transparent BHI based medium for the optimal growth of Malassezia spp. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to design the simple and transparent BHI based medium and find essential ingredients for the growth of M. globosa and M. obtusa. METHODS: The colony size of eight standard strains (M. dermatis, M. furfur, M. globosa, M. japonica, M. obtusa, M. sloofiae, M. sympodialis, M. yamatoensis) on the modified BHI (mBHI) agar media with different ingredients was observed by naked eye after seven day culture. The compositions of mBHI medium were as follows; mBHI-1 was supplemented with 0.7% dextrose, 1.5% Tween 80, 1% glycerol to BHI medium, mBHI-2 was supplemented with 1.5% Tween 40 to mBHI-1 instead of Tween 80, mBHI-3 was supplemented with 1.5% Tween 60 to mBHI-1 instead of Tween 80, mBHI-4 was added with 0.8% bile salts to mBHI-1. mBHI-5 was supplemented with 1.5% Tween 60 to mBHI-4 instead of Tween 80, and mBHI-6 was supplemented with 1.5% Tween 40 to mBHI-4 instead of Tween 80. pH of six mBHI media was all adjusted to 6.5. RESULTS: M. furfur & M. japonica were grown well on mBHI-1 agar, but M. globosa & M. obtusa were not grown and others grown poorly. M. globosa & M. obtusa were not grown on mBHI-1 & mBHI-4 containing Tween 80 as lipid source, but others grown on all mBHI media. The media that all eight Malassezia strains grew well were slightly turbid mBHI-5 & transparent mBHI-6 medium. CONCLUSIONS: M. globosa & M. obtusa need glycerol and bile salts as well as Tween 60 or 40 instead of Tween 80 for growth. M. furfur & M. japonica need not bile salts for growth. Author proposes the transparent modified BHI medium supplemented with 0.7% dextrose, 1.5% Tween 40, 1% glycerol and 0.8% bile salts (mBHI-6) as new standard medium for culture of eight Malassezia species.
Agar ; Bile Acids and Salts ; Glucose ; Glycerol ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Malassezia* ; Polysorbates

This study was done on 171 volunteers in order to investigate the present status of cutaneous normal flora of Candida species and the distribution of Candida species on the normal human skin in dermatologic clinic of Korea University Hospital from January, ]984 to December, 1984. Among the 171 volunteers, 115 strains of Candida species were identified by culture on the Sabouraud's dextrose agar media, germ tube test, sugar assimilation test, sugar fermentaion test and culture on corn meal with Tween 80 media, The results were summarized as follows: 1. The incidence of cutaneous normal flora of Candida species was 13, 5,5 (115 species among 855 sites) 2. Candida species were distributed in oral cavity(45 species), 4th interdigital toe web(39 species), groin(12 species), axilla(11 species) and 4th interdigital finger web(8 species) in order of frequency. 3, Of ll5 species, 45 species were cultured in summer, 27 species in autumn, 18 species in winter and 14 species in spring. 4 Of 115 Candida species, C. albicans(88 species), C. parapsilosis(12 species), C, tropicalis(8 species), C. guilliermondii(3 species) and C. stellatoidea(2 species) were identified. Two species could not be identified.
Agar ; Candida* ; Fingers ; Glucose ; Humans* ; Incidence ; Korea ; Meals ; Polysorbates ; Skin* ; Toes ; Volunteers ; Zea mays

BACKGROUND: Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is characterized by the structural miniaturization of androgen-sensitive hair follicles in susceptible individuals and is anatomically defined within a given pattern of the scalp. Oral finasteride and topical minoxidil are the only drugs whose effect and safety were demonstrated and approved by the FDA. However, the treatment result of these medications are not always satisfactory. Here, we report the result of a clinical trial of the new topical agent, Scalp med(R) to patients with AGA. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to test Scalp med(R), the solution including minoxidil, retinol, polysorbate 80 and phytosterol in the treatment of AGA. METHODS: Included in this study were males between the ages of 20 and 60 years, in good health, with mild to moderate AGA. Efficacy was evaluated by terminal hair count per 1 cm2 and hair thickness. RESULTS: The results of this clinical trial showed a highly positive response to treatment. After 24 weeks of treatment, a significant improvement in hair count and hair thickness was demonstrated in all the patients. CONCLUSION: This clinical study establishes the effectiveness and safety of Scalp med(R) in the treatment of AGA.
Alopecia ; Finasteride ; Hair ; Hair Follicle ; Humans ; Male ; Miniaturization ; Minoxidil ; Polysorbates ; Scalp ; Vitamin A

Based on the fact that chromogenic reaction of blue complex, a reaction product which can be dissolved in organic solvents, can be realized by polyethoxy and ammonium thiocyanate in tween 80, a rapid and accurate way for the determination for tween 80 in pharmaceutical adjuvant was established in this study, providing reliable technical means for quality control of traditional Chinese medicine injections. Based on the study of reaction kinetics, chromogenic reaction temperature and time, as well as extraction of organic solvents and other key conditions were optimized, and Kumu injection was used as the test material for method validation and applicability investigation. It was finally determined that 3 mL ammonium thiocyanate solution was added in the sample solution, and the reaction was carried out in a boiling water bath for 2 h. After cooling to room temperature, 5 mL of dichloromethane was added to extract the chromogenic product. The absorbance value was measured at the wavelength of 623 nm to calculate the tween 80 content in the sample. Under optimized conditions, tween 80 solution showed a good linear relationship with the absorbance in the range from 0.8 mg to 3.0 mg. The linear regression equation was ＝0.258-0.047. The correlation coefficient was 0.999 6. Under the experimental conditions, the average recovery was 99.66%, and the precision RSD was less than 2.0%. The results showed that this method can quickly and accurately determine the content of tween 80 in Kumu injection, and it could be applicable to the quality control of traditional Chinese medicine injections.
Adjuvants, Pharmaceutic ; chemistry ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Polysorbates ; chemistry ; Quality Control ; Solvents ; Temperature

OBJECTIVES: The main objectives of this study were to verify the antibacterial activity of two essential oils, lavender and peppermint, against dental caries and to review their synergistic effect when used in combination. Our results provide basic data for the evaluation of the use of these two substances towards the prevention and cure of dental caries. METHODS: The sample solutions of lavender and peppermint oils were prepared in three different concentrations (30%, 50%, and 70% (v/v)) by diluting them with third-distilled water and Tween 20. Streptococcus mutans was selected as the bacterial species for testing. The disk diffusion method was used to measure the antibacterial activity of the sample solutions. For generating growth curves and measuring the number of clusters of the bacterial, the liquid medium-dilution method was used; the absorbance of the medium was measured at 600 nm after 3, 6, 12 and 24 hours. RESULTS: When the antibacterial activity of the oils was tested via the disk diffusion method, the activity improved with increasing concentrations of all the sample solutions of peppermint, lavender, and the blend, but there was no significant difference between them with respect to the type of oil. In the growth curves of S. mutans, growth inhibition was observed after 12 hours. The inhibitory effect of 30% lavender oil on growth was 64.9% and 80.1% after 12 and 24 hours of treatment, respectively whereas that of peppermint oil was 71.3% and 80.1% after 12 and 24 hours of treatment, respectively. The inhibitory effect of the blended oil was 71.9% and 81.0% after 12 and 24 hours of treatment, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Further research is still required in order to determine the efficacy of lavender and peppermint oils, as well as other essential oils, for wider use in preventing dental caries.
Dental Caries ; Diffusion ; Lavandula ; Mentha piperita ; Methods ; Oils ; Oils, Volatile ; Polysorbates ; Streptococcus mutans ; Streptococcus ; Water

Tacrolimus and cyclosporine have been used in various formulations, but their hypersensitivity reactions are rare in practice. Castor oil derivatives are nonionic surfactants used in aqueous preparations of hydrophobic active pharmaceutical ingredients. Castor oil derivatives that can be used as additives to tacrolimus and cyclosporine may play a role in the development of hypersensitivity reactions, especially anaphylaxis. Various immunologic and nonimmunologic mechanisms have been implicated in hypersensitivity reactions induced by castor oil derivatives. Physicians should be aware that not only the drug itself, but also its additives or metabolites could induce hypersensitivity reactions. We report a case of anaphylaxis caused by vitamin K (phytonadine), serotonin antagonist (granisetron), intravenous tacrolimus, and cyclosporine. Interestingly, the patient tolerated oral cyclosporine, which did not contain Cremophor EL or polysorbate 80.
Anaphylaxis ; Castor Oil ; Cyclosporine ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Polysorbates ; Serotonin ; Surface-Active Agents ; Tacrolimus ; Vitamin K

The effective components of flavonoids in the "Pueraria lobata-Hovenia dulcis" drug pair have low bioavailability in vivo due to their unstable characteristics. This study used microemulsions with amphoteric carrier properties to solve this problem. The study drew pseudo-ternary phase diagrams through titration compatibility experiments of the oil phase with emulsifiers and co-emulsifiers and screened the prescription composition of blank microemulsions. The study used average particle size and PDI as evaluation indicators, and the central composite design-response surface method(CCD-RSM) was used to optimize the prescription; high-dosage drug-loaded microemulsions were obtained, and their physicochemical properties, appearance, and stability were evaluated. The results showed that when ethyl butyrate was used as the oil phase, polysorbate 80(tween 80) as the surfactant, and anhydrous ethanol as the cosurfactant, the maximum microemulsion area was obtained. When the difference in results was small, K_(m )of 1∶4 was chosen to ensure the safety of the prescription. The prescription composition optimized by the CCD-RSM was ethyl butyrate(16.28%), tween 80(9.59%), and anhydrous ethanol(38.34%). When the dosage reached 3% of the system mass, the total flavonoid microemulsion prepared had a clear and transparent appearance, with average particle size, PDI, and potential of(74.25±1.58)nm, 0.277±0.043, and(-0.08±0.07) mV, respectively. The microemulsion was spherical and evenly distributed under transmission electron microscopy. The centrifugal stability and temperature stability were good, and there was no layering or demulsification phenomenon, which significantly improved the in vitro dissolution of total flavonoids.
Polysorbates/chemistry* ; Flavonoids ; Pueraria ; Surface-Active Agents/chemistry* ; Ethanol ; Emulsions ; Particle Size ; Solubility