BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gastric epithelial dysplasia is considered a precancerous lesion with a variable clinical course. There is disagreement, however, regarding histology-based diagnoses, which has led to confusion in choosing a therapeutic plan. New objective markers are needed to determine which lesions progress to true malignancy. We measured LINE-1 methylation levels, which have been reported to strongly correlate with the global methylation level in gastric epithelial dysplasia and intramucosal cancer. METHODS: A total of 145 tissue samples were analyzed by two histopathologists. All tissues were excised by therapeutic endoscopic mucosal resection and paired with adjacent normal tissue samples. A modified long interspersed nucleotide elements-combined bisulfite restriction analysis (COBRA-LINE-1) method was used. RESULTS: Gastric epithelial dysplasia and intramucosal cancer tissues had significantly lower levels of LINE-1 methylation than adjacent normal gastric tissues. High-grade dysplasia and intramucosal cancer were distinguishable from low-grade dysplasia based on LINE-1 methylation levels. Furthermore, the distinction could be determined with high sensitivity and specificity, as shown by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC, 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.74 to 0.88). CONCLUSIONS: LINE-1 methylation levels may provide a diagnostic tool for identifying high-grade dysplasia and intramucosal cancer.
Methylation ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sulfites

OBJECTIVE: The abnormal expression of fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene has been frequently reported in a variety of epithelial malignancies including cervical carcinoma. Furthermore, in a recent study it was proposed that transcriptional inactivation of FHIT, as a consequence of aberrant 5'-CpG island methylation, plays an important role in the carcinogenesis of human cervical carcinoma. The authors sought to determine whether abnormal FHIT transcription occurs in human cervical carcinoma, and if so, whether this abnormal expression is associated with aberrant 5'-CpG island methylation. In addition, the clinical significance of FHIT inactivation was investigated in Korean women with cervical cancer. METHODS: To examine for abnormal transcripts of the FHIT gene, quantitative RT-PCR, genomic DNA-PCR and nonisotopic RT-PCR-SSCP analysis were performed using the standard method. The methylation status was determined by methylation specific PCR and bisulfite DNA sequencing. RESULTS: The FHIT gene was down-regulated in 15 of 58 (25.9%) cervical carcinomas. FHIT promoter hypermethylation was detected in 15 of 15 (100%) abnormally expression in cervical carcinomas. Bisulfite DNA sequencing confirmed these findings and a significant correlation was found between CpG site hypermethylation and low FHIT expression. However, no significant correlation was found between reduced FHIT expression and clinicopathological characteristics. CONCLUSION: In this study, FHIT inactivation in cervical cancer was found to be strongly correlated with 5'-CpG island hypermethylation rather than a genetic alteration. Furthermore, no significant relation was found between a lack of FHIT expression and the prognostic factors of cervical cancer in our Korean cohort.
Cohort Studies ; Female ; Histidine ; Humans ; Methylation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Sulfites ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

As the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) launched officially at the 2010 Washington meeting, a giant step toward the conquest of unexplored regions of the human genome has begun. IHEC aims at the production of 1,000 reference epigenomes to the international scientific community for next 7-10 years. Seven member institutions, including South Korea, Korea National Institute of Health (KNIH), will produce 25-200 reference epigenomes individually, and the produced data will be publically available by using a data center. Epigenome data will cover from whole genome bisulfite sequencing, histone modification, and chromatin access information to miRNA-seq. The final goal of IHEC is the production of reference maps of human epigenomes for key cellular status relevant to health and disease.
Chromatin ; Genome ; Genome, Human ; Histones ; Humans ; Korea ; MicroRNAs ; Republic of Korea ; Sulfites ; Washington

AIMTo study the sensitizing effect of acemetacin (ACE) on the weak chemiluminescent (CL) reaction of KMnO4 with sulfite and establish a fast and convenient method for CL detection of ACE.

METHODSUsing the sensitizing effect of ACE on KMnO4-Na2SO3 system and flow injection technique to determine the concentration of ACE.

RESULTSUnder optimal conditions, the CL intensity of 1.0 x 10(-2) mol x L(-1) H3PO4 - 5.0 x 10(-5) mol x L(-1) KMnO4 - 4.0 x 10(-4) mol x L(-1) Na2SO3 was proportional to the concentration of ACE ranging from 1.0 x 10(-7) to 1.0 x 10(-5) mol x L(-1). The detection limit of ACE was 6.9 x 10(-8) mol x L(-1) at 3sigma. Satisfactory results were obtained for determination of ACE at 2.5 x 10(-6) mol x L(-1).

CONCLUSIONThe present method showed good precision, high sensitivity and selectivity and could be used for fast and convenient detection of ACE. It would be of significance to the clinical and pharmacological study of acemetacin.

Flow Injection Analysis ; methods ; Indomethacin ; analogs & derivatives ; analysis ; Luminescent Measurements ; methods ; Potassium Permanganate ; chemistry ; Sulfites ; chemistry

To study the condensation mechanism of sodium new houttuyfonate, and determinate the chemical structure of condensation products, dimer was prepared, and LC-DAD-MS/MS multiple techniques were employed to investigate the ultraviolet absorption feature and mass spectrum of transformation solution of dimer, and the transformation kinetics and half-life were studied by ultraviolet spectrophotometry. The pure substance of stable condensation product was obtained by extracting with organic solvent and purifying with column chromatography, the chemical structure of this substance was identified by assaying of IR, HR-ESI-MS and NMR, and the data of LC-MS/MS were compared with that of transformation products of dimer. The results indicated that the dimer is unstable, it will be rapidly dissociated in aqueous solution to form free new houttuyfonate and then cycloaddition reaction will occur and followed by an in situ dehydration to generate 1, 3, 5-tri (dodecanoyl) benzene (trimer) with a six-ring which is stable in aqueous solution. The transformation process may fit second-order kinetics, and the half-times were found to be 3.17 hours at 25 degrees C (298 K) and 6.39 min at 100 degrees C (373 K), separately. It suggests that dimer is an intermediate in condensation reaction, and the end condensation product of sodium new houttuyfonate injection may exist as trimer.
Alkanes ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Molecular Structure ; Pharmaceutical Preparations ; analysis ; Sulfites ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Methylation of cytosine is a post-synthesis modification that does not affect the primary DNA sequence but greatly influences gene expression level and phenotypes of an organism. As high-throughput sequencing of bisulfite-treated DNA is the most efficient method to identify methylated sites, several tools to map sequencing reads on a reference are available. But tools to visualize and to interpret the methylation level of methylation sites are currently insufficient. Herein, we present a novel tool to visualize the methylation level of CpG sites.
Base Sequence ; Cytosine ; DNA ; DNA Methylation ; Epigenomics ; Gene Expression ; Methylation ; Phenotype ; Sulfites

OBJECTIVETo find an inhibitor to reduce the volatilization of formalin.

METHODThe saturated solution of sodium hydrosulphite (SHS) was sprayed on the surface of the anatomy specimens, then the concentration of formaldehyde in the air was tested.

RESULTSThe concentration of formaldehyde in the air of SHS sprayed group [(3.10 +/- 1.22) mg/m3] was significantly lower than that of the control group [(8.36 +/- 4.11) mg/m3, P < 0.01].

CONCLUSIONSHS may be a volatilization inhibitor for formalin, which could reduce the concentration of formaldehyde in the air.

Air Pollution, Indoor ; prevention & control ; Anatomy ; Formaldehyde ; analysis ; chemistry ; Sulfites ; chemistry ; Volatilization

OBJECTIVETo establish a rapid and convenient method of DNA modification by bisulfite sodium for the detection of DNA methylation.

METHODSThrough increasing the bisulfite sodium concentration and the temperature of treatment, cutting down the modification time, besides using glassmilk to adsorb the DNA in the purification and recovery, to improve the methods of DNA modification. Efficiency of cytosine converted to thymine in MAGE-A3 gene and DAP-K gene fragments were analyzed by bisulfite sequencing PCR in order to evaluate the DNA modification effect among the improved method, traditional method and kit method.

RESULTSThe operating time of test was shortened to about 3 hours by the improved method; conversion rate of unmethylated cytosine to thymine was over 99%; compared with the traditional method and kit method, there was no significant difference (χ(2) = 0.0564, P > 0.05); the improved method was only for the unmethylated cytosine conversion modification, and there was no significant difference in process of methylated cytosine converted to thymine comparing with the traditional method (χ(2) = 0.0149, P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe improved method has high efficiency of DNA modification and has no significant effect on excessive modification;meanwhile, it has many advantages such as time-saving and easy to operate etc.

Cytosine ; chemistry ; DNA ; chemistry ; DNA Methylation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sulfites ; chemistry ; Thymine ; chemistry

PURPOSE: To review the role of food additives in asthma and provide a practical approach for evaluation, diagnosis, and management of additive-induced asthma. METHODS: Information was gathered from original articles, selected reviews and abstracts published in peer-reviewed journals and from selected textbook chapters, supplemented by the clinical experience of the authors. RESULTS: In some patients, food additive ingestion can induce bronchospasm or exacerbation of symptoms in patients with chronic asthma. The most implicated agents are sulfites, followed by tartrazine, monosodium glutamate and others. However, geographic variations exist depending on the dietary habits. CONCLUSION: Food additives are worth considering as possible causes of bronchospasm or worsening of asthma. The medical history may be suggestive, particularly when symptoms occur to commercially prepared foods or to multiple unrelated foods. Physicians should also think of food additives in patients whose asthma is poorly controlled in spite of appropriate routine allergy evaluation, environmental control, and optimal pharmacologic therapy. Except for a few natural additives, allergy skin test and in-vitro tests are unreliable. A titrated oral challenge testing, preferably in a blind fashion would be the definitive diagnostic procedure.
Asthma* ; Bronchial Spasm ; Coloring Agents ; Diagnosis ; Eating ; Food Additives* ; Food Habits ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Skin Tests ; Sodium Glutamate ; Sulfites ; Tartrazine

OBJECTIVETo study effects of different chemical factors in gastrointestinal tract, i.e. pH, protein, amino acid, ionic strength, Na2S, on the dissolution of cinnabar.

METHODThe content of total mercury in various dissolution of cinnabar were analyzed by UV/VIS Spectrophotometer. The particle distributions in dissolution of cinnabar were measured by Laser Particle Size Analyzer. The constituents of dissoluble substance of cinnabar in presence of Na2S were determined using ESI-MS.

RESULTThe solubility of cinnabar could be increased significantly in the presence of Na2S/So, and strong acidic pH, respectively. While the influence of thiol amino acid on promoting dissolution remains relatively low. Cinnabar didnt dissolve mainly in the form of nanoparticle.

CONCLUSIONWe postulated that cinnabar could be dissolved in various forms of mercury complexes containing sulphur.

Cysteine ; chemistry ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Mercury Compounds ; analysis ; chemistry ; Particle Size ; Solubility ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization ; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet ; Sulfites ; chemistry