Evidence demonstrates that the impaired energy metabolism

Evidence demonstrates that the impaired energy metabolism P005091 inhibitor and the excessive generation of reactive oxygen radicals contribute to the brain injury associated with cerebral ischemia. In the present study, the protective effect of Spirulina was investigated in transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO)-induced focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats. Male albino rats were divided into six groups: control, sham-operated group, ischemic control group, and Spirulina-pretreated groups (45, 90 and 180 mg/kg/p.o.). Spirulina was administered once a day, for 7 days. The rats were subjected to a 2-h right MCAO via the intraluminal filament technique

and 22 h of reperfusion. Pretreatment with Spirulina significantly reduced the histological changes and neurological deficits. Spirulina

at a dose of 180 mg/kg significantly reversed the elevated brain malondialdehyde (MDA) content and restored the decreased activities of brain superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and reduced glutathione (GSH) indicating that Spirulina has the protective potential against cerebral ischemia injury and its protective effects may be due to its antioxidant selleck compound library property.”
“Background: Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection therapy is unclear. This systematic analysis aimed to clarify the evidence on the efficacy of interferon (IFN)-alpha-based therapy in HDV.\n\nMethods: We performed a systematic search on electronic databases including MEDLINE (1970 to January 2011), Web of Science, The Cochrane Library and ClinicalTrials. gov. Randomized KU55933 clinical trials (RCTs) comparing IFN-alpha-based therapy with either another drug, placebo or no intervention were included. We excluded paediatric studies. We calculated relative risks (RRs) for comparison of treatment options on the primary outcome measure, which was defined as undetectable

levels of HDV RNA and normal alanine aminotransferase at end of treatment (EOT; 1 year).\n\nResults: Nine RCTs were included. Seven trials evaluated the treatment with IFN-alpha (n= 132). The remaining two trials evaluated treatment with pegylated (PEG)-IFN-alpha (n= 45). We found that 1-year treatment with high-dose IFN-alpha achieved better primary outcome rates than with PEG-IFN alpha (RR= 4.14, 95% CI 1.00, 17.14). Data for 1-year treatment with low-dose IFN-alpha compared with PEG-IFN-alpha were similar (RR= 2.83, 95% CI 0.65, 12.40), as were low-dose IFN-alpha versus high-dose IFN-alpha (RR= 0.68, 95% CI 0.31, 1.50). High-dose IFN-alpha and PEG-IFN-alpha reached similar HDV RNA suppression 24 weeks after EOT (RR= 1.00, 95% CI 0.51, 1.97). None of the 55 patients assigned to no intervention obtained undetectable levels of HDV RNA and only one patient achieved normalization of alanine aminotransferase level.

CONCLUSION: XSLJZD could restore the gastric emptying rate and im

CONCLUSION: XSLJZD could restore the gastric emptying rate and improve symptoms. However, the evidence remains weak due to the poor methodological quality of the included studies. (C) 2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.”
“Background: The purpose of this study is to evaluate expression of metabolism-related proteins in primary unknown metastatic carcinoma (PUMC) and associated implications for treatment. Methods:

A tissue microarray containing 77 cases of PUMC was constructed and immunohistochemical staining was used to evaluate expression of the following proteins: Glycolysis-related: Glut-1, signaling pathway carbonic anhydrase (CA) IX, and monocarboxylate transporter (MCT) 4; Glutaminolysis-related: glutaminase1 (GLS1), glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), and amino acid transporter-2 (ASCT2); and Mitochondrial-related: ATP synthase, succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) A, and SDHB. The association between immunohistochemical staining results and clinicopathologic parameters was evaluated. Results: The expression of metabolism-related proteins was different depending on the histologic subtype. Compared to other subtypes, squamous cell carcinomas (SQ) expressed more Glut-1 (p = 0.028), while adenocarcinomas (AD) expressed more SDHB in the stroma (p = 0.025). The expression of metabolism-related proteins was also different

depending on the clinical subtypes. Glut-1 was expressed most in the nodal type and the least in carcinomatosis type, when compared to other subtypes (p = 0.021). The metabolic selleck kinase inhibitor phenotypes also showed other

trends: when the stroma showed no glutaminolysis, the tumor mostly invaded lymph node, bone, and brain, while the tumor invaded regions other than lymph node, bone, and brain when the stroma showed glutaminolysis (p = 0.003). When the selleck chemicals stroma showed the mitochondrial metabolic type, the histologic subtype was mainly AD, but the non-mitochondrial type was associated more with SQ (P = 0.049). Conclusion: For PUMC, the expression of metabolism-related proteins, such as Glut-1 and SDHB, differs in the tumor or stroma depending on the clinical and histologic tumor subtype.”
“Given the unprecedented size of three-dimensional ultraspectral sounder data with high spectral resolution, lossless compression is preferable to avoid substantial degradation of the geophysical retrieval. A lossless compression method for ultraspectral sounder data is therefore developed. A quantized-principal-component-analysis-based scheme is presented by combining 3D prediction, positive mapping, and histogram packing using binary indexing vectors (positive packing) followed by a range coder. In order to achieve the optimal trade-off between residual errors and side information, an algorithm is proposed to determine adaptively the number of selected PCs and quantization parameters. Numerical experiments show that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods (i.e.

We conclude that differences in carcinogen genotoxicity can be ob

We conclude that differences in carcinogen genotoxicity can be observed in yeast expressing different CYP1A2 alleles. This is the first report that carcinogen-associated P450 polymorphisms can Fludarabine concentration be studied in yeast. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the expression and cytoprotective function of a 72-kDa heat shock protein (HSP72) using a reflux esophagitis model in rats.\n\nMain methods: Expression of HSP60, HSP72, and HSP90 in rat esophageal mucosa was evaluated by

Western blot analysis before and after hyperthermia (42.5 degrees C, 20 min). Rats received the operation to produce reflux esophagitis with or without pretreatment with hyperthermia to induce HSPs. The esophageal mucosal damage was evaluated 12 h after the operation.\n\nKey findings: Expression of HSP72 was significantly increased by hyperthermia in rat esophageal mucosa. Reflux esophagitis was dramatically prevented when HSP72 was preinduced by hyperthermia.

Furthermore, activation of TNF-alpha and IL-10 in esophageal mucosa was also suppressed.\n\nSignificance: These results suggested that hyperthermia protects the esophageal mucosa Selleck Wnt inhibitor in reflux esophagitis model by inducing HSP72 and suppressing proinflammatory cytokine activation. These findings might suggest that HSP-inducing therapy could be a novel and unique therapy for reflux esophagitis. (C) 2009 Elsevier

Inc. All rights reserved.”
“Background. To assess if the variants of (R)-alpha-methyl-CoA racemase (AMACR) gene would be associated with the risk of sporadic prostate cancer in ethnically homogenous Koreans. Materials and Methods. We enrolled 194 patients with prostate cancer and 169 healthy controls. A total of 17 single nucleotide polymorphisms of the AMACR gene were selected. The distribution of each genotype and haplotype was analyzed and their association with the incidence of prostate cancer was evaluated. Further, we detected AMACR expression in tumor with immunohistochemistry and analyzed its association with genotype regarding prostate cancer risk. Results. AG or GG genotype of rs2278008 (E277K) tended to lower prostate cancer risk. see more The minor G allele was found to be a significant allele that decreased the risk of prostate cancer (adjusted OR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.35-0.93, P value = 0.025). In patients expression AMACR, AG or GG genotype was also significant genotype in terms of prostate cancer risk (adjusted OR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.26-0.87, P value = 0.017). Further, [GGCGG] haplotype consisted of five coding SNPs of rs2278008, rs34677, rs2287939, rs10941112, and rs3195676 which decreased the risk of prostate cancer (P value = 0.047). Conclusions. Genetic variations of AMACR are associated with the risk of sporadic prostate cancer that underwent radical prostatectomy in Koreans.

Firstly, the first two datasets are merged to obtain a mutation m

Firstly, the first two datasets are merged to obtain a mutation matrix, based on which a weighted mutation network is constructed where the vertex weight corresponds to gene coverage and the edge weight corresponds to the mutual exclusivity between gene pairs. Similarly, see more a weighted expression network is generated from the expression matrix where the vertex and edge weights correspond to the influence of a gene mutation on other genes and the Pearson correlation of gene mutation-correlated expressions, respectively.

Then an integrative network is obtained by further combining these two networks, and the most coherent subnetworks are identified by using an optimization model. Finally, we obtained the core modules for tumors by filtering with significance and exclusivity

tests. We applied iMCMC to the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and ovarian carcinoma data, and identified several mutated core modules, some of which are involved in known pathways. Most of the implicated genes are oncogenes or tumor suppressors previously reported to be related to carcinogenesis. As a comparison, we also performed iMCMC on two of CX-6258 chemical structure the three kinds of data, i.e., the datasets combining somatic mutations with CNVs and secondly the datasets combining somatic mutations with gene expressions. The results indicate that gene expressions or CNVs indeed provide extra useful information to the original data for the identification of core modules in cancer.\n\nConclusions: This study demonstrates the utility of our iMCMC by integrating multiple data sources to identify mutated core modules in cancer. In addition to presenting a generally applicable methodology, our findings provide several candidate pathways or core modules recurrently perturbed in GBM or ovarian carcinoma for further studies.”
“Background: The increasing trend toward eating out, rather than at home, along with concerns

about the adverse nutritional profile of restaurant foods JQ-EZ-05 cost has prompted the introduction of calorie labeling. However, the calorie content in food from sit-down and fast-food restaurants has not been analyzed.\n\nPurpose: The calorie content of restaurant foods was analyzed in order to better understand how factors that determine calorie content may potentially influence the effectiveness of calorie labeling.\n\nMethods: Nutritional information was collected from the websites of major (N=85) sit-down and fast-food restaurants across Canada in 2010. A total of 4178 side dishes, entrees, and individual items were analyzed in 2011.\n\nResults: There was substantial variation in calories both within and across food categories. In all food categories, sit-down restaurants had higher calorie counts compared to fast-food restaurants (p<0.05).

Moreover, there was a positive correlation between dehydration

Moreover, there was a positive correlation between dehydration ABT-263 clinical trial and performance in the verbal analogy task. The results are discussed in the light of the complexity of the neurobiological mechanisms involved in the relationship between hydration status and cognition. (C) 2012

Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Motivation: Protein-protein interactions play vital functional roles in various biological phenomena. Physical contacts between proteins have been revealed using experimental approaches that have solved the structures of protein complexes at atomic resolution. To examine the huge number of protein complexes available in the Protein Data Bank, an efficient automated method that compares protein complexes is required.\n\nResults: We have developed Structural Comparison of Protein Complexes (SCPC), a novel method to structurally compare protein complexes. SCPC compares the spatial arrangements of subunits in a complex with those in another complex using secondary structure elements. Similar substructures are detected in two protein complexes and the similarity is scored.

SCPC was applied to dimers, homo-oligomers and haemoglobins. SCPC properly estimated structural similarities between the dimers examined as well as an existing MLN4924 solubility dmso method, MM-align. Conserved substructures were detected in a homo-tetramer and a homo-hexamer composed of homologous proteins. Classification of quaternary structures of haemoglobins using SCPC was consistent with the conventional classification. The results demonstrate that SCPC is a valuable tool to investigate the structures of protein complexes.\n\nAvailability: SCPC is available at http://idp1.force.cs.is.nagoya-u.ac.jp”
“Objective-To examine the changes in monocarboxylate transporter (MCT) 1 and MCT4 content and in indicators of energy metabolism in the gluteus medius muscle (GMM) of Thoroughbreds during growth.\n\nAnimals-6 Thoroughbreds (3

males and 3 females).\n\nProcedures-Samples of GMM were obtained when horses were 2, 6, 12, and 24 months old. Muscle proteins were separated via SDS-PAGE; amounts of MCT1 and MCT4 and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma click here coactivator-1 alpha content were determined by use of western blotting. Muscle activities of phosphofructokinase and citrate synthase were measured biochemically; lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes were separated by agarose gel electrophoresis and quantified.\n\nResults-Compared with findings when horses were 2 months old, MCT1 protein content in GMM samples obtained when the horses were 24 months old was significantly higher; however, MCT4 protein content remained unchanged throughout the study period.

Methods and Results-We performed a post hoc analysis of the C

\n\nMethods and Results-We performed a post hoc analysis of the Clopidogrel for

the Reduction of Events During Observation (CREDO) study to compare the treatment effect of clopidogrel in patients on CCBs versus not on CCBs. In CREDO, 2116 patients were randomly assigned to pretreatment with 300 mg clopidogrel 3-24 hours before a planned percutaneous coronary intervention followed by 1 year of 75 mg/d clopidogrel, versus 75 mg clopidogrel at the time of the procedure and continued for 28 days only. The primary end points were a combined end point of death, myocardial infarction, and stroke at 28 days and 1 year. Among the 580 patients (27%) on CCBs at enrollment, at 28 days, the combined end point was reached in 17 patients (6%) on clopidogrel versus 28 (9%) on placebo (hazard Pitavastatin datasheet ratio [HR], 0.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.39-1.29). At 1 year, the combined end Selleck LY2606368 point was reached in 27 patients (10%) on clopidogrel versus 46 (15%) on placebo (HR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.42-1.09). The treatment effect of clopidogrel was similar in patients not on CCBs at 1 year (HR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.56-1.09). After adjustment for differences

between patients on and not on CCB, there was still no evidence of an interaction between clopidogrel treatment and CCB (HR for patients not on CCBs, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.62-1.23; HR for patients on CCBs, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.45-1.21).\n\nConclusions-In CREDO, there was no evidence that CCBs decrease the efficacy of clopidogrel. (Circ Cardiovasc Interv. 2012;5:77-81.)”
“This paper presents a personal view of research into the exercise drive to breathe that can be observed to act immediately to increase breathing at the start of rhythmic exercise. It is based on a talk given at the Experimental Biology 2013 meeting in a session entitled Recent advances in understanding mechanisms regulating breathing during exercise’. This drive

to breathe has its origin in a combination of central command, whereby voluntary motor commands to the exercising muscles produce a concurrent respiratory drive, and afferent feedback, whereby afferent information from the exercising muscles selleck compound affects breathing. The drive at the start and end of rhythmic exercise is proportional to limb movement frequency, and its magnitude decays as exercise continues so that the immediate decrease of ventilation at the end of exercise is about 60% of the immediate increase at the start. With such evidence for the effect of this fast drive to breathe at the start and end of rhythmic exercise, its existence during exercise is hypothesised. Experiments to test this hypothesis have, however, provided debatable evidence. A fast drive to breathe during both ramp and sine wave changes in treadmill exercise speed and grade appears to be present in some individuals, but is not as evident in the general population.

These treatments were applied to a porous Ti metal layer on a tot

These treatments were applied to a porous Ti metal layer on a total hip joint and the resultant joint has been in clinical use since 2007. It has been also demonstrated that the apatite formation on the treated Ti metal in the living body also occurred

in an acelullar simulated body fluid (SBF) with ion concentrations nearly equal to those of the human blood plasma, and hence bone-bonding ability of the treated Ti metal can be evaluated using SBF in vitro. However, it was recently found that certain RG-7388 research buy Ti metals subjected to the same NaOH and heat treatments display apatite formation in SBF which is decreased with the increasing volume of the NaOH solution used in some cases. This indicates that bone-bonding ability of the treated GSK923295 in vivo Ti metal varies with the volume of the NaOH solution used. In

the present study, this phenomenon was systematically investigated using commercial NaOH reagents and is considered in terms of the structure and composition of the surface layers of the treated Ti metals. It was found that a larger amount of the calcium contamination in the NaOH reagent is concentrated on the surface of the Ti metal during the NaOH treatment with an increasing volume of the NaOH solution, and that this inhibited apatite formation on the Ti metal in SBF by suppressing Na ion release from the sodium titanate into the surrounding fluid. Even a Ca contamination level of 0.0005 % of the NaOH reagent was sufficient to inhibit apatite formation. On the other hand, another NaOH reagent with a nominal purity of just 97 % did not exhibit any such inhibition, since it contained almost no Ca contamination. This indicates that NaOH reagent must be carefully selected for obtaining reliable bone-bonding implants of Ti metal

Screening Library price by the NaOH and heat treatments.”
“During T cell development in the thymus, a virgin repertoire of diverse TCR alpha beta recognition specificities in immature thymocytes is selected through positive and negative selection to form an immunocompetent and self-tolerant repertoire of mature T cells. Positive selection supports the survival of thymocytes that receive weak signals of low-avidity TCR engagement, whereas negative selection deletes potentially harmful self-reactive thymocytes upon high-avidity TCR engagement. Early studies have highlighted the role of TCR interaction with polymorphic MHC determinants in positive selection, while negative selection imposes TCR specificity to peptide antigens displayed by MHC molecules.

To identify regulators associated with the stationary phase-depen

To identify regulators associated with the stationary phase-dependent activation of SPI1, the effects of selected regulatory genes, including relA/spoT (ppGpp), luxS, ihfB, hfq, and arcA, on the expression of hilA and invF were compared under shaking HSP inhibitor conditions. Mutations in the hfq and arcA genes caused a reduction in hilA and invF expression (more than 2-fold) in the early stationary phase only, whereas the lack of ppGpp and IHF decreased hilA and invF gene expression during the entire stationary phase. We also found that hfq and arcA mutations caused a reduction of hilD expression upon entry into the stationary phase under shaking culture conditions. Taken together,

these results suggest that Hfq and ArcA regulate the hilD promoter, causing an accumulation of HilD, which can trigger a stationary phase-dependent

activation of SPI1 genes under shaking culture conditions.”
“The novel monomer, vinyl trifluorobutyrate (VTFBu), when polymerized in a controlled fashion by RAFT/MADIX polymerization with a xanthate transfer agent, yields poly(vinyl ester)s with improved solubility in supercritical carbon dioxide. The thermodynamic parameters controlling the solubility of VTFBu/vinyl acetate statistical copolymers are discussed based on ab initio calculations, glass transition temperatures of the copolymers, and surface tension measurements. The enhanced solubility selleck screening library of this new class of CO2-philic polymer combined with its good chemical stability render it attractive for the preparation of next-generation macromolecular surfactants for the formation of waterscCO(2) emulsions.”
“Paleontologists have investigated brain morphology of extinct birds with little information on post-hatching MK-0518 changes in avian brain morphology. Without the knowledge of ontogenesis, assessing brain morphology in fossil taxa could lead to misinterpretation of the phylogeny or neurosensory development of extinct species. Hence,

it is imperative to determine how avian brain morphology changes during post-hatching growth. In this study, chicken brain shape was compared at various developmental stages using three-dimensional (3D) geometric morphometric analysis and the growth rate of brain regions was evaluated to explore post-hatching morphological changes. Microscopic MRI (mu MRI) was used to acquire in vivo data from living and post-mortem chicken brains. The telencephalon rotates caudoventrally during growth. This change in shape leads to a relative caudodorsal rotation of the cerebellum and myelencephalon. In addition, all brain regions elongate rostrocaudally and this leads to a more slender brain shape. The growth rates of each brain region were constant and the slopes from the growth formula were parallel.

Clinical Relevance-Congenital laryngeal cysts are rarely repo

\n\nClinical Relevance-Congenital laryngeal cysts are rarely reported in domestic animals. The information provided here described the CT appearance of a laryngeal

cyst and the use of CT in diagnosis and surgical planning. Congenital laryngeal cysts can be resected via a lateral submucosal approach. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2010;236:1328-1333)”
“Congress passed the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act in 1913, giving the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) authority to prevent the importation or interstate shipment of worthless, contaminated, dangerous, or harmful veterinary biological products. The passage of this act marked the beginning of regulatory requirements for veterinary biological products in the United States. In 1913, only a few biologics establishments produced products for the poultry industry.

The first license issued by the USDA for a poultry product was in 1918 to the University of California, Berkeley, for fowlpox vaccine. selleck compound The list of biological products for poultry grew slowly in the 1920s. However, this began to change with the licensing of laryngotracheitis vaccine in 1933; pigeonpox vaccine in 1939; several Newcastle disease vaccines (inactivated in 1946, Roakin strain in 1948, B1 strain in 1950, and La Sota strain in 1952); and the first bronchitis vaccine in 1953. With the development of these and other new products, the biologics industry began to move its emphasis on hog cholera serum and selleck virus to one based on the production of numerous

new vaccines and bacterial products. The USDA’s approach to the regulation of biologics in the early 1950s was still geared to the production of hog cholera products; however, as a result of the intervention of a group of dedicated poultry scientists, who were concerned about the poor performance of Newcastle disease vaccines, this soon changed. This presentation describes the initiation and development of modern standards for poultry biologics that occurred as a result of this intervention. The development and improvement check details of standards and regulatory requirements to address mycoplasma, leukosis, and other extraneous virus contaminations in chicken embryo origin products are reviewed. The licensing of products to meet new and emerging disease problems in the poultry industry and the close interaction among research scientists, poultry industry, biologics manufacturers, and government regulatory officials that has been needed to ensure the availability of products that meet appropriate standards of purity, safety, potency, and efficacy are also addressed.”
“Transforming growth factor-beta s (TGF-beta s) regulate cellular proliferation, differentiation, and survival. TGF-beta s bind to type I (TGF-beta RI) and II receptors (TGF-beta RII), which are transmembrane kinase receptors, and an accessory type III receptor (TGF-beta RIII). TGF-beta may utilize another type I receptor, activin-like kinase receptor (Alk1).

Obtained product was used as the heterogeneous oxidant of As(III)

Obtained product was used as the heterogeneous oxidant of As(III) in aqueous solutions. The polymer’s oxidizing capacity, determined as part

of the batch studies, amounted to 193.29 mg As(III) g(-1) (pH=7.7) and 206.03 mg As(III) g(-1) (pH=2.0). The suitability of the redox polymer for long-lasting operation in the aqueous environment was confirmed in the column study conducted using a solution with a concentration of 10 mg As(III) dm(-3) at a flow rate of 6 bed volumes (BV) h(-1). The concentration of As(III) in the effluent reached the value of 0.01 mg As(III) dm(-3) only after 8 weeks of continuous operation when 7930 BV of the solution had passed through the bed. (c) 2014 CYT387 cell line Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, MDV3100 132, 41552.”
“Background: The aim of this study was to develop and perform the 3D finite element analysis of a femoral head interior supporting device (FHISD). Material/Methods: The 3D finite element

model was developed to analyze the surface load of femoral head and analyze the stress and strain of the femoral neck, using the normal femoral neck, decompressed bone graft, and FHISD-implanted bone graft models. Results: The stress in the normal model concentrated around the femoral calcar, with displacement of 0.3556 +/- 0.1294 mm. In the decompressed bone graft model, the stress concentrated on the femur calcar and top and lateral sides of femoral head, with the displacement larger

than the normal (0.4163 +/- 0.1310 mm). In the FHISD-implanted bone graft model, the stress concentrated on the segment below the lesser trochanter superior to the femur, with smaller displacement than the normal (0.1856 +/- 0.0118 mm). Conclusions: FHISD could effectively maintain MI-503 clinical trial the biomechanical properties of the femoral neck.”
“Asulacrine (9-[(2-methoxy-4-methylsulphonylamino)phenyl amino]-N,5-dimethyl-4-acridinecarboxamide), an analogue of the antileukaemia drug arnsacrine, has high antitumour activity in mice and has also shown clinical activity. A simple method is described for the quantitation of asulacrine in plasma by liquid chromatography. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a reversed phase C 18 column (250 mm x 4.6 mm, particle size 5 mu m, Gemini) using isocratic elution (acetonitrile and 0.01 M sodium acetate buffer pH 4.0, 45/55, v/v) at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. Asulacrine and internal standard (the ethylsulphonanilide analogue) were measured using UV detection at 254 nm. The total chromatographic run-time was 8 min with asulacrine and internal standard eluting at similar to 4.7 and similar to 6.5 min, respectively. Limit of quantification was 0.1 mu g/ml. The linearity range of the method was 0.1-10 mu g/ml (r(2) = 0.9995). Mean recoveries from plasma were 100-105%.