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Biomedical subjects

P Hough

Publications and source records attributed to P Hough.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Survey of chloropropanols in soy sauces and related products purchased in the UK in 2000 and 2002.

The results of surveys to investigate the levels of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) and 1,3-dichloropropanol (1,3-DCP) in UK retail samples of soy sauces and similar products are reported. The products, sampled in 2000 and 2002, were analysed for 3-MCPD using an established solvent extraction technique with a reporting limit of 0.01 mg kg(-1), which also detected 2-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (2-MCPD), and for 1,3-DCP by an automated headspace method with a reporting limit of 0.005 mg kg(-1), which also detected 2,3-dichloropropanol (2,3-DCP). In the 2000 survey, 3-MCPD was quantified in 32 of 100 samples. After normalization to 40% dry matter, it was quantified at or above 0.02 mg kg(-1) in 25 of the samples and in excess of 1 mg kg(-1) in 16 samples, the highest containing 82.8 mg kg(-1). 2-MCPD was found in 26 samples, at up to 17.6 mg kg(-1) after normalization to 40% dry matter. The presence of 1,3-DCP was detected in 17 of the samples, at levels between 0.006 and 0.345 mg kg(-1). 1,3-DCP was only detected where 3-MCPD was present, but the levels of 1,3-DCP and 3-MCPD were not correlated. 2,3-DCP was detected in 11 samples at levels ranging from 0.006 to 0.043 mg kg(-1). In the 2002 survey, 3-MCPD was quantified (> 0.01 mg kg(-1)) in only eight of 99 samples and 2-MCPD in three samples. After normalization to 40% dry matter, 3-MCPD was present at or above 0.02 mg kg(-1) in seven of these, the maximum level being 35.9 mg kg(-1). 1,3-DCP was detected in this sample alone, at 0.017 mg kg(-1).

Carcinogens↗

Survey of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) in selected food groups, 1999-2000.

A survey of the levels of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) in a range of selected food products available in the UK is reported. The survey was carried out on behalf of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to identify the food groups that might provide a significant contribution to 3-MCPD exposure from the diet. Three hundred samples comprising meat, dairy, cereal, soup and miscellaneous products were purchased from retail outlets and analysed using a GC-MS procedure, which had been formally validated by an earlier collaborative trial. 3-MCPD was detected in 89 (30%) of the samples. Three samples, all crackers, contained levels of 3-MCPD > 0.1 mg kg(-1), the highest level being 0.134 mg kg(-1). Levels of 3-MCPD were generally slightly higher in foods after cooking. In all cases where 3-MCPD was detected in cooked foods, it was also present in the uncooked sample.

Chemosterilants↗

Probing a novel potato lipoxygenase with dual positional specificity reveals primary determinants of substrate binding and requirements for a surface hydrophobic loop and has implications for the role of lipoxygenases in tubers.

A new potato tuber lipoxygenase full-length cDNA sequence (lox1:St:2) has been isolated from potato tubers and used to express in Escherichia coli and characterize a novel recombinant lipoxygenase (potato 13/9-lipoxygenase). Like most plant lipoxygenases it produced carbonyl compounds from linoleate (the preferred substrate) and was purified in the Fe(II) (ferrous) state. Typical of other potato tuber lipoxygenases, it produced 5-HPETE [5(S)-hydroperoxy-(6E, 8Z, 11Z, 14Z)-eicosatetraenoic acid] from arachidonate. In contrast to any other potato tuber lipoxygenase, it exhibited dual positional specificity and produced roughly equimolar amounts of 13- and 9-hydroperoxides (or only a slight molar excess of 9-hydroperoxides) from linoleate. We have used a homology model of pea 9/13-lipoxygenase to superimpose and compare the linoleate-binding pockets of different potato lipoxygenases of known positional specificity. We then tested this model by using site-directed mutagenesis to identify some primary determinants of linoleate binding to potato 13/9-lipoxygenase and concluded that the mechanism determining positional specificity described for a cucumber lipoxygenase does not apply to potato 13/9-lipoxygenase. This supports our previous studies on pea seed lipoxygenases for the role of pocket volume rather than inverse orientation as a determinant of dual positional specificity in plant lipoxygenases. We have also used deletion mutagenesis to identify a critical role in catalysis for a surface hydrophobic loop in potato 13/9-lipoxygenase and speculate that this may control substrate access. Although potato 13/9-lipoxygenase represents only a minor isoform in tubers, such evidence for a single lipoxygenase species with dual positional specificity in tubers has implications for the proposed role of potato lipoxygenases in the plant.

Binding Sites↗

3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) in soy sauces and similar products available from retail outlets in the UK.

A survey of the level of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) in soy sauces and similar products available in the UK is reported. The survey was carried out by the Joint Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food/Department of Health Food Safety and Standards Group (JFSSG) to check for compliance with the Food Advisory Committee's (FAC) recommended limit for 3-MCPD of 0.01 mg/kg following reports that soy sauces in several European countries had been found to contain high levels (up to 124 mg/kg) of 3-MCPD. Forty samples of soy sauce and similar products purchased from retail outlets were analysed using a GC-MS procedure which had been formally validated by an earlier collaborative trial. 3-MCPD was undetectable in 21 (52%) of samples analysed in the survey, with a further five samples containing very low levels of between 0.01 and 0.02 mg/kg. Five samples (13%) contained 3-MCPD at levels in the range 0.020-1 mg/kg while nine samples (23%) were found to contain 3-MCPD at levels greater than 1 mg/kg, with the highest level being 30.5 mg/kg.

Carcinogens↗

The development and evaluation of a diluter-ultraviolet spectrophotometric analysis system for the determination of drugs in solutions and suspensions.

An automated system has been developed and validated for the analysis of liquid formulations (solution and suspension). The system comprises a multi-place magnetic stirrer, a diluter and a diode array UV spectrophotometer. The system can handle a wide range of drug formulation concentrations (> 200 mg ml-1) and gives excellent precision and accuracy with no detectable carryover. The analysis acceptance parameters are user-definable and the analysis process, including interpretation and reporting of the data, is fully automated.

Chemistry, Pharmaceutical↗

Seventeen base pairs of region I encode a novel tripartite binding signal for SV40 T antigen.

Three sequence components direct high affinity binding of dimeric SV40 T antigen to SV40 origin region I. Two signals are encoded by two directly repeated 5'-GAGGC-3' pentanucleotides. Approximately equal contributions to binding stability are made by each pentanucleotide, and both spacing and orientation of the pentanucleotides are important for binding affinity. The third vital component is contained in a 5'-TTTTTTG-3' spacer sequence that separates the pentanucleotides. Sequence-specific features of the spacer stabilize binding to the adjacent pentanucleotides. The asymmetry of the spacer suggests that a novel binding mechanism is involved. Because the alignment of T antigen on mutant and wild-type DNAs is similar, we propose that any two of the three sequence signals are sufficient to determine the unique arrangement of a bound protein dimer.

Antigens, Polyomavirus Transforming↗