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“Arbutus unedo is a widespread shrub with economic importance, derived from the use of its berries in the production of alcoholic beverages and in folk medicine. This work intends to evaluate for the first time the effect of fruit ripening stage on antioxidant activity, BV-6 total phenolic content, fatty acid profile and tocopherol composition. Ripe fruits shown higher extraction yield (45.04 +/- 2.23%) when compared to other fruit ripening stages. By contrast, total phenol contents were higher in the unripe and

intermediate stage of ripeness (108 and 111 mg GAES/g dry fruit, respectively, against 60 mg/g dry fruit when ripe). Ripe and intermediate fruits shown the lower EC(50) values on the DPPH radicals (0.25 +/- 0.02 mg/mL) and Ulixertinib reducing power assay (1.09 +/- 0.05 mg/mL), respectively. A significant correlation was established between antioxidant activity and fruits ripening stage. Fatty acid profiles were very similar between the ripening stages, being alfa-linolenic, linoleic and oleic, the three major ones. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) represent

as much as 60% of the total fatty acids, with a highly favorable omega 3/omega 6 ratio. From the analysis of the vitamin E vitamers, the most important was gamma-tocotrienol, with a clear reduction in the total free vitamin E content with ripening.

These results highlight that the fruits of intermediate ripeness can be regarded important sources of biologically active compounds with a fatty acid profile rich in omega-3 PUFA, properly supplemented with high vitamin Ruboxistaurin in vivo E amounts. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Thymidylate synthase (TS) is a crucial enzyme in folate metabolism and plays a vital role in DNA synthesis and repair. The most common polymorphism in TS is a unique double (2R) or triple (3R) 28-bp tandem repeat sequence in the

enhancer region of the TS gene (TSER). This genetic variation in TSER has been widely investigated and has been implicated as a risk factor for the development of various cancers, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It has also been found to influence sensitivity to anti-cancer drugs, such as methotrexate. We evaluated this polymorphism in acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients in the Kashmir population. In order to determine whether a double (2R2R) versus a triple (3R3R) 28-bp tandem repeat in the TSER modulates risk for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 72 acute lymphoblastic leukemia cases and 144 age and gender matched, unrelated healthy individuals from the Kashmir region of India were evaluated for this polymorphism by PCR and direct sequencing. We found the frequency of the TS 2R allele to be 32.6 and 26.0%, in cases and controls, respectively. The TS 2R/2R genotype was found to be present in 15.27% of the cases and 9.72% of the controls, the 2R/3R variant in 34.72% of the cases and 32.63% of the controls, and the 3R/3R genotype in 50.0% of the cases and 57.63% of the controls.