In this study, we evaluated the efficacy, expressed as a mean weight decrease of the whole echinococcal cyst mass, of novel benzimidazole salt formulations in a murine Echinococcus granulosus infection model. BALB/c mice were intraperitoneally infected with protoscoleces of E. granulosus (genotype G1). At 9 months post-infection, treatment with albendazole (ABZ), ricobendazole (RBZ) salt formulations, and RBZ enantiomer salts (R)-(+)-RBZ-Na and (S)-(−)-RBZ-Na formulations were initiated. Drugs were orally applied by gavage at 10 mg kg−1 body weight per day during 30 days. Experimental treatments with benzimidazole sodium salts resulted in a significant reduction of the weight of cysts compared to conventional ABZ treatment, except for the (S)-(−)-RBZ-Na enantiomer formulation. Scanning electron microscopy and histological inspection revealed that treatments impacted not only the structural integrity of the parasite tissue in the germinal layer, but also induced alterations in the laminated layer. Overall, these results demonstrate the improved efficacy of benzimidazole salt formulations compared to conventional ABZ treatment in experimental murine cystic echinococcosis.

We have investigated the adsorption of D- and L-alanine, and their respective dimers, by three allophanes with different Al/Si ratios. The Kanuma (Al/Si = 1.2) and Kitakami (Al/ Si = 1.5) allophanes were from Japan whereas the Te Kuiti (Al/Si = 1.6) sample came from New Zealand. The three allophanes differed in their capacity for adsorbing alanine but none of the samples showed a clear preference for either the D- or the L-form. In the case of alanyl-alanine both Kanuma and Kitakami allophanes gave a hint of preferring the L- to the D-enantiomer. On the other hand, the allophane sample from Te Kuiti showed a clear preference for L-alanyl-L-alanine. In keeping with this observation, circular dichroic spectrometry indicated that solutions of a racemic mixture of alanyl-alanine, after equilibration with Te Kuiti allophane, became relatively enriched in the Denantiomer. The size, intra-molecular charge separation, and surface orientation, of L-alanyl-Lalanine zwitterions apparently combine to confer ‘structural chirality’ to the complex (adduct) with Te Kuiti allophane. As a result, the mineral-organic complex develops a preference for the L-form of alanyl-alanine. This finding points to a possible role of certain allophanes in the origin of biochirality.

R,S-Oxazepam and R,S-temazepam can be separated in their enantiomers by means of a chiral AGP column. The corresponding R- and S-glucuronide conjugates can be separated on a normal reversed-phase C18 column. Man conjugates the S-enantiomer of oxazepam and temazepam both better than the R-enantiomer. The urinary recovery of the glucuronides following either R,S,-oxazepam or R,S-temazepam almost amounts to 100% of the dose administered.

The ecologically important lichen Cladonia stellaris forms thick carpets in boreal forest floors. In addition to affecting temperature and water conditions in the soil underneath, the secondary metabolites formed by the lichen layer are of ecological interest. In this paper, we investigated the distribution of lichen acids in C. stellaris collected at different latitudes in Finland and developed methods to quantify the two optical enantiomers of usnic acid separately. The lichen extracts were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV and mass spectrometric (MS) detection and by gas chromatography with flame ionization (GC-FID) and MS detection. Usnic acid and perlatolic acid were quantified using GC-FID. The concentration of usnic acid in the top 20 mm of the lichen thallus ranged from 0·48–3·08% of dry weight, and that of perlatolic acid from 0·08–0·54%. The enantiomeric composition of usnic acid was determined using a chiral HPLC column coupled to an electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometer. (−)-Usnic acid was found to be the predominating enantiomer in all extracts; the proportion of (+)-usnic acid ranged from 0·4%–10·0%. Olivetoric acid methyl ester, diphenylmethanol, and 5-pentylresorcinol were identified, and several other olivetoric acid-type compounds were tentatively identified in the extracts.