Muscle structure and theories of contraction.

The biochemistry and medical significance of the flavonoids.

We have previously reported suggestive linkage of type 2 diabetes mellitus to chromosome 10q. We genotyped 228 microsatellite markers in Icelandic individuals with type 2 diabetes and controls throughout a 10.5-Mb interval on 10q. A microsatellite, DG10S478, within intron 3 of the transcription factor 7-like 2 gene (TCF7L2; formerly TCF4) was associated with type 2 diabetes (P = 2.1 x 10(-9)). This was replicated in a Danish cohort (P = 4.8 x 10(-3)) and in a US cohort (P = 3.3 x 10(-9)). Compared with non-carriers, heterozygous and homozygous carriers of the at-risk alleles (38% and 7% of the population, respectively) have relative risks of 1.45 and 2.41. This corresponds to a population attributable risk of 21%. The TCF7L2 gene product is a high mobility group box-containing transcription factor previously implicated in blood glucose homeostasis. It is thought to act through regulation of proglucagon gene expression in enteroendocrine cells via the Wnt signaling pathway.

Variant of transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) gene confers risk of type 2 diabetes.

▪ Abstract Flavonoids comprise the most common group of plant polyphenols and provide much of the flavor and color to fruits and vegetables. More than 5000 different flavonoids have been described. The six major subclasses of flavonoids include the flavones (e.g., apigenin, luteolin), flavonols (e.g., quercetin, myricetin), flavanones (e.g., naringenin, hesperidin), catechins or flavanols (e.g., epicatechin, gallocatechin), anthocyanidins (e.g., cyanidin, pelargonidin), and isoflavones (e.g., genistein, daidzein). Most of the flavonoids present in plants are attached to sugars (glycosides), although occasionally they are found as aglycones. Interest in the possible health benefits of flavonoids has increased owing to their potent antioxidant and free-radical scavenging activities observed in vitro. There is growing evidence from human feeding studies that the absorption and bioavailability of specific flavonoids is much higher than originally believed. However, epidemiologic studies exploring the role of ...

DIETARY FLAVONOIDS: Bioavailability, Metabolic Effects, and Safety

Calcium ion and muscle contraction.

Chemistry of muscular contraction

VARIOUS chemical and clinical observations have led to the assumption that ascorbic acid is accompanied in the cell by a substance of similar importance and related activity. In absence of both substances, the symptoms of lack of ascorbic acid (scurvy) prevail and conceal symptoms of the deficiency of the second substance. In the lack of suitable experimental animals or conditions, progress was dependent on spontaneous pathological conditions, caused or influenced by this second factor.

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Vitamin P: Flavonols as Vitamins

In this lecture, Szent-Gyorgyi suggested for the first time that quantum theory might be productively applied to explain certain
 biological processes. From the late 1950s on, he devoted most of his research efforts to the pursuit of the ideas outlined
 here.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/93/2426/609.full.pdf

Albert Szent-Györgyi

Papers

Chemistry of muscular contraction

Vitamin P: Flavonols as Vitamins

Towards a new biochemistry

Introduction to a submolecular biology

Chemical Physiology of Contraction in Body and Heart Muscle