Group 1

Anastacio, Van Calvin O.

Arnuco, Arjay M.
Baligod, Jeffrey L.
PROBLEM SET 2 ON BIOTECHNOLOGY
1. Wheat is the main source of flour and there is sometimes shortage of supply
because of high International demand. To answer this problem, alternative sources
of flour are now being utilized to lessen the dependency to wheat producing
country. However, the flour coming from other plant sources if not gaining so much
popularity (example banana flour, squash flour, root crops flour). Explain why is
these alternative source of flour is not becoming mainstream?
Because of the issue for gluten free flour. Almost all of the alternative sources
of flour are gluten free. There are some alternative flour that have gluten like rye
flour, oat flour and barley flour. There are disadvantage of gluten free flour. Reduced
carbohydrate intake due to lack of education on nutrients (not all carbs have
gluten). Possible weight gain from eating gluten-free products, which often contain
higher levels of fat and sugar. Possible weight gain as the intestinal track recovers
and begins to absorb nutrients properly.
2. Discuss what are the biological activities in the following. Focused on the
involvement of biomolecules to one another.
a. Starch in the mouth with saliva
b. Oligosaccharides of degraded starch in the stomach
c. Simple or monosaccharide in the small intestine
d. Postprandial hyperglycemia or increase in glucose in the blood due to
absorption of digested starch
e. Undigested or dietary fiber in the large intestine
a. Things that we eat are broken down once in the mouth organ. What
happens and how does it happen? Amlyase is an enzyme that breaks
down starch to sugar. The amylase in the mouth, salivary amlyase, is
called ptyalin. Ptyalyn can do digestive can work in the stomach for
several hours. Iodine and Benedicts solution is used to recognize starch
and sugar (maltose) in our saliva. The group experiment that was
completed in class shows that it is accurate.
Amylase, like other enzymes, works as a catalyst. All catalysts are
enzymes, but not all enzymes are catalysts. A catalyst is a substance that
causes a chemical reaction to break down other substances, but the
catalyst does not become a part of the end product of that reaction.
Amylase digests starch by catalyzing hydrolysis, which is splitting by the
addition of a water molecule. Therefore starch plus water becomes

maltose (which is equivalent to two joined glucose molecules). Body

temperature is the optimal heat for the best reaction of amylase.
b. Metabolism is discussed on the basis of metabolic studies related to
oligosaccharide metabolism, information on the cellular location and
substrate specificity of carbohydrate transport systems, glycosyl
hydrolases and phosphorylases, and the presence of metabolic genes in
genomes of 38 strains of lactobacilli. Metabolic pathways for disaccharide
metabolism often also enable the metabolism of tri- and tetrasaccharides.
However, with the exception of amylase and levansucrase, metabolic
enzymes
for oligosaccharide
conversion
are
intracellular
and
oligosaccharide metabolism is limited by transport. This general restriction
to intracellular glycosyl hydrolases differentiates lactobacilli from other
bacteria
that
adapted
to
intestinal
habitats,
particularly Bifidobacterium spp.

c. Most chemical digestion of the food you consume occurs in your small
intestine. Monosaccharides, however, are unique in that they are
absorbed directly from chyme without further breakdown after arriving in
your small intestine. Cells lining your small intestine absorb glucose and
galactose via a transporter called SGLUT-1. The S in the name of this
transporter refers to sodium, which is absorbed along with glucose and
galactose. Fructose enters your intestinal lining cells via a different
transporter known as GLUT5; sodium does not accompany fructose with
this
transporter.
Once inside your intestinal lining cells, monosaccharides transfer to
another transporter called GLUT-2, which exports the sugars into your
bloodstream. Large portions of the monosaccharides that enter your
bloodstream are taken up by your liver or muscle cells for metabolic
processing.

d. The role of postprandial hyperglycemia (PPHG) in diabetes mellitus is

being increasingly recognized. It is known that PPHG contributes to the
increased risk of both micro- and macrovascular complications in patients
with diabetes mellitus. This review looks at the clinical significance of
PPHG and the currently available therapeutic modalities. The causes of
PPHG are influenced by many factors which include a rapid flux of glucose
from the gut, impaired insulin release, endogenous glucose production by
the liver and peripheral insulin resistance. Knowledge of the
pathophysiology of PPHG is essential when adopting treatment options to
tackle the problem. Although most oral antihyperglycemic agents and

insulins lower both fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels, drugs
are now available which specifically act to control PPHG.

e. Diet, especially the amount of starch and dietary fibre which escape
digestion in the small intestine, are major determinants of colon function
in man. These carbohydrates are the principal substrates for fermentation
by the large bowel flora. Carbohydrate fermentation results in lowered
caecal pH and the production of short chain fatty acids of which butyric
acid may protect the colon epithelium from dysplastic change. Protein
digestion and amino acid fermentation also occur in the large bowel but
the nature of its endproducts varies in relation to the amount of
carbohydrate available. During active carbohydrate breakdown amino acid
fermentation endproducts such as ammonia are used by the bacteria for
protein synthesis during microbial growth, but in carbon-limited
fermentation amines, ammonia, phenols and indoles, etc, accumulate.

3. Lipidomics or study of lipids is gaining popularity nowadays. One application of this

is drug delivery system. Explain how medicine can be carried using lipids as vector
of medicine.
Orally administered water-insoluble drugs have become increasingly
important in therapy, and lipid-based drug delivery systems have become an
essential tool in the development of formulations for these compounds. Lipid-based
formulations have been marketed for a variety of drug classes such as HIV protease
inhibitors (e.g., ritonavir, lopinavir, sequinavir, tipranavir, amprenavir),
immunosuppressants (cyclosporine, sirolimus), and calcium regulators (e.g.,
calcitriol, paricalcitol). It is estimated that 40% of new drug candidates are water
insoluble, and thus may require delivery in a system such as a lipid-based
formulation.
A lipid-based drug delivery system typically is composed of lipids and
surfactants, and may also contain a hydrophilic co-solvent. Many of them are
characterized as Self-Emulsifying Drug Delivery Systems (SEDDS) such that they
form an emulsion upon gentle agitation in water. Emulsions are considered
metastable systems, with droplet sizes of 100-1000nm. Other formulations, SelfMicroemulsifying Drug Delivery Systems (SMEDDS), form microemulsions that are
thermodynamically stable systems. Microemulsions have droplet diameters <100
nm, and are visually transparent or translucent [2]. The drug is generally present in
the dosage form dissolved in the formulation, and should remain solubilized after
dispersion of the dosage form in the GI tract. Absorption by the intestinal mucosal
cells is facilitated by the rapid release of drug from the high surface area of the
small emulsion or microemulsion droplets.

References
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of Pharmaceutical Business and Technology:
http://www.americanpharmaceuticalreview.com/Featured-Articles/36882Strategies-to-Formulate-Lipid-based-Drug-Delivery-Systems/
JH, C., & SA, B. (1987). US National Library of Medicine. Retrieved from Pub
Med.gov: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2838168
Ketabi, A., & Gnzle, M. (2012). US National Library of Medicine. Retrieved from
PMC: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3458588/
R, S., & V, M. (2002). US National Library of Medicine. Retrieved from Pub Med.gov:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15765626
Vance, N. (1994). Effects of Salivary Amylase. Retrieved from
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/students/114-fall99/Amylase.htm