Ammonium methacrylate is an ammonium salt of methacrylic acid. It is able to polymerize to form ammonium methacrylate copolymer. It is used in cosmetic industry as a binder (to hold together the ingredients of a compressed tablet or cake), film former (an ingredient that dry to form a thin coating on the skin, hair or nails) and viscosity increasing agent.

Capric acid (decanoic acid) is a medium-chain fatty acid found in saturated fats (cow butter, and plant oils like coconut oil). Capric acid is a major constituent of the MCT ketogenic diet, providing about 40% of the medium chain fat within the diet. The acid is discussed to have positive effect on seizure control through direct AMPA receptor inhibition and on mitochondrial diseases through the binding to PPARgamma. It readily crosses the blood-brain barrier, probably by a combination of diffusion and saturable carrier-mediated transport via a medium-chain fatty acid transporter.

A. W. Van Hoffman was the first to isolate sorbic acid from the berries of the mountain ash tree in the year 1859. The antimicrobial (preservative) properties of sorbic acid were recognized in the 1940's. In the late 1940's and 1950's it became commercially available. Sorbic acid and its potassium salt are now used in many countries in the production of sweet white wines. In the United States, BATF permits the use of sorbic acid and potassium sorbate to preserve wine. The maximum concentration of sorbic acid allowed in finished wine is 300 mg/L, (300 ppm). The antimicrobial action of sorbic acid is primarily against yeasts and molds. It's action against bacteria appears to be selective. The soluble sorbates are preferred when it is desired to use the preservative in liquid form, or when aqueous systems are to be preserved. Sodium sorbate in solid form is unstable and very rapidly undergoes oxidation on exposure to atmospheric oxygen. It is therefore not produced on the industrial scale. Aqueous solutions of sodium sorbate remain stable for some time. Calcium sorbate is used in the manufacture of fungistatic wrappers because it is highly stable to oxidation, but this use is very limited. Sorbic acid and sorbates can be directly added into the product. The products can be dipped or sprayed with aqueous solutions of sorbates. Dusting of food with dry sorbic acid is also possible but less recommended because sorbic acid irritates the skin and mucous membranes. Sorbic acid and particularly calcium sorbate can be used as active substances in fungistatic wrappers. A general survey of the numerous uses of sorbic acid in the food sector will be given. Some fields of application will be discussed that are either unimportant or not permitted in the U.K.

Ammonium myristate is passage-delaying substance. It was used as a substance for influencing gastrointestinal passage. The addition of ammonium myristate caused a delay of about 1.5 h in the transit time of the absorbing part of the gastrointestinal tract. The addition of ammonium myristate improves the availability of nitrofurantoin from a slow releasing dosage form - an average increase is 23.8% of the total amount of nitrofurantoin excreted in the urine compared to the values obtained from the reference dosage form without the additional substance. The kinetics of renal elimination of nitrofurantoin is characterized by the longer duration of urinary excretion.

Malic acid is a tart-tasting organic dicarboxylic acid that contributes to the taste of many sour or tart foods such as apples. Sodium Malate is the sodium salt of Malic Acid. Malic Acid and Sodium Malate can be found in a wide range of cosmetics and personal care products. Sodium Malate functions as a skin conditioning agent-humectant. As a food additive, Sodium Malate has the E number E350. Sodium Malate has demonstrated protective effect on cisplatin-induced toxicity in mice. Sodium malate could become a useful agent for the reduction of CDDP-induced toxicity, particularly nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity.

Calcium-D-glucarate (also known as CALCIUM SACCHARATE) is the calcium salt of D-glucaric acid, a substance produced naturally in small amounts by mammals, including humans. Oral supplementation of calcium-D-glucarate has been shown to inhibit beta-glucuronidase, an enzyme produced by colonic microflora and involved in Phase II liver detoxification. Elevated beta-glucuronidase activity is associated with an increased risk for various cancers, particularly hormone-dependent cancers such as breast, prostate, and colon cancers. Other potential clinical applications of oral calcium-D-glucarate include regulation of estrogen metabolism and as a lipid-lowering. In addition, by reducing the beta-glucuronidase viability and activity of intestinal bacteria, salts of D-glucaric acid have been shown to enhance enterohepatic circulation and reduce steady state levels of cholesterol synthesis, resulting in decreased serum lipid levels.

Dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA) is an n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid that is mainly metabolized to an anti-inflammatory eicosanoid, prostaglandin (PG) E1, via the cyclooxygenase (COX) pathway. DGLA exists widely in the human body and daily animal-source foods. Concentrations of DGLA in the serum of atopic dermatitis patients are lower than those in healthy volunteers. DGLA suppressed clinical severity of skin lesions dose-dependently, with an increase in DGLA contents in phospholipids of skin, spleen, and plasma. Discontinuation of DGLA administration resulted in the onset of dermatitis and a decrease in DGLA contents in skin, spleen, and plasma. These findings indicate that oral administration of DGLA effectively prevents the development of atopic dermatitis in NC/Nga mice. DGLA may have an anti-atherosclerotic effect in apoE-deficient mice via PGE1 formation. As dihomo-γ-linolenic acid and arachidonic acid compete for processing by these oxidation enzymes, introduction of dihomo-γ-linolenic acid to platelets is correlated to suppression of arachidonic acid metabolites and promotion of dihomo-γ-linolenic acid metabolites such as PGE1, which produces an antithrombotic effect.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a high molecular weight biopolysacharide, discovered in 1934, by Karl Meyer and his assistant, John Palmer in the vitreous of bovine eyes. Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring biopolymer, which has important biological functions in bacteria and higher animals including humans. It is found in most connective tissues and is particularly concentrated in synovial fluid, the vitreous fluid of the eye, umbilical cords and chicken combs. It is naturally synthesized by a class of integral membrane proteins called hyaluronan synthases, and degraded by a family of enzymes called hyaluronidases. Hyaluronan synthase enzymes synthesize large, linear polymers of the repeating disaccharide structure of hyaluronan by alternating addition of glucuronic acid and N-acetylglucosamine to the growing chain using their activated nucle¬otide sugars (UDP – glucuronic acid and UDP-N-acetlyglucosamine) as substrates. The number of repeat disaccharides in a completed hyaluronan molecule can reach 10 000 or more, a molecular mass of ~4 million daltons (each disaccharide is ~400 daltons). The average length of a disaccharide is ~1 nm. Thus, a hyaluronan molecule of 10 000 repeats could ex¬tend 10 μm if stretched from end to end, a length approximately equal to the diameter of a human erythrocyte. Although the predominant mechanism of HA is unknown, in vivo, in vitro, and clinical studies demonstrate various physiological effects of exogenous HA. Hyaluronic acid possesses a number of protective physiochemical functions that may provide some additional chondroprotective effects in vivo and may explain its longer term effects on articular cartilage. Hyaluronic acid can reduce nerve impulses and nerve sensitivity associated with pain. In experimental osteoarthritis, this glycosaminoglycan has protective effects on cartilage. Exogenous HA enhances chondrocyte HA and proteoglycan synthesis, reduces the production and activity of proinflammatory mediators and matrix metalloproteinases, and alters the behavior of immune cells. In addition to its function as a passive structural molecule, hyaluronan also acts as a signaling molecule by interacting with cell surface receptors and regulating cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation. Hyaluronan is essential for embryogenesis and is likely also important in tumorigenesis. HA plays several important organizational roles in the extracellular matrix (ECM) by binding with cells and other components through specific and nonspecific interactions. Hyaluronan-binding pro¬teins are constituents of the extracellular matrix, and stabilize its integrity. Hyaluronan receptors are involved in cellular signal transduction; one receptor family includes the binding proteins aggrecan, link protein, versican and neurocan and the receptors CD44, TSG6, GHAP and LYVE-1. The chondroprotective effects of hyaluronic acid, e.g., that it stimulates the production of tissue in¬hibitors of matrix metalloproteineses (TIMP-1) by chondrocytes, inhibits neutrophil-mediated cartilage degradation and attenuates IL-1 induced matrix de¬generation and chondrocyte cytotoxicity have been observed in vitro. Articular chondrocytes cultured in the presence of HA have a significantly greater rate of DNA proliferation and ex¬tracellular matrix production, compared with chon¬drocytes cultured without HA.