[Current status of antiarrhythmic drug use and safety assessment in Chinese patients with atrial fibrillation]

Objective: To investigate the current status of antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) use in Chinese patients with atrial fibrillation(AF) and assess the safety of AADs in this patient cohort. Methods: From January 2011 to December 2013, a total of 4 008 AF patients treated with AADs was enrolled in this study and patients were followed up for 24 months. Detailed information of prescribed drug, the causes of drug discontinuation and side effects were recorded. Results: Amiodarone was prescribed to 64.3%(2 579 cases) and propafenone to 31.1%(1 247 cases) of the enrolled patients, only 148 patients(3.7%) were treated with sotalol and 34 patients (0.8%) were treated with moracizine. The prevalence of heart failure (4.0%(102/2 579) vs. 1.4%(17/1 247, P<0.001), coronary heart disease (13.5% (348/2 579) vs. 7.4%(93/1 247), P<0.001) and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (3.1%(78/2 579) vs. 0.7%(9/1 247), P<0.001) was significantly higher in patients treated with amiodarone than in the patients treated with propafenone. During the follow-up period, the discontinuation rate of amiodarone, propafenone, sotalol and moracizine was 28.8%(743/2 579), 25.1%(313/1 247), 14.2%(21/148) and 32.4%(11/34) respectively. The reasons of discontinuing amiodarone were: follow physicians' decision (75.7%, 563 cases), no effect (3.0%, 22 cases), side effects (4.3%, 32 cases) and patients' own decision (17.0%, 126 cases). The side effects of amiodarone included thyroid dysfunction (56.3%, 18 cases), bradycardia (12.5%, 4 cases), interstitial pneumonitis/pulmonary interstitial fibrosis (6.2%, 2 cases) and others (gastrointestinal symptom, rash, hepatic dysfunction, etc.). Conclusions: Amiodarone and propafenone are the most common AADs used in Chinese patients with atrial fibrillation. The prescription of AADs is essentially in accordance to the guideline of AF treatment. However, the discontinuation rates of AADs are high in Chinese AF patients. Lacking of better AADs is still a major problem in AF pharmacotherapy. Clinical Trial Registry Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR-OCH-13003729.

Regulation of crucial lncRNAs in differentiation of chicken embryonic stem cells to spermatogonia stem cells

Regulation of crucial lncRNAs involved in differentiation of chicken embryonic stem cells (ESCs) to spermatogonia stem cells (SSCs) was explored by sequencing the transcriptome of ESCs, primordial germ cells (PGCs) and SSCs with RNA-Seq; analytical bioinformatic methods were used to excavate candidate lncRNAs. We detected expression of candidate lncRNAs in ESCs, PGCs and SSCs and forecasted related target genes. Utilizing wego, david and string, function and protein-protein interactions of target genes were analyzed. Finally, based on string analysis, interaction diagrams and relevant signaling pathways were established. Our results indicate a total of 9657 lncRNAs in ESCs, PGCs and SSCs, with 3549 defined as significantly different. We screened 20 candidate lncRNAs, each demonstrating a greater than eight-fold difference in |logFC| value between groups (ESCs vs. PGCs, ESCs vs. SSCs and PGCs vs. SSCs) or specifically expressed in an individual cell type. qRT-PCR results indicated that expression tendencies of candidate lncRNAs were consistent with RNA-Seq. Fifteen cis and four trans target genes were forecasted. Based on wego and string analyses, we found lnc-SSC1, lnc-SSC5, lnc-SSC2 and lnc-ESC2 negatively regulated target genes SUFU, EPHA3, KLF3, ARL3 and TRIM8, whereas SHH, NOTCH, TGF-β, cAMP/cGMP and JAK/STAT signaling pathways were promoted, causing differentiation of ESCs into SSCs. Our findings represent a preliminary unveiling of lncRNA-associated regulatory mechanisms during differentiation of chicken ESCs into SSCs, filling a research void in male germ cell differentiation related to lncRNA. Our results also provide basic information for improving in vitro induction systems for differentiation of chicken ESCs into SSCs.

Aggravation of spinal cord compromise following new osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture prevented by teriparatide in patients with surgical contraindications

Patients with spinal cord deficits following new unstable osteoporotic compression fracture and surgical contraindications were considered to receive conservative treatment. Teriparatide was better than alendronate at improving bone mineral density and bone turnover parameters, as well as preventing aggravation of spinal cord compromise.

INTRODUCTION

This study compared the preventive effects of teriparatide and alendronate on aggravation of spinal cord compromise following new unstable osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) in patients with surgical contraindications.

METHODS

This was a 12-month, randomized, open-label study of teriparatide versus alendronate in 49 patients with new unstable OVCF and surgical contraindications. Neurological function was evaluated using modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (mJOA) score (11-point scale, the maximum score of 11 implies normalcy). Visual analog scale (VAS) scores, kyphotic angles, anterior-border heights and diameters of the spinal canal of the fractured vertebrae, any incident of new OVCFs (onset of OVCF during follow-up), spine bone mineral density (BMD), and serum markers of bone resorption and bone formation were also examined at baseline and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after initiation of the medication regimen.

RESULTS

At 12 months, mean mJOA score had improved in the teriparatide group and decreased in the alendronate group. Mean concentrations of bone formation and bone resorption biomarkers, mean spine BMD, and mean anterior-border height and spinal canal diameter of the fractured vertebrae were significantly greater in the teriparatide group than in the alendronate group. Mean VAS score, mean kyphotic angle of the fractured vertebrae, and incidence of new OVCFs were significantly smaller in the teriparatide group than in the alendronate group.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with neurological deficits following new unstable OVCF and with surgical contraindications, teriparatide was better than alendronate at improving the BMD and the bone turnover parameters, as well as preventing aggravation of spinal cord compromise.

Genistein sensitizes sarcoma cells in vitro and in vivo by enhancing apoptosis and by inhibiting DSB repair pathways

The aim of this work was to investigate the radiosensitization effects of genistein on mice sarcoma cells and the corresponding biological mechanisms in vitro and in vivo Using the non-toxic dosage of 10 μM genistein, the sensitizer enhancement ratios after exposure to X-rays at 50% cell survival (IC50) was 1.45 for S180 cells. For mice cotreated with genistein and X-rays, the excised tumor tissues had reduced blood vessels and decreased size and volume compared with the control and irradiation-only groups. Moreover, a significant increase in apoptosis was accompanied by upregulation of Bax and downregulation of Bcl-2 in the mitochondria, and lots of cytochrome c being transferred to the cytoplasm. Furthermore, X-rays combined with genistein inhibited the activity of DNA-PKcs, so DNA-injured sites were dominated by Ku70/80, leading to incompleteness of homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) repairs and the eventual occurrence of cell apoptosis. Our study, for the first time, demonstrated that genistein sensitized sarcoma cells to X-rays and that this radiosensitizing effect depended on induction of the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway and inhibition of the double-strand break (DSB) repair pathways.

Metabonomic analysis of the protective effect of quercetin on the toxicity induced by mixture of organophosphate pesticides in rat urine

The present study aims to investigate the protective effect of quercetin against the joint toxic action induced by the mixture of four organophosphate pesticides (mixture-OPs) (dimethoate, acephate, dichlorvos, and phorate) at their corresponding no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) using metabonomics. Rats were randomly divided into control, quercetin-treated, mixture-OPs-treated, and quercetin plus mixture-OPs-treated groups. Mixture-OPs and quercetin were given to the rats daily through drinking water and intragastric administration, respectively, for 90 days. The metabonomic profiles of rat urine were analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (UPLC/MS). The 14 metabolites significantly changed in the treatment groups compared with the control group, including the biomarkers of OPs exposure (dimethylphosphate, dimethyldithiophosphate, diethylphosphate) and the metabolites of quercetin (quercetin and isorhamnetina). The intensities of gentisic acid, creatinine, suberic acid, hippuric acid, uric acid, and citric acid significantly decreased, whereas the intensities of 7-methylguanine, estrone sulfate, and cholic acid significantly increased, in the mixture-OPs-treated group compared with the control group ( p < 0.01). The variation tendency of the aforementioned metabolites was significantly ameliorated in the high-dose quercetin (50 mg/(kg bw day)) plus mixture-OPs-treated group compared with the mixture-OPs-treated group ( p < 0.05). However, the intensities of these metabolites in the high-dose quercetin plus mixture-OPs-treated group were still significantly different from those of the control group ( p < 0.05). Results indicated that high dose of quercetin elicits a partial protective effect on the toxicity induced by mixture-OPs, including fatty acid and energy metabolism, antioxidant defense system, DNA damage, and liver and kidney function.

Detection of tubule boundaries based on circular shortest path and polar-transformation of arbitrary shapes

In studies of germ cell transplantation, counting cells and measuring tubule diameters from different populations using labelled antibodies are important measurement processes. However, it is slow and sanity grinding to do these tasks manually. This paper proposes a way to accelerate these processes using a new image analysis framework based on several novel algorithms: centre points detection of tubules, tubule shape classification, skeleton-based polar-transformation, boundary weighting of polar-transformed image, and circular shortest path smoothing. The framework has been tested on a dataset consisting of 27 images which contain a total of 989 tubules. Experiments show that the detection results of our algorithm are very close to the results obtained manually and the novel approach can achieve a better performance than two existing methods.

Mannan Derivatives Instruct Dendritic Cells to Induce Th1/Th2 Cells Polarization via Differential Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Activation

Mannan derived from fungal cell walls have potential uses as immunomodulating agents and vaccine adjuvants. Immunization with antigen conjugated to oxidized mannan (OM) or reduced mannan (RM) have induced differential immune responses in mice. Yet, the adjuvant effect and differences in molecular profiles of OM and RM on APCs is unresolved. Here, we investigated the response of mouse bone marrow-derived DCs to OM and RM. OM and RM stimulated DCs to produce differential Th1/Th2-inducing cytokines in vitro. OM and RM-activated DCs stimulated allogeneic T-cell Th1 and Th2 polarization reaction. OM instruct DCs to stimulate Th1 responses via IL-12p70 production, which depends on the phosphorylation of p38, RM barely induce IL-12p70, but IL-10 and IL-4, and magnitude of ERK phosphorylation, which results in a Th2 bias. These findings indicate that OM and RM were potent adjuvant capable of directly initiating DC activation Th1 and Th2 polarization respectively.

Technical note: The role of circulating low-density lipoprotein levels as a phenotypic marker for Holstein cholesterol deficiency in dairy cattle

With the recent discovery of a Holstein cholesterol deficiency (HCD) haplotype, the USDA has labeled many dairy animals as HCD carriers based on haplotype and pedigree analysis. We set out to investigate the effect of HCD status on various cholesterol transport molecules, namely low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides in both males and females. A genome-wide association study was also conducted to narrow down the genomic region correlated with varying LDL-C levels. In the study, 34 HCD carrier animals showed significantly lower cholesterol and LDL-C levels compared with their 34 closely related, non-HCD controls. The genome-wide association study based on 73 animals using 56,198 SNP markers revealed an association with chromosome 11 in the region of 66,218,925 to 66,946,746 bp. We also tested the effect of HCD status on sperm quality traits using fresh ejaculates and frozen-thawed semen samples, but did not find any discriminating effects. Our study has demonstrated the use of LDL-C as a key phenotypic marker for determining HCD status in dairy cattle and this is the first study that clearly shows a cause-effect relationship of the HCD haplotype on circulating LDL-C.

Interactions between maternal killer cell immunoglobulin receptor genes and foetal HLA ligand genes contribute to type 1 diabetes susceptibility in Han Chinese

In this study, we aimed to test the hypothesis that KIR haplotypes (that interact with HLA class I molecules) are associated with susceptibility in patients with T1DM in utero through maternal-foetal interaction of KIR and their HLA class I ligands in Han Chinese population. We determined the KIR genes and KIR/ligand gene combination frequencies in 59 Han Chinese children with T1D and their mothers and compared it with 159 healthy control children and their mothers. The absence of KIR-2DS1 in the mother and the presence of HLA-C2 ligand in the child were negatively associated with type 1 diabetes in the child. Our results indicate that maternal KIR genes and their interaction with foetal HLA-C2 may contribute to the risk of type 1 diabetes among Han Chinese children.

Integrative analysis of microRNA and mRNA expression profiles in non-small-cell lung cancer

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) represents the most common deadly disease. Emerging evidences suggest that abnormal epigenetic modulation via mRNAs and microRNAs (miRNAs) might be involved in the tumorigenesis. To explore novel therapeutic target of NSCLC, a more detailed mRNAs and miRNA expression profiling study is needed. High-quality total RNA including miRNA was isolated from NSCLC tissue and para-carcinoma tissue and used for RNA and small RNA sequencing. Results were analyzed bioinformatically and validated using quantitative real-time (qRT)-PCR. A total of 3530 genes (1977 up-regulated and 1553 down-regulated) and 211 miRNAs (171 up-regulated and 30 down-regulated) were differentially expressed (DE) in NSCLC tissue versus adjacent normal tissues. Furthermore, 157 novel miRNAs were predicted in our samples. Of these, 918 significant miRNA-mRNA pairs were identified, consisting of 100 miRNAs and 443 mRNAs. Gene ontology analysis revealed that most of the target genes were enriched in the terms of plasma membrane, binding, and multiple biological-molecular signaling processes. Pathway analysis of these miRNA signatures highlights their critical roles in calcium signaling pathway. Using qRT-PCR, the expression of several DE genes (KRAS and RBM5) and miRNAs (miR-1-5p, let-7b-5p, miR-21-5p, miR-1290, miR-149-5p, chr8_28846, chrX_31594, and chr9_29897) were confirmed. The integrative analysis based on mRNA and miRNA profiling may provide more potential molecular for the tumorigenesis and development of NSCLC.

Clinical nursing and midwifery research: grey literature in African countries

AIM

This study reviewed grey literature to assess clinical nursing and midwifery research conducted in southern and eastern African countries over the past decade.

BACKGROUND

The shortage of published nursing research from African countries severely limits the ability of practicing nurses and midwives to base clinical decisions on solid evidence. However, little is known regarding unpublished or unindexed clinical research ('grey literature'), a potentially rich source of information. Identifying these sources may reveal resources to assist nurses in providing evidence-based care.

INTRODUCTION

This scoping review of grey literature on clinical nursing and midwifery research in southern and eastern African countries helped to identify gaps in research and assess whether these gaps differ from published research.

METHODS

Systematic searches of grey literature were performed. Research was included if it was conducted by nurses in 1 of 25 southern or eastern African countries, between 2004 and 2014 and included patient outcomes. Data were extracted on location, institution, research topic, institutional connections and author information. Chi-square tests were performed to compare differences between indexed and non-indexed literature.

RESULTS

We found 262 studies by 287 authors from 17 southern and eastern African countries covering 13 topics. Although all topics were also found in indexed literature and there were statistically significant differences between the number of times, fewer topics were covered in grey literature vs. indexed.

DISCUSSION

Patient satisfaction and experience and traditional health practices were more likely to be published, whereas chronic disease, assault and paediatric-related research were less often published.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY

Generally, there is a paucity of clinical nursing research in this region. This could reflect the shortage of nurses prepared to conduct research in this region. Nurses may find additional resources for evidence in the grey literature. A complete understanding of the state of nursing science in southern and eastern African countries will help nurses and midwives to understand gaps in clinical research knowledge, potentially direct their research to more critical topics, and inform funding bodies and policy-makers of the situation of nursing science in southern and eastern African countries.

Decreasing high postprandial stearic acid in impaired fasting glucose by dietary regulation

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study was to determine the postprandial change in free fatty acid (FFA) profiles in subjects with impaired fasting glucose (IFG), and to evaluate the effect of low glycemic index (GI) load on postprandial FFA profiles and inflammation.

SUBJECTS/METHODS

First, 50 IFG and 50 healthy subjects were recruited; and 2 -h postprandial changes in FFA profiles were determined. Second, the 50 IFG subjects then received three different loads: glucose load (GL), high glycemic index (HGI) load and low glycemic index (LGI) load, respectively. FFA profile, glucose, insulin, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and inflammatory biomarkers were assayed at 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min.

RESULTS

Postprandial stearic acid (C18:0) increased compared with baseline in all subjects, whereas the change in postprandial C18:0 was more marked in IFG subjects than in healthy subjects. Compared with subjects who received the GL and HGI load, the area under the curve for insulin, GLP-1, C18:0 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha significantly decreased and adiponectin increased in subjects who received the LGI load.

CONCLUSIONS

The rise in postprandial C18:0 in IFG subjects was inhibited by LGI load.

Killer immunoglobulin receptor genes and their HLA-C ligand are associated with Type 1 diabetes in an Eastern Indian population

AIM

Killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) and their interaction with HLA class I ligands have been shown to be associated with Type 1 diabetes mellitus. The aim of our study was to investigate the influence of KIR genes and their HLA-C ligands for susceptibility to Type 1 diabetes in patients from Eastern India.

METHODS

A total of 135 patients with Type 1 diabetes and 98 healthy subjects from Eastern India were typed for KIR genes and HLA-C ligands using PCR-based genotyping. The frequencies of these genes were compared between patients and controls.

RESULTS

Comparison of KIR genes between Type 1 diabetes patients and healthy subjects revealed significantly different frequencies of KIRs 2DL2 and 2DS4. The presence of HLA-C1 was negatively associated with disease. The presence of both HLA-C1 and -C2 showed a negative association with Type 1 diabetes, whereas the absence of C1 and presence of C2 was positively associated with disease. Stratification analysis of HLA-C ligands and KIRs showed significant associations between Type 1 diabetes and 2DL2+/C1-, 2DL2-/C1+, 2DL3+/C1+, 2DL3+/C1- and 2DS2+/C1-.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that the interaction of KIRs with HLA-C ligands are significant and certain combinations contribute to susceptibility to and protection against Type 1 diabetes.

STAT3 selectively interacts with Smad3 to antagonize TGF-β signalling

Smad and STAT proteins are critical signal transducers and transcription factors in controlling cell growth and tumorigenesis. Here we report that the STAT3 signaling pathway attenuates TGF-β-induced responses through a direct Smad3-STAT3 interplay. Activated STAT3 blunts TGF-β-mediated signaling. Depletion of STAT3 promotes TGF-β-mediated transcriptional and physiological responses, including cell cycle arrest, apoptosis and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. STAT3 directly interacts with Smad3 in vivo and in vitro, resulting in attenuation of the Smad3-Smad4 complex formation and suppression of DNA-binding ability of Smad3. The N-terminal region of DNA-binding domain of STAT3 is responsible for the STAT3-Smad3 interaction and also indispensable for STAT3-mediated inhibition of TGF-β signaling. Thus, our finding illustrates a direct crosstalk between the STAT3 and Smad3 signaling pathways that may contribute to tumor development and inflammation.

Methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism-based genome-wide analysis of cytosine methylation profiles in Nicotiana tabacum cultivars

This study aimed to investigate cytosine methylation profiles in different tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) cultivars grown in China. Methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism was used to analyze genome-wide global methylation profiles in four tobacco cultivars (Yunyan 85, NC89, K326, and Yunyan 87). Amplicons with methylated C motifs were cloned by reamplified polymerase chain reaction, sequenced, and analyzed. The results show that geographical location had a greater effect on methylation patterns in the tobacco genome than did sampling time. Analysis of the CG dinucleotide distribution in methylation-sensitive polymorphic restriction fragments suggested that a CpG dinucleotide cluster-enriched area is a possible site of cytosine methylation in the tobacco genome. The sequence alignments of the Nia1 gene (that encodes nitrate reductase) in Yunyan 87 in different regions indicate that a C-T transition might be responsible for the tobacco phenotype. T-C nucleotide replacement might also be responsible for the tobacco phenotype and may be influenced by geographical location.

Evaluation of nephrotoxic effects of aristolochic acid on zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae

To analyze the toxic effects of aristolochic acid (AA) on developed kidneys in zebrafish larvae, zebrafish at 3 days postfertilization were treated with various concentrations of AA for 24 h before the status of kidney injury was investigated from several points of view. It was found that 21% of the larvae treated with 10 µmoL/L AA exhibited evident periocular edema. When the concentrations of AA were increased to 20 and 40 µmoL/L, defect in the cardiovascular system characterized by slow heart beat and blood flow was seen coupled with periocular edema. Creatinine in the whole larval tissue determined by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry exhibited dramatic increase in the treated groups in a dose-dependent manner within a certain range of doses. Several evident protein bands were detected by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in supernatant of the treated larvae, indicating leakage of glomerular filtration barrier. Results of quantitative polymerase chain reaction show that the messenger RNA expression of nephrin in the 20 and 40 µmoL/L AA-treated groups decreased to 0.58 ± 0.062 and 0.37 ± 0.075-folds of the control, respectively. Kidney damage was further confirmed by the histological changes in paraffin sections of treated larvae, for example, cystic glomeruli and disorganized epithelia cells of pronephric tubules. Our results revealed that AA exerted toxic effects on developed kidney of zebrafish larvae in a dose-dependent manner and podocyte dysfunction may be involved in the kidney injury and proteinuria.

Protective Effects of Dimedone Pyrone on Podocytes in Rats with Diabetic Nephropathy

Purpose: To investigate the effect of dimedone pyrone (DP) on podocytes in rats with diabetic nephropathy (DN).Methods: The rats were randomly assigned into 5 experimental groups (n = 10), viz, non-diabetic  control with no treatment (ND/NT), diabetic with no treatment (DG/NT), diabetic treated with 5 mg/kg dimedone pyrone (DG/DP 5), diabetic treated with 10 mg/kg dimedone pyrone (DG/DP 10) and diabetic treated with 20 mg/kk dimedone pyrone (DG/DP 20) group. Clinical parameters, including 24 h urinary protein, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (SCR), blood glucose (GLU), and kidney weight (KW)/body weight (BW) were determined after 12 weeks of treatment. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to examine renal pathological changes while transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was employed for evaluation of structural changes in the podocytes. The expression levels of nephrin and podocin were evaluated using immunofluorescence staining.Results: Dimedone pyrone caused a significant decrease in SCR, BUN, GLU, KW/BW and 24 h urine protein in DG/DP 20 group compared to DG/NT group. Furthermore, incidences of glomerular disorders, chronic tubulo-interstitial damage and glomerular podocyte lesions decreased significantly following dimedone pyrone treatment. Glomeruli, tubules and podocytes exhibited pathomorphological improvements while nephrin and podocin protein expression levels were significantly higher in the nephridial tissue. Decrease in relative kidney weight (KW/BW) and 24 h urinary protein level were improved significantly on treatment with dimedone pyrone. Moreover, glomerular disorder, chronic tubulo-interstitial damage and glomerular podocyte lesions were also suppressed. The improvement was more significant in DG/DP 20 compared to DG/DP 5 and DG/DP 10 groups.Conclusion: Dimedone pyrone exhibits a protective effect on the podocytes of rats and may be of therapeutic importance in the treatment of diabetic nephropathy.Keywords: Dimedone pyrone, Podocin, Diabetic neuropathy, Nephrin, Glomerular disorders

Reappraising the relationship between mitochondrial DNA variant m.16189T>C and type 2 diabetes mellitus in East Asian populations

The role of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variant 16189T>C in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remains hotly debated in the past decade. If mutation 16189T>C indeed posed a risk to T2DM, as echoed by some recent studies, correlation between this mutation and disease should be observed when carrying out a systematical study using data and samples collected in a large geographic region in China. To test this hypothesis, we first performed a linear regression analysis between the prevalence of T2DM and the allele frequency of 16189C variant in 10 East Asian populations, and further genotyped this variant in two casecontrol cohorts from west Han Chinese (Kunming and Xining). Linear regression analysis showed that no significant correlation was observed (r(2)=0.211, P=0.181), and the genotyping results indicated that the m.16189T>C frequency difference between case and control was not significant in either populations (P=0.38 and 0.89 for Kunming and Xining, respectively). Matrilineal backgrounds constitution (in terms of haplogroups) analysis generated a similar haplogroup distribution in both populations (P>0.1). All results failed to substantiate that m.16189T>C may play an active role in the development of T2DM in East Asian populations.

Expression of barley SUSIBA2 transcription factor yields high-starch low-methane rice

Atmospheric methane is the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, and is responsible for about 20% of the global warming effect since pre-industrial times. Rice paddies are the largest anthropogenic methane source and produce 7-17% of atmospheric methane. Warm waterlogged soil and exuded nutrients from rice roots provide ideal conditions for methanogenesis in paddies with annual methane emissions of 25-100-million tonnes. This scenario will be exacerbated by an expansion in rice cultivation needed to meet the escalating demand for food in the coming decades. There is an urgent need to establish sustainable technologies for increasing rice production while reducing methane fluxes from rice paddies. However, ongoing efforts for methane mitigation in rice paddies are mainly based on farming practices and measures that are difficult to implement. Despite proposed strategies to increase rice productivity and reduce methane emissions, no high-starch low-methane-emission rice has been developed. Here we show that the addition of a single transcription factor gene, barley SUSIBA2 (refs 7, 8), conferred a shift of carbon flux to SUSIBA2 rice, favouring the allocation of photosynthates to aboveground biomass over allocation to roots. The altered allocation resulted in an increased biomass and starch content in the seeds and stems, and suppressed methanogenesis, possibly through a reduction in root exudates. Three-year field trials in China demonstrated that the cultivation of SUSIBA2 rice was associated with a significant reduction in methane emissions and a decrease in rhizospheric methanogen levels. SUSIBA2 rice offers a sustainable means of providing increased starch content for food production while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from rice cultivation. Approaches to increase rice productivity and reduce methane emissions as seen in SUSIBA2 rice may be particularly beneficial in a future climate with rising temperatures resulting in increased methane emissions from paddies.

Direct, indirect and pleiotropic effects of candidate genes on internalizing disorder psychopathology

BACKGROUND

Twin studies of internalizing disorders suggest that their high co-morbidity is partially explained by shared genetic risk. Few studies have investigated pleiotropic effects of well-validated candidate genes across phenotypes.

METHOD

Subjects were 928 Caucasian patients who presented to an out-patient clinic specializing in the assessment and treatment of anxiety and mood disorders. We constructed latent dimensional phenotypes across the internalizing spectrum (neuroticism, extraversion, depression, generalized anxiety, panic/agoraphobia, social phobia, post-traumatic stress, and obsessions-compulsions) by combining diagnostic criteria with other clinical indicators. We selected multiple variants in four evidence-based candidate genes (SLC6A4, COMT, GAD1, RGS2) with previously reported effects on several of these phenotypes. We conducted genetic association testing of their direct and indirect effects as well as gene × stress interactions (G × E).

RESULTS

We detected 19 nominally significant main effect associations for the 10 polymorphisms tested among the eight phenotypes (24%). These were generally phenotype non-specific, showing pleiotropic effects across multiple domains. The majority of observed sharing was between depression, panic disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Some of these were best explained by mediational models in which genes increase liability for disorders indirectly via their effects on temperament. Limited G × E effects were detected between variants in SLC6A4 and both panic/agoraphobia and post-traumatic stress.

CONCLUSIONS

Examining just a few candidate genes for their potential roles in internalizing phenotypes, we found moderate support for the shared effects of several polymorphisms. These findings highlight the richness and complexity by which genes potentially contribute to psychopathology via pleiotropy, moderation by stress, and mediation by temperament.

Sensory factors affecting female consumers' acceptability of nail polish

OBJECTIVE

The objectives of this study were to determine what sensory factors impact consumers' acceptability of nail polishes, to explore how these sensory factors impact consumers' acceptability of nail polishes, to investigate whether there are any consumer segments according to their overall acceptability on different nail polishes and to scrutinize how the consumer segments are related to the sensory factors.

METHODS

Ninety-eight females participated in a nail polish consumer study at Kansas State University. Eight commercial products belonging to four categories - regular (REG), gel (GEL), flake (FLK) and water-based (WAT) - were evaluated. Each nail polish sample was evaluated twice by each participant in two different tasks - a task devoted to applying and evaluating the product and a task devoted to observing the appearance and evaluating the product. Pearson's correlation analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), external preference mapping, cluster analysis and internal preference mapping were applied for data analysis.

RESULTS

Participants' scores of overall liking of the nail polishes were similar in the application task and in the observation task. In general, participants liked the REG and GEL product samples more than the FLK and WAT samples. Among all the sensory attributes, appearance attributes were the major factors that affected participants' overall liking. Aroma seemed to be a minor factor to participants' overall liking. Some sensory attributes, such as runny, shininess, opacity, spreadability, smoothness, coverage and wet appearance, were found to drive participants' overall acceptability positively, whereas others such as pinhole, fatty-edges, blister, brushlines, pearl-like, flake-protrusion, glittery and initial-drag impacted participants' overall acceptability negatively. Four clusters of participants were identified according to their overall liking scores from both the application task and the observation task.

CONCLUSIONS

Participants' acceptability, based on different sensory attributes, could help a nail polish manufacturer modify or improve their nail polish formulas. Nail polish manufacturers could use the consumer cluster information to improve their marketing strategies for specific categories of their products and to target their advertising on particular consumer groups.

Pharmacokinetics of Oral Combination Contraceptive Drugs Containing Ethinyl Estradiol and Levonorgestrel in Healthy Female Chinese Volunteers

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

A new combination contraceptive tablet containing 0.02 mg ethinyl estradiol (EE) and 0.10 mg levonorgestrel (LNG) with potential advantages has been developed in China. This study was aimed to describe the pharmacokinetic characteristics of this new combination contraceptive tablet in female Chinese volunteers.

METHODS

This study was designed as phase I, open-label, and one-sequence clinical trial. 12 healthy nonpregnant female Chinese volunteers received a single dose (1 tablet) and multiple dose (1 tablet per day) administration for 21 consecutive days under fasting condition. Blood samples were analyzed with 2 validated LC-MS/MS methods for EE and LNG, respectively.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

After the single dose administration, the C max of EE and LNG were 44.76±18.64 pg/mL and 2.256±1.008 ng/mL, respectively. The steady-state condition of EE was achieved on the 6(th) day after the beginning of the multiple dose administration, while the steady-state condition of LNG was achieved on the 21(st) day. For EE, the mean MRT 0-72 and t 1/2 increased by 40.2 and 30.6%, meanwhile the mean Cl/F and Vd/F decreased by 18.5 and 29.1%, respectively from Day 1 to Day 24. For LNG, the mean MRT 0-72 increased by 27.1%, while the mean Cl/F and Vd/F decreased by 62.4 and 86.3%, respectively from Day 1 to Day 24. The t 1/2 remained unchanged for LNG. The exposure of LNG significantly increased with repeated dosing, but that of EE just slightly increased.

Human regulatory T cell isolation in 55 minutes using EasySep™ Releasable RapidSpheres™ (TECH2P.912)

The preferred marker for identifying regulatory T cells (Tregs) is FOXP3 but its intracellular localization currently precludes it from being used for isolating viable cells. Human FOXP3+ Tregs are characterized as CD4+ T cells expressing high levels of CD25 and low levels of CD127. We have developed a novel immunomagnetic approach for the isolation of magnetic-particle-free human Tregs from PBMCs in as little as 55 minutes. This offers a vast improvement in speed over other immunomagnetic Treg isolation approaches, which typically require more than 2 hours. The standard approach for isolating Tregs combines CD4+ T cell negative enrichment followed by CD25 positive selection. By contrast, our novel approach is to first perform the CD25 positive selection step with EasySep™ Releasable RapidSpheres™, a new type of magnetic particle that can be rapidly released from the isolated cells with a no-incubation, no-wash protocol performed at room temperature. Subsequent depletion of CD127high and non-CD4+ T cells is achieved by negative enrichment with EasySep™ Dextran RapidSpheres™. Starting with 5x107 PBMCs, a purity of 87.6% ± 3.1% and recovery of 2.7x105 ± 8.2x104 Tregs (CD4+CD127lowCD25+FOXP3+) can be achieved (n=6). This is the first EasySep™ kit to incorporate the EasySep™ Releasable RapidSpheres™ and it exemplifies the potential of this technology for use in rapidly isolating magnetic particle-free cell populations possessing complex cell surface phenotypes.

X-rays only when you want them: optimized pump-probe experiments using pseudo-single-bunch operation

Laser pump-X-ray probe experiments require control over the X-ray pulse pattern and timing. Here, the first use of pseudo-single-bunch mode at the Advanced Light Source in picosecond time-resolved X-ray absorption experiments on solutions and solids is reported. In this mode the X-ray repetition rate is fully adjustable from single shot to 500 kHz, allowing it to be matched to typical laser excitation pulse rates. Suppressing undesired X-ray pulses considerably reduces detector noise and improves signal to noise in time-resolved experiments. In addition, dose-induced sample damage is considerably reduced, easing experimental setup and allowing the investigation of less robust samples. Single-shot X-ray exposures of a streak camera detector using a conventional non-gated charge-coupled device (CCD) camera are also demonstrated.

Periodontal inflammation and alveolar bone loss induced by Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is attenuated in sphingosine kinase 1-deficient mice

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive sphingolipid, which is generated by activation of sphingosine kinase (SK) 1 and/or 2 in most mammalian cells with various stimuli, including the oral pathogen Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans. S1P signaling has been shown to regulate the migration of monocytes and macrophages (osteoclast precursors) from the circulation to bone tissues and affect bone homeostasis. We aimed to determine the effects of SK1 deficiency on S1P generation, proinflammatory cytokine production, chemotaxis of monocytes and macrophages, and periodontitis induced by A. actinomycetemcomitans.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Murine bone marrow-derived monocytes and macrophages (BMMs) from SK1 knockout (KO) mice or wild-type (WT) mice were either untreated or exposed to A. actinomycetemcomitans. The mRNA levels of SK1, SK2 and intracellular sphingolipid levels were quantified. In addition, murine WT BMMs were treated with vehicle, S1P, with or without A. actinomycetemcomitans and the mRNA levels of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) were quantified. The protein levels of prostaglandin E2, IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α were quantified in the cell media of SK1 KO BMMs or WT BMMs with or without bacterial stimulation. Furthermore, a transwell migration assay was performed and the number of migrated WT BMMs in the presence of vehicle, bacteria-stimulated media, with or without S1P was quantified. Finally, in vivo studies were performed on SK1 KO and WT mice by injecting either phosphate-buffered saline or A. actinomycetemcomitans in the periodontal tissues. The mice maxillae were scanned by micro-computed tomography, and alveolar bone volume was analyzed. The number of periodontal leukocytes and osteoclasts were quantified in maxillary tissue sections.

RESULTS

SK1 mRNA levels significantly increased after A. actinomycetemcomitans stimulation in murine WT BMMs, but were undetectable in SK1 KO BMMs. Deficiency of SK1 in murine BMMs resulted in decreased S1P generation induced by A. actinomycetemcomitans as compared with WT BMMs. Additionally, low levels of S1P (≤ 1 μM) did not have a significant impact on the mRNA production of COX-2, IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF in murine BMMs with or without the presence of A. actinomycetemcomitans. There were no significant differences in prostaglandin E2 , IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α protein levels in the media between SK1 KO BMMs and WT BMMs with or without bacterial stimulation. Importantly, low levels of S1P (≤ 1 μM) dose-dependently promoted the chemotaxis of BMMs. The bacteria-stimulated media derived from SK1 BMMs significantly reduced the chemotaxis response compared with WT control. Finally, SK1 KO mice showed significantly attenuated alveolar bone loss stimulated by A. actinomycetemcomitans compared with WT mice treated with A. actinomycetemcomitans. Histological analysis of periodontal tissue sections revealed that SK1 KO mice treated with A. actinomycetemcomitans significantly reduced the number of infiltrated periodontal leukocytes and mature osteoclasts attached on the alveolar bone compared with WT mice.

CONCLUSION

Our studies support that SK1 and S1P play an important role in the inflammatory bone loss response induced by the oral pathogen A. actinomycetemcomitans. Reducing S1P generation by inhibiting SK1 has the potential as a novel therapeutic strategy for periodontitis and other inflammatory bone loss diseases.

Markers of Autolysis in Acute ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction

INTRODUCTION

The availability of reliable noninvasive markers for infarct-related artery (IRA) patency status are very limited, otherwise could allow early identification of patients with patent IRA, for whom repeat thrombolysis or rescue percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are not necessary.

METHODS

We conducted a single centered retrospective study of STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI to determine how various factors such as demographic characteristics, risk markers of coronary heart disease, clinical and blood parameters present differently in patients with higher coronary flow and patent infarct related artery from patients with total occlusion at the time of initial angiography and how they affect in outcome of the disease.

RESULTS

MPV level (11.96 fL vs. 10.92 fL, P < 0.001), Lp (a) level (179.57 nmol/l vs 141.16 nmol/l , p < 0.001), CK-MB (290.2 vs. 190.98, P < 0.001), total cholesterol level (4.11 mmol/L vs. 3.8 mmol/L, p < 0.02) in total occlusion group were higher than in the patent IRA group. Wall motion abnormality was 77.2% for 203 patients with total occlusion group and 54.2% for 83 patients with patent IRA group (P<0.01). Mean hospital stay days were higher in total occlusion group as compared to the patent IRA group P < 0.01.

CONCLUSIONS

MVP, Lp (a), TC, and CK-MB levels and myocardial wall motion at the presentation may play the role of markers for IRA patency status that will help in early identification of patients with IRA, for whom repeat thrombolysis or rescue PCI may not be required.