A review of the etiology of multiple sclerosis

Targeting QKI-7 in vivo restores endothelial cell function in diabetes

Vascular endothelial cell (EC) dysfunction plays a key role in diabetic complications. This study discovers significant upregulation of Quaking-7 (QKI-7) in iPS cell-derived ECs when exposed to hyperglycemia, and in human iPS-ECs from diabetic patients. QKI-7 is also highly expressed in human coronary arterial ECs from diabetic donors, and on blood vessels from diabetic critical limb ischemia patients undergoing a lower-limb amputation. QKI-7 expression is tightly controlled by RNA splicing factors CUG-BP and hnRNPM through direct binding. QKI-7 upregulation is correlated with disrupted cell barrier, compromised angiogenesis and enhanced monocyte adhesion. RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and mRNA-decay assays reveal that QKI-7 binds and promotes mRNA degradation of downstream targets CD144, Neuroligin 1 (NLGN1), and TNF-α-stimulated gene/protein 6 (TSG-6). When hindlimb ischemia is induced in diabetic mice and QKI-7 is knocked-down in vivo in ECs, reperfusion and blood flow recovery are markedly promoted. Manipulation of QKI-7 represents a promising strategy for the treatment of diabetic vascular complications.

Use of health information in air pollution health research: past successes and emerging needs

In September 2006, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) co-organized a symposium on "Air Pollution Exposure and Health." The main objective of this symposium was to identify opportunities for improving the use of exposure and health information in future studies of air pollution health effects. This paper deals with the health information needs of such studies. We begin with a selected review of different types of health data and how they were used in previous epidemiologic studies of health effects of ambient particulate matter (PM). We then examine the current and emerging information needs of the environmental health community, dealing with PM and other air pollutants of health concern. We conclude that the past use of routinely collected health data proved to be essential for activities to protect public health, including the identification and evaluation of health hazards by air pollution research, setting standards for criteria pollutants, surveillance of health outcomes to identify incidence trends, and the more recent CDC environmental public health tracking program. Unfortunately, access to vital statistics records that have informed such pivotal research has recently been curtailed sharply, threatening the continuation of the type of research necessary to support future standard setting and research on emerging exposure and health problems (e.g. asthma, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and others), as well as our ability to evaluate the efficacy of regulatory and other prevention activities. A comprehensive devoted effort, perhaps new legislation, will be needed to address the standardization, centralization, and sharing of data sets, as well as to harmonize the interpretation of confidentiality and privacy protections across jurisdictions. These actions, combined with assuring researchers and public health practitioners appropriate access to data for evaluation of environmental risks, will be essential for the achievement of our environmental health protection goals.

The role of the thymus in multiple sclerosis

The presence of numerous changes in T lymphocyte activity found in MS patients points to the involvement of the thymus in multiple sclerosis. The etiophathogenetic mechanism of MS is probably an autoimmune reaction that is triggered by a viral infection caused by one or more viruses and that perpetuates itself, causing the disease to progress. It has been proved that the thymus maintains its immunocompetence even in adulthood and that it has a role in the pathogenesis in several autoimmune diseases. In exacerbations of MS there is a decrease in T suppressor lymphocytes while histological and lymphocyte subset changes have been demonstrated in the thymus of MS patients. The lymphocyte response to mitogens is also depressed in MS. The clinical results of thymectomy in MS are not uniform and are on the whole inconclusive, probably through the lack of criteria of selection of patients for surgical treatment. We consider that the morphological and functional study of the thymus biopsy specimen should supply the appropriate criteria of suitability for surgical treatment.