Pair bonding and disruption impact lung transcriptome in monogamous Peromyscus californicus

Social interactions affect physiological and pathological processes, yet their direct impact in peripheral tissues remains elusive. Recently we showed that disruption of pair bonds in monogamous Peromyscus californicus promotes lung tumorigenesis, pointing to a direct effect of bonding status in the periphery (Naderi et al., 2021). Here we show that lung transcriptomes of tumor-free Peromyscus are altered in a manner that depends on pair bonding and superseding the impact of genetic relevance between siblings. Pathways affected involve response to hypoxia and heart development. These effects are consistent with the profile of the serum proteome of bonded and bond-disrupted Peromyscus and were extended to lung cancer cells cultured in vitro, with sera from animals that differ in bonding experiences. In this setting, the species' origin of serum (deer mouse vs FBS) is the most potent discriminator of RNA expression profiles, followed by bonding status. By analyzing the transcriptomes of lung cancer cells exposed to deer mouse sera, an expression signature was developed that discriminates cells according to the history of social interactions and possesses prognostic significance when applied to primary human lung cancers. The results suggest that present and past social experiences modulate the expression profile of peripheral tissues such as the lungs, in a manner that impacts physiological processes and may affect disease outcomes. Furthermore, they show that besides the direct effects of the hormones that regulate bonding behavior, physiological changes influencing oxygen metabolism may contribute to the adverse effects of bond disruption.

Universal DNA methylation age across mammalian tissues

Aging, often considered a result of random cellular damage, can be accurately estimated using DNA methylation profiles, the foundation of pan-tissue epigenetic clocks. Here, we demonstrate the development of universal pan-mammalian clocks, using 11,754 methylation arrays from our Mammalian Methylation Consortium, which encompass 59 tissue types across 185 mammalian species. These predictive models estimate mammalian tissue age with high accuracy (r > 0.96). Age deviations correlate with human mortality risk, mouse somatotropic axis mutations and caloric restriction. We identified specific cytosines with methylation levels that change with age across numerous species. These sites, highly enriched in polycomb repressive complex 2-binding locations, are near genes implicated in mammalian development, cancer, obesity and longevity. Our findings offer new evidence suggesting that aging is evolutionarily conserved and intertwined with developmental processes across all mammals.

Self-harm prevalence and associated factors among street children in Mashhad, North East of Iran

Background

Self-harm is intentional harmful behavior in the context of emotional distress. Street children are boys and girls under eighteen who are forced to work or live on the streets. These children are exposed to violent situations and high-risk behaviors like self-harm. This study investigated the prevalence of self-harm in street children in Mashhad, the second Metropolis of Iran.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, 98 children were assessed with a 22-item of self-harm Inventory (SHI) questionnaire. A trained social worker interviewed the participants who were referred to Mashhad Welfare Office, February-July 2020.

Results

The mean age of participants was 13.8 (2.3) years old, and 71.4 % of them were male. Of street children 59.2 % have had self-harming behavior, among them 8.6 % had one self-harming behavior, and others have more than one. The self-harmed people who had physical injuries, more frequent injuries were hitting (26.5 %), self-starvation (23.5 %), cutting (21.4 %), respectively. In comparison, common psychological injuries were God-distancing (29.6 %) and self-defeating thoughts (19.4 %). The most important risk factors were having a mental disorder (OR = 6.3, P = 0.002), losing parents (OR = 4.4, P = 0.01), self-harming or suicide history in relatives (OR = 3.2, P = 0.001, OR = 4.3, P = 0.03 respectively), low-educated parents (OR = 4.2, P = 002, OR = 2.8, P = 0.02 for father and mother respectively), and age-increasing (OR = 1.5, P = 0.001).

Conclusions

The prevalence of self-harming in street children is significantly high. Some of these children are in more high-risk conditions that face them to suffer from self-harming at a younger age. Family factors are more important in predicting self-harming and community health decision-makers should provide educational interventions and psychological support for these children and their families.

Coordination in the unfolded protein response during aging in outbred deer mice

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has been linked to various metabolic pathologies, neurodegeneration and aging. Although various mechanistic aspects of the resulting unfolded protein response (UPR) have been elucidated, its regulation in genetically diverse populations remains elusive. In the present study we evaluated the expression of chaperones BiP/GRP78, GRP94 and calnexin (CANX) in the lungs, liver and brain of 7 months old and 2-3 years old outbred deer mice P. maniculatus and P. leucopus. Chaperones' expression was highly variable between species, tissues and ages suggesting that levels of expression of individual chaperones do not change consistently during aging. Despite this variation, a high degree of coordination was maintained between chaperones' expression indicating the tight regulation of the UPR which is consistent with its adaptive activity to maintain homeostasis. In the brain though of older P. maniculatus, at which neurodegenerative changes were detected, loss of coordination was revealed, especially between BiP and either of GRP94 or calnexin which indicates that de-coordination rather than aberrant expression is linked to deregulation of the UPR in aging. These findings underscore the involvement of UPR in the onset of aging-related pathologies and suggest that beyond levels of expression, concerted activation may be of significance to attain homeostasis. These findings emphasize the value of genetically diverse models and suggest that beyond levels of expression of individual targets the coordination of transcriptional networks should be considered when links to pathology are explored.

Study of antagonistic effects of Lactobacillus strains as probiotics on multi drug resistant (MDR) bacteria isolated from urinary tract infections (UTIs)

OBJECTIVE(S)

Urinary tract infection (UTI) caused by bacteria is one of the most frequent infections in human population. Inappropriate use of antibiotics, often leads to appearance of drug resistance in bacteria. However, use of probiotic bacteria has been suggested as a partial replacement. This study was aimed to assess the antagonistic effects of Lactobacillus standard strains against bacteria isolated from UTI infections.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Among 600 samples; those with ≥10,000 cfu/ml were selected as UTI positive samples. Enterococcus sp., Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter sp., and Escherichia coli were found the most prevalent UTI causative agents. All isolates were screened for multi drug resistance and subjected to the antimicrobial effects of three Lactobacillus strains by using microplate technique and the MICs amounts were determined. In order to verify the origin of antibiotic resistance of isolates, plasmid curing using ethidium bromide and acridine orange was carried out.

RESULTS

No antagonistic activity in Lactobacilli suspension was detected against test on Enterococcus and Enterobacter strains and K. pneumoniae, which were resistant to most antibiotics. However, an inhibitory effect was observed for E. coli which were resistant to 8-9 antibiotics. In addition, L. casei was determined to be the most effective probiotic. RESULTS from replica plating suggested one of the plasmids could be related to the gene responsible for ampicillin resistance.

CONCLUSION

Treatment of E. coli with probiotic suspension was not effective on inhibition of the plasmid carrying hypothetical ampicillin resistant gene. Moreover, the plasmid profiles obtained from probiotic-treated isolates were identical to untreated isolates.

In vivo microdialysis of glutamate in ventroposterolateral nucleus of thalamus following electrolytic lesion of spinothalamic tract in rats

Central pain is one of the most important complications after spinal cord injury (SCI), and thereby, its treatment raises many challenges. After SCI, in a cascade of molecular events, a marked increase in glutamate at the injury site results in secondary changes which may impact on supraspinal regions, mainly ventroposterolateral (VPL). There is little information about the changes in glutamate metabolism in the VPL and whether it contributes to SCI-related central pain. The present study was performed to evaluate glutamate release in the VPL following electrolytic lesion of spinothalamic tract (STT). A laminectomy was performed at spinal segments of T9-T10 in male rats, and then, unilateral electrolytic lesions were made in the STT. Glutamate concentrations in ipsilateral VPL dialysate were measured by HPLC method at days 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 post-injury. Tactile pain and motor activity were also examined. Glutamate levels were significantly increased in ipsilateral VPL of spinal-cord-injured rats 2 weeks after SCI and remained high up to day 28 post-surgery. The STT lesions had no marked effect on our measures of motor activity, but there was a significant decrease in paw withdrawal threshold in the hind paws at day 14 post-SCI. These findings suggest that an increased release of glutamate in VPL plays a role in secondary pathologic changes, leading to neuronal hyperexcitation and neuropathic pain after SCI.

Antidepressant self-poisonings in iran

Introduction

Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) are more likely to cause cardiovascular and neurological toxicity than compared to Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs).

Objectives

In a prospective hospital-based cohort study, we addressed the question of severity and outcome of antidepressant self-poisonings in patients who attended the Loghman-Hakim Hospital Poison Center. The severity was judged by impairment of consciousness, the outcome criteria were the requirement of inpatient treatment and endotracheal intubation as well as mortality. The aim of the study was to find out if TCA intoxications require more therapeutic efforts than SSRI intoxications.

Methods

From 28 March to 20 May 20 2006, all patients presented to the Poison Center were documented using preformatted forms by three trained nurses blinded to any study hypotheses. From 3.578 intoxications, a number of 334 patients with antidepressant or lithium self-poisoning was identified (9.3% of all poisoning cases; 233 females, 101 males; median age 24 years, min 13, max 70).

Results

As compared to SSRI single-substance intoxications (n = 17), TCA single-substance intoxications (n = 73) were associated with (1) a significantly lower level of consciousness (p = 0.005); (2) a significantly higher admission frequency (80.8% vs. 35.3%; p < 0.001) and (3) a higher intubation frequency (13.7% vs. 0%; p = ns). SSRI multiple-substance intoxications were associated with a significantly lower level of consciousness than SSRI single-substance intoxications (p = 0.042), while there was no significant difference between TCA multiple- and single-substance intoxications.

Conclusions

This study suggests that an overdose with SSRIs results in a more favorable clinical outcome than an overdose with TCAs.

Detection of enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus isolates in domestic dairy products

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Staphylococcus aureusis a one of THE most frequent causes of food poisoning (FP) in dairy products. The main etiologic agents of FP are staphylococcal enterotoxins (SE). There are different types of SE; types A (SEA) and B (SEB) are the most clinically important enterotoxins. Traditional dairy products are still produced in small batches and sold by some vendors without a permit from the Ministry of Health. This study focuses on the molecular and serological detection of enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus SEA and SEB genes and its products, respectively from samples of such traditional products.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

100 samples from dairy products were produced under sterile conditions via traditional methods and were transported to the laboratory. The samples were cultured and identified by routine bacteriological methods. The isolated bacteria were evaluated by PCR tests for detection of the genes encoding SEA and SEB. Subsequently, the ability of these strains to produce enterotoxin was examined by Sac's culture method and was confirmed by Sigel Radial Immounodiffussion (SRID).

RESULTS

The results indicated that 32% of the dairy products were contaminated by S. aureus (cream 18%, cheese 10%, milk 4%). The PCR results showed that 15.6% of the S. aureus isolates possessed the SEA gene, 9.3% had the SEB gene, and 6.2% possessed both genes. The evaluation of enterotoxin production indicated that 80% of SEA and 33% of SEB genes were expressed.

CONCLUSION

Enterotoxins SEA and SEB are heat stable and consequently; heating has no effect on dairy products contaminated by entertoxins. Subsequently, gastritis may occur within several hours after consumption. Our findings suggest that PCR is a rapid, sensitive, specific, and inexpensive method for detecting SE and can replace the traditional assays.

Using array-comparative genomic hybridization to define molecular portraits of primary breast cancers

We analysed 148 primary breast cancers using BAC-arrays containing 287 clones representing cancer-related gene/loci to obtain genomic molecular portraits. Gains were detected in 136 tumors (91.9%) and losses in 123 tumors (83.1%). Eight tumors (5.4%) did not have any genomic aberrations in the 281 clones analysed. Common (more than 15% of the samples) gains were observed at 8q11-qtel, 1q21-qtel, 17q11-q12 and 11q13, whereas common losses were observed at 16q12-qtel, 11ptel-p15.5, 1p36-ptel, 17p11.2-p12 and 8ptel-p22. Patients with tumors registering either less than 5% (median value) or less than 11% (third quartile) total copy number changes had a better overall survival (log-rank test: P=0.0417 and P=0.0375, respectively). Unsupervised hierarchical clustering based on copy number changes identified four clusters. Women with tumors from the cluster with amplification of three regions containing known breast oncogenes (11q13, 17q12 and 20q13) had a worse prognosis. The good prognosis group (Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI) <or=3.4) tumors had frequent loss of 16q24-qtel. Genes significantly associated with estrogen receptor (ER), Grade and NPI were used to build k-nearest neighbor (KNN) classifiers that predicted ER, Grade and NPI status in the test set with an average misclassification rate of 24.7, 25.7 and 35.7%, respectively. These data raise the prospect of generating a molecular taxonomy of breast cancer based on copy number profiling using tumor DNA, which may be more generally applicable than expression microarray analysis.

A gene-expression signature to predict survival in breast cancer across independent data sets

Prognostic signatures in breast cancer derived from microarray expression profiling have been reported by two independent groups. These signatures, however, have not been validated in external studies, making clinical application problematic. We performed microarray expression profiling of 135 early-stage tumors, from a cohort representative of the demographics of breast cancer. Using a recently proposed semisupervised method, we identified a prognostic signature of 70 genes that significantly correlated with survival (hazard ratio (HR): 5.97, 95% confidence interval: 3.0-11.9, P = 2.7e-07). In multivariate analysis, the signature performed independently of other standard prognostic classifiers such as the Nottingham Prognostic Index and the 'Adjuvant!' software. Using two different prognostic classification schemes and measures, nearest centroid (HR) and risk ordering (D-index), the 70-gene classifier was also found to be prognostic in two independent external data sets. Overall, the 70-gene set was prognostic in our study and the two external studies which collectively include 715 patients. In contrast, we found that the two previously described prognostic gene sets performed less optimally in external validation. Finally, a common prognostic module of 29 genes that associated with survival in both our cohort and the two external data sets was identified. In spite of these results, further studies that profile larger cohorts using a single microarray platform, will be needed before prospective clinical use of molecular classifiers can be contemplated.

Eyelid reconstruction: an oculoplastic surgeon's perspective

The eyelids provide structural support for the globe and play an essential role in protecting and lubricating the eye. Trauma, tumor resection, or congenital defects may compromise eyelid function. The goals of eyelid reconstruction are to restore the function of the eyelids and lacrimal drainage apparatus, provide adequate protection for the globe, and achieve reasonable cosmetic results.

Statistical inference from multiply censored environmental data

Maximum likelihood estimation for multiply censored samples are discussed. Approximate confidence intervals for the lognormal mean are obtained using both Taylor expansion method and direct method. It is shown that the direct method performs noticeably better than the Taylor expansion method. Simulation results and applications are provided.