Dietary arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid regulate liver fatty acid desaturase (FADS) alternative transcript expression in suckling piglets

Molecular regulation of fatty acid desaturase (Fads) gene expression by dietary arachidonic acid (ARA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) during early post-natal period, when the demand for long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) is very high, has not been well defined. The objective of the current study was to determine regulation of liver Fads1, Fads2 and Fads3 classical (CS) and alternative transcripts (AT) expression by dietary ARA and DHA, within the physiological range present in human breast milk, in suckling piglets. Piglets were fed one of six milk replacer formula diets (formula-reared groups, FR) with varying ARA and DHA content from days 3-28 of age. The ARA/DHA levels of the six formula diets were as follows (% total fatty acid, FA/FA): (A1) 0.1/1.0; (A2) 0.53/1.0; (A3-D3) 0.69/1.0; (A4) 1.1/1.0; (D2) 0.67/0.62; and (D1) 0.66/0.33. The control maternal-reared (MR) group remained with the dam. Fads1 expression was not significantly different between FR and MR groups. Fads2 expression was down-regulated significantly in diets with 1:1 ratio of ARA:DHA, compared to MR. Fads2 AT1 expression was highly correlated to Fads2 expression. Fads3 AT7 was the only Fads3 transcript sensitive to dietary LC-PUFA intake and was up-regulated in the formula diets with lowest ARA and DHA contents compared to MR. Thus, the present study provides evidence that the proportion of dietary ARA:DHA is a significant determinant of Fads2 expression and LC-PUFA metabolism during the early postnatal period. Further, the data suggest that Fads3 AT7 may have functional significance when dietary supply of ARA and DHA are low during early development.

The Other Side of Malingering: Supernormality

Supernormality refers to the tendency to systematically deny the presence of common symptoms (e.g., intrusive thoughts). The current article describes the psychometric qualities of a 37-item self-report measure of supernormality (i.e., Supernormality Scale; SS). The SS was administered to nonclinical individuals (n=95), noncriminal psychiatric patients (n=28), nonpsychiatric delinquents (n=49), and a heterogeneous sample of forensic patients (n=59). Within the healthy control sample, some employees were instructed to feign supernormal behaviour, while others were asked to respond honestly to SS items. Findings indicate that the SS demonstrates adequate test-retest stability and internal consistency. In the forensic patient sample, elevated SS scores were significant related to denial of intrusive thoughts in a thought suppression paradigm. However, accuracy parameters for the SS (i.e., sensitivity and specificity) showed that there is room for improvement. Nevertheless, our findings indicate that the SS might be a useful research tool for measuring denial of common symptoms.

It was not me: Attribution of blame for criminal acts in psychiatric offenders

The current article addresses the psychometric qualities of the German Version of Gudjonsson's Blame Attribution Inventory (GBAI), a self-report scale for measuring attribution of blame for crime. The GBAI was administered to a criminal sample of forensic and criminal inmates (n=107). Findings indicate that the German version of the Gudjonsson Blame Attribution Inventory possesses acceptable test-retest stability and good internal consistency. Factor analysis reproduced the three basic dimensions of the GBAI: external attribution, mental-element attribution, and guilt-feeling attribution. Forensic patients had higher mental-element attribution and guilt-feeling attribution scores than the prison inmates. Interestingly, sexual offenders who were prisoners, showed the lowest guilt-feeling attribution, while sexual offenders who were forensic patients had the highest guilt-feeling attribution scores. Since earlier research reported a tendency of faking good in sexual offenders, we suggest that the forensic sexual offenders may demonstrate a social desirable response tendency in an attempt to gain sympathy and/or earlier parole. All in all, our data show that the German version of the GBAI is a valuable tool for measuring attributional styles of offenders.

TNFalpha polymorphisms and risk of psoriatic arthritis

BACKGROUND

Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) is a cytokine of critical importance in psoriatic arthritis.

OBJECTIVES

(1) To examine the association between TNFalpha promoter gene polymorphisms and psoriatic arthritis in two well characterised Canadian populations with the disease; (2) to carry out a meta-analysis of all TNFalpha association studies in white psoriatic arthritis populations.

METHODS

DNA samples were genotyped for five TNF variants by time of flight mass spectrometry using the Sequenom platform. All five single nucleotide polymorphisms were in the 5' flanking region of TNFalpha gene at the following positions: -1031 (T-->C), -863 (C-->A), -857 (C-->T), -308 (G-->A), and -238 (G-->A). Primary analyses were based on logistic regression. Summary estimates of disease/genotype relations from several studies were derived from random effects meta-analyses.

RESULTS

237 psoriatic arthritis subjects and 103 controls from Newfoundland and 203 psoriatic arthritis subjects and 101 controls from Toronto were studied. A combined analysis of data from both populations, showed a significant association between disease status and the -238(A) variant (p=0.01). The meta-analysis estimate for the -238(A) TNFalpha variant in eight psoriatic arthritis populations was also significant (odds ratio=2.29 (95% confidence interval, 1.48 to 3.55)).

CONCLUSIONS

Analysis of TNFalpha variants in psoriatic arthritis populations shows that the -238 (A) variant is a significant risk factor for this disease.

Association of SEEK1 and psoriatic arthritis in two distinct Canadian populations

OBJECTIVE

To examine the relationship between SNP +39604 in SEEK1 and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in two distinct Canadian populations.

METHODS

103 patients with PsA and 105 ethnically matched controls from Newfoundland and 202 patients with PsA and 100 controls from Ontario were studied. Patients and controls were genotyped for SNP +39604 of SEEK1 by time of flight mass spectrometry, using the Sequenom platform. Genomic DNA was amplified by the Dynal RELI SSO HLA-Cw* typing kit for HLA-C typing.

RESULTS

The frequency of the minor SEEK1(T) allele in subjects with PsA and controls was 48.5% and 32.4%, respectively (odds ratio (OR) = 2.0; p = 0.017), in the Newfoundland population and 46.5% and 38.0%, respectively (OR = 1.4; p = 0.16), in the Ontario population. Although SEEK1 is associated with PsA, particularly in the Newfoundland population, multivariate analysis showed that SEEK1 does not seem to be a further susceptibility factor if the HLA-Cw*0602 status is already known. No association was noted between SEEK1(T) allele and onset of psoriasis, PsA, or arthritis pattern.

CONCLUSION

SEEK1 is associated with PsA in the Newfoundland founder population. This association is probably due to linkage disequilibrium between SEEK1 and HLA-Cw*0602 in this population.

Continuing evolution of H9N2 influenza viruses in Southeastern China

H9N2 influenza viruses are panzootic in domestic poultry in Eurasia and since 1999 have caused transient infections in humans and pigs. To investigate the zoonotic potential of H9N2 viruses, we studied the evolution of the viruses in live-poultry markets in Hong Kong in 2003. H9N2 was the most prevalent influenza virus subtype in the live-poultry markets between 2001 and 2003. Antigenic and phylogenetic analysis of hemagglutinin (HA) showed that all of the 19 isolates found except one belonged to the lineage represented by A/Duck/Hong Kong/Y280/97 (H9N2). The exception was A/Guinea fowl/NT184/03 (H9N2), whose HA is most closely related to that of the human isolate A/Guangzhou/333/99 (H9N2), a virus belonging to the A/Chicken/Beijing/1/94-like (H9N2) lineage. At least six different genotypes were recognized. The majority of the viruses had nonstructural (and HA) genes derived from the A/Duck/Hong Kong/Y280/97-like virus lineage but had other genes of mixed avian virus origin, including genes similar to those of H5N1 viruses isolated in 2001. Viruses of all six genotypes of H9N2 found were able to replicate in chickens and mice without adaptation. The infected chickens showed no signs of disease, but representatives of two viral genotypes were lethal to mice. Three genotypes of virus replicated in the respiratory tracts of swine, which shed virus for at least 5 days. These results show an increasing genetic and biologic diversity of H9N2 viruses in Hong Kong and support their potential role as pandemic influenza agents.

Forearm and calf blood flow in response to cortical arousal in normal male and female subjects

The aim of this study was to investigate cardiovascular changes, particularly in forearm and calf blood flows, in response to acute emotional stress in men and women. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham University. Fifty-six healthy non-smokers (29 men and 27 women) aged 19 to 22 years participated. Blood flow was measured by venous occlusion plethysmography using mercury-in-silastic strain gauges. Acute emotional stress (2 min) was elicited by a visual orientation task. During acute emotional stress, there were increases in heart rate (males = 40 +/- 3%, females = 49 +/- 5%) and mean arterial pressure (males = 24 +/- 2%, females = 22 +/- 2%), and hyperaemia and vasodilatation were observed in the forearm (males = 162 +/- 15%, females = 239 +/- 31%) and calf (males = 78 +/- 16%, females = 131 +/- 24%). Vasoconstriction also occurred in some subjects. Forearm vasodilatation was significantly greater than calf vasodilatation. Gender variation was apparent in the calf, where vasodilatation was significantly greater in females, and vasoconstriction was significantly greater in males. In some subgroups of men and women, mean values indicated that acute emotional stress elicited increases in forearm, but not in calf, blood flows and vascular conductances. This pattern is similar to that reported by Rusch et al. (see text), but the present findings indicate that vasodilatation in the forearm and calf in response to acute emotional stress is more common.

On-line brain potential correlates of right parietal patients' attentional deficit

EEG potentials evoked by cues and targets were recorded in Posner's visual cueing task from 10 patients with lesions of the right parietal cortex and from age-matched healthy subjects. The patients' N1 component evoked by left-side cues was reduced at the right-parietal recording site, suggesting a general impairment in processing left-side visual input. As usual, patients' keypress responses were delayed when left targets were preceded by right cues. There were two correlates of this delay in the patients' EEG potentials evoked by the critical combination of right cue/left target: their mean amplitude 160-280 ms after target onset ('Nd') was less negative than with other combinations of cue and target, and the following frontal P300 was enhanced. The Nd reduction seems to be an on-line measure of patients' momentary decrease of attention for the left hemifield, while the frontal P300 might reflect the patients' attempts at reorienting. In conclusion, different components were sensitive to different aspects of the patients' disorder, suggesting the utility of this approach for developing detailed hypotheses on the mechanisms of attentional deficits involved in visual extinction and neglect.

Reduction of P3b in patients with temporo-parietal lesions

By recording event-related EEG potentials from patients with frontal, parietal, or temporo-parietal lesions, we wanted to determine the cortical area that is relevant to the P3b component, replicating the approach used by Knight and associates who found reduced P3bs in patients with temporo-parietal lesions. They used auditory and somatosensory stimuli. We wanted to replicate their findings in auditory and visual oddball tasks and analysed potentials evoked by targets and by standard stimuli. Temporo-parietal patients' P3bs were reduced with auditory targets and lacked a distinct Pz maximum with visual targets. Further, auditory N1 was reduced both with targets and standards, P3 to visual standards and P2 to auditory standards were reduced. Parietal patients' P3bs differed only slightly from the control group, being somewhat reduced over the lesioned hemisphere with visual stimuli. Their P3 to visual standards was, however, reduced to the same extent as was the temporo-parietal patients'. Frontal patients did not differ from the control group both in their P3b and in their P3 to standards but had a number of conspicuous features in modality-specific components. In sum, our results on P3b (as well as on N1) replicate Knight's findings, confirming his conclusion that integrity of the temporo-parietal junction is critical for P3b. Implications for hypotheses on P3 are discussed.