The effects of norflurazon (NF) and amitrole (AM), two bleaching herbicides which inhibit carotenogenesis, were compared in leaves of 7‐day‐old barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv Express) plants grown in ...damaging light. The herbicide effects were analysed with respect to chloroplast organization, photosynthetic functionality and nuclear photodependent expression of the Lhcb1 gene, which codes for the Lhcb1 light‐harvesting chlorophyll a/b binding protein of photosystem II. Both herbicides caused dramatic photooxidation of organelles, which were photosynthetically unfunctional. Plastids of NF‐treated plants lacked thylakoids and pigments. Plastids of AM‐treated plants had some strikingly altered membranes and contained only very small quantities of chlorophylls. Despite the presence of severely photodamaged plastids, cells of AM‐treated leaves contained high levels of Lhcb1 transcript. This transcript, on the contrary, was completely absent in the cells of NF‐treated plants. These findings suggest that in order to block expression of nuclear genes coding for plastid‐resident proteins, photodamage leading to the complete dismantling of thylakoids and to the total absence of any form of photosynthetic pigment is required.
Beta2-adrenergic receptors (beta2-AR) mediate vasorelaxation in response to adrenergic agents. Genetic polymorphisms of beta2-AR were implicated in various cardiovascular and noncardiovascular ...traits.
We tested the role of the beta2AR-16 and beta2AR-27 gene variants in the susceptibility to the development of ischemic stroke in a genetically homogenous and clinically well-characterized case-control sample that included 294 cases and 286 controls from Sardinia, Italy. This population was shown to be an optimal study sample for carrying out genetic analyses.
Age, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and atrial fibrillation were independent risk factors for stroke in this cohort. We found that the presence of the Glu27 allelic variant was associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke when assuming a recessive mode of inheritance (odds ratio OR, 1.68; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.17-2.41; P = .005). The same results were obtained for the subgroup of ischemic strokes of arterial origin (n = 215): OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.14-2.57; P = .009. Furthermore, haplotype analysis confirmed that the presence of the Glu27 allele increased the risk of cerebrovascular accidents.
Our data suggest that the Glu27 allelic variant of the beta2-AR gene may be a determinant of ischemic stroke.
Beta2-adrenergic receptors (beta2-AR) mediate vasorelaxation in response to adrenergic agents. Genetic polymorphisms of beta2-AR were implicated in various cardiovascular and noncardiovascular ...traits. We tested the role of the beta2AR-16 and beta2AR-27 gene variants in the susceptibility to the development of ischemic stroke in a genetically homogenous and clinically well-characterized case-control sample that included 294 cases and 286 controls from Sardinia, Italy. This population was shown to be an optimal study sample for carrying out genetic analyses. Age, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and atrial fibrillation were independent risk factors for stroke in this cohort. We found that the presence of the Glu27 allelic variant was associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke when assuming a recessive mode of inheritance (odds ratio OR, 1.68; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.17-2.41; P = .005). The same results were obtained for the subgroup of ischemic strokes of arterial origin (n = 215): OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.14-2.57; P = .009. Furthermore, haplotype analysis confirmed that the presence of the Glu27 allele increased the risk of cerebrovascular accidents. Our data suggest that the Glu27 allelic variant of the beta2-AR gene may be a determinant of ischemic stroke.
Glanzmann’s thrombasthenia is a congenital hemorrhagic disorder transmitted as an autosomal recessive trait and characterized by altered production and/or assembly of the platelet membrane ...glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor. We describe the perioperative management of a heterozygous carrier of Glanzmann’s thrombasthenia submitted to cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass and the case was complicated by early excessive postoperative bleeding.
Thylakoid membrane dismantling and
Lhcb and
RbcS nuclear gene expression have been analysed in leaves of wheat plants grown in high fluence rate light and deprived of photoprotective carotenoids by ...treatments with the two bleaching herbicides, either norflurazon or amitrole. The
Lhcb transcript was not detectable in cells of norflurazon-supplied leaves, having chloroplasts totally devoid of both inner membranes and pigments. In contrast, a substantial amount of
Lhcb mRNA could be found in cells of amitrole-treated leaves, whose severely damaged organelles still contained few strikingly altered and photosynthetically unfunctional thylakoids, as well as chlorophyll traces. A possible relationship between chlorophyll synthesis and
Lhcb expression, with the transcript level depending on the rate of pigment production in photodamaged chloroplasts is discussed. Also the
RbcS expression was linked to the chloroplast membrane photodamage. However, a detectable level of transcript was still produced in norflurazon-treated cells, despite complete thylakoid demolition. Thus, the wheat cell behaviour had to be placed between that of species, such as maize, in which the
RbcS expression is broken off in these conditions, and that of species, such as pea, in which it is slightly lowered. Interestingly, the dramatically photodamaged chloroplasts still maintained the ability to synthesize proteins and this allowed SSU and LSU Rubisco subunits to be found in the organelles of both norflurazon- and amitrole-treated plants.
ABSTRACT
Background:
Celiac disease (CD) may be associated with other immunologic disorders in adults and children. Previous studies linking CD and autoimmune thyroid disease in children have ...included very few patients with limited biochemical and immunologic screening tests. The aim of this multicenter study was to establish the prevalence of autoimmune thyroid involvement in a large series of pediatric patients with CD.
Methods:
Five hundred seventy‐three consecutive pediatric patients were enrolled from clinics in Torino, Bologna, Foggia, Rome (two clinics), Naples, and Bari. Three hundred forty‐three patients with CD were studied, 230 girls and 113 boys (median age, 8.5 years). Two hundred fifty‐six of the patients with CD (median age, 9 years) had been following a gluten‐free diet for 3 months to 16 years; 87 patients were untreated (median age, 6.2 years). The diagnosis of CD was made using the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) criteria. A control group of 230 subjects (median age, 8.3 years) was enrolled. Serum free triiodothyronine, free thyroxine, and thyroid‐stimulating hormone (TSH), antithyroperoxidase, antithyroglobulin, anti‐TSH receptor antibodies, and thyroid echographic pattern were considered.
Results:
Autoimmune thyroid disease was found in 90 of 343 (26.2%) patients with CD (62 on a gluten‐free diet) and in 20 (10%) of the control subjects (P = 0.001). Fifty‐four (15.7%) patients with CD and autoimmune markers had normal thyroid function (euthyroidism) as did 12 (6.0%) of the control subjects; hypothyroidism was observed in 28 (8.1%) patients with CD and in 7 (3.5%) of the control subjects. Hyperthyroidism was diagnosed in four patients with CD and in none of the control subjects with autoimmune markers. An abnormal echographic pattern was seen in 37 patients with CD (16.8%) and only in 1 (1.6%) of the control subjects (P = 0.002).
Conclusions:
The high frequency of autoimmune thyroid disease found among patients with CD, even those on a gluten‐free diet, may justify a thyroid status assessment at diagnosis and at follow‐up evaluation of children with CD. JPGN 37:63‐66, 2003.
Thylakoids from enzymatically separated bundle sheath and mesophyll tissue chloroplasts were examined for their chlorophyll‐proteins by tube sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis ...(SDS‐PAGE). Differences were found in distribution of chlorophyll among peaks. The chlorophyll‐protein a peak (CPa), considered to be the photosystem II (PSII) reaction centre by many authors, was seen to be absent in bundle sheath thylakoid samples. The slab SDS‐PAGE revealed the absence of the polypeptides present in PSII preparations of chloroplast subfractions having only PSII activity. This finding confirms Anderson's hypothesis of the structure of grana and stroma thylakoids.
Previous studies have demonstrated that preoperative haemoglobin concentration and female gender are related to an increased need for perioperative allogeneic transfusions in cardiac surgery. Hence, ...urgent cardiac surgery presents a dilemma for female patients who are Jehovah’s Witnesses, because of their refusal of allogeneic transfusion. This report describes the management of four high-risk anaemic female patients undergoing urgent complex cardiac surgery. In these Jehovah’s Witness patients, strict application of a comprehensive blood-sparing protocol permitted safe avoidance of allogeneic transfusions. The protocol involved intraoperative acute normovolaemic haemodilution, intraoperative administration of tranexamic acid, intra- and postoperative use of a cell-saver system, postoperative administration of erythropoietin, iron and folic acid, and a careful surgical technique to avoid perioperative bleeding.
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