To cite this article: Kezic S, O’Regan GM, Yau N, Sandilands A, Chen H, Campbell LE, Kroboth K, Watson R, Rowland M, Irwin McLean WH, Irvine AD. Levels of filaggrin degradation products are ...influenced by both filaggrin genotype and atopic dermatitis severity. Allergy 2011; 66: 934–940.
Background: Filaggrin, coded by FLG, is the main source of several major components of natural moisturizing factor (NMF) in the stratum corneum (SC), including pyrrolidone carboxylic acid (PCA) and urocanic acid (UCA). Loss‐offunction mutations in FLG lead to reduced levels of filaggrin degradation products in the SC. It has recently been suggested that expression of filaggrin may additionally be influenced by the atopic inflammatory response. In this study, we investigated the levels of several breakdown products of filaggrin in the SC in healthy controls (CTRL) and patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) in relation to FLG null allele status. We examined the relationship between NMF (defined here as the sum of PCA and UCA) and AD severity.
Methods: The SC levels of filaggrin degradation products including PCA, UCA, histidine (HIS) and tyrosine were determined in 24 CTRL and 96 patients with moderate‐to‐severe AD. All subjects were screened for 11 FLG mutations relevant for the study population.
Results: The levels of PCA, UCA and HIS correlated with FLG genotype. Furthermore, these levels were higher in the CTRL when compared to AD patients with no FLG mutations. Multiple regression analysis showed that NMF levels were independently associated with FLG genotype and severity of disease.
Conclusion: Decreased NMF is a global feature of moderate‐to‐severe AD; within AD, FLG genotype is the major determinant of NMF, with disease severity as a secondary modifier. NMF components are reliably determined by a noninvasive and relatively inexpensive tape stripping technique.
With increasing emphasis on understanding consumer preferences in export markets, particularly in Asia, there is a need to determine those factors that influence food choice in other cultures. The ...Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ), which assess the relative importance of nine factors thought to be important motives in food choice:
Health, Mood, Convenience, Sensory Appeal, Natural Content, Price, Weight Control, Familiarity, and
Ethical Concern, was administered to groups of female consumers in Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, and New Zealand. The Food Neophobia Scale was also administered in New Zealand, Taiwan and Japan. There was agreement between Taiwanese and (ethnically Chinese) Malaysian consumers in the most important food choice factors:
Health, Natural Content, Weight Control and
Convenience. In contrast,
Price was most important for Japanese consumers and
Sensory Appeal for New Zealand consumers.
Familiarity was rated as least important by all countries, and
Ethical Concern was also considered unimportant by all countries except Japan, where it was rated as relatively important. Older consumers generally gave higher ratings. Differences between consumer groups were also shown in the degree of neophobia. These data are important in demonstrating differing motives for food choice cross-culturally, and also provide indications of which food claims may be useful in promoting choice in the countries studied.
Abstract
Antibodies have diverse applications due to their high reaction specificities but are sensitive to denaturation when a higher working temperature is required. We have developed a simple, ...highly scalable and generalizable chemical approach for stabilizing off-the-shelf antibodies against thermal and chemical denaturation. We demonstrate that the stabilized antibodies (termed SPEARs) can withstand up to 4 weeks of continuous heating at 55 °C and harsh denaturants, and apply our method to 33 tested antibodies. SPEARs enable flexible applications of thermocycling and denaturants to dynamically modulate their binding kinetics, reaction equilibrium, macromolecular diffusivity and aggregation propensity. In particular, we show that SPEARs permit the use of a thermally facilitated three-dimensional immunolabeling strategy (termed ThICK staining), achieving whole mouse brain immunolabeling within 72 h, as well as nearly fourfold deeper penetration with threefold less antibodies in human brain tissue. With faster deep-tissue immunolabeling and broad compatibility with tissue processing and clearing methods without the need for any specialized equipment, we anticipate the wide applicability of ThICK staining with SPEARs for deep immunostaining.
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a severe muscle disorder caused by lack of dystrophin. Predictive biomarkers able to anticipate response to the therapeutic treatments aiming at dystrophin ...re-expression are lacking. The objective of this study is to investigate Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) as predictive biomarker for Duchenne. Two natural history cohorts were studied including 168 longitudinal samples belonging to 66 patients. We further studied 1536 samples obtained from 3 independent clinical trials with drisapersen, an antisense oligonucleotide targeting exon 51: an open label study including 12 patients; a phase 3 randomized, double blind, placebo controlled study involving 186 patients; an open label extension study performed after the phase 3. Analysis of natural history cohorts showed elevated MMP-9 levels in patients and a significant increase over time in longitudinal samples. MMP-9 decreased in parallel to clinical stabilization in the 12 patients involved in the open label study. The phase 3 study and subsequent extension study clarified that the decrease in MMP-9 levels was not predictive of treatment response. These data do not support the inclusion of serum MMP-9 as predictive biomarker for DMD patients.
For hundreds of years, Taiwan has been famous for its various specialty teas. The sensory features of these teas have been well specialized and standardized through sensory evaluations performed by ...tea experts in yearly competitions throughout history. However, the question arises of whether young Taiwanese consumers, whose dietary behaviors have become Westernized, agree with the conventional sensory standards and association/postprandial concepts in the traditional tea market of Taiwan. To study young Taiwanese consumers' ideas towards traditional specialty teas, this research recruited 109 respondents, younger than the age of 30, to taste seven Taiwanese specialty tea infusions of various degrees of fermentation, and their opinions were gathered by questionnaires composed of check-all-that-apply (CATA) questions and hedonic scales. Through statistical analyses, we found that several tea sensory attributes which were emphasized in experts' descriptive sensory evaluations were not appreciated by the young Taiwanese people. Instead, tea aroma and late sweetness/palatable/smooth/refreshing mouthfeels were the most important sensory attributes contributing to their tea preference. Overall, there would generally be no problem in serving young Taiwanese consumers lightly-fermented oolong teas that generate the highest digestive and lowest heartburn postprandial perceptions.
The patients identified the lost group member as “the oak tree,” and this allowed them to mourn the loss of his stable and thoughtful presence. Declarations Disclosures On behalf of all authors, the ...corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest. Book review: addressing challenging moments in psychotherapy: clinical wisdom for working with individuals, groups and couples.
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