Chronic ethanol feeding decreases expression of adiponectin by adipocytes and circulating adiponectin. Adiponectin treatment during chronic ethanol feeding prevents liver injury in mice. Chronic ...ethanol feeding also increases oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in adipose tissue. Here we tested the hypothesis that supplemental taurine, an amino acid that functions as a chemical chaperone/osmolyte and enhances cellular antioxidant activity, would prevent ethanol‐induced decreases in adiponectin expression and attenuate liver injury. Serum adiponectin concentrations decreased as early as 4 to 7 days after feeding rats a 36% ethanol diet. This rapid decrease was associated with increased oxidative, but not ER, stress in subcutaneous adipose tissue. Taurine prevented ethanol‐induced oxidative stress and increased inflammatory cytokine expression in adipose tissue. Ethanol feeding also rapidly decreased expression of transcription factors regulating adiponectin expression (CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α; peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor α/γ) in subcutaneous adipose tissue. Taurine prevented the ethanol‐induced decrease in CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α and peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor α, normalizing adiponectin messenger (m)RNA and serum adiponectin concentrations. In the liver, taurine prevented ethanol‐induced oxidative stress and attenuated tumor necrosis factor α expression and steatosis, at least in part, by increasing expression of genes involved in fatty acid oxidation. Conclusion: In subcutaneous adipose tissue, taurine decreased ethanol‐induced oxidative stress and cytokine expression, as well as normalized expression of adiponectin mRNA. Taurine prevented ethanol‐induced decreases in serum adiponectin; normalized adiponectin was associated with a reduction in hepatic oxidative stress, tumor necrosis factor α expression, and steatosis. Taken together, these data demonstrate that taurine has important protective effects against ethanol‐induced tissue injury in both adipose and liver tissue. (HEPATOLOGY 2009.)
Therapists' use of metaphor in psychotherapy is ubiquitous. However, compared to theoretical and clinical claims about the potential effectiveness of using metaphor, research investigations pose ...challenges and remain relatively sparse. We provide examples of metaphors in sessions and then systematically review the empirical literature. This research suggests that collaborative coelaboration of metaphors with clients is related to positive in-session client outcomes, particularly cognitive engagement. Future research might benefit from a more in-depth focus on the process and impacts of using metaphors. We draw out implications from the research for clinical training and psychotherapy practice.
Clinical Impact Statement
Question: Psychotherapists and their clients often use conventional metaphors (e.g., "You seem down today") and, on occasion, novel metaphors (e.g., "I stab people with my voice") over the course of treatment. Here, we review the sparse evidence for the links between metaphors and outcomes. Findings: Tentative links between collaborative coelaboration of metaphors and client cognitive processes such as problem-setting, reflecting, and connecting have been established. Meaning: Collaboratively working with clients to develop metaphors related to major themes of therapy can be an effective intervention. Next Steps: Additional research that brings together therapists, clients, and researchers for in-depth analyses of metaphor use over the course of psychotherapy is needed.
Two compounds, the C-glycosyl flavone maysin and the phenylpropanoid product chlorogenic acid (CGA), have been implicated in corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea Boddie) resistance in maize (Zea mays L.). ...Previous quantitative trait locus (QTL) analyses identified the pericarp color (p) locus, which encodes a transcription factor, as the major QTL for maysin and CGA. QTL analysis has also implicated the dihydroflavanol reductase (DFR; E.C. no. 1.1.1.219) locus anthocyaninless1 (a1) and the duplicate chalcone synthase (CHS; E.C. no. 2.3.1.74) loci colorless2 (c2) and white pollen1 (whp1) as genes underlying QTL for maysin and/or CGA synthesis. Epistatic interactions between p and a1 and between p and c2 were also defined. CHS catalyzes the first step in the flavonoid pathway and represents one of the first enzyme steps following the branch off the general phenylpropanoid pathway towards CGA synthesis. In maize, the reduction of dihydroflavanol to leucoanthocyanin by DFR immediately follows the pathway branch leading to C-glycosyl flavone production. The detection of QTLs for maysin and CGA concentration at loci encoding enzyme steps following the pathway branch points implicates alterations in the flow of biochemical intermediates as the biological basis of the QTL effects. To examine if sequence variation among alleles of a1, c2, and whp1 affect maysin and CGA synthesis in maize silks, we performed an association analysis. Because the p locus has often been a major QTL for maysin and CGA and has exhibited epistatic interactions with a1, c2, and whp1, association analysis was conditioned on the p genotype. A highly significant association of two sequence polymorphisms in the promoter of a1 with maysin synthesis was demonstrated. Additional conditioning on the genotype of the significant a1 polymorphism allowed the detection of a significant polymorphism within the whp1 promoter. Our analyses demonstrate that conditioning for epistatic factors greatly increases the power of association testing.
Aims/hypothesis Diabetic patients are at increased risk of cardiomyopathy, acute myocardial infarction and loss of cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs), but the aetiology is poorly understood. We ...hypothesised a significant role for mannose-binding lectin (MBL) in cardiomyopathies associated with hyperglycaemia. Methods The role of MBL in myocardial ischaemia and reperfusion (MI/R) injury was investigated in wild-type (WT) and MBL-null mice following 2 weeks of streptozotocin-induced hyperglycaemia. Results Hyperglycaemic WT mice presented with significantly decreased left ventricular ejection fractions and increased serum troponin I levels and myocardial inflammation compared with non-diabetic WT mice following MI/R. Hyperglycaemic MBL-null mice or insulin-treated diabetic WT mice were significantly protected from MI/R injury compared with diabetic WT mice. In an additional study using diabetic WT mice, echocardiographic measurements demonstrated signs of dilative cardiomyopathy, whereas heart:body weight ratios suggested hypertrophic cardiac remodelling after 2 weeks of hyperglycaemia. Immunohistochemical analysis of CPCs showed significantly lower numbers in diabetic WT hearts compared with non-diabetic hearts. Insulin-treated diabetic WT or untreated diabetic MBL-null mice were protected from dilative cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic remodelling and loss of CPCs. Conclusions/interpretation These data demonstrate that MBL may play a critical role in diabetic MI/R injury. Further, the absence of MBL appears to inhibit hypertrophic remodelling and hyperglycaemia-induced loss of CPCs after just 2 weeks of hyperglycaemia in mice.
Leaderless bacteriocins are a class of ribosomally synthesized antimicrobial peptides that are produced by certain Gram-positive bacteria without an N-terminal leader section. These bacteriocins are ...of great interest due to their potent inhibition of many Gram-positive organisms, including food-borne pathogens such as Listeria and Clostridium spp. We now report the NMR solution structures of enterocins 7A and 7B, leaderless bacteriocins recently isolated from Enterococcus faecalis 710C. These are the first three-dimensional structures to be reported for bacteriocins of this class. Unlike most other linear Gram-positive bacteriocins, enterocins 7A and 7B are highly structured in aqueous conditions. Both peptides are primarily α-helical, adopting a similar overall fold. The structures can be divided into three separate α-helical regions: the N- and C-termini are both α-helical, separated by a central kinked α-helix. The overall structures bear an unexpected resemblance to carnocyclin A, a 60-residue peptide that is cyclized via an amide bond between the C- and N-termini and has a saposin fold. Because of synergism observed for other two-peptide leaderless bacteriocins, it was of interest to probe possible binding interactions between enterocins 7A and 7B. However, despite synergistic activity observed between these peptides, no significant binding interaction was observed based on NMR and isothermal calorimetry.
The aim of this study was to determine if different carbohydrates influence the growth of
in the presence of carnocyclin A or leucocin A.
ATCC PTA-5313 and
UAL187 were used to produce carnocyclin A ...and leucocin A, respectively. Growth curves were modeled for five strains of
grown in basal medium supplemented with glucose, sucrose, fructose, mannose, or cellobiose, in the presence of carnocyclin A or leucocin A. The growth of
to leucocin A or carnocyclin A was influenced by carbohydrate and/or strain. Carnocyclin A inhibited the growth of
more than leucocin A. Growth in media containing glucose, mannose, and fructose increased the sensitivity of some strains of
to bacteriocins, while growth in cellobiose and sucrose increased the resistance of
to bacteriocins, as evidenced by a shorter lag phase. Strains of
developed resistance to both leucocin A and carnocyclin A, but the time to develop resistance was longer when strains are treated with carnocyclin A. Carbohydrate influences the development of resistance of
to the bacteriocins, but the ability of strains to develop resistance to leucocin A or carnocyclin A differs. Results of this study indicate that carbohydrates influence the ability of
to grow in the presence of bacteriocins.
Detection sensitivity of cassette PCR was compared with a commercial BAX® PCR system for detection of eae and stx genes in Escherichia coli from 806 beef carcass swabs. Cassette PCR detects multiple ...genetic markers on multiple samples using PCR and melt curve analysis. Conventional PCR served as a gold standard. Overall, for positive and negative concordance, cassette PCR was 98.6% concordant with conventional PCR, and BAX PCR was 65.4% concordant. Of 806 beef carcass swabs, 339 by cassette PCR and 84 by BAX PCR harbored eae + stx+E. coli. For BAX PCR reactions, 84% of eae+ swabs, 79% of stx+ swabs, and 86% of eae + stx+ swabs were also detected by cassette PCR. For cassette PCR reactions, 457 swabs were eae+ with only 117 scored as eae+ using BAX PCR for 26% positive concordance. For stx primers, cassette PCR scored 480 samples as stx+ but only 215 samples were stx+ by BAX PCR, giving 45% positive concordance. Importantly, cassette PCR scored 339 swabs as harboring eae + stx+ E. coli, but BAX PCR detected only 71 positives giving only 21% positive concordance, with many false negatives. Cassette PCR is a highly sensitive method for detection of STEC genes in E. coli found in carcass swabs.
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