The yeast sir2 gene and its orthologues in Drosophila and C. elegans have well-established roles in lifespan determination and response to caloric restriction. We have studied mice carrying two null ...alleles for SirT1, the mammalian orthologue of sir2, and found that these animals inefficiently utilize ingested food. These mice are hypermetabolic, contain inefficient liver mitochondria, and have elevated rates of lipid oxidation. When challenged with a 40% reduction in caloric intake, normal mice maintained their metabolic rate and increased their physical activity while the metabolic rate of SirT1-null mice dropped and their activity did not increase. Moreover, CR did not extend lifespan of SirT1-null mice. Thus, SirT1 is an important regulator of energy metabolism and, like its orthologues from simpler eukaryotes, the SirT1 protein appears to be required for a normal response to caloric restriction.
Mood and anxiety issues are the main mental health complaints of women during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Services targeting such women can reduce perinatal complications related to ...psychiatric difficulties. This quality assurance project aimed to examine changes in mood and anxiety symptoms in pregnant and postpartum women referred to the Women's Health Concerns Clinic (WHCC), a specialized outpatient women's mental health program.
We extracted patient characteristics and service utilization from electronic medical records of women referred between 2015 and 2016. We also extracted admission and discharge scores on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale.
Most patients accessed the WHCC during pregnancy (54%), had a diagnosis of major depressive disorder (54.9%), were prescribed a change in their medication or dose (61.9%), and accessed psychotherapy for perinatal anxiety (30.1%). There was a significant decrease in EPDS scores between admission and discharge (t(214) = 11.57; p = .000; effect size d = .86), as well as in GAD-7 scores (t(51) = 3.63; p = .001; effect size d = .61). A secondary analysis showed that patients with more severe depression and anxiety symptoms demonstrated even greater effect sizes.
Changes in EPDS and GAD-7 scores indicate that the WHCC is effective in reducing mood and anxiety symptoms associated with the perinatal period. This project highlights the importance of quality assurance methods in evaluating the effectiveness of clinical services targeting perinatal mental health, in order to inform policy and funding strategies.
To report outcome, complications and safety of retropupillary fixated iris-claw intraocular lenses in a pediatric population.
Retrospective study.
Ten consecutive pediatric patients (15 eyes) ...underwent placement of retropupillary fixated iris-claw intraocular lenses between October 2007 and July 2013 at the Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University Graz and General Hospital Klagenfurt, Austria. Postoperative visual acuity and complications were analyzed.
Median final best-corrected visual acuity improved by 0.12 logMAR from preoperative baseline. Mean postoperative spherical equivalent was -0.05 ± 1.76 D. No serious complications were observed intra- or postoperatively during the entire follow-up period of up to 40 months. One patient experienced a haptic disenclavation with IOL subluxation immediately after a car accident.
Our study demonstrates that iris-claw intraocular lens implantation behind the iris is safe in children with lack of capsular support and yields excellent visual outcome with low complication rate.
A number of food allergies (eg, fish, shellfish, and nuts) are lifelong, without any disease-transforming therapies, and unclear in their underlying immunology. Clinical manifestations of food ...allergy are largely mediated by IgE. Although persistent IgE titers have been attributed conventionally to long-lived IgE
plasma cells (PCs), this has not been directly and comprehensively tested.
We sought to evaluate mechanisms underlying persistent IgE and allergic responses to food allergens.
We used a model of peanut allergy and anaphylaxis, various knockout mice, adoptive transfer experiments, and in vitro assays to identify mechanisms underlying persistent IgE humoral immunity over almost the entire lifespan of the mouse (18-20 months).
Contrary to conventional paradigms, our data show that clinically relevant lifelong IgE titers are not sustained by long-lived IgE
PCs. Instead, lifelong reactivity is conferred by allergen-specific long-lived memory B cells that replenish the IgE
PC compartment. B-cell reactivation requires allergen re-exposure and IL-4 production by CD4 T cells. We define the half-lives of antigen-specific germinal centers (23.3 days), IgE
and IgG
PCs (60 and 234.4 days, respectively), and clinically relevant cell-bound IgE (67.3 days).
These findings can explain lifelong food allergies observed in human subjects as the consequence of allergen exposures that recurrently activate memory B cells and identify these as a therapeutic target with disease-transforming potential.
A number of food allergies (eg, fish, shellfish, and nuts) are lifelong, without any disease-transforming therapies, and unclear in their underlying immunology. Clinical manifestations of food ...allergy are largely mediated by IgE. Although persistent IgE titers have been attributed conventionally to long-lived IgE+ plasma cells (PCs), this has not been directly and comprehensively tested.
We sought to evaluate mechanisms underlying persistent IgE and allergic responses to food allergens.
We used a model of peanut allergy and anaphylaxis, various knockout mice, adoptive transfer experiments, and in vitro assays to identify mechanisms underlying persistent IgE humoral immunity over almost the entire lifespan of the mouse (18-20 months).
Contrary to conventional paradigms, our data show that clinically relevant lifelong IgE titers are not sustained by long-lived IgE+ PCs. Instead, lifelong reactivity is conferred by allergen-specific long-lived memory B cells that replenish the IgE+ PC compartment. B-cell reactivation requires allergen re-exposure and IL-4 production by CD4 T cells. We define the half-lives of antigen-specific germinal centers (23.3 days), IgE+ and IgG1+ PCs (60 and 234.4 days, respectively), and clinically relevant cell-bound IgE (67.3 days).
These findings can explain lifelong food allergies observed in human subjects as the consequence of allergen exposures that recurrently activate memory B cells and identify these as a therapeutic target with disease-transforming potential.
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The sirt1 gene encodes a protein deacetylase with a broad spectrum of reported substrates. Mice carrying null alleles for sirt1 are viable on outbred genetic backgrounds so we have examined them in ...detail to identify the biological processes that are dependent on SIRT1. Sera from adult sirt1-null mice contain antibodies that react with nuclear antigens and immune complexes become deposited in the livers and kidneys of these animals. Some of the sirt1-null animals develop a disease resembling diabetes insipidus when they approach 2 years of age although the relationship to the autoimmunity remains unclear. We interpret these observations as consistent with a role for SIRT1 in sustaining normal immune function and in this way delaying the onset of autoimmune disease.
IntroductionChronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) constitutes 15% of new adult leukaemia cases as well as 2%–3% of leukaemia in children under 15% and 9% of leukaemias in adolescents 15–19 years of age ...annually. The introduction of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKI) therapy has dramatically improved survival in these patients, yet the off-target effects of this treatment may have long-term health impacts on CML survivors. The risk of adverse health outcomes is especially important in children, where TKI exposure may occur during critical windows of growth and puberty, and patients require treatment for prolonged periods of time. The aim of this systematic review protocol is to report on the methods used to conduct a systematic review to investigate the endometabolic and bone health effects of TKI therapy in CML.Methods and analysisSearches will be conducted in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE and MEDLINE from inception on August 1st, 2019. Searches may be updated while performing the systematic review to ensure new evidence is included if applicable. Grey literature search will include ClinicalTrials.gov and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses A&I. We will perform a meta-analysis if there are at least two studies reporting similar populations, interventions, methods and tracking the same outcome measures. The studies should also have similar age and sex distributions.Ethics and disseminationAs this is a systematic review protocol, it does not include patient data; therefore, Research Ethics Board approval is not indicated. The systematic review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at international conferences.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42018091175.
Background A number of food allergies (eg, fish, shellfish, and nuts) are lifelong, without any disease-transforming therapies, and unclear in their underlying immunology. Clinical manifestations of ...food allergy are largely mediated by IgE. Although persistent IgE titers have been attributed conventionally to long-lived IgE+ plasma cells (PCs), this has not been directly and comprehensively tested. Objective We sought to evaluate mechanisms underlying persistent IgE and allergic responses to food allergens. Methods We used a model of peanut allergy and anaphylaxis, various knockout mice, adoptive transfer experiments, and in vitro assays to identify mechanisms underlying persistent IgE humoral immunity over almost the entire lifespan of the mouse (18-20 months). Results Contrary to conventional paradigms, our data show that clinically relevant lifelong IgE titers are not sustained by long-lived IgE+ PCs. Instead, lifelong reactivity is conferred by allergen-specific long-lived memory B cells that replenish the IgE+ PC compartment. B-cell reactivation requires allergen re-exposure and IL-4 production by CD4 T cells. We define the half-lives of antigen-specific germinal centers (23.3 days), IgE+ and IgG1+ PCs (60 and 234.4 days, respectively), and clinically relevant cell-bound IgE (67.3 days). Conclusions These findings can explain lifelong food allergies observed in human subjects as the consequence of allergen exposures that recurrently activate memory B cells and identify these as a therapeutic target with disease-transforming potential.
The effects of chronic social stress on hepatic glycogen metabolism were examined in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss by comparing hepatocyte glucose production, liver glycogen phosphorylase (GP) ...activity, and liver β-adrenergic receptors in dominant, subordinate, control, fasted, and cortisol-treated fish. Hepatocyte glucose production in subordinate fish was approximately half that of dominant fish, reflecting hepatocyte glycogen stores in subordinate trout that were just 16% of those in dominant fish. Fasting and/or chronic elevation of cortisol likely contributed to these differences based on similarities among subordinate, fasted, and cortisol-treated fish. However, calculation of the "glycogen gap"-the difference between glycogen stores used and glucose produced-suggested an enhanced gluconeogenic potential in subordinate fish that was not present in fasted or cortisol-treated trout. Subordinate, fasted, and cortisol-treated trout also exhibited similar GP activities (both total activity and that of the active or a form), and these activities were in all cases significantly lower than those in control trout, perhaps reflecting an attempt to protect liver glycogen stores or a modified capacity to activate GP. Dominant trout exhibited the lowest GP activities (20%-24% of the values in control trout). Low GP activities, presumably in conjunction with incoming energy from feeding, allowed dominant fish to achieve the highest liver glycogen concentrations (double the value in control trout). Liver membrane β-adrenoceptor numbers (assessed as the number of 3H-CGP binding sites) were significantly lower in subordinate than in dominant trout, although this difference did not translate into attenuated adrenergic responsiveness in hepatocyte glucose production in vitro. Transcriptional regulation, likely as a result of fasting, was indicated by significantly lower β2-adrenoceptor relative mRNA levels in subordinate and fasted trout. Collectively, the data indicate that social status shapes liver metabolism and in particular glycogen metabolism, favoring accumulation of glycogen reserves from incoming energy in dominant fish and reliance on onboard fuels in subordinate fish.
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