Subcompartments of the macrophage recycling endosome direct the differential secretion of IL-6 and TNFα

Activated macrophages secrete an array of proinflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) and interleukin 6 (IL-6), that are temporally secreted for sequential roles in inflammation. We have previously characterized aspects of the intracellular trafficking of membrane-bound TNFα and its delivery to the cell surface at the site of phagocytic cups for secretion (Murray, R.Z., J.G. Kay, D.G. Sangermani, and J.L. Stow. 2005. Science. 310:1492–1495). The trafficking pathway and surface delivery of IL-6, a soluble cytokine, were studied here using approaches such as live cell imaging of fluorescently tagged IL-6 and immunoelectron microscopy. Newly synthesized IL-6 accumulates in the Golgi complex and exits in tubulovesicular carriers either as the sole labeled cargo or together with TNFα, utilizing specific soluble NSF attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins to fuse with the recycling endosome. Within recycling endosomes, we demonstrate the compartmentalization of cargo proteins, wherein IL-6 is dynamically segregated from TNFα and from surface recycling transferrin. Thereafter, these cytokines are independently secreted, with TNFα delivered to phagocytic cups but not IL-6. Therefore, the recycling endosome has a central role in orchestrating the differential secretion of cytokines during inflammation

Disaggregating diabetes

Interest in disaggregating diabetes into numerous subtypes is growing as patients and providers recognize the limitations of standard diabetes typologies. As anthropologists, we draw attention to how ‘subtyping’ may reduce stigma derived from the connection between obesity and ‘type 2 diabetes’. We highlight the complexities that drive diabetes and argue that an exclusive or dominant focus on diet and obesity obfuscates other underlying risks. Yet, we warn that subtyping may promote unnecessary pharmaceuticalization, especially for other subtypes of diabetes that may be associated with stress and inflammation. We call upon providers to continue to closely attend to patients’ lived experiences. While we recognize the shortcomings of the existing classificatory scheme, patients’ outcomes and prognoses are often more closely connected to the social and medical support they receive than to the underlying metabolic classification

Does mass drug administration for the integrated treatment of neglected tropical diseases really work? Assessing evidence for the control of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths in Uganda

This paper was one of four papers commissioned to review the role of social sciences in NTD control by TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training on Tropical Diseases, which is executed by WHO and co-sponsored by UNICEF, UNDP, the World Bank and WHO.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Background: Less is known about mass drug administration [MDA] for neglected tropical diseases [NTDs] than is suggested by those so vigorously promoting expansion of the approach. This paper fills an important gap: it draws upon local level research to examine the roll out of treatment for two NTDs, schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths, in Uganda. Methods: Ethnographic research was undertaken over a period of four years between 2005-2009 in north-west and south-east Uganda. In addition to participant observation, survey data recording self-reported take-up of drugs for schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminths and, where relevant, lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis was collected from a random sample of at least 10% of households at study locations. Data recording the take-up of drugs in Ministry of Health registers for NTDs were analysed in the light of these ethnographic and social survey data. Results: The comparative analysis of the take-up of drugs among adults revealed that although most long term residents have been offered treatment at least once since 2004, the actual take up of drugs for schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths varies considerably from one district to another and often also within districts. The specific reasons why MDA succeeds in some locations and falters in others relates to local dynamics. Issues such as population movement across borders, changing food supply, relations between drug distributors and targeted groups, rumours and conspiracy theories about the 'real' purpose of treatment, subjective experiences of side effects from treatment, alternative understandings of affliction, responses to social control measures and historical experiences of public health control measures, can all make a huge difference. The paper highlights the need to adapt MDA to local circumstances. It also points to specific generalisable issues, notably with respect to health education, drug distribution and more effective use of existing public health legislation. Conclusion: While it has been an achievement to have offered free drugs to so many adults, current standard practices of monitoring, evaluation and delivery of MDA for NTDs are inconsistent and inadequate. Efforts to integrate programmes have exacerbated the difficulties. Improved assessment of what is really happening on the ground will be an essential step in achieving long-term overall reduction of the NTD burden for impoverished communities.This article is available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund

Anthropologists Respond to The Lancet EAT Commission

The Lancet Commissions are widely known as aspirational pieces, providing the mechanisms for consortia and networks of researchers to organize, collate, interrogate and publish around a range of subjects. Although the Commissions are predominantly led by biomedical scientists and cognate public health professionals, many address social science questions and involve social science expertise. Medical anthropologist David Napier was lead author of the Lancet Commission on Culture and Health (2014), for example, and all commissions on global health (https://www.thelancet.com/global-health/commissions) address questions of social structure, everyday life, the social determinants of health, and global inequalities.The Nutrire CoLab: Diana Burnett; Megan A. Carney; Lauren Carruth; Sarah Chard; Maggie Dickinson: Diana Burnett, Megan A. Carney, Lauren Carruth, Sarah Chard, Maggie Dickinson, Alyshia Gálvez, Hanna Garth, Jessica Hardin, Adele Hite, Heather Howard, Lenore Manderson, Emily Mendenhall, Abril Saldaña-Tejeda, Dana Simmons, Natali Valdez, Emily Vasquez, Megan Warin, Emily Yates-Doer

Social research on neglected diseases of poverty: Continuing and emerging themes

Copyright: © 2009 Manderson et al.Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) exist and persist for social and economic reasons that enable the vectors and pathogens to take advantage of changes in the behavioral and physical environment. Persistent poverty at household, community, and national levels, and inequalities within and between sectors, contribute to the perpetuation and re-emergence of NTDs. Changes in production and habitat affect the physical environment, so that agricultural development, mining and forestry, rapid industrialization, and urbanization all result in changes in human uses of the environment, exposure to vectors, and vulnerability to infection. Concurrently, political instability and lack of resources limit the capacity of governments to manage environments, control disease transmission, and ensure an effective health system. Social, cultural, economic, and political factors interact and influence government capacity and individual willingness to reduce the risks of infection and transmission, and to recognize and treat disease. Understanding the dynamic interaction of diverse factors in varying contexts is a complex task, yet critical for successful health promotion, disease prevention, and disease control. Many of the research techniques and tools needed for this purpose are available in the applied social sciences. In this article we use this term broadly, and so include behavioral, population and economic social sciences, social and cultural epidemiology, and the multiple disciplines of public health, health services, and health policy and planning. These latter fields, informed by foundational social science theory and methods, include health promotion, health communication, and heath education

Production and purification of xylooligosaccharides from oil palm empty fruit bunch fibre by a non-isothermal process

Oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) fibre, a by-product generated from non-woody, tropical perennial oil palm crop was evaluated for xylooligosaccharides (XOS) production. Samples of OPEFB fibre were subjected to non-isothermal autohydrolysis treatment using a temperature range from 150 to 220 ºC. The highest XOS concentration, 17.6 g/L which relayed from solubilisation of 63 g/100 g xylan was achieved at 210 ºC and there was a minimum amount of xylose and furfural being produced. The chromatographic purification which was undertaken to purify the oligosaccharide-rich liquor resulted in a product with 74–78% purity, of which 83–85% was XOS with degree of polymerisation (DP) between 5 and 40

'It gives me my freedom’: technology and responding to bodily limitations in Motor Neuron Disease

People living with Motor Neuron Disease (MND) experience profound and rapidly progressing impairment. In order to maintain their physical and social functioning, people so affected employ a range of technologies and technological aids (body auxiliaries) to enhance their life and maintain wellbeing. Using a phenomenological study design, we explored the experiences of 42 men and women who had been diagnosed with MND. Although many participants initially resisted the adoption of aids (often-electronic devices that enabled continued participation in daily life) or tools (the instruments that allowed achievement of specific tasks), such technologies offered a way for people with MND to overcome, to some extent, the limitations posed by their physical degeneration. Through generating a sense of ‘normality’, these kinds of ‘enabling’ technologies promoted social engagement and the maintenance of valued relationships or activities. Technologies can provide people with MND with some positive experiences within a way of being-in-the-world that has become so difficult and challenging