Genome-wide association meta-analysis for early age-related macular degeneration highlights novel loci and insights for advanced disease

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Food consumption frequency and perceived stress and depressive symptoms among students in three European countries

Mikolajczyk RT, El Ansari W, Maxwell AE. Food consumption frequency and perceived stress and depressive symptoms among students in three European countries. Nutrition Journal. 2009;8(1):31.Background: Certain foods might be more frequently eaten under stress or when higher levels of depressive symptoms are experienced. We examined whether poor nutritional habits are associated with stress and depressive symptoms and whether the relationships differ by country and gender in a sample from three European countries collected as part of a Cross National Student Health Survey. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among first-year students in Germany (N = 696), Poland (N = 489) and Bulgaria (N = 654). Self-administered questionnaires included a 12-item food frequency questionnaire, Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale, and a modified Beck Depression Index. Linear regression analyses were conducted for two outcomes, perceived stress and depressive symptoms. Results: Food consumption frequencies differed by country and gender, as did depressive symptoms and perceived stress. For male students, none of the food consumption groups were associated with perceived stress or depressive symptoms. In females, perceived stress was associated with more frequent consumption of sweets/fast foods and less frequent consumption of fruits/vegetables. Additionally, depressive symptoms were associated with less frequent consumption of fruits/vegetables and meat. Conclusion: Our data show consistent associations between unhealthy food consumption and depressive symptoms and perceived stress among female students from three European countries, but not among male students. This suggests that efforts to reduce depressive symptoms and stress among female students may also lead to the consumption of healthier foods and/or vice-versa

Nonhematopoietic cells are key players in innate control of bacterial airway infection

Airborne pathogens encounter several hurdles during host invasion, including alveolar macrophages (AMs) and airway epithelial cells (AECs) and their products. Although growing evidence indicates pathogen-sensing capacities of epithelial cells, the relative contribution of hematopoietic versus nonhematopoietic cells in the induction of an inflammatory response and their possible interplay is still poorly defined in vivo in the context of infections with pathogenic microorganisms. In this study, we show that nonhematopoietic cells, including AECs, are critical players in the inflammatory process induced upon airway infection with Legionella pneumophila, and that they are essential for control of bacterial infections. Lung parenchymal cells, including AECs, are not infected themselves by L. pneumophila in vivo but rather act as sensors and amplifiers of inflammatory cues delivered by L. pneumophila-infected AM. We identified AM-derived IL-1β as the critical mediator to induce chemokine production in nonhematopoietic cells in the lung, resulting in swift and robust recruitment of infection-controlling neutrophils into the airways. These data add a new level of complexity to the coordination of the innate immune response to L. pneumophila and illustrate how the cross talk between leukocytes and nonhematopoietic cells contributes to efficient host protection

A Genetic Analysis of Aluminium Tolerance in Cereals

Aluminium (Al) toxicity is a major threat to agricultural production world wide wherever acid soil exists. Wheat and barley, the major food and feed crops, are severely affected and this necessitates investigations that could help to improve the yield by utilising the available genetic diversity for Al tolerance with the aid of several molecular platforms. We investigated the quantitative trait loci (QTL) conferring tolerance to Al toxicity in three different mapping populations of wheat and barley. Using a set of D genome (Ae. tauschii) introgression lines, a major Al tolerance locus was assigned to chromosome arm 4DL, explaining 31% of the phenotypic variation displayed by the population. A second major QTL was mapped to chromosome arm 3BL using a set of doubled haploid progeny lines. This major QTL, QaltCS.ipk-3B, originated from ‘Chinese Spring’ accounted for 49% of the variation in the population. The inheritance for Al tolerance in barley was dissected based on a genetic map constructed with genic markers. QTLs were identified on chromosomes 2H, 3H and 4H. A sequence homology search was used to derive the putative function of the genes linked to the QTL, in order to identify potential candidate genes for Al tolerance. Some of these candidates are implicated in stress/defence responses, in particular, stress signal transduction, transcription regulation factors and cell metabolism

A Genetic Analysis of Aluminium Tolerance in Cereals

Aluminium (Al) toxicity is a major threat to agricultural production world wide wherever acid soil exists. Wheat and barley, the major food and feed crops, are severely affected and this necessitates investigations that could help to improve the yield by utilising the available genetic diversity for Al tolerance with the aid of several molecular platforms. We investigated the quantitative trait loci (QTL) conferring tolerance to Al toxicity in three different mapping populations of wheat and barley. Using a set of D genome (Ae. tauschii) introgression lines, a major Al tolerance locus was assigned to chromosome arm 4DL, explaining 31% of the phenotypic variation displayed by the population. A second major QTL was mapped to chromosome arm 3BL using a set of doubled haploid progeny lines. This major QTL, QaltCS.ipk-3B, originated from ‘Chinese Spring’ accounted for 49% of the variation in the population. The inheritance for Al tolerance in barley was dissected based on a genetic map constructed with genic markers. QTLs were identified on chromosomes 2H, 3H and 4H. A sequence homology search was used to derive the putative function of the genes linked to the QTL, in order to identify potential candidate genes for Al tolerance. Some of these candidates are implicated in stress/defence responses, in particular, stress signal transduction, transcription regulation factors and cell metabolism