Abdominal Compartment Syndrome and Necrotizing Pancreatitis Following Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy

AbstractExtracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is a common procedure in the treatment of renal calculi. There have been major complications reported with ESWL such as acute pancreatitis, bower perforation, venous thrombosis, and biliary obstruction. There are few reports in the literature of necrotizing pancreatitis secondary to ESWL. We have a case report of a 29-year-old female that developed an abdominal compartment syndrome with an acute necrotizing pancreatitis hours after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy

Variation of DNA methylation and phenotypic traits following unilateral sexual polyploidization in Medicago

Sexual hybridization is an important generator of biodiversity and a powerful breeding tool. Hybridization can also overcome ploidy barriers when it involves 2n gametes, as in the case of unilateral sexual polyploidization (USP) that has been utilized in several crops, among which alfalfa. This research was aimed at gaining insights into the effects of USP on genome methylation and on phenotypic traits in alfalfa, an important forage species. The Methylation-Sensi- tive Amplified Polymorphism technique was used to estimate the cytosine methylation changes occurring in a tetraploid (2n = 4x = 32) USP progeny from crosses between a diploid Medicago sativa subsp. falcata genotype that produces 2n eggs and a cultivated tetraploid Medicago sativa subsp. sativa variety. De novo methylation or demethylation in the USP progeny were observed for 13% of the detected genomic sites, indicating that methylation changes can be relevant. USP plants showed larger surface area of the leaf epidermis cells than both parents, but this did not result in larger leaf size or higher plant biomass. They displayed significant higher ovule sterility than the tetraploid parent, but normal fertility was observed in crosses with unrelated male testers. We conclude that hybridization and sexual polyploidization resulted in novel variation in terms of remodeling of the methylation landscape as well as changes in phenotypic traits in alfalfa

AFLP analysis to assess genomic stability in Solanum regenerants derived from wild and cultivated species

The cultivated potato as well as its tuber-bearing relatives are considered model plants for cell and tissue culture, and therefore for exploiting the genetic variation induced by in vitro culture. The association between molecular stability and tissue culture in different genetic backgrounds and ploidy levels has already been explored. However, it still remains to be ascertained whether somaclonal variation differs between callus-derived chromosome- doubled and undoubled regenerants. Our research aimed at investigating, through amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers, the genetic changes in marker- banding patterns of diploid and tetraploid regenerants obtained from one clone each of Solanum bulbocastanum Dunal and S. cardiophyllum Lindl (both 2n = 2x = 24) and tetraploids from cultivated S. tuberosum L. (2n = 4x = 48). Pairwise comparisons between the banding patterns of regenerants and parents allowed detecting considerable changes associated to in vitro culture both at diploid and tetraploid level. The percentages of polymorphic bands between diploid and tetraploid regenerants were, respectively, 57 and 69% in S. bulbocastanum and 58 and 63% in S. cardiophyllum. On average, the frequencies of lost parental fragments in regenerants were significantly higher than novel bands both in S. bulbocastanum (48 vs. 22%) and S. tuberosum (36 vs. 18%) regenerants. By contrast, in S. cardiophyllum, a similar incidence of the two events was detected (32 vs. 29%). Our results revealed that structural changes after tissue culture process strongly affected the genome of the species studied, but diploid and tetraploids regenerated plants responded equally

Reversal of dysfunction in postischemic stunned myocardium by epinephrine and postextrasystolic potentiation

After brief coronary occlusions, myocardium may become "stunned," exhibiting prolonged depression of function despite the absence of necrosis. Because of the accompanying decline in adenosine triphosphate and adenine nucleotide precursors, a deficiency of energy supply has been proposed as the basis for postischemic dysfunction. This study examined whether sufficient functional and metabolic reserve exists in stunned myocardium to sustain a prolonged, maximal inotropic response to epinephrine and postextrasystolic potentiation. In 11 open chest dogs, the left anterior descending coronary artery was occluded for 5 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of reflow, repeated 12 times, with a final 1 hour recovery period. Regional myocardial function was measured using pairs of ultrasonic dimension crystals implanted in ischemic and nonischemic zones.During repetitive reflows a progressive decrease in mean systolic segment shortening occurred: baseline 21.8%, 1st reflow 15.2%, 12th reflow 4.3%, 1 hour recovery 7.9%. Intravenous epinephrine, titrated to produce a maximal inotropic response, caused segment shortening to increase to 21.6% after 10 minutes and to 24.8 % after 1 hour of infusion, despite a 20 mm Hg increase in systolic pressure. The same dose of epinephrine given before ischemia increased segment shortening to 30.5%. In six of the dogs, postextrasystolic potentiation before ischemia increased segment shortening from 21.8 to 31.1%, and after 1 hour of recovery from ischemia, from 7.9 to 24.8%. Lesser increases in segment shortening were also seen in nonischemic segments.The results indicate that stunned myocardium possesses considerable functional reserve. Deficient energy stores are therefore not likely to be the basis for depressed function seen at rest in stunned myocardium

Phenotypic and molecular characterization of Phaseolus vulgaris plants from non-cryopreserved and cryopreserved seeds

The objective of this work was to evaluate if cryostorage of Phaseolus vulgaris L. seeds induced variations in regenerated plants at the phenotypic and molecular levels. A series of agricultural traits was measured on plants grown from control, non-cryopreserved and cryopreserved seeds, and the genetic stability of plants of the second generation was analysed at selected microsatellite loci. The phenotype of the second generation plants was evaluated as well. No statistically significant phenotypic differences were observed for the parameters measured, neither in the first nor in the second generations. Averaging both treatments, about 76% of the seeds had germinated 10 days after sowing. At harvest we recorded plants with about 73 cm in height, 13 stem internodes, 25 fruits, 103 grains and 4 grains per fruit. One hundred seeds weighted about 26 g. The genetic analyses performed on the second generation plants using six nuclear Simple Sequences Repeats (SSR) markers revealed no changes in microsatellite length between control and cryopreserved samples, implying that there was no effect of seed liquid nitrogen exposure on genome integrity. The phenotypic and molecular results reported here confirm that cryostorage is an efficient and reliable technique to conserve P. vulgaris seeds and regenerate true-to-type plants

Impact of ploidy change on secondary metabolites and photochemical efficiency in Solanum bulbocastanum Dun.

Plants are well known for producing a wide diversity of natural compounds and several strategies have been proposed to enhance their production. Among them, somatic chromosome doubling may represent an effective and inexpensive method. The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of polyploidization on the leaf metabolic profile and content of tetraploids produced from a wild diploid (2n=2x=24) potato species, Solanum bulbocastanum Dun. Photochemical efficiency of tetraploids was also analyzed. Results from HPLC-DAD and LC/MS analyses provided evidence that tetraploid genotypes displayed either a similar or a lower phenylpropanoids, tryptophan, tyrosine and α-chaconine content compared with the diploid parent. Similarly, no significant differences were found among genotypes both for measures of gas and for chlorophyll fluorescence, except for non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). Steroidal saponins content revealed superiority of some tetraploids with respect to the diploid parent, suggesting perturbations in the mechanism regulating the biosynthesis of such compounds following polyploidization. Lack of superiority may be attributed to the time required for adjustment, adaptation and evolution after the genomic shock induced by polyploidization, as well as the fact that an optimum ploidy level for each species may be crucial. Our results suggest that polyploidization as a strategy to enhance metabolite production cannot be generalized

Secondary metabolite profile in induced tetraploids of wild Solanum commersonii Dun.

The main aim of this work was to study the leaf secondary metabolite profiles of artificially induced tetraploids (2n1⁄44x1⁄448) of Solanum commersonii, a diploid (2n1⁄42x1⁄424) wild potato species. The tetraploid genotypes of S. commersonii were produced by oryzalin treatment. Both HPLC-UV and LC/ MS analyses revealed that there were no qualitative differences in the metabolite profiles between the diploid S. commersonii and its tetraploids. By contrast, the results showed that the phenylpropanoid content was generally significantly higher in the tetraploids than in the diploid S. commersonii. Concerning the glycoalkaloids (GAs), the results provided evidence that the content of minor GAs (solanidenediol triose, solanidadienol lycotetraose, and solanidenol lycotetraose) was higher in tetraploids than in the diploid progenitor, while the content of major GAs (dehydrodemissine and dehydrocommersonine) was significantly higher in diploid S. commersonii than in its tetraploid genotypes. The results are discussed from the practical perspective of potato biodiversity enhancement

Impact of ploidy change on secondary metabolites and photochemical efficiency in Solanum bulbocastanum Dun.

Plants are well known for producing a wide diversity of natural compounds and several strategies have been proposed to enhance their production. Among them, somatic chromosome doubling may represent an effective and inexpensive method. The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of polyploidization on the leaf metabolic profile and content of tetraploids produced from a wild diploid (2n=2x=24) potato species, Solanum bulbocastanum Dun. Photochemical efficiency of tetraploids was also analyzed. Results from HPLC-DAD and LC/MS analyses provided evidence that tetraploid genotypes displayed either a similar or a lower phenylpropanoids, tryptophan, tyrosine and α-chaconine content compared with the diploid parent. Similarly, no significant differences were found among genotypes both for measures of gas and for chlorophyll fluorescence, except for non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). Steroidal saponins content revealed superiority of some tetraploids with respect to the diploid parent, suggesting perturbations in the mechanism regulating the biosynthesis of such compounds following polyploidization. Lack of superiority may be attributed to the time required for adjustment, adaptation and evolution after the genomic shock induced by polyploidization, as well as the fact that an optimum ploidy level for each species may be crucial. Our results suggest that polyploidization as a strategy to enhance metabolite production cannot be generalized