Vineyard Age Effect on Juice Chemistry, Anthocyanins, and Total Phenolics

Grapevines (cv Zinfandel) planted in the same vineyard 100 years apart were analyzed for juice chemistry and phenolic content of the fruit. The vineyard was dry farmed, and vines from the original 1890 vineyard were compared to vines inter-planted in 1990. As “old vine” wines can command higher prices in the market due to a perceived difference in fruit characteristics. This study attempted to observe if there was a measurable difference in fruit characteristics, or if it is simply an effective marketing strategy. There has been little research conducted in the wine industry attempting to observe a difference of old vs young vines, and to the validity of marketing of “old vine” wines due to differences in fruit composition. Results from the study showed no significant difference in the analysis of fruit from vines planted in 1890 and vines planted in 1990 in regard to phenolic concentration, and juice chemistry. While it has proven to be an effective marketing strategy, these results do not validate the marketing of “old vine” wines based on being more concentrated or different in the variables measured in this study

Association of Maintenance Intravenous Immunoglobulin With Prevention of Relapse in Adult Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Antibody-Associated Disease

Importance: Recent studies suggest that maintenance intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) may be an effective treatment to prevent relapses in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD); however, most of these studies had pediatric cohorts, and few studies have evaluated IVIG in adult patients. Objective: To determine the association of maintenance IVIG with the prevention of disease relapse in a large adult cohort of patients with MOGAD. Design, setting, and participants: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted from January 1, 2010, to October 31, 2021. Patients were recruited from 14 hospitals in 9 countries and were included in the analysis if they (1) had a history of 1 or more central nervous system demyelinating attacks consistent with MOGAD, (2) had MOG-IgG seropositivity tested by cell-based assay, and (3) were age 18 years or older when starting IVIG treatment. These patients were retrospectively evaluated for a history of maintenance IVIG treatment. Exposures: Maintenance IVIG. Main outcomes and measures: Relapse rates while receiving maintenance IVIG compared with before initiation of therapy. Results: Of the 876 adult patients initially identified with MOGAD, 59 (median [range] age, 36 [18-69] years; 33 women [56%]) were treated with maintenance IVIG. IVIG was initiated as first-line immunotherapy in 15 patients (25%) and as second-line therapy in 37 patients (63%) owing to failure of prior immunotherapy and in 7 patients (12%) owing to intolerance to prior immunotherapy. The median (range) annualized relapse rate before IVIG treatment was 1.4 (0-6.1), compared with a median (range) annualized relapse rate while receiving IVIG of 0 (0-3) (t108 = 7.14; P < .001). Twenty patients (34%) had at least 1 relapse while receiving IVIG with a median (range) time to first relapse of 1 (0.03-4.8) years, and 17 patients (29%) were treated with concomitant maintenance immunotherapy. Only 5 of 29 patients (17%) who received 1 g/kg of IVIG every 4 weeks or more experienced disease relapse compared with 15 of 30 patients (50%) treated with lower or less frequent dosing (hazard ratio, 3.31; 95% CI, 1.19-9.09; P = .02). At final follow-up, 52 patients (88%) were still receiving maintenance IVIG with a median (range) duration of 1.7 (0.5-9.9) years of therapy. Seven of 59 patients (12%) discontinued IVIG therapy: 4 (57%) for inefficacy, 2 (29%) for adverse effects, and 1 (14%) for a trial not receiving therapy after a period of disease inactivity. Conclusions and relevance: Results of this retrospective, multicenter, cohort study of adult patients with MOGAD suggest that maintenance IVIG was associated with a reduction in disease relapse. Less frequent and lower dosing of IVIG may be associated with treatment failure. Future prospective randomized clinical trials are warranted to confirm these findings

Biallelic Mutations in Citron Kinase Link Mitotic Cytokinesis to Human Primary Microcephaly

Cell division terminates with cytokinesis and cellular separation. Autosomal-recessive primary microcephaly (MCPH) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a reduction in brain and head size at birth in addition to non-progressive intellectual disability. MCPH is genetically heterogeneous, and 16 loci are known to be associated with loss-of-function mutations predominantly affecting centrosomal-associated proteins, but the multiple roles of centrosomes in cellular function has left questions about etiology. Here, we identified three families affected by homozygous missense mutations in CIT, encoding citron rho-interacting kinase (CIT), which has established roles in cytokinesis. All mutations caused substitution of conserved amino acid residues in the kinase domain and impaired kinase activity. Neural progenitors that were differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from individuals with these mutations exhibited abnormal cytokinesis with delayed mitosis, multipolar spindles, and increased apoptosis, rescued by CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing. Our results highlight the importance of cytokinesis in the pathology of primary microcephaly