Associations Among Executive Functioning, Family Functioning, Adolescent Responsibility, and Adherence in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a common cause of chronic pain for adolescents in the United States. Adherence to the treatment regimen is a significant concern, particularly for adolescents. Barriers to adherence are varied, but include cognitive factors, such as forgetting. Parent involvement is associated with increased adherence in this population, though adolescent involvement is less studied. Family functioning is associated with adherence to medication regimen across pediatric chronic illnesses, including IBD treatment regimen. To better inform clinical care, this study aims to understand the relations among adolescent’s responsibility, executive functioning, family functioning, and adherence. Methods: The current study used a cross-sectional, observational design with a sample of 48 adolescents with IBD and their caregivers. Adolescents completed measures of family responsibility in IBD care and executive functioning at one time point. Parents completed measures of demographics, family responsibility in IBD care, and family functioning. Additionally, parents and adolescents conjointly completed a measure of medication adherence. The PROCESS macro was used to conduct a mediation analysis to determine if adolescent responsibility served as a mechanism or a mediator in the relation between executive functioning and adherence. The PROCESS macro was also used to test if executive functioning and family functioning acted as moderators in the relation between adolescent responsibility and adherence. Results: Adolescents in the study who took daily medications (N = 23) reported high adherence rates even after a correction factor was used to account for inflation in self-report (M = 90.41%, SD = 3.44). Mediation analyses between executive functioning, adolescent responsibility, and adherence were not significant using either parent-reported child involvement or self-reported child involvement scores. However, executive functioning was a significant predictor of adherence even when adolescent involvement was included in the model, with greater challenges with executive functioning associated with worse adherence (B = -.19, SE = .07, t = -2.63, β = -.53, p = .02 with parent-report; B = -.18, SE = .07, t = -2.44, β = -.50, p = .03 with child-report). Moderation analyses between adolescent responsibility, executive functioning, family functioning and adherence were not significant. Discussion: There seems to be evidence to support an association between executive functioning and adherence. This association should be further studied in a larger sample for confirmation. Additionally, the low percentage of participants who took daily medications suggests a changing landscape in the IBD treatment regimen, which has implications for future research

On the Relationship between Sialomucin and Sulfomucin Expression and Hydrogenotrophic Microbes in the Human Colonic Mucosa

The colonic mucus layer is comprised primarily of acidomucins, which provide viscous properties and can be broadly classified into sialomucins or sulfomucins based on the presence of terminating sialic acid or sulfate groups. Differences in acidomucin chemotypes have been observed in diseases such as colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease, and variation in sialo- and sulfomucin content may influence microbial colonization. For example, sulfate derived from sulfomucin degradation may promote the colonization of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), which through sulfate respiration generate the genotoxic gas hydrogen sulfide. Here, paired biopsies from right colon, left colon, and rectum of 20 subjects undergoing routine screening colonoscopies were collected to enable parallel histochemical and microbiological studies. Goblet cell sialo- and sulfomucins in each biopsy were distinguished histochemically and quantified. Quantitative PCR and multivariate analyses were used to examine the abundance of hydrogenotrophic microbial groups and SRB genera relative to acidomucin profiles. Regional variation was observed in sialomucins and sulfomucins with the greatest abundance of each found in the rectum. Mucin composition did not appear to influence the abundance of SRB or other hydrogenotrophic microbiota but correlated with the composition of different SRB genera. A higher sulfomucin proportion correlated with higher quantities of Desulfobacter, Desulfobulbus and Desulfotomaculum, relative to the predominant Desulfovibrio genus. Thus, acidomucin composition may influence bacterial sulfate respiration in the human colon, which may in turn impact mucosal homeostasis. These results stress the need to consider mucus characteristics in the context of studies of the microbiome that target intestinal diseases

The Depletion of Nuclear Glutathione Impairs Cell Proliferation in 3t3 Fibroblasts

BACKGROUND:Glutathione is considered essential for survival in mammalian cells and yeast but not in prokaryotic cells. The presence of a nuclear pool of glutathione has been demonstrated but its role in cellular proliferation and differentiation is still a matter of debate. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We have studied proliferation of 3T3 fibroblasts for a period of 5 days. Cells were treated with two well known depleting agents, diethyl maleate (DEM) and buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), and the cellular and nuclear glutathione levels were assessed by analytical and confocal microscopic techniques, respectively. Both agents decreased total cellular glutathione although depletion by BSO was more sustained. However, the nuclear glutathione pool resisted depletion by BSO but not with DEM. Interestingly, cell proliferation was impaired by DEM, but not by BSO. Treating the cells simultaneously with DEM and with glutathione ethyl ester to restore intracellular GSH levels completely prevented the effects of DEM on cell proliferation. CONCLUSIONS:Our results demonstrate the importance of nuclear glutathione in the control of cell proliferation in 3T3 fibroblasts and suggest that a reduced nuclear environment is necessary for cells to progress in the cell cycle

Effects of transportation, transport medium and re-housing on Xenopus laevis (Daudin)

Understanding the immediate and longer-term effects of transportation and re-housing in a laboratory species is crucial in order to refine the transfer process, enable the optimal introduction of new animals to a novel environment and to provide a sufficient acclimatisation period before usage. Whilst consideration of animal welfare in most model vertebrate species has received attention, little quantitative evidence exists for the optimal care of the common laboratory amphibian Xenopus laevis. Techniques for the non-invasive welfare assessment of amphibians are also limited and here a non-invasive physiological assay was developed to investigate the impacts of transportation, transport medium and re-housing on X. laevis. First the impacts of transportation and transport medium (water, damp sponge or damp sphagnum moss) were investigated. Transportation caused an increase in waterborne corticosterone regardless of transport medium. Frogs transported in damp sphagnum moss also had a greater decrease in body mass in comparison to frogs not transported, suggesting that this is the least suitable transport medium for X. laevis. Next the prolonged impacts of transportation and re-housing were investigated. Frogs were transported between research facilities with different housing protocols. Samples were collected prior to and immediately following transportation, as well as 1 day, 7 days and 35 days after re-housing. Water-borne corticosterone increased following transportation and remained high for at least 7 days, decreasing to baseline levels by 35 days. Body mass decreased following transportation and remained lower than baseline levels across the entire 35 day observation period. These findings suggest the process of transportation and re-housing is stressful in this species. Together these findings have important relevance for both improving animal welfare and ensuring optimal and efficient scientific research

The Moderating Roles of Maternal Solicitousness and Catastrophizing in Child Pain Severity and Functional Disability

Pediatric chronic pain is prevalent in a significant number of children and can impair the day to day lives of children with this condition (Fales, Essner, Harris, & Palermo, 2014; Peterson & Palermo, 2004). Research into potential moderators of chronic pain severity and functional disability has increasingly focused on parental factors, including solicitousness and catastrophizing, and maternal moderators in particular. This literature review examines the existing evidence about correlations between maternal solicitousness and catastrophizing and pediatric pain outcomes (specifically, pain severity and functional disability). Current findings indicate that there is no conclusive evidence to suggest associations between either maternal solicitousness or maternal catastrophizing and pain outcomes, both due to the small body of literature and the mixed results of the existing research. Despite the inconclusive nature of the results, providers should continue to incorporate parental treatments into treatment plans for children with chronic pain. Further research is needed in order to examine if maternal factors are associated with pediatric pain outcomes and if they are uniquely associated

Redox Regulation of Cell Fate

192 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005.To further study the intracellular redox environment, two novel technologies were developed: first, a conductive substrate cell culture system to control the intracellular redox environment via electrical potentials; and second, a FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer)-based redox biosensor to monitor changes in the intracellular redox environment. Observations of altered intracellular redox status of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells treated with electrical potentials indicate that electrical potentials may be a useful technology for controlling the intracellular redox environment. A rationally-designed FRET biosensor expressed in CHO cells was used for reporting changes related to cell growth. These studies advance the understanding of how the intracellular redox environment controls cell fate and provide new methodologies to study redox regulation of cell fate.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD

Redox Regulation of Cell Fate

192 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005.To further study the intracellular redox environment, two novel technologies were developed: first, a conductive substrate cell culture system to control the intracellular redox environment via electrical potentials; and second, a FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer)-based redox biosensor to monitor changes in the intracellular redox environment. Observations of altered intracellular redox status of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells treated with electrical potentials indicate that electrical potentials may be a useful technology for controlling the intracellular redox environment. A rationally-designed FRET biosensor expressed in CHO cells was used for reporting changes related to cell growth. These studies advance the understanding of how the intracellular redox environment controls cell fate and provide new methodologies to study redox regulation of cell fate.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD