Capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry-based saliva metabolomics identified oral, breast and pancreatic cancer-specific profiles

Saliva is a readily accessible and informative biofluid, making it ideal for the early detection of a wide range of diseases including cardiovascular, renal, and autoimmune diseases, viral and bacterial infections and, importantly, cancers. Saliva-based diagnostics, particularly those based on metabolomics technology, are emerging and offer a promising clinical strategy, characterizing the association between salivary analytes and a particular disease. Here, we conducted a comprehensive metabolite analysis of saliva samples obtained from 215 individuals (69 oral, 18 pancreatic and 30 breast cancer patients, 11 periodontal disease patients and 87 healthy controls) using capillary electrophoresis time-of-flight mass spectrometry (CE-TOF-MS). We identified 57 principal metabolites that can be used to accurately predict the probability of being affected by each individual disease. Although small but significant correlations were found between the known patient characteristics and the quantified metabolites, the profiles manifested relatively higher concentrations of most of the metabolites detected in all three cancers in comparison with those in people with periodontal disease and control subjects. This suggests that cancer-specific signatures are embedded in saliva metabolites. Multiple logistic regression models yielded high area under the receiver-operating characteristic curves (AUCs) to discriminate healthy controls from each disease. The AUCs were 0.865 for oral cancer, 0.973 for breast cancer, 0.993 for pancreatic cancer, and 0.969 for periodontal diseases. The accuracy of the models was also high, with cross-validation AUCs of 0.810, 0.881, 0.994, and 0.954, respectively. Quantitative information for these 57 metabolites and their combinations enable us to predict disease susceptibility. These metabolites are promising biomarkers for medical screening

Muscle architecture and functional anatomy of the pelvic limb of the ostrich (Struthio camelus)

The functional anatomy of the pelvic limb of the ostrich (Struthio camelus) was investigated in order to assess musculoskeletal specialization related to locomotor performance. The pelvic limbs of ten ostriches were dissected and detailed measurements of all muscle tendon units of the pelvic limb were made, including muscle mass, muscle length, fascicle length, pennation angle, tendon mass and tendon length. From these measurements other muscle properties such as muscle volume, physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA), tendon cross-sectional area, maximum isometric muscle force and tendon stress were derived, using standard relationships and published muscle data. Larger muscles tended to be located more proximally and had longer fascicle lengths and lower pennation angles. This led to an expected proximal to distal reduction in total muscle mass. An exception to this trend was the gastrocnemius muscle, which was found to have the largest volume and PCSA and also had the highest capacity for both force and power production. Generally high-power muscles were located more proximally in the limb, while some small distal muscles (tibialis cranialis and flexor perforatus digiti III), with short fibres, were found to have very high force generation capacities. The greatest proportion of pelvic muscle volume was for the hip extensors, while the highest capacity for force generation was observed in the extensors of the ankle, many of which were also in series with long tendons and thus were functionally suited to elastic energy storage