Implementing Standardized Chlamydia Screening in a College Health Center

Background: Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the most common reportable sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the United States. Despite regulatory agencies’ recommendations, routine CT screening is not being performed in many high-risk settings. Problem: The burden of undetected CT infections is substantial to patients and the healthcare system. There is a lack of consensus regarding an effective standardized CT screening strategy and screening rates remain suboptimal. Methods: A standardized CT screening, testing, and treatment process was implemented in Spring of 2020 and compared to screening rates pre-intervention in Spring 2019. Intervention: A 3-question sexual health screening questionnaire (SHSQ) was administered to all patients aged 18 - 24 years seeking care at the Millersville University Health Center (MUHS). Results: There were 1613 visits from Spring 2019 (n=675) and Spring 2020 (n=938) semesters. The final sample of 473 visits included those screened in Spring 2019 (n=65) and Spring 2020 (n=408). The screening rate increased from 9.6% in Spring 2019 to 43.5% in Spring 2020. There was a statistically significant difference in the pre- and post-groups who received a CT test (100% vs.18.4%, respectively, p = .00). Among the 140 students tested for CT, there was no statistically significant difference in detection of CT between the 2019 and the 2020 group and all students who tested positive were treated. Conclusion: This project resulted in an increase of 34 percentage points in CT screening at MUHS. The findings of this project reinforce regulatory agencies’ concerns that CT screening rates remain suboptimal as only 34.3% of participants indicated they were tested for CT within the past year (n=140)

PGC-1β modulates catabolism and fiber atrophy in the fasting-response of specific skeletal muscle beds

Skeletal muscle is a pivotal organ for the coordination of systemic metabolism, constituting one of the largest storage site for glucose, lipids and amino acids. Tight temporal orchestration of protein breakdown in times of fasting has to be balanced with preservation of muscle mass and function. However, the molecular mechanisms that control the fasting response in muscle are poorly understood.; We now have identified a role for the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1β (PGC-1β) in the regulation of catabolic pathways in this context in muscle-specific loss-of-function mouse models.; Muscle-specific knockouts for PGC-1β experience mitigated muscle atrophy in fasting, linked to reduced expression of myostatin, atrogenes, activation of AMP-dependent protein kinase (AMPK) and other energy deprivation signaling pathways. At least in part, the muscle fasting response is modulated by a negative effect of PGC-1β on the nuclear factor of activated T-cells 1 (NFATC1).; Collectively, these data highlight the complex regulation of muscle metabolism and reveal a new role for muscle PGC-1β in the control of proteostasis in fasting

Asymmetric distribution of glucose transporter mRNA provides a growth advantage in yeast

Asymmetric localization of mRNA is important for cell fate decisions in eukaryotes and provides the means for localized protein synthesis in a variety of cell types. Here, we show that hexose transporter mRNAs are retained in the mother cell of; S. cerevisiae; until metaphase-anaphase transition (MAT) and then are released into the bud. The retained mRNA was translationally less active but bound to ribosomes before MAT Importantly, when cells were shifted from starvation to glucose-rich conditions, HXT2 mRNA, but none of the other HXT mRNAs, was enriched in the bud after MAT This enrichment was dependent on the Ras/cAMP/PKA pathway, the APC ortholog Kar9, and nuclear segregation into the bud. Competition experiments between strains that only expressed one hexose transporter at a time revealed that; HXT2; only cells grow faster than their counterparts when released from starvation. Therefore, asymmetric distribution of HXT2 mRNA provides a growth advantage for daughters, who are better prepared for nutritional changes in the environment. Our data provide evidence that asymmetric mRNA localization is an important factor in determining cellular fitness

Myeloperoxidase targets oxidative host attacks to Salmonella and prevents collateral tissue damage

Host control of infections crucially depends on the capability to kill pathogens with reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, these toxic molecules can also readily damage host components and cause severe immunopathology. Here, we show that neutrophils use their most abundant granule protein, myeloperoxidase, to target ROS specifically to pathogens while minimizing collateral tissue damage. A computational model predicted that myeloperoxidase efficiently scavenges diffusible H2O2 at the surface of phagosomal Salmonella and converts it into highly reactive HOCl (bleach), which rapidly damages biomolecules within a radius of less than 0.1 μm. Myeloperoxidase-deficient neutrophils were predicted to accumulate large quantities of H2O2 that still effectively kill Salmonella, but most H2O2 would leak from the phagosome. Salmonella stimulation of neutrophils from normal and myeloperoxidase-deficient human donors experimentally confirmed an inverse relationship between myeloperoxidase activity and extracellular H2O2 release. Myeloperoxidase-deficient mice infected with Salmonella had elevated hydrogen peroxide tissue levels and exacerbated oxidative damage of host lipids and DNA, despite almost normal Salmonella control. These data show that myeloperoxidase has a major function in mitigating collateral tissue damage during antimicrobial oxidative bursts, by converting diffusible long-lived H2O2 into highly reactive, microbicidal and locally confined HOCl at pathogen surfaces