Effects of the antioxidant crocin on frozen-thawed buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) sperm

This work aimed to evaluate the effect of crocin on frozen-thawed sperm quality in buffalo. Spermatozoa were incubated in Tyrode’s Albumin Lactate Pyruvate medium supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1, and 2 mM crocin for 2 h. Sperm motility was evaluated by phase-contrast microscopy, viability and acrosome integrity by Trypan blue Giemsa staining, and membrane functional integrity by the hypoosmotic swelling test. The DNA fragmentation was evaluated by Tunel and ROS levels by spectrofluorometric analysis. The treatment with 2 mM of crocin increased (P <.05) sperm membrane functional integrity compared to the control group (59.1 ± 1.6 vs 53.3 ± 1.5) and reduced sperm DNA fragmentation, compared to the other groups (11.3 ± 1.1, 13.3 ± 1.2, 13.6 ± 1.2 and 6.0 ± 0.7, respectively in 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 mM crocin; P <.01). Finally, a dose-dependent decrease (P <.01) in superoxide anion production in the presence of crocin was observed, as indicated by Dihydroethidium values (922.6 ± 13.0, 596.8 ± 7.4, 498.9 ± 5.3 and 421.4 ± 5.0 a.u., respectively in 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 mM crocin; P <.01). The results of this study demonstrated a positive effect of 2 mM crocin on frozen-thawed buffalo sperm, as indicated by the improvement of sperm membrane integrity and the reduction of DNA fragmentation and ROS levels.Highlights Crocin improves buffalo sperm quality. Crocin improves sperm membrane integrity and reduces DNA fragmentation. Crocin decreases oxidative stress in buffalo sperm

Type 2 deiodinase p.Thr92Ala polymorphism does not affect the severity of obesity and weight loss after bariatric surgery

A single nucleotide polymorphism in the Type 2 deiodinase (DIO2) gene (p.Thr92Ala) was found to be associated with hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), insulin resistance, and body mass index (BMI). We retrospectively evaluated 182 patients to assess whether the DIO2 p.Thr92Ala was associated with severe obesity and response to bariatric surgery. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes before surgery. Glycemic control parameters, cardiometabolic risk biomarkers (waist circumference, lipid assessment and blood pressure) and hormonal parameters were assessed at baseline and after surgery. Based on genotype evaluation, 78/182 (42.9%) patients were homozygous wild-type (Thr/Thr), 83/182 (45.6%) heterozygous (Thr/Ala), and 21/182 (11.5%) rare homozygous (Ala/Ala). Age at the time of the first evaluation in our Unit was significantly lower in patients with DIO2 p.Thr92Ala. No significant association was observed between DIO2 p.Thr92Ala and BMI, excess weight, waist circumference, Homa Index. The prevalence of comorbidities was not associated with allele distribution except for hypertension that was more frequent in wild-type patients (p = 0.03). After bariatric surgery, excess weight loss (EWL) % and remission from comorbidities occurred without differences according to genotypes. DIO2 p.Thr92Ala does not affect the severity of obesity and its complications, but it seems to determine an earlier onset of morbid obesity. The presence of polymorphism seems not to impact on the response to bariatric surgery, both in terms of weight loss and remission of comorbidities

New specific skeletal muscle mass index cut-offs for the assessment of sarcopenia in patients with severe obesity

Introduction Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is the most used tool in clinical practice to evaluate body composition in patients with obesity. The skeletal muscle index (SMI) defined by BIA has been proposed for the identification of sarcopenia, but there are currently no univocal cutoffs for this condition. In this study, we aimed: 1) to determine the prevalence of sarcopenia in patients with severe obesity using the current cutoffs of SMI; 2) to define new specific cutoffs; 3) to validate the new cutoffs; and 4) to re-determine the prevalence of sarcopenia.Methods A total of 300 patients, 74% women and 26% men (mean age = 42.6 +/-; 9 years), with morbid obesity (mean BMI = 46.7 +/-; 6.5 kg/m2) followed by the Unit of Endocrinology from January 2014 to December 2020 were retrospectively evaluated. SMI was calculated as the skeletal muscle mass normalized for squared height through the BIA equation by Janssen et al.Results The prevalence of sarcopenic obesity calculated using the cutoff points reported by De Rosa et al. (7.3 kg/h2 for women and 9.5 kg/h2 for men) was 2.3%. The prevalence of sarcopenia was calculated using the new cutoffs: with the cutoff obtained from the standard deviation method (8.2 kg/h2 for women and 10.2 kg/h2 for men), a prevalence of 14.7% was observed, whereas the prevalence reached 47.6% when using the cutoff calculated through the K-means unsupervised cluster (9.2 kg/h2 for women and 11.3 kg/h2 for men). The new cutoffs were validated with a second sample consisting of 300 patients with morbid obesity (BMI = 44.9 +/-; 6.7 kg/m2): the rate of sarcopenic patients was still higher than that observed in the training cohort (56%). After the matching procedure (by BMI and age), the rates of sarcopenic patients were similar in both groups (50.2% in the validation group and 53% in the training group, p = 0.6).Conclusion The new cutoffs calculated with cluster analysis could better identify sarcopenia in morbidly obese patients. However, further studies are needed to validate these cutoffs in different patient cohorts

Giant Sigmoid Diverticulum: A Rare Presentation of a Common Pathology

Although colonic diverticulum is a common disease, affecting about 35% of patients above the age of 60, giant sigmoid diverticulum is an uncommon variant of which only relatively few cases have been described in the literature. We report on our experience with a patient affected by giant sigmoid diverticulum who was treated with diverticulectomy. Resection of the diverticulum is a safe surgical procedure, provided that the colon section close to the lesion presents no sign of flogosis or diverticula; in addition, recurrences are not reported after 6-year follow-up

Climatic zone and soil properties determine the biodiversity of the soil bacterial communities associated to native plants from desert areas of north-central algeria

Algeria is the largest country in Africa characterized by semi-arid and arid sites, located in the North, and hypersaline zones in the center and South of the country. Several autochthonous plants are well known as medicinal plants, having in common tolerance to aridity, drought and salinity. In their natural environment, they live with a great amount of microbial species that altogether are indicated as plant microbiota, while the plants are now viewed as a \u201cholobiont\u201d. In this work, the microbiota of the soil associated to the roots of fourteen economically relevant autochthonous plants from Algeria have been characterized by an innovative metagenomic approach with a dual purpose: (i) to deepen the knowledge of the arid and semi-arid environment and (ii) to characterize the composition of bacterial communities associated with indigenous plants with a strong economic/commercial interest, in order to make possible the improvement of their cultivation. The results presented in this work highlighted specific signatures which are mainly determined by climatic zone and soil properties more than by the plant species

Roles for CEP170 in cilia function and dynein-2 assembly

Primary cilia are essential eukaryotic organelles required for signalling and secretion. Dynein-2 is a microtubule-motor protein complex and is required for ciliogenesis via its role in facilitating retrograde intraflagellar transport (IFT) from the cilia tip to the cell body. Dynein-2 must be assembled and loaded onto IFT trains for entry into cilia for this process to occur, but how dynein-2 is assembled and how it is recycled back into a cilium remain poorly understood. Here, we identify centrosomal protein of 170 kDa (CEP170) as a dynein-2-interacting protein in mammalian cells. We show that loss of CEP170 perturbs intraflagellar transport and hedgehog signalling, and alters the stability of dynein-2 holoenzyme complex. Together, our data indicate a role for CEP170 in supporting cilia function and dynein-2 assembly

Structure and tethering mechanism of dynein-2 intermediate chains in intraflagellar transport

Dynein-2 is a large multiprotein complex that powers retrograde intraflagellar transport (IFT) of cargoes within cilia/flagella, but the molecular mechanism underlying this function is still emerging. Distinctively, dynein-2 contains two identical force-generating heavy chains that interact with two different intermediate chains (WDR34 and WDR60). Here, we dissect regulation of dynein-2 function by WDR34 and WDR60 using an integrative approach including cryo-electron microscopy and CRISPR/Cas9-enabled cell biology. A 3.9 Å resolution structure shows how WDR34 and WDR60 use surprisingly different interactions to engage equivalent sites of the two heavy chains. We show that cilia can assemble in the absence of either WDR34 or WDR60 individually, but not both subunits. Dynein-2-dependent distribution of cargoes depends more strongly on WDR60, because the unique N-terminal extension of WDR60 facilitates dynein-2 targeting to cilia. Strikingly, this N-terminal extension can be transplanted onto WDR34 and retain function, suggesting it acts as a flexible tether to the IFT "trains" that assemble at the ciliary base. We discuss how use of unstructured tethers represents an emerging theme in IFT train interactions

Central vein sign differentiates Multiple Sclerosis from central nervous system inflammatory vasculopathies.

In multiple sclerosis (MS), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a sensitive tool for detecting white matter lesions, but its diagnostic specificity is still suboptimal; ambiguous cases are frequent in clinical practice. Detection of perivenular lesions in the brain (the "central vein sign") improves the pathological specificity of MS diagnosis, but comprehensive evaluation of this MRI biomarker in MS-mimicking inflammatory and/or autoimmune diseases, such as central nervous system (CNS) inflammatory vasculopathies, is lacking. In a multicenter study, we assessed the frequency of perivenular lesions in MS versus systemic autoimmune diseases with CNS involvement and primary angiitis of the CNS (PACNS). In 31 patients with inflammatory CNS vasculopathies and 52 with relapsing-remitting MS, 3-dimensional T2*-weighted and T2-fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images were obtained during a single MRI acquisition after gadolinium injection. For each lesion, the central vein sign was evaluated according to consensus guidelines. For each patient, lesion count, volume, and brain location, as well as fulfillment of dissemination in space MRI criteria, were assessed. MS showed higher frequency of perivenular lesions (median = 88%) than did inflammatory CNS vasculopathies (14%), without overlap between groups or differences between 3T and 1.5T MRI. Among inflammatory vasculopathies, Behçet disease showed the highest median frequency of perivenular lesions (34%), followed by PACNS (14%), antiphospholipid syndromes (12%), Sjögren syndrome (11%), and systemic lupus erythematosus (0%). When a threshold of 50% perivenular lesions was applied, central vein sign discriminated MS from inflammatory vasculopathies with a diagnostic accuracy of 100%. The central vein sign differentiates inflammatory CNS vasculopathies from MS at standard clinical magnetic field strengths. Ann Neurol 2018;83:283-294

Agronomical valorization of eluates from the industrial production of microorganisms: Chemical, microbiological, and ecotoxicological assessment of a novel putative biostimulant

Plant Biostimulants (BSs) are a valid supplement to be considered for the integration of conventional fertilization practices. Research in the BS field keeps providing alternative products of various origin, which can be employed in organic and conventional agriculture. In this study, we investigated the biostimulant activity of the eluate obtained as a by-product from the industrial production of lactic acid bacteria on bare agricultural soil. Eluates utilization is in line with the circular economy principle, creating economical value for an industrial waste product. The research focused on the study of physical, chemical, biochemical, and microbiological changes occurring in agricultural soil treated with the biowaste eluate, applied at three different dosages. The final aim was to demonstrate if, and to what extent, the application of the eluate improved soil quality parameters and enhanced the presence of beneficial soil-borne microbial communities. Results indicate that a single application at the two lower dosages does not have a pronounced effect on the soil chemical parameters tested, and neither on the biochemical proprieties. Only the higher dosage applied reported an improvement in the enzymatic activities of β-glucosidase and urease and in the chemical composition, showing a higher content of total, nitric and ammonia N, total K, and higher humification rate. On the other hand, microbial communities were strongly influenced at all dosages, showing a decrease in the bacterial biodiversity and an increase in the fungal biodiversity. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that some Operative Taxonomic Units (OTUs) promoted by the eluate application, belong to known plant growth promoting microbes. Some other OTUs, negatively influenced were attributed to known plant pathogens, mainly Fusarium spp. Finally, the ecotoxicological parameters were also determined and allowed to establish that no toxic effect occurred upon eluate applications onto soil