Effect of Lactobacillus acidophilus supernatants on body weight and leptin expression in rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Lactobacillus </it>extracts and supernatants have been used as probiotics in human and veterinary medicine for their ability to enhance wound healing and immunity. Previous data from our laboratory demonstrated that <it>Lactobacillus </it>supernatant (LS) stimulated wound healing, angiogenesis and proliferation of embryonic cells after topical application. This current study shows that LS after its administration into the cerebral ventricles of male rats exerts systemic effects.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The right lateral cerebral ventricle of young male rats was accessed through intracerebroventricular cannulation (ICV) under anesthesia and aseptic conditions. One group of control rats received saline solution, a second control group received 0.8 M lactic acid solution (to control for acidity of LS), and a third group received LS. The animals were sacrificed 12, 24, 48, 96 and 120 hours after the injection. Selected tissues were collected, fixed in 10% buffered formalin and used for immunohistochemistry and <it>in situ </it>hybridization. Other tissues were frozen and extracted for immunoblotting</p> <p>Results</p> <p>LS-injected animals had a slight decrease in body weight when compared to their initial weight and to both control groups. Using immunohistochemistry and <it>in situ </it>hybridization leptin expression was studied in multiple brain sections and peripheral adipose tissue of control and LS-injected rats. Strong cytoplasmic stain was observed by both techniques in neurons of the cerebral cortex, thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus and, to lesser degree, in the cells of the choroid plexus in the LS-injected rats. Control animals demonstrated much less intense staining in neurons located in the same regions using immunohistochemistry and almost no staining with <it>in situ </it>hybridization technique. Adipose tissue exhibited slight presence of leptin in LS-treated animals. In contrast no immunohistochemical staining for GM-CSF and TNFα was observed in brains from control and treated rats. Western blotting showed mild increase in leptin and leptin receptors in intestines and retroperitoneal adipose tissues of LS-injected rats.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study demonstrates that direct administration of LS into rat CNS leads to a decrease in body weight of rats and an increase in the expression of leptin in specific areas of the brain and retroperitoneal adipose tissue.</p

Outcomes and risk factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in a North American registry of patients with multiple sclerosis

Importance: Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 causing COVID-19 prompted the need to gather information on clinical outcomes and risk factors associated with morbidity and mortality in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and concomitant SARS-CoV-2 infections. Objective: To examine outcomes and risk factors associated with COVID-19 clinical severity in a large, diverse cohort of North American patients with MS. Design, Setting, and Participants: This analysis used deidentified, cross-sectional data on patients with MS and SARS-CoV-2 infection reported by health care professionals in North American academic and community practices between April 1, 2020, and December 12, 2020, in the COVID-19 Infections in MS Registry. Health care professionals were asked to report patients after a minimum of 7 days from initial symptom onset and after sufficient time had passed to observe the COVID-19 disease course through resolution of acute illness or death. Data collection began April 1, 2020, and is ongoing. Exposures: Laboratory-positive SARS-CoV-2 infection or highly suspected COVID-19. Main Outcomes and Measures: Clinical outcome with 4 levels of increasing severity: not hospitalized, hospitalization only, admission to the intensive care unit and/or required ventilator support, and death. Results: Of 1626 patients, most had laboratory-positive SARS-CoV-2 infection (1345 [82.7%]), were female (1202 [74.0%]), and had relapsing-remitting MS (1255 [80.4%]). A total of 996 patients (61.5%) were non-Hispanic White, 337 (20.8%) were Black, and 190 (11.7%) were Hispanic/Latinx. The mean (SD) age was 47.7 (13.2) years, and 797 (49.5%) had 1 or more comorbidity. The overall mortality rate was 3.3% (95% CI, 2.5%-4.3%). Ambulatory disability and older age were each independently associated with increased odds of all clinical severity levels compared with those not hospitalized after adjusting for other risk factors (nonambulatory: hospitalization only, odds ratio [OR], 2.8 [95% CI, 1.6-4.8]; intensive care unit/required ventilator support, OR, 3.5 [95% CI, 1.6-7.8]; death, OR, 25.4 [95% CI, 9.3-69.1]; age [every 10 years]: hospitalization only, OR, 1.3 [95% CI, 1.1-1.6]; intensive care unit/required ventilator support, OR, 1.3 [95% CI, 0.99-1.7]; death, OR, 1.8 [95% CI, 1.2-2.6]). Conclusions and Relevance: In this registry-based cross-sectional study, increased disability was independently associated with worse clinical severity including death from COVID-19. Other risk factors for worse outcomes included older age, Black race, cardiovascular comorbidities, and recent treatment with corticosteroids. Knowledge of these risk factors may improve the treatment of patients with MS and COVID-19 by helping clinicians identify patients requiring more intense monitoring or COVID-19 treatment

A new anode material for oxygen evolution in molten oxide electrolysis

Molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) is an electrometallurgical technique that enables the direct production of metal in the liquid state from oxide feedstock and compared with traditional methods of extractive metallurgy offers both a substantial simplification of the process and a significant reduction in energy consumption. MOE is also considered a promising route for mitigation of CO[subscript 2] emissions in steelmaking, production of metals free of carbon, and generation of oxygen for extra-terrestrial exploration. Until now, MOE has been demonstrated using anode materials that are consumable (graphite for use with ferro-alloys and titanium) or unaffordable for terrestrial applications (iridium for use with iron). To enable metal production without process carbon, MOE requires an anode material that resists depletion while sustaining oxygen evolution. The challenges for iron production are threefold. First, the process temperature is in excess of 1,538 degrees Celsius. Second, under anodic polarization most metals inevitably corrode in such conditions. Third, iron oxide undergoes spontaneous reduction on contact with most refractory metals and even carbon. Here we show that anodes comprising chromium-based alloys exhibit limited consumption during iron extraction and oxygen evolution by MOE. The anode stability is due to the formation of an electronically conductive solid solution of chromium(iii) and aluminium oxides in the corundum structure. These findings make practicable larger-scale evaluation of MOE for the production of steel, and potentially provide a key material component enabling mitigation of greenhouse-gas emissions while producing metal of superior metallurgical quality.American Iron and Steel Institut

Restricting HIV-1 pathways for escape using rationally designed anti–HIV-1 antibodies

Recently identified broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) that potently neutralize most HIV-1 strains are key to potential antibody-based therapeutic approaches to combat HIV/AIDS in the absence of an effective vaccine. Increasing bNAb potencies and resistance to common routes of HIV-1 escape through mutation would facilitate their use as therapeutics. We previously used structure-based design to create the bNAb NIH45-46G54W, which exhibits superior potency and/or breadth compared with other bNAbs. We report new, more effective NIH45-46^(G54W) variants designed using analyses of the NIH45-46–gp120 complex structure and sequences of NIH45-46^(G54W)–resistant HIV-1 strains. One variant, 45-46m2, neutralizes 96% of HIV-1 strains in a cross-clade panel and viruses isolated from an HIV-infected individual that are resistant to all other known bNAbs, making it the single most broad and potent anti–HIV-1 antibody to date. A description of its mechanism is presented based on a 45-46m2–gp120 crystal structure. A second variant, 45-46m7, designed to thwart HIV-1 resistance to NIH45-46G54W arising from mutations in a gp120 consensus sequence, targets a common route of HIV-1 escape. In combination, 45-46m2 and 45-46m7 reduce the possible routes for the evolution of fit viral escape mutants in HIV-1_(YU-2)–infected humanized mice, with viremic control exhibited when a third antibody, 10–1074, was added to the combination