Excessive growth hormone expression in male GH transgenic mice adversely alters bone architecture and mechanical strength

Patients with acromegaly have a higher prevalence of vertebral fractures despite normal bone mineral density (BMD), suggesting that GH overexpression has adverse effects on skeletal architecture and strength. We used giant bovine GH (bGH) transgenic mice to analyze the effects of high serum GH levels on BMD, architecture, and mechanical strength. Five-month-old hemizygous male bGH mice were compared with age- and sex-matched nontransgenic littermates controls (NT; n=16/group). Bone architecture and BMD were analyzed in tibia and lumbar vertebrae using microcomputed tomography. Femora were tested to failure using three-point bending and bone cellular activity determined by bone histomorphometry. bGH transgenic mice displayed significant increases in body weight and bone lengths. bGH tibia showed decreases in trabecular bone volume fraction, thickness, and number compared with NT ones, whereas trabecular pattern factor and structure model index were significantly increased, indicating deterioration in bone structure. Although cortical tissue perimeter was increased in transgenic mice, cortical thickness was reduced. bGH mice showed similar trabecular BMD but reduced trabecular thickness in lumbar vertebra relative to controls. Cortical BMD and thickness were significantly reduced in bGH lumbar vertebra. Mechanical testing of femora confirmed that bGH femora have decreased intrinsic mechanical properties compared with NT ones. Bone turnover is increased in favor of bone resorption in bGH tibia and vertebra compared with controls, and serum PTH levels is also enhanced in bGH mice. These data collectively suggest that high serum GH levels negatively affect bone architecture and quality at multiple skeletal sites

Investigation on replacement of fish oil by vegetable oils (rice bran, soybean and linseed) in diet of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of replacing the fish oil by alternative lipid sources in diets for rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) on growth, fatty acid profiles of muscle. Five isonitrogenous and isoenergetic semipurified diets were formulated containing 100% rice bran oil (RBO), 100% linseed oil (LO), 100% Soybean oil (SO) and a 1:1:1:1 rice bran, linseed, soybean and fish oil mixture (MX) were compared to a pure fish oil (FO) diet. The diets were fed to apparent satiation twice a day to triplicate groups of 30 rainbow trout with an initial weight of 90g for 15 weeks at 12°C.At the end of the experiment, fillet samples were collected from fish for the measurement of fatty acid profile and fillet composition. Fish fed the FO diet had the highest weight gain over the experimental period (280.28 g), However no differences in growth rate and CF were observed across diet groups. Feed conversion ratios (FCR) ranged from 1.12 to 1.24. Significant difference in FCR was found in the group fed an FO diet. The fillet lipid concentrations and fatty acid composition of the fish were significantly affected by the experimental diets. Fish fed the FO diet contained significantly lower lipid levels (20.18%) than those fed the 4 other diets. The highest level of n-3 PUFA concentrations were recorded in fish fed the LO diet (21.8) with significant difference than other diets and the lowest were in those fed the RBO diet (7.84). Fish fed the SO diet contained significantly higher level of n-6 PUFA concentrations (31.72) than other diets and the lowest were in those fed the FO diet (19.15). Fish on the FO diet had a significantly greater percentage of DHA (10.10%) in muscle tissue compared with fish on all other diets and the lowest was in those fed the RBO diet (2.81%). However, the highest level of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) concentrations was recorded in fish fed the SO diet (1.84%) and the lowest in those fed the diet (0.67%). This study showed considerable reductions (about 3-fold) in the n-3/n-6 ratio when FO in the fish diet was replaced by rice bran and soybean oils, which may be extremely negative from a nutritional point of view. In other hand linseed oil had the highest n-3/n-6 ratio (0.91) that was comparable with fish oil n- 3/n-6 ratio (0.89). The results in this study imply that an appropriate mix of vegetable oils and FO can replace the sole use of FO in fish feeds

Sexually dimorphic tibia shape is linked to natural osteoarthritis in STR/Ort mice

Human osteoarthritis (OA) is detected only at late stages. Male STR/Ort mice develop knee OA spontaneously with known longitudinal trajectory, offering scope to identify OA predisposing factors. We exploit the lack of overt OA in female STR/Ort and in both sexes of parental, control CBA mice to explore whether early divergence in tibial bone mass or shape are linked to emergent OA

Impact of hepcidin antimicrobial peptide on iron overload in tuberculosis patients

Background: Iron acquisition is essential for the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Hepcidin is known as an antimicrobial peptide and a component of the innate immune response. Hepcidin inhibits M. tuberculosis growth in vitro. In this study, we decided to identify-582A> G variants of the HAMP promoter in patients with tuberculosis (TB) and investigate its effect on serum iron, ferritin, and hepcidin levels. Methods: The sample population consisted of 105 patients with TB and 104 healthy individuals. The-582A> G polymorphism was genotyped using a tetra-primers PCR set. Serum levels of hepcidin were determined using an ELISA kit. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software. Results: The G allele is meaningfully associated with TB disease (95% confidence interval = 2-4.8, p G polymorphism genotypes. There was significant reverse correlation between hepcidin and iron (r =-0.849, p = 0.006). Conclusion: A high association was found between serum hepcidin levels and the HAMP-582A> G variants in patients with TB. These observations indicate a hypothetical role of this polymorphism in iron metabolism. Hepcidin could perhaps be an option for the treatment of TB. © 2014 Informa Healthcare

On the Energy Transfer Performance of Mechanical Nanoresonators Coupled with Electromagnetic Fields

We study the energy transfer performance in electrically and magnetically coupled mechanical nanoresonators. Using the resonant scattering theory, we show that magnetically coupled resonators can achieve the same energy transfer performance as for their electrically coupled counterparts, or even outperform them within the scale of interest. Magnetic and electric coupling are compared in the Nanotube Radio, a realistic example of a nano-scale mechanical resonator. The energy transfer performance is also discussed for a newly proposed bio-nanoresonator composed of a magnetosomes coated with a net of protein fibers.Comment: 9 Pages, 3 Figure

Transient peak-strain matching partially recovers the age-impaired mechanoadaptive cortical bone response

Mechanoadaptation maintains bone mass and architecture; its failure underlies age-related decline in bone strength. It is unclear whether this is due to failure of osteocytes to sense strain, osteoblasts to form bone or insufficient mechanical stimulus. Mechanoadaptation can be restored to aged bone by surgical neurectomy, suggesting that changes in loading history can rescue mechanoadaptation. We use non-biased, whole-bone tibial analyses, along with characterisation of surface strains and ensuing mechanoadaptive responses in mice at a range of ages, to explore whether sufficient load magnitude can activate mechanoadaptation in aged bone. We find that younger mice adapt when imposed strains are lower than in mature and aged bone. Intriguingly, imposition of short-term, high magnitude loading effectively primes cortical but not trabecular bone of aged mice to respond. This response was regionally-matched to highest strains measured by digital image correlation and to osteocytic mechanoactivation. These data indicate that aged bone’s loading response can be partially recovered, non-invasively by transient, focal high strain regions. Our results indicate that old murine bone does respond to load when the loading is of sufficient magnitude, and bones’ age-related adaptation failure may be due to insufficient mechanical stimulus to trigger mechanoadaptation

Study on the growth parameters of Capoeta trutta (Heckel, 1843) in Shour River, Iran

In this study growth characteristics of 815 tuwini (Capoeta trutta) in Shour River were investigated during July 2010 through June 2011. The population was composed of 62.94% females and 32.02% males. Sex ratio was 1: 1.96, with significant differences observed at 1:1 (x^2= 150.6; df= 1; p<0.05). The age distribution of this population ranged from <1 to 6 years. The distribution of length and weight was between 95 and 300 mm. The average length, except in <1 year olds, was statistically significant between sexes and average weight in all age groups was statistically significant between sexes (p<0.05). Weight-length relationship was determined as W=0.0115L^2.9475 (R=0.91) in males and W=0.0096L^3.0025 (R= 0.88) in females. Von-Bertalanffy growth equation was Lt= 24.5(1-e^-0.333(t+2.54)) for males and Lt= 36.4 (1- e^-0.129(t+4.02)) for females. Growth performance index was also estimated as Φ=2.301 in males and Φ=2.223 in females

Phospho1 deficiency transiently modifies bone architecture yet produces consistent modification in osteocyte differentiation and vascular porosity with ageing

PHOSPHO1 is one of principal proteins involved in initiating bone matrix mineralisation. Recent studies have found that Phospho1 KO mice (Phospho1-R74X) display multiple skeletal abnormalities with spontaneous fractures, bowed long bones, osteomalacia and scoliosis. These analyses have however been limited to young mice and it remains unclear whether the role of PHOSPHO1 is conserved in the mature murine skeleton where bone turnover is limited. In this study, we have used ex-vivo computerised tomography to examine the effect of Phospho1 deletion on tibial bone architecture in mice at a range of ages (5, 7, 16 and 34 weeks of age) to establish whether its role is conserved during skeletal growth and maturation. Matrix mineralisation has also been reported to influence terminal osteoblast differentiation into osteocytes and we have also explored whether hypomineralised bones in Phospho1 KO mice exhibit modified osteocyte lacunar and vascular porosity. Our data reveal that Phospho1 deficiency generates age-related defects in trabecular architecture and compromised cortical microarchitecture with greater porosity accompanied by marked alterations in osteocyte shape, significant increases in osteocytic lacuna and vessel number. Our in vitro studies examining the behaviour of osteoblast derived from Phospho1 KO and wild-type mice reveal reduced levels of matrix mineralisation and modified osteocytogenic programming in cells deficient in PHOSPHO1. Together our data suggest that deficiency in PHOSPHO1 exerts modifications in bone architecture that are transient and depend upon age, yet produces consistent modification in lacunar and vascular porosity. It is possible that the inhibitory role of PHOSPHO1 on osteocyte differentiation leads to these age-related changes in bone architecture. It is also intriguing to note that this apparent acceleration in osteocyte differentiation evident in the hypomineralised bones of Phospho1 KO mice suggests an uncoupling of the interplay between osteocytogenesis and biomineralisation. Further studies are required to dissect the molecular processes underlying the regulatory influences exerted by PHOSPHO1 on the skeleton with ageing

Development of a stochastic computational fluid dynamics approach for offshore wind farms

In this paper, a method for stochastic analysis of an offshore wind farm using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is proposed. An existing offshore wind farm is modelled using a steady-state CFD solver at several deterministic input ranges and an approximation model is trained on the CFD results. The approximation model is then used in a Monte-Carlo analysis to build joint probability distributions for values of interest within the wind farm. The results are compared with real measurements obtained from the existing wind farm to quantify the accuracy of the predictions. It is shown that this method works well for the relatively simple problem considered in this study and has potential to be used in more complex situations where an existing analytical method is either insufficient or unable to make a good prediction