Proteomic analysis of plasma from children with sickle cell anemia and silent cerebral infarction

Silent cerebral infarction is the most common neurological abnormality in children with sickle cell anemia, affecting 30-40% of 14 year olds. There are no known biomarkers to identify children with silent cerebral infarcts, and the pathological basis is also unknown. We used an unbiased proteomic discovery approach to identify plasma proteins differing in concentration between children with and without silent cerebral infarcts. Clinical parameters and plasma samples were analysed from 51 children (mean age 11.8 years, range 6-18) with sickle cell anemia (HbSS). A total of 19 children had silent cerebral infarcts and 32 normal MRI; the children with silent infarcts had lower HbF levels (8.6 vs. 16.1%, P=0.049) and higher systolic blood pressures (115 vs. 108.6, P=0.027). Plasma proteomic analysis showed 13 proteins increased more than 1.3 fold in the SCI patients, including proteins involved in hypercoagulability (α2-antiplasmin, fibrinogen−γ chain, thrombospondin-4), inflammation (α2-macroglobulin, complement C1s and C3), and atherosclerosis (apolipoprotein B-100). Higher levels of gelsolin and retinol-binding protein 4 were also found in the population with silent infarcts, both of which have been linked to stroke. We investigated the genetic basis of these differences by studying 359 adults with sickle cell disease (199 with silent cerebral infarcts, 160 normal MRIs), who had previously undergone a genome-wide genotyping array. None of the genes coding for the differentially expressed proteins were significantly associated with silent infarction. Our study suggests that silent cerebral infarcts in sickle cell anemia may be associated with higher systolic blood pressure, lower HbF levels, hypercoagulability, inflammation and atherosclerotic lipoproteins

Mid-Spring Burning Reduces Spotted Knapweed and Increases Native Grasses during a Michigan Experimental Grassland Establishment

The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com Infestations of the exotic perennial Spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa Lam.) hinder the restoration and management of native ecosystems on droughty, infertile sites throughout the Midwestern United States. We studied the effects of annual burning on knapweed persistence on degraded, knapweed-infested gravel-mine spoils in western Michigan. Our experiment included 48, 4-m2 plots seeded to native warm-season grasses in 1999 using a factorial arrangement of initial herbicide and fertility treatments. Beginning in 2003, we incorporated fire as an additional factor and burned half of the plots in late April or May for three years (2003-2005). Burning increased the dominance of warm-season grasses and decreased both biomass and dominance of knapweed in most years. Burning reduced adult knapweed densities in all three years of the study, reduced seedling densities in the first two years, and reduced juvenile densities in the last two years. Knapweed density and biomass also declined on the unburned plots through time, suggesting that warm-season grasses may effectively compete with knapweed even in the absence of fire. By the end of the study, mean adult knapweed densities on both burned (0.4-m2) and unburned plots (1.3-m2) were reduced to levels where the seeded grasses should persist with normal management, including the use of prescribed fire. These results support the use of carefully timed burning to help establish and maintain fire-adapted native plant communities on knapweed-infested sites in the Midwest by substantially reducing knapweed density, biomass, and seedling recruitment, and by further shifting the competitive balance toward native warm-season grasses