A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

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Clinical, Epidemiologic, Histopathologic and Molecular Features of an Unexplained Dermopathy

BACKGROUND: Morgellons is a poorly characterized constellation of symptoms, with the primary manifestations involving the skin. We conducted an investigation of this unexplained dermopathy to characterize the clinical and epidemiologic features and explore potential etiologies. METHODS: A descriptive study was conducted among persons at least 13 years of age and enrolled in Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) during 2006-2008. A case was defined as the self-reported emergence of fibers or materials from the skin accompanied by skin lesions and/or disturbing skin sensations. We collected detailed epidemiologic data, performed clinical evaluations and geospatial analyses and analyzed materials collected from participants' skin. RESULTS: We identified 115 case-patients. The prevalence was 3.65 (95% CI = 2.98, 4.40) cases per 100,000 enrollees. There was no clustering of cases within the 13-county KPNC catchment area (p = .113). Case-patients had a median age of 52 years (range: 17-93) and were primarily female (77%) and Caucasian (77%). Multi-system complaints were common; 70% reported chronic fatigue and 54% rated their overall health as fair or poor with mean Physical Component Scores and Mental Component Scores of 36.63 (SD = 12.9) and 35.45 (SD = 12.89), respectively. Cognitive deficits were detected in 59% of case-patients and 63% had evidence of clinically significant somatic complaints; 50% had drugs detected in hair samples and 78% reported exposure to solvents. Solar elastosis was the most common histopathologic abnormality (51% of biopsies); skin lesions were most consistent with arthropod bites or chronic excoriations. No parasites or mycobacteria were detected. Most materials collected from participants' skin were composed of cellulose, likely of cotton origin. CONCLUSIONS: This unexplained dermopathy was rare among this population of Northern California residents, but associated with significantly reduced health-related quality of life. No common underlying medical condition or infectious source was identified, similar to more commonly recognized conditions such as delusional infestation

Localization of the Cochlear Amplifier in Living Sensitive Ears

BACKGROUND: To detect soft sounds, the mammalian cochlea increases its sensitivity by amplifying incoming sounds up to one thousand times. Although the cochlear amplifier is thought to be a local cellular process at an area basal to the response peak on the spiral basilar membrane, its location has not been demonstrated experimentally. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using a sensitive laser interferometer to measure sub-nanometer vibrations at two locations along the basilar membrane in sensitive gerbil cochleae, here we show that the cochlea can boost soft sound-induced vibrations as much as 50 dB/mm at an area proximal to the response peak on the basilar membrane. The observed amplification works maximally at low sound levels and at frequencies immediately below the peak-response frequency of the measured apical location. The amplification decreases more than 65 dB/mm as sound levels increases. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: We conclude that the cochlea amplifier resides at a small longitudinal region basal to the response peak in the sensitive cochlea. These data provides critical information for advancing our knowledge on cochlear mechanisms responsible for the remarkable hearing sensitivity, frequency selectivity and dynamic range

A sweetpotato gene index established by de novo assembly of pyrosequencing and Sanger sequences and mining for gene-based microsatellite markers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sweetpotato (<it>Ipomoea batatas </it>(L.) Lam.), a hexaploid outcrossing crop, is an important staple and food security crop in developing countries in Africa and Asia. The availability of genomic resources for sweetpotato is in striking contrast to its importance for human nutrition. Previously existing sequence data were restricted to around 22,000 expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences and ~ 1,500 GenBank sequences. We have used 454 pyrosequencing to augment the available gene sequence information to enhance functional genomics and marker design for this plant species.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two quarter 454 pyrosequencing runs used two normalized cDNA collections from stems and leaves from drought-stressed sweetpotato clone <it>Tanzania </it>and yielded 524,209 reads, which were assembled together with 22,094 publically available expressed sequence tags into 31,685 sets of overlapping DNA segments and 34,733 unassembled sequences. Blastx comparisons with the UniRef100 database allowed annotation of 23,957 contigs and 15,342 singletons resulting in 24,657 putatively unique genes. Further, 27,119 sequences had no match to protein sequences of UniRef100database. On the basis of this gene index, we have identified 1,661 gene-based microsatellite sequences, of which 223 were selected for testing and 195 were successfully amplified in a test panel of 6 hexaploid (<it>I. batatas</it>) and 2 diploid (<it>I. trifida</it>) accessions.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The sweetpotato gene index is a useful source for functionally annotated sweetpotato gene sequences that contains three times more gene sequence information for sweetpotato than previous EST assemblies. A searchable version of the gene index, including a blastn function, is available at <url>http://www.cipotato.org/sweetpotato_gene_index</url>.</p

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Affects the Rat Gut Microbiome

We have analysed whether pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) alters the rat faecal microbiota. Wistar rats were injected with the VEGF receptor antagonist SU5416 (20 mg/kg s.c.) and followed for 2 weeks kept in hypoxia (10% O2, PAH) or injected with vehicle and kept in normoxia (controls). Faecal samples were obtained and microbiome composition was determined by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and bioinformatic analysis. No effect of PAH on the global microbiome was found (α- or β-diversity). However, PAH-exposed rats showed gut dysbiosis as indicated by a taxonomy-based analysis. Specifically, PAH rats had a three-fold increase in Firmicutes-to-Bacteroidetes ratio. Within the Firmicutes phylum, there were no large changes in the relative abundance of the bacterial families in PAH. Among Bacteroidetes, all families were less abundant in PAH. A clear separation was observed between the control and PAH clusters based on short chain fatty acid producing bacterial genera. Moreover, acetate was reduced in the serum of PAH rats. In conclusion, faecal microbiota composition is altered as a result of PAH. This misbalanced bacterial ecosystem might in turn play a pathophysiological role in PAH by altering the immunologic, hormonal and metabolic homeostasis.This study is supported by grants from Mineco (SAF2014-55399-R, SAF2014-55523-R, SAF2016-77222 and SAF2017-84494-C2-1R), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI15/01100), with funds from the European Union (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional FEDER). M.C., G.M-P. and S.E-R. are funded by Universidad Complutense, Fondo de Garantía Juvenil (Comunidad de Madrid) and Ciberes grant with funds from Fundación Contra la Hipertensión Pulmonar, a FPU grant from Ministerio de Educación, respectively. J.L.I.G is a CNIC IPP COFUND Fellow and has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the FP7/2007-2013 under REA grant agreement n° 600396. The CNIC is supported by MEIC-AEI and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (MEIC award SEV-2015-0505)

The Interplay between Entamoeba and Enteropathogenic Bacteria Modulates Epithelial Cell Damage

In amoebiasis, a human disease that is a serious health problem in many developing countries, efforts have been made to identify responsible factors for the tissue damage inflicted by the parasite Entamoeba histolytica. This amoeba lives in the lumen of the colon without causing damage to the intestinal mucosa, but under unknown circumstances becomes invasive, destroying the intestinal tissue. Bacteria in the intestinal flora have been proposed as inducers of higher amoebic virulence, but the causes or mechanisms responsible for the induction are still undetermined. Mixed intestinal infections with Entamoeba histolytica and enteropathogenic bacteria, showing exacerbated manifestations of disease, are common in endemic countries. We implemented an experimental system to study amoebic virulence in the presence of pathogenic bacteria and its consequences on epithelial cells. Results showed that amoebae that ingested enteropathogenic bacteria became more virulent, causing more damage to epithelial cells. Bacteria induced release of inflammatory proteins by the epithelial cells that attracted amoebae, facilitating amoebic contact to the epithelial cells and higher damage. Our results, although a first approach to this complex problem, provide insights into amoebic infections, as interplay with other pathogens apparently influences the intestinal environment, the behavior of cells involved and the manifestations of the disease

Similarity of Traveling-Wave Delays in the Hearing Organs of Humans and Other Tetrapods

Transduction of sound in mammalian ears is mediated by basilar-membrane waves exhibiting delays that increase systematically with distance from the cochlear base. Most contemporary accounts of such “traveling-wave” delays in humans have ignored postmortem basilar-membrane measurements in favor of indirect in vivo estimates derived from brainstem-evoked responses, compound action potentials, and otoacoustic emissions. Here, we show that those indirect delay estimates are either flawed or inadequately calibrated. In particular, we argue against assertions based on indirect estimates that basilar-membrane delays are much longer in humans than in experimental animals. We also estimate in vivo basilar-membrane delays in humans by correcting postmortem measurements in humans according to the effects of death on basilar-membrane vibrations in other mammalian species. The estimated in vivo basilar-membrane delays in humans are similar to delays in the hearing organs of other tetrapods, including those in which basilar membranes do not sustain traveling waves or that lack basilar membranes altogether