A short food frequency questionnaire to assess intake of seafood and n-3 supplements: validation with biomarkers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Seafood intake is associated with beneficial effects for human health. Seafood provides a number of nutrients beyond the traditionally known long chain marine n-3 fatty acids EPA, DPA and DHA, such as protein, vitamin D, iodine, selenium and vitamin B₁₂. Valid assessment of dietary seafood and n-3 supplement intakes are becoming increasingly crucial when giving recommendations to populations as seafood consumption is regarded as an important part of a healthy and balanced diet.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The aim was to validate a short FFQ developed for assessment of dietary intake of seafood and n-3 supplements using the biomarkers marine n-3 fatty acids in erythrocytes and 25(OH)D in serum.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fifty-three healthy Norwegians aged 30-64 years with a mean BMI of 25 kg/m²were compliant with the study protocol. 70% reported eating seafood for dinner one to two times per week, and 45% reported to eat seafood as spread, in salads or as snack meal three to five times or more per week. The FFQ correlated significantly with both the levels of marine n-3 fatty acids (r = 0.73, p < 0.0001) and with 25(OH)D (r = 0.37, p < 0.01). Mean level of marine n-3 and of 25(OH)D were 232 ± 65 μg/g erythrocytes and 73 ± 33 nmol/L serum, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The present short FFQ predicted strongly the levels of marine n-3 fatty acids in erythrocytes, and predicted fairly good the level of serum 25(OH)D and may therefore be a valid method for assessment of seafood and n-3 supplements intake among adults.</p

A Risk Score for Predicting Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) develops as a result of environmental influences on the genetically susceptible. Siblings of people with MS have an increased risk of both MS and demonstrating asymptomatic changes in keeping with MS. We set out to develop an MS risk score integrating both genetic and environmental risk factors. We used this score to identify siblings at extremes of MS risk and attempted to validate the score using brain MRI.78 probands with MS, 121 of their unaffected siblings and 103 healthy controls were studied. Personal history was taken, and serological and genetic analysis using the illumina immunochip was performed. Odds ratios for MS associated with each risk factor were derived from existing literature, and the log values of the odds ratios from each of the risk factors were combined in an additive model to provide an overall score. Scores were initially calculated using log odds ratio from the HLA-DRB1*1501 allele only, secondly using data from all MS-associated SNPs identified in the 2011 GWAS. Subjects with extreme risk scores underwent validation studies. MRI was performed on selected individuals.There was a significant difference in the both risk scores between people with MS, their unaffected siblings and healthy controls (p<0.0005). Unaffected siblings had a risk score intermediate to people with MS and controls (p<0.0005). The best performing risk score generated an AUC of 0.82 (95%CI 0.75–0.88).The risk score demonstrates an AUC on the threshold for clinical utility. Our score enables the identification of a high-risk sibling group to inform pre-symptomatic longitudinal studies

Inhibition of Hippocampal Synaptic Activity by ATP, Hypoxia or Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation Does Not Require CD73

Adenosine, through activation of its A1 receptors, has neuroprotective effects during hypoxia and ischemia. Recently, using transgenic mice with neuronal expression of human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1), we reported that nucleoside transporter-mediated release of adenosine from neurons was not a key mechanism facilitating the actions of adenosine at A1 receptors during hypoxia/ischemia. The present study was performed to test the importance of CD73 (ecto-5′-nucleotidase) for basal and hypoxic/ischemic adenosine production. Hippocampal slice electrophysiology was performed with CD73+/+ and CD73−/− mice. Adenosine and ATP had similar inhibitory effects in both genotypes, with IC50 values of approximately 25 µM. In contrast, ATP was a less potent inhibitor (IC50 = 100 µM) in slices from mice expressing hENT1 in neurons. The inhibitory effects of ATP in CD73+/+ and CD73−/− slices were blocked by the adenosine A1 receptor antagonist 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (DPCPX) and were enhanced by the nucleoside transport inhibitor S-(4-nitrobenzyl)-6-thioinosine (NBTI), consistent with effects that are mediated by adenosine after metabolism of ATP. AMP showed a similar inhibitory effect to ATP and adenosine, indicating that the response to ATP was not mediated by P2 receptors. In comparing CD73−/− and CD73+/+ slices, hypoxia and oxygen-glucose deprivation produced similar depression of synaptic transmission in both genotypes. An inhibitor of tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP) was found to attenuate the inhibitory effects of AMP and ATP, increase basal synaptic activity and reduce responses to oxygen-glucose deprivation selectively in slices from CD73−/− mice. These results do not support an important role for CD73 in the formation of adenosine in the CA1 area of the hippocampus during basal, hypoxic or ischemic conditions, but instead point to TNAP as a potential source of extracellular adenosine when CD73 is absent

Benign Ancient Schwannoma of the abdominal wall: An unwanted birthday present

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There has been a recent growth in the use of whole body Computerised Tomography (CT) scans in the private sector as a screening test for asymptomatic disease. This is despite scant evidence to show any positive effect on morbidity or mortality. There has been concern raised over the possible harms of the test in terms of radiation exposure as well as the risk and anxiety of further investigation and treatment for the large numbers of benign lesions identified.</p> <p>Case Presentation</p> <p>A healthy 64 year old lady received a privately funded whole body CT scan for her birthday which revealed an incidental mass in the right iliac fossa. This was investigated with further imaging and colonoscopy and as confident diagnosis could not be made, eventually excised. Histology demonstrated this to be a benign ancient schwannoma and we believe this to be the first reported case of an abdominal wall schwannoma in the English literature</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Ancient schwannomas are rare tumours of the peripheral nerve sheaths more usually found in the head, neck and flexor surfaces of extremities. They are a subtype of classical schwannomas with a predominance of degenerative changes. Our case highlights the pitfalls of such screening tests in demonstrating benign disease and subjecting patients to what turns out to be unnecessary invasive investigation and treatment. It provides evidence as to the consequences of the large number of false positive results that are created by blind CT scanning of asymptomatic patients i.e. its tendency to detect pseudodiesease rather than affect survival rates. Should the number of scans increase there may be an unnecessary burden on NHS resources due to the large numbers of benign lesions picked up, that are then referred for further investigation.</p

Memory-experience gap in early adolescents' happiness reports

Studies among adult populations show that estimates of how happy one has felt in the past tend to be more positive than average happiness as assessed using time sampling techniques. This ‘memory-experience gap’ is attributed to cognitive biases, among which fading affect bias. In this paper we report a study among 352 pupils of a secondary school in the Netherlands. These youngsters reported subsequently: 1) how happy they had felt yesterday, 2) how happy they had felt during the last month, 3) what they had done the previous day and 4) how the

Spontaneous Abortion and Preterm Labor and Delivery in Nonhuman Primates: Evidence from a Captive Colony of Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Preterm birth is a leading cause of perinatal mortality, yet the evolutionary history of this obstetrical syndrome is largely unknown in nonhuman primate species.We examined the length of gestation during pregnancies that occurred in a captive chimpanzee colony by inspecting veterinary and behavioral records spanning a total of thirty years. Upon examination of these records we were able to confidently estimate gestation length for 93 of the 97 (96%) pregnancies recorded at the colony. In total, 78 singleton gestations resulted in live birth, and from these pregnancies we estimated the mean gestation length of normal chimpanzee pregnancies to be 228 days, a finding consistent with other published reports. We also calculated that the range of gestation in normal chimpanzee pregnancies is approximately forty days. Of the remaining fifteen pregnancies, only one of the offspring survived, suggesting viability for chimpanzees requires a gestation of approximately 200 days. These fifteen pregnancies constitute spontaneous abortions and preterm deliveries, for which the upper gestational age limit was defined as 2 SD from the mean length of gestation (208 days).The present study documents that preterm birth occurred within our study population of captive chimpanzees. As in humans, pregnancy loss is not uncommon in chimpanzees, In addition, our findings indicate that both humans and chimpanzees show a similar range of normal variation in gestation length, suggesting this was the case at the time of their last common ancestor (LCA). Nevertheless, our data suggest that whereas chimpanzees' normal gestation length is ∼20-30 days after reaching viability, humans' normal gestation length is approximately 50 days beyond the estimated date of viability without medical intervention. Future research using a comparative evolutionary framework should help to clarify the extent to which mechanisms at work in normal and preterm parturition are shared in these species

The pancreatic beta cell surface proteome

The pancreatic beta cell is responsible for maintaining normoglycaemia by secreting an appropriate amount of insulin according to blood glucose levels. The accurate sensing of the beta cell extracellular environment is therefore crucial to this endocrine function and is transmitted via its cell surface proteome. Various surface proteins that mediate or affect beta cell endocrine function have been identified, including growth factor and cytokine receptors, transporters, ion channels and proteases, attributing important roles to surface proteins in the adaptive behaviour of beta cells in response to acute and chronic environmental changes. However, the largely unknown composition of the beta cell surface proteome is likely to harbour yet more information about these mechanisms and provide novel points of therapeutic intervention and diagnostic tools. This article will provide an overview of the functional complexity of the beta cell surface proteome and selected surface proteins, outline the mechanisms by which their activity may be modulated, discuss the methods and challenges of comprehensively mapping and studying the beta cell surface proteome, and address the potential of this interesting subproteome for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in human disease

Persistent systemic inflammation is associated with poor clinical outcomes in COPD: a novel phenotype.

Because chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous condition, the identification of specific clinical phenotypes is key to developing more effective therapies. To explore if the persistence of systemic inflammation is associated with poor clinical outcomes in COPD we assessed patients recruited to the well-characterized ECLIPSE cohort (NCT00292552)