Gluten and gluten-dependent diseases

Gluten to mieszanina wielu pojedynczych, powiązanych białek, które tworzą materiał magazynowy w pszenicy. Są to głównie gliadyny monomeryczne i gluteniny polimeryczne tworzące ze sobą kompleksy, stabilizowane mostkami dwusiarczkowymi, dlatego też tworząca je cysteina odgrywa bardzo ważną rolę w budowie i funkcjonalności glutenu. W artykule porównano cechy wybranych zbóż, takie jak zawartość poszczególnych składników pokarmowych, wymagania glebowo-klimatyczne oraz właściwości stosowane w produkcji żywności. Obecność glutenu w żywności jest problemem z punktu widzenia jej wpływu na organizm człowieka. Oczekuje się, że skupienie badań na modyfikacji genomu pszenicy doprowadzi do otrzymania odmiany pszenicy o nietoksycznych właściwościach dla osób cierpiących na celiakię i różne formy nietolerancji białka glutenu. Specyficzne sekwencje znalezione w białkach pszenicy wiążą się z przeciwciałami IgE, powodując różnorodne objawy chorobowe. W artykule omówiono kryteria diagnostyczne celiakii i alergii na pszenicę oraz wpływ odstawienia glutenu na kliniczne objawy celiakii

Diagnostics and physiotherapy in rheumatoid arthritis

Reumatoidalne zapalenie stawów (RZS) jest jedną z najczęstszych chorób autoimmunologicznych tkanki łącznej. Pierwsze objawy choroby pojawiają się zwykle między 30 a 50 rokiem życia i obejmują przewlekły proces zapalny, który powoduje postępujące niszczenie układu kostno-stawowego i zmiany narządowe. Etiologia RZS nie jest dotychczas dostatecznie poznana, a zarówno czynniki genetyczne, jak i środowiskowe odgrywają rolę w patogenezie RZS. Rozpoznanie opiera się na kryteriach American Collegium of Reumathology (ACR) oraz European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) z 2010 roku. Wśród metod fizykoterapii stosowanych w leczeniu RZS szczególną rolę odgrywa krioterapia (kriostymulacja). Zgodnie z wytycznymi Panelu Ottawa kinezyterapia czynnościowa powinna odgrywać szczególną rolę u chorych na RZS, który ma na celu przywrócenie wzorców ruchowych najbardziej zbliżonych do fizjologii. Stosując kinezyterapię u chorych na RZS, należy monitorować przebieg procesów kompensacyjnych. Brak nadzoru lekarza i fizjoterapeuty nad powyższym procesem prowadzi do przeciążenia, a następnie deformacji układu mięśniowo-szkieletowego

Cell specific microvesicles vary with season and disease predisposition in healthy and previously laminitic ponies

Microvesicles are small (up to 1 μm) vesicles found in plasma and other bodily fluids. They are recognised as part of the normal system of inter-cellular communication but altered numbers are also used as biomarkers of disease. Microvesicles have not been studied in detail in the horse but may be relevant to diseases such as laminitis. Identification of equine cell specific microvesicles was performed by developing a panel of cross reactive antibodies to use in flow cytometry to detect microvesicles of platelet, leucocyte and endothelial origin in plasma from healthy ponies and those predisposed to laminitis. The total number and proportion of microvesicles from the different cell types varied with season and there were more annexin V positive endothelial MV in non laminitic ponies compared to previously laminitic ponies. Development of this antibody panel and the technique for measuring microvesicles in the horse opens a new field for further investigation of these important structures in equine health and disease

t4 Workshop Report: Integrated Testing Strategies (ITS) for Safety Assessment

Integrated testing strategies (ITS), as opposed to single definitive tests or fixed batteries of tests, are expected to efficiently combine different information sources in a quantifiable fashion to satisfy an information need, in this case for regulatory safety assessments. With increasing awareness of the limitations of each individual tool and the development of highly targeted tests and predictions, the need for combining pieces of evidence increases. The discussions that took place during this workshop, which brought together a group of experts coming from different related areas, illustrate the current state of the art of ITS, as well as promising developments and identifiable challenges. The case of skin sensitization was taken as an example to understand how possible ITS can be constructed, optimized and validated. This will require embracing and developing new concepts such as adverse outcome pathways (AOP), advanced statistical learning algorithms and machine learning, mechanistic validation and “Good ITS Practices”.JRC.I.5-Systems Toxicolog

Production of β‑ionone by combined expression of carotenogenic and plant CCD1 genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Background Apocarotenoids, like the C13-norisoprenoids, are natural compounds that contribute to the flavor and/or aroma of flowers and foods. They are produced in aromatic plantslike raspberries and rosesby the enzymatic cleavage of carotenes. Due to their pleasant aroma and flavour, apocarotenoids have high commercial value for the cosmetic and food industry, but currently their production is mainly assured by chemical synthesis. In the present study, a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain that synthesizes the apocarotenoid -ionone was constructed by combining integrative vectors and high copy number episomal vectors, in an engineered strain that accumulates FPP. Results Integration of an extra copy of the geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase gene (BTS1), together with the carotenogenic genes crtYB and crtI from the ascomycete Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous, resulted in carotenoid producing cells. The additional integration of the carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase gene from the plant Petunia hybrida (PhCCD1) let to the production of low amounts of -ionone (0.073 ± 0.01 mg/g DCW) and changed the color of the strain from orange to yellow. The expression of the crtYB gene from a high copy number plasmid in this former strain increased -ionone concentration fivefold (0.34 ± 0.06 mg/g DCW). Additionally, the episomal expression of crtYB together with the PhCCD1 gene in the same vector resulted in a final 8.5-fold increase of -ionone concentration (0.63 ± 0.02 mg/g DCW). Batch fermentations with this strain resulted in a final specific concentration of 1 mg/g DCW at 50 h, which represents a 15-fold increase. Conclusions An efficient -ionone producing yeast platform was constructed by combining integrative and episomal constructs. By combined expression of the genes BTS1, the carotenogenic crtYB, crtI genes and the plant PhCCD1 genethe highest -ionone concentration reported to date by a cell factory was achieved. This microbial cell factory represents a starting point for flavor production by a sustainable and efficient process that could replace current methods.This work was funded by grants COPEC-UC 6C-063 and FONDECYT No 1130822, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation

Developing a framework for assessing respiratory sensitization: A workshop report

Respiratory tract sensitization can have significant acute and chronic health implications. While induction of respiratory sensitization is widely recognized for some chemicals, validated standard methods or frameworks for identifying and characterizing the hazard are not available. A workshop on assessment of respiratory sensitization was held to discuss the current state of science for identification and characterization of respiratory sensitizer hazard, identify information facilitating development of validated standard methods and frameworks, and consider the regulatory and practical risk management needs. Participants agreed on a predominant Th2 immunological mechanism and several steps in respiratory sensitization. Some overlapping cellular events in respiratory and skin sensitization are well understood, but full mechanism(s) remain unavailable. Progress on non-animal approaches to skin sensitization testing, ranging from in vitro systems, –omics, in silico profiling, and structural profiling were acknowledged. Addressing both induction and elicitation phases remains challenging. Participants identified lack of a unifying dose metric as increasing the difficulty of interpreting dosimetry across exposures. A number of research needs were identified, including an agreed list of respiratory sensitizers and other asthmagens, distinguishing between adverse effects from immune-mediated versus non immunological mechanisms. A number of themes emerged from the discussion regarding future testing strategies, particularly the need for a tiered framework respiratory sensitizer assessment. These workshop present a basis for moving towards a weight-of-evidence assessment

Swift, the need for reason and religion

Abstract not availabl