Accuracy of citrulline, I-FABP and d-lactate in the diagnosis of acute mesenteric ischemia

Data availability: Research data are not shared.Supplementary Information oi available online at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-98012-w#Sec14 .Early diagnosis of acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) remains a clinical challenge, and no biomarker has been consistently validated. We aimed to assess the accuracy of three promising circulating biomarkers for diagnosing AMI—citrulline, intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP), and D-lactate. A cross-sectional diagnostic study enrolled AMI patients admitted to the intestinal stroke center and controls with acute abdominal pain of another origin. We included 129 patients—50 AMI and 79 controls. Plasma citrulline concentrations were significantly lower in AMI patients compared to the controls [15.3 μmol/L (12.0–26.0) vs. 23.3 μmol/L (18.3–29.8), p = 0.001]. However, the area under the receiver operating curves (AUROC) for the diagnosis of AMI by Citrulline was low: 0.68 (95% confidence interval = 0.58–0.78). No statistical difference was found in plasma I-FABP and plasma D-lactate concentrations between the AMI and control groups, with an AUROC of 0.44, and 0.40, respectively. In this large cross-sectional study, citrulline, I-FABP, and D-lactate failed to differentiate patients with AMI from patients with acute abdominal pain of another origin. Further research should focus on the discovery of new biomarkers.Grants from MSD-Avenir and APHP funded the SURVIBIO study; Alexandre Nuzzo received Ph.D. Grants from “Fondation de l'Avenir” and the French Gastroenterology Society (SNFGE)

Gender-related differences in cardiometabolic risk factors and lifestyle behaviors in treatment-seeking adolescents with severe obesity

Background Obesity during adolescence is associated with cardiovascular mortality in adulthood. The adverse obesity-related cardiometabolic risk profile is already observed in adolescence. We aimed to examine possible gender differences in cardiometabolic risk factors and lifestyle behaviors among adolescents with severe obesity, hypothesizing that boys would have both a higher prevalence of the metabolic syndrome as well as less healthy lifestyle behaviors than girls. Methods Cross-sectional study of treatment-seeking adolescents with severe obesity who attended the Morbid Obesity Centre at Vestfold Hospital Trust and who were consecutively enrolled in the Vestfold Register of Obese Children between September 2009 and September 2015. A total of 313 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years were recruited, whereof 268 subjects (49% boys) completed a food and activity frequency questionnaire and were included in the analysis. Results Mean (SD) age, BMI and BMI SDS were 15 (1.6) years, 38.6 (5.9) kg/m2 and 3.5 (0.6). Levels of LDL cholesterol, fasting insulin and glucose and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) did not differ between genders. Compared to girls, boys had significantly higher triglycerides (p = 0.037) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) (p = 0.003), as well as lower HDL cholesterol (p = 0.002). The metabolic syndrome was present in 27% of the boys and 19% of the girls (p = 0.140), and the prevalence of high DBP, dyslipidemia and dysglycemia also did not differ significantly between genders. The prevalence of high SBP was higher in boys than in girls (19% vs. 9%, p = 0.021). Gender was associated with a number of lifestyle habits, as a larger proportions of boys had higher screen time (p = 0.032), more regular breakfast eating (p = 0.023), higher intake of sugar sweetened soda (p = 0.036), and lower intake of vegetables than girls (p = 0.011). By contrast, physical activity level and intake of fruit and berries did not differ between genders. Conclusions Male treatment-seeking adolescents with severe obesity had a more unfavorable set of metabolic and behavioral risk factors for cardiovascular disease than girls. Our results indicate that lifestyle behavioral markers should be thoroughly assessed in both genders, and possible gender-related differences in risk profile should be taken into account in future treatment programs

Internal quantum efficiency and Auger recombination in green, yellow and red InGaN-based light emitters grown along the polar direction

International audienceWe comparatively study the onset of photo-induced non-radiative intrinsic Auger recombination processes for red, yellow and green light emitting InGaNsingle bondGaN hetero-structures grown along the polar orientation. We find a dramatic reduction of the photo excitation densities triggering the domination of Auger effect with increasing emission wavelength; that is to say in concert with the enhancement of the internal electric field in the structure. In long wavelength emitters, the internal electric field is stronger, and hence reducing the impact of the internal electric field is more critical

The universal photoluminescence behaviour of yellow light emitting (Ga,In)N/GaN heterostructures

International audienceTime-resolved photoluminescence spectra of orange light emitting (Ga,In)N-based devices have been grown by metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy on C plane sapphire for indium compositions ranging up to 23 percents. The temperature dependent time resolved photoluminescence spectra collected through the 8K-300K range are found to exhibit behaviours that are found to be very similar to what is reported in literature in samples with different designs (well width, indium composition in the well layer). However, our quantum devices always exhibit a two-mode exponential decay with a long decay time about 4 to five times longer than the short one, which was not reported so far.The photoluminescence decay times are wavelength-dependent as always found for indium rich quantum well, a behaviour that is interpreted in terms of carrier localization in indium-rich regions of the alloy active layers. The spectral dependence of the decay time, which were fitted using sigmoidal function, give access to an average decay time, centred at a given energy, with a phenomenological broadening constant. The average splitting between characteristic energies for long and short decay times, the broadening constants both increase with the indium composition. Radiative and non-radiative recombination times are deduced in the whole temperature range. The average decay time increase exponentially with the product of the well width to indium composition. This quantity is found to be an excellent indicator of the device performance

Synthesis of Verubecestat, a BACE1 Inhibitor for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

Verubecestat is an inhibitor of β-secretase being evaluated for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The first-generation route relies on an amide coupling with a functionalized aniline, the preparation of which introduces synthetic inefficiencies. The second-generation route replaces this with a copper-catalyzed C–N coupling, allowing for more direct access to the target. Other features of the new route include a diastereoselective Mannich-type addition into an Ellman sulfinyl ketimine and a late-stage guanidinylation