OPA1-related auditory neuropathy: site of lesion and outcome of cochlear implantation.

Hearing impairment is the second most prevalent clinical feature after optic atrophy in Dominant Optic Atrophy associated with mutations in the OPA1 gene. In this study we characterized the hearing dysfunction in OPA1-linked disorders and provided effective rehabilitative options to improve speech perception. We studied two groups of OPA1 subjects, one comprising 11 patients (7 males; age range 13-79 years) carrying OPA1 mutations inducing haploinsufficiency, the other, 10 subjects (3 males; age range 5-58 years) carrying OPA1 missense mutations. Both groups underwent audiometric assessment with pure tone and speech perception evaluation, and otoacoustic emissions and auditory brainstem response recording. Cochlear potentials were recorded through transtympanic electrocochleography from the group of patients harboring OPA1 missense mutations and were compared to recordings obtained from 20 normally-hearing controls and from 19 subjects with cochlear hearing loss. Eight patients carrying OPA1 missense mutations underwent cochlear implantation. Speech perception measures and electrically-evoked auditory nerve and brainstem responses were obtained after one year of cochlear implant use. Nine out of 11 patients carrying OPA1 mutations inducing haploinsufficiency had normal hearing function. In contrast, all but one subject harboring OPA1 missense mutations displayed impaired speech perception, abnormal brainstem responses and presence of otoacoustic emissions consistent with auditory neuropathy. In electrocochleography recordings, cochlear microphonic had enhanced amplitudes while summating potential showed normal latency and peak amplitude consistent with preservation of both outer and inner hair cell activities. After cancelling the cochlear microphonic, the synchronized neural response seen in both normally-hearing controls and subjects with cochlear hearing loss was replaced by a prolonged, low-amplitude negative potential that decreased in both amplitude and duration during rapid stimulation consistent with neural generation. The use of cochlear implant improved speech perception in all but one patient. Brainstem potentials were recorded in response to electrical stimulation in five subjects out of six, whereas no compound action potential was evoked from the auditory nerve through the cochlear implant. These findings indicate that underlying the hearing impairment in patients carrying OPA1 missense mutations is a disordered synchrony in auditory nerve fiber activity resulting from neural degeneration affecting the terminal dendrites. Cochlear implantation improves speech perception and synchronous activation of auditory pathways by by-passing the site of lesion

Serotonergic modulation of rat pineal gland activity: In vivo evidence for a 5-hydroxytryptamine(2c) receptor involvement

There are some suggestions that, in the pineal gland, serotonin acts not only as a precursor of melatonin but also plays a role in the modulation of the pineal biosynthetic activity. To corroborate this possible neuromodulatory role of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) (5-HT) on the pineal gland, the effects of two 5-HT2 receptor agonists meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (m-CPP) and 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane were assessed in vivo on pineal N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activity and melatonin content in rats. m-CPP potentiated the enhancement of NAT activity and pineal melatonin content induced by isoproterenol administration during daytime, whereas it did not affect the diurnal basal biosynthetic activity of the gland. At night, m-CPP and 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane enhanced significantly the physiological increases in both pineal NAT activity and melatonin content. This enhancement was prevented by pretreatment with N-(1-methyl-5-indolyl)-N'-(3-pyridyl) urea hydrochloride, an antagonist with higher affinity for 5-HT(2B/C) than for 5-HT(2A) receptor, as well as by pretreatment with 8-[5-(2,4-dimethoxy-5-(4-trifluoromethyl-phenylsulphonamido)-phenyl-5-oxopent hyl]-1,3,8-triazospiro[4,5]decane-2,4-dione, the most specific 5-HT(2C) receptor now available, but not by pretreatment with ketanserin, an antagonist with higher affinity for 5-HT(2A) than for 5-HT(2C) receptor. These results suggest that 5-HT(2C) receptors are likely involved in the mediation of the serotonergic modulation of pineal biosynthetic activity in rats

Water as a solvent of election for obtaining oleuropein-rich extracts from olive (Olea europaea) leaves

Leaves from Olea europaea represent one of the main by-products of the olive oil industry, containing a plethora of bioactive compounds with several promising activities for human health. An organic solvent-free extraction method was developed for the recovery of olive leaf phenols, which obtained an extract containing oleuropein in high amounts. A comparison of various extraction media is reported, together with the total phenolic content, DPPH (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) content, ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity), and polyphenol oxidase activity of the corresponding extracts. The polyphenol profiles and content of the most representative extracts have also been studied. Extraction solvent and temperature significantly influenced the phenolic content and antioxidant activity of the extracts, with hot water representing the solvent of election for the extraction of bioactive compounds from this matrix. All the extracts obtained showed reasonably high total phenol content (TPC) and good DPPH radical scavenging activity; among them, the water extract is characterized by desirable traits and could be used for many industrial applications and human consumption

Increasing Vegetable Intakes: An Updated Systematic Review of Published Interventions

Vegetable consumption is important for a variety of health reasons, yet intakes are typically lower than recommended. Interventions to improve fruit and vegetable consumption are available, but these interventions are typically more successful for fruit consumption, while vegetable intakes remain low. This chapter details the interventions currently available that focus specifically on improving vegetable intakes. A systematic review of the published literature was conducted in 2015, and this has been updated for this chapter. Databases - PubMed, PsychInfo and Medline were searched over all years of records until January 2017 using pre-specified terms. Our searches identified 119 studies, detailing 206 interventions. Interventions aimed to use or change hedonic factors, such as taste, liking and familiarity (n=103), use or change environmental factors (n=54), use or change cognitive factors (n=28), or a combination of strategies (n=21). Increased vegetable acceptance, selection and/or consumption were reported to some degree in 186 (90%) interventions. Greatest success appears to be achieved in interventions that improve education, change the environment or use multiple approaches, but long-term success and cost-effectiveness are rarely considered. A focus on long-term benefits and sustained behaviour change is required

Exploring salient dimensions in a free sorting task: A cross-country study within the elderly population

Free sorting tasks have been widely applied on different age segments to study the categorization of foods. However the method has received little attention in the investigation of older adults’ perception. Given the importance of understanding elderly perceptions in order to develop acceptable products, the main objective of this study was to investigate the factors that were able to affect the categorization of samples within different age segments of the healthy elderly consumers. Furthermore, in order to support the obtained configurations, the applicability of a free sorting task within different age segments of elderly population was investigated. The role of familiarity was considered to better understand the process of food categorization. A free sorting and a liking task were applied on French and Italian elderly to study perception and preference of familiar (peas) and less familiar (sweetcorn) vegetables. Similarities between the categorization maps, the preference maps and the sensory maps from vegetable samples were assessed through the RV coefficient and map visual inspection. Familiarity with the product was the main factor affecting the categorization among elderly. Categorization maps from a familiar vegetable were found to be suitable to obtain information on sensory and hedonic dimensions, while maps obtained from a less familiar vegetable mainly depicted sensory variability. The free sorting task was found to be a suitable method to use with healthy older adults, that allowed the detection of differences in the categorization of stimuli even among the more aged representatives of the elderly population

A Role for Timp3 in Microbiota-Driven Hepatic Steatosis and Metabolic Dysfunction

The effect of gut microbiota on obesity and insulin resistance is now recognized, but the underlying host-dependent mechanisms remain poorly undefined. We find that tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3 knockout (Timp3(-/-)) mice fed a high-fat diet exhibit gut microbiota dysbiosis, an increase in branched chain and aromatic (BCAA) metabolites, liver steatosis, and an increase in circulating soluble IL-6 receptors (sIL6Rs). sIL6Rs can then activate inflammatory cells, such as CD11c(+) cells, which drive metabolic inflammation. Depleting the microbiota through antibiotic treatment significantly improves glucose tolerance, hepatic steatosis, and systemic inflammation, and neutralizing sIL6R signaling reduces inflammation, but only mildly impacts glucose tolerance. Collectively, our results suggest that gut microbiota is the primary driver of the observed metabolic dysfunction, which is mediated, in part, through IL-6 signaling. Our findings also identify an important role for Timp3 in mediating the effect of the microbiota in metabolic diseases

A comparative study of electrochemical, spectroscopic and structural properties of phenyl, thienyl and furyl substituted ethylenes

a detailed electrochemical and photophysical comparative study of three parallel series of phenyl, thienyl and furyl substituted ethylenes has been carried out, implemented by the computational calculation of selected terms. Relationships have been highlighted between molecular structure (number and type of aromatic rings) and important functional properties (in particular, electronic features and oligomerization ability). Interestingly, some of the studied heteroaryl-ethylenes show emission in the solid state displaying an aggregation-induced emission behavior

Increasing vegetable consumption out-of-home: VeggiEAT and Veg+projects

© 2020 The Authors. Nutrition Bulletin published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Nutrition Foundation Adequate vegetable consumption is fundamental to a healthy, balanced diet; however, global compliance with recommendations to increase consumption is poor. There is a growing interest in the sustainability of current dietary patterns in light of expected climate change and an expanding global population where part of the response is increasing vegetable intake. Two international projects, VeggiEAT and Veg+, explored the determinants of vegetable liking and consumption in different age groups and countries and the effect of a nudging strategy on vegetable consumption in an out-of-home setting. The projects found that the importance given by consumers to natural or healthy ingredients, social norms, female gender and positive attitudes towards nudging all influenced vegetable consumption. Some sensory factors, such as bitterness and sourness, had a negative loading, while others, such as sweetness, had a positive effect on liking for vegetables. ‘Dish of the day’, as a nudging strategy in a workplace canteen setting, increased vegetable dish selection for some of the sample (adolescent females) but not for males or older people. Globally, there is a strong need to promote the consumption of vegetables as a public health issue but also to improve their availability and uptake, especially within out-of-home foodservice