Cardiovascular and cutaneous responses to the combination of alcohol and soft drinks: the way to orthostatic intolerance?

Aim. Acute ingestion of alcohol is often accompanied by cardiovascular dysregulation, malaise and even syncope. The full hemodynamic and cutaneous responses to the combination of alcohol and sugar (i.e. alcopops), a common combination in young people, and the mechanisms for the propensity to orthostatic intolerance are not well established. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the cardiovascular and cutaneous responses to alcopops in young subjects. Methods. Cardiovascular and cutaneous responses were assessed in twenty-four healthy young subjects (twelve men, twelve women) sitting comfortably and during prolonged active standing with a 30-min baseline and 130min following ingestion of 400mL of either: water, water+48g sugar, water+vodka (1.28mL.kg-1 of body weight, providing 0.4g alcohol.kg-1), water+sugar+vodka, according to a randomized cross-over design. Results. Compared to alcohol alone, vodka+sugar induced a lower breath alcohol concentration (BrAC), blood pressure and total peripheral resistance (p<0.05), a higher cardiac output and heart rate (p<0.05) both in sitting position and during active standing. In sitting position vodka+sugar consumption also led to a greater increase in skin blood flow and hand temperature (p<0.05) and a decrease in baroreflex sensitivity (p<0.05). We observed similar results between men and women both in sitting position and during active standing. Conclusion. Despite lower BrAC, ingestion of alcopops induced acute vasodilation and hypotension in sitting position and an encroach of the hemodynamic reserve during active standing. Even if subjects did not feel any signs of syncope these results could be of clinical importance with higher doses of alcohol or if combined to other hypotensive challenges

Cardiovascular and metabolic responses to the ingestion of caffeinated herbal tea: drink it hot or cold?

Tea is usually consumed at two temperatures (as hot tea or as iced tea). However, the importance of drink temperature on the cardiovascular system and on metabolism has not been thoroughly investigated. The purpose of this study was to compare the cardiovascular, metabolic and cutaneous responses to the ingestion of caffeinated herbal tea (Yerba Mate) at cold or hot temperature in healthy young subjects. We hypothesized that ingestion of cold tea induces a higher increase in energy expenditure than hot tea without eliciting any negative effects on the cardiovascular system.Methods: Cardiovascular, metabolic and cutaneous responses were analyzed in 23 healthy subjects (12 men and 11 women) sitting comfortably during a 30-min baseline and 90 min following the ingestion of 500 mL of an unsweetened Yerba Mate tea ingested over 5 min either at cold (~3°C) or hot (~55°C) temperature, according to a randomized cross-over design.Results: Averaged over the 90 min post-drink ingestion and compared to hot tea, cold tea induced (1) a decrease in heart rate (cold tea: −5 ± 1 beats.min−1; hot tea: −1 ± 1 beats.min−1, p < 0.05), double product, skin blood flow and hand temperature and (2) an increase in baroreflex sensitivity, fat oxidation and energy expenditure (cold tea: +8.3%; hot tea: +3.7%, p < 0.05). Averaged over the 90 min post-drink ingestion, we observed no differences of tea temperature on cardiac output work and mean blood pressure responses.Conclusion: Ingestion of an unsweetened caffeinated herbal tea at cold temperature induced a greater stimulation of thermogenesis and fat oxidation than hot tea while decreasing cardiac load as suggested by the decrease in the double product. Further experiments are needed to evaluate the clinical impact of unsweetened caffeinated herbal tea at a cold temperature for weight control

Myocardial function at the early phase of traumatic brain injury: a prospective controlled study

The concept of brain-heart interaction has been described in several brain injuries. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) may also lead to cardiac dysfunction but evidences are mainly based upon experimental and clinical retrospective studies. Methods We conducted a prospective case-control study in a level I trauma center. Twenty consecutive adult patients with severe TBI were matched according to age and gender with 20 control patients. The control group included adult patients undergoing a general anesthesia for a peripheral trauma surgery. Conventional and Speckle Tracking Echocardiography (STE) was performed within the first 24 post- traumatic hours in the TBI group and PRE/PER-operative in the control group. The primary endpoint was the left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) measured by the Simpson’s method. Secondary endpoints included the diastolic function and the STE analysis. Results We found similar LVEF between the TBI group and the PER-operative control group (61 % [56–76]) vs. 62 % [52–70]). LV morphological parameters and the systolic function were also similar between the two groups. Regarding the diastolic function, the isovolumic relaxation time was significantly higher in the TBI cohort (125 s [84–178] versus 107 s [83–141], p = 0.04), suggesting a subclinical diastolic dysfunction. Using STE parameters, we observed a trend toward higher strains in the TBI group but only the apical circumferential strain and the basal rotation reached statistical significance. STE-derived parameters of the diastolic function tended to be lower in TBI patients. Discussion No systematic myocardial depression was found in a cohort of severe TBI patients. Conclusions STE revealed a correct adaptation of the left systolic function, while the diastolic function slightl

Cardiovascular and orthostatic responses to a festive meal associated with alcohol in young men

Aim: Sharing a festive meal associated with alcohol is quite common. While the cardiovascular changes occurring after meal ingestion of different nutrient composition has been well-established, the effects of ingesting a festive versus a standard meal accompanied with alcohol are less clear. Here, we compared the postprandial hemodynamics, cutaneous and psychomotor performance responses after ingestion of a classical Swiss festive meal [cheese fondue (CF)] versus a light ready-meal [Nasi Goreng (NG)], both accompanied with white wine.Methods: In a randomized cross over design, we examined in 12 healthy young men, the continuous cardiovascular, cutaneous, and reaction time responses to ingestion of cheese fondue versus a standard meal at rest (sitting position) and hemodynamic changes in response to orthostatic challenge (active standing) in pre- and postprandial phases.Results: Breath alcohol concentration after wine ingestion was similar after both meal types. Compared to the standard meal, consumption of CF induced higher increases in heart rate (HR), cardiac output (CO), double product (DP) and cardiac power output (CPO), greater vasodilation, and rises in skin blood flow and skin temperature. Greater increases in HR, DP, and mean blood pressure (MBP) were observed during orthostatic challenges with CF compared to NG. A two-choice reaction time task revealed similar reaction times with both meals, suggesting no influence of meal composition on psychomotor performance.Conclusion: In sitting position, CF ingestion induced a more important cardiovascular load compared to NG. Although the dose of alcohol and the festive meal used here did not lead to orthostatic hypotension, eating CF induced a greater cardiometabolic load suggesting that hemodynamic reserves have been encroached during active standing. This may impede the cardiovascular capacity during physical exercise or stress situations, particularly in elderly subjects who are at greater risk for postprandial hypotension and cardiovascular diseases

Early and late cardiovascular and metabolic responses to mixed wine: effect of drink temperature

Aim: Red wine is usually ingested as an unmixed drink. However, mixtures of wine with juices and/or sucrose (mixed wine) are becoming more and more popular and could be ingested at either cold or hot temperature. Although the temperature effects on the cardiovascular system have been described for water and tea, with greater energy expenditure (EE) and lower cardiac workload with a colder drink, little information is available on the impact of temperature of alcoholic beverages on alcoholemia and cardiometabolic parameters. The purpose of the present study was to compare the acute cardiovascular and metabolic changes in response to mixed wine ingested at a cold or at a hot temperature.Methods: In a randomized crossover design, 14 healthy young adults (seven men and seven women) were assigned to cold or hot mixed wine ingestion. Continuous cardiovascular, metabolic, and cutaneous monitoring was performed in a comfortable sitting position during a 30-min baseline and for 120 min after ingesting 400 ml of mixed wine, with the alcohol content adjusted to provide 0.4 g ethanol/kg of body weight and drunk at either cold (3∘C) or hot (55∘C) temperature. Breath alcohol concentration was measured intermittently throughout the study.Results: Overall, alcoholemia was not altered by drink temperature, with a tendency toward greater values in women compared to men. Early responses to mixed wine ingestion (0–20 min) indicated that cold drink transiently increased mean blood pressure (BP), cardiac vagal tone, and decreased skin blood flow (SkBf) whereas hot drink did not change BP, decreased vagal tone, and increased SkBf. Both cold and hot mixed wine led to increases in EE and reductions in respiratory quotient. Late responses (60–120 min) led to similar cardiovascular and metabolic changes at both drink temperatures.Conclusion: The magnitude and/or the directional change of most of the study variables differed during the first 20 min following ingestion and may be related to drink temperature. By contrast, late changes in cardiometabolic outcomes were similar between cold and hot wine ingestion, underlying the typical effect of alcohol and sugar intake on the cardiovascular system

Quantitative global studies reveal differential translational control by start codon context across the fungal kingdom

International audienceEukaryotic protein synthesis generally initiates at a start codon defined by an AUG and its surrounding Kozak sequence context, but the quantitative importance of this context in different species is unclear. We tested this concept in two pathogenic Crypto-coccus yeast species by genome-wide mapping of translation and of mRNA 5 and 3 ends. We observed thousands of AUG-initiated upstream open reading frames (uORFs) that are a major contributor to translation repression. uORF use depends on the Kozak sequence context of its start codon, and uORFs with strong contexts promote nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. Transcript leaders in Cryptococcus and other fungi are substantially longer and more AUG-dense than in Saccharomyces. Numerous Crypto-coccus mRNAs encode predicted dual-localized proteins , including many aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, in which a leaky AUG start codon is followed by a strong Kozak context in-frame AUG, separated by mitochondrial-targeting sequence. Analysis of other fungal species shows that such dual-localization is also predicted to be common in the ascomycete mould, Neurospora crassa. Kozak-controlled regulation is correlated with insertions in translational initiation factors in fidelity-determining regions that contact the initiator tRNA. Thus, start codon context is a signal that quantitatively programs both the expression and the structures of proteins in diverse fungi

Identification of an active RNAi pathway in Candida albicans

RNA interference (RNAi) is a fundamental regulatory pathway with a wide range of functions, including regulation of gene expression and maintenance of genome stability. Although RNAi is widespread in the fungal kingdom, well-known species, such as the model yeast , have lost the RNAi pathway. Until now evidence has been lacking for a fully functional RNAi pathway in , a human fungal pathogen considered critically important by the World Health Organization. Here, we demonstrated that the widely used reference strain (SC5314) contains an inactivating missense mutation in the gene encoding for the central RNAi component Argonaute. In contrast, most other isolates contain a canonical Argonaute protein predicted to be functional and RNAi-active. Indeed, using high-throughput small and long RNA sequencing combined with seamless CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing, we demonstrate that an active RNAi machinery represses expression of subtelomeric gene families. Thus, an intact and functional RNAi pathway exists in , highlighting the importance of using multiple reference strains when studying this dangerous pathogen

High intensity interval training (HIIT) improves resting blood pressure, metabolic (MET) capacity and heart rate reserve without compromising cardiac function in sedentary aging men

Background: This study examined a programme of pre-conditioning exercise with subsequent high intensity interval training (HIIT) on blood pressure, echocardiography, cardiac strain mechanics and maximal metabolic (MET) capacity in sedentary (SED) aging men compared with age matched masters athletes (LEX). Methods: Using a STROBE compliant observational design, 39 aging male participants (SED; n=22, aged 62.7± 5.2 yrs) (LEX; n = 17, aged= 61.1 ± 5.4 yrs) were recruited to a study that necessitated three distinct assessment phases; enrolment (Phase A), following pre-conditioning exercise in SED (Phase B), then following 6 weeks of HIIT performed once every five days by both groups before reassessment (Phase C). Hemodynamic, echocardiographic and cardiac strain mechanics were obtained at rest and maximal cardiorespiratory and chronotropic responses were obtained at each measurement phase. Results: The training intervention improved systolic, mean arterial blood pressure, rate pressure product and heart rate reserve (each P b 0.05) in SED and increased MET capacity in both SED and LEX (P b 0.01) which was amplified by HIIT. Echocardiography and cardiac strain measures were unremarkable apart from trivial increase to intra-ventricular septum diastole (IVSd) (P b 0.05) and decrease to left ventricular internal dimension diastole (LVId) (P b 0.05) in LEX following HIIT. Conclusions: A programme of preconditioning exercise with HIIT induces clinically relevant improvements in blood pressure, rate pressure product and encourages recovery of heart rate reserve in SED, while improving maximal MET capacity in both SED and LEX without inducing any pathological cardiovascular remodeling. These data add to the emerging repute of HIIT as a safe and promising exercise prescription to improve cardiovascular function and metabolic capacity in sedentary aging

Iron bioavailability and cardiopulmonary function during ascent to very high altitude

Lette

Comparing genomic variant identification protocols for Candida auris.

Genomic analyses are widely applied to epidemiological, population genetic and experimental studies of pathogenic fungi. A wide range of methods are employed to carry out these analyses, typically without including controls that gauge the accuracy of variant prediction. The importance of tracking outbreaks at a global scale has raised the urgency of establishing high-accuracy pipelines that generate consistent results between research groups. To evaluate currently employed methods for whole-genome variant detection and elaborate best practices for fungal pathogens, we compared how 14 independent variant calling pipelines performed across 35 Candida auris isolates from 4 distinct clades and evaluated the performance of variant calling, single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) counts and phylogenetic inference results. Although these pipelines used different variant callers and filtering criteria, we found high overall agreement of SNPs from each pipeline. This concordance correlated with site quality, as SNPs discovered by a few pipelines tended to show lower mapping quality scores and depth of coverage than those recovered by all pipelines. We observed that the major differences between pipelines were due to variation in read trimming strategies, SNP calling methods and parameters, and downstream filtration criteria. We calculated specificity and sensitivity for each pipeline by aligning three isolates with chromosomal level assemblies and found that the GATK-based pipelines were well balanced between these metrics. Selection of trimming methods had a greater impact on SAMtools-based pipelines than those using GATK. Phylogenetic trees inferred by each pipeline showed high consistency at the clade level, but there was more variability between isolates from a single outbreak, with pipelines that used more stringent cutoffs having lower resolution. This project generated two truth datasets useful for routine benchmarking of C. auris variant calling, a consensus VCF of genotypes discovered by 10 or more pipelines across these 35 diverse isolates and variants for 2 samples identified from whole-genome alignments. This study provides a foundation for evaluating SNP calling pipelines and developing best practices for future fungal genomic studies