The effect of exercise intensity on gastric emptying rate, appetite and gut derived hormone responses after consuming a standardised semi-solid meal in healthy males

© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This study investigated the acute circulating gut hormone, appetite and gastric emptying rate responses to a semi-solid meal following exercise at different intensities. Twelve men completed three trials in a randomised-crossover design, consisting of continuous cycling at 70% ˙VO2Peak(HIGH), 40% ˙VO2Peak(LOW) or rest (CONTROL). Baseline samples were collected after an overnight fast before undertaking the 60 min exercise or rest period, followed by 30 min rest before consumption of a standardised semi-solid meal (~242 kcal). During the 2 h postprandial period, gastric emptying rate of the meal was examined using the13C-breath test method, appetite was measured using visual analogue scales, and serum concentrations of acylated ghrelin, pancreatic polypeptide, peptide YY, glucagon-like peptide-1, insulin, glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol and non-esterified fatty acids were assessed. Subjective appetite response was not different between trials (p > 0.05). Half emptying time of the meal was 89 ± 13, 82 ± 8 and 94 ± 31 min on CONTROL, LOW and HIGH, respectively (p = 0.247). In healthy un-trained adult males, responses to exercise at intensities of 70% and 40% ˙VO2Peakdid not differ to a non-exercise control for measurements of subsequent gastric emptying, circulating gut hormone response or appetite. These results suggest that exercise intensity has little effect on post-exercise appetite response to a semi-solid meal

A comparison of intermittent and continuous exercise bouts at different intensities on appetite and postprandial metabolic responses in healthy men

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Exercise intensity affects many potential postprandial responses, but there is limited information on the influence of exercise modality. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate if the nature of exercise at two different intensities would affect gastric emptying rate (GER), appetite and metabolic responses following ingestion of a semi-solid meal. Twelve healthy men completed, in a random order, four 60-min cycles at 60% VO2peak (MOD), 40% VO2peak (LOW) and in a continuous (CON) or intermittent (INT) manner. INT consisted of 20 × 1-min exercise bouts with 2-min rest breaks. INT and CON were matched for total work output at each intensity. GER of the post-exercise meal was measured for 2 h using the 13C-breath method. Blood glucose, substrate utilisation and appetite ratings were measured at regular intervals throughout all trials and 24-h energy intake (EI) post-trials was assessed. GER-Delta over Baseline (DOB) was lower (p 0.05). 24-h post-trial EI was similar between LOW-CON vs. LOW-INT (p > 0.05), although MOD-INT vs. MOD-CON 3500 ± 1419 vs. 2556 ± 989 kCal: p < 0.001 was elevated. In summary, MOD-INT exercise delays GER without stimulating perceived appetite in the 2 h period after meal ingestion, although EI was greater in the 24-h post-trial

Antennal sensilla of two female anopheline sibling species with differing host ranges

BACKGROUND: Volatile odors are important sensory inputs that shape the behaviour of insects, including agricultural pests and disease vectors. Anopheles gambiae s.s. is a highly anthropophilic mosquito and is the major vector for human malaria in sub-Sahara Africa, while Anopheles quadriannulatus, largely due to its zoophilic behaviour, is considered a non-vector species in the same region. Careful studies of olfaction in these sibling species may lead to insights about the mechanisms that drive host preference behaviour. In the present study, the external anatomy of the antenna, the principle olfactory organ in the female mosquito of both species, was examined as an initial step toward more detailed comparisons. METHODS: Scanning electron and light microscopy were used to examine the antennae ultrastructures of adult female An. gambiae s.s. and An. quadriannulatus. Sensory structures, called sensilla, were categorized and counted; their distributions are reported here as well as densities calculated for each species. RESULTS: Both An. gambiae s.s. and An. quadriannulatus bear five classes of sensilla on their antennae: chaetica (bristles), trichodea (hairs), basiconica (pegs), coeloconica (pitted pegs), and ampullacea (pegs in tubes). Female An. quadriannulatus antennae have approximately one-third more sensilla, and a proportionally larger surface area, than female An. gambiae s.s. antennae. CONCLUSION: The same types of sensilla are found on the antennae of both species. While An. quadriannulatus has greater numbers of each sensilla type, sensilla densities are very similar for each species, suggesting that other factors may be more important to such olfactory-driven behaviours as host preference

Alterations in the gut microbiome implicate key taxa and metabolic pathways across inflammatory arthritis phenotypes

Musculoskeletal diseases affect up to 20% of adults worldwide. The gut microbiome has been implicated in inflammatory conditions, but large-scale metagenomic evaluations have not yet traced the routes by which immunity in the gut affects inflammatory arthritis. To characterize the community structure and associated functional processes driving gut microbial involvement in arthritis, the Inflammatory Arthritis Microbiome Consortium investigated 440 stool shotgun metagenomes comprising 221 adults diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, or psoriatic arthritis and 219 healthy controls and individuals with joint pain without an underlying inflammatory cause. Diagnosis explained about 2% of gut taxonomic variability, which is comparable in magnitude to inflammatory bowel disease. We identified several candidate microbes with differential carriage patterns in patients with elevated blood markers for inflammation. Our results confirm and extend previous findings of increased carriage of typically oral and inflammatory taxa and decreased abundance and prevalence of typical gut clades, indicating that distal inflammatory conditions, as well as local conditions, correspond to alterations to the gut microbial composition. We identified several differentially encoded pathways in the gut microbiome of patients with inflammatory arthritis, including changes in vitamin B salvage and biosynthesis and enrichment of iron sequestration. Although several of these changes characteristic of inflammation could have causal roles, we hypothesize that they are mainly positive feedback responses to changes in host physiology and immune homeostasis. By connecting taxonomic alternations to functional alterations, this work expands our understanding of the shifts in the gut ecosystem that occur in response to systemic inflammation during arthritis

Transcriptome profiling of chemosensory appendages in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae reveals tissue- and sex-specific signatures of odor coding

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chemosensory signal transduction guides the behavior of many insects, including <it>Anopheles gambiae</it>, the major vector for human malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. To better understand the molecular basis of mosquito chemosensation we have used whole transcriptome RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to compare transcript expression profiles between the two major chemosensory tissues, the antennae and maxillary palps, of adult female and male <it>An. gambiae</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We compared chemosensory tissue transcriptomes to whole body transcriptomes of each sex to identify chemosensory enhanced genes. In the six data sets analyzed, we detected expression of nearly all known chemosensory genes and found them to be highly enriched in both olfactory tissues of males and females. While the maxillary palps of both sexes demonstrated strict chemosensory gene expression overlap, we observed acute differences in sensory specialization between male and female antennae. The relatively high expression levels of chemosensory genes in the female antennae reveal its role as an organ predominately assigned to chemosensation. Remarkably, the expression of these genes was highly conserved in the male antennae, but at much lower relative levels. Alternatively, consistent with a role in mating, the male antennae displayed significant enhancement of genes involved in audition, while the female enhancement of these genes was observed, but to a lesser degree.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These findings suggest that the chemoreceptive spectrum, as defined by gene expression profiles, is largely similar in female and male <it>An. gambiae</it>. However, assuming sensory receptor expression levels are correlated with sensitivity in each case, we posit that male and female antennae are perceptive to the same stimuli, but possess inverse receptive prioritizations and sensitivities. Here we have demonstrated the use of RNA-seq to characterize the sensory specializations of an important disease vector and grounded future studies investigating chemosensory processes.</p

Analysis of Microsatellite Variation in Drosophila melanogaster with Population-Scale Genome Sequencing

Genome sequencing technologies promise to revolutionize our understanding of genetics, evolution, and disease by making it feasible to survey a broad spectrum of sequence variation on a population scale. However, this potential can only be realized to the extent that methods for extracting and interpreting distinct forms of variation can be established. The error profiles and read length limitations of early versions of next-generation sequencing technologies rendered them ineffective for some sequence variant types, particularly microsatellites and other tandem repeats, and fostered the general misconception that such variants are inherently inaccessible to these platforms. At the same time, tandem repeats have emerged as important sources of functional variation. Tandem repeats are often located in and around genes, and frequent mutations in their lengths exert quantitative effects on gene function and phenotype, rapidly degrading linkage disequilibrium between markers and traits. Sensitive identification of these variants in large-scale next-gen sequencing efforts will enable more comprehensive association studies capable of revealing previously invisible associations. We present a population-scale analysis of microsatellite repeats using whole-genome data from 158 inbred isolates from the Drosophila Genetics Reference Panel, a collection of over 200 extensively phenotypically characterized isolates from a single natural population, to uncover processes underlying repeat mutation and to enable associations with behavioral, morphological, and life-history traits. Analysis of repeat variation from next-generation sequence data will also enhance studies of genome stability and neurodegenerative diseases

Frequency of Chlamydia trachomatis in Ureaplasma-positive healthy women attending their first prenatal visit in a community hospital in Sapporo, Japan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although <it>Chlamydia trachomatis </it>is the most commonly reported pathogen that causes urogenital infection such as urethritis or cervicitis, <it>Ureaplasma parvum </it>and <it>Ureaplasma urealyticum</it>, which are commensals in the genital tract, have also now been recognized as contributors to urogenital infection. However, whether the presence of either <it>U. parvum </it>or <it>U. urealyticum </it>is related to that of <it>C. trachomatis </it>in the urogenital tract remains unknown. We therefore attempted to estimate by PCR the prevalence of <it>C. trachomatis, U. parvum </it>and <it>U. urealyticum </it>in endocervical samples obtained from healthy women attending their first prenatal visit in Sapporo, Japan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The samples were taken from 303 apparently healthy women, and the extracted DNAs (<it>n </it>= 280) were used for PCR detection targeting <it>C. trachomatis, U. parvum </it>and <it>U. urealyticum</it>. Statistical analysis of the data was performed by Fisher's exact test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>PCR detection revealed that the prevalence of <it>C. trachomatis, U. parvum </it>and <it>U. urealyticum </it>was 14.3% (40/280), 41.7% (117/280) and 8.9% (25/280), respectively. <it>C. trachomatis ompA </it>genotype D was most frequently identified. Surprisingly, either <it>C. trachomatis </it>or <it>Ureaplasma </it>spp. was detected in almost half of the healthy women. Mixed infection of <it>C. trachomatis </it>with either <it>U. parvum </it>or <it>U. urealyticum </it>was also observed in 9.2% (26/280) of the women. There was a significant association between <it>C. trachomatis </it>and either <it>U. parvum </it>(<it>p </it>= 0.023) or <it>Ureaplasma </it>total (<it>p </it>= 0.013), but not <it>U. urealyticum </it>(<it>p </it>= 0.275).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study demonstrated that the presence of <it>Ureaplasma </it>had a significant effect on the presence of <it>C. trachomatis </it>in the genital tract of healthy women, suggesting that mixed infection is an important factor in bacterial pathogenesis in the genital tract.</p

A Review of Chemosensation and Related Behavior in Aquatic Insects

Insects that are secondarily adapted to aquatic environments are able to sense odors from a diverse array of sources. The antenna of these insects, as in all insects, is the main chemosensory structure and its input to the brain allows for integration of sensory information that ultimately ends in behavioral responses. Only a fraction of the aquatic insect orders have been studied with respect to their sensory biology and most of the work has centered either on the description of the different types of sensilla, or on the behavior of the insect as a whole. In this paper, the literature is exhaustively reviewed and ways in which antennal morphology, brain structure, and associated behavior can advance better understanding of the neurobiology involved in processing of chemosensory information are discussed. Moreover, the importance of studying such group of insects is stated, and at the same time it is shown that many interesting questions regarding olfactory processing can be addressed by looking into the changes that aquatic insects undergo when leaving their aquatic environment

Relating circulating thyroid hormone concentrations to serum interleukins-6 and -10 in association with non-thyroidal illnesses including chronic renal insufficiency

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Because of the possible role of cytokines including interleukins (IL) in systemic non-thyroidal illnesses' (NTI) pathogenesis and consequently the frequently associated alterations in thyroid hormone (TH) concentrations constituting the euthyroid sick syndrome (ESS), we aimed in this research to elucidate the possible relation between IL-6 & IL-10 and any documented ESS in a cohort of patients with NTI.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sixty patients and twenty healthy volunteers were recruited. The patients were subdivided into three subgroups depending on their underlying NTI and included 20 patients with chronic renal insufficiency (CRI), congestive heart failure (CHF), and ICU patients with myocardial infarction (MI). Determination of the circulating serum levels of IL-6 and IL-10, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), as well as total T4 and T3 was carried out.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the whole group of patients, we detected a significantly lower T3 and T4 levels compared to control subjects (0.938 ± 0.477 vs 1.345 ± 0.44 nmol/L, p = 0.001 and 47.9 ± 28.41 vs 108 ± 19.49 nmol/L, p < 0.0001 respectively) while the TSH level was normal (1.08+0.518 μIU/L). Further, IL-6 was substantially higher above controls' levels (105.18 ± 72.01 vs 3.35 ± 1.18 ng/L, p < 0.00001) and correlated negatively with both T3 and T4 (r = -0.620, p < 0.0001 & -0.267, p < 0.001, respectively). Similarly was IL-10 level (74.13 ± 52.99 vs 2.64 ± 0.92 ng/ml, p < 0.00001) that correlated negatively with T3 (r = -0.512, p < 0.0001) but not T4. Interestingly, both interleukins correlated positively (r = 0.770, p = <0.001). Moreover, IL-6 (R²= 0.338, p = 0.001) and not IL-10 was a predictor of low T3 levels with only a borderline significance for T4 (R²= 0.082, p = 0.071).</p> <p>By subgroup analysis, the proportion of patients with subnormal T3, T4, and TSH levels was highest in the MI patients (70%, 70%, and 72%, respectively) who displayed the greatest IL-6 and IL-10 concentrations (192.5 ± 45.1 ng/L & 122.95 ± 46.1 ng/L, respectively) compared with CHF (82.95 ± 28.9 ng/L & 69.05 ± 44.0 ng/L, respectively) and CRI patients (40.05 ± 28.9 ng/L & 30.4 ± 10.6 ng/L, respectively). Surprisingly, CRI patients showed the least disturbance in IL-6 and IL-10 despite the lower levels of T3, T4, and TSH in a higher proportion of them compared to CHF patients (40%, 45%, & 26% vs 35%, 25%, & 18%, respectively).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>the high prevalence of ESS we detected in NTI including CRI may be linked to IL-6 and IL-10 alterations. Further, perturbation of IL-6 and not IL-10 might be involved in ESS pathogenesis although it is not the only key player as suggested by our findings in CRI.</p