Steroidal Compounds in Commercial Parenteral Lipid Emulsions

Parenteral nutrition lipid emulsions made from various plant oils contain steroidal compounds, called phytosterols. During parenteral administration of lipid emulsions, phytosterols can reach levels in the blood that are many fold higher than during enteral administration. The elevated phytosterol levels have been associated with the development of liver dysfunction and the rare development of liver failure. There is limited information available in the literature related to phytosterol concentrations in lipid emulsions. The objective of the current study was to validate an assay for steroidal compounds found in lipid emulsions and to compare their concentrations in the most commonly used parenteral nutrition lipid emulsions: Liposyn<sup>®</sup> II, Liposyn<sup>®</sup> III, Lipofundin<sup>®</sup> MCT, Lipofundin<sup>®</sup> N, Structolipid<sup>®</sup>, Intralipid<sup>®</sup>, Ivelip<sup>®</sup> and ClinOleic<sup>®</sup>. Our data demonstrates that concentrations of the various steroidal compounds varied greatly between the eight lipid emulsions, with the olive oil-based lipid emulsion containing the lowest levels of phytosterols and cholesterol, and the highest concentration of squalene. The clinical impression of greater incidences of liver dysfunction with soybean versus MCT/LCT and olive/soy lipid emulsions may be reflective of the levels of phytosterols in these emulsions. This information may help guide future studies and clinical care of patients with lipid emulsion-associated liver dysfunction

Increased expression of schizophrenia-associated gene C4 leads to hypoconnectivity of prefrontal cortex and reduced social interaction.

Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder with an unclear pathophysiology. Increased expression of the immune gene C4 has been linked to a greater risk of developing schizophrenia; however, it is not known whether C4 plays a causative role in this brain disorder. Using confocal imaging and whole-cell electrophysiology, we demonstrate that overexpression of C4 in mouse prefrontal cortex neurons leads to perturbations in dendritic spine development and hypoconnectivity, which mirror neuropathologies found in schizophrenia patients. We find evidence that microglia-mediated synaptic engulfment is enhanced with increased expression of C4. We also show that C4-dependent circuit dysfunction in the frontal cortex leads to decreased social interactions in juvenile and adult mice. These results demonstrate that increased expression of the schizophrenia-associated gene C4 causes aberrant circuit wiring in the developing prefrontal cortex and leads to deficits in juvenile and adult social behavior, suggesting that altered C4 expression contributes directly to schizophrenia pathogenesis

GEO-SEQ Best Practices Manual. Geologic Carbon Dioxide Sequestration: Site Evaluation to Implementation

The first phase of the GEO-SEQ project was a multidisciplinary effort focused on investigating ways to lower the cost and risk of geologic carbon sequestration. Through our research in the GEO-SEQ project, we have produced results that may be of interest to the wider geologic carbon sequestration community. However, much of the knowledge developed in GEO-SEQ is not easily accessible because it is dispersed in the peer-reviewed literature and conference proceedings in individual papers on specific topics. The purpose of this report is to present key GEO-SEQ findings relevant to the practical implementation of geologic carbon sequestration in the form of a Best Practices Manual. Because our work in GEO-SEQ focused on the characterization and project development aspects, the scope of this report covers practices prior to injection, referred to as the design phase. The design phase encompasses activities such as selecting sites for which enhanced recovery may be possible, evaluating CO{sub 2} capacity and sequestration feasibility, and designing and evaluating monitoring approaches. Through this Best Practices Manual, we have endeavored to place our GEO-SEQ findings in a practical context and format that will be useful to readers interested in project implementation. The overall objective of this Manual is to facilitate putting the findings of the GEO-SEQ project into practice