A Short Evaluation of a New Haematological Analyser: The Cobas Argos 5 Diff

Peer Reviewe

Muscle Quality is More Impaired in Sarcopenic Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

BACKGROUND: Quadriceps muscle fiber atrophy and a loss of oxidative type I muscle fibers and mitochondrial content often occur in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which adversely affects exercise performance. Sarcopenia is an age-related syndrome characterized by wasting and weakness of muscle mass. We recently showed in a large cohort of patients that COPD-related sarcopenia, in particular in male patients, was not only associated with impaired quadriceps muscle strength but also with decreased exercise performance endurance, which could imply involvement of altered muscle fiber type composition. Hence, we hypothesized that both the fiber atrophy and loss of oxidative muscle fibers are more pronounced in sarcopenic compared with nonsarcopenic patients with COPD. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate quadriceps muscle fiber-type characteristics in relation to presence of sarcopenia in patients with COPD and in healthy age-matched controls. DESIGN: For this retrospective cross-sectional study, body composition (assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry) and quadriceps muscle biopsy (fiber type distribution and sizes) data were collected from 45 patients with COPDs (aged 42-77 years) and 52 healthy controls (aged 50-77 years). Sarcopenia was based on assessment of appendicular skeletal muscle mass index. RESULTS: Sarcopenia was found in 5.8% of healthy controls and in 31.1% of patients with COPD (P < .01). The proportion of oxidative type I fibers and size of type IIx muscle fibers were decreased in patients with COPD, and the sarcopenic subgroup showed a further decreased proportion as well as a lower size of type I fibers. CONCLUSIONS: Type I muscle fiber proportion is lower in sarcopenic compared with nonsarcopenic patients with COPD. Longitudinal studies may elucidate if the loss of muscle oxidative phenotype drives or accelerates the process of muscle wasting

Biotechnological application of enzymes for making paper pulp from green jute/kenaf

The objectives of the tasks of Agrotechnology & Food Innovation (formerly ATO) in the project are: to determine at laboratory level the best conditions for producing high-yield pulps from whole jute for utilisation in wood containing papers; to test the potential of using recommended enzyme recipes in both extruder and refiner processes in terms of pulp quality, chemicals and energy consumption, brightness and production cost; to evaluate the potential of a micro-biological pre-treatment with selected strains of fungi; to establish process conditions for pilot confirmatory trials

Consequences of late-stage non-small cell lung cancer cachexia on muscle metabolic processes

Introduction: Loss of muscle is common in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and contributes to the high morbidity and mortality of this group. The exact mechanisms behind the loss of muscle are unclear. Patients and methods: To investigate this, 4 patients with stage IV NSCLC meeting the clinical definitions for sarcopenia and cachexia were recruited, along with 4 age-matched healthy volunteers. Following an overnight fast, biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis and key components associated with inflammation and the control of muscle protein, carbohydrate and fat metabolism assessed. Results: Compared to healthy volunteers, significant increases in mRNA levels for interleukin-6 and NFκB signalling were observed in NSCLC patients along with lower intramyocellular lipid content in slow-twitch fibres. While a significant decrease in phosphorylation of mTOR signalling protein 4E-BP1 (Ser65) was observed along with a trend towards reduced p70 S6K (Thr389) phosphorylation (P=0.06), there was no difference between groups for mRNA levels of MAFbx and MuRF1, chymotrypsin-like activity of the proteasome, or protein levels of multiple proteasome subunits. Moreover, despite decreases in intramyocellular lipid content, no robust changes in mRNA levels for key proteins involved in insulin signalling, glycolysis, oxidative metabolism or fat metabolism were observed. Conclusions: These findings suggest that an examination of the contribution of suppressed mTOR signalling in the loss of muscle mass in late-stage NSCLC patients is warranted and reinforces our need to understand the potential contribution of impaired fat metabolism and muscle protein synthesis in the aetiology of cancer cachexia

Plasmalogen content and distribution in the sarcolemma of cultured neonatal rat

Phospholipids are believed to play an important role in pathology and physiology of the myocardium. Because of the distinct physico-chemical properties of plasmalogens we studied the plasmalogen content and distribution in the sarcolemma of cultured rat myocytes. Treatment with phospholipase A2 degraded all glycerophospholipids in the outer monolayer. The hydrolysis products were analyzed for plasmalogen content. It is shown that the inner sarcolemmal leaflet is highly enriched in phosphatidylcholine and ethanolamine plasmalogen. This distribution of the plasmalogens might affect bilayer stability and thereby be involved in the destruction of the sarcolemma upon ischemia and reperfusion