Razvoj in vitro preantralnih folikula u uzgoju s kumulusnim ili granuloznim stanicama.

Low reproductive effifi ciency in buffalo limits the number of offspring produced during lifespan and thus results in under-exploitation of the superior female genetic material. In vitro production of transferable embryos is a method used to overcome such limitation. Developing a culture system for preantral follicles has important biotechnological implications, due to its potential for producing large number of oocytes for in vitro embryo production. Hence, the effect of the co-culture of buffalo preantral follicles with dispersed somatic cells, like cumulus cells and granulosa cells and their monolayers, was investigated in the present study. Large preantral follicles were isolated from trypsin (1%) digested ovarian cortical slices. Cumulus and granulosa cell monolayers were prepared by culturing cells until their conflfl uency preantral follicles were co-cultured with dispersed cumulus cells (group 1), the monolayers of cumulus cells (group 2), dispersed granulosa cells (group 3) or the monolayers of granulosa cells (group 4). Large preantral follicles showed signififi cantly higher size, growth rate and survivability when co-cultured with somatic cells dispersed in the medium, as compared to those grown in a monolayer. It was concluded that dispersed somatic cells from buffalo ovarian follicles were more effective in providing support for the growth and survivability of preantral follicles in culture, compared to their monolayers in buffalo.Niska rasplodna sposobnost bivolica ograničava broj potomaka podrijetlom od jedne bivolice tijekom njezina životnoga vijeka, a time i iskorištavanje velikih mogućnosti ženskoga genetskoga materijala. Proizvodnja zametaka in vitro u svrhu prijenosa u plotkinju metoda je koja može premostiti to ograničenje. Razvoj tehnologije uzgoja preantralnih folikula od važnoga je biotehnološkog značenja zahvaljujući mogućnostima proizvodnje velikoga broja jajašaca radi proizvodnje zametaka in vitro. Stoga je istraživan učinak suuzgoja bivoljih antralnih folikula s raspršenim somatskim stanicama kao što su kumulusne i granulozne stanice i njihovim jednoslojnim kulturama. Veliki preantralni folikuli bili su izdvojeni iz komadića kore jajnika u postupku probave 1%-tnim tripsinom. Kumulusne i granulozne stanice bile su uzgajane sve dok se nisu spojile u jednom sloju. Preantralni folikuli bili su uzgajani zajedno s raspršenim kumulusnim stanicama (skupina 1), kumulusnim stanicama uzgojenima u jednom sloju (skupina 2), raspršenim granuloznim stanicama (skupina 3) i granuloznim stanicama uzgojenima u jednom sloju (skupina 4). Veliki preantralni folikuli bili su značajno veći, brže su rasli i duže preživljavali u suuzgoju sa somatskim stanicama raspršenima u hranjivoj tekućini nego u suuzgoju sa stanicama naraslima u jednom sloju. Zaključeno je da su raspršene somatske stanice podrijetlom od jajničnoga folikula bivolice bile učinkovitija podloga za rast i preživljavanje preantralnih folikula od uzgojenih u jednom sloju

Candidate high myopia loci on chromosomes 18p and 12q do not play a major role in susceptibility to common myopia

BACKGROUND: To determine whether previously reported loci predisposing to nonsyndromic high myopia show linkage to common myopia in pedigrees from two ethnic groups: Ashkenazi Jewish and Amish. We hypothesized that these high myopia loci might exhibit allelic heterogeneity and be responsible for moderate /mild or common myopia. METHODS: Cycloplegic and manifest refraction were performed on 38 Jewish and 40 Amish families. Individuals with at least -1.00 D in each meridian of both eyes were classified as myopic. Genomic DNA was genotyped with 12 markers on chromosomes 12q21-23 and 18p11.3. Parametric and nonparametric linkage analyses were conducted to determine whether susceptibility alleles at these loci are important in families with less severe, clinical forms of myopia. RESULTS: There was no strong evidence of linkage of common myopia to these candidate regions: all two-point and multipoint heterogeneity LOD scores were < 1.0 and non-parametric linkage p-values were > 0.01. However, one Amish family showed slight evidence of linkage (LOD>1.0) on 12q; another 3 Amish families each gave LOD >1.0 on 18p; and 3 Jewish families each gave LOD >1.0 on 12q. CONCLUSIONS: Significant evidence of linkage (LOD> 3) of myopia was not found on chromosome 18p or 12q loci in these families. These results suggest that these loci do not play a major role in the causation of common myopia in our families studied

Prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis among the tribal populations in India

IMPORTANCE: There is no concrete evidence on the burden of TB among the tribal populations across India except for few studies mainly conducted in Central India with a pooled estimation of 703/100,000 with a high degree of heterogeneity. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of TB among the tribal populations in India. DESIGN, PARTICIPANTS, SETTING: A survey using a multistage cluster sampling design was conducted between April 2015 and March 2020 covering 88 villages (clusters) from districts with over 70% tribal majority populations in 17 States across 6 zones of India. The sample populations included individuals ≥15 years old. MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURES: Eligible participants who were screened through an interview for symptoms suggestive of pulmonary TB (PTB); Two sputum specimens were examined by smear and culture. Prevalence was estimated after multiple imputations for non-coverage and a correction factor of 1.31 was then applied to account for non-inclusion of X-ray screening. RESULTS: A total of 74532 (81.0%) of the 92038 eligible individuals were screened; 2675 (3.6%) were found to have TB symptoms or h/o ATT. The overall prevalence of PTB was 432 per 100,000 populations. The PTB prevalence per 100,000 populations was highest 625 [95% CI: 496–754] in the central zone and least 153 [95% CI: 24–281] in the west zone. Among the 17 states that were covered in this study, Odisha recorded the highest prevalence of 803 [95% CI: 504–1101] and Jammu and Kashmir the lowest 127 [95% CI: 0–310] per 100,000 populations. Findings from multiple logistic regression analysis reflected that those aged 35 years and above, with BMI <18.5 Kgs /m(2), h/o ATT, smoking, and/or consuming alcohol had a higher risk of bacteriologically positive PTB. Weight loss was relatively more important symptom associated with tuberculosis among this tribal populations followed by night sweats, blood in sputum, and fever. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: The overall prevalence of PTB among tribal groups is higher than the general populations with a wide variation of prevalence of PTB among the tribal groups at zone and state levels. These findings call for strengthening of the TB control efforts in tribal areas to reduce TB prevalence through tribal community/site-specific intervention programs

The genetics of myopia

Myopia is the most common eye condition worldwide and its prevalence is increasing. While changes in environment, such as time spent outdoors, have driven myopia rates, within populations myopia is highly heritable. Genes are estimated to explain up to 80% of the variance in refractive error. Initial attempts to identify myopia genes relied on family studies using linkage analysis or candidate gene approaches with limited progress. More genome-wide association study (GWAS) approaches have taken over, ultimately resulting in the identification of hundreds of genes for refractive error and myopia, providing new insights into its molecular machinery. These studies showed myopia is a complex trait, with many genetic variants of small effect influencing retinal signaling, eye growth and the normal process of emmetropization. The genetic architecture and its molecular mechanisms are still to be clarified and while genetic risk score prediction models are improving, this knowledge must be expanded to have impact on clinical practice

Genetic linkage study of high-grade myopia in a Hutterite population from South Dakota

PURPOSE: Myopia is a common, complex disorder, and severe forms have implications for blindness due to increased risk of premature cataracts, glaucoma, retinal detachment, and macular degeneration. Autosomal dominant (AD) non-syndromic high-grade myopia has been mapped to chromosomes 18p11.31, 12q21-23, 17q21-23, 7q36, 2q37.1, 7p15.3, 15q12-13, 3q26, 4q12, 8p23, 4q22-q27, 1p36, and Xq23-q25. Here, we demonstrate evidence of linkage for AD non-syndromic high-grade myopia in a large Hutterite family to a locus on chromosome 10q21.1. METHODS: After clinical evaluation, genomic DNA was genotyped from 29 members of a Hutterite family from South Dakota (7 affected). The average refractive error of affected individuals was -7.04 diopters. Microsatellite markers were used to exclude linkage to the known AD nonsyndromic high-grade myopia loci as well as to syndromic high-grade myopia loci. A genome screen was then performed using 382 markers with an average inter-marker distance of 10 cM followed by fine-point mapping in all regions of the genome that gave positive LOD scores. SimWalk2 software was used for multipoint linkage based on AD and autosomal recessive (AR) models with a penetrance of 90% and a disease allele frequency of 0.001. RESULTS: A maximum multipoint LOD score of 3.22 was achieved under an AD model at microsatellite marker D10S1643. Fine point mapping and haplotype analysis defined a critical region of 2.67 cM on chromosome 10q21.1. Haplotype analysis demonstrated two distinct haplotypes segregating with high-grade myopia, indicative of two distinct mutations occurring in the same gene. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified a presumptive myopia locus for high-grade myopia based on linkage and haplotype analysis

The potential role of cytokines and growth factors in the pathogenesis of alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most prominent neurodegenerative diseases, which impairs cognitive function in afflicted individuals. AD results in gradual decay of neuronal function as a consequence of diverse degenerating events. Several neuroimmune players (such as cytokines and growth factors that are key players in maintaining CNS homeostasis) turn aberrant during crosstalk between the innate and adaptive immunities. This aberrance underlies neuroinflammation and drives neuronal cells toward apoptotic decline. Neuroinflammation involves microglial activation and has been shown to exacerbate AD. This review attempted to elucidate the role of cytokines, growth factors, and associated mechanisms implicated in the course of AD, especially with neu-roinflammation. We also evaluated the propensities and specific mechanism(s) of cytokines and growth factors impacting neuron upon apoptotic decline and further shed light on the availability and accessibility of cytokines across the blood-brain barrier and choroid plexus in AD pathophysi-ology. The pathogenic and the protective roles of macrophage migration and inhibitory factors, neu-rotrophic factors, hematopoietic-related growth factors, TAU phosphorylation, advanced glycation end products, complement system, and glial cells in AD and neuropsychiatric pathology were also discussed. Taken together, the emerging roles of these factors in AD pathology emphasize the im-portance of building novel strategies for an effective therapeutic/neuropsychiatric management of AD in clinics