The impact of leishmaniasis on mental health and psychosocial well-being : A systematic review

BACKGROUND: Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical parasitic disease endemic in South Asia, East Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. It is associated with low socioeconomic status (SES) and responsible for considerable mortality and morbidity. Reports suggest that patients with leishmaniasis may have a higher risk of mental illness (MI), psychosocial morbidity (PM) and reduced quality of life (QoL), but this is not well characterised. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review to assess the reported impact of leishmaniasis on mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was carried out. Pre-specified criteria were applied to identify publications including observational quantitative studies or systematic reviews. Two reviewers screened all of the titles, abstracts and full-studies and a third reviewer was consulted for disagreements. Data was extracted from papers meeting the criteria and quality appraisal of the methods was performed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale or the Risk of Bias in Systematic Review tool. RESULTS: A total of 14 studies were identified from 12,517 records. Nine cross-sectional, three case-control, one cohort study and one systematic review were included. Eleven assessed MI outcomes and were measured with tools specifically designed for this; nine measured PM and 12 measured QoL using validated measurement tools. Quality appraisal of the studies showed that six were of good quality. Cutaneous leishmaniasis and post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis showed evidence of associated MI and PM including depression, anxiety and stigma, while all forms of disease showed decreased QoL. The findings were used to inform a proposed model and conceptual framework to show the possible links between leishmaniasis and mental health outcomes. CONCLUSION: There is evidence that leishmaniasis has an impact on MI, PM or QoL of patients and their families and this occurs in all the main subtypes of the disease. There are however large gaps in the evidence. Further research is required to understand the full extent of this problem and its mechanistic basis

Medical grade honey as a promising treatment to improve ovarian tissue transplantation

Ovarian tissue cryopreservation is a female fertility preservation technique that presents major challenges for the maintenance of follicular viability after transplantation. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the application of L-Mesitran Soft®, a product containing 40% medical grade honey (MGH), with other strategies to improve ovarian grafts’ viability. For this purpose, bovine ovarian tissue was vitrified, warmed, and randomly assigned to culture groups: (1) control, (2) MGH 0.2% in vitro, (3) MGH in vivo (direct application in the xenotransplantation), (4) vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF 50 ng/mL) and (5) vitamin D (100 Nm), during a 48 h period. A sixth group (6) of fragments was thawed on transplantation day and was not cultured. The tissue was xenotransplanted into immunodeficient (Rowett nude homozygous) ovariectomized rats. Grafts were analyzed 48 h after culture, and 7 and 28 days after transplantation. The tissue was subjected to histological and immunohistochemical analysis. Treatments using MGH showed the highest angiogenic and cell proliferation stimulation, with cellular apoptosis, within a healthy cellular turnover pathway. In conclusion, MGH should be considered a potentially effective and less expensive strategy to improve ovarian tissue transplantation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Identificação de genes alvo na esteroidogénese bovina por RNA de interferência (RNAi)

Este trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar a interação entre a expressão de genes da família priónica (prnp e sprn), e genes ligados à esteroidogenese [CYP11A1(Pregnenolona) e CYP19A1(17-Estradiol)], ao nível de células da granulosa (GCs) de bovinos.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Combined effects of dietary arginine, leucine and protein levels on fatty acid composition and gene expression in the muscle and subcutaneous adipose tissue of crossbred pigs

The cumulative effects of dietary arginine, leucine and protein levels on fat content, fatty acid composition and mRNA levels of genes controlling lipid metabolism in pig longissimus lumborum muscle and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were investigated. The experiment was performed on fifty-four intact male pigs (Duroc × Pietrain × Large White × Landrace crossbred), with a live weight ranging from 59 to 92 kg. The pigs were randomly assigned to one of six experimental treatments (n 9). The treatments followed a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement, with two levels of arginine supplementation (0 v. 1 %) and three levels of a basal diet (normal protein diet, NPD; reduced protein diet, RPD; reduced protein diet to achieve 2 % of leucine, RPDL). The results showed that dietary arginine supplementation did not affect the intramuscular fat (IMF) content and back fat thickness, but increased the total fat in SAT. This effect was associated with an increase in fatty acid synthase (FASN) and stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) mRNA levels in SAT, which suggests that arginine might be involved in the differential regulation of some key lipogenic genes in pig muscle and SAT. The increase in IMF content under the RPD, with or without leucine supplementation, was accompanied by increased FASN and SCD mRNA levels. Arginine supplementation did not influence the percentage of main fatty acids, while the RPD had a significant effect on fatty acid composition in both tissues. Leucine supplementation of RPD did not change IMF, total fat of SAT and back fat thickness, but increased 16 : 0 and 18 : 1cis-9 and decreased 18 : 2n-6 in muscle. © The Authors 2013

Influence of betaine and arginine supplementation of reduced protein diets on fatty acid composition and gene expression in the muscle and subcutaneous adipose tissue of cross-bred pigs

© The Authors 2016. The isolated or combined effects of betaine and arginine supplementation of reduced protein diets (RPD) on fat content, fatty acid composition and mRNA levels of genes controlling lipid metabolism in pig m. longissimus lumborum and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were assessed. The experiment was performed on forty intact male pigs (Duroc×Large White×Landrace cross-breed) with initial and final live weights of 60 and 93 kg, respectively. Pigs were randomly assigned to one of the following five diets (n 8): 16·0 % of crude protein (control), 13·0 % of crude protein (RPD), RPD supplemented with 0·33 % of betaine, RPD supplemented with 1·5 % of arginine and RPD supplemented with 0·33 % of betaine and 1·5 % of arginine. Data confirmed that RPD increase intramuscular fat (IMF) content and total fat content in SAT. The increased total fat content in SAT was accompanied by higher GLUT type 4, lipoprotein lipase and stearoyl-CoA desaturase mRNA expression levels. In addition, the supplementation of RPD with betaine and/or arginine did not affect either IMF or total fat in SAT. However, dietary betaine supplementation slightly affected fatty acid composition in both muscle and SAT. This effect was associated with an increase of carnitine O-acetyltransferase mRNA levels in SAT but not in muscle, which suggests that betaine might be involved in the differential regulation of some key genes of lipid metabolism in pig muscle and SAT. Although the arginine-supplemented diet decreased the mRNA expression level of PPARG in muscle and SAT, it did not influence fat content or fatty acid composition in any of these pig tissues

The family 11 carbohydrate-binding module of Clostridium thermocellum Lic26A-Cel5E accommodates β-1,4- and β-1,3-1,4-mixed linked glucans at a single binding site

Modular glycoside hydrolases that attack recalcitrant polymers generally contain noncatalytic carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs), which play a critical role in the action of these enzymes by localizing the appended catalytic domains onto the surface of insoluble polysaccharide substrates. Type B CBMs, which recognize single polysaccharide chains, display ligand specificities that are consistent with the substrates hydrolyzed by the associated catalytic domains. In enzymes that contain multiple catalytic domains with distinct substrate specificities, it is unclear how these different activities influence the evolution of the ligand recognition profile of the appended CBM. To address this issue, we have characterized the properties of a family 11 CBM (CtCBM11) in Clostridium thermocellum, Lic26A-Cel5E, an enzyme that contains GH5 and GH26 catalytic domains that display β-1,4- and β-1,3-1,4-mixed linked endoglucanase activity, respectively. Here we show that CtCBM11 binds to both β-1,4-and β-1,3-1,4-mixed linked glucans, displaying Ka values of 1.9 × 105, 4.4 × 104, and 2 × 103 M-1 for Glc-β1,4-Glc-β1,4-Glc-β1,3-Glc, Glc-β1,4-Glc-β1,4-Glc-β1,4-Glc, and Glc-β1,3-Glc-β1,4- Glc-β1,3-Glc, respectively, demonstrating that CBMs can display a preference for mixed linked glucans. To determine whether these ligands are accommodated in the same or diverse sites in CTCBM11, the crystal structure of the protein was solved to a resolution of 1.98 Å. The protein displays a β-sandwich with a concave side that forms a potential binding cleft. Site-directed mutagenesis revealed that Tyr22, Tyr53, and Tyr129, located in the putative binding cleft, play a central role in the recognition of all the ligands recognized by the protein. We propose, therefore, that CtCBM11 contains a single ligand-binding site that displays affinity for both β-1,4- and β-1,3-1,4-mixed linked glucans.authorsversionpublishe

Higher order scaffoldin assembly in Ruminococcus flavefaciens cellulosome is coordinated by a discrete cohesin-dockerin interaction

The authors acknowledge financial support from Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Lisbon, Portugal) through grants PTDC/BIA-MIC/5947/2014, RECI/BBB-BEP/0124/2012 while PB and VMRP were supported by the individual fellowships SFRH/BD/86821/2012 and IF/01621/2013, respectively. The authors also acknowledge Professor Maria Joao Romao for access to the crystallization facilities of the Protein Crystallography Group in the Faculty of Science and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, as well as the Soleil synchrotron, L'Orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin, France, (beamline PROXIMA-1) for access and technical support during data collection, and the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under BioStruct-X (grant agreement No. 283570, proposal number: Biostruct-X_4399) for funding. The Unidade de Ciencias Biomoleculares Aplicadas (UCIBIO- REQUIMTE) is financed by national funds from Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia/Ministerio da Educacao e Ciencia (FCT/ME) (UID/Multi/04378/2013) and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007728).Cellulosomes are highly sophisticated molecular nanomachines that participate in the deconstruction of complex polysaccharides, notably cellulose and hemicellulose. Cellulosomal assembly is orchestrated by the interaction of enzyme-borne dockerin (Doc) modules to tandem cohesin (Coh) modules of a non-catalytic primary scaffoldin. In some cases, as exemplified by the cellulosome of the major cellulolytic ruminal bacterium Ruminococcus flavefaciens, primary scaffoldins bind to adaptor scaffoldins that further interact with the cell surface via anchoring scaffoldins, thereby increasing cellulosome complexity. Here we elucidate the structure of the unique Doc of R. flavefaciens FD-1 primary scaffoldin ScaA, bound to Coh 5 of the adaptor scaffoldin ScaB. The RfCohScaB5-DocScaA complex has an elliptical architecture similar to previously described complexes from a variety of ecological niches. ScaA Doc presents a single-binding mode, analogous to that described for the other two Coh-Doc specificities required for cellulosome assembly in R. flavefaciens. The exclusive reliance on a single-mode of Coh recognition contrasts with the majority of cellulosomes from other bacterial species described to date, where Docs contain two similar Coh-binding interfaces promoting a dual-binding mode. The discrete Coh-Doc interactions observed in ruminal cellulosomes suggest an adaptation to the exquisite properties of the rumen environment.publishersversionpublishe