Minimising colonic fermentation of high fructan foods : using food processing techniques to reduce levels of fructans in onion and garlic

Background: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a chronic functional disorder of the bowel, affecting up to 15% of Australian adults. Dietary triggers need to be identified and controlled. Researchers have shown that short chain carbohydrates, fructans (high in onion and garlic) play a major role in triggering IBS symptoms. Current dietary management aims to limit the intake of fructans in the diet. Another approach may be to use simple food processing to reduce fructans in foods.Objective: To investigate if pickling will reduce fructan levels in garlic and shallots, and if pickled garlic and shallots reduce colonic fermentation, and&nbsp; abdominal symptoms in human volunteers.Design: Fructan levels of the garlic and shallots were measured using the Megazyme fructan assay. 18 volunteers (13 healthy and 5 IBS) participated in a single blinded, randomised cross over study. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive a breakfast (potato and salmon patty) that was either high (unprocessed) or low (processed/pickled) in garlic and shallots. Breath hydrogen was measured every hour over a ten hour period, and abdominal symptoms were assessed using validated questionnaires.Outcomes: Pickling over a 12 day period significantly reduced fructan levels in both garlic (p=.0.00) and shallots (p=0.00). Consumption of the low fructan breakfast resulted in significantly lower breath hydrogen (p=0.05), abdominal pain (p=0.032), and wind (p=0.04).Conclusion: Pickling results in significantly lowered fructan levels in problem foods- shallots and garlic, and lowered colonic fermentation and abdominal symptoms in both healthy and IBS volunteers. This study provides another dietary strategy for dietetic counselling of patients with IBS.<br /

What goes up, must come down? The asymmetric effects of economic growth and international threat on military spending

Accepted manuscrip

Estimating background rates of Guillain-Barré Syndrome in Ontario in order to respond to safety concerns during pandemic H1N1/09 immunization campaign

Abstract Background The province of Ontario, Canada initiated mass immunization clinics with adjuvanted pandemic H1N1 influenza vaccine in October 2009. Due to the scale of the campaign, temporal associations with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and vaccination were expected. The objectives of this analysis were to estimate the number of background GBS cases expected to occur in the projected vaccinated population and to estimate the number of additional GBS cases which would be expected if an association with vaccination existed. The number of influenza-associated GBS cases was also determined. Methods Baseline incidence rates of GBS were determined from published Canadian studies and applied to projected vaccine coverage data to estimate the expected number of GBS cases in the vaccinated population. Assuming an association with vaccine existed, the number of additional cases of GBS expected was determined by applying the rates observed during the 1976 Swine Flu and 1992/1994 seasonal influenza campaigns in the United States. The number of influenza-associated GBS cases expected to occur during the vaccination campaign was determined based on risk estimates of GBS after influenza infection and provincial influenza infection rates using a combination of laboratory-confirmed cases and data from a seroprevalence study. Results The overall provincial vaccine coverage was estimated to be between 32% and 38%. Assuming 38% coverage, between 6 and 13 background cases of GBS were expected within this projected vaccinated cohort (assuming 32% coverage yielded between 5-11 background cases). An additional 6 or 42 cases would be expected if an association between GBS and influenza vaccine was observed (assuming 32% coverage yielded 5 or 35 additional cases); while up to 31 influenza-associated GBS cases could be expected to occur. In comparison, during the same period, only 7 cases of GBS were reported among vaccinated persons. Conclusions Our analyses do not suggest an increased number of GBS cases due to the vaccine. Awareness of expected rates of GBS is crucial when assessing adverse events following influenza immunization. Furthermore, since individuals with influenza infection are also at risk of developing GBS, they must be considered in such analyses, particularly if the vaccine campaign and disease are occurring concurrently

The Warburg Effect Is Genetically Determined in Inherited Pheochromocytomas

The Warburg effect describes how cancer cells down-regulate their aerobic respiration and preferentially use glycolysis to generate energy. To evaluate the link between hypoxia and Warburg effect, we studied mitochondrial electron transport, angiogenesis and glycolysis in pheochromocytomas induced by germ-line mutations in VHL, RET, NF1 and SDH genes. SDH and VHL gene mutations have been shown to lead to the activation of hypoxic response, even in normoxic conditions, a process now referred to as pseudohypoxia. We observed a decrease in electron transport protein expression and activity, associated with increased angiogenesis in SDH- and VHL-related, pseudohypoxic tumors, while stimulation of glycolysis was solely observed in VHL tumors. Moreover, microarray analyses revealed that expression of genes involved in these metabolic pathways is an efficient tool for classification of pheochromocytomas in accordance with the predisposition gene mutated. Our data suggest an unexpected association between pseudohypoxia and loss of p53, which leads to a distinct Warburg effect in VHL-related pheochromocytomas

Humoral and Cell-Mediated Immunity to Pandemic H1N1 Influenza in a Canadian Cohort One Year Post-Pandemic: Implications for Vaccination

We evaluated a cohort of Canadian donors for T cell and antibody responses against influenza A/California/7/2009 (pH1N1) at 8-10 months after the 2nd pandemic wave by flow cytometry and microneutralization assays. Memory CD8 T cell responses to pH1N1 were detectable in 58% (61/105) of donors. These responses were largely due to cross-reactive CD8 T cell epitopes as, for those donors tested, similar recall responses were obtained to A/California 2009 and A/PR8 1934 H1N1 Hviruses. Longitudinal analysis of a single infected individual showed only a small and transient increase in neutralizing antibody levels, but a robust CD8 T cell response that rose rapidly post symptom onset, peaking at 3 weeks, followed by a gradual decline to the baseline levels seen in a seroprevalence cohort post-pandemic. The magnitude of the influenza-specific CD8 T cell memory response at one year post-pandemic was similar in cases and controls as well as in vaccinated and unvaccinated donors, suggesting that any T cell boosting from infection was transient. Pandemic H1-specific antibodies were only detectable in approximately half of vaccinated donors. However, those who were vaccinated within a few months following infection had the highest persisting antibody titers, suggesting that vaccination shortly after influenza infection can boost or sustain antibody levels. For the most part the circulating influenza-specific T cell and serum antibody levels in the population at one year post-pandemic were not different between cases and controls, suggesting that natural infection does not lead to higher long term T cell and antibody responses in donors with pre-existing immunity to influenza. However, based on the responses of one longitudinal donor, it is possible for a small population of pre-existing cross-reactive memory CD8 T cells to expand rapidly following infection and this response may aid in viral clearance and contribute to a lessening of disease severity

Anti-proliferative effect of Rosmarinus officinalis L. extract on human melanoma A375 cells

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) has been used since ancient times in traditional medicine, while nowadays various rosemary formulations are increasingly exploited by alternative medicine to cure or prevent a wide range of health disorders. Rosemary's bioproperties have prompted scientific investigation, which allowed us to ascertain antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, cytostatic, and cytotoxic activities of crude extracts or of pure components. Although there is a growing body of experimental work, information about rosemary's anticancer properties, such as chemoprotective or anti-proliferative effects on cancer cells, is very poor, especially concerning the mechanism of action. Melanoma is a skin tumor whose diffusion is rapidly increasing in the world and whose malignancy is reinforced by its high resistance to cytotoxic agents; hence the availability of new cytotoxic drugs would be very helpful to improve melanoma prognosis. Here we report on the effect of a rosemary hydroalcoholic extract on the viability of the human melanoma A375 cell line. Main components of rosemary extract were identified by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS) and the effect of the crude extract or of pure components on the proliferation of cancer cells was tested by MTT and Trypan blue assays. The effect on cell cycle was investigated by using flow cytometry, and the alteration of the cellular redox state was evaluated by intracellular ROS levels and protein carbonylation analysis. Furthermore, in order to get information about the molecular mechanisms of cytotoxicity, a comparative proteomic investigation was performed

IL-27 Regulates IL-18 Binding Protein in Skin Resident Cells

IL-18 is an important mediator involved in chronic inflammatory conditions such as cutaneous lupus erythematosus, psoriasis and chronic eczema. An imbalance between IL-18 and its endogenous antagonist IL-18 binding protein (BP) may account for increased IL-18 activity. IL-27 is a cytokine with dual function displaying pro- and anti-inflammatory properties. Here we provide evidence for a yet not described anti-inflammatory mode of action on skin resident cells. Human keratinocytes and surprisingly also fibroblasts (which do not produce any IL-18) show a robust, dose-dependent and highly inducible mRNA expression and secretion of IL-18BP upon IL-27 stimulation. Other IL-12 family members failed to induce IL-18BP. The production of IL-18BP peaked between 48–72 h after stimulation and was sustained for up to 96 h. Investigation of the signalling pathway showed that IL-27 activates STAT1 in human keratinocytes and that a proximal GAS site at the IL-18BP promoter is of importance for the functional activity of IL-27. The data are in support of a significant anti-inflammatory effect of IL-27 on skin resident cells. An important novel property of IL-27 in skin pathobiology may be to counter-regulate IL-18 activities by acting on keratinocytes and importantly also on dermal fibroblasts

What's in a Sign? Trademark Law and Economic Theory

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to summarise the extant theory as it relates to the economics of trademark, and to give some suggestions for further research with reference to distinct streams of literature. The proposed line of study inevitably looks at the complex relationship between signs and economics. Trademark is a sign introduced to remedy a market failure. It facilitates purchase decisions by indicating the provenance of the goods, so that consumers can identify specific quality attributes deriving from their own, or others&apos;, past experience. Trademark holders, on their part, have an incentive to invest in quality because they will be able to reap the benefits in terms of reputation. In other words, trademark law becomes an economic device which, opportunely designed, can produce incentives for maximising market efficiency. This role must, of course, be recognised, as a vast body of literature has done, with its many positive economic consequences. Nevertheless, trademark appears to have additional economic effects that should be properly recognized: it can determine the promotion of market power and the emergence of rent-seeking behaviours. It gives birth to an idiosyncratic economics of signs where very strong protection tends to be assured, even though the welfare effects are as yet poorly understood. In this domain much remains to be done and the challenge to researchers is open