Family members' experience with in-hospital health care after severe traumatic brain injury : a national multicentre study.

Background Family member’s experience and satisfaction of health care in the acute care and in-patient rehabilitation are important indicators of the quality of health care services provided to patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). The objective was to assess family members’ experience of the health care provided in-hospital to patients with severe TBI, to relate experiences to family member and patient demographics, patients’ function and rehabilitation pathways. Methods Prospective national multicentre study of 122 family members of patients with severe TBI. The family experience of care questionnaire in severe traumatic brain injury (FECQ-TBI) was applied. Independent sample t-tests or analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare the means between 2 or more groups. Paired samples t-tests were used to investigate differences between experience in the acute and rehabilitation phases. Results Best family members` experience were found regarding information during the acute phase, poorest scores were related to discharge. A significantly better care experience was reported in the acute phase compared with the rehabilitation phase (p < 0.05). Worst family members` experience was related to information about consequences of the injury. Patient’s dependency level (p < 0.05) and transferral to non-specialized rehabilitation were related to a worse family members` experience (p < 0.01). Conclusions This study underscores the need of better information to family members of patients with severe TBI in the rehabilitation as well as the discharge phase. The results may be important to improve the services provided to family members and individuals with severe TBI

Improved Xenobiotic Metabolism and Reduced Susceptibility to Cancer in Gluten-Sensitive Macaques upon Introduction of a Gluten-Free Diet

A non-human primate (NHP) model of gluten sensitivity was employed to study the gene perturbations associated with dietary gluten changes in small intestinal tissues from gluten-sensitive rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).Stages of remission and relapse were accomplished in gluten-sensitive animals by administration of gluten-free (GFD) and gluten-containing (GD) diets, as described previously. Pin-head-sized biopsies, obtained non-invasively by pediatric endoscope from duodenum while on GFD or GD, were used for preparation of total RNA and gene profiling, using the commercial Rhesus Macaque Microarray (Agilent Technologies),targeting expression of over 20,000 genes.When compared with normal healthy control, gluten-sensitive macaques showed differential gene expressions induced by GD. While observed gene perturbations were classified into one of 12 overlapping categories--cancer, metabolism, digestive tract function, immune response, cell growth, signal transduction, autoimmunity, detoxification of xenobiotics, apoptosis, actin-collagen deposition, neuronal and unknown function--this study focused on cancer-related gene networks such as cytochrome P450 family (detoxification function) and actin-collagen-matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) genes.A loss of detoxification function paralleled with necessity to metabolize carcinogens was revealed in gluten-sensitive animals while on GD. An increase in cancer-promoting factors and a simultaneous decrease in cancer-preventing factors associated with altered expression of actin-collagen-MMP gene network were noted. In addition, gluten-sensitive macaques showed reduced number of differentially expressed genes including the cancer-associated ones upon withdrawal of dietary gluten. Taken together, these findings indicate potentially expanded utility of gluten-sensitive rhesus macaques in cancer research

Pathogen-induced hatching and population-specific life-history response to water-borne cues in brown trout (Salmo trutta)

Hatching is an important niche shift, and embryos in a wide range of taxa can either accelerate or delay this life-history switch in order to avoid stage-specific risks. Such behavior can occur in response to stress itself and to chemical cues that allow anticipation of stress. We studied the genetic organization of this phenotypic plasticity and tested whether there are differences among populations and across environments in order to learn more about the evolutionary potential of stress-induced hatching. As a study species, we chose the brown trout (Salmo trutta; Salmonidae). Gametes were collected from five natural populations (within one river network) and used for full-factorial in vitro fertilizations. The resulting embryos were either directly infected with Pseudomonas fluorescens or were exposed to waterborne cues from P. fluorescens-infected conspecifics. We found that direct inoculation with P. fluorescens increased embryonic mortality and induced hatching in all host populations. Exposure to waterborne cues revealed population-specific responses. We found significant additive genetic variation for hatching time, and genetic variation in trait plasticity. In conclusion, hatching is induced in response to infection and can be affected by waterborne cues of infection, but populations and families differ in their reaction to the latter

Screening of substrate peptide sequences for tissue-type transglutaminase (TGase 2) using T7 phage cDNA library

Transglutaminase (TGase) is a family of enzymes that catalyzes cross-linking reaction between glutamine- and lysine residue of substrate proteins in several mammalian biological events. Substrate proteins for TGase and their physiological relevance have been still in research, continuously expanding. In this study, we have established a novel screening system that enables identification of cDNA sequence encoding favorable primary structure as a substrate for tissue-type transglutaminase (TGase 2), a multifunctional and ubiquitously expressing isozyme. By the screening, we identified several T7 phage clones that displayed substrate peptides for TGase 2 as a translated product from human brain cDNA library. Among the selected clones, the C-terminal region of IKAP, IkappaB kinase complex associated protein, appeared as a highly reactive substrate sequence for TGase 2. This system will open possibility of rapid identification of substrate sequences for transglutaminases at a genetic level