Cytokines and chemokines production by mononuclear cells from parturient women after stimulation with live Toxoplasma gondii

AbstractToxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that can cause variable clinical symptoms or can even be asymptomatic in immunocompetent individuals. More severe symptoms are observed in immunocompromised patients and congenital transmission of the parasite has been reported. The objective of this study was to evaluate the response of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in parturient and non-pregnant women exposed to live tachyzoites of T. gondii strain RH or ME49. PBMC were isolated from parturient and non-pregnant women with negative or positive serology for toxoplasmosis and cultured with live tachyzoites of the two T. gondii strains for 24 h. Next, the cell culture supernatants were collected and levels of CCL2, CCL5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, and TNF-α produced by PBMC after tachyzoite exposure were measured. Live tachyzoite forms of T. gondii significantly inhibited the synthesis of CCL2 in seropositive parturient women, whereas a stimulatory effect on CCL5 was observed in seronegative parturient women. Cells from T. gondii-seronegative non-pregnant women produced significantly higher levels of TNF-α and IL-12, demonstrating the proinflammatory profile induced by the presence of the parasite in culture. The results suggest that the immunomodulation seen during pregnancy contributes to the development of an environment that facilitates escape of the parasite from the immune response

Population expansion in the North African Late Pleistocene signalled by mitochondrial DNA haplogroup U6

Background <br/> The archaeology of North Africa remains enigmatic, with questions of population continuity versus discontinuity taking centre-stage. Debates have focused on population transitions between the bearers of the Middle Palaeolithic Aterian industry and the later Upper Palaeolithic populations of the Maghreb, as well as between the late Pleistocene and Holocene. <br/> Results Improved resolution of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup U6 phylogeny, by the screening of 39 new complete sequences, has enabled us to infer a signal of moderate population expansion using Bayesian coalescent methods. To ascertain the time for this expansion, we applied both a mutation rate accounting for purifying selection and one with an internal calibration based on four approximate archaeological dates: the settlement of the Canary Islands, the settlement of Sardinia and its internal population re-expansion, and the split between haplogroups U5 and U6 around the time of the first modern human settlement of the Near East. <br/> Conclusions <br/> A Bayesian skyline plot placed the main expansion in the time frame of the Late Pleistocene, around 20 ka, and spatial smoothing techniques suggested that the most probable geographic region for this demographic event was to the west of North Africa. A comparison with U6's European sister clade, U5, revealed a stronger population expansion at around this time in Europe. Also in contrast with U5, a weak signal of a recent population expansion in the last 5,000 years was observed in North Africa, pointing to a moderate impact of the late Neolithic on the local population size of the southern Mediterranean coast

Reactive nitrogen/oxygen species production by nitro/nitrosyl supramolecular ruthenium porphyrin complexes

This manuscript reports on new nitro/nitrosyl Ru-based complexes, which were synthesized with the purpose of using them as precursors to obtain supramolecular ruthenium porphyrin species ({TPyP[Ru (NO2)(5,50-Mebipy)2]4}(PF6)4) and ({TPyP[Ru(NO)(5,50-Mebipy)2]4}(PF6)12). The photochemical and photophysical properties of these porphyrin species were investigated. Results show that the complex containing nitrite is able to produce NO by homolytic O—NO cleavage (FPPh NO = 0.05) while the {TPyP[Ru (NO)(5,50-Mebipy)2]4}(PF6)12 does it by direct labilization (FPPh NO = 0.53) of the Ru NO bond. Furthermore, a triplet quantum yield of 0.09 and 0.27 was observed for complexes containing nitrite and nitric oxide, respectively. The reactive oxygen species quantum yield for the complex {TPyP[Ru(NO) (5,50-Mebipy)2]4}(PF6)12 (0.78) is consistent with the sum of quantum yields NO release (0.53) and triplet state (0.27), which suggests that both processes participate in the formation of the reactive species. Our results show that combining these characteristics, NO production and triplet states, on the same platform could induce a synergic effect, leading to a considerable improvement in the photodynamic action of these complexes

Autonomic modulation of heart rate of young and postmenopausal women undergoing estrogen therapy

The aim of the present study was to determine whether estrogen therapy (ET) reduces alterations of the autonomic control of heart rate (HR) due to hypoestrogenism and aging. Thirteen young (24 ± 2.6 years), 10 postmenopausal (53 ± 4.6 years) undergoing ET (PM-ET), and 14 postmenopausal (56 ± 2.6 years) women not undergoing ET (PM) were studied. ET consisted of 0.625 mg/day conjugated equine estrogen. HR was recorded continuously for 8 min at rest in the supine and sitting positions. HR variability (HRV) was analyzed by time (SDNN and rMSSD indices) and frequency domain methods. Power spectral components are reported as normalized units (nu) at low (LF) and high (HF) frequencies, and as LF/HF ratio. Intergroup comparisons: SDNN index was higher in young (median: supine, 47 ms; sitting, 42 ms) than in PM-ET (33; 29 ms) and PM (31; 29 ms) women (P < 0.05). PM showed lower HFnu, higher LFnu and higher LF/HF ratio (supine: 44, 56, 1.29; sitting: 38, 62, 1.60) than the young group in the supine position (61, 39, 0.63) and the PM-ET group in the sitting position (57, 43, 0.75; P < 0.05). Intragroup comparisons: HR was lower in the supine than in the sitting position for all groups (P < 0.05). The HRV decrease from the supine to the sitting position was significant only in the young group. These results suggest that HRV decreases during aging. ET seems to attenuate this process, promoting a reduction in sympathetic activity on the heart and contributing to the cardioprotective effect of estrogen hormones.49149

Population genetic structure of Sri Lankan backyard chicken flocks: Implication for conservation and genetic improvement programs

Traditional ‘random’ sampling strategy for molecular characterization has revealed low genetic differentiation and weak genetic structure among Asian and African indigenous, non-descript chicken populations although they carried high within-population phenotypic and molecular genetic diversity. In the present study, 192 backyard chickens collected following a nearly ‘complete’ sampling strategy for all adult birds within flocks of 75 households in five villages at two sites in Sri Lanka were genotyped using 20 microsatellite markers. The phenotypes and history of these birds were also recorded. A link of phenotypic composition and flock size with specific genetic structure of the backyard chicken populations was explored. The results suggest that the households who used to keep large flocks of indigenous backyard chickens of mixed genotypes should be included in in-situ conservation program to effectively maintain and sustainably utilize these important chicken genetic resources

A Hospital Management System Suitable for Every Hospital as a Solution to the Problems of the Hospital Industry in Sri Lanka

This paper is based on the concept of creating a management system for a hospital, related functionalities and other learning of it in order to make the process efficient, fast and safe. This study aids in increasing the productivity of a hospital by decreasing the time wastage which was identified with the manual process. The system is proposed after identifying the problems in patients and the hospital staff to cover areas of human resources, marketing and finance. One of the main goals is to provide a system which can automate a manual process that is used in day-to-day life. The proposed system which is known as “Hospital MS” is a web application which contains the necessary functionalities of the stakeholders of this system. Mainly this system can manage the patient, doctors, recipients, lab assistant and the system administrator to maintain and manage the system. Since we can provide a platform to every person who is interacting with this system, there are lots of advantages for everyone. Another aim of this system is to provide the patient with a way of interacting with the hospital. With this proposed system a particular patient can make the appointments to a doctor, and once the appointment is completed, the patient can keep the interaction with the doctor by sharing information like prescriptions. One of the other concerns that this system is going to look after is the centralized database to manipulate the data in a more reliable and efficient way