THE ROLE OF SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS IN PURCHASING DOMESTIC PRODUCTS BY IRANIAN CONSUMERS

Buy domestic promotions in various countries often urge citizens to help domestic workers whose jobs are threatened by imports. To explain why purchasers might engage in buy domestic purchase activities, researchers develop and test a behavioral model about why people help distressed victims. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of factors underlying consumer choice of domestic vs. foreign products on a sample of consumers in Iran. For this purpose authors use multiple-group structural equation analysis of survey data from Iran to test the model that features seven explanatory constructs drawn from previous behavioral research. Empirical results confirmed the postulated that domestic punches costs, similarity and common fate have significant impact on consumer domestic purchase decisions. However, findings did not lend support for theoretical propositions related to ethnocentric, patriotism, social concerns. Implications for domestic economic are outlined in the conclusionsIranian Goods, Patriotism, Ethnocentrism, Social concern, Responsibility, Conceptual Model

Pioglitazone Reduces Hepatocellular Carcinoma Development in Two Rodent Models of Cirrhosis

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the deadliest malignancies worldwide due to the lack of effective treatments. Chemoprevention in high-risk patients is a promising, alternative strategy. In this study, pioglitazone was investigated for its ability to prevent hepatocarcinogenesis in two rodent models of cirrhosis. METHODS: In the first model, male Wistar rats were given repeated, low-dose injections of diethylnitrosamine (DEN) to accurately recapitulate the progression of fibrosis to cirrhosis and HCC. In the second model, a single dose of DEN was administered to male C57Bl/6 pups at day fifteen followed by administration of a choline-deficient, L-amino acid defined, high-fat diet (CDAHFD) at week six for 24 weeks. Pioglitazone treatment started at the first signs of fibrosis in both models. RESULTS: Pioglitazone effectively reduced fibrosis progression and HCC development in both models. Gross tumor nodules were significantly reduced after pioglitazone treatment (7.4 +/- 1.6 vs. 16.6 +/- 2.6 in the rat DEN model and 5.86 +/- 1.82 vs. 13.2 +/- 1.25 in the mouse DEN+CDAHFD model). In both models, pioglitazone reduced the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and upregulated the hepato-protective AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway via increasing circulating adiponectin production. CONCLUSION: Pioglitazone is an effective agent for chemoprevention in rodents and could be repurposed as a multi-targeted drug for delaying liver fibrosis and hepatocarcinogenesis

Molecular magnetic resonance imaging of liver inflammation using an oxidatively activated probe

Background &amp; Aims: Many liver diseases are driven by inflammation, but imaging to non-invasively diagnose and quantify liver inflammation has been underdeveloped. The inflammatory liver microenvironment is aberrantly oxidising owing in part to reactive oxygen species generated by myeloid leucocytes. We hypothesised that magnetic resonance imaging using the oxidatively activated probe Fe-PyC3A will provide a non-invasive biomarker of liver inflammation. Methods: A mouse model of drug-induced liver injury was generated through intraperitoneal injection of a hepatoxic dose of acetaminophen. A mouse model of steatohepatitis was generated via a choline-deficient, l-amino acid defined high-fat diet (CDAHFD). Images were acquired dynamically before and after intravenous injection of Fe-PyC3A. The contrast agent gadoterate meglumine was used as a non-oxidatively activated negative control probe in mice fed CDAHFD. The (post-pre) Fe-PyC3A injection change in liver vs. muscle contrast-to-noise ratio (ΔCNR) recorded 2 min post-injection was correlated with liver function test values, histologic scoring assigned using the NASH Clinical Research Network criteria, and intrahepatic myeloid leucocyte composition determined by flow cytometry. Results: For mice receiving i.p. injections of acetaminophen, intrahepatic neutrophil composition correlated poorly with liver test values but positively and significantly with ΔCNR (r = 0.64, p <0.0001). For mice fed CDAHFD, ΔCNR generated by Fe-PyC3A in the left lobe was significantly greater in mice meeting histologic criteria strongly associated with a diagnosis NASH compared to mice where histology was consistent with likely non-NASH (p = 0.0001), whereas no differential effect was observed using gadoterate meglumine. In mice fed CDAHFD, ΔCNR did not correlate strongly with fractional composition of any specific myeloid cell subpopulation as determined by flow cytometry. Conclusions: Magnetic resonance imaging using Fe-PyC3A merits further evaluation as a non-invasive biomarker for liver inflammation. Impact and implications: Non-invasive tests to diagnose and measure liver inflammation are underdeveloped. Inflammatory cells such as neutrophils release reactive oxygen species which creates an inflammatory liver microenvironment that can drive chemical oxidation. We recently invented a new class of magnetic resonance imaging probe that is made visible to the scanner only after chemical oxidation. Here, we demonstrate how this imaging technology could be applied as a non-invasive biomarker for liver inflammation

STAT3 modulates β-cell cycling in injured mouse pancreas and protects against DNA damage

International audiencePartial pancreatic duct ligation (PDL) of mouse pancreas induces a doubling of the β-cell mass mainly through proliferation of pre-existing and newly formed β-cells. The molecular mechanism governing this process is still largely unknown. Given the inflammatory nature of PDL and inflammation-induced signaling via the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), the activation and the role of STAT3 in PDL-induced β-cell proliferation were investigated. Duct ligation stimulates the expression of several cytokines that can act as ligands inducing STAT3 signaling and phosphorylation in β-cells. β-Cell cycling increased by conditional β-cell-specific Stat3 knockout and decreased by STAT3 activation through administration of interleukin-6. In addition, the level of DNA damage in β-cells of PDL pancreas increased after deletion of Stat3. These data indicate a role for STAT3 in maintaining a steady state in the β-cell, by modulating its cell cycle and protection from DNA damage

Prolonged cenicriviroc therapy reduces hepatic fibrosis despite steatohepatitis in a diet‐induced mouse model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a progressive liver disease projected to become the leading cause of cirrhosis and liver transplantation in the next decade. Cenicriviroc (CVC), a dual chemokine receptor 2 and 5 antagonist, prevents macrophage trafficking and is under clinical investigation for the treatment of human NASH fibrosis. We assessed the efficacy and durability of short and prolonged CVC therapy in a diet‐induced mouse model of NASH, the choline deficient, L‐amino acid‐defined, high‐fat diet (CDAHFD) model. C57BL/6 mice received 4 or 14 weeks of standard chow or the CDAHFD. CVC (10 mg/kg/day and 30 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks and 20 mg/kg/day and 30 mg/kg/day for 14 weeks) was initiated simultaneously with the CDAHFD. At 4 and 14 weeks, livers were harvested for histology and flow cytometric analyses of intrahepatic immune cells. High‐dose CVC (30 mg/kg/day) therapy in CDAHFD mice for 4 or 14 weeks inhibited intrahepatic accumulation of Ly6Chigh bone marrow‐derived macrophages. Prolonged CVC therapy (14 weeks) yielded no significant differences in the total intrahepatic macrophage populations among treatment groups but increased the frequency of intrahepatic anti‐inflammatory macrophages in the high‐dose CVC group. Despite ongoing steatohepatitis, there was significantly less fibrosis in CDAHFD mice receiving high‐dose CVC for 14 weeks based on histologic and molecular markers, mirroring observations in human NASH CVC trials. CVC also directly inhibited the profibrotic gene signature of transforming growth factor‐β‐stimulated primary mouse hepatic stellate cells in vitro. Conclusion: CVC is a novel therapeutic agent that is associated with reduced fibrosis despite ongoing steatohepatitis. Its ability to alter intrahepatic macrophage populations and inhibit profibrogenic genes in hepatic stellate cells in NASH livers may contribute to its observed antifibrotic effect. (Hepatology Communications 2018;2:529‐545

Unlimited in vitro expansion of adult bi-potent pancreas progenitors through the Lgr5/R-spondin axis

Lgr5 marks adult stem cells in multiple adult organs and is a receptor for the Wnt-agonistic R-spondins (RSPOs). Intestinal, stomach and liver Lgr5(+) stem cells grow in 3D cultures to form ever-expanding organoids, which resemble the tissues of origin. Wnt signalling is inactive and Lgr5 is not expressed under physiological conditions in the adult pancreas. However, we now report that the Wnt pathway is robustly activated upon injury by partial duct ligation (PDL), concomitant with the appearance of Lgr5 expression in regenerating pancreatic ducts. In vitro, duct fragments from mouse pancreas initiate Lgr5 expression in RSPO1-based cultures, and develop into budding cyst-like structures (organoids) that expand five-fold weekly for >40 weeks. Single isolated duct cells can also be cultured into pancreatic organoids, containing Lgr5 stem/progenitor cells that can be clonally expanded. Clonal pancreas organoids can be induced to differentiate into duct as well as endocrine cells upon transplantation, thus proving their bi-potentiality