Reply to: Hypoxia treatment of Parkinson’s disease may disrupt the circadian system

Background Introduction In recent years, increasing attention has been given to hypoxia-based treatment for persons with neurodegenerative and mitochondrial disease, as reflected by the significant rise in publications from basic [1], preclinical [2] and clinical [3, 4] research groups. Hypoxia treatment is based on the idea of hypoxic conditioning and adaptations induced by hypoxia. Recently, we published a protocol paper to assess the safety, feasibility, and acute symptomatic effects of single sessions of continuous and intermittent hypoxia (for 45 min, at FiO2 0.133 and 0.163) in persons with Parkinson’s disease (PD) [3]. In Coste & Touitou’s recent correspondence [5] to our protocol [6], they highlighted the potential for circadian rhythm disturbances induced by hypoxia in PD. This interesting insight is based on their two different studies, in which a phase shift in circadian rhythm (as measured by cortisol and melatonin) was observed after eight-hours-long ‘chronic’ exposure to hypoxia [7, 8]. Coste & Touitou [6] carefully considered that hypoxia-based interventions could therefore induce changes in circadian rhythm, and this may in turn affect the outcome of these interventions. Here, we discuss important differences between chronic hypoxia, which resembles hypoxia as a disease model for sleep apnea, and hypoxic conditioning

Diversity and ecology of edible mushrooms from Patagonia native forests, Argentina

Forests from the Patagonian Andes of Argentina offer a very interesting although little known and exploited variety of edible wild mushrooms so far. In this work, 12 selected species of wild mushrooms from these forests, which have been reported as edible (Hydropus dusenii, Cyttaria hariotii, Fistulina antarctica, F. endoxantha, Grifola gargal, Cortinarius magellanicus complex, C. xiphidipus, Lepista nuda, Lycoperdon perlatum, Macrolepiota procera, Ramaria patagonica, and Aleurodiscus vitellinus), were investigated. Registers of effective consumption and bibliography on their traditional knowledge were used as a reference, leaving aside some much studied taxa, such as Morchella spp. (Pildain et al., Fungal Biol 118: 755–763, 2014), and some others that were very infrequently detected. We went deep in the study on the ecological and organoleptic characteristics of each species. A brief morphological description, substrates, way of life, and fruiting habits, is presented along with organoleptic characteristics. The ecological analysis included the evaluation of the environmental variables associated with their fructification, phenology, availability, and finding frequency. Species with the longest fruiting period were F. antarctica, R. patagonica, and C. magellanicus complex, from mid-March to mid-May, being also the most frequent, along with C. hariotii. Detection of narrow value ranges for certain environmental variables associated with the fruiting of humic and mycorrhizal species, such as the presence of wood debris, organic matter percentage, mulch distribution, and tree cover, suggests that fruiting of these species would be affected by not necessarily drastic changes of these parameters. Information generated in this work seeks to favor local development by promoting the sustainable use of wild edible mushrooms through innovative activities, such as mycogastronomy and mycotourism, linked with the important tourist profile of Patagonia.Fil: Barroetaveña, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ingeniería - Sede Esquel. Departamento de Ingeniería Forestal; Argentina. Centro de Investigación y Extensión Forestal Andino Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Toledo, Carolina Veronica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Centro de Investigación y Extensión Forestal Andino Patagónico; Argentin