On-Farm Risikoanalysen zur Entwicklung von Kontrollmaßnahmen bei Kreuzkraut-Arten

Poisonous Senecio species occur in grasslands of various countries. Their further spread into farmland must be prevented, but efficient methods for their control are often lacking, especially under organic farming. We propose on-farm surveys designed as case-control studies to assess the risk for the occurrence of such species and present results of a study on S. aquaticus. Following a case-control design, 72 plots were evaluated for their botanical composition, half the plots contained S. aquaticus. For all the plots, the soil nutrients and the details of management practice, such as type and intensity of management and fertiliser application, were recorded from the farmer. There was a high risk for occurrence of S. aquaticus with low nitrogen fertilisation, with a decrease of management intensity in the preceding 15 years, high inclination, and gaps in the sward. For the long-term control of S. aquaticus, we suggest promoting dense swards and preventing sward damage as much as possible. This paper demonstrates the great power of case-control studies in on-farm research. The design allows thorough statistical testing using generalised linear models and provides reliable results in relatively short time. Various questions can be linked to the management practice on farms and over a wide range of environmental conditions. Such data can hardly be obtained from small plot experiments

Allele-Specific, Age-Dependent and BMI-Associated DNA Methylation of Human MCHR1

Background: Melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 1 (MCHR1) plays a significant role in regulation of energy balance, food intake, physical activity and body weight in humans and rodents. Several association studies for human obesity showed contrary results concerning the SNPs rs133072 (G/A) and rs133073 (T/C), which localize to the first exon of MCHR1. The variations constitute two main haplotypes (GT, AC). Both SNPs affect CpG dinucleotides, whereby each haplotype contains a potential methylation site at one of the two SNP positions. In addition, 15 CpGs in close vicinity of these SNPs constitute a weak CpG island. Here, we studied whether DNA methylation in this sequence context may contribute to population- and age-specific effects of MCHR1 alleles in obesity. \ud Principal Findings: We analyzed DNA methylation of a 315 bp region of MCHR1 encompassing rs133072 and rs133073 and the CpG island in blood samples of 49 individuals by bisulfite sequencing. The AC haplotype shows a significantly higher methylation level than the GT haplotype. This allele-specific methylation is age-dependent. In young individuals (20â\u80\u9330 years) the difference in DNA methylation between haplotypes is significant; whereas in individuals older than 60 years it is not detectable. Interestingly, the GT allele shows a decrease in methylation status with increasing BMI, whereas the methylation of the AC allele is not associated with this phenotype. Heterozygous lymphoblastoid cell lines show the same pattern of allele-specific DNA methylation. The cell line, which exhibits the highest difference in methylation levels between both haplotypes, also shows allele-specific transcription of MCHR1, which can be abolished by treatment with the DNA\ud methylase inhibitor 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine.\ud Conclusions:We show that DNA methylation at MCHR1 is allele-specific, age-dependent, BMI-associated and affects transcription. Conceivably, this epigenetic regulation contributes to the age- and/or population specific effects reported for MCHR1 in several human obesity studies.\ud \ud doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017711\u

Genetic deficiency of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase associated with skeletal dysplasia, cerebral calcifications and autoimmunity.

Vertebral and metaphyseal dysplasia, spasticity with cerebral calcifications, and strong predisposition to autoimmune diseases are the hallmarks of the genetic disorder spondyloenchondrodysplasia. We mapped a locus in five consanguineous families to chromosome 19p13 and identified mutations in ACP5, which encodes tartrate-resistant phosphatase (TRAP), in 14 affected individuals and showed that these mutations abolish enzyme function in the serum and cells of affected individuals. Phosphorylated osteopontin, a protein involved in bone reabsorption and in immune regulation, accumulates in serum, urine and cells cultured from TRAP-deficient individuals. Case-derived dendritic cells exhibit an altered cytokine profile and are more potent than matched control cells in stimulating allogeneic T cell proliferation in mixed lymphocyte reactions. These findings shed new light on the role of osteopontin and its regulation by TRAP in the pathogenesis of common autoimmune disorders

Antiinflammatorisch wirksame Phytotherapeutika und ihr mögliches Potential bei tumorkranken Menschen

Die Wirkstoffe pflanzlicher Arznei- und Heilmittel sind pleiotrope Vielstoffgemische mit Multi-Target Eigenschaften einschlieβlich antiinflammatorischer Wirkungen. Eine pleiotrope Entzündungshemmung könnte bei tumorkranken Menschen als Versuch der Verhinderung bzw. Verzögerung der Metastasierung eine bedeutsame Rolle spielen. Zahlreiche experimentelle Daten für europäische wie auch auβereuropäische Pflanzen und verschiedene phytotherapeutische Kombinationen weisen auf eine solche Möglichkeit hin. Trotz der bislang nur geringen Anzahl klinischer Untersuchungen könnten derartige phytotherapeutische Behandlungsversuche vertretbar erscheinen, wenn für solche Arznei- und Heilpflanzen aus Anwendungsbereichen bei nicht tumorkranken Menschen gesicherte Daten über Qualität und Sicherheit dokumentiert sind und eine Übertragung solcher Daten auf die Situation tumorkranker Menschen unter kritischer Abwägung möglich erscheint. Phytotherapeutika spielen zudem in der Supportivtherapie eine zunehmende Rolle, wobei zahlreiche dieser Phytotherapeutika neben ihrer symptomatischen supportiven Wirksamkeit auch antiinflammatorische Wirkungen zeigen. Die gezielte Auswahl von supportiv wirksamen Phytotherapeutika mit zusätzlichen antiinflammatorischen Effekten könnte für tumorkranke Menschen neben der Symptomlinderung simultan die Möglichkeit einer antiinflammatorischen antitumoralen Wirksamkeit bieten als eine Art personalisierter Phytotherapie. Zurzeit besteht diesbezüglich noch ein groβer Bedarf an therapeutisch orientierter klinischer Forschung. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Base