Leukocyte Telomere Length in Major Depression: Correlations with Chronicity, Inflammation and Oxidative Stress - Preliminary Findings

Depression is associated with an unusually high rate of aging-related illnesses and early mortality. One aspect of “accelerated aging” in depression may be shortened leukocyte telomeres. When telomeres critically shorten, as often occurs with repeated mitoses or in response to oxidation and inflammation, cells may die. Indeed, leukocyte telomere shortening predicts early mortality and medical illnesses in non-depressed populations. We sought to determine if leukocyte telomeres are shortened in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), whether this is a function of lifetime depression exposure and whether this is related to putative mediators, oxidation and inflammation.Leukocyte telomere length was compared between 18 unmedicated MDD subjects and 17 controls and was correlated with lifetime depression chronicity and peripheral markers of oxidation (F2-isoprostane/Vitamin C ratio) and inflammation (IL-6). Analyses were controlled for age and sex.The depressed group, as a whole, did not differ from the controls in telomere length. However, telomere length was significantly inversely correlated with lifetime depression exposure, even after controlling for age (p<0.05). Average telomere length in the depressed subjects who were above the median of lifetime depression exposure (≥9.2 years' cumulative duration) was 281 base pairs shorter than that in controls (p<0.05), corresponding to approximately seven years of “accelerated cell aging.” Telomere length was inversely correlated with oxidative stress in the depressed subjects (p<0.01) and in the controls (p<0.05) and with inflammation in the depressed subjects (p<0.05).These preliminary data indicate that accelerated aging at the level of leukocyte telomeres is proportional to lifetime exposure to MDD. This might be related to cumulative exposure to oxidative stress and inflammation in MDD. This suggest that telomere shortening does not antedate depression and is not an intrinsic feature. Rather, telomere shortening may progress in proportion to lifetime depression exposure

Neurovascular unit dysfunction with blood-brain barrier hyperpermeability contributes to major depressive disorder: a review of clinical and experimental evidence

About one-third of people with major depressive disorder (MDD) fail at least two antidepressant drug trials at 1 year. Together with clinical and experimental evidence indicating that the pathophysiology of MDD is multifactorial, this observation underscores the importance of elucidating mechanisms beyond monoaminergic dysregulation that can contribute to the genesis and persistence of MDD. Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are mechanistically linked to the presence of neurovascular dysfunction with blood-brain barrier (BBB) hyperpermeability in selected neurological disorders, such as stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, and Alzheimer’s disease. In contrast to other major psychiatric disorders, MDD is frequently comorbid with such neurological disorders and constitutes an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality in disorders characterized by vascular endothelial dysfunction (cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus). Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are implicated in the neurobiology of MDD. More recent evidence links neurovascular dysfunction with BBB hyperpermeability to MDD without neurological comorbidity. We review this emerging literature and present a theoretical integration between these abnormalities to those involving oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in MDD. We discuss our hypothesis that alterations in endothelial nitric oxide levels and endothelial nitric oxide synthase uncoupling are central mechanistic links in this regard. Understanding the contribution of neurovascular dysfunction with BBB hyperpermeability to the pathophysiology of MDD may help to identify novel therapeutic and preventative approaches

Careers of South Australian health Professional Graduates

In light of continuing debates about shortages in health professional workforces, and decisions over the past few years to increase the number of medical, dental and physiotherapy schools across Australia, this paper reports on a study of the careers of medical, dental and physiotherapy graduates from South Australian universities from 1960 to 2003. We found substantial change over time, including recent graduate cohorts having proportionally more females and fewer having attended a private secondary school. A significant minority reported job dissatisfaction and burnout, with recent cohorts reporting higher levels of stress than older respondents. They were also working part-time more than was the case for older cohorts at equivalent points in their careers. We argue that strategies to increase graduate numbers in the near future can reduce shortages of health professionals, but increased numbers alone may not be sufficient to promote a sustainable health professional workforce

Different patterns of nuclear and mitochondrial penetration by the G3 PAMAM dendrimer and its biotin&ndash;pyridoxal bioconjugate BC-PAMAM in normal and cancer cells in vitro

Łukasz Uram,1 Magdalena Szuster,1 Aleksandra Filipowicz,2 Krzysztof Gargasz,3 Stanisław Wołowiec,3 Elżbieta Wałajtys-Rode4 1Bioorganic Chemistry Laboratory, Faculty of Chemistry, Rzeszow University of Technology, 2Cosmetology Department, University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszow, 3Institute of Nursery and Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rzeszow, Rzeszow, 4Department of Drug Technology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Chemistry, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland Abstract: The intracellular localization and colocalization of a fluorescently labeled G3 amine-terminated cationic polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer and its biotin&ndash;pyridoxal (BC-PAMAM) bioconjugate were investigated in a concentration-dependent manner in normal human fibroblast (BJ) and squamous epithelial carcinoma (SCC-15) cell lines. After 24&nbsp;hours treatment, both cell lines revealed different patterns of intracellular dendrimer accumulation depending on their cytotoxic effects. Cancer cells exhibited much higher (20-fold) tolerance for native PAMAM treatment than fibroblasts, whereas BC-PAMAM was significantly toxic only for fibroblasts at 50&nbsp;&micro;M concentration. Fibroblasts accumulated the native and bioconjugated dendrimers in a concentration-dependent manner at nontoxic range of concentration, with significantly lower bioconjugate loading. After reaching the cytotoxicity level, fluorescein isothiocyanate-PAMAM accumulation remains at high, comparable level. In cancer cells, native PAMAM loading at higher, but not cytotoxic concentrations, was kept at constant level with a sharp increase at toxic concentration. Mander&rsquo;s coefficient calculated for fibroblasts and cancer cells confirmed more efficient native PAMAM penetration as compared to BC-PAMAM. Significant differences in nuclear dendrimer penetration were observed for both cell lines. In cancer cells, PAMAM signals amounted to ~25%&ndash;35% of the total nuclei area at all investigated concentrations, with lower level (15%&ndash;25%) observed for BC-PAMAM. In fibroblasts, the dendrimer nuclear signal amounted to 15% at nontoxic and up to 70% at toxic concentrations, whereas BC-PAMAM remained at a lower concentration-dependent level (0.3%&ndash;20%). Mitochondrial localization of PAMAM and BC-PAMAM revealed similar patterns in both cell lines, depending on the extracellular dendrimer concentration, and presented significantly lower signals from BC-PAMAM, which correlated well with the cytotoxicity. Keywords: PAMAM G3 dendrimer, bioconjugate, normal and cancer cells, nuclei, mitochondria, confocal microscopy, colocalizatio

In vitro cytotoxicity of the ternary PAMAM G3&ndash;pyridoxal&ndash;biotin bioconjugate

Łukasz Uram, Magdalena Szuster, Krzysztof Gargasz, Aleksandra Filipowicz, Elżbieta Wałajtys-Rode, Stanisław Wołowiec Cosmetology Department, University of Information Technology and Management in Rzesz&oacute;w, Rzesz&oacute;w, Poland Abstract: A third-generation polyamidoamine dendrimer (PAMAM G3) was used as a macromolecular carrier for pyridoxal and biotin. The binary covalent bioconjugate of G3, with nine molecules of biotin per one molecule of G3 (G39B), and the ternary covalent bioconjugate of G3, with nine biotin and ten pyridoxal molecules (G39B10P), were synthesized. The biotin and pyridoxal residues of the bioconjugate were available for carboxylase and transaminase enzymes, as demonstrated in the conversion of pyruvate to oxaloacetate and alanine to pyruvate, respectively, by in vitro monitoring of the reactions, using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The toxicity of the ternary bioconjugate (BC-PAMAM) was studied in vitro on BJ human normal skin fibroblasts and human squamous cell carcinoma (SCC-15) cell cultures in comparison with PAMAM G3, using three cytotoxicity assays (XTT, neutral red, and crystal violet) and an estimation of apoptosis by confocal microscopy detection. The tests have shown that BC-PAMAM has significantly lower cytotoxicity compared with PAMAM. Nonconjugated PAMAM was not cytotoxic at concentrations up to 5 &micro;M (NR) and 10 &micro;M (XTT), and BC-PAMAM was not cytotoxic up to 50 &micro;M (both assays) for both cell lines. It has been also found that normal fibroblasts were more sensitive than SCC to both PAMAM and BC-PAMAM. The effect of PAMAM and BC-PAMAM on the initiation of apoptosis (PAMAM in fibroblasts at 5 &micro;M and BC-PAMAM at 10 &micro;M in both cell lines) corresponded with cytotoxicity assays for both cell lines. We concluded that normal fibroblasts are more sensitive to the cytotoxic effects of the PAMAM G3 dendrimer and that modification of its surface cationic groups by substitution with biologically active molecules significantly decreases that effect, confirming that PAMAM G3 is a useful candidate as a carrier for active biocompound delivery. Keywords: ternary bioconjugate, pyridoxal, biotin, enzymatic transamination, enzymatic carboxylation, apoptosis, normal fibroblasts, squamous carcinoma cell

Pumping characteristics of the modified HE-3X agitator

Przedstawiono wyniki badań doświadczalnych dla zmodyfikowanego mieszadła HE-3X i HE-3. Badania przeprowadzono dla wody destylowanej i roztworów poliakryloamidu Rokrysol WF1 oraz ciała stałego w postaci granulatów polietylenu i polipropylenu. Wykazano wpływ wprowadzonych modyfikacji w konstrukcji mieszadła na minimalne częstości obrotów mieszadła potrzebne do wytworzenia zawiesiny kompletnej oraz nakłady energetyczne dla badanych mieszadeł w zakresie wartości liczby Reynoldsa 60000-M 30000.The results of experimental studies on the modified agitators HE-3X and HE-3 are presented. The research was conducted using distilled water, solution of polyacrylamide Rokrysol WF1 and solid granules of polyethylene and polypropylene. An influence of introduced modifications in the mixer construction on the minimum rotational frequency of agitator needed to form a slurry and on the mixing power of tested mixers were assessed in a range of Reynolds number varied between 60 000 and 130 000

The contribution of formyl peptide receptor dysfunction to the course of neuroinflammation: A potential role in the brain pathology

Chronic inflammatory processes within the central nervous system (CNS) are in part responsible for the development of neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. These processes are associated with, among other things, the increased and disturbed activation of microglia and the elevated production of proinflammatory factors. Recent studies indicated that the disruption of the process of resolution of inflammation (RoI) may be the cause of CNS disorders. It is shown that the RoI is regulated by endogenous molecules called specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs), which interact with specific membrane receptors. Some SPMs activate formyl peptide receptors (FPRs), which belong to the family of seven-transmembrane G protein-coupled receptors. These receptors take part not only in the proinflammatory response but also in the resolution of the inflammation process. Therefore, the activation of FPRs might have complex consequences. This review discusses the potential role of FPRs, and in particular the role of FPR2 subtype, in the brain under physiological and pathological conditions and their involvement in processes underlying neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders as well as ischemia, the pathogenesis of which involves the dysfunction of inflammatory processes