Sodium bicarbonate ingestion and individual variability in time to peak pH

The aim of this study was to determine the individual variability in time to peak pH after the consumption of a 300mg.kg-1 dose of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3). Seventeen active males volunteered to participate in the study (mean ± SD: age 21.38 ± 1.5y; mass 75.8 ± 5.8kg; height 176.8 ± 7.6cm). Participants reported to the laboratory where a resting capillary blood sample was taken aseptically from the fingertip. After this, 300 mg.kg-1 of NaHCO3 in 400ml of water with 50ml of flavoured cordial was ingested. Participants then rested for 90 min during which repeated blood samples were procured at 10 minute intervals for 60 mins and then every 5 min until 90 min. Blood pH concentrations were measured using a blood gas analyser. Results suggested that time to peak pH (64.41±18.78 min) was highly variable with a range of 10-85 min and a coefficient of variation of 29.16%. A bi-modal distribution occurred, at 65 and 75 min. In conclusion, researchers and athletes, when using NaHCO3 as an ergogenic aid, should determine, in advance their time to peak pH to best utilise the added buffering capacity this substance allows

BOLITA, an Arabidopsis AP2/ERF-like transcription factor that affects cell expansion and proliferation/differentiation pathways

The BOLITA (BOL) gene, an AP2/ERF transcription factor, was characterized with the help of an activation tag mutant and overexpression lines in Arabidopsis and tobacco. The leaf size of plants overexpressing BOL was smaller than wild type plants due to a reduction in both cell size and cell number. Moreover, severe overexpressors showed ectopic callus formation in roots. Accordingly, global gene expression analysis using the overexpression mutant reflected the alterations in cell proliferation, differentiation and growth through expression changes in RBR, CYCD, and TCP genes, as well as genes involved in cell expansion (i.e. expansins and the actin remodeling factor ADF5). Furthermore, the expression of hormone signaling (i.e. auxin and cytokinin), biosynthesis (i.e. ethylene and jasmonic acid) and regulatory genes was found to be perturbed in bol-D mutant leave

Testicular adrenal rest tumors in adult males with congenital adrenal hyperplasia: evaluation of pituitary-gonadal function before and after successful testis-sparing surgery in eight patients.

Contains fulltext : 53524.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)CONTEXT: In male patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), testicular adrenal rest tumors (TART) are frequently present. These tumors can interfere with testicular function. Intensifying glucocorticoid therapy does not always lead to tumor regression and improvement of testicular function. Recently, testis-sparing surgery was introduced for treatment of TART. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate tumor volume, symptoms, and pituitary-gonadal function in male patients with CAH caused by 21-hydroxylase deficiency and bilateral TART before and after testis-sparing surgery. SETTING: This study was conducted at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in The Netherlands. PATIENTS: Eight adult male CAH patients with bilateral TART and infertility were included. INTERVENTIONS: Evaluation of testicular magnetic resonance imaging, symptoms, fasting serum concentrations of ACTH, LH, FSH, inhibin B, 17-OH progesterone, androstenedione, testosterone, and estrone, and semen analysis (six of eight patients) was performed before and 6 and 22 months after testis-sparing surgery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome measures were absence of residual tumor and improvement of symptoms and pituitary-gonadal function. RESULTS: Residual tumors were not found on any of the patients' magnetic resonance imaging after surgery. Two patients reported testicular pain and discomfort that disappeared after surgery. Parameters of pituitary-gonadal function did not improve after surgery: semen analysis showed azoospermia (five patients) or oligospermia (one patient) without improvement, and all patients had persistently low inhibin B concentrations. CONCLUSION: Testis-sparing surgery did not improve pituitary-gonadal function despite successful removal of the tumors. Further studies are needed to investigate whether surgery at an earlier stage in the natural history of TART can prevent permanent testicular damage

Tuning the drug multimodal release through a co-assembly strategy based on magnetic gels

Self-assembled short peptide-based gels are highly promising drug delivery systems. However, implementing a stimulus often requires screening different structures to obtain gels with suitable properties, and drugs might not be well encapsulated and/or cause undesirable effects on the gel's properties. To overcome this challenge, a new design approach is presented to modulate the release of doxorubicin as a model chemotherapeutic drug through the interplay of (di)phenylalanine-coated magnetic nanoparticles, PEGylated liposomes and doxorubicin co-assembly in dehydropeptide-based gels. The composites enable an enhancement of the gelation kinetics in a concentration-dependent manner, mainly through the use of PEGylated liposomes. The effect of the co-assembly of phenylalanine-coated nanoparticles with the hydrogel displays a concentration and size dependence. Finally, the integration of liposomes as doxorubicin storage units and of nanoparticles as composites that co-assemble with the gel matrix enables the tuneability of both passive and active doxorubicin release through a thermal, and a low-frequency alternating magnetic field-based trigger. In addition to the modulation of the gel properties, the functionalization with (di)phenylalanine improves the cytocompatibility of the nanoparticles. Hereby, this work paves a way for the development of peptide-based supramolecular systems for on-demand and controlled release of drugs.This work was funded by Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad de Espana (PID2020-113704RB-I00 and PID2020-119242RB-I00), Xunta de Galicia (Centro Singular de Investigacion de Galicia - Accreditation 2019-2022 ED431G 2019/06 and IN607A 2018/5 and project ED431C 2020-06,), and European Union (EU-ERDF Interreg V-A - Spain-Portugal 0245_IBEROS_1_E, 0712_ACUINANO_1_E, and 0624_2IQBIONEURO_6_E, and Interreg Atlantic Area NANOCULTURE 1.102.531), and the European Union H2020-MSCA-RISE-2019 PEPSA-MATE project, and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of the Strategic Funding of CF-UM-UP (UIDB/04650/2020), IPC (UID/CTM/50025/2020) and CQUM (UIDB/00686/2020). FCT, FEDER, PORTUGAL2020 and COMPETE2020 are also acknowledged for funding under research projects PTDC/QUI-QFI/28020/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028020) and PTDC/QUI-QOR/29015/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029015). S. R. S. Veloso acknowledges FCT for a PhD grant (SFRH/BD/144017/2019). Support from MAP-Fis Doctoral Programme is also acknowledged