Effects of ex-vivo and in-vivo treatment with probiotics on the inflammasome in dogs with chronic enteropathy

Inflammasomes coordinate the maturation of IL-1β and IL-18 in response to danger signals. They are vital for maintenance of intestinal homeostasis and have been linked to chronic intestinal inflammation in humans. Probiotics have been advocated as treatment in intestinal inflammation. So far, no study has investigated the role of the inflammasome in canine chronic enteropathy (CE). In this study the intestinal expression of inflammasome components was assessed in CE dogs compared to controls, when treated with probiotic Enterococcus faecium (EF) ex-vivo and in-vivo. RNA extraction from endoscopic biopsies and reverse-transcriptase quantitative PCR was performed for NLRP3, casp-1, IL-1β and IL-18. Immunohistochemistry was performed to investigate protein expression in tissues. Gene expression of casp-1 and NLRP3 was lower in CE samples than controls. Ex-vivo treatment with EF reduced NLRP3 expression in control samples. Treatment of CE dogs with EF alongside dietary intervention had no effect on gene expression. In contrast, IL-1β protein expression in CE decreased with dietary treatment (but not with probiotics). The results of this study suggest that the inflammasome or its components may be partially involved in the inflammatory process seen in CE, but distinct from intestinal inflammation in humans

Disability and Depressive Symptoms in Later Life: The Stress-Buffering Role of Informal and Formal Support

Background: Despite the increasing utilization of formal services by older adults in many nations, there is a paucity of research that has examined the relationships between disability, formal support and depressive symptoms in later life. Objective: We investigated whether support received for daily activities, either from formal and/or informal sources, weakened the deleterious relationship between disability and depression symptoms in later life and whether these stress-buffering effects were stronger in later years of older adulthood. Methods: Participants were 1,359 community-dwelling older adults drawn from Wave 1 of the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Hierarchical multiple regression was used. Results: Individuals receiving support from (1) informal sources only and (2) both informal and formal sources had weaker relationships between disability and depressive symptoms, relative to those receiving no support. The interaction between informal and formal support and disability also revealed that for individuals with above average functional limitations, receipt of this support type was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. However, for individuals with no functional limitations, receipt of both informal and formal support was not associated with depressive symptoms. The stress-buffer age variation hypothesis received no support. Conclusions: Findings suggest that receiving a combination of informal and formal support may be sufficient to offset the harmful association between disability and depressive symptoms in later life. In addition, findings further emphasized the importance of informal support in later life. In contrast, formal support in isolation may not be sufficient to confer a protective effect. Given the expected increase in utilization of formal services among older adults in the coming decades, it is essential that future research investigates the possible factors that underlie this null result