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Sample records for pretreatment metabolic abnormalities

  1. Evaluation of regional metabolic abnormality and treatment effect in patients with narcolepsy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Yu Kyeong; Yoon, In Young; Shin, Youn Kyung; Eo, Jae Sean; Won, Oh So; Lee, Won Woo; Kim, Sang Eun [Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2005-07-01

    The aim of the present study was to evaluated regional metabolic abnormalities in untreated narcoleptic patients and the changes in regional cerebral metabolism after treatment with modafinil. Eight drug free narcoleptic patients (mean age of 17{+-}1 yr) participated in this study. Two [{sup 18}F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scans before and after a 2-week titrated modafinil treatment (target dose = 100{approx}400 mg/day). The PET data were analyzed by using statistical parametric mapping methods to identify the regional cerebral abnormalities compared with those of healthy young controls. In addition, treatment effect was evaluated by comparison between before and after treatment scan. In narcolepsy patients, a significant reduction of regional metabolism was demonstrated in the brain stem, bilateral hypothalamus, posterior thalamus, hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, and adjacent perihinal area on pretreatment scans compared with those of healthy subjects. The decrease glucose metabolism was also found in the occipital cortex and cerebellum. The patients could control daytime sleepiness after treatment. Posttreatment scan showed a significant increase in regional metabolism in the left hippocampus. This study demonstrated the metabolic abnormalities and the effect of modafinil treatment in narcoleptic patients in the sleep associated regions. This results could be helpful to understand the pathophysiology of the narcolepsy and treatment mechanism.

  2. Frequency of metabolic abnormalities in urinary stones patients.

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    Ahmad, Iftikhar; Pansota, Mudassar Saeed; Tariq, Muhammad; Tabassum, Shafqat Ali

    2013-11-01

    To determine the frequency of metabolic abnormalities in the serum and urine of patients with urinary stones disease. Two hundred patients with either multiple or recurrent urolithiasis diagnosed on ultrasonography and intravenous urography were included in this study. 24 hour urine sample were collected from each patient and sent for PH, specific gravity, Creatinine, uric acid, calcium, phosphate, oxalate, citrate and magnesium. In addition, blood sample of each patient was also sent for serum levels of urea, creatinine, uric acid, phosphate and calcium. Mean age of patients was 38 ± 7.75 years with male to female ratio of 2:1. The main presenting complaint was lumber pain and 82.5% patients were found to have calcium oxalate stones on chemical analysis. Metabolic abnormalities were found in 90.5% patients, whereas there were no metabolic abnormalities in 19 (9.5%) patients. Forty patients (21.5%) only had one metabolic abnormality and 157 (78.5%) patients had multiple metabolic abnormalities. Hyperoxaluria was the most commonly observed metabolic abnormality and was found in 64.5% patients. Other significant metabolic abnormalities were hypercalciuria, Hypercalcemia, hypocitraturia and hyperuricemia. This study concludes that frequency of metabolic abnormalities is very high in patients with urolithiasis and hyperoxaluria, hypercalciuria and hypocitraturia are the most important metabolic abnormalities observed in these patients.

  3. Effects of phenobarbital pretreatment on the in vivo metabolism of carbaryl in rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Knight, E.V.; Alvares, A.P.; Chin, B.H.

    1987-01-01

    Phenobarbital (PB) pretreatment of animals is known to induce the activity of drug-metabolizing enzymes in liver microsomes. Previous studies showed that incubation of carbaryl with microsomes obtained from livers of untreated or PB-treated rats resulted in little or no oxidative metabolism of the substrate. In addition, no spectral interactions were observed when carbaryl was added to hepatic microsomal suspensions. The present study was carried out to determine the effect of PB pretreatment on the in vivo metabolism of carbaryl in rats

  4. Fatty liver as a risk factor for progression from metabolically healthy to metabolically abnormal in non-overweight individuals.

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    Hashimoto, Yoshitaka; Hamaguchi, Masahide; Fukuda, Takuya; Ohbora, Akihiro; Kojima, Takao; Fukui, Michiaki

    2017-07-01

    Recent studies identified that metabolically abnormal non-obese phenotype is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. However, little is known about risk factor for progression from metabolically healthy non-overweight to metabolically abnormal phenotype. We hypothesized that fatty liver had a clinical impact on progression from metabolically healthy non-overweight to metabolically abnormal phenotype. In this retrospective cohort study, 14,093 Japanese (7557 men and 6736 women), who received the health-checkup program from 2004 to 2012, were enrolled. Overweight and obesity were defined as body mass index 23.0-25.0 and ≥25.0 kg/m 2 . Four metabolic factors (impaired fasting glucose, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia and low high density lipoprotein-cholesterol concentration) were used for definition of metabolically healthy (less than two factors) or metabolically abnormal (two or more). We divided the participants into three groups: metabolically healthy non-overweight (9755 individuals, men/women = 4290/5465), metabolically healthy overweight (2547 individuals, 1800/747) and metabolically healthy obesity (1791 individuals, 1267/524). Fatty liver was diagnosed by ultrasonography. Over the median follow-up period of 5.3 years, 873 metabolically healthy non-overweight, 512 metabolically healthy overweight and 536 metabolically healthy obesity individuals progressed to metabolically abnormal. The adjusted hazard risks of fatty liver on progression were 1.49 (95% confidence interval 1.20-1.83, p = 0.005) in metabolically healthy non-overweight, 1.37 (1.12-1.66, p = 0.002) in metabolically healthy overweight and 1.38 (1.15-1.66, p overweight individuals.

  5. Persistent abnormal coronary flow reserve in association with abnormal glucose metabolism affects prognosis in acute myocardial infarction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Løgstrup, Brian B; Høfsten, Dan E; Christophersen, Thomas B

    2011-01-01

    baseline CFR (P = 0.004), S' (P = 0.045) and abnormal glucose metabolism (P = 0.001) were predictors of a decreased CFR at 3 months of follow-up. In multivariate analyses abnormal glucose metabolism (OR: 5.3; 95%CI: 1.9-14.4; P = 0.001) remained a predictor of decreased CFR at follow-up, furthermore...

  6. Prevalence of Metabolic Abnormalities and Association with Obesity among Saudi College Students

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    Mostafa A. Abolfotouh

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Aim. (i To estimate the prevalence of the metabolic abnormalities among Saudi college students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and (ii to investigate the association between different indicators of body composition and these abnormalities. Methods. A total of 501 college students participated in a cross-sectional study. Anthropometric assessments, BP measurements, and biochemical assessment were done. Metabolic abnormalities were identified. Results. Applying BMI, 21.9 % and 20.6% of students were classified as overweight and obese, respectively. Central obesity was prevalent in 26.9% and 42.2% of students based on WC and WHtR, respectively. Other metabolic abnormalities were hypertension (23.6% and abnormal FPG level (22.6%. Three or more abnormalities were prevalent in 7.8% of students and increased significantly to 26.4%, 20%, and 17.6 in obese subjects based on BMI, WC, and WHtR, respectively. With the exception of abnormal FPG, prevalence of individual metabolic abnormalities as well as the number of these abnormalities significantly increased with increasing BMI, WC, and WHtR (P<0.001 each. Conclusion. Our findings provide evidence for the presence of MS in Saudi college students. Central adiposity contributes to the high incidence of individual MS components. College health programs that promote healthful lifestyle and avoidance of adult weight gain are recommended.

  7. Associations between Zinc Deficiency and Metabolic Abnormalities in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease

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    Takashi Himoto

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Zinc (Zn is an essential trace element which has favorable antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and apoptotic effects. The liver mainly plays a crucial role in maintaining systemic Zn homeostasis. Therefore, the occurrence of chronic liver diseases, such as chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, or fatty liver, results in the impairment of Zn metabolism, and subsequently Zn deficiency. Zn deficiency causes plenty of metabolic abnormalities, including insulin resistance, hepatic steatosis and hepatic encephalopathy. Inversely, metabolic abnormalities like hypoalbuminemia in patients with liver cirrhosis often result in Zn deficiency. Recent studies have revealed the putative mechanisms by which Zn deficiency evokes a variety of metabolic abnormalities in chronic liver disease. Zn supplementation has shown beneficial effects on such metabolic abnormalities in experimental models and actual patients with chronic liver disease. This review summarizes the pathogenesis of metabolic abnormalities deriving from Zn deficiency and the favorable effects of Zn administration in patients with chronic liver disease. In addition, we also highlight the interactions between Zn and other trace elements, vitamins, amino acids, or hormones in such patients.

  8. ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHIC ABNORMALITIES AMONG MEXICAN AMERICANS: CORRELATIONS WITH DIABETES, OBESITY, AND THE METABOLIC SYNDROME.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Queen, Saulette R; Smulevitz, Beverly; Rentfro, Anne R; Vatcheva, Kristina P; Kim, Hyunggun; McPherson, David D; Hanis, Craig L; Fisher-Hoch, Susan P; McCormick, Joseph B; Laing, Susan T

    2012-04-01

    Resting ischemic electrocardiographic abnormalities have been associated with cardiovascular mortality. Simple markers of abnormal autonomic tone have also been associated with diabetes, obesity, and the metabolic syndrome in some populations. Data on these electrocardiographic abnormalities and correlations with coronary risk factors are lacking among Mexican Americans wherein these conditions are prevalent. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalent resting electrocardiographic abnormalities among community-dwelling Mexican Americans, and correlate these findings with coronary risk factors, particularly diabetes, obesity, and the metabolic syndrome. Study subjects (n=1280) were drawn from the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort comprised of community-dwelling Mexican Americans living in Brownsville, Texas at the United States-Mexico border. Ischemic electrocardiographic abnormalities were defined as presence of ST/T wave abnormalities suggestive of ischemia, abnormal Q waves, and left bundle branch block. Parameters that reflect autonomic tone, such as heart rate-corrected QT interval and resting heart rate, were also measured. Ischemic electrocardiographic abnormalities were more prevalent among older persons and those with hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and the metabolic syndrome. Subjects in the highest quartiles of QTc interval and resting heart rate were also more likely to be diabetic, hypertensive, obese, or have the metabolic syndrome. Among Mexican Americans, persons with diabetes, obesity, and the metabolic syndrome were more likely to have ischemic electrocardiographic abnormalities, longer QTc intervals, and higher resting heart rates. A resting electrocardiogram can play a complementary role in the comprehensive evaluation of cardiovascular risk in this minority population.

  9. Prevalence of Metabolic Abnormalities and Association with Obesity among Saudi College Students

    OpenAIRE

    Abolfotouh, Mostafa A.; Al-Alwan, Ibrahim A.; Al-Rowaily, Mohammed A.

    2012-01-01

    Aim. (i) To estimate the prevalence of the metabolic abnormalities among Saudi college students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and (ii) to investigate the association between different indicators of body composition and these abnormalities. Methods. A total of 501 college students participated in a cross-sectional study. Anthropometric assessments, BP measurements, and biochemical assessment were done. Metabolic abnormalities were identified. Results. Applying BMI, 21.9 % and 20.6% of students were...

  10. Arginase Inhibition Ameliorates Hepatic Metabolic Abnormalities in Obese Mice

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    Moon, Jiyoung; Do, Hyun Ju; Cho, Yoonsu; Shin, Min-Jeong

    2014-01-01

    Objectives We examined whether arginase inhibition influences hepatic metabolic pathways and whole body adiposity in diet-induced obesity. Methods and Results After obesity induction by a high fat diet (HFD), mice were fed either the HFD or the HFD with an arginase inhibitor, Nω-hydroxy-nor-L-arginine (nor-NOHA). Nor-NOHA significantly prevented HFD-induced increases in body, liver, and visceral fat tissue weight, and ameliorated abnormal lipid profiles. Furthermore, nor-NOHA treatment reduced lipid accumulation in oleic acid-induced hepatic steatosis in vitro. Arginase inhibition increased hepatic nitric oxide (NO) in HFD-fed mice and HepG2 cells, and reversed the elevated mRNA expression of hepatic genes in lipid metabolism. Expression of phosphorylated 5′ AMPK-activated protein kinase α was increased by arginase inhibition in the mouse livers and HepG2 cells. Conclusions Arginase inhibition ameliorated obesity-induced hepatic lipid abnormalities and whole body adiposity, possibly as a result of increased hepatic NO production and subsequent activation of metabolic pathways involved in hepatic triglyceride metabolism and mitochondrial function. PMID:25057910

  11. Abnormal islet sphingolipid metabolism in type 1 diabetes.

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    Holm, Laurits J; Krogvold, Lars; Hasselby, Jane P; Kaur, Simranjeet; Claessens, Laura A; Russell, Mark A; Mathews, Clayton E; Hanssen, Kristian F; Morgan, Noel G; Koeleman, Bobby P C; Roep, Bart O; Gerling, Ivan C; Pociot, Flemming; Dahl-Jørgensen, Knut; Buschard, Karsten

    2018-04-18

    Sphingolipids play important roles in beta cell physiology, by regulating proinsulin folding and insulin secretion and in controlling apoptosis, as studied in animal models and cell cultures. Here we investigate whether sphingolipid metabolism may contribute to the pathogenesis of human type 1 diabetes and whether increasing the levels of the sphingolipid sulfatide would prevent models of diabetes in NOD mice. We examined the amount and distribution of sulfatide in human pancreatic islets by immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence and electron microscopy. Transcriptional analysis was used to evaluate expression of sphingolipid-related genes in isolated human islets. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and a T cell proliferation assay were used to identify type 1 diabetes related polymorphisms and test how these affect cellular islet autoimmunity. Finally, we treated NOD mice with fenofibrate, a known activator of sulfatide biosynthesis, to evaluate the effect on experimental autoimmune diabetes development. We found reduced amounts of sulfatide, 23% of the levels in control participants, in pancreatic islets of individuals with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes, which were associated with reduced expression of enzymes involved in sphingolipid metabolism. Next, we discovered eight gene polymorphisms (ORMDL3, SPHK2, B4GALNT1, SLC1A5, GALC, PPARD, PPARG and B4GALT1) involved in sphingolipid metabolism that contribute to the genetic predisposition to type 1 diabetes. These gene polymorphisms correlated with the degree of cellular islet autoimmunity in a cohort of individuals with type 1 diabetes. Finally, using fenofibrate, which activates sulfatide biosynthesis, we completely prevented diabetes in NOD mice and even reversed the disease in half of otherwise diabetic animals. These results indicate that islet sphingolipid metabolism is abnormal in type 1 diabetes and suggest that modulation may represent a novel therapeutic approach. The RNA expression data is

  12. Relationships among smoking habits, airflow limitations, and metabolic abnormalities in school workers.

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    Horie, Masafumi; Noguchi, Satoshi; Tanaka, Wakae; Goto, Yasushi; Yoshihara, Hisanao; Kawakami, Masaki; Suzuki, Masaru; Sakamoto, Yoshio

    2013-01-01

    Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is caused mainly by habitual smoking and is common among elderly individuals. It involves not only airflow limitation but also metabolic disorders, leading to increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. We evaluated relationships among smoking habits, airflow limitation, and metabolic abnormalities. Between 2001 and 2008, 15,324 school workers (9700 males, 5624 females; age: ≥ 30 years) underwent medical checkups, including blood tests and spirometry. They also responded to a questionnaire on smoking habits and medical history. Airflow limitation was more prevalent in current smokers than in ex-smokers and never-smokers in men and women. The frequency of hypertriglyceridemia was higher in current smokers in all age groups, and those of low high-density-lipoprotein cholesterolemia and diabetes mellitus were higher in current smokers in age groups ≥ 40 s in men, but not in women. There were significant differences in the frequencies of metabolic abnormalities between subjects with airflow limitations and those without in women, but not in men. Smoking index was an independent factor associated with increased frequencies of hypertriglyceridemia (OR 1.015; 95% CI: 1.012-1.018; psmoking cessation was an independent factor associated with a decreased frequency of hypertriglyceridemia (0.984; 0.975-0.994; p = 0.007). Habitual smoking causes high incidences of airflow limitation and metabolic abnormalities. Women, but not men, with airflow limitation had higher frequencies of metabolic abnormalities.

  13. Metabolic abnormalities associated with renal calculi in patients with horseshoe kidneys.

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    Raj, Ganesh V; Auge, Brian K; Assimos, Dean; Preminger, Glenn M

    2004-03-01

    Horseshoe kidneys are a complex anatomic variant of fused kidneys, with a 20% reported incidence of associated calculi. Anatomic causes such as high insertion of the ureter on the renal pelvis and obstruction of the ureteropelvic junction are thought to contribute to stone formation via impaired drainage, with urinary stasis, and an increased incidence of infection. In this multi-institutional study, we evaluated whether metabolic factors contributed to stone development in patients with horseshoe kidneys. A retrospective review of 37 patients with horseshoe kidneys was performed to determine if these patients had metabolic derangements that might have contributed to calculus formation. Stone compositions as well as 24-hour urine collections were examined. Specific data points of interest were total urine volume; urine pH; urine concentrations of calcium, sodium, uric acid, oxalate, and citrate; and number of abnormalities per patient per 24-hour urine collection. These data were compared with those of a group of 13 patients with stones in caliceal diverticula as well as 24 age-, race-, and sex-matched controls with stones in anatomically normal kidneys. Eleven (9 men and 2 women) of the 37 patients (30%) with renal calculi in horseshoe kidneys had complete metabolic evaluations available for review. All patients were noted to have at least one abnormality, with an average of 2.68 abnormalities per 24-hour urine collection (range 1-4). One patient had primary hyperparathyroidism and underwent a parathyroidectomy. Low urine volumes were noted in eight patients on at least one of the two specimens (range 350-1640 mL/day). Hypercalciuria, hyperoxaluria, hyperuricosuria, and hypocitraturia were noted in seven, three, six, and six patients, respectively. No patients were found to have gouty diathesis or developed cystine stones. Comparative metabolic analyses of patients with renal calculi in caliceal diverticula or normal kidneys revealed a distinct profile in patients

  14. Metabolic abnormalities and genitourinary tract anatomical alternations in patients with recurrent urolithiasis

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    John Neil

    2017-06-01

    Conclusions: 80% of patients with recurrent stone disease had some measure of metabolic abnormality to account for the disease. The use of two 24-hour urine samples significantly improved the detection rate of metabolic abnormalities compared to a single sample. The major limitation of this study was the small number of patients as well as the short study duration. [Arch Clin Exp Surg 2017; 6(2.000: 81-85

  15. In vivo metabolism of CCl4 by gerbils pretreated with chlordecone, phenobarbital, or mirex

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cai, Z.; Mehendale, H.M.

    1990-01-01

    Gerbils are known to be much more sensitive to CCl 4 lethality than rats as indicated by 48 hours LD 50 (0.08 vs 2.8 ml/kg). On the other hand, gerbils are refractory to chlordecone (CD) potentiation of CCl 4 toxicity. To investigate the possible mechanism underlying gerbil's high sensitivity to CCl 4 lethality, the authors studied in vivo metabolism of CCl 4 in gerbils pretreated with dietary CD (10 ppm), phenobarbital (PB, 225 ppm) or mirex (M, 10 ppm). The hepatic content of CCl 4 , the expiration of 14 CCl 4 and 14 CCl 4 -derived Co 2 , and lipid peroxidation were measured and the results were compared with our previous data for rats. After 15-day dietary pretreatment, male gerbils (60-80 g) received 14 CCl 4 (80 ml/kg; sp act: 0.04 mCi/mmol) ip in corn oil and the expired air was collected for 6 hours. More than 80% of the dose administered was expired as parent compound in 6 hours regardless of pretreatments. Expiration of 14 CCl 4 derived 14 CO 2 in control gerbils was 3.5-fold more than in control rats and was increased significantly in pretreated gerbils (M>PB>CD). PB and M pretreatments resulted in significant increase of 14 C label bound to non-lipid fraction of hepatic content as compared with CD or control gerbils. The radiolabel present in hepatic content of control gerbils was 5-fold higher than that of control rats. In vivo liquid peroxidation measured as diene conjugation in lipid extracts from the livers was lower in gerbils than in rats, and there were no significant differences among control and pretreated gerbils. These data indicate that the more extensive metabolism of CCl 4 in gerbils may partially explain their high sensitivity to CCl 4 toxicity. However, the significantly enhanced metabolism of CCl 4 found in CD, PB, or M pretreated gerbils did not lead to amplification of CCl 4 hepatotoxic and lethal effects

  16. In vivo metabolism of CCl4 by rats pretreated with chlordecone, mirex, or phenobarbital

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mehendale, H.M.; Klingensmith, J.S.

    1988-01-01

    The propensity of chlordecone (CD) to potentiate hepatotoxic and lethal effects of CCl4 is well established. Mirex (M), a close structural analogue of CD, or phenobarbital (PB), powerful inducers of hepatic microsomal drug metabolizing enzymes, are much weaker potentiators of CCl4 toxicity. The purpose of this study was to test the possibility that CD potentiates the toxicity of CCl4 by increasing the metabolism of CCl4 to a greater degree than either PB or M. We compared the in vivo metabolism of CCl4 in rats pretreated with CD, M, or PB, by measuring the hepatic content of 14CCl4, the expiration of 14CCl4, expiration of 14CCl4-derived 14CO2, and lipid peroxidation. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (250-270 g) were pretreated with a single oral dose of CD (10 mg/kg), M (10 mg/kg), or corn oil vehicle (1 ml/kg). PB pretreatment consisted of an ip injection of sodium PB (80 mg/kg) in saline (0.9%) for 2 successive days. Twenty-four hours later, 14CCl4 (0.1 ml/kg; sp act: 0.04 mCi/mmol) was administered ip in corn oil and the radioactivity present in the expired air was collected for 6 hr. Excretion of the parent compound as represented by the 14C label in the toluene trap was unchanged by any of the pretreatments. Expiration of 14CO2 measured during the 6 hr after CCl4 administration was increased in animals pretreated with PB or CD. In vivo lipid peroxidation measured as diene conjugation in lipids extracted from the livers was increased to a similar extent in animals pretreated with PB and CD, whereas the serum transaminases (ALT, AST) were significantly elevated only in animals pretreated with CD.M did not affect 14CO2 production and was without a significant effect on the lipid peroxidation

  17. Impact of maternal metabolic abnormalities in pregnancy on human milk and subsequent infant metabolic development: methodology and design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ley, Sylvia H; O'Connor, Deborah L; Retnakaran, Ravi; Hamilton, Jill K; Sermer, Mathew; Zinman, Bernard; Hanley, Anthony J

    2010-10-06

    Childhood obesity is on the rise and is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes later in life. Recent evidence indicates that abnormalities that increase risk for diabetes may be initiated early in infancy. Since the offspring of women with diabetes have an increased long-term risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes, the impact of maternal metabolic abnormalities on early nutrition and infant metabolic trajectories is of considerable interest. Human breast milk, the preferred food during infancy, contains not only nutrients but also an array of bioactive substances including metabolic hormones. Nonetheless, only a few studies have reported concentrations of metabolic hormones in human milk specifically from women with metabolic abnormalities. We aim to investigate the impact of maternal metabolic abnormalities in pregnancy on human milk hormones and subsequently on infant development over the first year of life. The objective of this report is to present the methodology and design of this study. The current investigation is a prospective study conducted within ongoing cohort studies of women and their offspring. Pregnant women attending outpatient obstetrics clinics in Toronto, Canada were recruited. Between April 2009 and July 2010, a total of 216 pregnant women underwent a baseline oral glucose tolerance test and provided medical and lifestyle history. Follow-up visits and telephone interviews are conducted and expected to be completed in October 2011. Upon delivery, infant birth anthropometry measurements and human breast milk samples are collected. At 3 and 12 months postpartum, mothers and infants are invited for follow-up assessments. Interim telephone interviews are conducted during the first year of offspring life to characterize infant feeding and supplementation behaviors. An improved understanding of the link between maternal metabolic abnormalities in pregnancy and early infant nutrition may assist in the development of optimal prevention and intervention

  18. Impact of maternal metabolic abnormalities in pregnancy on human milk and subsequent infant metabolic development: methodology and design

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    Hamilton Jill K

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Childhood obesity is on the rise and is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes later in life. Recent evidence indicates that abnormalities that increase risk for diabetes may be initiated early in infancy. Since the offspring of women with diabetes have an increased long-term risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes, the impact of maternal metabolic abnormalities on early nutrition and infant metabolic trajectories is of considerable interest. Human breast milk, the preferred food during infancy, contains not only nutrients but also an array of bioactive substances including metabolic hormones. Nonetheless, only a few studies have reported concentrations of metabolic hormones in human milk specifically from women with metabolic abnormalities. We aim to investigate the impact of maternal metabolic abnormalities in pregnancy on human milk hormones and subsequently on infant development over the first year of life. The objective of this report is to present the methodology and design of this study. Methods/Design The current investigation is a prospective study conducted within ongoing cohort studies of women and their offspring. Pregnant women attending outpatient obstetrics clinics in Toronto, Canada were recruited. Between April 2009 and July 2010, a total of 216 pregnant women underwent a baseline oral glucose tolerance test and provided medical and lifestyle history. Follow-up visits and telephone interviews are conducted and expected to be completed in October 2011. Upon delivery, infant birth anthropometry measurements and human breast milk samples are collected. At 3 and 12 months postpartum, mothers and infants are invited for follow-up assessments. Interim telephone interviews are conducted during the first year of offspring life to characterize infant feeding and supplementation behaviors. Discussion An improved understanding of the link between maternal metabolic abnormalities in pregnancy and early infant nutrition may

  19. Relation of metabolic syndrome with endometrial pathologies in patients with abnormal uterine bleeding.

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    Özdemir, Suna; Batmaz, Gonca; Ates, Seda; Celik, Cetin; Incesu, Feyzanur; Peru, Celalettin

    2015-01-01

    We aimed to investigate the association of metabolic syndrome and metabolic risk factors with endometrial hyperplasia and carcinoma among women with abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB). This study included 199 patients who had undergone endometrial curettage due to abnormal uterine bleeding. We divided the patients into two groups according to whether they had an abnormal (n = 53) or normal endometrium (n = 146). Waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting glucose and serum lipid levels were measured and statistically analyzed. The women in each group were matched with regard to mean age, gravidity, parity and menopausal status. We found increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, general and abdominal obesity, hypertension, elevated levels of glucose, total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol and reduced levels of HDL-cholesterol among women with endometrial carcinoma and hyperplasia. These results were detected particularly in postmenopausal (>50 years) women compared to pre-menopausal cases (<50 years). All metabolic parameters were similar between hyperplasia and cancer groups. Metabolic syndrome and its components have been shown to have profound impacts on initiation and progession of endometrial pathology, particularly during post-menopausal period.

  20. Current concepts of metabolic abnormalities in HIV patients: focus on lipodystrophy.

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    Kolter, Donald P

    2003-12-01

    HIV infection is associated with a number of metabolic abnormalities, including lipodystrophy, a difficult-to-define disorder whose characteristics include hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance, and fat redistribution. Current data suggest that lipodystrophy is caused by multiple factors. Dual-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor therapy combined with protease inhibitor therapy has been shown to increase the risk of metabolic abnormalities, but susceptibility independent of drug effects has also been shown. While many of the treatments for the broad range of signs and symptoms of lipodystrophy bring about improvements in patient status, none have been demonstrated to bring about a return to baseline levels.

  1. The importance of sensitive screening for abnormal glucose metabolism in patients with IgA nephropathy.

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    Jia, Xiaoyuan; Pan, Xiaoxia; Xie, Jingyuan; Shen, Pingyan; Wang, Zhaohui; Li, Ya; Wang, Weiming; Chen, Nan

    2016-01-01

    To investigate the prevalence of abnormal glucose metabolism, insulin resistance (IR) and the related risk factors in IgA nephropathy (IgAN) patients. We analyzed oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and clinical data of 107 IgAN patients and 106 healthy controls. Glucose metabolism, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and the insulin sensitivity index (ISI) of both groups were evaluated. The prevalence of abnormal glucose metabolism was significantly higher in the IgAN group than in the control group (41.12% vs. 9.43%, p glucose, fasting insulin, OGTT 2-hour blood glucose, OGTT 2-hour insulin, HOMA-IR, and lower ISI than healthy controls. Triglyceride (OR = 2.55), 24-hour urine protein excretion (OR = 1.39), and age (OR = 1.06) were independent risk factors for abnormal glucose metabolism in IgAN patients. BMI, eGFR, 24-hour urine protein excretion, triglyceride, fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin, OGTT 2-hour blood glucose, and OGTT 2-hour insulin were significantly higher in IgAN patients with IR than in IgAN patients without IR, while HDL and ISI were significantly lower. BMI, serum albumin, and 24-hour urine protein excretion were correlated factors of IR in IgAN patients. Our study highlighted that abnormal glucose metabolism was common in IgAN patients. Triglyceride and 24-hour urine protein excretion were significant risk factors for abnormal glucose metabolism. Therefore, sensitive screening for glucose metabolism status and timely intervention should be carried out in clinical work.

  2. Clinical features of male patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis or hepatitis B cirrhosis complicated by abnormal glucose metabolism

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    CHEN Qidan

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical features of male patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis (ALC or hepatitis B cirrhosis (HBC complicated by abnormal glucose metabolism. MethodsA total of 287 patients with liver cirrhosis who were admitted to Guangzhou Panyu Central Hospital from January 2008 to September 2013 were selected. Among these patients, 74 had ALC and were all male, including 54 with abnormal glucose metabolism; the other 213 had HBC, including 97 with abnormal glucose metabolism (69 male patients and 28 female patients. A controlled study was performed for the clinical data of ALC and HBC patients with abnormal glucose metabolism, to investigate the association of patients′ clinical manifestations with the indices for laboratory examination, insulin resistance index, incidence rate of abnormal glucose metabolism, and Child-Pugh class. The t-test was applied for comparison of continuous data between groups, the chi-square test was applied for comparison of categorical data between groups, and the Spearman rank correlation was applied for correlation analysis. ResultsCompared with HBC patients, ALC patients had significantly higher incidence rates of abnormal glucose metabolism (730% vs 32.4%, hepatogenous diabetes (35.1% vs 14.6%, fasting hypoglycemia (27.0% vs 10.3%, and impaired glucose tolerance (31.1% vs 14.1% (χ2=4.371, 3.274, 4.784, and 1.633, all P<0.05. The Spearman correlation analysis showed that in ALC and HBC patients, the incidence rate of abnormal glucose metabolism was positively correlated with Child-Pugh class (rs=0.41, P<005. Compared with the HBC patients with abnormal glucose metabolism, the ALC patients with abnormal glucose metabolism had a significantly higher incidence rate of Child-Pugh class A (χ2=7.520, P=0.001, and a significantly lower incidence rate of Child-Pugh class C (χ2=6.542, P=0.003. There were significant differences in the incidence rates of dim complexion, telangiectasia of the

  3. Correlations between abnormal iron metabolism and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Wu; Zhi, Yan; Yuan, Yongsheng; Zhang, Bingfeng; Shen, Yuting; Zhang, Hui; Zhang, Kezhong; Xu, Yun

    2018-07-01

    Despite a growing body of evidence suggests that abnormal iron metabolism plays an important role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD), few studies explored its role in non-motor symptoms (NMS) of PD. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between abnormal iron metabolism and NMS of PD. Seventy PD patients and 64 healthy controls were consecutively recruited to compare serum iron, ceruloplasmin, ferritin, and transferrin levels. We evaluated five classic NMS, including depression, anxiety, pain, sleep disorder, and autonomic dysfunction in PD patients using the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), the short form of the McGill Pain Questionnaire, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Scale for Outcomes in Parkinson's disease for Autonomic Symptoms, respectively. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the correlations between abnormal iron metabolism and NMS. No differences in serum ceruloplasmin and ferritin levels were examined between PD patients and healthy controls, but we observed significantly decreased serum iron levels and increased serum transferrin levels in PD patients in comparison with healthy controls. After eliminating confounding factors, HAMD scores and HAMA scores were both negatively correlated with serum iron levels and positively correlated with serum transferrin levels. In summary, abnormal iron metabolism might play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of depression and anxiety in PD. Serums levels of iron and transferrin could be peripheral markers for depression and anxiety in PD.

  4. Influence of abnormal glucose metabolism on coronary microvascular function after a recent myocardial infarction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Løgstrup, Brian B; Høfsten, Dan E; Christophersen, Thomas B

    2009-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: This study sought to assess the association between abnormal glucose metabolism and abnormal coronary flow reserve (CFR) in patients with a recent acute myocardial infarction (AMI). BACKGROUND: Mortality and morbidity after AMI is high among patients with abnormal glucose metabolism, ...... (140 microg/kg/min) to obtain the hyperemic flow profiles. The CFR was defined as the ratio of hyperemic to baseline peak diastolic coronary flow velocities. RESULTS: Median CFR was 1.9 (interquartile range [IQR] 1.4 to 2.4], and 109 (60%) patients had a CFR...

  5. [Joint effect of birth weight and obesity measures on abnormal glucose metabolism at adulthood].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xi, Bo; Cheng, Hong; Chen, Fangfang; Zhao, Xiaoyuan; Mi, Jie

    2016-01-01

    To investigate the joint effect of birth weight and each of obesity measures (body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC)) on abnormal glucose metabolism (including diabetes) at adulthood. Using the historical cohort study design and the convenience sampling method, 1 921 infants who were born in Beijing Union Medical College Hospital from June 1948 to December 1954 were selected to do the follow-up in 1995 and 2001 respectively. Through Beijing Household Registration and Management System, they were invited to participate in this study. A total of 972 subjects (627 were followed up in 1995 and 345 were followed up in 2001) with complete information on genders, age, birth weight, family history of diabetes, BMI, WC, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and 2-hour plasma glucose (2 h PG) met the study inclusion criteria at the follow-up visits. In the data analysis, they were divided into low, normal, and high birth weight, respectively. The ANOVA and Chi-squared tests were used to compare the differences in their characteristics by birth weight group. In addition, multiple binary Logistic regression model was used to investigate the single effect of birth weight, BMI, and waist circumference on abnormal glucose metabolism at adulthood. Stratification analysis was used to investigate the joint effect of birth weight and each of obesity measures (BMI and WC) on abnormal glucose metabolism. There were 972 subjects (males: 50.7%, mean age: (46.0±2.2) years) included in the final data analysis. The 2 h PG in low birth weight group was (7.6±3.2) mmol/L , which was higher than that in normal birth weight group (6.9±2.1) mmol/L and high birth weight group (6.4±1.3) mmol/L (F=3.88, P=0.021). After adjustment for genders, age, body length, gestation age, family history of diabetes, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption, and duration of follow-up, subjects with overweight and obesity at adulthood had 2.73 (95% confidence interval (CI) =2.06- 3.62) times risk

  6. Late Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Initiation Is Associated with Long-Term Persistence of Systemic Inflammation and Metabolic Abnormalities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghislain, Mathilde; Bastard, Jean-Philippe; Meyer, Laurence; Capeau, Jacqueline; Fellahi, Soraya; Gérard, Laurence; May, Thierry; Simon, Anne; Vigouroux, Corinne; Goujard, Cécile

    2015-01-01

    Objectives HIV-induced immunodeficiency is associated with metabolic abnormalities and systemic inflammation. We investigated the effect of antiretroviral therapy (ART) on restoration of insulin sensitivity, markers of immune activation and inflammation. Methods Immunological, metabolic and inflammatory status was assessed at antiretroviral therapy initiation and three years later in 208 patients from the ANRS-COPANA cohort. Patients were compared according to their pre-ART CD4+ cell count (group 1: ≤ 200/mm3, n = 66 vs. group 2: > 200/mm3, n = 142). Results Median CD4+ cell count increased in both groups after 3 years of successful ART but remained significantly lower in group 1 than in group 2 (404 vs 572 cells/mm3). Triglyceride and insulin levels were higher or tended to be higher in group 1 than in group 2 at ART initiation (median: 1.32 vs 0.97 mmol/l, p = 0.04 and 7.6 vs 6.8 IU, p = 0.09, respectively) and remained higher after three years of ART (1.42 vs 1.16 mmol/L, p = 0.0009 and 8.9 vs 7.2 IU, p = 0.01). After adjustment for individual characteristics and antiretroviral therapy regimens (protease inhibitor (PI), zidovudine), insulin levels remained significantly higher in patients with low baseline CD4+ cell count. Baseline IL-6, sCD14 and sTNFR2 levels were higher in group 1 than in group 2. Most biomarkers of immune activation/inflammation declined during ART, but IL-6 and hsCRP levels remained higher in patients with low baseline CD4+ cell count than in the other patients (median are respectively 1.4 vs 1.1 pg/ml, p = 0.03 and 2.1 vs 1.3 mg/ml, p = 0.07). Conclusion After three years of successful ART, low pretreatment CD4+ T cell count remained associated with elevated insulin, triglyceride, IL-6 and hsCRP levels. These persistent metabolic and inflammatory abnormalities could contribute to an increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease. PMID:26636578

  7. Abnormal bone and mineral metabolism in kidney transplant patients--a review

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sprague, S.M.; Belozeroff, V.; Danese, M.D.

    2008-01-01

    BACKGROUND/AIMS: Abnormal bone and mineral metabolism is common in patients with kidney failure and often persists after successful kidney transplant. METHODS: To better understand the natural history of this disease in transplant patients, we reviewed the literature by searching MEDLINE...... within 2 months. Low levels of 1,25(OH)2 vitamin D typically did not reach normal values until almost 18 months after transplant. CONCLUSION: This review provides evidence demonstrating that abnormal bone and mineral metabolism exists in patients after kidney transplant and suggests the need...... for English language articles published between January 1990 and October 2006 that contained Medical Subject Headings and key words related to secondary or persistent hyperparathyroidism and kidney transplant. RESULTS: Parathyroid hormone levels decreased significantly during the first 3 months after...

  8. Aspirin suppresses the abnormal lipid metabolism in liver cancer cells via disrupting an NFκB-ACSL1 signaling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Guang; Wang, Yuan; Feng, Jinyan; Liu, Yunxia; Wang, Tianjiao; Zhao, Man; Ye, Lihong; Zhang, Xiaodong

    2017-05-06

    Abnormal lipid metabolism is a hallmark of tumorigenesis. Hence, the alterations of metabolism enhance the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Aspirin is able to inhibit the growth of cancers through targeting nuclear factor κB (NF-κB). However, the role of aspirin in disrupting abnormal lipid metabolism in HCC remains poorly understood. In this study, we report that aspirin can suppress the abnormal lipid metabolism of HCC cells through inhibiting acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 1 (ACSL1), a lipid metabolism-related enzyme. Interestingly, oil red O staining showed that aspirin suppressed lipogenesis in HepG2 cells and Huh7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, aspirin attenuated the levels of triglyceride and cholesterol in the cells, respectively. Strikingly, we identified that aspirin was able to down-regulate ACSL1 at the levels of mRNA and protein. Moreover, we validated that aspirin decreased the nuclear levels of NF-κB in HepG2 cells. Mechanically, PDTC, an inhibitor of NF-κB, could down-regulate ACSL1 at the levels of mRNA and protein in the cells. Functionally, PDTC reduced the levels of lipid droplets, triglyceride and cholesterol in HepG2 cells. Thus, we conclude that aspirin suppresses the abnormal lipid metabolism in HCC cells via disrupting an NFκB-ACSL1 signaling. Our finding provides new insights into the mechanism by which aspirin inhibits abnormal lipid metabolism of HCC. Therapeutically, aspirin is potentially available for HCC through controlling abnormal lipid metabolism. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  9. Asymmetry of cerebral glucose metabolism in very low-birth-weight infants without structural abnormalities.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jae Hyun Park

    Full Text Available Thirty-six VLBW infants who underwent F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (F-18 FDG brain PET and MRI were prospectively enrolled, while infants with evidence of parenchymal brain injury on MRI were excluded. The regional glucose metabolic ratio and asymmetry index were calculated. The asymmetry index more than 10% (right > left asymmetry or less than -10% (left > right asymmetry were defined as abnormal. Regional cerebral glucose metabolism were compared between right and left cerebral hemispheres, and between the following subgroups: multiple gestations, premature rupture of membrane, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and low-grade intraventricular hemorrhage.In the individual analysis, 21 (58.3% of 36 VLBW infants exhibited asymmetric cerebral glucose metabolism. Fifteen infants (41.7% exhibited right > left asymmetry, while six (16.7% exhibited left > right asymmetry. In the regional analysis, right > left asymmetry was more extensive than left > right asymmetry. The metabolic ratio in the right frontal, temporal, and occipital cortices and right thalamus were significantly higher than those in the corresponding left regions. In the subgroup analyses, the cerebral glucose metabolism in infants with multiple gestations, premature rupture of membrane, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, or low-grade intraventricular hemorrhage were significantly lower than those in infants without these.VLBW infants without structural abnormalities have asymmetry of cerebral glucose metabolism. Decreased cerebral glucose metabolism are noted in infants with neurodevelopmental risk factors. F-18 FDG PET could show microstructural abnormalities not detected by MRI in VLBW infants.

  10. Cerebral metabolic abnormalities in congestive heart failure detected by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, C W; Lee, J H; Kim, J J; Park, S W; Hong, M K; Kim, S T; Lim, T H; Park, S J

    1999-04-01

    Using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we investigated cerebral metabolism and its determinants in congestive heart failure (CHF), and the effects of cardiac transplantation on these measurements. Few data are available about cerebral metabolism in CHF. Fifty patients with CHF (ejection fraction OGM) and parietal white matter (PWM). Absolute levels of the metabolites (N-acetylaspartate, creatine, choline, myo-inositol) were calculated. In PWM only creatine level was significantly lower in CHF than in control subjects, but in OGM all four metabolite levels were decreased in CHF. The creatine level was independently correlated with half-recovery time and duration of heart failure symptoms in PWM (r = -0.56, p OGM (r = 0.58, p < 0.05). Cerebral metabolic abnormalities were improved after successful cardiac transplantation. This study shows that cerebral metabolism is abnormally deranged in advanced CHF and it may serve as a potential marker of the disease severity.

  11. Aspirin suppresses the abnormal lipid metabolism in liver cancer cells via disrupting an NFκB-ACSL1 signaling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Guang; Wang, Yuan; Feng, Jinyan; Liu, Yunxia; Wang, Tianjiao; Zhao, Man; Ye, Lihong; Zhang, Xiaodong

    2017-01-01

    Abnormal lipid metabolism is a hallmark of tumorigenesis. Hence, the alterations of metabolism enhance the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Aspirin is able to inhibit the growth of cancers through targeting nuclear factor κB (NF-κB). However, the role of aspirin in disrupting abnormal lipid metabolism in HCC remains poorly understood. In this study, we report that aspirin can suppress the abnormal lipid metabolism of HCC cells through inhibiting acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 1 (ACSL1), a lipid metabolism-related enzyme. Interestingly, oil red O staining showed that aspirin suppressed lipogenesis in HepG2 cells and Huh7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, aspirin attenuated the levels of triglyceride and cholesterol in the cells, respectively. Strikingly, we identified that aspirin was able to down-regulate ACSL1 at the levels of mRNA and protein. Moreover, we validated that aspirin decreased the nuclear levels of NF-κB in HepG2 cells. Mechanically, PDTC, an inhibitor of NF-κB, could down-regulate ACSL1 at the levels of mRNA and protein in the cells. Functionally, PDTC reduced the levels of lipid droplets, triglyceride and cholesterol in HepG2 cells. Thus, we conclude that aspirin suppresses the abnormal lipid metabolism in HCC cells via disrupting an NFκB-ACSL1 signaling. Our finding provides new insights into the mechanism by which aspirin inhibits abnormal lipid metabolism of HCC. Therapeutically, aspirin is potentially available for HCC through controlling abnormal lipid metabolism. - Highlights: • Aspirin inhibits the levels of liquid droplets, triglyceride and cholesterol in HCC cells. • Aspirin is able to down-regulate ACSL1 in HCC cells. • NF-κB inhibitor PDTC can down-regulate ACSL1 and reduces lipogenesis in HCC cells. • Aspirin suppresses the abnormal lipid metabolism in HCC cells via disrupting an NFκB-ACSL1 signaling.

  12. Toluene metabolism in isolated rat hepatocytes: effects of in vivo pretreatment with acetone and phenobarbital

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Smith-Kielland, A.; Ripel, A. (National Inst. of Forensic Toxicology, Oslo (Norway))

    1993-02-01

    Hepatocytes isolated from control, acetone- and phenobarbital-pretreated rats were used to study the metabolic conversion of toluene to benzyl alcohol, benzaldehyde, benzoic acid and hippuric acid at low (<100 [mu]M) and high (100-500 [mu]M) toluene concentrations. The baseline formation rates of toluene metabolites (benzyl alcohol, benzoic acid and hippuric acid) were 2.9[+-]1.7 and 10.0[+-]2.3 nmol/mg cell protein/60 min at low and high toluene concentrations, respectively. In vivo pretreatment of rats with acetone and phenobarbital increased the formation of metabolites: at low toluene concentrations 3- and 5-fold, respectively; at high toluene concentrations no significant increase (acetone) and 8-fold increase (phenobarbital). Apparent inhibition by ethanol, 7 and 60 mM, was most prominent at low toluene concentrations: 63% and 69%, respectively, in control cells; 84% and 91% in acetone-pretreated cells, and 32% (not significant) and 51% in phenobarbital-pretreated cells. Ethanol also caused accumulation of benzyl alcohol. The apparent inhibition by isoniazid was similar to that of ethanol at low toluene concentrations. Control and acetone-pretreated cells were apparently resistant towards metyrapone; the decrease was 49% and 64% in phenobarbital-pretreated cells at low and high toluene concentrations, respectively. In these cells, the decrease in presence of combined ethanol and metyrapone was 95% (low toluene concentrations). 4-Methylpyrazole decreased metabolite formation extensively in all groups. Benzaldehyde was only found in the presence of an aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitor. Increased ratio benzoic/hippuric acid was observed at high toluene concentrations. These results demonstrate that toluene oxidation may be studied by product formation in isolated hepatocytes. However, the influence of various enzymes in the overall metabolism could not be ascertained due to lack of inhibitor specificity. (orig.).

  13. Weight-adjusted lean body mass and calf circumference are protective against obesity-associated insulin resistance and metabolic abnormalities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toshinari Takamura

    2017-07-01

    Interpretation: Weight-adjusted lean body mass and skeletal muscle area are protective against weight-associated insulin resistance and metabolic abnormalities. The calf circumference reflects lean body mass and may be useful as a protective marker against obesity-associated metabolic abnormalities.

  14. Weight-adjusted lean body mass and calf circumference are protective against obesity-associated insulin resistance and metabolic abnormalities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takamura, Toshinari; Kita, Yuki; Nakagen, Masatoshi; Sakurai, Masaru; Isobe, Yuki; Takeshita, Yumie; Kawai, Kohzo; Urabe, Takeshi; Kaneko, Shuichi

    2017-07-01

    To test the hypothesis that preserved muscle mass is protective against obesity-associated insulin resistance and metabolic abnormalities, we analyzed the relationship of lean body mass and computed tomography-assessed sectional areas of specific skeletal muscles with insulin resistance and metabolic abnormalities in a healthy cohort. A total of 195 subjects without diabetes who had completed a medical examination were included in this study. Various anthropometric indices such as circumferences of the arm, waist, hip, thigh, and calf were measured. Body composition (fat and lean body mass) was determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Sectional areas of specific skeletal muscles (iliopsoas, erector spinae, gluteus, femoris, and rectus abdominis muscles) were measured using computed tomography. Fat and lean body mass were significantly correlated with metabolic abnormalities and insulin resistance indices. When adjusted by weight, relationships of fat and lean body mass with metabolic parameters were mirror images of each other. The weight-adjusted lean body mass negatively correlated with systolic and diastolic blood pressures; fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c, alanine aminotransferase, and triglyceride, and insulin levels; and hepatic insulin resistance indices, and positively correlated with HDL-cholesterol levels and muscle insulin sensitivity indices. Compared with weight-adjusted lean body mass, weight-adjusted sectional areas of specific skeletal muscles showed similar, but not as strong, correlations with metabolic parameters. Among anthropometric measures, the calf circumference best reflected lean body mass, and weight-adjusted calf circumference negatively correlated with metabolic abnormalities and insulin resistance indices. Weight-adjusted lean body mass and skeletal muscle area are protective against weight-associated insulin resistance and metabolic abnormalities. The calf circumference reflects lean body mass and may be useful as a protective

  15. Resveratrol Ameliorates the Depressive-Like Behaviors and Metabolic Abnormalities Induced by Chronic Corticosterone Injection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Cheng Li

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Chronic glucocorticoid exposure is known to cause depression and metabolic disorders. It is critical to improve abnormal metabolic status as well as depressive-like behaviors in patients with long-term glucocorticoid therapy. This study aimed to investigate the effects of resveratrol on the depressive-like behaviors and metabolic abnormalities induced by chronic corticosterone injection. Male ICR mice were administrated corticosterone (40 mg/kg by subcutaneous injection for three weeks. Resveratrol (50 and 100 mg/kg, fluoxetine (20 mg/kg and pioglitazone (10 mg/kg were given by oral gavage 30 min prior to corticosterone administration. The behavioral tests showed that resveratrol significantly reversed the depressive-like behaviors induced by corticosterone, including the reduced sucrose preference and increased immobility time in the forced swimming test. Moreover, resveratrol also increased the secretion of insulin, reduced serum level of glucose and improved blood lipid profiles in corticosterone-treated mice without affecting normal mice. However, fluoxetine only reverse depressive-like behaviors, and pioglitazone only prevent the dyslipidemia induced by corticosterone. Furthermore, resveratrol and pioglitazone decreased serum level of glucagon and corticosterone. The present results indicated that resveratrol can ameliorate depressive-like behaviors and metabolic abnormalities induced by corticosterone, which suggested that the multiple effects of resveratrol could be beneficial for patients with depression and/or metabolic syndrome associated with long-term glucocorticoid therapy.

  16. Metabolic abnormalities in Williams-Beuren syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palacios-Verdú, María Gabriela; Segura-Puimedon, Maria; Borralleras, Cristina; Flores, Raquel; Del Campo, Miguel; Campuzano, Victoria; Pérez-Jurado, Luis Alberto

    2015-04-01

    Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS, OMIM-194050) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with multisystemic manifestations caused by a 1.55-1.83 Mb deletion at 7q11.23 including 26-28 genes. Reported endocrine and metabolic abnormalities include transient hypercalcaemia of infancy, subclinical hypothyroidism in ∼ 30% of children and impaired glucose tolerance in ∼ 75% of adult individuals. The purpose of this study was to further study metabolic alterations in patients with WBS, as well as in several mouse models, to establish potential candidate genes. We analysed several metabolic parameters in a cohort of 154 individuals with WBS (data available from 69 to 151 cases per parameter), as well as in several mouse models with complete and partial deletions of the orthologous WBS locus, and searched for causative genes and potential modifiers. Triglyceride plasma levels were significantly decreased in individuals with WBS while cholesterol levels were slightly decreased compared with controls. Hyperbilirubinemia, mostly unconjugated, was found in 18.3% of WBS cases and correlated with subclinical hypothyroidism and hypotriglyceridemia, suggesting common pathogenic mechanisms. Haploinsufficiency at MLXIPL and increased penetrance for hypomorphic alleles at the UGT1A1 gene promoter might underlie the lipid and bilirubin alterations. Other disturbances included increased protein and iron levels, as well as the known subclinical hypothyroidism and glucose intolerance. Our results show that several unreported biochemical alterations, related to haploinsufficiency for specific genes at 7q11.23, are relatively common in WBS. The early diagnosis, follow-up and management of these metabolic disturbances could prevent long-term complications in this disorder. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  17. Altered Clock and Lipid Metabolism-Related Genes in Atherosclerotic Mice Kept with Abnormal Lighting Condition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhu Zhu

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. The risk of atherosclerosis is elevated in abnormal lipid metabolism and circadian rhythm disorder. We investigated whether abnormal lighting condition would have influenced the circadian expression of clock genes and clock-controlled lipid metabolism-related genes in ApoE-KO mice. Methods. A mouse model of atherosclerosis with circadian clock genes expression disorder was established using ApoE-KO mice (ApoE-KO LD/DL mice by altering exposure to light. C57 BL/6J mice (C57 mice and ApoE-KO mice (ApoE-KO mice exposed to normal day and night and normal diet served as control mice. According to zeitgeber time samples were acquired, to test atheromatous plaque formation, serum lipids levels and rhythmicity, clock genes, and lipid metabolism-related genes along with Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1 levels and rhythmicity. Results. Atherosclerosis plaques were formed in the aortic arch of ApoE-KO LD/DL mice. The serum lipids levels and oscillations in ApoE-KO LD/DL mice were altered, along with the levels and diurnal oscillations of circadian genes, lipid metabolism-associated genes, and Sirt1 compared with the control mice. Conclusions. Abnormal exposure to light aggravated plaque formation and exacerbated disorders of serum lipids and clock genes, lipid metabolism genes and Sirt1 levels, and circadian oscillation.

  18. THE ROLE OF NUTRIGENOMICS IN CORRECTION OF METABOLIC ABNORMALITIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. V. Misnikova

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In some patients, diet and increased physical exercise are not effective enough to prevent the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. At present, a  new approach is proposed to elaborate the diet with consideration of specific need of an individual. Food components can cause changes in metabolism through their influence on activity of certain genes that subsequently influence human proteome and metabolome. It is assumed that nutrients may influence methylation of deoxyribonucleic acid. A number of studies established an interaction between some foods and genes associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diet recommendations based on presence of certain gene polymorphisms have been developed. The spectrum of gene polymorphisms that is necessary to assess in individuals with metabolic abnormalities or with high risk of their development has been also defined.

  19. Effects and mechanisms of caffeine to improve immunological and metabolic abnormalities in diet-induced obese rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Chih-Wei; Tsai, Hung-Cheng; Huang, Chia-Chang; Tsai, Chang-Youh; Su, Yen-Bo; Lin, Ming-Wei; Lee, Kuei-Chuan; Hsieh, Yun-Cheng; Li, Tzu-Hao; Huang, Shiang-Fen; Yang, Ying-Ying; Hou, Ming-Chih; Lin, Han-Chieh; Lee, Fa-Yauh; Lee, Shou-Dong

    2018-05-01

    In obesity, there are no effective therapies for parallel immune and metabolic abnormalities, including systemic/tissue insulin-resistance/inflammation, adiposity and hepatic steatosis. Caffeine has anti-inflammation, antihepatic steatosis, and anti-insulin resistance effects. In this study, we evaluated the effects and molecular mechanisms of 6 wk of caffeine treatment (HFD-caf) on immunological and metabolic abnormalities of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese rats. Compared with HFD vehicle (HFD-V) rats, in HFD-caf rats the suppressed circulating immune cell inflammatory [TNFα, MCP-1, IL-6, intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), and nitrite] profiles were accompanied by decreased liver, white adipose tissue (WAT), and muscle macrophages and their intracellular cytokine levels. Metabolically, the increase in metabolic rates reduced lipid accumulation in various tissues, resulting in reduced adiposity, lower fat mass, decreased body weight, amelioration of hepatic steatosis, and improved systemic/muscle insulin resistance. Further mechanistic approaches revealed an upregulation of tissue lipogenic [(SREBP1c, fatty acid synthase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase)/insulin-sensitizing (GLUT4 and p-IRS1)] markers in HFD-caf rats. Significantly, ex vivo experiments revealed that the cytokine release by the cocultured peripheral blood mononuclear cell (monocyte) and WAT (adipocyte), which are known to stimulate macrophage migration and hepatocyte lipogenesis, were lower in HFD-V groups than HFD-caf groups. Caffeine treatment simultaneously ameliorates immune and metabolic pathogenic signals present in tissue to normalize immunolgical and metabolic abnormalities found in HFD-induced obese rats.

  20. Cerebral glucose metabolic abnormality in patients with congenital scoliosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nam, H. Y.; Seo, G. T.; Lee, J. S.; Kim, S. C.; Kim, I. J.; Kim, Y. K.; Jeon, S. M.

    2007-01-01

    A possible association between congenital scoliosis and low mental status has been recognized, but there are no reports describing the mental status or cerebral metabolism in patients with congenital scoliosis in detail. We investigated the mental status using a mini-mental status exam as well as the cerebral glucose metabolism using F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose brain positron emission tomography in 12 patients with congenital scoliosis and compared them with those of 14 age-matched patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. The mean mini-mental status exam score in the congenital scoliosis group was significantly lower than that in the adolescent idiopathic scoliosis group. Group analysis found that various brain areas of patients with congenital scoliosis showed glucose hypometabolisms in the left prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area 10), right orbitofrontal cortex (Brodmann area 11), left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area 9), left anterior cingulate gyrus (Brodmann area 24) and pulvinar of the left thalamus. From this study, we could find the metabolic abnormalities of brain in patients with congenital scoliosis and suggest the possible role of voxel-based analysis of brain fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography

  1. Cerebral glucose metabolic abnormality in patients with congenital scoliosis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nam, H. Y.; Seo, G. T.; Lee, J. S.; Kim, S. C.; Kim, I. J.; Kim, Y. K.; Jeon, S. M. [Pusan National University Hospital, Pusan (Korea, Republic of)

    2007-07-01

    A possible association between congenital scoliosis and low mental status has been recognized, but there are no reports describing the mental status or cerebral metabolism in patients with congenital scoliosis in detail. We investigated the mental status using a mini-mental status exam as well as the cerebral glucose metabolism using F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose brain positron emission tomography in 12 patients with congenital scoliosis and compared them with those of 14 age-matched patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. The mean mini-mental status exam score in the congenital scoliosis group was significantly lower than that in the adolescent idiopathic scoliosis group. Group analysis found that various brain areas of patients with congenital scoliosis showed glucose hypometabolisms in the left prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area 10), right orbitofrontal cortex (Brodmann area 11), left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area 9), left anterior cingulate gyrus (Brodmann area 24) and pulvinar of the left thalamus. From this study, we could find the metabolic abnormalities of brain in patients with congenital scoliosis and suggest the possible role of voxel-based analysis of brain fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography.

  2. ACE Reduces Metabolic Abnormalities in a High-Fat Diet Mouse Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seong-Jong Lee

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The medicinal plants Artemisia iwayomogi (A. iwayomogi and Curcuma longa (C. longa radix have been used to treat metabolic abnormalities in traditional Korean medicine and traditional Chinese medicine (TKM and TCM. In this study we evaluated the effect of the water extract of a mixture of A. iwayomogi and C. longa (ACE on high-fat diet-induced metabolic syndrome in a mouse model. Four groups of C57BL/6N male mice (except for the naive group were fed a high-fat diet freely for 10 weeks. Among these, three groups (except the control group were administered a high-fat diet supplemented with ACE (100 or 200 mg/kg or curcumin (50 mg/kg. Body weight, accumulation of adipose tissues in abdomen and size of adipocytes, serum lipid profiles, hepatic steatosis, and oxidative stress markers were analyzed. ACE significantly reduced the body and peritoneal adipose tissue weights, serum lipid profiles (total cholesterol and triglycerides, glucose levels, hepatic lipid accumulation, and oxidative stress markers. ACE normalized lipid synthesis-associated gene expressions (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, PPARγ; fatty acid synthase, FAS; sterol regulatory element-binding transcription factor-1c, SREBP-1c; and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha, PPARα. The results from this study suggest that ACE has the pharmaceutical potential reducing the metabolic abnormalities in an animal model.

  3. Inhibition of Endothelial p53 Improves Metabolic Abnormalities Related to Dietary Obesity

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    Masataka Yokoyama

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Accumulating evidence has suggested a role for p53 activation in various age-associated conditions. Here, we identified a crucial role of endothelial p53 activation in the regulation of glucose homeostasis. Endothelial expression of p53 was markedly upregulated when mice were fed a high-calorie diet. Disruption of endothelial p53 activation improved dietary inactivation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase that upregulated the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α in skeletal muscle, thereby increasing mitochondrial biogenesis and oxygen consumption. Mice with endothelial cell-specific p53 deficiency fed a high-calorie diet showed improvement of insulin sensitivity and less fat accumulation, compared with control littermates. Conversely, upregulation of endothelial p53 caused metabolic abnormalities. These results indicate that inhibition of endothelial p53 could be a novel therapeutic target to block the vicious cycle of cardiovascular and metabolic abnormalities associated with obesity.

  4. Abnormal metabolic brain networks in Parkinson's disease from blackboard to bedside.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Chris C; Eidelberg, David

    2010-01-01

    Metabolic imaging in the rest state has provided valuable information concerning the abnormalities of regional brain function that underlie idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Moreover, network modeling procedures, such as spatial covariance analysis, have further allowed for the quantification of these changes at the systems level. In recent years, we have utilized this strategy to identify and validate three discrete metabolic networks in PD associated with the motor and cognitive manifestations of the disease. In this chapter, we will review and compare the specific functional topographies underlying parkinsonian akinesia/rigidity, tremor, and cognitive disturbance. While network activity progressed over time, the rate of change for each pattern was distinctive and paralleled the development of the corresponding clinical symptoms in early-stage patients. This approach is already showing great promise in identifying individuals with prodromal manifestations of PD and in assessing the rate of progression before clinical onset. Network modulation was found to correlate with the clinical effects of dopaminergic treatment and surgical interventions, such as subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) and gene therapy. Abnormal metabolic networks have also been identified for atypical parkinsonian syndromes, such as multiple system atrophy (MSA) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Using multiple disease-related networks for PD, MSA, and PSP, we have developed a novel, fully automated algorithm for accurate classification at the single-patient level, even at early disease stages. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. A community-based exercise intervention transitions metabolically abnormal obese adults to a metabolically healthy obese phenotype

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dalleck, Lance C; Van Guilder, Gary P; Richardson, Tara B; Bredle, Donald L; Janot, Jeffrey M

    2014-01-01

    Background Lower habitual physical activity and poor cardiorespiratory fitness are common features of the metabolically abnormal obese (MAO) phenotype that contribute to increased cardiovascular disease risk. The aims of the present study were to determine 1) whether community-based exercise training transitions MAO adults to metabolically healthy, and 2) whether the odds of transition to metabolically healthy were larger for obese individuals who performed higher volumes of exercise and/or experienced greater increases in fitness. Methods and results Metabolic syndrome components were measured in 332 adults (190 women, 142 men) before and after a supervised 14-week community-based exercise program designed to reduce cardiometabolic risk factors. Obese (body mass index ≥30 kg · m2) adults with two to four metabolic syndrome components were classified as MAO, whereas those with no or one component were classified as metabolically healthy but obese (MHO). After community exercise, 27/68 (40%) MAO individuals (Pmetabolically healthy, increasing the total number of MHO persons by 73% (from 37 to 64). Compared with the lowest quartiles of relative energy expenditure and change in fitness, participants in the highest quartiles were 11.6 (95% confidence interval: 2.1–65.4; Pexercise transitions MAO adults to metabolically healthy. MAO adults who engaged in higher volumes of exercise and experienced the greatest increase in fitness were significantly more likely to become metabolically healthy. Community exercise may be an effective model for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. PMID:25120373

  6. Abnormal Transmethylation/Transsulfuration Metabolism and DNA Hypomethylation among Parents of Children with Autism

    Science.gov (United States)

    James, S. Jill; Melnyk, Stepan; Jernigan, Stefanie; Hubanks, Amanda; Rose, Shannon; Gaylor, David W.

    2008-01-01

    An integrated metabolic profile reflects the combined influence of genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors that affect the candidate pathway of interest. Recent evidence suggests that some autistic children may have reduced detoxification capacity and may be under chronic oxidative stress. Based on reports of abnormal methionine and…

  7. Clustered metabolic abnormalities blunt regression of hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy: the LIFE study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    de Simone, G; Okin, P M; Gerdts, E

    2009-01-01

    BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Clusters of metabolic abnormalities resembling phenotypes of metabolic syndrome predicted outcome in the LIFE study, independently of single risk markers, including obesity, diabetes and baseline ECG left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). We examined whether clusters of two......-duration product (CP) over 5 years was assessed using a quadratic polynomial contrast, adjusting for age, sex, prevalent cardiovascular disease and treatment arm (losartan or atenolol). At baseline, despite similar blood pressures, CP was greater in the presence than in the absence of MetAb (p

  8. Association of neural tube defects in children of mothers with MTHFR 677TT genotype and abnormal carbohydrate metabolism risk: a case-control study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cadenas-Benitez, N M; Yanes-Sosa, F; Gonzalez-Meneses, A; Cerrillos, L; Acosta, D; Praena-Fernandez, J M; Neth, O; Gomez de Terreros, I; Ybot-González, P

    2014-03-26

    Abnormalities in maternal folate and carbohydrate metabolism have both been shown to induce neural tube defects (NTD) in humans and animal models. However, the relationship between these two factors in the development of NTDs remains unclear. Data from mothers of children with spina bifida seen at the Unidad de Espina Bífida del Hospital Infantil Virgen del Rocío (case group) were compared to mothers of healthy children with no NTD (control group) who were randomly selected from patients seen at the outpatient ward in the same hospital. There were 25 individuals in the case group and 41 in the control group. Analysis of genotypes for the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677CT polymorphism in women with or without risk factors for abnormal carbohydrate metabolism revealed that mothers who were homozygous for the MTHFR 677TT polymorphism and at risk of abnormal carbohydrate metabolism were more likely to have offspring with spina bifida and high levels of homocysteine, compared to the control group. The increased incidence of NTDs in mothers homozygous for the MTHFR 677TT polymorphism and at risk of abnormal carbohydrate metabolism stresses the need for careful metabolic screening in pregnant women, and, if necessary, determination of the MTHFR 677CT genotype in those mothers at risk of developing abnormal carbohydrate metabolism.

  9. Cerebral blood flow and metabolic abnormalities in Alzheimer's disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuda, Hiroshi

    2001-01-01

    In this review I summarize observations of PET and SPECT studies about cerebral blood flow and metabolic abnormalities in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In very early AD flow or metabolism reduces first in the posterior cingulate gyrus and precuneus. This reduction may arise from functional deafferentation caused by primary neural degeneration in the remote area of the entorhinal cortex that is the first to be pathologically affected in AD. Then medial temporal structures and parietotemporal association cortex show flow or metabolic reduction as disease processes. The reason why flow or metabolism in medial temporal structures shows delay in starting to reduce in spite of the earliest pathological affection remains to be elucidated. It is likely that anterior cingulate gyrus is functionally involved, since attention is the first non-memory domain to be affected, before deficits in language and visuospatial functions. However few reports have described involvement in the anterior cingulate gyrus. Relationship between cerebral blood flow or metabolism and apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype has been investigated. Especially, the APOEε4 allele has been reported to increase risk and to lower onset age as a function of the inherited dose of the ε4 allele. Reduction of flow or metabolism in the posterior cingulate gyrus and precuneus has been reported even in presymptomatic nondemented subjects who were cognitively normal and had at least a single ε4 allele. On the contrary the relation of ε4 allele to the progression rate of AD has been controversial from neuroimaging approaches. PET and SPECT imaging has become to be quite useful for assessing therapeutical effects of newly introduced treatment for AD. Recent investigations observed significant regional flow increase after donepezil hydrochloride treatment. Most of these observations have been made by applying computer assisted analysis of three-dimensional stereotactic surface projection or statistical parametric mapping

  10. Persistence of cerebral metabolic abnormalities in chronic schizophrenia as determined by positron emission tomography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wolkin, A.; Jaeger, J.; Brodie, J.D.; Wolf, A.P.; Fowler, J.; Rotrosen, J.; Gomez-Mont, F.; Cancro, R.

    1985-01-01

    Local cerebral metabolic rates were determined by positron emission tomography and the deoxyglucose method in a group of 10 chronic schizophrenic subjects before and after somatic treatment and in eight normal subjects. Before treatment, schizophrenic subjects had markedly lower absolute metabolic activity than did normal controls in both frontal and temporal regions and a trend toward relative hyperactivity in the basal ganglia area. After treatment, their metabolic rates approached those seen in normal subjects in nearly all regions except frontal. Persistence of diminished frontal metabolism was manifested as significant relative hypofrontality. These findings suggest specific loci of aberrant cerebral functioning in chronic schizophrenia and the utility of positron emission tomography in characterizing these abnormalities

  11. Branched-chain amino acid metabolism in rat muscle: abnormal regulation in acidosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    May, R.C.; Hara, Y.; Kelly, R.A.; Block, K.P.; Buse, M.G.; Mitch, W.E.

    1987-01-01

    Branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) metabolism is frequently abnormal in pathological conditions accompanied by chronic metabolic acidosis. To study how metabolic acidosis affects BCAA metabolism in muscle, rats were gavage fed a 14% protein diet with or without 4 mmol NH 4 Cl x 100 g body wt -1 x day -1 . Epitrochlearis muscles were incubated with L-[1- 14 C]-valine and L-[1- 14 C]leucine, and rates of decarboxylation, net transamination, and incorporation into muscle protein were measured. Plasma and muscle BCAA levels were lower in acidotic rats. Rates of valine and leucine decarboxylation and net transamination were higher in muscles from acidotic rats; these differences were associated with a 79% increase in the total activity of branched-chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase and a 146% increase in the activated form of the enzyme. They conclude that acidosis affects the regulation of BCAA metabolism by enhancing flux through the transaminase and by directly stimulating oxidative catabolism through activation of branched-chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase

  12. Branched-chain amino acid metabolism in rat muscle: abnormal regulation in acidosis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    May, R.C.; Hara, Y.; Kelly, R.A.; Block, K.P.; Buse, M.G.; Mitch, W.E.

    1987-06-01

    Branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) metabolism is frequently abnormal in pathological conditions accompanied by chronic metabolic acidosis. To study how metabolic acidosis affects BCAA metabolism in muscle, rats were gavage fed a 14% protein diet with or without 4 mmol NH/sub 4/Cl x 100 g body wt/sup -1/ x day/sup -1/. Epitrochlearis muscles were incubated with L-(1-/sup 14/C)-valine and L-(1-/sup 14/C)leucine, and rates of decarboxylation, net transamination, and incorporation into muscle protein were measured. Plasma and muscle BCAA levels were lower in acidotic rats. Rates of valine and leucine decarboxylation and net transamination were higher in muscles from acidotic rats; these differences were associated with a 79% increase in the total activity of branched-chain ..cap alpha..-keto acid dehydrogenase and a 146% increase in the activated form of the enzyme. They conclude that acidosis affects the regulation of BCAA metabolism by enhancing flux through the transaminase and by directly stimulating oxidative catabolism through activation of branched-chain ..cap alpha..-keto acid dehydrogenase.

  13. Mineral Metabolic Abnormalities and Mortality in Dialysis Patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masanori Abe

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The survival rate of dialysis patients, as determined by risk factors such as hypertension, nutritional status, and chronic inflammation, is lower than that of the general population. In addition, disorders of bone mineral metabolism are independently related to mortality and morbidity associated with cardiovascular disease and fracture in dialysis patients. Hyperphosphatemia is an important risk factor of, not only secondary hyperparathyroidism, but also cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, the risk of death reportedly increases with an increase in adjusted serum calcium level, while calcium levels below the recommended target are not associated with a worsened outcome. Thus, the significance of target levels of serum calcium in dialysis patients is debatable. The consensus on determining optimal parathyroid function in dialysis patients, however, is yet to be established. Therefore, the contribution of phosphorus and calcium levels to prognosis is perhaps more significant. Elevated fibroblast growth factor 23 levels have also been shown to be associated with cardiovascular events and death. In this review, we examine the associations between mineral metabolic abnormalities including serum phosphorus, calcium, and parathyroid hormone and mortality in dialysis patients.

  14. Myocardial metabolic abnormalities in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy assessed by iodine-123-labeled beta-methyl-branched fatty acid myocardial scintigraphy and its relation to exercise-induced ischemia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuo, Shinro; Nakamura, Yasuyuki; Takahashi, Masayuki; Mitsunami, Kenichi; Kinoshita, Masahiko

    1998-01-01

    Reversible thallium-201 ( 201 Tl) abnormalities during exercise stress have been used as markers of myocardial ischemia in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and are most likely to identify relatively underperfused myocardium. Although metabolic abnormalities in HCM were reported, the relationship between impaired energy metabolism and exercise-induced ischemia has not been fully elucidated as yet. To assess the relationship between myocardial perfusion abnormalities and fatty acid metabolic abnormalities, 28 patients with HCM underwent exercise 201 Tl and rest 123 I-15-(p-iodophenyl)-3-methyl pentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) scintigraphy. Perfusion abnormalities were observed by exercise 201 Tl in 19/28 patients with HCM. 123 I-BMIPP uptake was decreased compared with delayed 201 Tl in 106/364 (29%) of the total myocardial segments (p 123 I-BMIPP and 201 Tl was observed more often in the 49/75 (65%) segments with reversible exercise 201 Tl defects (p 123 I-BMIPP and 201 Tl suggests that myocardial ischemia may play an important role in metabolic abnormalities in HCM. (author)

  15. SU-E-J-122: Detecting Treatment-Induced Metabolic Abnormalities in Craniopharyngioma Patients Undergoing Surgery and Proton Therapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hua, C; Shulkin, B; Li, Y; LI, X; Merchant, T [St. Jude Children' s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN (United States); Indelicato, D [University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute, Jacksonville, FL (United States); Boop, F [Semmes-Murphey Neurologic and Spine Institute, Memphis, TN (United States)

    2014-06-01

    Purpose: To identify treatment-induced defects in the brain of children with craniopharyngioma receiving surgery and proton therapy using fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET). Methods: Forty seven patients were enrolled on a clinical trial for craniopharyngioma with serial imaging and functional evaluations. Proton therapy was delivered using the double-scattered beams with a prescribed dose of 54 Cobalt Gray Equivalent. FDG tracer uptake in each of 63 anatomical regions was computed after warping PET images to a 3D reference template in Talairach coordinates. Regional uptake was deemed significantly low or high if exceeding two standard deviations of normal population from the mean. For establishing the normal ranges, 132 children aged 1–20 years with noncentral nervous system related diseases and normal-appearing cerebral PET scans were analyzed. Age- and gender-dependent regional uptake models were developed by linear regression and confidence intervals were calculated. Results: Most common PET abnormality before proton therapy was significantly low uptake in the frontal lobe, the occipital lobe (particularly in cuneus), the medial and ventral temporal lobe, cingulate gyrus, caudate nuclei, and thalamus. They were related to injury from surgical corridors, tumor mass effect, insertion of a ventricular catheter, and the placement of an Ommaya reservoir. Surprisingly a significantly high uptake was observed in temporal gyri and the parietal lobe. In 13 patients who already completed 18-month PET scans, metabolic abnormalities improved in 11 patients from baseline. One patient had persistent abnormalities. Only one revealed new uptake abnormalities in thalamus, brainstem, cerebellum, and insula. Conclusion: Postoperative FDG PET of craniopharyngioma patients revealed metabolic abnormalities in specific regions of the brain. Proton therapy did not appear to exacerbate these surgery- and tumor-induced defects. In patients with persistent and

  16. SU-E-J-122: Detecting Treatment-Induced Metabolic Abnormalities in Craniopharyngioma Patients Undergoing Surgery and Proton Therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hua, C; Shulkin, B; Li, Y; LI, X; Merchant, T; Indelicato, D; Boop, F

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: To identify treatment-induced defects in the brain of children with craniopharyngioma receiving surgery and proton therapy using fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET). Methods: Forty seven patients were enrolled on a clinical trial for craniopharyngioma with serial imaging and functional evaluations. Proton therapy was delivered using the double-scattered beams with a prescribed dose of 54 Cobalt Gray Equivalent. FDG tracer uptake in each of 63 anatomical regions was computed after warping PET images to a 3D reference template in Talairach coordinates. Regional uptake was deemed significantly low or high if exceeding two standard deviations of normal population from the mean. For establishing the normal ranges, 132 children aged 1–20 years with noncentral nervous system related diseases and normal-appearing cerebral PET scans were analyzed. Age- and gender-dependent regional uptake models were developed by linear regression and confidence intervals were calculated. Results: Most common PET abnormality before proton therapy was significantly low uptake in the frontal lobe, the occipital lobe (particularly in cuneus), the medial and ventral temporal lobe, cingulate gyrus, caudate nuclei, and thalamus. They were related to injury from surgical corridors, tumor mass effect, insertion of a ventricular catheter, and the placement of an Ommaya reservoir. Surprisingly a significantly high uptake was observed in temporal gyri and the parietal lobe. In 13 patients who already completed 18-month PET scans, metabolic abnormalities improved in 11 patients from baseline. One patient had persistent abnormalities. Only one revealed new uptake abnormalities in thalamus, brainstem, cerebellum, and insula. Conclusion: Postoperative FDG PET of craniopharyngioma patients revealed metabolic abnormalities in specific regions of the brain. Proton therapy did not appear to exacerbate these surgery- and tumor-induced defects. In patients with persistent and

  17. Abnormalities in Human Brain Creatine Metabolism in Gulf War Illness Probed with MRS

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-12-01

    TYPE Final 3. DATES COVERED 30 Sep 2012 - 29 Sep 2014 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER Abnormalities in Human Brain Creatine Metabolism in...levels of total creatine (tCr) in veterans with Gulf War Illness have been observed in prior studies. The goal of this research is to estimate amounts and

  18. The number of metabolic abnormalities associated with the risk of gallstones in a non-diabetic population.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chung-Hung Tsai

    Full Text Available AIM: To evaluate whether metabolic syndrome is associated with gallstones, independent of hepatitis C infection or chronic kidney disease (CKD, in a non-diabetic population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 8,188 Chinese adult participants that underwent a self-motivated health examination were recruited into the final analysis after excluding the subjects who had a history of cholecystectomy, diabetes mellitus, or were currently using antihypertensive or lipid-lowering agents. Gallstones were defined by the presence of strong intraluminal echoes that were gravity-dependent or that attenuated ultrasound transmission. RESULTS: A total of 447 subjects (5.5% had gallstones, with 239 (5.1% men and 208 (6.0% women. After adjusting for age, gender, obesity, education level, and lifestyle factors, included current smoking, alcohol drinking, regular exercise, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and CKD, there was a positive association between metabolic syndrome and gallstones. Moreover, as compared to subjects without metabolic abnormalities, subjects with one, two, and three or more suffered from a 35, 40, and 59% higher risk of gallstones, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Non-diabetic subjects with metabolic syndrome had a higher risk of gallstones independent of hepatitis C or CKD, and a dose-dependent effect of metabolic abnormalities also exists.

  19. Evolution of Metabolic Abnormalities in Alcoholic Patients during Withdrawal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    X. Vandemergel

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Chronic alcohol intoxication is accompanied by metabolic abnormalities. Evolution during the early withdrawal period has been poorly investigated. The aim of this study was to determine the evolution of metabolic parameters during alcohol withdrawal. Patients and Methods. Thirty-three patients admitted in our department for alcohol withdrawal were prospectively included. Results. Baseline hypophosphatemia was found in 24% of cases. FEPO4 was reduced from 14.2 ± 9% at baseline to 7.3 ± 4.2% at day 3 (Pnl, respectively. No correlation was found between the sodium and CPK levels (P=0.75 nor between the CPK level and the amount of alcohol ingested (rs = 0.084, P=0.097. Baseline urate level was elevated and returned to normal after three days. Baseline magnesium concentration was normal and stable over time. Conclusion. Chronic alcohol intoxication was accompanied by phosphaturia, rapidly reversible after alcohol withdrawal and inversely correlated with albuminemia, slight hyponatremia, low levels of 25 hydroxy vitamin D, elevated CPK level in about 30% of women, and hyperuricemia with rapid normalization.

  20. Abnormal metabolic network activity in REM sleep behavior disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holtbernd, Florian; Gagnon, Jean-François; Postuma, Ron B; Ma, Yilong; Tang, Chris C; Feigin, Andrew; Dhawan, Vijay; Vendette, Mélanie; Soucy, Jean-Paul; Eidelberg, David; Montplaisir, Jacques

    2014-02-18

    To determine whether the Parkinson disease-related covariance pattern (PDRP) expression is abnormally increased in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and whether increased baseline activity is associated with greater individual risk of subsequent phenoconversion. For this cohort study, we recruited 2 groups of RBD and control subjects. Cohort 1 comprised 10 subjects with RBD (63.5 ± 9.4 years old) and 10 healthy volunteers (62.7 ± 8.6 years old) who underwent resting-state metabolic brain imaging with (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET. Cohort 2 comprised 17 subjects with RBD (68.9 ± 4.8 years old) and 17 healthy volunteers (66.6 ± 6.0 years old) who underwent resting brain perfusion imaging with ethylcysteinate dimer SPECT. The latter group was followed clinically for 4.6 ± 2.5 years by investigators blinded to the imaging results. PDRP expression was measured in both RBD groups and compared with corresponding control values. PDRP expression was elevated in both groups of subjects with RBD (cohort 1: p abnormalities in subjects with idiopathic RBD are associated with a greater likelihood of subsequent phenoconversion to a progressive neurodegenerative syndrome.

  1. The Severity of Fatty Liver Disease Relating to Metabolic Abnormalities Independently Predicts Coronary Calcification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Ying-Hsiang; Wu, Yih-Jer; Liu, Chuan-Chuan; Hou, Charles Jia-Yin; Yeh, Hung-I.; Tsai, Cheng-Ho; Shih, Shou-Chuan; Hung, Chung-Lieh

    2011-01-01

    Background. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the metabolic disorders presented in liver. The relationship between severity of NAFLD and coronary atherosclerotic burden remains largely unknown. Methods and Materials. We analyzed subjects undergoing coronary calcium score evaluation by computed tomography (MDCT) and fatty liver assessment using abdominal ultrasonography. Framingham risk score (FRS) and metabolic risk score (MRS) were obtained in all subjects. A graded, semiquantitative score was established to quantify the severity of NAFLD. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to depict the association between NAFLD and calcium score. Results. Of all, 342 participants (female: 22.5%, mean age: 48.7 ± 7.0 years) met the sufficient information rendering detailed analysis. The severity of NAFLD was positively associated with MRS (X 2 = 6.12, trend P < 0.001) and FRS (X 2 = 5.88, trend P < 0.001). After multivariable adjustment for clinical variables and life styles, the existence of moderate to severe NAFLD was independently associated with abnormal calcium score (P < 0.05). Conclusion. The severity of NAFLD correlated well with metabolic abnormality and was independently predict coronary calcification beyond clinical factors. Our data suggests that NAFLD based on ultrasonogram could positively reflect the burden of coronary calcification

  2. Atrioventricular conduction abnormality and hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis in toluene sniffing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jian-Hsiung Tsao

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Toluene is an aromatic hydrocarbon with widespread industrial use as an organic solvent. As a result of the euphoric effect and availability of these substances, inhalation of toluene-based products is popular among young adults and children. Chronic or acute exposure is known to cause acid–base and electrolyte disorders, and to be toxic to the nervous and hematopoietic systems. We report a 38-year-old man who suffered from general muscular weakness of all extremities after toluene sniffing, which was complicated with hypokalemic paralysis, atrioventricular conduction abnormality, and normal anion gap hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis. Renal function, serum potassium and acid–base status normalized within 3 days after aggressive potassium chloride and intravenous fluid replacement. Electrocardiography showed regression of first-degree atrioventricular block. Exposure to toluene can lead to cardiac arrhythmias and sudden sniffing death syndrome. Tachyarrhythmia is the classical manifestation of toluene cardiotoxicity. Atrioventricular conduction abnormalities have been rarely mentioned in the literature. Knowledge of the toxicology and medical complications associated with toluene sniffing is essential for clinical management of these patients.

  3. Alleviation of metabolic abnormalities induced by excessive fructose administration in Wistar rats by Spirulina maxima.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jarouliya, Urmila; Zacharia, J Anish; Kumar, Pravin; Bisen, P S; Prasad, G B K S

    2012-03-01

    Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycaemia. Several natural products have been isolated and identified to restore the complications of diabetes. Spirulina maxima is naturally occurring fresh water cyanobacterium, enriched with proteins and essential nutrients. The aim of the study was to determine whether S. maxima could serve as a therapeutic agent to correct metabolic abnormalities induced by excessive fructose administration in Wistar rats. Oral administration of 10 per cent fructose solution to Wistar rats (n = 5 in each group) for 30 days resulted in hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidaemia. Aqueous suspension of S. maxima (5 or 10%) was also administered orally once daily for 30 days. The therapeutic potential of the preparation with reference to metformin (500 mg/kg) was assessed by monitoring various biochemical parameters at 10 day intervals during the course of therapy and at the end of 30 days S. maxima administration. Significant (Pmaxima aquous extract. Co-administration of S. maxima extract (5 or 10% aqueous) with 10 per cent fructose solution offered a significant protection against fructose induced metabolic abnormalities in Wistar rats. The present findings showed that S. maxima exhibited anti-hyperglycaemic, anti-hyperlipidaemic and hepatoprotective activity in rats fed with fructose. Further studies are needed to understand the mechanisms.

  4. Metabolic Abnormalities Are Common among South American Hispanics Subjects with Normal Weight or Excess Body Weight: The CRONICAS Cohort Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benziger, Catherine P; Bernabé-Ortiz, Antonio; Gilman, Robert H; Checkley, William; Smeeth, Liam; Málaga, Germán; Miranda, J Jaime

    2015-01-01

    We aimed to characterize metabolic status by body mass index (BMI) status. The CRONICAS longitudinal study was performed in an age-and-sex stratified random sample of participants aged 35 years or older in four Peruvian settings: Lima (Peru's capital, costal urban, highly urbanized), urban and rural Puno (both high-altitude), and Tumbes (costal semirural). Data from the baseline study, conducted in 2010, was used. Individuals were classified by BMI as normal weight (18.5-24.9 kg/m2), overweight (25.0-29.9 kg/m2), and obese (≥30 kg/m2), and as metabolically healthy (0-1 metabolic abnormality) or metabolically unhealthy (≥2 abnormalities). Abnormalities included individual components of the metabolic syndrome, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and insulin resistance. A total of 3088 (age 55.6±12.6 years, 51.3% females) had all measurements. Of these, 890 (28.8%), 1361 (44.1%) and 837 (27.1%) were normal weight, overweight and obese, respectively. Overall, 19.0% of normal weight in contrast to 54.9% of overweight and 77.7% of obese individuals had ≥3 risk factors (poverweight and 3.9% of obese individuals were metabolically healthy and, compared to Lima, the rural and urban sites in Puno were more likely to have a metabolically healthier profile. Most Peruvians with overweight and obesity have additional risk factors for cardiovascular disease, as well as a majority of those with a healthy weight. Prevention programs aimed at individuals with a normal BMI, and those who are overweight and obese, are urgently needed, such as screening for elevated fasting cholesterol and glucose.

  5. The prevalence of abnormal metabolic parameters in obese and overweight children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salvatore, Deborah; Satnick, Ava; Abell, Rebecca; Messina, Catherine R; Chawla, Anupama

    2014-09-01

    This retrospective study aimed to determine the prevalence of abnormal metabolic parameters in obese children and its correlation to the degree of obesity determined by body mass index (BMI). In total, 101 children seen at the Pediatric Gastroenterology Obesity Clinic at Stony Brook Children's University Hospital were enrolled in the study. The degree of obesity was characterized according to the following formula: (patient's BMI/BMI at 95th percentile) × 100%, with class I obesity >100%-120%, class II obesity >120%-140%, and class III obesity >140%. A set of metabolic parameters was evaluated in these patients. Frequency distributions of all study variables were examined using the χ(2) test of independence. Mean differences among the obesity classes and continuous measures were examined using 1-way analysis of variance. Within our study population, we found that 80% of our obese children had a low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level, 58% had elevated fasting insulin levels, and 32% had an elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level. Class II obese children had a 2-fold higher ALT value when compared with class I children (P = .036). Fasting insulin, ALT, HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels trended with class of obesity. Obese children in classes II and III are at higher risk for developing abnormal laboratory values. We recommend obese children be further classified to reflect the severity of the obesity since this has predictive significance for comorbidities. Obesity classes I, II, and III could help serve as a screening tool to help communicate risk assessment. © 2013 American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.

  6. Serotonergic dysfunctions and abnormal iron metabolism: Relevant to mental fatigue of Parkinson disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuo, Li-Jun; Yu, Shu-Yang; Hu, Yang; Wang, Fang; Piao, Ying-Shan; Lian, Teng-Hong; Yu, Qiu-Jin; Wang, Rui-Dan; Li, Li-Xia; Guo, Peng; Du, Yang; Zhu, Rong-Yan; Jin, Zhao; Wang, Ya-Jie; Wang, Xiao-Min; Chan, Piu; Chen, Sheng-Di; Wang, Yong-Jun; Zhang, Wei

    2016-12-21

    Fatigue is a very common non-motor symptom in Parkinson disease (PD) patients. It included physical fatigue and mental fatigue. The potential mechanisms of mental fatigue involving serotonergic dysfunction and abnormal iron metabolism are still unknown. Therefore, we evaluated the fatigue symptoms, classified PD patients into fatigue group and non-fatigue group, and detected the levels of serotonin, iron and related proteins in CSF and serum. In CSF, 5-HT level is significantly decreased and the levels of iron and transferrin are dramatically increased in fatigue group. In fatigue group, mental fatigue score is negatively correlated with 5-HT level in CSF, and positively correlated with the scores of depression and excessive daytime sleepiness, and disease duration, also, mental fatigue is positively correlated with the levels of iron and transferrin in CSF. Transferrin level is negatively correlated with 5-HT level in CSF. In serum, the levels of 5-HT and transferrin are markedly decreased in fatigue group; mental fatigue score exhibits a negative correlation with 5-HT level. Thus serotonin dysfunction in both central and peripheral systems may be correlated with mental fatigue through abnormal iron metabolism. Depression, excessive daytime sleepiness and disease duration were the risk factors for mental fatigue of PD.

  7. Hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx)-induced abnormalities of nucleic acid metabolism revealed by (1)H-NMR-based metabonomics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dan Yue; Zhang, Yuwei; Cheng, Liuliu; Ma, Jinhu; Xi, Yufeng; Yang, Liping; Su, Chao; Shao, Bin; Huang, Anliang; Xiang, Rong; Cheng, Ping

    2016-04-14

    Hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) plays an important role in HBV-related hepatocarcinogenesis; however, mechanisms underlying HBx-mediated carcinogenesis remain unclear. In this study, an NMR-based metabolomics approach was applied to systematically investigate the effects of HBx on cell metabolism. EdU incorporation assay was conducted to examine the effects of HBx on DNA synthesis, an important feature of nucleic acid metabolism. The results revealed that HBx disrupted metabolism of glucose, lipids, and amino acids, especially nucleic acids. To understand the potential mechanism of HBx-induced abnormalities of nucleic acid metabolism, gene expression profiles of HepG2 cells expressing HBx were investigated. The results showed that 29 genes involved in DNA damage and DNA repair were differentially expressed in HBx-expressing HepG2 cells. HBx-induced DNA damage was further demonstrated by karyotyping, comet assay, Western blotting, immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry analyses. Many studies have previously reported that DNA damage can induce abnormalities of nucleic acid metabolism. Thus, our results implied that HBx initially induces DNA damage, and then disrupts nucleic acid metabolism, which in turn blocks DNA repair and induces the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). These findings further contribute to our understanding of the occurrence of HCC.

  8. The exploration of the changes in bone metabolism in patients with abnormal thyroid function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chu Shaolin; Li Xiaohong; Lei Qiufang; Ye Peihong; Chai Luhua

    2001-01-01

    To explore the changes in bone metabolism with abnormal thyroid function, BGP and PTH in 91 patients with hyperthyroidism, 37 patients with hypothyroidism, 51 controls, were measured by means of IRMA, calcaneus heel bone density (BMD) was measured by means of 241 Am single photon absorptiometry. BGP levels in hyperthyroidism were significantly higher than those in controls (P < 0.001). BGP levels in hypothyroidism were significantly lower than those in controls (P < 0.001). PTH levels in hyperthyroidism were a little lower than those in controls (P < 0.05). PTH levels in hypothyroidism were significantly higher than those in controls (P < 0.001). The measurement of BMD showed that the prevalence rates of osteoporosis (OP) in hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism were significantly higher than those in controls. In hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism groups the age of OP tends to be younger. The patients with hyperthyroidism over 55 years of age were all suffered from OP. The changes in BGP and PTH were earlier than BMD, so BGP and PTH can be used as sensitive indicator of the changes in bone metabolism with abnormal thyroid function, especially for curative effect observations

  9. Effect of tamoxifen pre-treatment on the retention of tritiated oestradiol and 5. cap alpha. -dihydrotestosterone and on glucose metabolism in human breast carcinomas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Deshpande, N; Mitchell, I [Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London (UK). Labs.; Hughes, D

    1978-05-01

    The effect of pre-treatment with tamoxifen on glucose metabolism and retention of injected oestradiol-17B and 5..cap alpha..-dihydrotestosterone by human breast carcinomas were studied in patients undergoing mastectomy. The following effects were observed: the pretreatment reduced retention of oestradiol-17B whereas a small but statistically significant rise in 5..cap alpha..-dihydrotestosterone accumulation was observed. There was an increase in both phosphofructokinase (PFK) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) activities in tumours from treated patients whereas ..cap alpha..-glycerolphosphate dehydrogenase (..cap alpha..-GPDH) activity was significantly reduced in the same tumours. The significance of these findings is discussed and it is argued that these changes in carbohydrate metabolism may not be due to the blocking of hormone receptors.

  10. Do obese but metabolically normal women differ in intra-abdominal fat and physical activity levels from those with the expected metabolic abnormalities? A cross-sectional study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Walker Mark

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Obesity remains a major public health problem, associated with a cluster of metabolic abnormalities. However, individuals exist who are very obese but have normal metabolic parameters. The aim of this study was to determine to what extent differences in metabolic health in very obese women are explained by differences in body fat distribution, insulin resistance and level of physical activity. Methods This was a cross-sectional pilot study of 39 obese women (age: 28-64 yrs, BMI: 31-67 kg/m2 recruited from community settings. Women were defined as 'metabolically normal' on the basis of blood glucose, lipids and blood pressure. Magnetic Resonance Imaging was used to determine body fat distribution. Detailed lifestyle and metabolic profiles of participants were obtained. Results Women with a healthy metabolic profile had lower intra-abdominal fat volume (geometric mean 4.78 l [95% CIs 3.99-5.73] vs 6.96 l [5.82-8.32] and less insulin resistance (HOMA 3.41 [2.62-4.44] vs 6.67 [5.02-8.86] than those with an abnormality. The groups did not differ in abdominal subcutaneous fat volume (19.6 l [16.9-22.7] vs 20.6 [17.6-23.9]. A higher proportion of those with a healthy compared to a less healthy metabolic profile met current physical activity guidelines (70% [95% CIs 55.8-84.2] vs 25% [11.6-38.4]. Intra-abdominal fat, insulin resistance and physical activity make independent contributions to metabolic status in very obese women, but explain only around a third of the variance. Conclusion A sub-group of women exists who are metabolically normal despite being very obese. Differences in fat distribution, insulin resistance, and physical activity level are associated with metabolic differences in these women, but account only partially for these differences. Future work should focus on strategies to identify those obese individuals most at risk of the negative metabolic consequences of obesity and on identifying other factors that

  11. Reversal of brain metabolic abnormalities following treatment of AIDS dementia complex with 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine (AZT, zidovudine): a PET-FDG study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brunetti, A.; Berg, G.; Di Chiro, G.

    1989-01-01

    Brain glucose metabolism was evaluated in four patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) dementia complex using [ 18 F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and positron emission tomography (PET) scans at the beginning of therapy with 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine (AZT, zidovudine), and later in the course of therapy. In two patients, baseline, large focal cortical abnormalities of glucose utilization were reversed during the course of therapy. In the other two patients, the initial PET study did not reveal pronounced focal alterations, while the post-treatment scans showed markedly increased cortical glucose metabolism. The improved cortical glucose utilization was accompanied in all patients by immunologic and neurologic improvement. PET-FDG studies can detect cortical metabolic abnormalities associated with AIDS dementia complex, and may be used to monitor the metabolic improvement in response to AZT treatment

  12. Metabolism of aspirin and procaine in mice pretreated with O-4-nitrophenyl methyl(phenyl)phosphinate or O-4-nitrophenyl diphenylphosphinate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Joly, J.M.; Brown, T.M.

    1986-01-01

    Concentrations of [carboxyl- 14 C]procaine in blood of mice were increased threefold for 27 min by exposure to O-4-nitrophenyl diphenylphosphinate 2 hr prior to [carboxyl- 14 C]procaine injection ip, while there was no effect of O-4-nitrophenyl methyl(phenyl)phosphinate pretreatment. There was no effect of either organophosphinate on the primary hydrolysis of [acetyl-l- 14 C]aspirin when assessed by the expiration of [ 14 C]carbon dioxide; however, O-4-nitrophenyl diphenylphosphinate pretreatment produced transient increases in blood concentrations of both [carboxyl- 14 C]aspirin and [carboxyl- 14 C]salicylic acid following administration of [carboxyl- 14 C]aspirin. Liver carboxylesterase activity in O-4-nitrophenyl diphenylphosphinate pretreated mice was 11% of control activity. These results indicate the potential for drug interaction with O-4-nitrophenyl diphenylphosphinate but not with O-4-nitrophenyl methyl(phenyl)phosphinate. It appears that liver carboxylesterase activity has a minor role in hydrolysis of aspirin in vivo, but may be more important in procaine metabolism

  13. Cerebral blood flow and metabolic abnormalities in Alzheimer's disease

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Matsuda, Hiroshi [National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo (Japan). National Center Hospital for Mental, Nervous, and Muscular Disorders

    2001-04-01

    In this review I summarize observations of PET and SPECT studies about cerebral blood flow and metabolic abnormalities in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In very early AD flow or metabolism reduces first in the posterior cingulate gyrus and precuneus. This reduction may arise from functional deafferentation caused by primary neural degeneration in the remote area of the entorhinal cortex that is the first to be pathologically affected in AD. Then medial temporal structures and parietotemporal association cortex show flow or metabolic reduction as disease processes. The reason why flow or metabolism in medial temporal structures shows delay in starting to reduce in spite of the earliest pathological affection remains to be elucidated. It is likely that anterior cingulate gyrus is functionally involved, since attention is the first non-memory domain to be affected, before deficits in language and visuospatial functions. However few reports have described involvement in the anterior cingulate gyrus. Relationship between cerebral blood flow or metabolism and apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype has been investigated. Especially, the APOE{epsilon}4 allele has been reported to increase risk and to lower onset age as a function of the inherited dose of the {epsilon}4 allele. Reduction of flow or metabolism in the posterior cingulate gyrus and precuneus has been reported even in presymptomatic nondemented subjects who were cognitively normal and had at least a single {epsilon}4 allele. On the contrary the relation of {epsilon}4 allele to the progression rate of AD has been controversial from neuroimaging approaches. PET and SPECT imaging has become to be quite useful for assessing therapeutical effects of newly introduced treatment for AD. Recent investigations observed significant regional flow increase after donepezil hydrochloride treatment. Most of these observations have been made by applying computer assisted analysis of three-dimensional stereotactic surface projection

  14. Insulin resistance and endocrine-metabolic abnormalities in polycystic ovarian syndrome: Comparison between obese and non-obese PCOS patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Layegh, Parvin; Mousavi, Zohreh; Farrokh Tehrani, Donya; Parizadeh, Seyed Mohammad Reza; Khajedaluee, Mohammad

    2016-04-01

    Insulin resistance has an important role in pathophysiology of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Yet there are certain controversies regarding the presence of insulin resistance in non-obese patients. The aim was to compare the insulin resistance and various endocrine and metabolic abnormalities in obese and non-obese PCOS women. In this cross-sectional study which was performed from 2007-2010, 115 PCOS patients, aged 16-45 years were enrolled. Seventy patients were obese (BMI ≥25) and 45 patients were non-obese (BMI 2.3) between two groups (p=0.357). Waist circumference (pPCOS patients. There was no significant difference in total testosterone (p=0.634) and androstenedione (p=0.736) between groups whereas Dehydroepiandrotendione sulfate (DHEAS) was significantly higher in non-obese PCOS women (p=0.018). There was no case of fatty liver and metabolic syndrome in non-obese patients, whereas they were seen in 31.3% and 39.4% of obese PCOS women, respectively. Our study showed that metabolic abnormalities are more prevalent in obese PCOS women, but adrenal axis activity that is reflected in higher levels of DHEAS was more commonly pronounced in our non-obese PCOS patients.

  15. PGC-1alpha Deficiency Causes Multi-System Energy Metabolic Derangements: Muscle Dysfunction, Abnormal Weight Control and Hepatic Steatosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leone Teresa C

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available The gene encoding the transcriptional coactivator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha was targeted in mice. PGC-1alpha null (PGC-1alpha-/- mice were viable. However, extensive phenotyping revealed multi-system abnormalities indicative of an abnormal energy metabolic phenotype. The postnatal growth of heart and slow-twitch skeletal muscle, organs with high mitochondrial energy demands, is blunted in PGC-1alpha-/- mice. With age, the PGC-1alpha-/- mice develop abnormally increased body fat, a phenotype that is more severe in females. Mitochondrial number and respiratory capacity is diminished in slow-twitch skeletal muscle of PGC-1alpha-/- mice, leading to reduced muscle performance and exercise capacity. PGC-1alpha-/- mice exhibit a modest diminution in cardiac function related largely to abnormal control of heart rate. The PGC-1alpha-/- mice were unable to maintain core body temperature following exposure to cold, consistent with an altered thermogenic response. Following short-term starvation, PGC-1alpha-/- mice develop hepatic steatosis due to a combination of reduced mitochondrial respiratory capacity and an increased expression of lipogenic genes. Surprisingly, PGC-1alpha-/- mice were less susceptible to diet-induced insulin resistance than wild-type controls. Lastly, vacuolar lesions were detected in the central nervous system of PGC-1alpha-/- mice. These results demonstrate that PGC-1alpha is necessary for appropriate adaptation to the metabolic and physiologic stressors of postnatal life.

  16. PGC-1alpha deficiency causes multi-system energy metabolic derangements: muscle dysfunction, abnormal weight control and hepatic steatosis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teresa C Leone

    2005-04-01

    Full Text Available The gene encoding the transcriptional coactivator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha was targeted in mice. PGC-1alpha null (PGC-1alpha(-/- mice were viable. However, extensive phenotyping revealed multi-system abnormalities indicative of an abnormal energy metabolic phenotype. The postnatal growth of heart and slow-twitch skeletal muscle, organs with high mitochondrial energy demands, is blunted in PGC-1alpha(-/- mice. With age, the PGC-1alpha(-/- mice develop abnormally increased body fat, a phenotype that is more severe in females. Mitochondrial number and respiratory capacity is diminished in slow-twitch skeletal muscle of PGC-1alpha(-/- mice, leading to reduced muscle performance and exercise capacity. PGC-1alpha(-/- mice exhibit a modest diminution in cardiac function related largely to abnormal control of heart rate. The PGC-1alpha(-/- mice were unable to maintain core body temperature following exposure to cold, consistent with an altered thermogenic response. Following short-term starvation, PGC-1alpha(-/- mice develop hepatic steatosis due to a combination of reduced mitochondrial respiratory capacity and an increased expression of lipogenic genes. Surprisingly, PGC-1alpha(-/- mice were less susceptible to diet-induced insulin resistance than wild-type controls. Lastly, vacuolar lesions were detected in the central nervous system of PGC-1alpha(-/- mice. These results demonstrate that PGC-1alpha is necessary for appropriate adaptation to the metabolic and physiologic stressors of postnatal life.

  17. Abnormal metabolism of glycogen phosphate as a cause for Lafora disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tagliabracci, Vincent S; Girard, Jean Marie; Segvich, Dyann; Meyer, Catalina; Turnbull, Julie; Zhao, Xiaochu; Minassian, Berge A; Depaoli-Roach, Anna A; Roach, Peter J

    2008-12-05

    Lafora disease is a progressive myoclonus epilepsy with onset in the teenage years followed by neurodegeneration and death within 10 years. A characteristic is the widespread formation of poorly branched, insoluble glycogen-like polymers (polyglucosan) known as Lafora bodies, which accumulate in neurons, muscle, liver, and other tissues. Approximately half of the cases of Lafora disease result from mutations in the EPM2A gene, which encodes laforin, a member of the dual specificity protein phosphatase family that is able to release the small amount of covalent phosphate normally present in glycogen. In studies of Epm2a(-/-) mice that lack laforin, we observed a progressive change in the properties and structure of glycogen that paralleled the formation of Lafora bodies. At three months, glycogen metabolism remained essentially normal, even though the phosphorylation of glycogen has increased 4-fold and causes altered physical properties of the polysaccharide. By 9 months, the glycogen has overaccumulated by 3-fold, has become somewhat more phosphorylated, but, more notably, is now poorly branched, is insoluble in water, and has acquired an abnormal morphology visible by electron microscopy. These glycogen molecules have a tendency to aggregate and can be recovered in the pellet after low speed centrifugation of tissue extracts. The aggregation requires the phosphorylation of glycogen. The aggregrated glycogen sequesters glycogen synthase but not other glycogen metabolizing enzymes. We propose that laforin functions to suppress excessive glycogen phosphorylation and is an essential component of the metabolism of normally structured glycogen.

  18. Effects of nutritional education on weight change and metabolic abnormalities among patients with schizophrenia in Japan: A randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugawara, Norio; Sagae, Toyoaki; Yasui-Furukori, Norio; Yamazaki, Manabu; Shimoda, Kazutaka; Mori, Takao; Sugai, Takuro; Matsuda, Hiroshi; Suzuki, Yutaro; Ozeki, Yuji; Okamoto, Kurefu; Someya, Toshiyuki

    2018-02-01

    Patients with schizophrenia have a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) than the general population. Minimizing weight gain and metabolic abnormalities in a population with an already high prevalence of obesity is of clinical and social importance. This randomized controlled trial investigated the effect of monthly nutritional education on weight change and metabolic abnormalities among patients with schizophrenia in Japan. From July 2014 to December 2014, we recruited 265 obese patients who had a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Participants were randomly assigned to a standard care (A), doctor's weight loss advice (B), or an individual nutritional education group (C) for 12 months. The prevalence of MetS and body weight were measured at baseline and 12 months. After the 12-month treatment, 189 patients were evaluated, and the prevalence of MetS based on the ATP III-A definition in groups A, B, and C was 68.9%, 67.2%, and 47.5%, respectively. Group C showed increased weight loss (3.2 ± 4.5 kg) over the 12-month study period, and the change in weight differed significantly from that of group A; additionally, 26.2% of the participants in group C lost 7% or more of their initial weight, compared with 8.2% of those in group A. Individual nutrition education provided by a dietitian was highly successful in reducing obesity in patients with schizophrenia and could be the first choice to address both weight gain and metabolic abnormalities induced by antipsychotic medications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Abnormal glucose metabolism in acute myocardial infarction: influence on left ventricular function and prognosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Høfsten, Dan E; Løgstrup, Brian B; Møller, Jacob E

    2009-01-01

    tolerance test before discharge. LV function was assessed using echocardiographic measurements (LV end-diastolic volume, LV end-systolic volume, LV ejection fraction, restrictive diastolic filling pattern, early transmitral flow velocity to early diastolic mitral annular velocity ratio [E/e'], and left...... atrial volume index) and by measuring plasma N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels. RESULTS: After adjustment for age and gender, a linear relationship between the degree of abnormal glucose metabolism was observed for each marker of LV dysfunction (p(trend)

  20. Neonatal seizures: the overlap between diagnosis of metabolic disorders and structural abnormalities. Case report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Freitas Alessandra

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available Inborn metabolic errors (IME and cortical developmental malformations are uncommon etiologies of neonatal seizures, however they may represent treatable causes of refractory epilepsy and for this reason must be considered as possible etiological factors. This case report aims to demonstrate the importance of neuroimaging studies in one patient with neonatal seizures, even when there are clues pointing to a metabolic disorder. CASE REPORT: A previously healthy 14 day-old child started presenting reiterated focal motor seizures (FMS which evolved to status epilepticus. Exams showed high serum levels of ammonia and no other abnormalities. A metabolic investigation was conducted with normal results. During follow-up, the patient presented developmental delay and left side hemiparesia. Seizures remained controlled with anti-epileptic drugs for four months, followed by relapse with repetitive FMS on the left side. Temporary improvement was obtained with anti-epileptic drug adjustment. At the age of 6 months, during a new episode of status epilepticus, high ammonia levels were detected. Other metabolic exams remained normal. The child was referred to a video-electroencephalographic monitoring and continuous epileptiform discharges were recorded over the right parasagittal and midline regions, with predominance over the posterior quadrant. A new neuroimaging study was performed and displayed a malformation of cortical development. Our case illustrates that because newborns are prone to present metabolic disarrangement, an unbalance such as hyperammonemia may be a consequence of acute events and conduct to a misdiagnosis of IME.

  1. Prevalence and predictors of metabolic abnormalities in Chinese women with PCOS: a cross- sectional study

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    Background Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common condition estimated to affect 5.61% of Chinese women of reproductive age, but little is known about the prevalence and predictors in Chinese PCOS patients. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and predictors of the metabolic abnormalities in Chinese women with and without PCOS. Methods A large-scale national epidemiological investigation was conducted in reproductive age women (19 to 45 years) across China. 833 reproductive aged PCOS women, who participated in the healthcare screening, were recruited from ten provinces in China. Clinical history, ultrasonographic exam (ovarian follicle), hormonal and metabolic parameters were the main outcome measures. Results The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) as compared in PCOS and non-PCOS women from community were 18.2% vs 14.7%, and IR (insulin resistance) were 14.2% vs 9.3% (p PCOS than in non-PCOS groups. Using multivariate logistic regression, central obesity and FAI were risk factors, while SHBG was a protective factor on the occurrence of Mets and IR in PCOS women (OR: 1.132, 1.105 and 0.995). Conclusions The risk factors of the metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance were BMI and FAI for PCOS women, respectively. The decrease of SHBG level was also a risk factor for insulin resistance in both PCOS and metabolic disturbance. PMID:25223276

  2. Dietary Tributyrin Supplementation Attenuates Insulin Resistance and Abnormal Lipid Metabolism in Suckling Piglets with Intrauterine Growth Retardation

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Jintian; Dong, Li; Xu, Wen; Bai, Kaiwen; Lu, Changhui; Wu, Yanan; Huang, Qiang; Zhang, Lili; Wang, Tian

    2015-01-01

    Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) is associated with insulin resistance and lipid disorder. Tributyrin (TB), a pro-drug of butyrate, can attenuate dysfunctions in body metabolism. In this study, we investigated the effects of TB supplementation on insulin resistance and lipid metabolism in neonatal piglets with IUGR. Eight neonatal piglets with normal birth weight (NBW) and 16 neonatal piglets with IUGR were selected, weaned on the 7th day, and fed basic milk diets (NBW and IUGR groups) or basic milk diets supplemented with 0.1% tributyrin (IT group, IUGR piglets) until day 21 (n = 8). Relative parameters for lipid metabolism and mRNA expression were measured. Piglets with IUGR showed higher (P insulin in the serum, higher (P insulin, HOMA-IR, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the serum, and the concentrations of TG and NEFA in the liver, and increased (P insulin signal transduction pathway and hepatic lipogenic pathway (including transcription factors and nuclear factors) was significantly (P insulin resistance and abnormal lipid metabolism in IUGR piglets by increasing enzyme activities and upregulating mRNA expression, leading to an early improvement in the metabolic efficiency of IUGR piglets. PMID:26317832

  3. Morphological and glucose metabolism abnormalities in alcoholic Korsakoff's syndrome: group comparisons and individual analyses.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anne-Lise Pitel

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Gray matter volume studies have been limited to few brain regions of interest, and white matter and glucose metabolism have received limited research attention in Korsakoff's syndrome (KS. Because of the lack of brain biomarkers, KS was found to be underdiagnosed in postmortem studies. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Nine consecutively selected patients with KS and 22 matched controls underwent both structural magnetic resonance imaging and (18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography examinations. Using a whole-brain analysis, the between-group comparisons of gray matter and white matter density and relative glucose uptake between patients with KS and controls showed the involvement of both the frontocerebellar and the Papez circuits, including morphological abnormalities in their nodes and connection tracts and probably resulting hypometabolism. The direct comparison of the regional distribution and degree of gray matter hypodensity and hypometabolism within the KS group indicated very consistent gray matter distribution of both abnormalities, with a single area of significant difference in the middle cingulate cortex showing greater hypometabolism than hypodensity. Finally, the analysis of the variability in the individual patterns of brain abnormalities within our sample of KS patients revealed that the middle cingulate cortex was the only brain region showing significant GM hypodensity and hypometabolism in each of our 9 KS patients. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results indicate widespread brain abnormalities in KS including both gray and white matter damage mainly involving two brain networks, namely, the fronto-cerebellar circuit and the Papez circuit. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the middle cingulate cortex may play a key role in the pathophysiology of KS and could be considered as a potential in vivo brain biomarker.

  4. The effect of enzymes upon metabolism, storage, and release of carbohydrates in normal and abnormal endometria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, E C

    1976-07-01

    This paper presents preliminary data concerning the relationship of various components of glandular epithelium and effect of enzymes on metabolism, storage, and release of certain substances in normal and abnormal endometria. Activity of these endometrial enzymes has been compared between two groups: 252 patients with normal menstrual histories and 156 patients, all over the age of 40, with abnormal uterine bleeding. Material was obtained by endometrial biopsy or curettage. In the pathologic classification of the group of 156, 30 patients had secretory endometria, 88 patients had endometria classified as proliferative, 24 were classified as endometrial hyperplasia, and 14 were classified as adenocarcinoma. All tissue was studied by histologic, histochemical, and biochemical methods. Glycogen synthetase activity caused synthesis of glucose to glycogen, increasing in amount until midcycle, when glycogen phosphorylase activity caused the breakdown to glucose during the regressive stage of endometrial activity. This normal cyclic activity did not occur in the abnormal endometria, where activity of both enzymes continued at low constant tempo. Only the I form of glycogen synthetase increased as the tissue became more hyperplastic. With the constant glycogen content and the increased activity of both the TPN isocitric dehydrogenase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in the hyperplastic and cancerous endometria, tissue energy was created, resulting in abnormal cell proliferation. These altered biochemical and cellular activities may be the basis for malignant cell growth.

  5. Abnormalities in biomarkers of mineral and bone metabolism in kidney donors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasiske, Bertram L; Kumar, Rajiv; Kimmel, Paul L; Pesavento, Todd E; Kalil, Roberto S; Kraus, Edward S; Rabb, Hamid; Posselt, Andrew M; Anderson-Haag, Teresa L; Steffes, Michael W; Israni, Ajay K; Snyder, Jon J; Singh, Ravinder J; Weir, Matthew R

    2016-10-01

    Previous studies have suggested that kidney donors may have abnormalities of mineral and bone metabolism typically seen in chronic kidney disease. This may have important implications for the skeletal health of living kidney donors and for our understanding of the pathogenesis of long-term mineral and bone disorders in chronic kidney disease. In this prospective study, 182 of 203 kidney donors and 173 of 201 paired normal controls had markers of mineral and bone metabolism measured before and at 6 and 36 months after donation (ALTOLD Study). Donors had significantly higher serum concentrations of intact parathyroid hormone (24.6% and 19.5%) and fibroblast growth factor-23 (9.5% and 8.4%) at 6 and 36 months, respectively, as compared to healthy controls, and significantly reduced tubular phosphate reabsorption (-7.0% and -5.0%) and serum phosphate concentrations (-6.4% and -2.3%). Serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 concentrations were significantly lower (-17.1% and -12.6%), while 25-hydroxyvitamin D (21.4% and 19.4%) concentrations were significantly higher in donors compared to controls. Moreover, significantly higher concentrations of the bone resorption markers, carboxyterminal cross-linking telopeptide of bone collagen (30.1% and 13.8%) and aminoterminal cross-linking telopeptide of bone collagen (14.2% and 13.0%), and the bone formation markers, osteocalcin (26.3% and 2.7%) and procollagen type I N-terminal propeptide (24.3% and 8.9%), were observed in donors. Thus, kidney donation alters serum markers of bone metabolism that could reflect impaired bone health. Additional long-term studies that include assessment of skeletal architecture and integrity are warranted in kidney donors. Copyright © 2016 International Society of Nephrology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Conservative treatment of bone tissue metabolic disorders among patients with vitamin D-dependent rickets type II with genetic abnormality of type I collagen formation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S.M. Martsyniak

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Background. The purpose of the article is to determine the effect of conservative therapy on genetically caused disorders of bone tissue metabolism in patients with vitamin D-dependent rickets type II and genetic abnormality of type I collagen formation (VDDR(COL1. Materials and methods. At the premises of consulting and outpatient department of SI “Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedics of the NAMS of Ukraine”, 13 patients having VDDR type II and genetic damage of type I collagen formation were examined and treated. The medical treatment was conducted in four stages. The first stage included full examination of patients (calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood serum and their urinary excretion, as well as determination of calcidiol and calcitriol serum levels, indicators of parathyroid hormone and osteocalcin, and a marker of bone formation P1NP and osteoresorption b-CTx. At this stage, children were obligated to undergo a genetic test to detect changes (polymorphism in alleles of receptors to vitamin D and type I collagen. Besides genetic tests, examinations at the other stages were conducted in full. Results. The study has shown the following. The genetically caused abnormality of reception to vitamin D results into substantial accumulation of vitamin D active metabolite in the blood serum. When combined with gene­tic abnormality of type I collagen formation, it significantly affected bone formation and destruction processes that causes development of osteomalacia (parathormone — vitamin D — osteocalcin system. The comprehensive study of vitamin D metabolism and biochemical vitals of bone tissue in patients having VDDR (COL1 brought us to understanding of some issues related to pathogenesis and nature of osteomalacia and, in future, osteoporotic changes on different levels, ensured us to express these changes by corresponding indices in the biochemical research and, finally, to develop appropriate schemes for the treatment of

  7. Depressive disorder and gastrointestinal dysfunction after myocardial infarct are associated with abnormal tryptophan-5-hydroxytryptamine metabolism in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Xiaofang; Wang, Yuefen; Liu, Chunyan; Wang, Yangang

    2017-01-01

    In this study, we investigated the relationship between tryptophan-5-hydroxytryptamine metabolism, depressive disorder, and gastrointestinal dysfunction in rats after myocardial infarction. Our goal was to elucidate the physiopathologic bases of somatic/psychiatric depression symptoms after myocardial infarction. A myocardial infarction model was established by permanent occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Depression-like behavior was evaluated using the sucrose preference test, open field test, and forced swim test. Gastric retention and intestinal transit were detected using the carbon powder labeling method. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase expression in the hippocampus and ileum. High-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence and ultraviolet detection determined the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine, its precursor tryptophan, and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in the hippocampus, distal ileum, and peripheral blood. All data were analyzed using one-way analyses of variance. Three weeks after arterial occlusion, rats in the model group began to exhibit depression-like symptoms. For example, the rate of sucrose consumption was reduced, the total and central distance traveled in the open field test were reduced, and immobility time was increased, while swimming, struggling and latency to immobility were decreased in the forced swim test. Moreover, the gastric retention rate and gastrointestinal transit rate were increased in the model group. Expression of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase was increased in the hippocampus and ileum, whereas 5-hydroxytryptamine metabolism was decreased, resulting in lower 5-hydroxytryptamine and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid levels in the hippocampus and higher levels in the ileum. Depressive disorder and gastrointestinal dysfunction after myocardial infarction involve abnormal tryptophan-5-hydroxytryptamine metabolism, which may explain the somatic, cognitive

  8. Depressive disorder and gastrointestinal dysfunction after myocardial infarct are associated with abnormal tryptophan-5-hydroxytryptamine metabolism in rats.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaofang Lu

    Full Text Available In this study, we investigated the relationship between tryptophan-5-hydroxytryptamine metabolism, depressive disorder, and gastrointestinal dysfunction in rats after myocardial infarction. Our goal was to elucidate the physiopathologic bases of somatic/psychiatric depression symptoms after myocardial infarction. A myocardial infarction model was established by permanent occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Depression-like behavior was evaluated using the sucrose preference test, open field test, and forced swim test. Gastric retention and intestinal transit were detected using the carbon powder labeling method. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase expression in the hippocampus and ileum. High-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence and ultraviolet detection determined the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine, its precursor tryptophan, and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in the hippocampus, distal ileum, and peripheral blood. All data were analyzed using one-way analyses of variance. Three weeks after arterial occlusion, rats in the model group began to exhibit depression-like symptoms. For example, the rate of sucrose consumption was reduced, the total and central distance traveled in the open field test were reduced, and immobility time was increased, while swimming, struggling and latency to immobility were decreased in the forced swim test. Moreover, the gastric retention rate and gastrointestinal transit rate were increased in the model group. Expression of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase was increased in the hippocampus and ileum, whereas 5-hydroxytryptamine metabolism was decreased, resulting in lower 5-hydroxytryptamine and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid levels in the hippocampus and higher levels in the ileum. Depressive disorder and gastrointestinal dysfunction after myocardial infarction involve abnormal tryptophan-5-hydroxytryptamine metabolism, which may explain the

  9. Severity of psychosis syndrome and change of metabolic abnormality in chronic schizophrenia patients: severe negative syndrome may be related to a distinct lipid pathophysiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, S-F; Hu, T-M; Lan, T-H; Chiu, H-J; Sheen, L-Y; Loh, E-W

    2014-03-01

    Metabolic abnormality is common among schizophrenia patients. Some metabolic traits were found associated with subgroups of schizophrenia patients. We examined a possible relationship between metabolic abnormality and psychosis profile in schizophrenia patients. Three hundred and seventy-two chronic schizophrenia patients treated with antipsychotics for more than 2 years were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. A set of metabolic traits was measured at scheduled checkpoints between October 2004 and September 2006. Multiple regressions adjusted for sex showed negative correlations between body mass index (BMI) and total score and all subscales; triglycerides (TG) was negatively correlated with total score and negative syndrome, while HDLC was positively correlated with negative syndrome. When sex interaction was concerned, total score was negatively correlated with BMI but not with others; negative syndrome was negatively correlated with BMI and positively with HDLC. No metabolic traits were correlated with positive syndrome or general psychopathology. Loss of body weight is a serious health problem in schizophrenia patients with severe psychosis syndrome, especially the negative syndrome. Schizophrenia patients with severe negative syndrome may have a distinct lipid pathophysiology in comparison with those who were less severe in the domain. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  10. Metabolic complications associated with HIV protease inhibitor therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nolan, David

    2003-01-01

    HIV protease inhibitors were introduced into clinical practice over 7 years ago as an important component of combination antiretroviral drug regimens which in many ways revolutionised the treatment of HIV infection. The significant improvements in prognosis that have resulted from the use of these regimens, combined with the need for lifelong treatment, have increasingly focused attention on the adverse effects of antiretroviral drugs and on the metabolic complications of HIV protease inhibitors in particular. In this review, the cluster of metabolic abnormalities characterised by triglyceride-rich dyslipidaemia and insulin resistance associated with HIV protease inhibitor therapy are considered, along with implications for cardiovascular risk in patients affected by these complications. Toxicity profiles of individual drugs within the HIV protease inhibitor class are examined, as there is an increased recognition of significant intra-class differences both in terms of absolute risk of metabolic complications as well as the particular metabolic phenotype associated with these drugs. Guidelines for clinical assessment and treatment are emphasised, along with pathophysiological mechanisms that may provide a rational basis for the treatment of metabolic complications. Finally, these drug-specific effects are considered within the context of HIV-specific effects on lipid metabolism as well as lifestyle factors that have contributed to a rapidly increasing incidence of similar metabolic syndromes in the general population. These data highlight the importance of individualising patient management in terms of choice of antiretroviral regimen, assessment of metabolic outcomes and use of therapeutic interventions, based on the assessment of baseline (pre-treatment) metabolic status as well as the presence of potentially modifiable cardiovascular risk factors.

  11. Variants of Insulin-Signaling Inhibitor Genes in Type 2 Diabetes and Related Metabolic Abnormalities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlo de Lorenzo

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Insulin resistance has a central role in the pathogenesis of several metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, glucose intolerance, metabolic syndrome, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular diseases. Insulin resistance and related traits are likely to be caused by abnormalities in the genes encoding for proteins involved in the composite network of insulin-signaling; in this review we have focused our attention on genetic variants of insulin-signaling inhibitor molecules. These proteins interfere with different steps in insulin-signaling: ENPP1/PC-1 and the phosphatases PTP1B and PTPRF/LAR inhibit the insulin receptor activation; INPPL1/SHIP-2 hydrolyzes PI3-kinase products, hampering the phosphoinositide-mediated downstream signaling; and TRIB3 binds the serine-threonine kinase Akt, reducing its phosphorylation levels. While several variants have been described over the years for all these genes, solid evidence of an association with type 2 diabetes and related diseases seems to exist only for rs1044498 of the ENPP1 gene and for rs2295490 of the TRIB3 gene. However, overall the data recapitulated in this Review article may supply useful elements to interpret the results of novel, more technically advanced genetic studies; indeed it is becoming increasingly evident that genetic information on metabolic diseases should be interpreted taking into account the complex biological pathways underlying their pathogenesis.

  12. High-sugar intake does not exacerbate metabolic abnormalities or cardiac dysfunction in genetic cardiomyopathy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hecker, Peter A; Galvao, Tatiana F; O'Shea, Karen M; Brown, Bethany H; Henderson, Reney; Riggle, Heather; Gupte, Sachin A; Stanley, William C

    2012-05-01

    A high-sugar intake increases heart disease risk in humans. In animals, sugar intake accelerates heart failure development by increased reactive oxygen species (ROS). Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) can fuel ROS production by providing reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) for superoxide generation by NADPH oxidase. Conversely, G6PD also facilitates ROS scavenging using the glutathione pathway. We hypothesized that a high-sugar intake would increase flux through G6PD to increase myocardial NADPH and ROS and accelerate cardiac dysfunction and death. Six-week-old TO-2 hamsters, a non-hypertensive model of genetic cardiomyopathy caused by a δ-sarcoglycan mutation, were fed a long-term diet of high starch or high sugar (57% of energy from sucrose plus fructose). After 24 wk, the δ-sarcoglycan-deficient animals displayed expected decreases in survival and cardiac function associated with cardiomyopathy (ejection fraction: control 68.7 ± 4.5%, TO-2 starch 46.1 ± 3.7%, P sugar 58.0 ± 4.2%, NS, versus TO-2 starch or control; median survival: TO-2 starch 278 d, TO-2 sugar 318 d, P = 0.133). Although the high-sugar intake was expected to exacerbate cardiomyopathy, surprisingly, there was no further decrease in ejection fraction or survival with high sugar compared with starch in cardiomyopathic animals. Cardiomyopathic animals had systemic and cardiac metabolic abnormalities (increased serum lipids and glucose and decreased myocardial oxidative enzymes) that were unaffected by diet. The high-sugar intake increased myocardial superoxide, but NADPH and lipid peroxidation were unaffected. A sugar-enriched diet did not exacerbate ventricular function, metabolic abnormalities, or survival in heart failure despite an increase in superoxide production. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus and other abnormalities of carbohydrate metabolism depending on diagnostic criteria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander Vasil'evich Dreval'

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Aim. To assess current criteria for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Materials and methods. This screening study involving 2,368 residents of two municipal districts of the Moscow region was designed to elucidate differencesin the prevalence of abnormalities of carbohydrate metabolism depending on diagnostic criteria (WHO and ADA. Results. The prevalence of early disorders of carbohydrate metabolism and DM2 among the adult population of Moscow region is 17,1 and 7,2 respectivelyusing WHO criteria and 40,0 and 5,9% by ADA criteria. Conclusion. Refusal to undergo OGTT during screening decreases detectability of early metabolic disorders by 28,8 and 6,1% using WHO and ADAcriteria respectively. When screening is aimed to diagnose DM2 alone, OGTT can be omitted in subjects with fasting plasma glucose level below4,7 mmol/l. If it is aimed to diagnose both DM2 and impaired glucose tolerance, OGTT is not needed in subjects with fasting plasma glucose levelbelow 4,2 mmol/l. The use of ?combined? diagnostic criteria (i.e. OGTT according to ADA, but not WHO significantly increases the prevalence ofmetabolic disorders from 24,9 to 48,8%.

  14. Metabolic, Reproductive, and Neurologic Abnormalities in Agpat1-Null Mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agarwal, Anil K; Tunison, Katie; Dalal, Jasbir S; Nagamma, Sneha S; Hamra, F Kent; Sankella, Shireesha; Shao, Xinli; Auchus, Richard J; Garg, Abhimanyu

    2017-11-01

    Defects in the biosynthesis of phospholipids and neutral lipids are associated with cell membrane dysfunction, disrupted energy metabolism, and diseases including lipodystrophy. In these pathways, the 1-acylglycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase (AGPAT) enzymes transfer a fatty acid to the sn-2 carbon of sn-1-acylglycerol-3-phosphate (lysophosphatidic acid) to form sn-1, 2-acylglycerol-3-phosphate [phosphatidic acid (PA)]. PA is a precursor for key phospholipids and diacylglycerol. AGPAT1 and AGPAT2 are highly homologous isoenzymes that are both expressed in adipocytes. Genetic defects in AGPAT2 cause congenital generalized lipodystrophy, indicating that AGPAT1 cannot compensate for loss of AGPAT2 in adipocytes. To further explore the physiology of AGPAT1, we characterized a loss-of-function mouse model (Agpat1-/-). The majority of Agpat1-/- mice died before weaning and had low body weight and low plasma glucose levels, independent of plasma insulin and glucagon levels, with reduced percentage of body fat but not generalized lipodystrophy. These mice also had decreased hepatic messenger RNA expression of Igf-1 and Foxo1, suggesting a decrease in gluconeogenesis. In male mice, sperm development was impaired, with a late meiotic arrest near the onset of round spermatid production, and gonadotropins were elevated. Female mice showed oligoanovulation yet retained responsiveness to gonadotropins. Agpat1-/- mice also demonstrated abnormal hippocampal neuron development and developed audiogenic seizures. In summary, Agpat1-/- mice developed widespread disturbances of metabolism, sperm development, and neurologic function resulting from disrupted phospholipid homeostasis. AGPAT1 appears to serve important functions in the physiology of multiple organ systems. The Agpat1-deficient mouse provides an important model in which to study the contribution of phospholipid and triacylglycerol synthesis to physiology and diseases. Copyright © 2017 Endocrine Society.

  15. Investigation on Abnormal Iron Metabolism and Related Inflammation in Parkinson Disease Patients with Probable RBD

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Yang; Yu, Shu-Yang; Zuo, Li-Jun; Piao, Ying-Shan; Cao, Chen-Jie; Wang, Fang; Chen, Ze-Jie; Du, Yang; Lian, Teng-Hong; Liu, Gai-Fen; Wang, Ya-Jie; Chan, Piu; Chen, Sheng-Di; Wang, Xiao-Min; Zhang, Wei

    2015-01-01

    Objective To investigate potential mechanisms involving abnormal iron metabolism and related inflammation in Parkinson disease (PD) patients with probable rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (PRBD). Methods Total 210 PD patients and 31 controls were consecutively recruited. PD patients were evaluated by RBD Screening Questionnaire (RBDSQ) and classified into PRBD and probable no RBD (NPRBD) groups. Demographics information were recorded and clinical symptoms were evaluated by series of rating scales. Levels of iron and related proteins and inflammatory factors in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum were detected. Comparisons among control, NPRBD and PRBD groups and correlation analyses between RBDSQ score and levels of above factors were performed. Results (1)The frequency of PRBD in PD patients is 31.90%. (2)PRBD group has longer disease duration, more advanced disease stage, severer motor symptoms and more non-motor symptoms than NPRBD group. (3)In CSF, levels of iron, transferrin, NO and IL–1β in PRBD group are prominently increased. RBDSQ score is positively correlated with the levels of iron, transferrin, NO and IL–1β in PD group. Iron level is positively correlated with the levels of NO and IL–1β in PD group. (4)In serum, transferrin level is prominently decreased in PRBD group. PGE2 level in PRBD group is drastically enhanced. RBDSQ score exhibits a positive correlation with PGE2 level in PD group. Conclusions PRBD is common in PD patients. PRBD group has severer motor symptoms and more non-motor symptoms. Excessive iron in brain resulted from abnormal iron metabolism in central and peripheral systems is correlated with PRBD through neuroinflammation. PMID:26431210

  16. Evaluation of glucose metabolic abnormality in postlingually deaf patients using F-18-FDG positron emission tomography and statistical parametric mapping

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Jae Sung; Lee, Dong Soo; Oh, Seung Ha; Kim, Chong Sun; Park, Kwang Suk; Chung, June Key; Lee, Myung Chul [College of Medicine, Seoul National Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2000-07-01

    We have previously reported the prognostic relevance of cross-modal cortical plasticity in prelingual deaf patients revealed by F-18-FDG PET and SPM analysis. In this study, we investigated metabolic abnormality in postlingual deaf patients, whose clinical features are different from prelingual deafness. Nine postlingual deaf patients (age: 30.5 {+-}14.0) were performed on F-18-FDG brain PET. We compared their PET images with those of age-matched 20 normal controls (age: 27.1 {+-}8.6), and performed correlation analysis to investigate the relationship between glucose metabolism and deaf duration using SPM99. Glucose metabolism of deaf patients was significantly (p<0.05, corrected) decreased in both anterior cingulate, inferior frontal cortices, and superior temporal cortices, and left hippocampus. Metabolism in both superior temporal cortices and association area in inferior parietal cortices showed significant (p<0.01, uncorrected) positive correlation with deaf duration. Decreased metabolism in hippocampus accompanied with hypometabolism in auditory related areas can be explained by recent finding of anatomical connectivity between them, and may be the evidence indicating their functional connectivity. Metabolism recovery in auditory cortex after long deaf duration suggests that cortical plasticity takes place also in postlingual deafness.

  17. Evaluation of glucose metabolic abnormality in postlingually deaf patients using F-18-FDG positron emission tomography and statistical parametric mapping

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jae Sung; Lee, Dong Soo; Oh, Seung Ha; Kim, Chong Sun; Park, Kwang Suk; Chung, June Key; Lee, Myung Chul

    2000-01-01

    We have previously reported the prognostic relevance of cross-modal cortical plasticity in prelingual deaf patients revealed by F-18-FDG PET and SPM analysis. In this study, we investigated metabolic abnormality in postlingual deaf patients, whose clinical features are different from prelingual deafness. Nine postlingual deaf patients (age: 30.5 ±14.0) were performed on F-18-FDG brain PET. We compared their PET images with those of age-matched 20 normal controls (age: 27.1 ±8.6), and performed correlation analysis to investigate the relationship between glucose metabolism and deaf duration using SPM99. Glucose metabolism of deaf patients was significantly (p<0.05, corrected) decreased in both anterior cingulate, inferior frontal cortices, and superior temporal cortices, and left hippocampus. Metabolism in both superior temporal cortices and association area in inferior parietal cortices showed significant (p<0.01, uncorrected) positive correlation with deaf duration. Decreased metabolism in hippocampus accompanied with hypometabolism in auditory related areas can be explained by recent finding of anatomical connectivity between them, and may be the evidence indicating their functional connectivity. Metabolism recovery in auditory cortex after long deaf duration suggests that cortical plasticity takes place also in postlingual deafness

  18. Metabolomic changes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with abnormal Savda syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Wei-Fang; Upur, Halmurat; Wu, Yu-Hua; Mamtimin, Batur; Yang, Jian; Ga, Yong-Juan; You, Li

    2015-02-01

    The aim of this study was to determine the metabolic biomarkers for abnormal Savda syndrome in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Based on Traditional Uyghur Medicine (TUM) theory, a total of 103 patients with COPD were classified into abnormal Savda and non-abnormal Savda syndrome groups and 52 healthy volunteers acted as the control group. Blood samples from the three groups were analyzed using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy combined with orthogonal projection to latent structure-discriminant analysis. NMR tests showed that the regional distributions of the patients with COPD with abnormal Savda syndrome, those with non-abnormal Savda syndrome and the control group were completely separate (P>0.05). The patients with COPD with abnormal Savda syndrome exhibited relatively low levels of amino acids, glycoproteins and unsaturated lipids (PAbnormal Savda syndrome was one of the main types of syndrome among the patients with COPD; increased age, a longer duration of illness and a higher disease severity were characteristic of this type of syndrome. In addition, the present study provided biochemical evidence for the TUM theory-based classification of patients with COPD; these biomarkers can be used in the clinic for the diagnosis of COPD with abnormal Savda syndrome. The study also demonstrated that the plasma metabolic disorder in patients with COPD with abnormal Savda syndrome was more serious than that in the control and COPD with non-abnormal Savda syndrome groups. The plasma metabolic disorder was also associated with a low immune function of the body and endocrine and energy metabolism disorders.

  19. A Giant Ureteral Stone without Underlying Anatomic or Metabolic Abnormalities: A Case Report

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    Selcuk Sarikaya

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available A 28-year old man presented with left flank pain and dysuria. Plain abdominal film and computed tomography showed a left giant ureteral stone measuring 11.5 cm causing ureteral obstruction and other stones 2.5 cm in size in the lower pole of ipsilateral kidney and 7 mm in size in distal part of right ureter. A left ureterolithotomy was performed and then a double J stent was inserted into the ureter. The patient was discharged from the hospital 4 days postoperatively with no complications. Stone analysis was consistent with magnesium ammonium phosphate and calcium oxalate. Underlying anatomic or metabolic abnormalities were not detected. One month after surgery, right ureteral stone passed spontaneously, left renal stone moved to distal ureter, and it was removed by ureterolithotomy. Control intravenous urography and cystography demonstrated unobstructed bilateral ureter and the absence of vesicoureteral reflux.

  20. Misonidazole radiosensitization in vivo: A therapeutic gain by penicillin pretreatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sheldon, P.W.; Clarke, C.; Dawson, K.B.; Simpson, W.; Simmons, D.J.C.; Adams, G.E.

    1984-01-01

    Because intestinal microflora have the potential to metabolize nitroimidazole compounds (possibly to toxic species), the authors investigated their influence on the pharmacological, neurotoxic and radiosensitizing properties of misonidazole (MIS) in mice. This was done by comparing the responses obtained in 'normal' mice to those obtained in mice whose microflora had been depleted by pretreatment for 7-14 days with penicillin (PEN) at the rate of 0.5g/1 of drinking water. Bacteriological studies showed this treatment to C57B1 mice eliminated more than 99% of the flora from the caeca and, furthermore, this efficacy of penicillin was not interfered with by MIS administered IP at 0.3mg/g between days 7-14. This pretreatment resulted not only in the elimination of the caecal flora, but also in an increase in the pharmacokinetic exposure to MIS, an increase in Lewis lung tumour radiosensitization by MIS and a decrease in MIS-induced neurotoxicity. The authors conclude pretreatment with PEN can give a therapeutic gain with MIS radiosensitization. Further, assuming no direct interaction between the PEN and MIS, these findings indicate that the intestinal flora may produce neurotoxic species by their metabolism of MIS

  1. Correction of metabolic abnormalities in a rodent model of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes mellitus by inhibitors of hepatic protein kinase C-ι

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sajan, Mini P.; Nimal, Sonali; Mastorides, Stephen; Acevedo-Duncan, Mildred; Kahn, C. Ronald; Fields, Alan P.; Braun, Ursula; Leitges, Michael; Farese, Robert V.

    2013-01-01

    Excessive activity of hepatic atypical protein kinase (aPKC) is proposed to play a critical role in mediating lipid and carbohydrate abnormalities in obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. In previous studies of rodent models of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus, adenoviral-mediated expression of kinase-inactive aPKC rapidly reversed or markedly improved most if not all metabolic abnormalities. Here, we examined effects of 2 newly developed small-molecule PKC-ι/λ inhibitors. We used the mouse model of heterozygous muscle-specific knockout of PKC-λ, in which partial deficiency of muscle PKC-λ impairs glucose transport in muscle and thereby causes glucose intolerance and hyperinsulinemia, which, via hepatic aPKC activation, leads to abdominal obesity, hepatosteatosis, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypercholesterolemia. One inhibitor, 1H-imidazole-4-carboxamide, 5-amino-1-[2,3-dihydroxy-4-[(phosphonooxy)methyl]cyclopentyl-[1R-(1a,2b,3b,4a)], binds to the substrate-binding site of PKC-λ/ι, but not other PKCs. The other inhibitor, aurothiomalate, binds to cysteine residues in the PBl-binding domains of aPKC-λ/ι/ζ and inhibits scaffolding. Treatment with either inhibitor for 7 days inhibited aPKC, but not Akt, in liver and concomitantly improved insulin signaling to Akt and aPKC in muscle and adipocytes. Moreover, both inhibitors diminished excessive expression of hepatic, aPKC-dependent lipogenic, proinflammatory, and gluconeogenic factors; and this was accompanied by reversal or marked improvements in hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, abdominal obesity, hepatosteatosis, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypercholesterolemia. Our findings highlight the pathogenetic importance of insulin signaling to hepatic PKC-ι in obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes mellitus and suggest that 1H-imidazole-4-carboxamide, 5-amino-1-[2,3-dihydroxy-4-[(phosphonooxy)methyl]cyclopentyl-[1R-(1a,2b,3b,4a)] and aurothiomalate or similar agents that

  2. Reversible skeletal abnormalities in gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase-deficient mice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levasseur, Regis; Barrios, Roberto; Elefteriou, Florent; Glass, Donald A 2nd; Lieberman, Michael W.; Karsenty, Gerard

    2003-01-01

    Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) is a widely distributed ectopeptidase responsible for the degradation of glutathione in the gamma-glutamyl cycle. This cycle is implicated in the metabolism of cysteine, and absence of GGT causes a severe intracellular decrease in this amino acid. GGT-deficient (GGT-/-) mice have multiple metabolic abnormalities and are dwarf. We show here that this latter phenotype is due to a decreased of the growth plate cartilage total height resulting from a proliferative defect of chondrocytes. In addition, analysis of vertebrae and tibiae of GGT-/- mice revealed a severe osteopenia. Histomorphometric studies showed that this low bone mass phenotype results from an increased osteoclast number and activity as well as from a marked decrease in osteoblast activity. Interestingly, neither osteoblasts, osteoclasts, nor chondrocytes express GGT, suggesting that the observed defects are secondary to other abnormalities. N-acetylcysteine supplementation has been shown to reverse the metabolic abnormalities of the GGT-/- mice and in particular to restore the level of IGF-1 and sex steroids in these mice. Consistent with these previous observations, N-acetylcysteine treatment of GGT-/- mice ameliorates their skeletal abnormalities by normalizing chondrocytes proliferation and osteoblastic function. In contrast, resorbtion parameters are only partially normalized in GGT-/- N-acetylcysteine-treated mice, suggesting that GGT regulates osteoclast biology at least partly independently of these hormones. These results establish the importance of cysteine metabolism for the regulation of bone remodeling and longitudinal growth.

  3. Type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetic abnormalities in patients with bipolar disorders

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Leopold, Karolina; Reif, Andreas; Haack, Sarah

    2016-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Abnormalities in the glucose metabolism cause nervous and organic damage and are a cardiovascular risk factor. They could be a main cause for the increased morbidity and mortality rates found in patients with bipolar disorders. The exact prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetic...... quality were assessed. RESULTS: Diabetes mellitus was found in 7% of the patients, pre-diabetic abnormalities in 27%. The group of patients with abnormalities in the glucose metabolism had significantly lower quality of life and global functioning. Higher BMI, leptin, triglycerides and CRP levels...

  4. Metabolic Abnormalities Detected in Phase II Evaluation of Doxycycline in Dogs with Multicentric B-Cell Lymphoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hume, Kelly R; Sylvester, Skylar R; Borlle, Lucia; Balkman, Cheryl E; McCleary-Wheeler, Angela L; Pulvino, Mary; Casulo, Carla; Zhao, Jiyong

    2018-01-01

    Doxycycline has antiproliferative effects in human lymphoma cells and in murine xenografts. We hypothesized that doxycycline would decrease canine lymphoma cell viability and prospectively evaluated its clinical tolerability in client-owned dogs with spontaneous, nodal, multicentric, substage a, B-cell lymphoma, not previously treated with chemotherapy. Treatment duration ranged from 1 to 8 weeks (median and mean, 3 weeks). Dogs were treated with either 10 ( n  = 6) or 7.5 ( n  = 7) mg/kg by mouth twice daily. One dog had a stable disease for 6 weeks. No complete or partial tumor responses were observed. Five dogs developed grade 3 and/or 4 metabolic abnormalities suggestive of hepatopathy with elevations in bilirubin, ALT, ALP, and/or AST. To evaluate the absorption of oral doxycycline in our study population, serum concentrations in 10 treated dogs were determined using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Serum levels were variable and ranged from 3.6 to 16.6 µg/ml (median, 7.6 µg/ml; mean, 8.8 µg/ml). To evaluate the effect of doxycycline on canine lymphoma cell viability in vitro , trypan blue exclusion assay was performed on canine B-cell lymphoma cell lines (17-71 and CLBL) and primary B-cell lymphoma cells from the nodal tissue of four dogs. A doxycycline concentration of 6 µg/ml decreased canine lymphoma cell viability by 80%, compared to matched, untreated, control cells (mixed model analysis, p  canine lymphoma, combination therapy may be worthwhile if future research determines that doxycycline can alter cell survival pathways in canine lymphoma cells. Due to the potential for metabolic abnormalities, close monitoring is recommended with the use of this drug in tumor-bearing dogs. Additional research is needed to assess the tolerability of chronic doxycycline therapy.

  5. Combination of ensiling and fungal delignification as effective wheat straw pretreatment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thomsen, Sune T.; Londono, Jorge E. G.; Ambye-Jensen, Morten

    2016-01-01

    straw (WS). This study was undertaken to assess whether a combination of forced ensiling with Lactobacillus buchneri and WRF treatment using a low cellulase fungus, Ceriporiopsis subvermispora, could produce a relevant pretreatment effect on WS for bioethanol and biogas production. Results......: A combination of the ensiling and WRF treatment induced efficient pretreatment of WS by reducing lignin content and increasing enzymatic sugar release, thereby enabling an ethanol yield of 66 % of the theoretical max on the WS glucan, i.e. a yield comparable to yields obtained with high-tech, large......-scale pretreatment methods. The pretreatment effect was reached with only a minor total solids loss of 5 % by weight mainly caused by the fungal metabolism. The combination of the biopretreatments did not improve the methane potential of the WS, but improved the initial biogas production rate significantly...

  6. An Abnormal Nitric Oxide Metabolism Contributes to Brain Oxidative Stress in the Mouse Model for the Fragile X Syndrome, a Possible Role in Intellectual Disability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lima-Cabello, Elena; Garcia-Guirado, Francisco; Calvo-Medina, Rocio; el Bekay, Rajaa; Perez-Costillas, Lucia; Quintero-Navarro, Carolina; Sanchez-Salido, Lourdes

    2016-01-01

    Background. Fragile X syndrome is the most common genetic cause of mental disability. Although many research has been performed, the mechanism underlying the pathogenesis is unclear and needs further investigation. Oxidative stress played major roles in the syndrome. The aim was to investigate the nitric oxide metabolism, protein nitration level, the expression of NOS isoforms, and furthermore the activation of the nuclear factor NF-κB-p65 subunit in different brain areas on the fragile X mouse model. Methods. This study involved adult male Fmr1-knockout and wild-type mice as controls. We detected nitric oxide metabolism and the activation of the nuclear factor NF-κBp65 subunit, comparing the mRNA expression and protein content of the three NOS isoforms in different brain areas. Results. Fmr1-KO mice showed an abnormal nitric oxide metabolism and increased levels of protein tyrosine nitrosylation. Besides that, nuclear factor NF-κB-p65 and inducible nitric oxide synthase appeared significantly increased in the Fmr1-knockout mice. mRNA and protein levels of the neuronal nitric oxide synthase appeared significantly decreased in the knockout mice. However, the epithelial nitric oxide synthase isoform displayed no significant changes. Conclusions. These data suggest the potential involvement of an abnormal nitric oxide metabolism in the pathogenesis of the fragile X syndrome. PMID:26788253

  7. An Abnormal Nitric Oxide Metabolism Contributes to Brain Oxidative Stress in the Mouse Model for the Fragile X Syndrome, a Possible Role in Intellectual Disability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena Lima-Cabello

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. Fragile X syndrome is the most common genetic cause of mental disability. Although many research has been performed, the mechanism underlying the pathogenesis is unclear and needs further investigation. Oxidative stress played major roles in the syndrome. The aim was to investigate the nitric oxide metabolism, protein nitration level, the expression of NOS isoforms, and furthermore the activation of the nuclear factor NF-κB-p65 subunit in different brain areas on the fragile X mouse model. Methods. This study involved adult male Fmr1-knockout and wild-type mice as controls. We detected nitric oxide metabolism and the activation of the nuclear factor NF-κBp65 subunit, comparing the mRNA expression and protein content of the three NOS isoforms in different brain areas. Results. Fmr1-KO mice showed an abnormal nitric oxide metabolism and increased levels of protein tyrosine nitrosylation. Besides that, nuclear factor NF-κB-p65 and inducible nitric oxide synthase appeared significantly increased in the Fmr1-knockout mice. mRNA and protein levels of the neuronal nitric oxide synthase appeared significantly decreased in the knockout mice. However, the epithelial nitric oxide synthase isoform displayed no significant changes. Conclusions. These data suggest the potential involvement of an abnormal nitric oxide metabolism in the pathogenesis of the fragile X syndrome.

  8. NMR (1H and 13C) based signatures of abnormal choline metabolism in oral squamous cell carcinoma with no prominent Warburg effect

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bag, Swarnendu; Banerjee, Deb Ranjan; Basak, Amit; Das, Amit Kumar; Pal, Mousumi; Banerjee, Rita; Paul, Ranjan Rashmi; Chatterjee, Jyotirmoy

    2015-01-01

    At functional levels, besides genes and proteins, changes in metabolome profiles are instructive for a biological system in health and disease including malignancy. It is understood that metabolomic alterations in association with proteomic and transcriptomic aberrations are very fundamental to unravel malignant micro-ambient criticality and oral cancer is no exception. Hence deciphering intricate dimensions of oral cancer metabolism may be contributory both for integrated appreciation of its pathogenesis and to identify any critical but yet unexplored dimension of this malignancy with high mortality rate. Although several methods do exist, NMR provides higher analytical precision in identification of cancer metabolomic signature. Present study explored abnormal signatures in choline metabolism in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) using 1 H and 13 C NMR analysis of serum. It has demonstrated down-regulation of choline with concomitant up-regulation of its break-down product in the form of trimethylamine N-oxide in OSCC compared to normal counterpart. Further, no significant change in lactate profile in OSCC possibly indicated that well-known Warburg effect was not a prominent phenomenon in such malignancy. Amongst other important metabolites, malonate has shown up-regulation but D-glucose, saturated fatty acids, acetate and threonine did not show any significant change. Analyzing these metabolomic findings present study proposed trimethyl amine N-oxide and malonate as important metabolic signature for oral cancer with no prominent Warburg effect. - Highlights: • NMR ( 1 H and 13 C) study of Oral Squamous cell Carcinoma Serum. • Abnormal Choline metabolomic signatures. • Up-regulation of Trimethylamine N-oxide. • Unchanged lactate profile indicates no prominent Warburg effect. • Proposed alternative glucose metabolism path through up-regulation of malonate

  9. Attenuation of abnormalities in the lipid metabolism during experimental myocardial infarction induced by isoproterenol in rats: beneficial effect of ferulic acid and ascorbic acid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yogeeta, Surinder Kumar; Hanumantra, Rao Balaji Raghavendran; Gnanapragasam, Arunachalam; Senthilkumar, Subramanian; Subhashini, Rajakannu; Devaki, Thiruvengadam

    2006-05-01

    The present study aims at evaluating the effect of the combination of ferulic acid and ascorbic acid on isoproterenol-induced abnormalities in lipid metabolism. The rats were divided into eight groups: Control, isoproterenol, ferulic acid alone, ascorbic acid alone, ferulic acid+ascorbic acid, ferulic acid+isoproterenol, ascorbic acid+isoproterenol and ferulic acid+ascorbic acid+isoproterenol. Ferulic acid (20 mg/kg b.w.t.) and ascorbic acid (80 mg/kg b.w.t.) both alone and in combination was administered orally for 6 days and on the fifth and the sixth day, isoproterenol (150 mg/kg b.w.t.) was injected intraperitoneally to induce myocardial injury to rats. Induction of rats with isoproterenol resulted in a significant increase in the levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, free fatty acids, free and ester cholesterol in both serum and cardiac tissue. A rise in the levels of phospholipids, lipid peroxides, low density lipoprotein and very low density lipoprotein-cholesterol was also observed in the serum of isoproterenol-intoxicated rats. Further, a decrease in the level of high density lipoprotein in serum and in the phospholipid levels, in the heart of isoproterenol-intoxicated rats was observed, which was paralleled by abnormal activities of lipid metabolizing enzymes: total lipase, cholesterol ester synthase, lipoprotein lipase and lecithin: cholesterol acyl transferase. Pre-cotreatment with the combination of ferulic acid and ascorbic acid significantly attenuated these alterations and restored the levels to near normal when compared to individual treatment groups. Histopathological observations were also in correlation with the biochemical parameters. These findings indicate the synergistic protective effect of ferulic acid and ascorbic acid on isoproterenol-induced abnormalities in lipid metabolism.

  10. Unknown and abnormal accumulation in the chest in bone scintigraphy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maruyama, Toshiaki; Takeuchi, Masashi; Tokunaga, Koji; Maeda, Yoichi; Hasegawa, Kazuhiko.

    1979-01-01

    In scintigraphies of forty patients with hemiplegia following appoplexia, focal abnormal accumulations in the chest region were seen in bone scintigraphies of four patients. These hot accumulations could be neither rib fracture, rib metastases, nor abnormal calcium accumulation. A mechanism of these accumulation remains to undicided. We believe that this phenomena is related to abnormal bone metabolism in hemiplegial condition. (author)

  11. Toxic metabolic syndrome associated with HAART

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haugaard, Steen B

    2006-01-01

    (HAART) may encounter the HIV-associated lipodystrophy syndrome (HALS), which attenuates patient compliance to this treatment. HALS is characterised by impaired glucose and lipid metabolism and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. This review depicts the metabolic abnormalities associated...... with HAART by describing the key cell and organ systems that are involved, emphasising the role of insulin resistance. An opinion on the remedies available to treat the metabolic abnormalities and phenotype of HALS is provided....

  12. Mutations in THAP11 cause an inborn error of cobalamin metabolism and developmental abnormalities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quintana, Anita M; Yu, Hung-Chun; Brebner, Alison; Pupavac, Mihaela; Geiger, Elizabeth A; Watson, Abigail; Castro, Victoria L; Cheung, Warren; Chen, Shu-Huang; Watkins, David; Pastinen, Tomi; Skovby, Flemming; Appel, Bruce; Rosenblatt, David S; Shaikh, Tamim H

    2017-08-01

    CblX (MIM309541) is an X-linked recessive disorder characterized by defects in cobalamin (vitamin B12) metabolism and other developmental defects. Mutations in HCFC1, a transcriptional co-regulator which interacts with multiple transcription factors, have been associated with cblX. HCFC1 regulates cobalamin metabolism via the regulation of MMACHC expression through its interaction with THAP11, a THAP domain-containing transcription factor. The HCFC1/THAP11 complex potentially regulates genes involved in diverse cellular functions including cell cycle, proliferation, and transcription. Thus, it is likely that mutation of THAP11 also results in biochemical and other phenotypes similar to those observed in patients with cblX. We report a patient who presented with clinical and biochemical phenotypic features that overlap cblX, but who does not have any mutations in either MMACHC or HCFC1. We sequenced THAP11 by Sanger sequencing and discovered a potentially pathogenic, homozygous variant, c.240C > G (p.Phe80Leu). Functional analysis in the developing zebrafish embryo demonstrated that both THAP11 and HCFC1 regulate the proliferation and differentiation of neural precursors, suggesting important roles in normal brain development. The loss of THAP11 in zebrafish embryos results in craniofacial abnormalities including the complete loss of Meckel's cartilage, the ceratohyal, and all of the ceratobranchial cartilages. These data are consistent with our previous work that demonstrated a role for HCFC1 in vertebrate craniofacial development. High throughput RNA-sequencing analysis reveals several overlapping gene targets of HCFC1 and THAP11. Thus, both HCFC1 and THAP11 play important roles in the regulation of cobalamin metabolism as well as other pathways involved in early vertebrate development. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  13. Abnormal islet sphingolipid metabolism in type 1 diabetes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holm, Laurits J; Krogvold, Lars; Hasselby, Jane P

    2018-01-01

    AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Sphingolipids play important roles in beta cell physiology, by regulating proinsulin folding and insulin secretion and in controlling apoptosis, as studied in animal models and cell cultures. Here we investigate whether sphingolipid metabolism may contribute to the pathogenesis....... Transcriptional analysis was used to evaluate expression of sphingolipid-related genes in isolated human islets. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and a T cell proliferation assay were used to identify type 1 diabetes related polymorphisms and test how these affect cellular islet autoimmunity. Finally, we...... diabetes, which were associated with reduced expression of enzymes involved in sphingolipid metabolism. Next, we discovered eight gene polymorphisms (ORMDL3, SPHK2, B4GALNT1, SLC1A5, GALC, PPARD, PPARG and B4GALT1) involved in sphingolipid metabolism that contribute to the genetic predisposition to type 1...

  14. THE RELEVANCE OF METABOLIC PHENOTYPES OF OBESITY IN CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. I. Malyavskaya

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Rationale: The study  on  specifics of metabolic phenotypes of obesity in children and adolescents seems be highly relevant for a comprehensive assessment  of causal and  pathophysiological  roles of obesity in the  atherogenesis. Aim: To identify particulars of metabolic  phenotypes of obesity in the  population of the  school children in the  city of Arkhangelsk. Materials and methods: We examined 102 patients aged from 10 to 15 years with obesity, abdominal type (boys, 44.6%, girls, 55.4%. According to the results of a comprehensive clinical and laboratory assessments, the patients  were divided  into  the  group  of metabolically  healthy obese   (children  and  adolescents  with  obesity, but without any metabolic abnormalities and the group of metabolically unhealthy obese (having at least 1 metabolic abnormality. The list of metabolic abnormalities  included  high triglyceride levels, low levels of high density lipoprotein  cholesterol (HDL-C, high blood pressure, impaired fasting glucose, increased  C-reactive protein  levels. Results: The  group  comparison   showed  that  the  mean levels  of  all studied   parameters  of  pro-atherogenic  metabolic  abnormalities  were significantly higher  in the  patients  with  metabolically  active obesity (the mean triglyceride levels in the groups of metabolically active and metabolically healthy obesity were 1.31 vs 0.74 mmol/L, glucose levels, 4.92  vs 4.54  mmol/L,  C-reactive protein,  3.15  vs 2.30 mg/mL, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, 118.97 vs 110.23 mmHg and 72.90 vs 68.58 mmHg, respectively; p < 0.001, with the  exclusion of the   mean level of anti-atherogenic HDL-C, which was lower (1.27 vs 1.49 mmol/L; p < 0.001. Also, in addition to abdominal obesity, 21.43% of school children with metabolically active obesity had ≥ 2 atherogenic factors, as well as some pro-inflammatory abnormalities (C-reactive protein levels were

  15. Recent developments in sample preparation and data pre-treatment in metabonomics research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Ning; Song, Yi peng; Tang, Huiru; Wang, Yulan

    2016-01-01

    Metabonomics is a powerful approach for biomarker discovery and an effective tool for pinpointing endpoint metabolic effects of external stimuli, such as pathogens and disease development. Due to its wide applications, metabonomics is required to deal with various biological samples of different properties. Hence sample preparation and corresponding data pre-treatment become important factors in ensuring validity of an investigation. In this review, we summarize some recent developments in metabonomics sample preparation and data-pretreatment procedures. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Normal and abnormal lipid and lipoprotein metabolism

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2009-03-20

    Mar 20, 2009 ... This article focuses on lipid and lipoprotein metabolism and introduces a range of genetic ... spherical structures that are suspended in the plasma and whose ..... atherosclerosis. Table II suggests a simple classification of.

  17. Effect of Glycerol Pretreatment on Levoglucosan Production from Corncobs by Fast Pyrolysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liqun Jiang

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available In this manuscript, glycerol was used in corncobs’ pretreatment to promote levoglucosan production by fast pyrolysis first and then was further utilized as raw material for chemicals production by microbial fermentation. The effects of glycerol pretreatment temperatures (220–240 °C, time (0.5–3 h and solid-to-liquid ratios (5–20% were investigated. Due to the accumulation of crystalline cellulose and the removal of minerals, the levoglucosan yield was as high as 35.8% from corncobs pretreated by glycerol at 240 for 3 h with a 5% solid-to-liquid ratio, which was obviously higher than that of the control (2.2%. After glycerol pretreatment, the fermentability of the recovered glycerol remaining in the liquid stream from glycerol pretreatment was evaluated by Klebsiella pneumoniae. The results showed that the recovered glycerol had no inhibitory effect on the growth and metabolism of the microbe, which was a promising substrate for fermentation. The value-added applications of glycerol could reduce the cost of biomass pretreatment. Correspondingly, this manuscript offers a green, sustainable, efficient and economic strategy for an integrated biorefinery process.

  18. Metabolic Abnormalities Detected in Phase II Evaluation of Doxycycline in Dogs with Multicentric B-Cell Lymphoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kelly R. Hume

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Doxycycline has antiproliferative effects in human lymphoma cells and in murine xenografts. We hypothesized that doxycycline would decrease canine lymphoma cell viability and prospectively evaluated its clinical tolerability in client-owned dogs with spontaneous, nodal, multicentric, substage a, B-cell lymphoma, not previously treated with chemotherapy. Treatment duration ranged from 1 to 8 weeks (median and mean, 3 weeks. Dogs were treated with either 10 (n = 6 or 7.5 (n = 7 mg/kg by mouth twice daily. One dog had a stable disease for 6 weeks. No complete or partial tumor responses were observed. Five dogs developed grade 3 and/or 4 metabolic abnormalities suggestive of hepatopathy with elevations in bilirubin, ALT, ALP, and/or AST. To evaluate the absorption of oral doxycycline in our study population, serum concentrations in 10 treated dogs were determined using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Serum levels were variable and ranged from 3.6 to 16.6 µg/ml (median, 7.6 µg/ml; mean, 8.8 µg/ml. To evaluate the effect of doxycycline on canine lymphoma cell viability in vitro, trypan blue exclusion assay was performed on canine B-cell lymphoma cell lines (17-71 and CLBL and primary B-cell lymphoma cells from the nodal tissue of four dogs. A doxycycline concentration of 6 µg/ml decreased canine lymphoma cell viability by 80%, compared to matched, untreated, control cells (mixed model analysis, p < 0.0001; Wilcoxon signed rank test, p = 0.0313. Although the short-term administration of oral doxycycline is not associated with the remission of canine lymphoma, combination therapy may be worthwhile if future research determines that doxycycline can alter cell survival pathways in canine lymphoma cells. Due to the potential for metabolic abnormalities, close monitoring is recommended with the use of this drug in tumor-bearing dogs. Additional research is needed to assess the tolerability of chronic

  19. A community-based survey for different abnormal glucose metabolism among pregnant women in a random household study (SAUDI-DM)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Rubeaan, Khalid; Al-Manaa, Hamad A; Khoja, Tawfik A; Youssef, Amira M; Al-Sharqawi, Ahmad H; Siddiqui, Khalid; Ahmad, Najlaa A

    2014-01-01

    Objective To assess the prevalence and risk factors of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in a population known to have a high prevalence of abnormal glucose metabolism. Methods A household random population-based cross-sectional study of 13 627 women in the childbearing age, who were subjected to fasting plasma glucose if they were not known to have been diagnosed before with any type of diabetes. GDM cases were diagnosed using the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Group (IAPSG) criteria. Results The overall GDM prevalence was 36.6%, categorised into 32.4% new cases and 4.2% known cases. Another 3.6% had preconception type 1 or 2 diabetes. GDM cases were older and had a significantly higher body mass index, in addition to a higher rate of macrocosmic baby and history of GDM. Monthly income, educational level, living in urban areas and smoking were not found to be significantly different between normal and GDM cases. The most important and significant risk factors for GDM were history of GDM, macrosomic baby, obesity and age >30 years. However, hypertension, low high-density lipoprotein, family history of diabetes and increased triglycerides did not show any significant effect on GDM prevalence in this cohort. Conclusions This society is facing a real burden of abnormal glucose metabolism during pregnancy, where almost half of the pregnant women are subjected to maternal and neonatal complications. Early screening of pregnant women, especially those at a high risk for GDM, is mandatory to identify and manage those cases. PMID:25138813

  20. The influence of abnormal thyroid function on sex hormones and bone metabolism in female patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Xiaohong; Chu Shaolin; Lei Qiufang; Ye Peihong; Chai Luhua

    2001-01-01

    Objectives: To explore the influence of hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism on sex hormones and bone metabolism in female patients. Method: A single photon bone absorptiometry was used to measure calcareous bone mineral density (BMD) in 91 female patients with hyperthyroidism, and 37 female patients with hypothyroidism caused by Hashimoto's thyroiditis and 51 healthy female subjects with euthyroid. In addition the serum levels of BGP and PTH were determined by means of IRMA. Serum levels of FSH and E 2 were determined by RIA. Results: Serum levels of FSH , E 2 and BGP in hyperthyroidism group were significantly higher than those in control group. The serum levels of PTH were slightly lower than that in control group (P 2 and BGP were significantly lower than those in control group. The assessment of BMD showed that the prevalence rate of osteoporosis (OP) both in hyperthyroidism groups and in hypothyroidism groups was significantly higher than control group. The peak bone density in young and middle-aged female was decreased, and OP was more common in over 60-year-aged female with hypothyroidism. Conclusions: Female patients with abnormal thyroid function are often associated with abnormality of sex hormones. It leads to increasing the incidence of OP. The attack age of OP tends to be younger, especially aged patients with lymphocytic hypothyroidism increases more markedly. Therefore, BMD should be measured in all female patients with a variety of thyroid diseases

  1. NMR ({sup 1}H and {sup 13}C) based signatures of abnormal choline metabolism in oral squamous cell carcinoma with no prominent Warburg effect

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bag, Swarnendu, E-mail: Swarna.bag@gmail.com [School of Medical Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, 721302 West Bengal (India); Banerjee, Deb Ranjan, E-mail: debranjan2@gmail.com [Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, 721302 West Bengal (India); Basak, Amit, E-mail: absk@chem.iitkgp.ernet.in [Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, 721302 West Bengal (India); Das, Amit Kumar, E-mail: amitk@hijli.iitkgp.ernet.in [Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, 721302 West Bengal (India); Pal, Mousumi, E-mail: drmpal62@gmail.com [Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Guru Nanak Institute of Dental Sciences and Research, Kolkata, West Bengal (India); Banerjee, Rita, E-mail: ritabanerjee@outlook.com [Department of Science and Technology, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi 110016 (India); Paul, Ranjan Rashmi, E-mail: dr_rsspaul@yahoo.co.in [Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Guru Nanak Institute of Dental Sciences and Research, Kolkata, West Bengal (India); Chatterjee, Jyotirmoy, E-mail: jchatterjee.iitkgp@gmail.com [School of Medical Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, 721302 West Bengal (India)

    2015-04-17

    At functional levels, besides genes and proteins, changes in metabolome profiles are instructive for a biological system in health and disease including malignancy. It is understood that metabolomic alterations in association with proteomic and transcriptomic aberrations are very fundamental to unravel malignant micro-ambient criticality and oral cancer is no exception. Hence deciphering intricate dimensions of oral cancer metabolism may be contributory both for integrated appreciation of its pathogenesis and to identify any critical but yet unexplored dimension of this malignancy with high mortality rate. Although several methods do exist, NMR provides higher analytical precision in identification of cancer metabolomic signature. Present study explored abnormal signatures in choline metabolism in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) using {sup 1}H and {sup 13}C NMR analysis of serum. It has demonstrated down-regulation of choline with concomitant up-regulation of its break-down product in the form of trimethylamine N-oxide in OSCC compared to normal counterpart. Further, no significant change in lactate profile in OSCC possibly indicated that well-known Warburg effect was not a prominent phenomenon in such malignancy. Amongst other important metabolites, malonate has shown up-regulation but D-glucose, saturated fatty acids, acetate and threonine did not show any significant change. Analyzing these metabolomic findings present study proposed trimethyl amine N-oxide and malonate as important metabolic signature for oral cancer with no prominent Warburg effect. - Highlights: • NMR ({sup 1}H and {sup 13}C) study of Oral Squamous cell Carcinoma Serum. • Abnormal Choline metabolomic signatures. • Up-regulation of Trimethylamine N-oxide. • Unchanged lactate profile indicates no prominent Warburg effect. • Proposed alternative glucose metabolism path through up-regulation of malonate.

  2. Imaging mass spectrometry visualizes ceramides and the pathogenesis of dorfman-chanarin syndrome due to ceramide metabolic abnormality in the skin.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naoko Goto-Inoue

    Full Text Available Imaging mass spectrometry (IMS is a useful cutting edge technology used to investigate the distribution of biomolecules such as drugs and metabolites, as well as to identify molecular species in tissues and cells without labeling. To protect against excess water loss that is essential for survival in a terrestrial environment, mammalian skin possesses a competent permeability barrier in the stratum corneum (SC, the outermost layer of the epidermis. The key lipids constituting this barrier in the SC are the ceramides (Cers comprising of a heterogeneous molecular species. Alterations in Cer composition have been reported in several skin diseases that display abnormalities in the epidermal permeability barrier function. Not only the amounts of different Cers, but also their localizations are critical for the barrier function. We have employed our new imaging system, capable of high-lateral-resolution IMS with an atmospheric-pressure ionization source, to directly visualize the distribution of Cers. Moreover, we show an ichthyotic disease pathogenesis due to abnormal Cer metabolism in Dorfman-Chanarin syndrome, a neutral lipid storage disorder with ichthyosis in human skin, demonstrating that IMS is a novel diagnostic approach for assessing lipid abnormalities in clinical setting, as well as for investigating physiological roles of lipids in cells/tissues.

  3. Metabolic changes in cancer: beyond the Warburg effect

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Weihua Wu; Shimin Zhao

    2013-01-01

    Altered metabolism is one of the hallmarks of cancer cells.The best-known metabolic abnormality in cancer cells is the Warburg effect,which demonstrates an increased glycolysis even in the presence of oxygen.However,tumor-related metabolic abnormalities are not limited to altered balance between glucose fermentation and oxidative phosphorylation.Key tumor genes such as p53 and c-myc are found to be master regulators of metabolism.Metabolic enzymes such as succinate dehydrogenase,fumarate hydratase,pyruvate kinase,and isocitrate dehydrogenase mutations or expressing level alterations are all linked to tumorigenesis.In this review,we introduce some of the cancer-associated metabolic disorders and current understanding of their molecular tumorigenic mechanisms.

  4. Electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy without echocardiographic abnormalities evaluated by myocardial perfusion and fatty acid metabolic imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Narita, Michihiro; Kurihara, Tadashi

    2000-01-01

    The pathophysiologic process in patients with electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy with ST, T changes but without echocardiographic abnormalities was investigated by myocardial perfusion imaging and fatty acid metabolic imaging. Exercise stress 99m Tc-methoxy-isobutyl isonitrile (MIBI) imaging and rest 123 I-beta-methyl-p-iodophenyl pentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) imaging were performed in 59 patients with electrocardiographic hypertrophy including 29 without apparent cause including hypertension and echocardiographic hypertrophy, and 30 with essential hypertension. Coronary angiography was performed in 6 patients without hypertension and 4 with hypertension and biopsy specimens were obtained from the left ventricular apex from 6 patients without hypertension. Myocardial perfusion and 123 I-BMIPP images were classified into 3 types: normal, increased accumulation of the isotope at the left ventricular apex (high uptake) and defect. Transient perfusion abnormality and apical defect observed by 123 I-BMIPP imaging were more frequent in patients without hypertension than in patients with hypertension (32% vs. 17%, p=0.04671 in perfusion; 62% vs. 30%, p=0.0236 in 123 I-BMIPP). Eighteen normotensive patients with apical defect by 123 I-BMIPP imaging included 3 of 10 patients with normal perfusion at exercise, 6 of 10 patients with high uptake and 9 of 9 patients with perfusion defect. The defect size revealed by 123 I-BMIPP imaging was greater than that of the perfusion abnormality. Coronary stenoses were not observed and myocardial specimens showed myocardial disarray with hypertrophy. Moreover, 9 patients with hypertension and apical defects by 123 I-BMIPP showed 3 different types of perfusion. Many patients without hypertension show a pathologic process similar to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Perfusion and 123 I-BMIPP imaging are useful for the identification of these patients. (author)

  5. Evaluation of tributyltin toxicity in Chinese rare minnow larvae by abnormal behavior, energy metabolism and endoplasmic reticulum stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Zhi-Hua; Li, Ping

    2015-02-05

    Tributyltin (TBT) is a ubiquitous contaminant in aquatic environment, but the detailed mechanisms underlying the toxicity of TBT have not been fully understood. In this study, the effects of TBT on behavior, energy metabolism and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress were investigated by using Chinese rare minnow larvae. Fish larvae were exposed at sublethal concentrations of TBT (100, 400 and 800 ng/L) for 7 days. Compared with the control, energy metabolic parameters (RNA/DNA ratio, Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase) were significantly inhibited in fish exposed at highest concentration (800 ng/L), as well as abnormal behaviors observed. Moreover, we found that the PERK (PKR-like ER kinase)-eIF2α (eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α) pathway, as the main branch was activated by TBT exposure in fish larvae. In short, TBT-induced physiological, biochemical and molecular responses in fish larvae were reflected in parameters measured in this study, which suggest that these biomarkers could be used as potential indicators for monitoring organotin compounds present in aquatic environment. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Metabolic profile at first-time schizophrenia diagnosis: a population-based cross-sectional study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Horsdal HT

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Henriette Thisted Horsdal,1,2 Michael Eriksen Benros,2,3 Ole Köhler-Forsberg,2–4 Jesper Krogh,3 Christiane Gasse1,2,5 1National Centre for Register-based Research, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus BSS, Aarhus University, Aarhus, 2The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Aarhus, 3Faculty of Health Sciences, Mental Health Centre Copenhagen, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, 4Psychosis Research Unit, Aarhus University Hospital, Risskov, 5Centre for Integrated Register-Based Research, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark Objective: Schizophrenia and/or antipsychotic drug use are associated with metabolic abnormalities; however, knowledge regarding metabolic status and physician’s monitoring of metabolic status at first schizophrenia diagnosis is sparse. We assessed the prevalence of monitoring for metabolic blood abnormalities and characterized the metabolic profiles in people with a first-time schizophrenia diagnosis. Methods: This is a population-based cross-sectional study including all adults born in Denmark after January 1, 1955, with their first schizophrenia diagnosis between 2000 and 2012 in the Central Denmark Region. Information on metabolic parameters was obtained from a clinical laboratory information system. Associations were calculated using Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, chi-square tests, logistic regression, and Spearman’s correlation coefficients. Results: A total of 2,452 people with a first-time schizophrenia diagnosis were identified, of whom 1,040 (42.4% were monitored for metabolic abnormalities. Among those monitored, 58.4% had an abnormal lipid profile and 13.8% had an abnormal glucose profile. People who had previously filled prescription(s for antipsychotic drugs were more likely to present an abnormal lipid measure (65.7% vs 46.8%, P<0.001 and abnormal glucose profile (16.4% vs 10.1%, P=0.01. Conclusion: Metabolic abnormalities are common at first

  7. Lack of significant metabolic abnormalities in mice with liver-specific disruption of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Lavery, Gareth G

    2012-07-01

    Glucocorticoids (GC) are implicated in the development of metabolic syndrome, and patients with GC excess share many clinical features, such as central obesity and glucose intolerance. In patients with obesity or type 2 diabetes, systemic GC concentrations seem to be invariably normal. Tissue GC concentrations determined by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and local cortisol (corticosterone in mice) regeneration from cortisone (11-dehydrocorticosterone in mice) by the 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) enzyme, principally expressed in the liver. Transgenic mice have demonstrated the importance of 11β-HSD1 in mediating aspects of the metabolic syndrome, as well as HPA axis control. In order to address the primacy of hepatic 11β-HSD1 in regulating metabolism and the HPA axis, we have generated liver-specific 11β-HSD1 knockout (LKO) mice, assessed biomarkers of GC metabolism, and examined responses to high-fat feeding. LKO mice were able to regenerate cortisol from cortisone to 40% of control and had no discernible difference in a urinary metabolite marker of 11β-HSD1 activity. Although circulating corticosterone was unaltered, adrenal size was increased, indicative of chronic HPA stimulation. There was a mild improvement in glucose tolerance but with insulin sensitivity largely unaffected. Adiposity and body weight were unaffected as were aspects of hepatic lipid homeostasis, triglyceride accumulation, and serum lipids. Additionally, no changes in the expression of genes involved in glucose or lipid homeostasis were observed. Liver-specific deletion of 11β-HSD1 reduces corticosterone regeneration and may be important for setting aspects of HPA axis tone, without impacting upon urinary steroid metabolite profile. These discordant data have significant implications for the use of these biomarkers of 11β-HSD1 activity in clinical studies. The paucity of metabolic abnormalities in LKO points to important compensatory effects by HPA

  8. Optimizing on-farm pretreatment of perennial grasses for fuel ethanol production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Digman, Matthew F; Shinners, Kevin J; Casler, Michael D; Dien, Bruce S; Hatfield, Ronald D; Jung, Hans-Joachim G; Muck, Richard E; Weimer, Paul J

    2010-07-01

    Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) were pretreated under ambient temperature and pressure with sulfuric acid and calcium hydroxide in separate experiments. Chemical loadings from 0 to 100g (kg DM)(-1) and durations of anaerobic storage from 0 to 180days were investigated by way of a central composite design at two moisture contents (40% or 60% w.b.). Pretreated and untreated samples were fermented to ethanol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae D5A in the presence of a commercially available cellulase (Celluclast 1.5L) and beta-glucosidase (Novozyme 188). Xylose levels were also measured following fermentation because xylose is not metabolized by S. cerevisiae. After sulfuric acid pretreatment and anaerobic storage, conversion of cell wall glucose to ethanol for reed canarygrass ranged from 22% to 83% whereas switchgrass conversions ranged from 16% to 46%. Pretreatment duration had a positive effect on conversion but was mitigated with increased chemical loadings. Conversions after calcium hydroxide pretreatment and anaerobic storage ranged from 21% to 55% and 18% to 54% for reed canarygrass and switchgrass, respectively. The efficacy of lime pretreatment was found to be highly dependent on moisture content. Moreover, pretreatment duration was only found to be significant for reed canarygrass. Although significant levels of acetate and lactate were observed in the biomass after storage, S. cerevisiae was not found to be inhibited at a 10% solids loading. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Cerebral FDG-PET scanning abnormalities in optimally treated HIV patients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Ase B; Law, Ian; Krabbe, Karen S

    2010-01-01

    with no history of virological failure, a CD4 count above 200 x 106 cells/l and no other co-morbidities. The distribution of the regional cerebral metabolic rate of glucose metabolism was measured using fluorine-18-flourodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scanning. The PET scans were evaluated...... in the relative metabolic rate of glucose. Compared to healthy subjects, the patients with abnormal FDG-PET scanning results had a shorter history of known HIV infection, fewer years on antiretroviral therapy and higher levels of circulating TNF alpha and IL-6 (p = 0.08). CONCLUSION: A large proportion...... of optimally treated HIV patients exhibit cerebral FDG-PET scanning abnormalities and elevated TNF alpha and IL-6 levels, which may indicate imminent neuronal damage. The neuroprotective effect of early ARV treatment should be considered in future prospective follow-up studies....

  10. Unsuspected glucose abnormalities in patients with coronary artery ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    HbA1c), the American Diabetic Association (ADA) score and measures of the metabolic syndrome (waist circumference, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and triglycerides) in predicting an initial diagnosis of diabetes mellitus or abnormal ...

  11. Prevention of Fetal Congenital Malformations with Allowance for the Pharmacogenetic Features of the Metabolism of Antiepileptic Drugs and Hereditary Abnormalities in the Folate Cycle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. V. Dmitrenko

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Fetal congenital malformations are among the most dangerous complications of pregnancy in women with epilepsy taking antiepileptic drugs. Valproic acid and phenobarbital have the greatest risk of teratogenic effects. Insights into the current mechanisms of teratogenic effect of antiepileptic drugs, pharmacogenetic features of the metabolism of valproates and hereditary abnormalities in the folate cycle enables prevention of fetal congenital malformations. 

  12. Sex-related effects of imidacloprid modulated by piperonyl butoxide and menadione in rats. Part II: genotoxic and cytotoxic potential.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arslan, Mehmet; Sevgiler, Yusuf; Buyukleyla, Mehmet; Yardimci, Mustafa; Yilmaz, Mehmet; Rencuzogullari, Eyyup

    2016-01-01

    Despite its intended use, imidacloprid causes genotoxic and cytotoxic effects in mammals, especially in the presence of metabolic activation systems. The aim of this study was to determine to which extent these effects are sex related and how its metabolism modulators piperonyl butoxide and menadione affect its toxicity. Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with the intraperitoneal LD50 dose of imidacloprid alone (170 mg/kg) or pretreated with piperonyl butoxide (100 mg/kg) and menadione (25 mg/kg) for 12 and 24 h. Structural chromosome aberrations, abnormal cells and mitotic index were determined microscopically in bone marrow cells. Male rats showed susceptibility to the genotoxic effects of imidacloprid. Piperonyl butoxide was effective in countering this effect only at 24 h, whereas menadione exacerbated imidacloprid-induced genotoxicity. Piperonyl butoxide and menadione pretreatments increased the percentage of structural chromosome aberrations and abnormal cells in females. Imidacloprid decreased the mitotic index, whereas pretreatment with piperonyl butoxide and menadione showed improvement in both sexes. We believe that CYP450-mediated metabolism of imidacloprid is under the hormonal control and therefore that its genotoxicity is sex related. Piperonyl butoxide pretreatment also showed sex-related modulation. The hormonal effects on imidacloprid biotransformation require further investigation.

  13. A comparison of extension and severity of perfusion, glucose metabolism and wall motion abnormalities in recent myocardial infarction on patients with and without revascularization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gonzalez, P.; Massardo, T.; Coll, C.; Redondo, F.; Jofre, J.; Redondo, F.; Sierralta, P.; Humeres, P.; Yovanovich, J.; Chamorro, H.

    2002-01-01

    Aim: To compare the extension and severity in perfusion, glucose metabolism and contractility abnormalities in recent myocardial infarction, assessed by different imaging modalities, and to evaluate these functional parameters in patients with and without revascularization (REV). Materials and methods: We assessed 49 patients with a first MI (58 ±12 years; 82 % males) using 1) [Tl201] rest SPECT, 2) [Tl201] redistribution (red) SPECT, 3) [F18]FDG SPECT and 4) 2D echocardiograms at a mean of 9.2 days, range: 1-24; 29 (59%) patients had been REV by means of PTCA or CABG and 20 (41%) underwent only medical therapy. All had angiogram. Images were analyzed blindly, employing the same polar map which included 17 segments in the four sets of studies. Both, the number of segments involved and their severity (normal, mild, moderate or markedly abnormal) using a semiquantitative score from 1 to 4 were tabulated. Results: In the total group (n=833 segments), the abnormal segments in echo were 302 (36%), in Tl rest 231 (28%), in Tl red 223 (26%) and in FDG 202 (24%), (p<0.001 echo vs all other). Regarding severity score, the median (s.d.) values were: 2.6 (0.5); 2.9 (0.9); 2.8 (1.2) and 2.9 (1.2), respectively (p<0.01 echo vs all other). In REV patients (n=493), the lesion size was 154 segments (31%), 116 (23%), 112 (23%) and 100 (20%), respectively. In those without REV (n=340) the number of abnormal segments were 148 (44%), 115 (34%), 111 (33%) and 102 (30%) respectively (p<0.004, REV vs no REV). McNemar, Student t tests were used in the comparisons. Conclusion: In recent MI, echo abnormalities were bigger in size (up to 13%) than the perfusion and metabolic defects, but less severe (down to 10%) compared to radionuclide procedures, possibly due to stunning. Non REV patients presented with greater extension (up to 11%) and more severity (up to 22%) than REV ones in any of the imaging modalities, explained by therapy effect. Both, echo and radionuclide techniques appear

  14. A comparison of extension and severity of perfusion, glucose metabolism and wall motion abnormalities in recent myocardial infarction on patients with and without revascularization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gonzalez, P [Department of Nuclear Medicine of the University of Chile Clinical Hospital (Chile); Department of Nuclear Medicine of Santa Maria Clinic (Chile); Massardo, T; Coll, C; Redondo, F; Jofre, J; Sierralta, P [Department of Nuclear Medicine of the University of Chile Clinical Hospital (Chile); Humeres, P [Department of Nuclear Medicine of Santa Maria Clinic (Chile); Yovanovich, J [Cardiovascular Center of the University of Chile Clinical Hospital (Chile); Chamorro, H [Cardiovascular Center of Santa Maria Clinic, Santiago (Chile)

    2002-09-01

    Aim: To compare the extension and severity in perfusion, glucose metabolism and contractility abnormalities in recent myocardial infarction, assessed by different imaging modalities, and to evaluate these functional parameters in patients with and without revascularization (REV). Materials and methods: We assessed 49 patients with a first MI (58 {+-}12 years; 82 % males) using 1) [Tl201] rest SPECT, 2) [Tl201] redistribution (red) SPECT, 3) [F18]FDG SPECT and 4) 2D echocardiograms at a mean of 9.2 days, range: 1-24; 29 (59%) patients had been REV by means of PTCA or CABG and 20 (41%) underwent only medical therapy. All had angiogram. Images were analyzed blindly, employing the same polar map which included 17 segments in the four sets of studies. Both, the number of segments involved and their severity (normal, mild, moderate or markedly abnormal) using a semiquantitative score from 1 to 4 were tabulated. Results: In the total group (n=833 segments), the abnormal segments in echo were 302 (36%), in Tl rest 231 (28%), in Tl red 223 (26%) and in FDG 202 (24%), (p<0.001 echo vs all other). Regarding severity score, the median (s.d.) values were: 2.6 (0.5); 2.9 (0.9); 2.8 (1.2) and 2.9 (1.2), respectively (p<0.01 echo vs all other). In REV patients (n=493), the lesion size was 154 segments (31%), 116 (23%), 112 (23%) and 100 (20%), respectively. In those without REV (n=340) the number of abnormal segments were 148 (44%), 115 (34%), 111 (33%) and 102 (30%) respectively (p<0.004, REV vs no REV). McNemar, Student t tests were used in the comparisons. Conclusion: In recent MI, echo abnormalities were bigger in size (up to 13%) than the perfusion and metabolic defects, but less severe (down to 10%) compared to radionuclide procedures, possibly due to stunning. Non REV patients presented with greater extension (up to 11%) and more severity (up to 22%) than REV ones in any of the imaging modalities, explained by therapy effect. Both, echo and radionuclide techniques appear

  15. Reduced thalamic volume in preterm infants is associated with abnormal white matter metabolism independent of injury

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wisnowski, Jessica L.; Ceschin, Rafael C.; Choi, So Young; Schmithorst, Vincent J.; Painter, Michael J.; Nelson, Marvin D.; Blueml, Stefan; Panigrahy, Ashok

    2015-01-01

    Altered thalamocortical development is hypothesized to be a key substrate underlying neurodevelopmental disabilities in preterm infants. However, the pathogenesis of this abnormality is not well-understood. We combined magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the parietal white matter and morphometric analyses of the thalamus to investigate the association between white matter metabolism and thalamic volume and tested the hypothesis that thalamic volume would be associated with diminished N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), a measure of neuronal/axonal maturation, independent of white matter injury. Data from 106 preterm infants (mean gestational age at birth: 31.0 weeks ± 4.3; range 23-36 weeks) who underwent MR examinations under clinical indications were included in this study. Linear regression analyses demonstrated a significant association between parietal white matter NAA concentration and thalamic volume. This effect was above and beyond the effect of white matter injury and age at MRI and remained significant even when preterm infants with punctate white matter lesions (pWMLs) were excluded from the analysis. Furthermore, choline, and among the preterm infants without pWMLs, lactate concentrations were also associated with thalamic volume. Of note, the associations between NAA and choline concentration and thalamic volume remained significant even when the sample was restricted to neonates who were term-equivalent age or older. These observations provide convergent evidence of a neuroimaging phenotype characterized by widespread abnormal thalamocortical development and suggest that the pathogenesis may involve impaired axonal maturation. (orig.)

  16. Reduced thalamic volume in preterm infants is associated with abnormal white matter metabolism independent of injury

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wisnowski, Jessica L. [Children' s Hospital Los Angeles, Department of Radiology, Los Angeles, CA (United States); University of Pittsburgh, Department of Pediatric Radiology, Children' s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA (United States); University of Southern California, Brain and Creativity Institute, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Ceschin, Rafael C. [University of Pittsburgh, Department of Pediatric Radiology, Children' s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA (United States); University of Pittsburgh, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Choi, So Young [University of Southern California, Brain and Creativity Institute, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Schmithorst, Vincent J. [University of Pittsburgh, Department of Pediatric Radiology, Children' s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Painter, Michael J. [University of Pittsburgh, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neurology, Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Nelson, Marvin D. [Children' s Hospital Los Angeles, Department of Radiology, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Blueml, Stefan [Children' s Hospital Los Angeles, Department of Radiology, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Rudi Schulte Research Institute, Santa Barbara, CA (United States); Panigrahy, Ashok [Children' s Hospital Los Angeles, Department of Radiology, Los Angeles, CA (United States); University of Pittsburgh, Department of Pediatric Radiology, Children' s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

    2015-05-01

    Altered thalamocortical development is hypothesized to be a key substrate underlying neurodevelopmental disabilities in preterm infants. However, the pathogenesis of this abnormality is not well-understood. We combined magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the parietal white matter and morphometric analyses of the thalamus to investigate the association between white matter metabolism and thalamic volume and tested the hypothesis that thalamic volume would be associated with diminished N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), a measure of neuronal/axonal maturation, independent of white matter injury. Data from 106 preterm infants (mean gestational age at birth: 31.0 weeks ± 4.3; range 23-36 weeks) who underwent MR examinations under clinical indications were included in this study. Linear regression analyses demonstrated a significant association between parietal white matter NAA concentration and thalamic volume. This effect was above and beyond the effect of white matter injury and age at MRI and remained significant even when preterm infants with punctate white matter lesions (pWMLs) were excluded from the analysis. Furthermore, choline, and among the preterm infants without pWMLs, lactate concentrations were also associated with thalamic volume. Of note, the associations between NAA and choline concentration and thalamic volume remained significant even when the sample was restricted to neonates who were term-equivalent age or older. These observations provide convergent evidence of a neuroimaging phenotype characterized by widespread abnormal thalamocortical development and suggest that the pathogenesis may involve impaired axonal maturation. (orig.)

  17. Cerebral glucose metabolic abnormality in patients with congenital scoliosis

    OpenAIRE

    Park, Weon Wook; Suh, Kuen Tak; Kim, Jeung Il; Ku, Ja Gyung; Lee, Hong Seok; Kim, Seong-Jang; Kim, In-Ju; Kim, Yong-Ki; Lee, Jung Sub

    2008-01-01

    A possible association between congenital scoliosis and low mental status has been recognized, but there are no reports describing the mental status or cerebral metabolism in patients with congenital scoliosis in detail. We investigated the mental status using a mini-mental status exam as well as the cerebral glucose metabolism using F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose brain positron emission tomography in 12 patients with congenital scoliosis and compared them with those of 14 age-matched patients with ...

  18. Metabolism and binding to DNA of a novel hepatocarcinogen: methapyrilene

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lampe, M.A.

    1987-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to characterize the metabolism and macromolecular binding of [ 14 C]-MPH. When rats were treated for up to sixteen weeks with 1000 ppm MPH, they excreted at least six MPH related compounds in their urine including 2-hydroxymethyl-thiophene, N-2-pyridyl-N'-dimethylethylenediamine, (5-hydroxypyridyl)methapyrilene, (5-hydroxypyridyl)N-2-pyridyl-N'-dimethylethylenediamine and MPH. In vitro metabolism is also affected by chronic treatment of rats with MPH, with the most remarkable change observed being an increase in the mass balance to approximately 100% after 8 or 16 weeks pretreatment. Metabolism of MPH by rat liver microsomes is dependent on the activity of cytochrome P-450 enzymes, as metabolism in vitro was inhibited by the addition 2,4-dichloro-6-phenylphenoxyethylamine (DPEA) and 2-diethylaminoethyl-2,2-diphenylvalerate (SKF-525A). Treatment of rats with phenobarbital or 3-methylcholanthrene induced metabolism of MPH while pretreatment of rats with isosafole or pregnenolone-16α-carbonitrile had a more selective effect on MPH metabolism, and only increased the formation of methapyrilene-amide

  19. Ophthalmologic Findings in Patients with Neuro-metabolic Disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jafari, Narjes; Golnik, Karl; Shahriari, Mansoor; Karimzadeh, Parvaneh; Jabbehdari, Sayena

    2018-01-01

    We aimed to present the ophthalmic manifestations of neuro-metabolic disorders. Patients who were diagnosed with neuro-metabolic disorders in the Neurology Department of Mofid Pediatric Hospital in Tehran, Iran, between 2004 and 2014 were included in this study. Disorders were confirmed using clinical findings, neuroimaging, laboratory data, and genomic analyses. All enrolled patients were assessed for ophthalmological abnormalities. A total of 213 patients with 34 different neuro-metabolic disorders were included. Ophthalmological abnormalities were observed in 33.5% of patients. Abnormal findings in the anterior segment included Kayser-Fleischer rings, congenital or secondary cataracts, and lens dislocation into the anterior chamber. Posterior segment (i.e., retina, vitreous body, and optic nerve) evaluation revealed retinitis pigmentosa, cherry-red spots, and optic atrophy. In addition, strabismus, nystagmus, and lack of fixation were noted during external examination. Ophthalmological examination and assessment is essential in patients that may exhibit neuro-metabolic disorders.

  20. Hepatic metabolism of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in the rat and guinea pig

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wroblewski, V.J.; Olson, J.R.

    1985-01-01

    Marked interspecies variability exists in the acute toxicity of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), with the rat having an LD 50 about 25-fold greater than the guinea pig. The metabolism of TCDD was examined by incubating hepatocytes isolated from these animals with purified [ 14 C]TCDD (2.2 microM) for 8 hr. Over the 8-hr incubation, cytochrome P-450 content and ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase and benzphetamine N-demethylase activities were well maintained, indicating the functional viability of the hepatocytes. Quantitative differences were observed in the rate of [ 14 C]TCDD metabolism, with hepatocytes from control rats metabolizing TCDD at a rate 2.8-fold greater than hepatocytes from control guinea pigs. The role of the hepatic cytochrome P-450-448-dependent monooxygenase system in the metabolism of TCDD was examined through the use of hepatocytes isolated from animals pretreated with either TCDD or phenobarbital. The rate of [ 14 C]TCDD metabolite formation in hepatocytes from TCDD pretreated guinea pigs (0.26 +/- 0.14 pmol mg cell protein-1 hr-1) was unchanged from the control rate, while the rate in hepatocytes from TCDD pretreated rats was 3.2-fold greater than control and nine times greater than in hepatocytes from TCDD-pretreated guinea pigs. On the other hand, phenobarbital pretreatment produced little change in the rate of [ 14 C]TCDD metabolism in rat hepatocytes. These results suggest that TCDD may be metabolized by a TCDD inducible form of cytochrome P-448 which is expressed in the rat but not in the guinea pig

  1. Endocrine Abnormalities in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuczera, Piotr; Adamczak, Marcin; Wiecek, Andrzej

    2015-01-01

    In patients with chronic kidney disease the alterations of the endocrine system may arise from several causes. The kidney is the site of degradation as well as synthesis of many different hormones. Moreover, a number of concomitant pathological conditions such as inflammation, metabolic acidosis and malnutrition may participate in the pathogenesis of endocrine abnormalities in this group of patients. The most pronounced endocrine abnormalities in patients with chronic kidney disease are the deficiencies of: calcitriol, testosterone, insulin-like growth factor and, erythropoietin (EPO). Additionally accumulation of several hormones, such as: prolactin, growth hormone and insulin frequently also occur. The clinical consequences of the abovementioned endocrine abnormalities are among others: anemia, infertility and bone diseases.

  2. Mice lacking NKT cells but with a complete complement of CD8+ T-cells are not protected against the metabolic abnormalities of diet-induced obesity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benjamin S Mantell

    Full Text Available The contribution of natural killer T (NKT cells to the pathogenesis of metabolic abnormalities of obesity is controversial. While the combined genetic deletion of NKT and CD8(+ T-cells improves glucose tolerance and reduces inflammation, interpretation of these data have been complicated by the recent observation that the deletion of CD8(+ T-cells alone reduces obesity-induced inflammation and metabolic dysregulation, leaving the issue of the metabolic effects of NKT cell depletion unresolved. To address this question, CD1d null mice (CD1d(-/-, which lack NKT cells but have a full complement of CD8(+ T-cells, and littermate wild type controls (WT on a pure C57BL/6J background were exposed to a high fat diet, and glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, inflammation, and obesity were assessed. Food intake (15.5±4.3 vs 15.3±1.8 kcal/mouse/day, weight gain (21.8±1.8 vs 22.8±1.4 g and fat mass (18.6±1.9 vs 19.5±2.1 g were similar in CD1d(-/- and WT, respectively. As would be expected from these data, metabolic rate (3.0±0.1 vs 2.9±0.2 ml O(2/g/h and activity (21.6±4.3 vs 18.5±2.6 beam breaks/min were unchanged by NKT cell depletion. Furthermore, the degree of insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, liver steatosis, and adipose and liver inflammatory marker expression (TNFα, IL-6, IL-10, IFN-γ, MCP-1, MIP1α induced by high fat feeding in CD1d(-/- were not different from WT. We conclude that deletion of NKT cells, in the absence of alterations in the CD8(+ T-cell population, is insufficient to protect against the development of the metabolic abnormalities of diet-induced obesity.

  3. Biomass pretreatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hennessey, Susan Marie; Friend, Julie; Elander, Richard T; Tucker, III, Melvin P

    2013-05-21

    A method is provided for producing an improved pretreated biomass product for use in saccharification followed by fermentation to produce a target chemical that includes removal of saccharification and or fermentation inhibitors from the pretreated biomass product. Specifically, the pretreated biomass product derived from using the present method has fewer inhibitors of saccharification and/or fermentation without a loss in sugar content.

  4. R6/2 Huntington's disease mice develop early and progressive abnormal brain metabolism and seizures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cepeda-Prado, Efrain; Popp, Susanna; Khan, Usman; Stefanov, Dimitre; Rodríguez, Jorge; Menalled, Liliana B; Dow-Edwards, Diana; Small, Scott A; Moreno, Herman

    2012-05-09

    A hallmark feature of Huntington's disease pathology is the atrophy of brain regions including, but not limited to, the striatum. Though MRI studies have identified structural CNS changes in several Huntington's disease (HD) mouse models, the functional consequences of HD pathology during the progression of the disease have yet to be investigated using in vivo functional MRI (fMRI). To address this issue, we first established the structural and functional MRI phenotype of juvenile HD mouse model R6/2 at early and advanced stages of disease. Significantly higher fMRI signals [relative cerebral blood volumes (rCBVs)] and atrophy were observed in both age groups in specific brain regions. Next, fMRI results were correlated with electrophysiological analysis, which showed abnormal increases in neuronal activity in affected brain regions, thus identifying a mechanism accounting for the abnormal fMRI findings. [(14)C] 2-deoxyglucose maps to investigate patterns of glucose utilization were also generated. An interesting mismatch between increases in rCBV and decreases in glucose uptake was observed. Finally, we evaluated the sensitivity of this mouse line to audiogenic seizures early in the disease course. We found that R6/2 mice had an increased susceptibility to develop seizures. Together, these findings identified seizure activity in R6/2 mice and show that neuroimaging measures sensitive to oxygen metabolism can be used as in vivo biomarkers, preceding the onset of an overt behavioral phenotype. Since fMRI-rCBV can also be obtained in patients, we propose that it may serve as a translational tool to evaluate therapeutic responses in humans and HD mouse models.

  5. Cognition and brain abnormalities on MRI in pituitary patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brummelman, Pauline; Sattler, Margriet G.A.; Meiners, Linda C.; Berg, Gerrit van den; Klauw, Melanie M. van der; Elderson, Martin F.; Dullaart, Robin P.F.; Koerts, Janneke; Werumeus Buning, Jorien; Tucha, Oliver; Wolffenbuttel, Bruce H.R.; Bergh, Alfons C.M. van den; Beek, André P. van

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Cognitive impairments are frequently observed in treated NFA patients. • NFA patients with cognitive impairments do not show brain abnormalities on MRI more frequently than patients without cognitive impairments. • The absence of brain abnormalities on brain MRI does not exclude impairments of cognition. - Abstract: Purpose: The extent to which cognitive dysfunction is related to specific brain abnormalities in patients treated for pituitary macroadenoma is unclear. Therefore, we compared brain abnormalities seen on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in patients treated for nonfunctioning pituitary macroadenoma (NFA) with or without impairments in cognitive functioning. Methods: In this cross-sectional design, a cohort of 43 NFA patients was studied at the University Medical Center Groningen. White matter lesions (WMLs), cerebral atrophy, (silent) brain infarcts and abnormalities of the temporal lobes and hippocampi were assessed on pre-treatment and post-treatment MRI scans. Post-treatment cognitive examinations were performed using a verbal memory and executive functioning test. We compared our patient cohort with large reference populations representative of the Dutch population. Results: One or more impairments on both cognitive tests were frequently observed in treated NFA patients. No treatment effects were found with regard to the comparison between patients with and without impairments in executive functioning. Interestingly, in patients with one or more impairments on verbal memory function, treatment with radiotherapy had been given more frequently (74% in the impaired group versus 40% in the unimpaired group, P = 0.025). Patients with or without any brain abnormality on MRI did not differ in verbal memory or executive functioning. Conclusions: Brain abnormalities on MRI are not observed more frequently in treated NFA patients with impairments compared to NFA patients without impairments in verbal memory or executive functioning

  6. Cognition and brain abnormalities on MRI in pituitary patients

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brummelman, Pauline [Department of Endocrinology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen (Netherlands); Sattler, Margriet G.A. [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen (Netherlands); Department of Radiation Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute – Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Meiners, Linda C. [Department of Radiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen (Netherlands); Berg, Gerrit van den; Klauw, Melanie M. van der [Department of Endocrinology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen (Netherlands); Elderson, Martin F. [Department of Endocrinology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen (Netherlands); LifeLines Cohort Study and Biobank, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen (Netherlands); Dullaart, Robin P.F. [Department of Endocrinology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen (Netherlands); Koerts, Janneke [Department of Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, Groningen (Netherlands); Werumeus Buning, Jorien, E-mail: j.werumeus.buning@umcg.nl [Department of Endocrinology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen (Netherlands); Tucha, Oliver [Department of Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, Groningen (Netherlands); Wolffenbuttel, Bruce H.R. [Department of Endocrinology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen (Netherlands); LifeLines Cohort Study and Biobank, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen (Netherlands); Bergh, Alfons C.M. van den [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen (Netherlands); Beek, André P. van, E-mail: a.p.van.beek@umcg.nl [Department of Endocrinology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen (Netherlands)

    2015-02-15

    Highlights: • Cognitive impairments are frequently observed in treated NFA patients. • NFA patients with cognitive impairments do not show brain abnormalities on MRI more frequently than patients without cognitive impairments. • The absence of brain abnormalities on brain MRI does not exclude impairments of cognition. - Abstract: Purpose: The extent to which cognitive dysfunction is related to specific brain abnormalities in patients treated for pituitary macroadenoma is unclear. Therefore, we compared brain abnormalities seen on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in patients treated for nonfunctioning pituitary macroadenoma (NFA) with or without impairments in cognitive functioning. Methods: In this cross-sectional design, a cohort of 43 NFA patients was studied at the University Medical Center Groningen. White matter lesions (WMLs), cerebral atrophy, (silent) brain infarcts and abnormalities of the temporal lobes and hippocampi were assessed on pre-treatment and post-treatment MRI scans. Post-treatment cognitive examinations were performed using a verbal memory and executive functioning test. We compared our patient cohort with large reference populations representative of the Dutch population. Results: One or more impairments on both cognitive tests were frequently observed in treated NFA patients. No treatment effects were found with regard to the comparison between patients with and without impairments in executive functioning. Interestingly, in patients with one or more impairments on verbal memory function, treatment with radiotherapy had been given more frequently (74% in the impaired group versus 40% in the unimpaired group, P = 0.025). Patients with or without any brain abnormality on MRI did not differ in verbal memory or executive functioning. Conclusions: Brain abnormalities on MRI are not observed more frequently in treated NFA patients with impairments compared to NFA patients without impairments in verbal memory or executive functioning

  7. Glucose metabolism in obese and lean adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poomthavorn, Preamrudee; Chaya, Weerapong; Mahachoklertwattana, Pat; Sukprasert, Matchuporn; Weerakiet, Sawaek

    2013-01-01

    Data on glucose metabolism in Asian adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are limited. Glucose metabolism assessment using an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in obese and lean Thai adolescents with PCOS, and a comparison between the two groups were done. Thirty-one patients (19 obese, 12 lean) were enrolled. Their median (range) age was 14.9 (11.0-21.0) years. Eighteen patients had abnormal glucose metabolism (13 hyperinsulinemia, 4 impaired glucose tolerance, and 1 diabetes). Compared between obese [median (range) BMI Z-score, 1.6 (1.2-2.6)] and lean [median (range) BMI Z-score, 0.1 (-1.4 to 0.6)] patients, the frequencies of each abnormal OGTT category, areas under the curves of glucose and insulin levels, and insulinogenic index were not different; however, insulin resistance was greater in the obese group. In conclusion, a high proportion of our adolescents with PCOS had abnormal glucose metabolism. Therefore, OGTT should be performed in adolescents with PCOS for the early detection of abnormal glucose metabolism.

  8. Effect of ginseng pretreatment on cerebral glucose metabolism in ischaemic rats using animal positron emission tomography (PET) and [18F]-FDG

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rye, Choi Seok; Magata, Y.; Saji, H.; Tajima, K.; Kitano, H.; Konishi, J.; Yokoyama, A. [Department of Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University, Yoshida Shimoadachi-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-01 (Japan)

    1997-07-01

    To investigate the effect of ginseng on damaged brain activity, we evaluated the cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (CMRglc) as a functional index in post-ischaemic rats and compared the results with those obtained after the administration of a ginseng extract. CMRglc was measured using high resolution animal positron emission tomography with {sup 18}F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ({sup 18}F-FDG). The rats subjected to a 30-min occlusion showed a significant reduction of k3, the rate constant for phosphorylation of {sup 18}F-FDG by hexokinase, compared with the normal value. The ginseng pretreatment prevented the reduction in k3 and CMRglc caused by ischaemia. Although further investigation is needed to elucidate the mechanism of action, ginseng may be useful for prevention and treatment of ischaemia. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  9. Rice bran water extract attenuates pancreatic abnormalities in high ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    105 on pancreatic abnormalities in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese rats. Methods: Male ... initiation of these metabolic disturbances [2]. Under physiological ..... injury in the zucker diabetic fatty rat fed a chronic high- fat diet. Pancreas 2014 ...

  10. KUDESAN EFFICACY IN ADOLESCENTS WITH METABOLIC SYNDROME

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.B. Kolesnikova

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Metabolic abnormalities in metabolic syndrome affect the functioning of practically all organs and systems, and most seriously — cardio-vascular system. Cardio-vascular abnormalities in metabolic syndrome manifest as arterial hypertension, Riley-Day syndrome and endothelial dysfunction that can lead to decrease of adaptive and reserve capabilities. Co-enzyme Q10 possesses cardioprotective,  stress-protective and anti-ischaemic activity. Clinical study performed on 40 children aged 10 to 17 years with constitutive obesity, complicated metabolic syndrome, has proven validity of co-enzyme Q10 treatment in patients with metabolic syndrome. The use of co-enzyme Q10 15 mg/day during 30 days has lead to improvement of psycho-emotional condition, decrease in anxiety complaints, sleep improvement, decrease in asthenic syndrome symptoms, improvement in electrophysiological heart indices Key words: metabolic syndrome, co-enzyme Q10. (Voprosy sovremennoi pediatrii — Current Pediatrics. — 2011; 10 (5: 102–106.

  11. Correlations between cerebral glucose metabolism and neuropsychological test performance in nonalcoholic cirrhotics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lockwood, Alan H; Weissenborn, Karin; Bokemeyer, Martin; Tietge, U; Burchert, Wolfgang

    2002-03-01

    Many cirrhotics have abnormal neuropsychological test scores. To define the anatomical-physiological basis for encephalopathy in nonalcoholic cirrhotics, we performed resting-state fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomographic scans and administered a neuropsychological test battery to 18 patients and 10 controls. Statistical parametric mapping correlated changes in regional glucose metabolism with performance on the individual tests and a composite battery score. In patients without overt encephalopathy, poor performance correlated with reductions in metabolism in the anterior cingulate. In all patients, poor performance on the battery was positively correlated (p glucose metabolism in bifrontal and biparietal regions of the cerebral cortex and negatively correlated with metabolism in hippocampal, lingual, and fusiform gyri and the posterior putamen. Similar patterns of abnormal metabolism were found when comparing the patients to 10 controls. Metabolic abnormalities in the anterior attention system and association cortices mediating executive and integrative function form the pathophysiological basis for mild hepatic encephalopathy.

  12. Amelioration of Abnormalities Associated with the Metabolic Syndrome by Spinacia oleracea (Spinach) Consumption and Aerobic Exercise in Rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panda, Vandana; Mistry, Kinjal; Sudhamani, S; Nandave, Mukesh; Ojha, Shreesh Kumar

    2017-01-01

    The present study evaluates the protective effects of an antioxidant-rich extract of Spinacea oleracea (NAOE) in abnormalities associated with the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in rats. HPTLC of NAOE revealed the presence of 13 total antioxidants, 14 flavonoids, and 10 phenolic acids. Rats administered with fructose (20%  w / v ) in drinking water for 45 days to induce abnormalities of MetS received NAOE (200 and 400 mg/kg, po), the standard drug gemfibrozil (60 mg/kg, po), aerobic exercise (AE), and a combination of NAOE 400 mg/kg and AE (NAOEAE) daily for 45 days. All treatments significantly altered the lipid profile and attenuated the fructose-elevated levels of uric acid, C-reactive protein, homocysteine, and marker enzymes (AST, LDH, and CK-MB) in serum and malondialdehyde in the heart and restored the fructose-depleted levels of glutathione and antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase). A significant decrease in blood glucose and insulin levels decreased insulin resistance, and improved glucose tolerance was observed in the treatment animals when compared with the fructose-fed animals. The best mitigation of MetS was shown by the NAOEAE treatment indicating that regular exercise along with adequate consumption of antioxidant-rich foods such as spinach in diet can help control MetS.

  13. Amelioration of Abnormalities Associated with the Metabolic Syndrome by Spinacia oleracea (Spinach Consumption and Aerobic Exercise in Rats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vandana Panda

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The present study evaluates the protective effects of an antioxidant-rich extract of Spinacea oleracea (NAOE in abnormalities associated with the metabolic syndrome (MetS in rats. HPTLC of NAOE revealed the presence of 13 total antioxidants, 14 flavonoids, and 10 phenolic acids. Rats administered with fructose (20% w/v in drinking water for 45 days to induce abnormalities of MetS received NAOE (200 and 400 mg/kg, po, the standard drug gemfibrozil (60 mg/kg, po, aerobic exercise (AE, and a combination of NAOE 400 mg/kg and AE (NAOEAE daily for 45 days. All treatments significantly altered the lipid profile and attenuated the fructose-elevated levels of uric acid, C-reactive protein, homocysteine, and marker enzymes (AST, LDH, and CK-MB in serum and malondialdehyde in the heart and restored the fructose-depleted levels of glutathione and antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase. A significant decrease in blood glucose and insulin levels decreased insulin resistance, and improved glucose tolerance was observed in the treatment animals when compared with the fructose-fed animals. The best mitigation of MetS was shown by the NAOEAE treatment indicating that regular exercise along with adequate consumption of antioxidant-rich foods such as spinach in diet can help control MetS.

  14. Disrupted Bone Metabolism in Long-Term Bedridden Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eimori, Keiko; Endo, Naoto; Uchiyama, Seiji; Takahashi, Yoshinori; Kawashima, Hiroyuki; Watanabe, Kei

    2016-01-01

    Bedridden patients are at risk of osteoporosis and fractures, although the long-term bone metabolic processes in these patients are poorly understood. Therefore, we aimed to determine how long-term bed confinement affects bone metabolism. This study included 36 patients who had been bedridden from birth due to severe immobility. Bone mineral density and bone metabolism markers were compared to the bedridden period in all study patients. Changes in the bone metabolism markers during a follow-up of 12 years were studied in 17 patients aged bedridden period. During the follow-up, osteocalcin and parathyroid hormone were decreased, and the 25(OH) vitamin D was increased. NTX at baseline was negatively associated with bone mineral density after 12 years. Unique bone metabolic abnormalities were found in patients who had been bedridden for long periods, and these metabolic abnormalities were altered by further bed confinement. Appropriate treatment based on the unique bone metabolic changes may be important in long-term bedridden patients.

  15. Biodelignification of lignocellulose substrates: An intrinsic and sustainable pretreatment strategy for clean energy production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chandel, Anuj K; Gonçalves, Bruna C M; Strap, Janice L; da Silva, Silvio S

    2015-01-01

    Lignocellulosic biomass (LB) is a promising sugar feedstock for biofuels and other high-value chemical commodities. The recalcitrance of LB, however, impedes carbohydrate accessibility and its conversion into commercially significant products. Two important factors for the overall economization of biofuel production is LB pretreatment to liberate fermentable sugars followed by conversion into ethanol. Sustainable biofuel production must overcome issues such as minimizing water and energy usage, reducing chemical usage and process intensification. Amongst available pretreatment methods, microorganism-mediated pretreatments are the safest, green, and sustainable. Native biodelignifying agents such as Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Pycnoporous cinnabarinus, Ceriporiopsis subvermispora and Cyathus stercoreus can remove lignin, making the remaining substrates amenable for saccharification. The development of a robust, integrated bioprocessing (IBP) approach for economic ethanol production would incorporate all essential steps including pretreatment, cellulase production, enzyme hydrolysis and fermentation of the released sugars into ethanol. IBP represents an inexpensive, environmentally friendly, low energy and low capital approach for second-generation ethanol production. This paper reviews the advancements in microbial-assisted pretreatment for the delignification of lignocellulosic substrates, system metabolic engineering for biorefineries and highlights the possibilities of process integration for sustainable and economic ethanol production.

  16. High Glucose-Induced Oxidative Stress Mediates Apoptosis and Extracellular Matrix Metabolic Imbalances Possibly via p38 MAPK Activation in Rat Nucleus Pulposus Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaofei Cheng

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Objectives. To investigate whether high glucose-induced oxidative stress is implicated in apoptosis of rat nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs and abnormal expression of critical genes involved in the metabolic balance of extracellular matrix (ECM. Methods. NPCs were cultured with various concentrations of glucose to detect cell viability and apoptosis. Cells cultured with high glucose (25 mM were untreated or pretreated with N-acetylcysteine or a p38 MAPK inhibitor SB 202190. Reactive oxygen species (ROS production was evaluated. Activation of p38 MAPK was measured by Western blot. The expression of ECM metabolism-related genes, including type II collagen, aggrecan, SRY-related high-mobility-group box 9 (Sox-9, matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP-3, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1, was analyzed by semiquantitative RT-PCR. Results. High glucose reduced viability of NPCs and induced apoptosis. High glucose resulted in increased ROS generation and p38 MAPK activation. In addition, it negatively regulated the expression of type II collagen, aggrecan, Sox-9, and TIMP-1 and positively regulated MMP-3 expression. These results were changed by pretreatment with N-acetylcysteine or SB 202190. Conclusions. High glucose might promote apoptosis of NPCs, trigger ECM catabolic pathways, and inhibit its anabolic activities, possibly through a p38 MAPK-dependent oxidative stress mechanism.

  17. Pretreatment of enteral nutrition with sodium polystyrene sulfonate: effective, but beware the high prevalence of electrolyte derangements in clinical practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le Palma, Krisha; Pavlick, Elisha Rampolla; Copelovitch, Lawrence

    2018-04-01

    Current treatment options for chronic hyperkalemia in children with chronic kidney disease include dietary restrictions or enteral sodium polystyrene sulfonate (SPS); however, dietary restrictions may compromise adequate nutrition and enteral SPS may be limited by palatability, adverse effects and feeding tube obstruction. A potentially safer alternative is to pretreat enteral nutrition (EN) with SPS prior to consumption. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pretreating EN with SPS in pediatric patients with hyperkalemia. We performed a retrospective cohort study between September 2012 and May 2016 at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. In all, 14 patients (age range 0.5-53.2 months) who received 19 courses of SPS pretreatment of EN were evaluated. Serum electrolytes were evaluated at baseline and within 1 week of initiating therapy. The primary endpoint was mean change in potassium at 7 days. Secondary endpoints included the mean change in serum sodium, chloride, bicarbonate, calcium, phosphorous and magnesium, as well as the percentage of patients who developed electrolyte abnormalities within the first week of treatment. Serum potassium levels decreased from 6.0 to 4.4 mmol/L (P < 0.001) and serum sodium levels increased from 135.8 to 141.3 mmol/L (P = 0.008) 1 week after initiating SPS pretreatment. No significant differences in mean serum calcium or magnesium levels were noted. Nevertheless, more than half of the courses resulted in at least one electrolyte abnormality, with hypokalemia (31.6%), hypernatremia (26.3%) and hypocalcemia (21.1%) occurring most frequently. Pretreatment of EN with SPS is an effective method for treating chronic hyperkalemia in pediatric patients; however, close monitoring of electrolytes is warranted.

  18. Congenital and Neurological Abnormalities in Infants with Phenylketonuria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Charles F.; And Others

    1978-01-01

    Examined was the occurrence of congenital and neurological abnormalities in 150 children with phenylketonuria (PKU--a metabolic disorder which may result in mental retardation) age 1 year or older, who have been treated with a restricted phenylalanine diet, according to the protocol used in a nation-wide longitudinal collaborative study.…

  19. The impacts of pretreatment on the fermentability of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass: a comparative evaluation between ammonia fiber expansion and dilute acid pretreatment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dale Bruce E

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Pretreatment chemistry is of central importance due to its impacts on cellulosic biomass processing and biofuels conversion. Ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX and dilute acid are two promising pretreatments using alkaline and acidic pH that have distinctive differences in pretreatment chemistries. Results Comparative evaluation on these two pretreatments reveal that (i AFEX-pretreated corn stover is significantly more fermentable with respect to cell growth and sugar consumption, (ii both pretreatments can achieve more than 80% of total sugar yield in the enzymatic hydrolysis of washed pretreated solids, and (iii while AFEX completely preserves plant carbohydrates, dilute acid pretreatment at 5% solids loading degrades 13% of xylose to byproducts. Conclusion The selection of pretreatment will determine the biomass-processing configuration, requirements for hydrolysate conditioning (if any and fermentation strategy. Through dilute acid pretreatment, the need for hemicellulase in biomass processing is negligible. AFEX-centered cellulosic technology can alleviate fermentation costs through reducing inoculum size and practically eliminating nutrient costs during bioconversion. However, AFEX requires supplemental xylanases as well as cellulase activity. As for long-term sustainability, AFEX has greater potential to diversify products from a cellulosic biorefinery due to lower levels of inhibitor generation and lignin loss.

  20. Renal abnormalities in congenital chloride diarrhea

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-Hamad, Nadia M.; Al-Eisa, Amal A.

    2004-01-01

    Congenital chloride diarrhea CLD is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by a defect in the chloride/ bicarbonate exchange in the ileum and colon. It is characterized by watery diarrhea, abdominal distension, hypochloremic hypokalemic metabolic alkalosis with high fecal content of chloride >90 mmol/l. We report 3 patients with CLD associated with various renal abnormalities including chronic renal failure secondary to renal hypoplasia, nephrocalcinosis and congenital nephrotic syndrome. (author)

  1. Skeletal muscle proteomic signature and metabolic impairment in pulmonary hypertension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malenfant, Simon; Potus, François; Fournier, Frédéric; Breuils-Bonnet, Sandra; Pflieger, Aude; Bourassa, Sylvie; Tremblay, Ève; Nehmé, Benjamin; Droit, Arnaud; Bonnet, Sébastien; Provencher, Steeve

    2015-05-01

    Exercise limitation comes from a close interaction between cardiovascular and skeletal muscle impairments. To better understand the implication of possible peripheral oxidative metabolism dysfunction, we studied the proteomic signature of skeletal muscle in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Eight idiopathic PAH patients and eight matched healthy sedentary subjects were evaluated for exercise capacity, skeletal muscle proteomic profile, metabolism, and mitochondrial function. Skeletal muscle proteins were extracted, and fractioned peptides were tagged using an iTRAQ protocol. Proteomic analyses have documented a total of 9 downregulated proteins in PAH skeletal muscles and 10 upregulated proteins compared to healthy subjects. Most of the downregulated proteins were related to mitochondrial structure and function. Focusing on skeletal muscle metabolism and mitochondrial health, PAH patients presented a decreased expression of oxidative enzymes (pyruvate dehydrogenase, p metabolism in PAH skeletal muscles. We provide evidences that impaired mitochondrial and metabolic functions found in the lungs and the right ventricle are also present in skeletal muscles of patients. • Proteomic and metabolic analysis show abnormal oxidative metabolism in PAH skeletal muscle. • EM of PAH patients reveals abnormal mitochondrial structure and distribution. • Abnormal mitochondrial health and function contribute to exercise impairments of PAH. • PAH may be considered a vascular affliction of heart and lungs with major impact on peripheral muscles.

  2. TREATMENT OF METABOLIC ALTERATIONS IN POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Păvăleanu, Ioana; Gafiţanu, D; Popovici, Diana; Duceac, Letiţia Doina; Păvăleanu, Maricica

    2016-01-01

    Polycystic ovary syndrome is a common endocrinopathy characterized by oligo ovulation or anovulation, signs of androgen excess and multiple small ovarian cysts. It includes various metabolic abnormalities: insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, impaired glucose tolerance, visceral obesity, inflammation and endothelial dysfunction, hypertension and dyslipidemia. All these metabolic abnormalities have long-term implications. Treatment should be individualized and must not address a single sign or symptom. Studies are still needed to determine the benefits and the associated risks of the medication now available to practitioners.

  3. Left globus pallidus abnormality in never-medicated patients with schizophrenia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Early, T.S.; Reiman, E.M.; Raichle, M.E.; Spitznagel, E.L.

    1987-01-01

    Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder characterized by onset in young adulthood, the occurrence of hallucinations and delusions, and the development of enduring psychosocial disability. The pathophysiology of this disorder remains unknown. Studies of cerebral blood flow and metabolism designed to identify brain abnormalities in schizophrenia have been limited by inadequate methods of anatomical localization and the possibility of persistent medication effects. The authors have now used positron emission tomography and a validated method of anatomical localization in an attempt to identify abnormalities of regional cerebral blood flow in newly diagnosed never-medicated patients with schizophrenia. An exploratory study of 5 patients and 10 normal control subjects identified abnormally high blood flow in the left globus pallidus of patients with schizophrenia. A replication study of 5 additional patients and 10 additional control subjects confirmed this finding. No other abnormalities were found

  4. Cerebral FDG-PET scanning abnormalities in optimally treated HIV patients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Åse Bengård; Law, Ian; Krabbe, Karen Suarez

    2010-01-01

    The long-term neurological consequences of HIV infection and treatment are not yet completely understood. In this study we examined the prevalence of cerebral metabolic abnormalities among a cohort of neurologically intact HIV patients with fully suppressed HIV viral loads. Concomitant analyses...

  5. Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome and Its Individual Components Among Midwestern University Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yahia, Najat; Brown, Carrie A; Snyder, Ericka; Cumper, Stephanie; Langolf, Andrea; Trayer, Chelsey; Green, Chelsea

    2017-08-01

    Michigan has the 17th highest adult obesity rate in the United States. Among college-aged adults between 18 and 25 years old, the rate of obesity was 11.6%. Obesity is a key precedent for the development of metabolic syndrome. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its individual components among a sample of students at Central Michigan University. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 462 students, aged 18-25 years, in Spring 2015 and Fall/Spring 2016 semesters. Students were recruited throughout the campus via flyers, in-class, and Blackboard announcements. Biochemical, anthropometric, and blood pressure measurements were taken for all students. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome was estimated based on the National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines. Multivariable analysis was used to assess the prevalence of metabolic risk components. To explore the association between metabolic risk factors and lifestyle behaviors, students filled out a validated online questionnaire related to their eating habits, physical activity, and sleep patterns. Metabolic syndrome was not prevalent in our sample. However, about one-third of the students had at least one metabolic abnormality, and 6.0% had two metabolic abnormalities. The most common metabolic abnormalities were low HDL-cholesterol levels (22.0%) and high waist circumference (12.6%), and elevated serum triglyceride (5.8%). Adjusting for other factors, excess adiposity and high visceral fat scores were associated with increased risk of metabolic risk factors, whereas healthy lifestyle practices such as daily breakfast consumption, eating three meals a day, being active, and not smoking were associated with lower risks for MetS. Given the adverse consequences of undiagnosed metabolic abnormalities, efforts to identify and manage MetS among asymptomatic college students, particularly women, is essential and warrants further

  6. Metabolic abnormalities in cachexia and anorexia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tisdale, M J

    2000-10-01

    An increased glucose requirement by many solid tumors produces an increased metabolic demand on the liver, resulting in an increased energy expenditure. In addition, several cytokines and tumor catabolic products have been suggested as being responsible for the depletion of adipose tissue and skeletal-muscle mass in cachexia. A sulphated glycoprotein of molecular mass 24 kDa, produced by cachexia-inducing tumors and present in the urine of cancer patients actively losing weight, has been shown to be capable of inducing direct muscle catabolism in vitro and a state of cachexia in vivo, with specific loss of the non-fat carcass mass. In vitro studies have shown the bioactivity of this proteolysis-inducing factor to be attenuated by the polyunsaturated fatty acid, eicosapentaenoic acid. Preliminary clinical studies have shown that eicosapentaenoic acid stabilizes body weight and protein and fat reserves in patients with pancreatic carcinoma. Further trials are required to confirm the efficacy of eicosapentaenoic acid and to determine the anticachectic activity in other types of cancer.

  7. Attenuation of methamphetamine-induced nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurotoxicity in mice by lipopolysaccharide pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Yin Chiu; Kuo, Yu-Min; Liao, Pao-Chi; Cherng, Chianfang G; Su, Su-Wen; Yu, Lung

    2007-04-30

    Immunological activation has been proposed to play a role in methamphetamine-induced dopaminergic terminal damage. In this study, we examined the roles of lipopolysaccharide, a pro-inflammatory and inflammatory factor, treatment in modulating the methamphetamine-induced nigrostriatal dopamine neurotoxicity. Lipopolysaccharide pretreatment did not affect the basal body temperature or methamphetamine-elicited hyperthermia three days later. Such systemic lipopolysaccharide treatment mitigated methamphetamine-induced striatal dopamine and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid depletions in a dose-dependent manner. As the most potent dose (1 mg/kg) of lipopolysaccharide was administered two weeks, one day before or after the methamphetamine dosing regimen, methamphetamine-induced striatal dopamine and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid depletions remained unaltered. Moreover, systemic lipopolysaccharide pretreatment (1 mg/kg) attenuated local methamphetamine infusion-produced dopamine and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid depletions in the striatum, indicating that the protective effect of lipopolysaccharide is less likely due to interrupted peripheral distribution or metabolism of methamphetamine. We concluded a critical time window for systemic lipopolysaccharide pretreatment in exerting effective protection against methamphetamine-induced nigrostriatal dopamine neurotoxicity.

  8. Indicators for metabolic disturbances in anovulatory women with polycystic ovary syndrome diagnosed according to the Rotterdam consensus criteria

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goverde, A. J.; van Koert, A. J. B.; Eijkemans, M. J.; Knauff, E. A. H.; Westerveld, H. E.; Fauser, B. C. J. M.; Broekmans, F. J.

    Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with metabolic abnormalities. It is debated whether all women with PCOS should be screened for metabolic abnormalities as these may vary with PCOS phenotype, age and ethnicity. The aims of this study were to assess the prevalence of metabolic

  9. C1 metabolism plays an important role during formaldehyde metabolism and detoxification in petunia under liquid HCHO stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Wei; Tang, Lijuan; Sun, Huiqun; Han, Shuang; Wang, Xinjia; Zhou, Shengen; Li, Kunzhi; Chen, Limei

    2014-10-01

    Petunia hybrida is a model ornamental plant grown worldwide. To understand the HCHO-uptake efficiency and metabolic mechanism of petunia, the aseptic petunia plants were treated in HCHO solutions. An analysis of HCHO-uptake showed that petunia plants effectively removed HCHO from 2, 4 and 6 mM HCHO solutions. The (13)C NMR analyses indicated that H(13)CHO was primarily used to synthesize [5-(13)C]methionine (Met) via C1 metabolism in petunia plants treated with 2 mM H(13)CHO. Pretreatment with cyclosporin A (CSA) or l-carnitine (LC), the inhibitors of mitochondrial permeability transition pores, did not affect the synthesis of [5-(13)C]Met in petunia plants under 2 mM H(13)CHO stress, indicating that the Met-generated pathway may function in the cytoplasm. Under 4 or 6 mM liquid H(13)CHO stress, H(13)CHO metabolism in petunia plants produced considerable amount of H(13)COOH and [2-(13)C]glycine (Gly) through C1 metabolism and a small amount of [U-(13)C]Gluc via the Calvin Cycle. Pretreatment with CSA or LC significantly inhibited the production of [2-(13)C]Gly in 6 mM H(13)CHO-treated petunia plants, which suggests that chloroplasts and peroxisomes might be involved in the generation of [2-(13)C]Gly. These results revealed that the C1 metabolism played an important role, whereas the Calvin Cycle had only a small contribution during HCHO metabolism and detoxification in petunia under liquid HCHO stress. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  10. Brain 18F-FDG PET Metabolic Abnormalities in Patients with Long-Lasting Macrophagic Myofascitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Der Gucht, Axel; Aoun Sebaiti, Mehdi; Guedj, Eric; Aouizerate, Jessie; Yara, Sabrina; Gherardi, Romain K; Evangelista, Eva; Chalaye, Julia; Cottereau, Anne-Ségolène; Verger, Antoine; Bachoud-Levi, Anne-Catherine; Abulizi, Mukedaisi; Itti, Emmanuel; Authier, François-Jérôme

    2017-03-01

    The aim of this study was to characterize brain metabolic abnormalities in patients with macrophagic myofascitis (MMF) and the relationship with cognitive dysfunction through the use of PET with 18 F-FDG. Methods: 18 F-FDG PET brain imaging and a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests were performed in 100 consecutive MMF patients (age [mean ± SD], 45.9 ± 12 y; 74% women). Images were analyzed with statistical parametric mapping (SPM12). Through the use of analysis of covariance, all 18 F-FDG PET brain images of MMF patients were compared with those of a reference population of 44 healthy subjects similar in age (45.4 ± 16 y; P = 0.87) and sex (73% women; P = 0.88). The neuropsychological assessment identified 4 categories of patients: those with no significant cognitive impairment ( n = 42), those with frontal subcortical (FSC) dysfunction ( n = 29), those with Papez circuit dysfunction ( n = 22), and those with callosal disconnection ( n = 7). Results: In comparison with healthy subjects, the whole population of patients with MMF exhibited a spatial pattern of cerebral glucose hypometabolism ( P glucose hypometabolism that was most marked in MMF patients with FSC dysfunction. Further studies are needed to determine whether this pattern could represent a diagnostic biomarker of MMF in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and cognitive dysfunction. © 2017 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

  11. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among employees in Northeast China

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wang, X; Yang, Fang; Bots, Michiel L.; Guo, Wei Ying; Zhao, Bing; Hoes, Arno W.; Vaartjes, Ilonca

    2015-01-01

    Background: The metabolic syndrome is a clustering of metabolic abnormalities and has been associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among employees in Northeast China. Methods:

  12. In vivo measurements of cerebral metabolic abnormalities by proton spectroscopy after a transient ischemic attack revealing an internal carotid stenosis > 70%

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Giroud, M.; Becker, F.; Lemesle, M.; Walker, P.; Guy, F.; Martin, D.; Baudouin, N.; Brunotte, F.; Dumas, R.

    1996-01-01

    Aims: The aim of this work is to look for cerebral metabolic abnormalities within the first 3 days after a transient ischemic attack revealing an internal carotid stenosis > 70 %. Methods: Five patients with a transient ischemic attack lasting between 30 and 180 minutes, affecting sensory and motor brachio-facial territory, with or without aphasia. Were studied. A CT-scan, an EEG, a cervical Doppler ultrasound, a standard arteriography, a magnetic resonance imaging and a proton spectroscopy were performed within the cerebral area affected by the transient ischemic attack. We measured 2 markers: N-acetyl-aspartate, the marker of the neuronal mass, and lactate, the marker of anaerobe metabolism. In each case, a contralateral internal stenosis was diagnosed by cervical Doppler ultrasound and standard arteriography. No cerebral infarction was observed. Results: With the affected cerebral area defined according to clinical and EEG features, proton spectroscopy showed a significant rise of lactate, without any change in N-acetyl-aspartate levels. Conclusions: Within the first 3 days after a transient ischemic attack, there is a significant risk of lactate inside the affected cerebral area. This change may reflect a localized and transient hypoperfusion, but long enough to induce a rise of lactate but not sufficient to produce a cerebral infarct. This area is probably at risk to induce cerebral infarct. This data lead us to study the metabolic change induced by the asymptomatic internal carotid stenosis. (authors). 18 refs

  13. Incorporation of flavonoid derivatives or pentagalloyl glucose into lignin enhances cell wall saccharification following mild alkaline or acidic pretreatments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Partial substitution of normal monolignols with phenolic precursors from other metabolic pathways may improve the susceptibility of lignified biomass to chemical pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification for biofuel production. Flavonoids and gallate esters readily undergo oxidative coupling react...

  14. Methods for pretreating biomass

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balan, Venkatesh; Dale, Bruce E; Chundawat, Shishir; Sousa, Leonardo

    2017-05-09

    A method for pretreating biomass is provided, which includes, in a reactor, allowing gaseous ammonia to condense on the biomass and react with water present in the biomass to produce pretreated biomass, wherein reactivity of polysaccharides in the biomass is increased during subsequent biological conversion as compared to the reactivity of polysaccharides in biomass which has not been pretreated. A method for pretreating biomass with a liquid ammonia and recovering the liquid ammonia is also provided. Related systems which include a biochemical or biofuel production facility are also disclosed.

  15. Influence of pretreatment techniques on anaerobic digestion of pulp and paper mill sludge: A review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veluchamy, C; Kalamdhad, Ajay S

    2017-12-01

    Pulp and paper industry is one of the most polluting, energy and water intensive industries in the world. Produced pulp and paper mill sludge (PPMS) faces a major problem for handling and its management. An anaerobic digestion has become an alternative source. This review provides a detailed summary of anaerobic digestion of PPMS - An overview of the developments and improvement opportunities. This paper explores the different pretreatment methods to enhance biogas production from the PPMS. First, the paper gives an overview of PPMS production, and then it reviews PPMS as a substrate for anaerobic digestion with or without pretreatment. Finally, it discuss the optimal condition and concentration of organic and inorganic compounds required for the anaerobic metabolic activity. Future research should focus on the combination of different pretreatment technologies, relationship between sludge composition, reactor design and its operation, and microbial community dynamics. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. HIV and antiretroviral therapy: lipid abnormalities and associated cardiovascular risk in HIV-infected patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kotler, Donald P

    2008-09-01

    It has been demonstrated that patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy are at increased risk for developing metabolic abnormalities that include elevated levels of serum triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and reduced levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. This dyslipidemia is similar to that seen in the metabolic syndrome, raising the concern that highly active antiretroviral therapy also potentially increases the risk for cardiovascular complications. This paper reviews the contribution of both HIV infection and the different components of highly active antiretroviral therapy to dyslipidemia and the role of these abnormalities toward increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease in HIV-infected patients; therapeutic strategies to manage these risks are also considered.

  17. Myocardial metabolism, perfusion, wall motion and electrical activity in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perloff, J.K.; Henze, E.; Schelbert, H.R.

    1982-01-01

    The cardiomyopathy of Duchenne's muscular dystrophy originates in the posterobasal left ventricle and extends chiefly to the contiguous lateral wall. Ultrastructural abnormalities in these regions precede connective tissue replacement. We postulated that a metabolic fault coincided with or antedated the subcellular abnormality. Accordingly, regional left ventricular metabolism, perfusion and wall motion were studied using positron computed tomography and metabolic isotopes supplemented by thallium perfusion scans, equilibrium radionuclide angiography and M-mode and two-dimensional echocardiography. To complete the assessment, electrocardiograms, vectorcardiograms, 24 hour taped electrocardiograms and chest x-rays were analyzed. Positron computed tomography utilizing F-18 2-fluoro 2-deoxyglucose (FDG) provided the first conclusive evidence supporting the hypothesis of a premorphologic regional metabolic fault. Thus, cardiac involvement in duchenne dystrophy emerges as a unique form of heart disease, genetically targeting specific regions of ventricular myocardium for initial metabolic and subcellular changes. Reported ultrastructural abnormalities of the impulse and conduction systems provide, at least in part, a basis for the clinically observed sinus node, intraatrial, internodal, AV nodal and infranodal disorders

  18. Recently Discovered Adipokines and Cardio-Metabolic Comorbidities in Childhood Obesity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gloria Maria Barraco

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available White adipose tissue (WAT asset, in terms of cell number, fat storage capacity and endocrine function, is largely determined in early stages of life and is pivotal for shaping the WAT pro-inflammatory behavior. WAT derived adipokines have been shown to play a main role in several cardio-metabolic abnormalities of obesity. This review focuses on the most recently identified adipokines, namely adipocyte-fatty acid-binding protein, chemerin, fibroblast growth factor-21, lipocalin-2, omentin-1 and vaspin; their role in the pathogenesis of obesity and associated cardio-metabolic abnormalities; and on their adaptive response to body weight change. Evidence consistently suggests a pathogenic role for A-FABP, chemerin and FGF-21. Nevertheless, large population studies are needed to verify whether they can be useful to predict the risk of cardio-metabolic abnormalities in adulthood and/or monitor the clinical response to therapeutic interventions.

  19. White matter microstructure and cognitive decline in metabolic syndrome: a review of diffusion tensor imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alfaro, Freddy J; Gavrieli, Anna; Saade-Lemus, Patricia; Lioutas, Vasileios-Arsenios; Upadhyay, Jagriti; Novak, Vera

    2018-01-01

    Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors defined by the presence of abdominal obesity, glucose intolerance, hypertension and/or dyslipidemia. It is a major public health epidemic worldwide, and a known risk factor for the development of cognitive dysfunction and dementia. Several studies have demonstrated a positive association between the presence of metabolic syndrome and worse cognitive outcomes, however, evidence of brain structure pathology is limited. Diffusion tensor imaging has offered new opportunities to detect microstructural white matter changes in metabolic syndrome, and a possibility to detect associations between functional and structural abnormalities. This review analyzes the impact of metabolic syndrome on white matter microstructural integrity, brain structure abnormalities and their relationship to cognitive function. Each of the metabolic syndrome components exerts a specific signature of white matter microstructural abnormalities. Metabolic syndrome and its components exert both additive/synergistic, as well as, independent effects on brain microstructure thus accelerating brain aging and cognitive decline. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Robust cellulosic ethanol production from SPORL-pretreated lodgepole pine using an adapted strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae without detoxification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, S; Luo, X L; Yang, X S; Zhu, J Y

    2010-11-01

    This study reports an ethanol yield of 270L/ton wood from lodgepole pine pretreated with sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocellulose (SPORL) using an adapted strain, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y5, without detoxification. The enzymatic hydrolysate produced from pretreated cellulosic solids substrate was combined with pretreatment hydrolysate before fermentation. Detoxification of the pretreatment hydrolysate using overliming or XAD-4 resin before being combined with enzymatic hydrolysate improved ethanol productivity in the first 4h of fermentation and overall fermentation efficiency. However, detoxification did not improve final ethanol yield because of sugar losses. The Y5 strain showed excellent ethanol productivities of 2.0 and 0.8g/L/h averaged over a period of 4 and 24h, respectively, in the undetoxified run. The furan metabolization rates of the Y5 strain were significantly higher for the undetoxified run than those for the detoxidfied runs, suggesting it can tolerate even higher furan concentrations than those studied. Preliminary mass and energy balances were conducted. SPORL produced an excellent monomeric sugar recovery value of about 85% theoretical and a net energy output of 4.05GJ/ton wood with an ethanol energy production efficiency of 178% before distillation.

  1. A PET study of cerebellar metabolism in normal and abnormal states

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kushner, M.; Alavi, A.; Chawluk, J.; Silver, F.; Dann, R.; Rosen, M.; Reivich, M.

    1985-01-01

    The authors studied cerebellar metabolism under varying conditions of sensory stimulation. Cerebellar glucose consumption was measured by positron emission scanning and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose in 64 subjects. Cerebellar metabolism relative to the whole brain (CM), and the asymmetry of metabolism between the cerebellar hemispheres (CA) was determined. The lowest CM occurred with maximal sensory deprivation, eyes and ears closed, (CM=96%, n=6). CM increased nonsignificantly with visual stimulation (CM=99%,n=17) and was highest for auditory stimulation (CM=104%,n=10,p<.05). CA was unaffected by sensory input. Under ambient conditions the CM values were 101%, 113% and 135% respectively for young controls (n=9, age=22), old controls (n=8, age=61) and Alzheimer patients (SDAT, n=14, age=69). This difference was significant for SDAT vs young and old controls and was nearly significant for young vs old controls

  2. Metabolic anatomy of paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, N.E.; Posner, J.B.; Sidtis, J.J.; Moeller, J.R.; Strother, S.C.; Dhawan, V.; Rottenberg, D.A.

    1988-01-01

    Eleven patients with acquired cerebellar degeneration (10 of whom had paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration [PCD]) were evaluated using neuropsychological tests and 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose/positron emission tomography to (1) quantify motor, cognitive, and metabolic abnormalities; (2) determine if characteristic alterations in the regional cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (rCMRGlc) are associated with PCD; and (3) correlate behavioral and metabolic measures of disease severity. Eighteen volunteer subjects served as normal controls. Although some PCD neuropsychological test scores were abnormal, these results could not, in general, be dissociated from the effects of dysarthria and ataxia. rCMRGlc was reduced in patients with PCD (versus normal control subjects) in all regions except the brainstem. Analysis of patient and control rCMRGlc data using a mathematical model of regional metabolic interactions revealed two metabolic pattern descriptors, SSF1 and SSF2, which distinguished patients with PCD from normal control subjects; SSF2, which described a metabolic coupling between cerebellum, cuneus, and posterior temporal, lateral frontal, and paracentral cortex, correlated with quantitative indices of cerebellar dysfunction. Our inability to document substantial intellectual impairment in 7 of 10 patients with PCD contrasts with the 50% incidence of dementia in PCD reported by previous investigators. Widespread reductions in PCD rCMRGlc may result from the loss of cerebellar efferents to thalamus and forebrain structures, a reverse cerebellar diaschisis

  3. Lignocellulosic Biomass Pretreatment Using AFEX

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balan, Venkatesh; Bals, Bryan; Chundawat, Shishir P. S.; Marshall, Derek; Dale, Bruce E.

    Although cellulose is the most abundant organic molecule, its susceptibility to hydrolysis is restricted due to the rigid lignin and hemicellulose protection surrounding the cellulose micro fibrils. Therefore, an effective pretreatment is necessary to liberate the cellulose from the lignin-hemicellulose seal and also reduce cellulosic crystallinity. Some of the available pretreatment techniques include acid hydrolysis, steam explosion, ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX), alkaline wet oxidation, and hot water pretreatment. Besides reducing lignocellulosic recalcitrance, an ideal pretreatment must also minimize formation of degradation products that inhibit subsequent hydrolysis and fermentation. AFEX is an important pretreatment technology that utilizes both physical (high temperature and pressure) and chemical (ammonia) processes to achieve effective pretreatment. Besides increasing the surface accessibility for hydrolysis, AFEX promotes cellulose decrystallization and partial hemicellulose depolymerization and reduces the lignin recalcitrance in the treated biomass. Theoretical glucose yield upon optimal enzymatic hydrolysis on AFEX-treated corn stover is approximately 98%. Furthermore, AFEX offers several unique advantages over other pretreatments, which include near complete recovery of the pretreatment chemical (ammonia), nutrient addition for microbial growth through the remaining ammonia on pretreated biomass, and not requiring a washing step during the process which facilitates high solid loading hydrolysis. This chapter provides a detailed practical procedure to perform AFEX, design the reactor, determine the mass balances, and conduct the process safely.

  4. Endocrine and metabolic aspects of the Wolfram syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boutzios, Georgios; Livadas, Sarantis; Marinakis, Evangelos; Opie, Nicole; Economou, Frangiskos; Diamanti-Kandarakis, Evanthia

    2011-08-01

    Wolfram syndrome (WS), also known as DIDMOAD (Diabetes Insipidus, Diabetes Mellitus, Optic Atrophy and Deafness), is a neurodegenerative disease with autosomal recessive inheritance with incomplete penetrance. DIDMOAD is a very rare disease with an estimated prevalence of 1 in 770,000 and it is believed to occur in 1 of 150 patients with juvenile-onset insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Additionally, WS may also present with different endocrine and metabolic abnormalities such as anterior and posterior pituitary gland dysfunction. This mini-review summarizes the variable presentation of WS and the need of screening for other metabolic and hormonal abnormalities, coexisting in this rare syndrome.

  5. UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap MS combined with spike-in method for plasma metabonomics analysis of acute myocardial ischemia rats and pretreatment effect of Danqi Tongmai tablet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Bingpeng; Deng, Yanping; Hou, Jinjun; Bi, Qirui; Yang, Min; Jiang, Baohong; Liu, Xuan; Wu, Wanying; Guo, Dean

    2015-02-01

    Undoubtedly, metabonomics can reveal the comprehensive efficacies of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formulae and its complex mechanism at the molecular biological level. In this study, an attempt was made to address the pretreatment effect of a TCM formula. In this case, as a critical point, we should first know how to really reflect the various endogenous metabolites in a disease status before a TCM formula is employed in a therapeutic procedure. Here, we explored an approach that combined high resolution LTQ-Orbitrap mass spectrometry with a spike-in method to characterize endogenous metabolites in acute myocardial ischemia (AMI) rats. As a result, 19 potential biomarkers in rat plasma were identified and 10 related disturbed pathways were perturbed in the early stages of AMI development. Subsequently, the metabonomics method was applied to investigate the pretreatment effect of the TCM formula named the Danqi Tongmai tablet (DQTM). The results revealed that the DQTM pretreatment could reduce the AMI injury and partially regulate the perturbed TCA cycle and amino and nucleotide metabolism, which were presumable related to energy metabolism and myocardial cells apoptosis/necrosis. In conclusion, UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap MS combined with a spike-in method were successfully applied to the metabonomics analysis of DQTM, which demonstrated that not only a comprehensive metabolic profile in the early stages of AMI development was achieved, but also that the underlying holistic efficacies were assessed and it was helpful to understand the possible mechanism of pretreatment with DQTM.

  6. Hormonal contraception in obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and diabetes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skouby, S.O.

    2010-01-01

    The rate of obesity worldwide is currently at epidemic proportions. As part of obesity, the metabolic syndrome describes a clustering of metabolic abnormalities that increase the cardiovascular and diabetes risk. In particular, women from developing countries have diabetes in the reproductive age...... diabetes, hormonal contraception should therefore be part of the highly needed preconception care and metabolic control...

  7. Hormonal Contraception in obestiy, the metabolic syndrome, and diabetes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skouby, Sven O.

    2010-01-01

    The rate of obesity worldwide is currently at epidemic proportions. As part of obesity, the metabolic syndrome describes a clustering of metabolic abnormalities that increase the cardiovascular and diabetes risk. In particular, women from developing countries have diabetes in the reproductive age...... diabetes, hormonal contraception should therefore be part of the highly needed preconception care and metabolic control...

  8. Are barriers to physical activity similar for adults with and without abnormal glucose metabolism?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hume, Clare; Dunstan, David; Salmon, Jo; Healy, Genevieve; Andrianopoulos, Nick; Owen, Neville

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine perceived barriers to physical activity among adults with and without abnormal glucose metabolism (AGM), and whether barriers varied according to physical activity status. The 1999 to 2000 Australian Diabetes, Obesity, and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab) was a population-based cross-sectional study among adults aged > or =25 years. AGM was identified through an oral glucose tolerance test. The previous week's physical activity and individual, social, and environmental barriers to physical activity were self-reported. Logistic regression analyses examined differences in barriers to physical activity between those with and without AGM, and for those with and without AGM who did and did not meet the minimum recommendation of 150 minutes/week of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity. Of the 7088 participants (47.5 +/- 12.7 years; 46% male), 18.5% had AGM. Approximately 47.5% of those with AGM met the physical activity recommendation, compared to 54.7% of those without AGM (P barriers to physical activity included lack of time, other priorities, and being tired. Following adjustment for sociodemographic and behavioral factors, there were few differences in barriers to physical activity between those with and without AGM, even after stratifying according to physical activity. Adults with AGM report similar barriers to physical activity, as do those without AGM. Programs for those with AGM can therefore focus on the known generic adult-reported barriers to physical activity.

  9. Metabolic consequences of stress during childhood and adolescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pervanidou, Panagiota; Chrousos, George P

    2012-05-01

    Stress, that is, the state of threatened or perceived as threatened homeostasis, is associated with activation of the stress system, mainly comprised by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the arousal/sympathetic nervous systems. The stress system normally functions in a circadian manner and interacts with other systems to regulate a variety of behavioral, endocrine, metabolic, immune, and cardiovascular functions. However, the experience of acute intense physical or emotional stress, as well as of chronic stress, may lead to the development of or may exacerbate several psychologic and somatic conditions, including anxiety disorders, depression, obesity, and the metabolic syndrome. In chronically stressed individuals, both behavioral and neuroendocrine mechanisms promote obesity and metabolic abnormalities: unhealthy lifestyles in conjunction with dysregulation of the stress system and increased secretion of cortisol, catecholamines, and interleukin-6, with concurrently elevated insulin concentrations, lead to development of central obesity, insulin resistance, and the metabolic syndrome. Fetal life, childhood, and adolescence are particularly vulnerable periods of life to the effects of intense acute or chronic stress. Similarly, these life stages are crucial for the later development of behavioral, metabolic, and immune abnormalities. Developing brain structures and functions related to stress regulation, such as the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the mesocorticolimbic system, are more vulnerable to the effects of stress compared with mature structures in adults. Moreover, chronic alterations in cortisol secretion in children may affect the timing of puberty, final stature, and body composition, as well as cause early-onset obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The understanding of stress mechanisms leading to metabolic abnormalities in early life may lead to more effective prevention and intervention strategies of obesity

  10. [Metabolic abnormalities in polycystic ovary syndrome women: obese and non obese].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romano, Lucas Gabriel Maltoni; Bedoschi, Giuliano; Melo, Anderson Sanches; Albuquerque, Felipe Oliveira de; Rosa e Silva, Ana Carolina Japur de Sá; Ferriani, Rui Alberto; Navarro, Paula Andrea

    2011-06-01

    To compare the metabolic characteristics of obese and non-obese young women with polycystic ovary syndrome (POS) from the Brazilian Southeast. This was a cross-sectional study conducted on 218 women of reproductive age with a diagnosis of POS--90 non-obese women (BMI between 18.5 and 29.9 kg/m²), and 128 obese patients (BMI > 30 kg/m²) selected at the time of diagnosis. The frequency of insulin resistance (IR), glucose intolerance (GI), metabolic syndrome (MetS) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) and mean values of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density (HDL) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL), were compared between obese and non-obese patients with POS. The two groups were also compared in terms of clinical and hormonal characteristics (follicle stimulating hormone, prolactin, thyroid stimulating hormone, total testosterone, dihydroepiandrostenedione sulfate, and 17-hydroxyprogesterone). Statistical analysis was performed using the SAS 9.0 software. Quantitative variables were compared by the Student's t-test (data with normal distribution) or by the Mann-Whitney test (non-parametric distribution). Qualitative variables were compared by the Fisher test. The level of significance was set at 5% (p women with POS have a higher frequency of IR, GI and MS than non-obese. However, the occurrence of metabolic disorders is elevated also in the non-obese patients, suggesting that the presence of the syndrome may favor the development of metabolic comorbidities with potential medium- and long-term repercussions.

  11. Pretreatment of the macroalgae Chaetomorpha linum for the production of bioethanol - Comparison of five pretreatment technologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schultz-Jensen, Nadja; Thygesen, Anders; Thomsen, Sune Tjalfe

    2013-01-01

    -assisted pretreatment (PAP) and ball milling (BM), to determine effects of the pretreatment methods on the conversion of C. linum into ethanol by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). WO and BM showed the highest ethanol yield of 44. g ethanol/100. g glucan, which was close to the theoretical ethanol......A qualified estimate for pretreatment of the macroalgae Chaetomorpha linum for ethanol production was given, based on the experience of pretreatment of land-based biomass. C. linum was subjected to hydrothermal pretreatment (HTT), wet oxidation (WO), steam explosion (STEX), plasma...... yield of 57. g ethanol/100. g glucan. A 64% higher ethanol yield, based on raw material, was reached after pretreatment with WO and BM compared with unpretreated C. linum, however 50% of the biomass was lost during WO. Results indicated that the right combination of pretreatment and marine macroalgae...

  12. Effect of repeated benzene inhalation exposures on benzene metabolism, binding to hemoglobin, and induction of micronuclei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sabourin, P.J.; Sun, J.D.; MacGregor, J.T.; Wehr, C.M.; Birnbaum, L.S.; Lucier, G.; Henderson, R.F.

    1990-01-01

    Metabolism of benzene is thought to be necessary to produce the toxic effects, including carcinogenicity, associated with benzene exposure. To extrapolate from the results of rodent studies to potential health risks in man, one must know how benzene metabolism is affected by species, dose, dose rate, and repeated versus single exposures. The purpose of our studies was to determine the effect of repeated inhalation exposures on the metabolism of [14C]benzene by rodents. Benzene metabolism was assessed by characterizing and quantitating urinary metabolites, and by quantitating 14C bound to hemoglobin and micronuclei induction. F344/N rats and B6C3F1 mice were exposed, nose-only, to 600 ppm benzene or to air (control) for 6 hr/day, 5 days/week for 3 weeks. On the last day, both benzene-pretreated and control animals were exposed to 600 ppm, 14C-labeled benzene for 6 hr. Individual benzene metabolites in urine collected for 24 hr after the exposure were analyzed. There was a significant decrease in the respiratory rate of mice (but not rats) pretreated with benzene which resulted in lower levels of urinary [14C]benzene metabolites. The analyses indicated that the only effects of benzene pretreatment on the metabolite profile in rat or mouse urine were a slight shift from glucuronidation to sulfation in mice and a shift from sulfation to glucuronidation in rats. Benzene pretreatment also had no effect, in either species, on formation of [14C]benzene-derived hemoglobin adducts. Mice and rats had similar levels of hemoglobin adduct binding, despite the higher metabolism of benzene by mice. This indicates that hemoglobin adduct formation occurs with higher efficiency in rats. After 1 week of exposure to 600 ppm benzene, the frequency of micronucleated, polychromatic erythrocytes (PCEs) in mice was significantly increased

  13. [Advances in research on mechanisms of seed pre-treatments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xu; Liu, Juan; Liu, Qian; Gao, Ya Ni; Wang, Quan Zhen

    2016-11-18

    Seeds play a vital role in nature and agro-ecosystems. The success of seed germination and the establishment of a normal seedling determine the propagation and survival of a plant species, but seed vigor is often seriously damaged because of seed aging, dormancy and the deterioration of natural habitat. Thus, exploring methods for improving germination quality is of great significance to ecology and the economy. Based on the latest international reports, seed pre-treatments are the most practical and effective methods for improving plant performance, increasing yields and enhancing stress resistance. This review provided a summary of the current pre-sowing treatment technologies and the physiological and biochemical responses of plants to these methods by addressing gene expression, cytological effects, enzyme system activities, material and energy metabolism, antioxidation mechanisms and signal transduction pathways. We also interpreted the mechanisms of the seed pre-treatment methods from aspects of seed germination acceleration and stress resistance enhancement. The bottleneck in seed pre-treatments at the cytological and molecular levels and the problems involved in their application were also discussed. Thus far, most studies had largely focused on the partial reaction alterations of plant biochemistry and enzyme activities, and they had generally been characterized by a lack of systematic and holistic study for applications to crop production. Finally, we proposed an outlook for further study in an attempt to provide a prospective and scientific reference for plant germplasm conservation, high-efficiency organic agriculture development and ecological environment re-construction.

  14. Pretreatment organ function in patients with advanced head and neck cancer: clinical outcome measures and patients' views

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rasch Coen RN

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Aim of this study is to thoroughly assess pretreatment organ function in advanced head and neck cancer through various clinical outcome measures and patients' views. Methods A comprehensive, multidimensional assessment was used, that included quality of life, swallowing, mouth opening, and weight changes. Fifty-five patients with stage III-IV disease were entered in this study prior to organ preserving (chemoradiation treatment. Results All patients showed pretreatment abnormalities or problems, identified by one or more of the outcome measures. Most frequent problems concerned swallowing, pain, and weight loss. Interestingly, clinical outcome measures and patients' perception did no always concur. E.g. videofluoroscopy identified aspiration and laryngeal penetration in 18% of the patients, whereas only 7 patients (13% perceived this as problematic; only 2 out of 7 patients with objective trismus actually perceived trismus. Conclusion The assessment identified several problems already pre-treatment, in this patient population. A thorough assessment of both clinical measures and patients' views appears to be necessary to gain insight in all (perceived pre-existing functional and quality of life problems.

  15. Drug Metabolizing Enzyme and Transporter Gene Variation, Nicotine Metabolism, Prospective Abstinence, and Cigarette Consumption.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew W Bergen

    Full Text Available The Nicotine Metabolite Ratio (NMR, ratio of trans-3'-hydroxycotinine and cotinine, has previously been associated with CYP2A6 activity, response to smoking cessation treatments, and cigarette consumption. We searched for drug metabolizing enzyme and transporter (DMET gene variation associated with the NMR and prospective abstinence in 2,946 participants of laboratory studies of nicotine metabolism and of clinical trials of smoking cessation therapies. Stage I was a meta-analysis of the association of 507 common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs at 173 DMET genes with the NMR in 449 participants of two laboratory studies. Nominally significant associations were identified in ten genes after adjustment for intragenic SNPs; CYP2A6 and two CYP2A6 SNPs attained experiment-wide significance adjusted for correlated SNPs (CYP2A6 PACT=4.1E-7, rs4803381 PACT=4.5E-5, rs1137115, PACT=1.2E-3. Stage II was mega-regression analyses of 10 DMET SNPs with pretreatment NMR and prospective abstinence in up to 2,497 participants from eight trials. rs4803381 and rs1137115 SNPs were associated with pretreatment NMR at genome-wide significance. In post-hoc analyses of CYP2A6 SNPs, we observed nominally significant association with: abstinence in one pharmacotherapy arm; cigarette consumption among all trial participants; and lung cancer in four case:control studies. CYP2A6 minor alleles were associated with reduced NMR, CPD, and lung cancer risk. We confirmed the major role that CYP2A6 plays in nicotine metabolism, and made novel findings with respect to genome-wide significance and associations with CPD, abstinence and lung cancer risk. Additional multivariate analyses with patient variables and genetic modeling will improve prediction of nicotine metabolism, disease risk and smoking cessation treatment prognosis.

  16. Preoperative octreotide therapy and surgery in acromegaly: associations between glucose homeostasis and treatment response.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helseth, R; Carlsen, S M; Bollerslev, J; Svartberg, J; Øksnes, M; Skeie, S; Fougner, S L

    2016-02-01

    In acromegaly, high GH/IGF-1 levels associate with abnormal glucose metabolism. Somatostatin analogs (SSAs) reduce GH and IGF-1 but inhibit insulin secretion. We studied glucose homeostasis in de novo patients with acromegaly and changes in glucose metabolism after treatment with SSA and surgery. In this post hoc analysis from a randomized controlled trial, 55 de novo patients with acromegaly, not using antidiabetic medication, were included. Before surgery, 26 patients received SSAs for 6 months. HbA1c, fasting glucose, and oral glucose tolerance test were performed at baseline, after SSA pretreatment and at 3 months postoperative. Area under curve of glucose (AUC-G) was calculated. Glucose homeostasis was compared to baseline levels of GH and IGF-1, change after SSA pretreatment, and remission both after SSA pretreatment and 3 months postoperative. In de novo patients, IGF-1/GH levels did not associate with baseline glucose parameters. After SSA pretreatment, changes in GH/IGF-1 correlated positively to change in HbA1c levels (both p acromegaly, disease activity did not correlate with glucose homeostasis. Surgical treatment of acromegaly improved glucose metabolism in both cured and not cured patients, while SSA pretreatment led to deterioration in glucose homeostasis in patients not achieving biochemical control.

  17. Biomimetic cell wall model studies to identify new lignin bioengineering targets for improving biomass susceptibility to pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Increasingly, bioengineering of lignin to contain atypical building blocks from other metabolic pathways is being pursued to custom-design lignin that is easier to remove by chemical pretreatments and less inhibitory toward polysaccharide saccharification. Because plants produce such a diverse array...

  18. Enzymatic hydrolsis of pretreated rice straw

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vlasenko, E.Y.; Shoemaker, S.P. [California Inst. of Food and Agricultural Research, Davis, CA (United States); Ding, H. [California Univ., Davis (Canada). Dept. of Food Science and Technology; Labavitch, J.M. [California Univ., Davis, CA (United States). Dept. of Pomology

    1997-02-01

    California rice straw is being evaluated as a feedstock for production of power and fuel. This paper examines the initial steps in the process: pretreatment of rice straw and enzymatic hydrolysis of the polysaccharides in the pretreated material to soluble sugars. Rice straw was subjected to three distinct pretreatment procedures: acid-catalyzed steam explosion (Swan Biomass Company), acid hydrolysis (U.S. DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory), and ammonia fiber explosion or AFEX (Texas A and M University). Standard conditions for each pretreatment were used, but none was optimized for rice straw specifically. Six commercial cellulases, products of Genencor International (USA), Novo (Denmark), Iogen (Canada) and Fermtech (Russia) were used for hydrolysis. The Swan- and the acid-pretreatments effectively removed hemicellulose from rice straw, providing high yields of fermentable sugars. The AFEX-pretreatment was distinctly different from other pretreatments in that it did not significantly solubilize hemicellulose. All three pretreatment procedures substantially increased enzymatic digestibility of rice straw. Three commercial Trichoderma-reesei-derived enzyme preparations: Cellulase 100L (Iogen), Spezyme CP (Genencor), and Al (Fermtech), were more active on pretreated rice straw compared than others tested. Conditions for hydrolysis of rice straw using Cellulase 100L were evaluated. The supplementation of this enzyme preparation with cellobiase (Novozyme 188) significantly improved the parameters of hydrolysis for the Swan- and the acid-pretreated materials, but did not affect the hydrolysis of the AFEX-pretreated rice straw. (Author)

  19. Effect of pomegranate juice pre-treatment on the transport of carbamazepine across rat intestine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D Adukondalu

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available "n  "nBackground and the purpose of the study: Many drug substances along with a variety of naturally occurring dietary or herbal components interact with the CYP enzyme system.The present study was aimed to investigate the effect of pomegranate juice pre-treatment on the transport of carbamazepine across the rat intestine "nMethods: The transport of carbamazepine across different parts of rat intestine was studied by everted and non-everted sac methods. The control and pomegranate juice (10 ml Kg-1 for 7 days pre-treated rats were sacrificed and isolated the intestine. The sacs of intestine were prepared, treated with carbamazepine solution and then placed in dulbeccos buffer. Samples were collected periodically and the drug content was estimated using HPLC. Results and conclusion: The results show that there was a significant (p<0.05 difference in the transport of carbamazepine from the intestinal sacs of pretreated with pomegranate juice and control. It seems that pomegranatejuice might have induced CYP3A4enzymes and hence drug is extensively metabolized.

  20. Genome-Scale Reconstruction of the Human Astrocyte Metabolic Network

    OpenAIRE

    Mart?n-Jim?nez, Cynthia A.; Salazar-Barreto, Diego; Barreto, George E.; Gonz?lez, Janneth

    2017-01-01

    Astrocytes are the most abundant cells of the central nervous system; they have a predominant role in maintaining brain metabolism. In this sense, abnormal metabolic states have been found in different neuropathological diseases. Determination of metabolic states of astrocytes is difficult to model using current experimental approaches given the high number of reactions and metabolites present. Thus, genome-scale metabolic networks derived from transcriptomic data can be used as a framework t...

  1. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among patients with type 2 ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    DM), there is a multiple set of risk factors that commonly appear together forming what is now known as the 'Metabolic Syndrome' (MS). This 'clustering' of metabolic abnormalities that occur in the same individual appear to confer substantial ...

  2. Loss of neuronal integrity: a cause of hypometabolism in patients with traumatic brain injury without MRI abnormality in the chronic stage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shiga, Tohru; Matsuyama, Tetsuaki; Kageyama, Hiroyuki; Kohno, Tomoya; Tamaki, Nagara; Ikoma, Katsunori; Isoyama, Hirotaka; Katoh, Chietsugu; Kuge, Yuji; Terae, Satoshi

    2006-01-01

    Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes brain dysfunction in many patients. However, some patients have severe brain dysfunction but display no abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). There have been some reports of hypometabolism even in such patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between metabolic abnormality and loss of neuronal integrity in TBI patients with some symptoms but without MRI abnormalities. The study population comprised ten patients with TBI and ten normal volunteers. All of the patients were examined at least 1 year after the injury. 15 O-labelled gas PET and [ 11 C]flumazenil (FMZ) positron emission tomography (PET) were carried out. The cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO 2 ) and binding potential (BP) images of FMZ were calculated. Axial T2WI, T2*WI and FLAIR images were obtained. Coronal images were added in some cases. All of the patients had normal MRI findings, and all showed areas with abnormally low CMRO 2 . Low uptake on BP images was observed in six patients (60%). No lesions that showed low uptake on BP images were without low CMRO 2 . On the other hand, there were 14 lesions with low CMRO 2 but without BP abnormalities. These results indicate that there are metabolic abnormalities in TBI patients with some symptoms after brain injury but without abnormalities on MRI. Some of the hypometabolic lesions showed low BP, indicating a loss of neuronal integrity. Thus, FMZ PET may have potential to distinguish hypometabolism caused by neuronal loss from that caused by other factors. (orig.)

  3. Relationship between the murine Ah locus and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin hepatic metabolism, enzyme induction, and toxicity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shen, E.S.

    1988-01-01

    The influence of the Ah locus and hepatic microsomal enzyme induction on 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) metabolism and hepatotoxicity was investigated using C57BL/6J (C57) and DBA/2J (DBA) mice. C57 mice are more sensitive to toxic and enzyme inductive effects of 2,3,7,8-TCDD than DBA mice. Characterization of interstrain differences in hepatic enzyme induction, 2,3,7,8-TCDD metabolism, and hepatotoxicity may aid in identifying the mechanism(s) of 2,3,7,8-TCDD toxicity. The hepatic uptake and metabolism of [ 14 C]2,3,7,8-TCDD were studied using isolated hepatocytes from control and 2,3,7,8-TCDD-pretreated C57 and DBA mice. Pretreated mice were injected with 2,3,7,8-TCDD at doses that maximally induce aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity or at doses that approach the LD 50 value. Despite the induction of hepatic 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase activity and benzo[a]pyrene metabolism, all 2,3,7,8-TCDD pretreatment doses failed to increase the rate of [ 14 C]2,3,7,8-TCDD metabolism for both C57 and DBA mice. These results suggest that the uptake and rate of hepatic metabolism of 2,3,7,8-TCDD do not correlate with genetic differences at the murine Ah locus

  4. Metabolic syndrome as a risk factor for neurological disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farooqui, Akhlaq A; Farooqui, Tahira; Panza, Francesco; Frisardi, Vincenza

    2012-03-01

    The metabolic syndrome is a cluster of common pathologies: abdominal obesity linked to an excess of visceral fat, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and hypertension. At the molecular level, metabolic syndrome is accompanied not only by dysregulation in the expression of adipokines (cytokines and chemokines), but also by alterations in levels of leptin, a peptide hormone released by white adipose tissue. These changes modulate immune response and inflammation that lead to alterations in the hypothalamic 'bodyweight/appetite/satiety set point,' resulting in the initiation and development of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a risk factor for neurological disorders such as stroke, depression and Alzheimer's disease. The molecular mechanism underlying the mirror relationship between metabolic syndrome and neurological disorders is not fully understood. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that all cellular and biochemical alterations observed in metabolic syndrome like impairment of endothelial cell function, abnormality in essential fatty acid metabolism and alterations in lipid mediators along with abnormal insulin/leptin signaling may represent a pathological bridge between metabolic syndrome and neurological disorders such as stroke, Alzheimer's disease and depression. The purpose of this review is not only to describe the involvement of brain in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome, but also to link the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome with neurochemical changes in stroke, Alzheimer's disease and depression to a wider audience of neuroscientists with the hope that this discussion will initiate more studies on the relationship between metabolic syndrome and neurological disorders. © Springer Basel AG 2011

  5. Study of Black Cumin (Nigella sativa L. Germination Attributes and Seed Vigur under Salinity Stress by Osmopriming Accelerators Pretreatment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K Fathi Amirkhiz

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Soil and water salinity in arid and semi-arid regions, is one of the most important stresses, can severely limit crop production. Black Cumin (Nigella sativa L. is annual important herbal plant in Rununculaceae Family that sense to salinity. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of the Priming on seed germination of Black Cumin under saline stress. The experiment was carried out as factorial based on completely randomized design (CRD with three replications. The experimental factors were salinity stress including: (0, 62.2, 124.2, 186.2 and 248.8 mM and three levels of priming, seed primed with Kno3 (0.2 %, for the period of 72 hours, GA (500 ppm, during 48 hours and hydro priming (water distiller, during 24 hours. A saline stress level treated by applies of NaCl, and for priming of distiller water use hydropriming technique. At the first stage, Black Cumin seed was treat and dried at 25°C, then subjected to saline stress treatments for two week at room temperature. The results showed that priming technique had a significant effect (p≤0.01 on seedling parameters. Among pretreatment, The Kno3 had the most positive effect on germination coefficient (GC and thus GA had the most positive effect on mean germination time (MGT. In order hand, these seeds at the minimum time had the most germination rate. Means comparing showed that the most and least rate of germination was obtained by KNO3 and Hydro priming respectively. So under different level of saline stress, pretreatments of KNO3 and hydro priming had useful effect on radical length, more lateral roots and higher proportion of root to plumule, and the most root and plumule fresh weight was obtain by hydro priming pretreatments. So pretreatment of 500 ppm GA reduced number of abnormal seedlings.The simple correlation coefficients showed that radical length with mean germination time (MGT had significantly negative coefficient (R2=-0.726**, with abnormal seedlings number had no

  6. Effect of chronic renal failure with metabolic acidosis on alanine metabolism in isolated liver cells

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cano, N.; Sturm, J. M.; Meijer, A. J.; El-Mir, M. Y.; Novaretti, R.; Reynier, J. P.; Leverve, X. M.

    2004-01-01

    Background Et aims: Decreased ureagenesis and gluconeogenesis from atanine have been reported during chronic renal failure in rat. This study addressed the respective roles of plasma-membrane transport and intracellular metabolism in these abnormalities of alanine pathways. Methods: In hepatocytes

  7. Altered carbon dioxide metabolism and creatine abnormalities in rett syndrome

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Halbach, Nicky S J; Smeets, Eric E J; Bierau, Jörgen; Keularts, Irene M L W; Plasqui, Guy; Julu, Peter O O; Engerström, Ingegerd Witt; Bakker, Jaap A.; Curfs, Leopold M G

    2012-01-01

    Despite their good appetite, many females with Rett syndrome (RTT) meet the criteria for moderate to severe malnutrition. Although feeding difficulties may play a part in this, other constitutional factors such as altered metabolic processes are suspected. Irregular breathing is a common clinical

  8. Aromatic inhibitors derived from ammonia-pretreated lignocellulose hinder bacterial ethanologenesis by activating regulatory circuits controlling inhibitor efflux and detoxification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David H. Keating

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Efficient microbial conversion of lignocellulosic hydrolysates to biofuels is a key barrier to the economically viable deployment of lignocellulosic biofuels. A chief contributor to this barrier is the impact on microbial processes and energy metabolism of lignocellulose-derived inhibitors, including phenolic carboxylates, phenolic amides (for ammonia-pretreated biomass, phenolic aldehydes, and furfurals. To understand the bacterial pathways induced by inhibitors present in ammonia-pretreated biomass hydrolysates, which are less well studied than acid-pretreated biomass hydrolysates, we developed and exploited synthetic mimics of ammonia-pretreated corn stover hydrolysate (ACSH. To determine regulatory responses to the inhibitors normally present in ACSH, we measured transcript and protein levels in an Escherichia coli ethanologen using RNA-seq and quantitative proteomics during fermentation to ethanol of synthetic hydrolysates containing or lacking the inhibitors. Our study identified four major regulators mediating these responses, the MarA/SoxS/Rob network, AaeR, FrmR, and YqhC. Induction of these regulons was correlated with a reduced rate of ethanol production, buildup of pyruvate, depletion of ATP and NAD(PH, and an inhibition of xylose conversion. The aromatic aldehyde inhibitor 5-hydroxymethylfurfural appeared to be reduced to its alcohol form by the ethanologen during fermentation, whereas phenolic acid and amide inhibitors were not metabolized. Together, our findings establish that the major regulatory responses to lignocellulose-derived inhibitors are mediated by transcriptional rather than translational regulators, suggest that energy consumed for inhibitor efflux and detoxification may limit biofuel production, and identify a network of regulators for future synthetic biology efforts.

  9. Natural compounds regulate energy metabolism by the modulating the activity of lipid-sensing nuclear receptors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goto, Tsuyoshi; Kim, Young-Il; Takahashi, Nobuyuki; Kawada, Teruo

    2013-01-01

    Obesity causes excess fat accumulation in various tissues, most notoriously in the adipose tissue, along with other insulin-responsive organs such as skeletal muscle and the liver, which predisposes an individual to the development of metabolic abnormalities. The molecular mechanisms underlying obesity-induced metabolic abnormalities have not been completely elucidated; however, in recent years, the search for therapies to prevent the development of obesity and obesity-associated metabolic disorders has increased. It is known that several nuclear receptors, when activated by specific ligands, regulate carbohydrate and lipid metabolism at the transcriptional level. The expression of lipid metabolism-related enzymes is directly regulated by the activity of various nuclear receptors via their interaction with specific response elements in promoters of those genes. Many natural compounds act as ligands of nuclear receptors and regulate carbohydrate and lipid metabolism by regulating the activities of these nuclear receptors. In this review, we describe our current knowledge of obesity, the role of lipid-sensing nuclear receptors in energy metabolism, and several examples of food factors that act as agonists or antagonists of nuclear receptors, which may be useful for the management of obesity and the accompanying energy metabolism abnormalities. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  10. Association between abnormal myocardial fatty acid metabolism and cardiac-derived death among patients undergoing hemodialysis: results from a cohort study in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moroi, Masao; Tamaki, Nagara; Nishimura, Masato; Haze, Kazuo; Nishimura, Tsunehiko; Kusano, Eiji; Akiba, Takashi; Sugimoto, Tokuichiro; Hase, Hiroki; Hara, Kazuhiro; Nakata, Tomoaki; Kumita, Shinichiro; Nagai, Yoji; Hashimoto, Akiyoshi; Momose, Mitsuru; Miyakoda, Keiko; Hasebe, Naoyuki; Kikuchi, Kenjiro

    2013-03-01

    Detecting myocardial ischemia in hemodialysis patients is crucial given the high incidence of silent ischemia and the high cardiovascular mortality rates. Abnormal myocardial fatty acid metabolism as determined by imaging with (123)I-labeled BMIPP (β-methyl iodophenyl-pentadecanoic acid) might be associated with cardiac-derived death in hemodialysis patients. Prospective observational study. Asymptomatic hemodialysis patients with one or more cardiovascular risk factors, but without known coronary artery disease, were followed up for 3 years at 48 Japanese hospitals (406 men, 271 women; mean age, 64 years). Baseline BMIPP summed scores semiquantified using a 17-segment 5-point system (normal, 0; absent, 4). Cardiac-derived death, including cardiac and sudden death. HRs were estimated using a Cox model for associations between BMIPP summed scores and cardiac-derived death, adjusting for potential confounders of age, sex, body mass index, dialysis duration, and cardiovascular risk factors. Rates of all-cause mortality and cardiac-derived death were 18.5% and 6.8%, respectively. Cardiac-derived death (acute myocardial infarction [n = 10], congestive heart failure [n = 13], arrhythmia [n = 2], valvular heart disease [n = 1], and sudden death [n = 20]) accounted for 36.8% of all-cause deaths. Cardiac-derived death (n = 46) was associated with age, history of heart failure, and BMIPP summed scores of 4 or higher (HR, 2.9; P death-free survival rates were 95.7%, 90.6%, and 78.8% when BMIPP summed scores were 3 or lower, 4-8, and 9 or higher, respectively. BMIPP summed score also was a predictor of all-cause death (HR, 1.6; P = 0.009). Sudden death of unknown cause was considered to have been cardiac derived, although a coronary origin was not confirmed. Abnormal myocardial fatty acid metabolism is associated with cardiac-derived death in hemodialysis patients. BMIPP single-proton emission computed tomography appears clinically useful for predicting cardiac-derived death

  11. Pretreatment Solution for Water Recovery Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muirhead, Dean (Inventor)

    2018-01-01

    Chemical pretreatments are used to produce usable water by treating a water source with a chemical pretreatment that contains a hexavalent chromium and an acid to generate a treated water source, wherein the concentration of sulfate compounds in the acid is negligible, and wherein the treated water source remains substantially free of precipitates after the addition of the chemical pretreatment. Other methods include reducing the pH in urine to be distilled for potable water extraction by pretreating the urine before distillation with a pretreatment solution comprising one or more acid sources selected from a group consisting of phosphoric acid, hydrochloric acid, and nitric acid, wherein the urine remains substantially precipitate free after the addition of the pretreatment solution. Another method described comprises a process for reducing precipitation in urine to be processed for water extraction by mixing the urine with a pretreatment solution comprising hexavalent chromium compound and phosphoric acid.

  12. Is myocardial fatty acid metabolism different between hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and hypertensive hypertrophy?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Narita, Michihiro; Kurihara, Tadashi; Usami, Masahisa; Honda, Minoru

    1994-01-01

    To investigate characteristics of fatty acid metabolism in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), we performed myocardial imaging with 123 I-iodophenyl-3-methylpentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) in 24 HCM patients, 13 patients with hypertensive hypertrophy (HT) and 10 normal subjects. Rest myocardial imaging with 123 I-BMIPP was obtained at 20 minutes and 3 hours after 123 I-BMIPP injection. Rest 201 Tl imaging was also performed. In addition to ordinary tomography, whole body imaging was performed to calculate %Uptake (percentage of cardiac uptake of the isotope to total injected dose). As global indexes of fatty acid metabolism, we calculated two parameters; Uptake Ratio (%Uptake of 123 I-BMIPP normalized by myocardial perfusion) and WOR (percent reduction of myocardial 123 I-BMIPP within 3 hours). Regional abnormality was evaluated by visual assessment of ordinary tomograms and by BMIPP/Tl map. BMIPP/Tl map was made from Bull's-eye maps of 123 I-BMIPP and 201 Tl, and it represented 123 I-BMIPP uptake normalized by myocardial perfusion of each pixel which constructed the image. %Uptake of 123 I-BMIPP was not different among three groups. Uptake Ratio was significantly (p HT (1.03±0.08)>HCM (0.87±0.09). WOR of 123 I-BMIPP was accerelated in HCM (12.7±4.7%) and HT (10.2±2.9%) compared with normal (5.1±3.1%) (p 123 I-BMIPP distribution was found in 17 of 24 patients (71%) including 3 patients with equivocal abnormality. In HT patients, only equivocal abnormality was observed in 23%. In BMIPP/Tl map, abnormality was observed in 92% of HCM and 8% of HT. Although global myocardial fatty acid metabolism was equally disturbed both in HCM and HT, regional abnormality of fatty acid metabolism was observed preferetially in HCM. This indicated myocardial fatty acid metabolism was not identical between HCM and HT. (author)

  13. Abnormality of cerebral cortical glucose metabolism in temporal lobe epilepsy with cognitive function impairment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bang-Hung Yang; Tsung-Szu Yeh; Tung-Ping Su; Jyh-Cheng Chen; Ren-Shyan Liu

    2004-01-01

    =95). Significantly negative correlation was demonstrated in superior temporal gyms of right temporal lobe (corrected p = 0.003, voxel size 113). Significantly positive correlation between PIQ and rCMRglc was shown in posterior lobe of cerebellum (corrected p < 0.001, voxel size =244). There was no significantly negative correlation between PIQ and rCMRglc. Conclusions: This study provided neuroimaging evidence of cerebral metabolic abnormalities which was related to cognition function impairment in temporal lobe epilepsy patient. All lesions were located with ipislateral hemisphere but outside the seizure foci. This may suggest that cognition impairment is not directly related to seizure foci but may be related with remoting areas. The epilepsy patients whose seizures will prove to be refractory should be identified as early as possible, and thus the need for new prognostic factors of intractable epilepsy is evident. Since multiple seizure foci indicated poor prognosis, quantification of Brodmann area 4, 32, 18 and cerebellum in FDG PET images may be a prognostic factor. (authors)

  14. Assessing the Effect of Pretreatments on the Structure and Functionality of Microbial Communities for the Bioconversion of Microalgae to Biogas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olivia Córdova

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Microalgae biomethanization is driven by anaerobic sludge associated microorganisms and is generally limited by the incomplete hydrolysis of the microalgae cell wall, which results in a low availability of microalgal biomass for the methanogenic community. The application of enzymatic pretreatments, e.g., with hydrolytic enzymes, is among the strategies used to work around the incomplete hydrolysis of the microalgae cell wall. Despite the proven efficacy of these pretreatments in increasing biomethanization, the changes that a given pretreatment may cause to the anaerobic sludge associated microorganisms during biomethanization are still unknown. This study evaluated the changes in the expression of the metatranscriptome of anaerobic sludge associated microorganisms during Chlorella sorokiniana biomethanization without pretreatment (WP (control and pretreated with commercial cellulase in order to increase the solubilization of the microalgal organic matter. Pretreated microalgal biomass experienced significant increases in biogas the production. The metatranscriptomic analysis of control samples showed functionally active microalgae cells, a bacterial community dominated by γ- and δ-proteobacteria, and a methanogenic community dominated by Methanospirillum hungatei. In contrast, pretreated samples were characterized by the absence of active microalgae cells and a bacteria population dominated by species of the Clostridia class. These differences are also related to the differential activation of metabolic pathways e.g., those associated with the degradation of organic matter during its biomethanization.

  15. Methanol-enhanced removal and metabolic conversion of formaldehyde by a black soybean from formaldehyde solutions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Hao; Xiong, Yun; Li, Kun-Zhi; Chen, Li-Mei

    2017-02-01

    Methanol regulation of some biochemical and physiological characteristics in plants has been documented in several references. This study showed that the pretreatment of methanol with an appropriate concentration could stimulate the HCHO uptake by black soybean (BS) plants. The process of methanol-stimulated HCHO uptake by BS plants was optimized using the Central Composite Design and response surface methodology for the three variables, methanol concentration, HCHO concentration, and treatment time. Under optimized conditions, the best stimulation effect of methanol on HCHO uptake was obtained. 13 C-NMR analysis indicated that the H 13 CHO metabolism produced H 13 COOH, [2- 13 C]Gly, and [3- 13 C]Ser in BS plant roots. Methanol pretreatment enhanced the metabolic conversion of H 13 CHO in BS plant roots, which consequently increased HCHO uptake by BS plants. Therefore, methanol pretreatment might be used to increase HCHO uptake by plants in the phytoremediation of HCHO-polluted solutions.

  16. Disrupted Bone Metabolism in Long-Term Bedridden Patients.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Keiko Eimori

    Full Text Available Bedridden patients are at risk of osteoporosis and fractures, although the long-term bone metabolic processes in these patients are poorly understood. Therefore, we aimed to determine how long-term bed confinement affects bone metabolism.This study included 36 patients who had been bedridden from birth due to severe immobility. Bone mineral density and bone metabolism markers were compared to the bedridden period in all study patients. Changes in the bone metabolism markers during a follow-up of 12 years were studied in 17 patients aged <30 years at baseline.The bone mineral density was reduced (0.58±0.19 g/cm3, and the osteocalcin (13.9±12.4 ng/mL and urine N-terminal telopeptide (NTX levels (146.9±134.0 mM BCE/mM creatinine were greater than the cutoff value for predicting fracture. Among the bone metabolism markers studied, osteocalcin and NTX were negatively associated with the bedridden period. During the follow-up, osteocalcin and parathyroid hormone were decreased, and the 25(OH vitamin D was increased. NTX at baseline was negatively associated with bone mineral density after 12 years.Unique bone metabolic abnormalities were found in patients who had been bedridden for long periods, and these metabolic abnormalities were altered by further bed confinement. Appropriate treatment based on the unique bone metabolic changes may be important in long-term bedridden patients.

  17. The metabolic syndrome: prevalence, CHD risk, and treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarti, Cinzia; Gallagher, John

    2006-01-01

    An increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) morbidity and mortality is associated with the metabolic syndrome, a condition characterized by the concomitant presence of several abnormalities, including abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, insulin resistance (with or without glucose intolerance or diabetes), microalbuminuria, prothrombotic, and proinflammatory states. Estimates of the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome indicate that this condition is now common and likely to increase dramatically over the coming decades, in parallel with greater rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Risk factors for the metabolic syndrome are already present in obese children and adolescents. Thus, identifying and treating all affected individuals promptly and optimally are critical to ensure that this potentially challenging healthcare burden is minimized. Here, we review the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome, dyslipidemias, and CHD risk. Although changes in lifestyle are fundamental to reducing many of the CHD risk factors associated with the metabolic syndrome, pharmacologic interventions also play an important role. Retrospective subanalyses of the effects of statins on coronary event rates and lipid levels in patients with the metabolic syndrome included in clinical trials indicate that these agents are beneficial in correcting the extensive lipid abnormalities that are frequently present in these individuals. However, the optimal management of metabolic syndrome dyslipidemia will depend on the outcomes of future prospective clinical trials. This review examines the underlying causes and prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its impact on CHD morbidity and mortality and discusses the role of statins in optimizing its management.

  18. Does family history of metabolic syndrome affect the metabolic profile phenotype in young healthy individuals?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lipińska, Anna; Koczaj-Bremer, Magdalena; Jankowski, Krzysztof; Kaźmierczak, Agnieszka; Ciurzyński, Michał; Ou-Pokrzewińska, Aisha; Mikocka, Ewelina; Lewandowski, Zbigniew; Demkow, Urszula; Pruszczyk, Piotr

    2014-01-01

    Early identification of high-risk individuals is key for the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of this study was to assess the potential impact of a family history of metabolic syndrome (fhMetS) on the risk of metabolic disorders (abnormal body mass, lipid profile, glucose metabolism, insulin resistance, and blood pressure) in healthy young individuals. We studied CVD risk factors in 90 healthy volunteers, aged 27-39 years; of these, 78 had fhMetS and 12 were without fhMetS (control group). Fasting serum lipids, glucose, and insulin levels were assayed, and anthropometric parameters and blood pressure using, an ambulatory blood pressure monitoring system, were measured. Nutritional and physical activity habits were assessed. Despite similar nutritional and physical activity habits, abnormal body mass was found in 53.2% of the fhMetS participants and 46.1% of the control participants (p = 0.54). The occurrence of obesity was 19.4% and 0%, respectively (p = 0.69). Compared to the control participants, fhMetS was associated with significantly higher total cholesterol (5.46 mmol/L vs. 4.69 mmol/L, p family history of MetS.

  19. Effect of isoproturon pretreatment on the biochemical toxicodynamics of anilofos in male rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hazarika, A; Sarkar, S N

    2001-08-28

    Anilofos and isoproturon are important herbicides of organophosphorus and substituted phenylurea groups, respectively. Isoproturon is an inducer of hepatic drug-metabolizing enzymes. Animals and humans have the potential to be exposed to the mixture of these intentionally introduced environmental xenobiotics, but toxicological interactions between these herbicides are not known. Effects of isoproturon pretreatment (675 mg/kg/day for 3 consecutive days) on the toxic actions of anilofos administered orally as a single dose (850 mg/kg) were evaluated by determining some biochemical attributes in blood (erythrocyte/plasma), brain and liver of rats. Anilofos or isoproturon alone or in combination failed to produce any noticeable signs of cholinergic hyperactivity and behavioural alterations. Isoproturon did not potentiate the anticholinesterase action of anilofos in blood and liver. Inhibition of brain acetylcholinesterase was significantly protected. No significant alteration in anilofos-mediated production of lipid peroxidation was observed in erythrocyte and brain of isoproturon-pretreated rats, but it was significantly increased in liver. Anilofos did not affect GSH and GST. The isoproturon-mediated increase in GSH levels of brain (threefold) and liver (3.6-fold) was also not affected following combined administration. GST activity was increased in liver of rats given isoproturon alone (fourfold) or in combination with anilofos (2.8-fold). Activities of total ATPase, Mg2+-ATPase and Na+-K+-ATPase were not affected in rats given either anilofos alone or herbicides in sequence. With these treatments, there were no alterations in the protein content of plasma, brain and liver. Overall findings of the study indicate that isoproturon pretreatment does not alter the toxicity of anilofos, the GSH-GST metabolic pathway may not have a significant implication in the detoxification of anilofos and the production of a reactive oxygen species may be a factor in mediating

  20. Inherited lipodystrophies and the metabolic syndrome

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Monajemi, Houshang; Stroes, Erik; Hegele, Robert A.; Fliers, Eric

    2007-01-01

    Lipodystrophies represent a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by an abnormal subcutaneous fat distribution, the extent of which can vary from localized, to partial, to generalized lipoatrophy. Whereas partial and generalized lipodystrophies are each associated with metabolic

  1. Pre-diabetes and the metabolic syndrome

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    which is termed impaired fasting glycaemia. (IFG), or an abnormal ... Insulin resistance is a feature common to ... fast patients are given a standard dose ... Different criteria for the diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome ... drug therapy for high.

  2. Cerebellar involvement in metabolic disorders: a pattern-recognition approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Steinlin, M.; Boltshauser, E.; Blaser, S.

    1998-01-01

    Inborn errors of metabolism can affect the cerebellum during development, maturation and later during life. We have established criteria for pattern recognition of cerebellar abnormalities in metabolic disorders. The abnormalities can be divided into four major groups: cerebellar hypoplasia (CH), hyperplasia, cerebellar atrophy (CA), cerebellar white matter abnormalities (WMA) or swelling, and involvement of the dentate nuclei (DN) or cerebellar cortex. CH can be an isolated typical finding, as in adenylsuccinase deficiency, but is also occasionally seen in many other disorders. Differentiation from CH and CA is often difficult, as in carbohydrate deficient glycoprotein syndrome or 2-l-hydroxyglutaric acidaemia. In cases of atrophy the relationship of cerebellar to cerebral atrophy is important. WMA may be diffuse or patchy, frequently predominantly around the DN. Severe swelling of white matter is present during metabolic crisis in maple syrup urine disease. The DN can be affected by metabolite deposition, necrosis, calcification or demyelination. Involvement of cerebellar cortex is seen in infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy. Changes in DN and cerebellar cortex are rather typical and therefore most helpful; additional features should be sought as they are useful in narrowing down the differential diagnosis. (orig.)

  3. [The lipid metabolism abnormality in patients administered with olanzapine].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amano, Taku; Hosaka, Shigetoshi; Takami, Hiroshi; Sugiyama, Chie; Oda, Kazue; Morikawa, Ryuichi

    2012-11-01

    The atypical antipsychotic medication olanzapine is a useful agent in acute and maintenance treatment of schizophrenia and related disorders. It has beneficial effects on both positive and negative symptoms, an early onset of antipsychotic action and a favourable side effect profile. On the other hand, olanzapine has many reports of causing weight gain, glucose metabolism disturbances and lipidosis. We carried out blood tests (leptin, adiponectin, remnant-like lipoprotein cholesterol (RLP-C), total cholesterol, HbA1C, 75-OGTT and etc.) on patients with schizophrenia who had taken olanzapine. As a result, leptin, neutral lipid and RLP-C were significantly correlated by BMI. (The average blood test data and BMI revealed a normal range). Most analysis results of the lipoprotein fraction by a polyacrylamide-gel-electrophoresis method were normal patterns. Furthermore, the serum insulin concentrations from 75 g glucose tolerance (75 g-OGTT) 30 minutes later, in one third of patients receiving olanzapine, registered more than 100 microU/ml. The mechanism of the insulin secretion rise by olannzapine is unknown. Olanzapine may impair glucose tolerance due in part to increased insulin resistance. These findings do not necessarily imply that olanzapine is directly associated with a risk of impairment of weight gain, glucose metabolism disturbances and lipidosis. These results suggest that it is useful to promote diet cure and exercise therapy with patients with high BMI levels.

  4. Low temperature lignocellulose pretreatment: effects and interactions of pretreatment pH are critical for maximizing enzymatic monosaccharide yields from wheat straw

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Mads; Johansen, Katja S.; Meyer, Anne S.

    2011-01-01

    Background: The recent development of improved enzymes and pentose-using yeast for cellulosic ethanol processes calls for new attention to the lignocellulose pretreatment step. This study assessed the influence of pretreatment pH, temperature, and time, and their interactions on the enzymatic...... alkaline pretreatments. Alkaline pretreatments also solubilized most of the lignin. Conclusions: Pretreatment pH exerted significant effects and factor interactions on the enzymatic glucose and xylose releases. Quite extreme pH values were necessary with mild thermal pretreatment strategies (T...... glucose and xylose yields from mildly pretreated wheat straw in multivariate experimental designs of acid and alkaline pretreatments. Results: The pretreatment pH was the most significant factor affecting both the enzymatic glucose and xylose yields after mild thermal pretreatments at maximum 140 degrees...

  5. Peroxisomal abnormalities in the immortalized human hepatocyte (IHH) cell line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klouwer, Femke C C; Koster, Janet; Ferdinandusse, Sacha; Waterham, Hans R

    2017-04-01

    The immortalized human hepatocyte (IHH) cell line is increasingly used for studies related to liver metabolism, including hepatic glucose, lipid, lipoprotein and triglyceride metabolism, and the effect of therapeutic interventions. To determine whether the IHH cell line is a good model to investigate hepatic peroxisomal metabolism, we measured several peroxisomal parameters in IHH cells and, for comparison, HepG2 cells and primary skin fibroblasts. This revealed a marked plasmalogen deficiency and a deficient fatty acid α-oxidation in the IHH cells, due to a defect of PEX7, a cytosolic receptor protein required for peroxisomal import of a subset of peroxisomal proteins. These abnormalities have consequences for the lipid homeostasis of these cells and thus should be taken into account for the interpretation of data previously generated by using this cell line and when considering using this cell line for future research.

  6. Clinical, clinicopathologic, radiographic, and ultrasonographic abnormalities in dogs with fatal acute pancreatitis: 70 cases (1986-1995)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hess, R.S.; Saunders, H.M.; Van Winkle, T.J.; Shofer, F.S.; Washabau, R.J.

    1998-01-01

    To determine clinical, clinicopathologic, radiographic, ultrasonographic, and coagulation abnormalities in dogs in which acute pancreatitis was fatal. Retrospective study. 70 dogs. History, clinical signs, and physical examination findings at the time of initial evaluation at the veterinary teaching hospital; results of pretreatment laboratory tests, abdominal radiography, and ultrasonography; and histologic abnormalities were obtained from medical records. Clinical signs included anorexia, vomiting, Weakness, diarrhea, polyuria and polydipsia, neurologic abnormalities, melena, weight loss, hematemesis, and passage of frank blood in feces. At the time of initial examination at the veterinary teaching hospital, 68 (97%) dogs were dehydrated, 18 (26%) were icteric, 22 (32%) were febrile, 40 (58%) had signs of abdominal pain, and 30 (43%) were classified as overweight or obese. Most dogs had leukocytosis, neutrophilia with a left shift, and thrombocytopenia. Various serum biochemical abnormalities were identified, including hypoglycemia, azotemia, hypercalcemia and other electrolyte abnormalities, hypoalbuminemia, high hepatic and pancreatic enzyme activities, hypercholesterolemia, and lipemia. For 17 of 28 (61%) dogs, results of coagulation function tests were abnormal. Results of abdominal ultrasonography and radiography were consistent with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis in 23 of 34 (68%) and 10 of 41 (24%) dogs, respectively. For 2 dogs, results of abdominal ultrasonography were not suggestive of acute pancreatitis, but results of abdominal radiography were. Clinical signs and results of clinicopathologic tests are inconsistent. Abdominal ultrasonography may be valuable in the diagnostic evaluation of dogs suspected to have acute pancreatitis

  7. Physical activity and sedentary behavior in metabolically healthy obese young women

    Science.gov (United States)

    Studies of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) in metabolically healthy obese (MHO) have been limited to postmenopausal white women. We sought to determine whether PA and SB differ between MHO and metabolically abnormal obese (MAO), in young black and white women....

  8. GREET Pretreatment Module

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Adom, Felix K. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Energy Systems Division; Dunn, Jennifer B. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Energy Systems Division; Han, Jeongwoo [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Energy Systems Division

    2014-09-01

    A wide range of biofuels and biochemicals can be produced from cellulosic biomass via different pretreatment technologies that yield sugars. Process simulations of dilute acid and ammonia fiber expansion pretreatment processes and subsequent hydrolysis were developed in Aspen Plus for four lignocellulosic feedstocks (corn stover, miscanthus, switchgrass, and poplar). This processing yields sugars that can be subsequently converted to biofuels or biochemical. Material and energy consumption data from Aspen Plus were then compiled in a new Greenhouses Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREETTM) pretreatment module. The module estimates the cradle-to-gate fossil energy consumption (FEC) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with producing fermentable sugars. This report documents the data and methodology used to develop this module and the cradle-to-gate FEC and GHG emissions that result from producing fermentable sugars.

  9. Brain abnormalities in murderers indicated by positron emission tomography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raine, A; Buchsbaum, M; LaCasse, L

    1997-09-15

    Murderers pleading not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) are thought to have brain dysfunction, but there have been no previous studies reporting direct measures of both cortical and subcortical brain functioning in this specific group. Positron emission tomography brain imaging using a continuous performance challenge task was conducted on 41 murderers pleading not guilty by reason of insanity and 41 age- and sex-matched controls. Murderers were characterized by reduced glucose metabolism in the prefrontal cortex, superior parietal gyrus, left angular gyrus, and the corpus callosum, while abnormal asymmetries of activity (left hemisphere lower than right) were also found in the amygdala, thalamus, and medial temporal lobe. These preliminary findings provide initial indications of a network of abnormal cortical and subcortical brain processes that may predispose to violence in murderers pleading NGRI.

  10. Potential Adverse Effects of Prolonged Sevoflurane Exposure on Developing Monkey Brain: From Abnormal Lipid Metabolism to Neuronal Damage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Fang; Rainosek, Shuo W; Frisch-Daiello, Jessica L; Patterson, Tucker A; Paule, Merle G; Slikker, William; Wang, Cheng; Han, Xianlin

    2015-10-01

    Sevoflurane is a volatile anesthetic that has been widely used in general anesthesia, yet its safety in pediatric use is a public concern. This study sought to evaluate whether prolonged exposure of infant monkeys to a clinically relevant concentration of sevoflurane is associated with any adverse effects on the developing brain. Infant monkeys were exposed to 2.5% sevoflurane for 9 h, and frontal cortical tissues were harvested for DNA microarray, lipidomics, Luminex protein, and histological assays. DNA microarray analysis showed that sevoflurane exposure resulted in a broad identification of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the monkey brain. In general, these genes were associated with nervous system development, function, and neural cell viability. Notably, a number of DEGs were closely related to lipid metabolism. Lipidomic analysis demonstrated that critical lipid components, (eg, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine, and phosphatidylglycerol) were significantly downregulated by prolonged exposure of sevoflurane. Luminex protein analysis indicated abnormal levels of cytokines in sevoflurane-exposed brains. Consistently, Fluoro-Jade C staining revealed more degenerating neurons after sevoflurane exposure. These data demonstrate that a clinically relevant concentration of sevoflurane (2.5%) is capable of inducing and maintaining an effective surgical plane of anesthesia in the developing nonhuman primate and that a prolonged exposure of 9 h resulted in profound changes in gene expression, cytokine levels, lipid metabolism, and subsequently, neuronal damage. Generally, sevoflurane-induced neuronal damage was also associated with changes in lipid content, composition, or both; and specific lipid changes could provide insights into the molecular mechanism(s) underlying anesthetic-induced neurotoxicity and may be sensitive biomarkers for the early detection of anesthetic-induced neuronal damage. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the

  11. Processes for pretreating lignocellulosic biomass: A review

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McMillan, J.D.

    1992-11-01

    This paper reviews existing and proposed pretreatment processes for biomass. The focus is on the mechanisms by which the various pretreatments act and the influence of biomass structure and composition on the efficacy of particular pretreatment techniques. This analysis is used to identify pretreatment technologies and issues that warrant further research.

  12. Pretreatment tumor SUV{sub max} predicts disease-specific and overall survival in patients with head and neck soft tissue sarcoma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ha, Seung Cheol; Roh, Jong-Lyel; Choi, Seung-Ho; Nam, Soon Yuhl; Kim, Sang Yoon [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Departments of Otolaryngology, Asan Medical Center, Songpa-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Oh, Jungsu S.; Moon, Hyojeong; Kim, Jae Seung [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Departments of Nuclear Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Kyung-Ja [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Departments of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-01-15

    Head and neck soft tissue sarcoma (HNSTS) is a rare type of tumor with various histological presentations and clinical behaviors. {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT is being increasingly used for staging, grading, and predicting treatment outcomes in various types of human cancers, although this modality has been rarely studied in the survival prediction of HNSTS. Here we examined the prognostic value of tumor metabolic parameters measured using {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT in patients with HNSTS. This study included 36 consecutive patients with HNSTS who underwent {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT scanning prior to treatment at our institution. Tumor gross total volume (GTV) was measured from pretreatment contrast-enhanced CT scans, and maximum standardized uptake value (SUV{sub max}), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were measured using pretreatment {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT scans. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were used to identify associations between imaging parameters and disease-specific survival (DSS) or overall survival (OS). Univariate analyses showed that SUV{sub max}, MTV, and TLG, but not GTV, were significantly associated with DSS and OS (all P < 0.05). After controlling for clinicopathological factors, SUV{sub max}, MTV, and TLG were significantly associated with DSS and OS (all P < 0.05). Patients with a tumor SUV{sub max} value of >7.0 experienced an approximately fivefold increase in mortality in terms of DSS and OS relative to those with a tumor SUV{sub max} <7.0. Quantitative metabolic measurements on pretreatment {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT can yield values that are significantly predictive of survival after treatment for HNSTS. (orig.)

  13. Relationship between murine Ah phenotype and the hepatic metabolism of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-P-dioxin (TCDD)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shen, E.S.; Olson, J.R.

    1986-01-01

    The Ah receptor has been correlated with the toxic effects of TCDD in C57BL/6J (B6) and DBA/2J (D2) mice. The B6 strain, which has a high affinity cytosolic Ah receptor, is more sensitive to TCDD than the D2 strain, which lacks this receptor. The metabolism of TCDD was studied by incubating 14 C-TCDD (2.2 μM) with hepatocytes from control and TCDD-pretreated B6 and D2 mice. Mice were pretreated with TCDD at doses that maximally induce ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity, a measure of Ah locus responsiveness to TCDD (B6, 3μg/kg, ip;D2, 30μg/kg, ip). Similar cytochrome P-450 content was detected in control B6 and D2 hepatocytes, however, TCDD pretreatment increased P-450 content 400% in B6 and 300% in D2 mice. No difference in hepatic EROD activity was found between control B6 and D2 mice (81.7 and 101.7 pmol/min/nmol P-450, respectively), but EROD activity was increased 17-fold in B6 and 10-fold in D2 mice after TCDD administration. The average rate of hepatic TCDD metabolism over two hours was similar in control B6 and D2 mice (1.103 and 0.945 pmol/hr/mg cell protein, respectively), although some qualitative differences in the metabolites were detected by HPLC. TCDD pretreatment produced no quantitative or qualitative changes in TCDD metabolism. These results suggest that the rate of hepatic TCDD metabolism does not correlate with genetic differences at the Ah locus

  14. The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Diabetes-Related Distress, Quality of Life, and Metabolic Control Among Persons with Diabetes: A Meta-Analytic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bogusch, Leah M; O'Brien, William H

    2018-04-04

    Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have improved psychological outcomes for multiple chronic health conditions, including diabetes. A meta-analytic review of the literature was conducted on all located studies (n = 14) investigating MBIs that targeted diabetes-related distress (DRD) and diabetes-related outcomes among people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. PsychInfo, PubMed, Medline, and Web of Science were searched for MBIs that were designed to improve DRD and other secondary outcomes, including quality of life and measures of metabolic control. A meta-analysis of these outcomes uncovered small-to-moderate effect sizes for intervention studies measuring pretreatment to posttreatment changes in DRD and metabolic control among treatment group participants. However, the pretreatment to follow-up comparisons for DRD and metabolic control were small and unreliable. For control groups, all pre-treatment to post-treatment and pre-treatment to follow-up comparisons were unreliable for all outcomes. A moderate effect size for treatment-control comparisons was found for intervention studies measuring quality of life outcomes at posttreatment, but not at follow-up comparisons. All other effect sizes for treatment-control comparisons were unreliable. Limitations and implications for MBIs among individuals with diabetes are discussed.

  15. Fibrillin abnormalities and prognosis in Marfan syndrome and related disorders

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aoyama, T.; Furthmayr, H.; Francke, U.; Gasner, C. [Stanford Univ. Medical Center, CA (United States)

    1995-08-28

    Marfan syndrome (MFS), a multisystem autosomal-dominant disorder, is characterized by mutations of the fibrillin-1 (FBN1) gene and by abnormal patterns of synthesis, secretion, and matrix deposition of the fibrillin protein. To determine the sensitivity and specificity of fibrillin protein abnormalities in the diagnosis of MFS, we studied dermal fibroblasts from 57 patients with classical MFS, 15 with equivocal MFS, 8 with single-organ manifestations, and 16 with other connective tissue disorders including homocystinuria and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Abnormal fibrillin metabolism was identified in 70 samples that were classified into four different groups based on quantitation of fibrillin synthesis and matrix deposition. Significant correlations were found for phenotypic features including arachnodactyly, striae distensae, cardiovascular manifestations, and fibrillin groups II and IV, which included 70% of the MFS patients. In addition, these two groups were associated with shortened {open_quotes}event-free{close_quotes} survival and more severe cardiovascular complications than groups I and III. The latter included most of the equivocal MFS/single manifestation patients with fibrillin abnormalities. Our results indicate that fibrillin defects at the protein level per se are not specific for MFS, but that the drastically reduced fibrillin deposition, caused by a dominant-negative effect of abnormal fibrillin molecules in individuals defined as groups II and IV, is of prognostic and possibly diagnostic significance. 25 refs., 3 figs., 6 tabs.

  16. The effects of home oxygen therapy on energy metabolism in patients with COPD

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kırıcı Berber, Nurcan; Yetkin, Özkan; Kılıç, Talat; Berber, Ilhami; Özgel, Mehmet

    2018-01-01

    Background COPD is preventable and treatable and is characterized by completely nonreversible airflow obstruction. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of long-term oxygen therapy on patients with stage 4 COPD who were followed up and treated at the polyclinic or clinic service. We evaluated the effects of oxygen therapy on energy metabolism and physical activity in patients with COPD. Methods Nineteen patients with COPD (16 male/3 female), treated with oxygen therapy for the first time, were included in this study. Analysis of arterial blood gases and pulmonary function test was performed. Metabolic Holter device (SenseWear® Armband) was placed pre- and post-oxygen therapy on the patients’ arm for at least 3 days. This device captures Holter data in a digitized electronic system, and the daily average value was calculated from the data. Results Post-oxygen treatment showed a significant increase in energy expenditure by patients with COPD (pretreatment, 1,497±596 joule; posttreatment, 2,977±5,985 joule; P=0.044). Moreover, number of steps during walking (pretreatment, 2,056±256; posttreatment, 2,120±195; P=0.03), resting (pretreatment, 6.36±3.31 hours; posttreatment, 3.47±2.19 hours; P<0.03), and sleeping (pretreatment, 4.23±2.13 hours; posttreatment, 2.33±1.42 hours; P<0.00) showed significant differences. Increased daily energy expenditure in patients with respiratory failure was detected with long-term oxygen therapy. In addition, the immobility of patients decreased and duration of physical activity increased in patients with COPD. Conclusion In this study, positive effects of long-term oxygen therapy have been demonstrated with respect to energy metabolism and physical activity of patients with COPD. Thus, we recommend that medication adherence and long-term oxygen therapy should begin early in patients with COPD.

  17. Treatments for Biomedical Abnormalities Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard Eugene Frye

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Recent studies point to the effectiveness of novel treatments that address physiological abnormalities associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD. This is significant because safe and effective treatments for ASD remain limited. These physiological abnormalities as well as studies addressing treatments of these abnormalities are reviewed in this article. Treatments commonly used to treat mitochondrial disease have been found to improve both core and associated ASD symptoms. Double-blind, placebo-controlled studies have investigated L-carnitine and a multivitamin containing B vitamins, antioxidants, vitamin E, and coenzyme Q10 while non-blinded studies have investigated ubiquinol. Controlled and uncontrolled studies using folinic acid, a reduced form of folate, have reported marked improvements in core and associated ASD symptoms in some children with ASD and folate related pathways abnormities. Treatments that could address redox metabolism abnormalities include methylcobalamin with and without folinic acid in open-label studies and vitamin C and N-acetyl-L-cysteine in double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. These studies have reported improved core and associated symptoms with these treatments. Lastly, both open-label and double-blind, placebo-controlled studies have reported improvement in core and associated ASD symptoms with tetrahydrobiopterin. Overall, these treatments were generally well tolerated without significant adverse effects for most children, although we review the reported adverse effects in detail. This review provides evidence for potential safe and effective treatments for core and associated symptoms of ASD that target underlying known physiological abnormalities associated with ASD. Further research is needed to define subgroups of children with ASD in which these treatments may be most effective as well as confirm their efficacy in double-blind, placebo-controlled, large-scale multicenter studies.

  18. Enantiomeric metabolic interactions and stereoselective human methadone metabolism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Totah, Rheem A; Allen, Kyle E; Sheffels, Pamela; Whittington, Dale; Kharasch, Evan D

    2007-04-01

    Methadone is administered as a racemate, although opioid activity resides in the R-enantiomer. Methadone disposition is stereoselective, with considerable unexplained variability in clearance and plasma R/S ratios. N-Demethylation of methadone in vitro is predominantly mediated by cytochrome P450 CYP3A4 and CYP2B6 and somewhat by CYP2C19. This investigation evaluated stereoselectivity, models, and kinetic parameters for methadone N-demethylation by recombinant CYP2B6, CYP3A4, and CYP2C19, and the potential for interactions between enantiomers during racemate metabolism. CYP2B6 metabolism was stereoselective. CYP2C19 was less active, and stereoselectivity was opposite that for CYP2B6. CYP3A4 was not stereoselective. With all three isoforms, enantiomer N-dealkylation rates in the racemate were lower than those of (R)-(6-dimethyamino-4,4-diphenyl-heptan-3-one) hydrochloride (R-methadone) or (S)-(6-dimethyamino-4,4-diphenyl-heptan-3-one) hydrochloride (S-methadone) alone, suggesting an enantiomeric interaction and mutual metabolic inhibition. For CYP2B6, the interaction between enantiomers was stereoselective, with S-methadone as a more potent inhibitor of R-methadone N-demethylation than R-of S-methadone. In contrast, enantiomer interactions were not stereoselective with CYP2C19 or CYP3A4. For all three cytochromes P450, methadone N-demethylation was best described by two-site enzyme models with competitive inhibition. There were minor model differences between cytochromes P450 to account for stereoselectivity of metabolism and enantiomeric interactions. Changes in plasma R/S methadone ratios observed after rifampin or troleandomycin pretreatment in humans in vivo were successfully predicted by CYP2B6- but not CYP3A4-catalyzed methadone N-demethylation. CYP2B6 is a predominant catalyst of stereoselective methadone metabolism in vitro. In vivo, CYP2B6 may be a major determinant of methadone metabolism and disposition, and CYP2B6 activity and stereoselective metabolic

  19. Environmental obesogen tributyltin chloride leads to abnormal hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis function by disruption in kisspeptin/leptin signaling in female rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sena, Gabriela C; Freitas-Lima, Leandro C; Merlo, Eduardo; Podratz, Priscila L; de Araújo, Julia F P; Brandão, Poliane A A; Carneiro, Maria T W D; Zicker, Marina C; Ferreira, Adaliene V M; Takiya, Christina M; de Lemos Barbosa, Carolina M; Morales, Marcelo M; Santos-Silva, Ana Paula; Miranda-Alves, Leandro; Silva, Ian V; Graceli, Jones B

    2017-03-15

    Tributyltin chloride (TBT) is a xenobiotic used as a biocide in antifouling paints that has been demonstrated to induce endocrine-disrupting effects, such as obesity and reproductive abnormalities. An integrative metabolic control in the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis was exerted by leptin. However, studies that have investigated the obesogenic TBT effects on the HPG axis are especially rare. We investigated whether metabolic disorders as a result of TBT are correlated with abnormal hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis function, as well as kisspeptin (Kiss) action. Female Wistar rats were administered vehicle and TBT (100ng/kg/day) for 15days via gavage. We analyzed their effects on the tin serum and ovary accumulation (as biomarker of TBT exposure), estrous cyclicity, surge LH levels, GnRH expression, Kiss action, fertility, testosterone levels, ovarian apoptosis, uterine inflammation, fibrosis, estrogen negative feedback, body weight gain, insulin, leptin, adiponectin levels, as well as the glucose tolerance (GTT) and insulin sensitivity tests (IST). TBT led to increased serum and ovary tin levels, irregular estrous cyclicity, and decreased surge LH levels, GnRH expression and Kiss responsiveness. A strong negative correlation between the serum and ovary tin levels with lower Kiss responsiveness and GnRH mRNA expression was observed in TBT rats. An increase in the testosterone levels, ovarian and uterine fibrosis, ovarian apoptosis, and uterine inflammation and a decrease in fertility and estrogen negative feedback were demonstrated in the TBT rats. We also identified an increase in the body weight gain and abnormal GTT and IST tests, which were associated with hyperinsulinemia, hyperleptinemia and hypoadiponectinemia, in the TBT rats. TBT disrupted proper functioning of the HPG axis as a result of abnormal Kiss action. The metabolic dysfunctions co-occur with the HPG axis abnormalities. Hyperleptinemia as a result of obesity induced by TBT may be

  20. Structural changes in the liver in metabolic syndrome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. V. Vasendin

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Scientifically proven close relationship of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease with development of metabolic syndrome and its individual components involves the conclusion that the target organ in metabolic symptom, even regardless of the severity of obesity, the liver occupies a dominant position, as the body undergoes the first characteristic of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease changes, involving violation of metabolism in the body. Dislipoproteinemia plays an important role in the formation of metabolic syndrome in obesity and other obesity-associated diseases. Altered liver function are the root cause of violations of processes of lipid metabolism and, consequently, abnormal functioning of the liver may be a separate, additional and independent risk factor for development of dyslipidemia and obesity as the main component of the metabolic syndrome.

  1. Management of Dyslipidemia in Patients with Hypertension, Diabetes, and Metabolic Syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Srikanth, Sundararajan; Deedwania, Prakash

    2016-10-01

    The purpose of this review is to discuss dyslipidemia in the various common clinical conditions including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome and review the current therapeutic strategy in these settings. Dyslipidemias are common in patients with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome. Epidemiologic studies have shown a strong correlation between serum lipid levels and risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Multifactorial intervention strategies aimed at controlling lipids, blood pressure, and blood glucose simultaneously achieve maximal reductions in cardiovascular risk. Dyslipidemia and metabolic abnormalities are strongly associated with atherosclerosis and worse cardiovascular outcomes. While pharmacotherapy with statins has been proven to be beneficial for dyslipidemia, lifestyle modification emphasizing weight loss and regular exercise is an essential component of the interventional strategy. The common thread underlying atherosclerosis and metabolic abnormalities is endothelial dysfunction. Improved understanding of the role of endothelium in health and disease can potentially lead to novel therapies that may preempt development of atherosclerosis and its complications.

  2. Metabolic pancreatitis: Etiopathogenesis and management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sunil Kumar Kota

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Acute pancreatitis is a medical emergency. Alcohol and gallstones are the most common etiologies accounting for 60%-75% cases. Other important causes include postendoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography procedure, abdominal trauma, drug toxicity, various infections, autoimmune, ischemia, and hereditary causes. In about 15% of cases the cause remains unknown (idiopathic pancreatitis. Metabolic conditions giving rise to pancreatitis are less common, accounting for 5%-10% cases. The causes include hypertriglyceridemia, hypercalcemia, diabetes mellitus, porphyria, and Wilson′s disease. The episodes of pancreatitis tend to be more severe. In cases of metabolic pancreatitis, over and above the standard routine management of pancreatitis, careful management of the underlying metabolic abnormalities is of paramount importance. If not treated properly, it leads to recurrent life-threatening bouts of acute pancreatitis. We hereby review the pathogenesis and management of various causes of metabolic pancreatitis.

  3. Prevalence of lipodystrophy and metabolic syndrome among HIV positive individuals on Highly Active Anti-Retroviral treatment in Jimma, South West Ethiopia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berhane, Tsegay; Yami, Alemishet; Alemseged, Fessahaye; Yemane, Tilahun; Hamza, Leja; Kassim, Mehedi; Deribe, Kebede

    2012-01-01

    Use of highly active antiretroviral therapy has led to significant reductions in morbidity and mortality rates. However, these agents had also given rise to the metabolic and morphologic abnormalities which are modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Evidences elsewhere indicate growing in prevalence of these problems but studies are lacking in Ethiopia. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of HIV-associated lipodystrophy and metabolic syndrome in patients taking highly active antiretroviral therapy. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2010 on a sample of 313 patients taking highly active antiretroviral therapy in Jimma University specialized hospital. Structured questionnaire was used to assess patients' sociodemographic characteristics and clinical manifestations of metabolic abnormalities. Checklists were used for reviewing charts about clinical manifestations of metabolic abnormalities and immunologic profile of patients. Data was cleaned, entered in and analyzed using SPSS for windows version 16.0. Metabolic syndrome was detected in 21.1% and HIV-lipodystrophy was detected 12.1% of patients. The factors found to be independently associated with metabolic syndrome were taking the antiretroviral therapy for more than 12 months (AOR=4.2; 95% CI=1.24-14.23) and female sex (AOR=2.30; 95% CI=1.0-5.27) and the factor found to be independently associated with HIV-lipodystrophy was taking the antiretroviral therapy (AOR=3.59; 95% CI=1.03-12.54) for more than 12 months. Metabolic abnormalities were relatively common in the study population. The problems were higher among those who took anti-retroviral treatment for longer duration. Therefore, regular screening for and taking action against the metabolic abnormalities is mandatory.

  4. Pretreatment techniques for biofuels and biorefineries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fang, Zhen (ed.) [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, YN (China). Xishuangbanna Tropical Botonical Garden

    2013-02-01

    The first book focused on pretreatment techniques for biofuels contributed by the world's leading experts. Extensively covers the different types of biomass, various pretreatment approaches and methods that show the subsequent production of biofuels and chemicals. In addition to traditional pretreatment methods, novel techniques are also introduced and discussed. An accessible reference work for students, researchers, academicians and industrialists in biorefineries. This book includes 19 chapters contributed by the world's leading experts on pretreatment methods for biomass. It extensively covers the different types of biomass (e.g. molasses, sugar beet pulp, cheese whey, sugarcane residues, palm waste, vegetable oil, straws, stalks and wood), various pretreatment approaches (e.g. physical, thermal, chemical, physicochemical and biological) and methods that show the subsequent production of biofuels and chemicals such as sugars, ethanol, extracellular polysaccharides, biodiesel, gas and oil. In addition to traditional methods such as steam, hot-water, hydrothermal, diluted-acid, organosolv, ozonolysis, sulfite, milling, fungal and bacterial, microwave, ultrasonic, plasma, torrefaction, pelletization, gasification (including biogas) and liquefaction pretreatments, it also introduces and discusses novel techniques such as nano and solid catalysts, organic electrolyte solutions and ionic liquids. This book offers a review of state-of-the-art research and provides guidance for the future paths of developing pretreatment techniques of biomass for biofuels, especially in the fields of biotechnology, microbiology, chemistry, materials science and engineering. It intends to provide a systematic introduction of pretreatment techniques. It is an accessible reference work for students, researchers, academicians and industrialists in biorefineries.

  5. Correction of protein metabolic disorders by composite extract of Musa paradisiaca and Coccinia indica in streptozotocin-induced diabetic albino rat: an approach through the pancreas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mallick, Chhanda; De, Debasis; Ghosh, Debidas

    2009-04-01

    The study focused on the ability of the extracts of Musa paradisiaca and Coccinia indica on protein metabolic disorders in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes. Wistar strain rats were divided into 6 groups as control, control + composite extract treated, STZ-induced diabetes, diabetic + composite extract treated, composite extract-pretreated diabetes, and composite extract-pretreated diabetes + composite extract treated. Protein metabolic status was assessed by serum levels of urea, uric acid, albumin, and creatinine along with urine urea and albumin levels. Diabetic therapeutic ability was assessed by blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and serum insulin levels. Histology of the pancreas, liver, and kidney was evaluated. Indices of protein metabolic disorders were deviated from control in STZ-induced diabetes, which were protected significantly after the treatment of composite extract of M. paradisiaca and C. indica. This protection was more prominent when the extract-pretreated animals were subjected to diabetes induction by STZ. The composite extract has a protective therapeutic effect against diabetes through beta-cell regeneration capacity.

  6. Biochemical markers of psoriasis as a metabolic disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agnieszka Gerkowicz

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Psoriasis is a chronic immune mediated inflammatory skin disease with a population prevalence of 2–3%. In recent years, psoriasis has been recognized as a systemic disease associated with metabolic syndrome or its components such as: obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension and atherogenic dyslipidemia. Many bioactive substances have appeared to be related to metabolic syndrome. Based on current literature, we here discuss the possible role of adiponectin, leptin, ghrelin, resistin, inflammatory cytokines, plasminogen activator inhibitor 1, uric acid, C-reactive protein and lipid abnormalities in psoriasis and in metabolic syndrome.

  7. Environmental obesogen tributyltin chloride leads to abnormal hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis function by disruption in kisspeptin/leptin signaling in female rats

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sena, Gabriela C.; Freitas-Lima, Leandro C.; Merlo, Eduardo; Podratz, Priscila L.; Araújo, Julia F.P. de [Department of Morphology, Federal University of Espírito Santo (Brazil); Brandão, Poliane A.A.; Carneiro, Maria T.W.D. [Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Espírito Santo (Brazil); Zicker, Marina C. [Department of Food Science, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil); Ferreira, Adaliene V.M. [Department of Basic Nursing, Nursing School, Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil); Takiya, Christina M.; Lemos Barbosa, Carolina M. de; Morales, Marcelo M. [Institute of Biophysics Carlos Chagas Filho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Santos-Silva, Ana Paula [Institute of Biophysics Carlos Chagas Filho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Experimental Endocrinology Research, Development and Innovation Group, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Postgraduate Program in Endocrinology, School of Medicine, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Miranda-Alves, Leandro [Experimental Endocrinology Research, Development and Innovation Group, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Postgraduate Program in Endocrinology, School of Medicine, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Silva, Ian V. [Department of Morphology, Federal University of Espírito Santo (Brazil); Graceli, Jones B., E-mail: jbgraceli@gmail.com [Department of Morphology, Federal University of Espírito Santo (Brazil)

    2017-03-15

    Tributyltin chloride (TBT) is a xenobiotic used as a biocide in antifouling paints that has been demonstrated to induce endocrine-disrupting effects, such as obesity and reproductive abnormalities. An integrative metabolic control in the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis was exerted by leptin. However, studies that have investigated the obesogenic TBT effects on the HPG axis are especially rare. We investigated whether metabolic disorders as a result of TBT are correlated with abnormal hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis function, as well as kisspeptin (Kiss) action. Female Wistar rats were administered vehicle and TBT (100 ng/kg/day) for 15 days via gavage. We analyzed their effects on the tin serum and ovary accumulation (as biomarker of TBT exposure), estrous cyclicity, surge LH levels, GnRH expression, Kiss action, fertility, testosterone levels, ovarian apoptosis, uterine inflammation, fibrosis, estrogen negative feedback, body weight gain, insulin, leptin, adiponectin levels, as well as the glucose tolerance (GTT) and insulin sensitivity tests (IST). TBT led to increased serum and ovary tin levels, irregular estrous cyclicity, and decreased surge LH levels, GnRH expression and Kiss responsiveness. A strong negative correlation between the serum and ovary tin levels with lower Kiss responsiveness and GnRH mRNA expression was observed in TBT rats. An increase in the testosterone levels, ovarian and uterine fibrosis, ovarian apoptosis, and uterine inflammation and a decrease in fertility and estrogen negative feedback were demonstrated in the TBT rats. We also identified an increase in the body weight gain and abnormal GTT and IST tests, which were associated with hyperinsulinemia, hyperleptinemia and hypoadiponectinemia, in the TBT rats. TBT disrupted proper functioning of the HPG axis as a result of abnormal Kiss action. The metabolic dysfunctions co-occur with the HPG axis abnormalities. Hyperleptinemia as a result of obesity induced by TBT may

  8. Environmental obesogen tributyltin chloride leads to abnormal hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis function by disruption in kisspeptin/leptin signaling in female rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sena, Gabriela C.; Freitas-Lima, Leandro C.; Merlo, Eduardo; Podratz, Priscila L.; Araújo, Julia F.P. de; Brandão, Poliane A.A.; Carneiro, Maria T.W.D.; Zicker, Marina C.; Ferreira, Adaliene V.M.; Takiya, Christina M.; Lemos Barbosa, Carolina M. de; Morales, Marcelo M.; Santos-Silva, Ana Paula; Miranda-Alves, Leandro; Silva, Ian V.; Graceli, Jones B.

    2017-01-01

    Tributyltin chloride (TBT) is a xenobiotic used as a biocide in antifouling paints that has been demonstrated to induce endocrine-disrupting effects, such as obesity and reproductive abnormalities. An integrative metabolic control in the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis was exerted by leptin. However, studies that have investigated the obesogenic TBT effects on the HPG axis are especially rare. We investigated whether metabolic disorders as a result of TBT are correlated with abnormal hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis function, as well as kisspeptin (Kiss) action. Female Wistar rats were administered vehicle and TBT (100 ng/kg/day) for 15 days via gavage. We analyzed their effects on the tin serum and ovary accumulation (as biomarker of TBT exposure), estrous cyclicity, surge LH levels, GnRH expression, Kiss action, fertility, testosterone levels, ovarian apoptosis, uterine inflammation, fibrosis, estrogen negative feedback, body weight gain, insulin, leptin, adiponectin levels, as well as the glucose tolerance (GTT) and insulin sensitivity tests (IST). TBT led to increased serum and ovary tin levels, irregular estrous cyclicity, and decreased surge LH levels, GnRH expression and Kiss responsiveness. A strong negative correlation between the serum and ovary tin levels with lower Kiss responsiveness and GnRH mRNA expression was observed in TBT rats. An increase in the testosterone levels, ovarian and uterine fibrosis, ovarian apoptosis, and uterine inflammation and a decrease in fertility and estrogen negative feedback were demonstrated in the TBT rats. We also identified an increase in the body weight gain and abnormal GTT and IST tests, which were associated with hyperinsulinemia, hyperleptinemia and hypoadiponectinemia, in the TBT rats. TBT disrupted proper functioning of the HPG axis as a result of abnormal Kiss action. The metabolic dysfunctions co-occur with the HPG axis abnormalities. Hyperleptinemia as a result of obesity induced by TBT may

  9. Correlation of glucose metabolism in brain cells and brain morphological changes with clinical typing in children with cerebral palsy

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Qiongxiang Zhai; Huixian Qiao; Jiqing Liu

    2006-01-01

    BACKGROUND:It is widely known that fluorino-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography(18F-FDG PET)is commonly used to evaluate and diagnose epilepsy;however,whether it is beneficial to understand functional metabolism of bra in cells so as to reflect injured site and degree of brain cells or not should be studied further.OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the correlation between glucose metabolism and clinical typling as well as the conelation between active function of brain cells and degree of brain injury among children with cerbral palsy with 18F-FDG PET and MRI and compare the results of them.DESIGN:Case analysis.SETTING:Department of Pediatrics,People's Hospital of Guangdong Province.PARTICIPANTS:A total of 31 children with cerebral palsy were selected from Out-patient Clinic and In-patient Department of People's Hospital of Guangdong Province from July 2001 to August 2004.Based on clinical criteria of cerebral palsy,patients were classified into spasm(n=10),gradual movement(n=4),mixed type(n =13)and ataxia(n=4).There were 18 boys and 13 girls aged from 10 months to 4 years.All of them were met the diagnostic criteria of cerebral palsy and all parents of them were told the facts.Exclusion cdteria:Patients who had cerebral palsy caused by genetic metabolism disease were excluded.METHODS:①All children accepted MRI examination after hospitalization with Philips Acs NT 15T superconductling magnetic resonance scanner.②All children were fasted for 4 hours.And then,PET image of brain was collected based on T+EID type.If obvious hypermetabolism or hypometabolism region successively occurred on two layers, the image was regarded as abnormality. ③Different correlations of various abnormal greups of MRI and vadous types of cerebral palsy with PET image were compared and analyzed with Erusal-Willas rank sum test.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:①Results of 18F-FDG PET;②Results of MRI examination;③Correlation of variously abnormal groups of MRI and various types of cerebral

  10. The effects of improved metabolic risk factors on bone turnover markers after 12 weeks of simvastatin treatment with or without exercise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Jun; Boyle, Leryn J; Mikus, Catherine R; Oberlin, Douglas J; Fletcher, Justin A; Thyfault, John P; Hinton, Pamela S

    2014-11-01

    Emerging evidence supports an association between metabolic risk factors and bone turnover. Statins and exercise independently improve metabolic risk factors; however whether improvements in metabolic risk factor affects bone turnover is unknown. The purpose of the present study was to: 1) evaluate the relationship between metabolic risk factors and bone turnover; and 2) determine if improvements in metabolic risk factors after 12 weeks of statin treatment, exercise or the combination affect bone turnover. Fifty participants with ≥2 metabolic syndrome defining characteristics were randomly assigned to one of three groups: statin (STAT: simvastatin, 40 mg/day), exercise (EX: brisk walking and/or slow jogging, 45 minutes/day, 5 days/week), or the combination (STAT+EX). Body composition and whole body bone mineral density were measured with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Serum markers of bone formation (bone specific alkaline phosphatase, BAP; osteocalcin, OC), resorption (C-terminal peptide of type I collagen, CTX) and metabolic risk factors were determined. Two-factor (time, group) repeated-measures ANCOVA was used to examine changes of metabolic risk factors and bone turnover. General linear models were used to determine the effect of pre-treatment metabolic risk factors on post-treatment bone turnover marker outcomes. Participants with ≥4 metabolic syndrome defining characteristics had lower pre-treatment OC than those with 3 or fewer. OC was negatively correlated with glucose, and CTX was positively correlated with cholesterol. STAT or STAT+EX lowered total and LDL cholesterol. The OC to CTX ratio decreased in all groups with no other significant changes in bone turnover. Higher pre-treatment insulin or body fat predicted a greater CTX reduction and a greater BAP/CTX increase. Metabolic risk factors were negatively associated with bone turnover markers. Short-term statin treatment with or without exercise lowered cholesterol and all treatments had a small

  11. Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging of Tumor Metabolic Markers for Cancer Diagnosis, Metabolic Phenotyping, and Characterization of Tumor Microenvironment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qiuhong He

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available Cancer cells display heterogeneous genetic characteristics, depending on the tumor dynamic microenvironment. Abnormal tumor vasculature and poor tissue oxygenation generate a fraction of hypoxic tumor cells that have selective advantages in metastasis and invasion and often resist chemo- and radiation therapies. The genetic alterations acquired by tumors modify their biochemical pathways, which results in abnormal tumor metabolism. An elevation in glycolysis known as the “Warburg effect” and changes in lipid synthesis and oxidation occur. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS has been used to study tumor metabolism in preclinical animal models and in clinical research on human breast, brain, and prostate cancers. This technique can identify specific genetic and metabolic changes that occur in malignant tumors. Therefore, the metabolic markers, detectable by MRS, not only provide information on biochemical changes but also define different metabolic tumor phenotypes. When combined with the contrast-enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI, which has a high sensitivity for cancer diagnosis, in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI improves the diagnostic specificity of malignant human cancers and is becoming an important clinical tool for cancer management and care. This article reviews the MRSI techniques as molecular imaging methods to detect and quantify metabolic changes in various tumor tissue types, especially in extracranial tumor tissues that contain high concentrations of fat. MRI/MRSI methods have been used to characterize tumor microenvironments in terms of blood volume and vessel permeability. Measurements of tissue oxygenation and glycolytic rates by MRS also are described to illustrate the capability of the MR technology in probing molecular information non-invasively in tumor tissues and its important potential for studying molecular mechanisms of human cancers in physiological conditions.

  12. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and risks of abnormal serum alanine aminotransferase in Hispanics: a population-based study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jen-Jung Pan

    Full Text Available Study the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS and risk factors for and association with elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT as markers of hepatic injury in a large Hispanic health disparity cohort with high rates of obesity.Analysis of data from a prospective cross-sectional population based study. From 2004-7, we randomly recruited 2000 community participants to the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort collecting extensive socioeconomic, clinical and laboratory data. We excluded 153 subjects due to critical missing data. Pearson chi-square tests and Student's t-tests were used for categorical and continuous variable analysis, respectively. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the risk factors for elevated ALT.The mean age of the cohort was 45 years and 67% were females. The majority of the cohort was either overweight (32.4% or obese (50.7%. Almost half (43.7% had MS and nearly one-third diabetes. Elevated ALT level was more prevalent in males than females. Obesity was a strong risk for abnormal ALT in both genders. Hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia and young age were risks for elevated ALT in males only, whereas increased fasting plasma glucose was associated with elevated ALT in females only.We identified high prevalence of MS and markers of liver injury in this large Mexican American cohort with gender differences in prevalence and risk factors, with younger males at greatest risk.

  13. Blood metabolomics analysis identifies abnormalities in the citric acid cycle, urea cycle, and amino acid metabolism in bipolar disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshimi, Noriko; Futamura, Takashi; Kakumoto, Keiji; Salehi, Alireza M; Sellgren, Carl M; Holmén-Larsson, Jessica; Jakobsson, Joel; Pålsson, Erik; Landén, Mikael; Hashimoto, Kenji

    2016-06-01

    Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe and debilitating psychiatric disorder. However, the precise biological basis remains unknown, hampering the search for novel biomarkers. We performed a metabolomics analysis to discover novel peripheral biomarkers for BD. We quantified serum levels of 116 metabolites in mood-stabilized male BD patients (n = 54) and age-matched male healthy controls (n = 39). After multivariate logistic regression, serum levels of pyruvate, N-acetylglutamic acid, α-ketoglutarate, and arginine were significantly higher in BD patients than in healthy controls. Conversely, serum levels of β-alanine, and serine were significantly lower in BD patients than in healthy controls. Chronic (4-weeks) administration of lithium or valproic acid to adult male rats did not alter serum levels of pyruvate, N-acetylglutamic acid, β-alanine, serine, or arginine, but lithium administration significantly increased serum levels of α-ketoglutarate. The metabolomics analysis demonstrated altered serum levels of pyruvate, N-acetylglutamic acid, β-alanine, serine, and arginine in BD patients. The present findings suggest that abnormalities in the citric acid cycle, urea cycle, and amino acid metabolism play a role in the pathogenesis of BD.

  14. Biorefining of wheat straw: accounting for the distribution of mineral elements in pretreated biomass by an extended pretreatment-severity equation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le, Duy Michael; Sørensen, Hanne R; Knudsen, Niels Ole; Schjoerring, Jan K; Meyer, Anne S

    2014-01-01

    Mineral elements present in lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks may accumulate in biorefinery process streams and cause technological problems, or alternatively can be reaped for value addition. A better understanding of the distribution of minerals in biomass in response to pretreatment factors is therefore important in relation to development of new biorefinery processes. The objective of the present study was to examine the levels of mineral elements in pretreated wheat straw in response to systematic variations in the hydrothermal pretreatment parameters (pH, temperature, and treatment time), and to assess whether it is possible to model mineral levels in the pretreated fiber fraction. Principal component analysis of the wheat straw biomass constituents, including mineral elements, showed that the recovered levels of wheat straw constituents after different hydrothermal pretreatments could be divided into two groups: 1) Phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, manganese, zinc, and calcium correlated with xylose and arabinose (that is, hemicellulose), and levels of these constituents present in the fiber fraction after pretreatment varied depending on the pretreatment-severity; and 2) Silicon, iron, copper, aluminum correlated with lignin and cellulose levels, but the levels of these constituents showed no severity-dependent trends. For the first group, an expanded pretreatment-severity equation, containing a specific factor for each constituent, accounting for variability due to pretreatment pH, was developed. Using this equation, the mineral levels could be predicted with R(2) > 0.75; for some with R(2) up to 0.96. Pretreatment conditions, especially pH, significantly influenced the levels of phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, manganese, zinc, and calcium in the resulting fiber fractions. A new expanded pretreatment-severity equation is proposed to model and predict mineral composition in pretreated wheat straw biomass.

  15. Innovative pretreatment strategies for biogas production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patinvoh, Regina J; Osadolor, Osagie A; Chandolias, Konstantinos; Sárvári Horváth, Ilona; Taherzadeh, Mohammad J

    2017-01-01

    Biogas or biomethane is traditionally produced via anaerobic digestion, or recently by thermochemical or a combination of thermochemical and biological processes via syngas (CO and H 2 ) fermentation. However, many of the feedstocks have recalcitrant structure and are difficult to digest (e.g., lignocelluloses or keratins), or they have toxic compounds (such as fruit flavors or high ammonia content), or not digestible at all (e.g., plastics). To overcome these challenges, innovative strategies for enhanced and economically favorable biogas production were proposed in this review. The strategies considered are commonly known physical pretreatment, rapid decompression, autohydrolysis, acid- or alkali pretreatments, solvents (e.g. for lignin or cellulose) pretreatments or leaching, supercritical, oxidative or biological pretreatments, as well as combined gasification and fermentation, integrated biogas production and pretreatment, innovative biogas digester design, co-digestion, and bio-augmentation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Abnormal brain glucose metabolism and depressive mood in patients with pre-dialytic chronic kidney disease: SPM analysis of F-18 FDG positron emission tomography

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jun, Sung Min; Song, Sang Heon; Kim, Seong Jang; Kim, Ji Hoon; Kwak, Ihm Soo; Kim, In Ju; Kim, Yong Ki [Pusan National University Hospital, Pusan (Korea, Republic of)

    2007-07-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between depressive mood and pre-dialytic CKD, to localize and quantify depressive mood -related lesions in pre-dialytic CKD patients through statistical parametric mapping (SPM) analysis of brain positron emission tomography (PET), and to examine the usefulness of brain PET for early detection and proper treatment of depressive mood. Twenty one patients with stage 5 CKD and 22 healthy volunteers were analyzed by depressive mood assessment and statistical parametric mapping (SPM) analysis of 18F-FDG PET. Depressive mood assessment was done by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). The largest clusters were areas including precentral gyrus, prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulated cortex of left hemisphere. Other clusters were left transverse temporal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, right prefrontal cortex, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA 46, 44), right inferior frontal gyrus, right inferior parietal lobule, left angular gyrus. In addition, correlation was found between hypometabolized areas and HDRS scores of CKD patients in right prefrontal cortex (BA 11) and right anterior cingulated gyrus (BA 24). In conclusion, this study demonstrated specific depressive mood-related abnormal metabolic lesion. Interestingly, in CKD patients with severe depressive mood, cerebral metabolism was similar to that of MDD.

  17. Abnormal brain glucose metabolism and depressive mood in patients with pre-dialytic chronic kidney disease: SPM analysis of F-18 FDG positron emission tomography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jun, Sung Min; Song, Sang Heon; Kim, Seong Jang; Kim, Ji Hoon; Kwak, Ihm Soo; Kim, In Ju; Kim, Yong Ki

    2007-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between depressive mood and pre-dialytic CKD, to localize and quantify depressive mood -related lesions in pre-dialytic CKD patients through statistical parametric mapping (SPM) analysis of brain positron emission tomography (PET), and to examine the usefulness of brain PET for early detection and proper treatment of depressive mood. Twenty one patients with stage 5 CKD and 22 healthy volunteers were analyzed by depressive mood assessment and statistical parametric mapping (SPM) analysis of 18F-FDG PET. Depressive mood assessment was done by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). The largest clusters were areas including precentral gyrus, prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulated cortex of left hemisphere. Other clusters were left transverse temporal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, right prefrontal cortex, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA 46, 44), right inferior frontal gyrus, right inferior parietal lobule, left angular gyrus. In addition, correlation was found between hypometabolized areas and HDRS scores of CKD patients in right prefrontal cortex (BA 11) and right anterior cingulated gyrus (BA 24). In conclusion, this study demonstrated specific depressive mood-related abnormal metabolic lesion. Interestingly, in CKD patients with severe depressive mood, cerebral metabolism was similar to that of MDD

  18. Lipid metabolism abnormalities in alcohol-treated rabbits: a morphometric and haematologic study comparing high and low alcohol doses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ikemura, Satoshi; Yamamoto, Takuaki; Motomura, Goro; Iwasaki, Kenyu; Yamaguchi, Ryosuke; Zhao, Garida; Iwamoto, Yukihide

    2011-08-01

    The pathogenesis of alcohol-induced osteonecrosis remains unclear. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the morphological changes in bone marrow fat cells and the changes in the serum lipid levels in alcohol-treated rabbits. Fifteen rabbits were randomly assigned into three groups: Four rabbits intragastrically received low-dose alcohol (LDA) (15 ml/kg per day) containing 15% ethanol for 4 weeks, five rabbits received high-dose alcohol (HDA) (30 ml/kg per day) for 4 weeks and six rabbits received physiologic saline for 4 weeks as a control group. Six weeks after the initial alcohol administration, all rabbits were sacrificed. The mean size of the bone marrow fat cells in rabbits treated with HDA was significantly larger than that in the control group (P = 0.0001). Haematologically, the levels of triglycerides and free fatty acids in the rabbits treated with both low-dose and HDA were significantly higher than those in the control group (P = 0.001 for both comparisons). The results of this study are that there are lipid metabolism abnormalities, both morphologically and haematologically, after alcohol administration. Also these findings were more apparent in rabbits treated with HDA than those treated with LDA. © 2011 The Authors. International Journal of Experimental Pathology © 2011 International Journal of Experimental Pathology.

  19. Manipulating the Circadian and Sleep Cycles to Protect Against Metabolic Disease

    OpenAIRE

    Nohara, Kazunari; Yoo, Seung-Hee; Chen, Zheng (Jake)

    2015-01-01

    Modernization of human society parallels an epidemic of metabolic disorders including obesity. Apart from excess caloric intake, a 24/7 lifestyle poses another important challenge to our metabolic health. Recent research under both laboratory and epidemiological settings has indicated that abnormal temporal organization of sleep and wakeful activities including food intake is a significant risk factor for metabolic disease. The circadian clock system is our intrinsic biological timer that reg...

  20. T wave abnormalities, high body mass index, current smoking and high lipoprotein (a levels predict the development of major abnormal Q/QS patterns 20 years later. A population-based study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sundstrom Johan

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Most studies on risk factors for development of coronary heart disease (CHD have been based on the clinical outcome of CHD. Our aim was to identify factors that could predict the development of ECG markers of CHD, such as abnormal Q/QS patterns, ST segment depression and T wave abnormalities, in 70-year-old men, irrespective of clinical outcome. Methods Predictors for development of different ECG abnormalities were identified in a population-based study using stepwise logistic regression. Anthropometrical and metabolic factors, ECG abnormalities and vital signs from a health survey of men at age 50 were related to ECG abnormalities identified in the same cohort 20 years later. Results At the age of 70, 9% had developed a major abnormal Q/QS pattern, but 63% of these subjects had not been previously hospitalized due to MI, while 57% with symptomatic MI between age 50 and 70 had no major Q/QS pattern at age 70. T wave abnormalities (Odds ratio 3.11, 95% CI 1.18–8.17, high lipoprotein (a levels, high body mass index (BMI and smoking were identified as significant independent predictors for the development of abnormal major Q/QS patterns. T wave abnormalities and high fasting glucose levels were significant independent predictors for the development of ST segment depression without abnormal Q/QS pattern. Conclusion T wave abnormalities on resting ECG should be given special attention and correlated with clinical information. Risk factors for major Q/QS patterns need not be the same as traditional risk factors for clinically recognized CHD. High lipoprotein (a levels may be a stronger risk factor for silent myocardial infarction (MI compared to clinically recognized MI.

  1. Pathophysiology and molecular basis of selected metabolic abnormalities in Huntington's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krzysztoń-Russjan, Jolanta

    2016-12-30

    Huntington's disease (HD) is an incurable, devastating neurodegenerative disease with a known genetic background and autosomally dominant inheritance pattern. HTT gene mutation (mHTT) is associated with polymorphic fragment elongation above 35 repeats of the CAG triplet. The mHTT product is an altered protein with a poly-Q elongated fragment, with the highest expression determined in the central nervous system (CNS) and with differentiated expression outside the CNS. A drastic loss of striatal and deeper layers of the cerebral cortex neurons was determined in the CNS, but muscle and body weight mass loss with dysfunction of many organs was also observed. HD symptoms include neurological disturbances, such as choreal movements with dystonia, speech and swallowing impairments, and additionally a variety of psychiatric and behavioral symptoms with cognitive decline have been described. They are the result of disturbances of several cellular pathways related to signal transmission, mitochondrial dysfunction and energy metabolism impairment shown by gene and protein expression and alteration of their functions. Impairment of energy processes demonstrated by a decrease of ATP production and increase of oxidative stress markers was determined in- and outside of the CNS in glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and the electron transport chain. A correlation between the increase of energy metabolism impairment level and the increase in number of CAG repeats in HTT has often been described. The energy metabolism study is an initial stage of sensitive biomarkers and a new therapeutic investigative option for early application in order to inhibit pathological processes in HD. Identification of pathological changes outside the CNS requires a reevaluation of diagnostic and therapeutic rules in HD.

  2. Investigation of the impacts of thermal pretreatment on waste activated sludge and development of a pretreatment model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burger, Gillian; Parker, Wayne

    2013-09-15

    This study investigated the impacts of high pressure thermal hydrolysis (HPTH) pretreatment on the distribution of chemical oxygen demand (COD) species in waste activated sludge (WAS). In the first phase of the project, WAS from a synthetically-fed biological reactor (BR) was fed to an aerobic digester (AD). In the second phase, WAS from the BR was pretreated by HPTH at 150 °C and 3 bars for 30 min prior to being fed to the AD. A range of physical, biochemical and biological properties were regularly measured in each process stream in both phases. The COD of the BR WAS consisted of storage products (XSTO), active heterotrophs (XH) and endogenous decay products (XE). Pretreatment did not increase the extent to which the BR WAS was aerobically digested and hence it was concluded that the unbiodegradable COD fraction, i.e. XE, was unchanged by pretreatment. However, pretreatment did increase the rate of degradation as it converted 36% of XH to readily biodegradable COD (SB) and the remaining XH to slowly biodegradable COD (XB). Furthermore, XSTO was fully converted to SB by pretreatment. Although pretreatment did not change the VSS concentration in the downstream aerobic digester, it did decrease the ISS concentration by 46 ± 11%. This reduced the total mass of solids produced by the digester by 21 ± 8%. A COD-based HPTH pretreatment model was developed and calibrated. When this model was integrated into BioWin 3.1(®), it was able to accurately simulate both the steady state performance of the overall system employed in this study as well as dynamic respirometry results. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Metabolic Syndromes Associated with HIV: Mitigating the Side Effects of Drug Therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stringer, William W.; Sattler, Fred R.

    2001-01-01

    HIV infection and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) are associated with such metabolic disorders as AIDS wasting syndrome, metabolic dysregulation, and abnormalities of serum lipids. Adjunctive therapies (e.g., diet and antilipid therapy); risk factor modification (e.g., smoking cessation and blood pressure control); aerobic exercise;…

  4. [Prevalence of target organ damage and metabolic abnormalities in resistant hypertension].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armario, Pedro; Oliveras, Anna; Hernández Del Rey, Raquel; Ruilope, Luis Miguel; De La Sierra, Alejandro

    2011-10-15

    Patients with resistant hypertension (RH) are relatively frequently visited in specialized units of hypertension. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of target organ damage, central obesity and metabolic syndrome in a cohort of patients with RH consecutively included in the Register of Resistant Hypertension of the Spanish Society of Hypertension (SHE-LELHA). Cross-sectional, multicenter epidemiologic study in usual clinical practice conditions. Patients with clinical diagnosis of resistant hypertension, that is, office systolic and diastolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mm Hg and/or ≥ 90 mm Hg, respectively, despite a prescribed therapeutic schedule with an appropriate combination of three or more full-dose antihypertensive drugs, including a diuretic, were consecutively recruited from specialized hypertension units spread through Spain. Demographic and anthropometric characteristics as well as cardiovascular risk factors and associated conditions were recorded, and all the subjects underwent 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Left ventricular hypertrophy was considered as a left ventricular mass index ≥ 125 g/m(2) in males and ≥ 110 g/m(2) in females. Left atrial enlargement was defined as an indexed left atrium diameter ≥ 26 mm/m(2). Microalbuminuria was defined as a urinary albumin/creatinine ratio ≥ 22 mg/g in males and ≥ 31 mg/g in females. 513 patients were included, aged 64±11 years old, 47% women. Central obesity was present in 65.7% (CI 95% 61.6-69.9), 38.6% (CI 95% 34.4-42.8) had diabetes and 63.7% (CI 95% 59.4-67.9) had metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy and left atrial enlargement, determined by echocardiography was 57.1% (CI 95% 50.8-63.5) and 10.0% (CI 95% 6.3-13.7) respectively. Microalbuminuria was found in 46.6% (CI 95% 41.4-51.8) of the subjects. Patients with metabolic syndrome were significantly older (65.4±11 and 62.5±12 years; P=.0052), presented a higher prevalence of diabetes

  5. Abnormal myocardial free fatty acid utilization deteriorates with morphological changes in the hypertensive heart

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakayama, Hiroyuki; Morozumi, Takakazu; Nanto, Shinsuke

    2001-01-01

    The left ventricle's morphological adaptation to high blood pressure is classified into 4 patterns based on mass and wall thickness. The geometric changes caused by maladaptation to pressure overload possibly relate to progression of contractile dysfunction with abnormal energy metabolism. The present study assessed whether the geometric adaptation of the left ventricle (LV) to high blood pressure relates to changes in myocardial energy metabolism, especially free fatty acid (FFA) utilization. Thirty-five patients with essential hypertension underwent echocardiography and dual isotopes myocardial scintigraphy using iodine-123 labeled 15-p-iodophenyl-3-(R,S)-methylpentadecanoic acid (BMIPP, an analogue of a FFA) and thallium-201 (Tl-201). Systolic (endocardial fractional shortening; %FS) and diastolic indices (the ratio of early to atrial filling waves; E/A) of LV function were also assessed. Quantitative myocardial BMIPP uptake was evaluated by the BMIPP/Tl-201 myocardial uptake ratio (B/T). The subjects were divided into 4 groups based on LV mass and wall thickness: concentric hypertrophy (CH), eccentric hypertrophy (EH), concentric remodeling (CR), and normal geometry (N). The %FS was lower in the EH group than in the other groups. The mitral E/A ratio in the CH group was lowest. B/T was significantly decreased in the EH group compared with the N group (p<0.05). B/T correlated with the mitral E/A ratio significantly (p<0.05, r=0.42), whereas there was no relationship between %FS and B/T. These results indicate that the geometric changes occurring in hypertensive hearts strongly correlate with alternations in cardiac function and with abnormal myocardial FFA metabolism, and that the latter is associated with diastolic abnormality, but not with systolic function. (author)

  6. Race and ethnicity, obesity, metabolic health, and risk of cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schmiegelow, Michelle D; Hedlin, Haley; Mackey, Rachel H

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether obesity unaccompanied by metabolic abnormalities is associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk across racial and ethnic subgroups. METHODS AND RESULTS: We identified 14 364 postmenopausal women from the Women's Health Initiative who had data on fasting...... serum lipids and serum glucose and no history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes at baseline. We categorized women by body mass index (in kg/m(2)) as normal weight (body mass index 18.5 to obese (body mass index ≥30) and by metabolic health, defined......, overweight women had similar risk to normal weight women (HR 0.92, interaction P=0.05). Obese black women without metabolic syndrome had higher adjusted risk (HR 1.95) than obese white women (HR 1.07; interaction P=0.02). Among women with only 2 metabolic abnormalities, cardiovascular risk was increased...

  7. Reducing biomass recalcitrance via mild sodium carbonate pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirmohamadsadeghi, Safoora; Chen, Zhu; Wan, Caixia

    2016-06-01

    This study examined the effects of mild sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) pretreatment on enzymatic hydrolysis of different feedstocks (i.e., corn stover, Miscanthus, and switchgrass). The results showed that sodium carbonate pretreatment markedly enhanced the sugar yields of the tested biomass feedstocks. The pretreated corn stover, Miscanthus, and switchgrass gave the glucose yields of 95.1%, 62.3%, and 81.3%, respectively, after enzymatic hydrolysis. The above glucose yields of pretreated feedstocks were 2-4 times that of untreated ones. The pretreatment also enhanced the xylose yields, 4 times for corn stover and 20 times for both Miscanthus and switchgrass. Sodium carbonate pretreatment removed 40-59% lignin from the tested feedstocks while preserving most of cellulose (sodium carbonate pretreatment was effective for reducing biomass recalcitrance and subsequently improving the digestibility of lignocellulosic biomass. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Persistence of metabolic monitoring for psychiatry inpatients treated with second-generation antipsychotics utilizing a computer-based intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, J; Dalack, G W; Casher, M I; Eappen, S A; Bostwick, J R

    2016-04-01

    Monitoring and intervention for metabolic abnormalities secondary to second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) remain weak areas of performance in mental health care. This study evaluated the sustained impact of a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) pop-up alert designed to improve rates of laboratory metabolic monitoring of patients treated with SGAs in an inpatient psychiatry unit. Interventions carried out by the psychiatry team to manage metabolic abnormalities found on screening were also identified. A retrospective chart review of patients treated with scheduled SGAs at a large Midwestern academic medical centre's inpatient adult psychiatry unit was conducted nearly 4 years after the initial implementation of a pop-up alert. Rates of laboratory monitoring (blood glucose level, haemoglobin A1C [HbA1c], lipid panel) were compared to those following the initial implementation. Medical charts of patients with abnormal laboratory results were also reviewed to summarize interventions made by the psychiatry team to manage identified abnormalities. Patient demographics in the current study population (n = 129) were similar to those in the initial test cohort (n = 157). There was no significant decrease in monitoring of glucose levels and lipid panels (fasting or random). Nine patients with abnormally elevated laboratories were identified. Interventions by the psychiatry team included referrals to appropriate healthcare professionals and initiation of medication. The rate of metabolic monitoring for inpatients on SGA therapy did not significantly change over time with the continued use of the CPOE pop-up alert. Optimal monitoring utilizing a CPOE pop-up alert may allow the psychiatry team, including psychiatric pharmacists, to better manage metabolic conditions. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. Metabolic syndrome in the Mediterranean region: Current status

    OpenAIRE

    Panagiotis Anagnostis

    2012-01-01

    Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of metabolic abnormalities including abdominal obesity, impaired fasting glucose, hypertension and dyslipidemia. It seems to affect about one-fourth to one-fifth of the Mediterranean population, and its prevalence increases with age, being similar for both sexes and depending on the region and the definition used, with the National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel-III (NCEP-ATPIII) definition being the most effective in the identificat...

  10. The relationship of obesity to the metabolic syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lebovitz, Harold E

    2003-03-01

    Obese patients with the metabolic syndrome generally have a visceral (apple-shaped) fat distribution and are at an increased risk of macrovascular disease, while those with peripheral (pear-shaped) obesity tend not to have metabolic abnormalities and are at less risk. This difference appears to be related to the differing metabolic functions (and secretory products) of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), as well as the fact that VAT drains directly into the liver. Thus, it appears that increased VAT, but not SAT, is associated with both hepatic and peripheral biochemical abnormalities leading to insulin resistance and the associated metabolic syndrome. Insulin resistance is associated with VAT products, such as free fatty acids and their metabolites, as well as cytokines, such as tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). These factors may activate components of the inflammatory pathway such as nuclear factor kappa-B (NFkappaB), and inhibit insulin signalling. Insulin resistance is further associated with decreased levels of another tissue product, adiponectin. The incidence and prevalence of obesity is increasing at an unprecedented rate. The classic treatment of obesity is weight loss via lifestyle modification. However, prevention of obesity comorbidity can also be achieved by modifying the mechanisms by which obesity causes these comorbid conditions. For instance, it is now known that the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) family of transcriptional regulators are crucial in regulating adipose tissue development and metabolism; this helps explain why compounds with PPARgamma agonist activity, e.g. thiazolidinediones, increase insulin action through their effects in regulating adipose tissue metabolism.

  11. The metabolic score: A decision making tool in diabetes care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalra, Sanjay; Gupta, Yashdeep

    2015-11-01

    The heterogeneity of diabetes mellitus, and the various metabolic abnormalities associated with it, are well known. Current management guidelines used to help choose glucose-lowering drugs in diabetes mellitus describe various drug classes in detail, but do not take the overall metabolic profile into consideration. To help physicians choose appropriate oral therapy, we propose a discrete metabolic score, based upon the presence and absence of metabolic comorbidities included in the definition of metabolic syndrome. This communication describes how to choose an appropriate oral antidiabetic drug using such a score. The metabolic score based decision making aid should be able to prove its utility in all health care settings, especially resource constrained societies.

  12. Prediction of residual metabolic activity after treatment in NSCLC patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rios Velazquez, Emmanuel; Aerts, Hugo J.W.L.; Oberije, Cary; Ruysscher, Dirk De; Lambin, Philippe

    2010-01-01

    Purpose. Metabolic response assessment is often used as a surrogate of local failure and survival. Early identification of patients with residual metabolic activity is essential as this enables selection of patients who could potentially benefit from additional therapy. We report on the development of a pre-treatment prediction model for metabolic response using patient, tumor and treatment factors. Methods. One hundred and one patients with inoperable NSCLC (stage I-IV), treated with 3D conformal radical (chemo)-radiotherapy were retrospectively included in this study. All patients received a pre and post-radiotherapy fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography FDG-PET-CT scan. The electronic medical record system and the medical patient charts were reviewed to obtain demographic, clinical, tumor and treatment data. Primary outcome measure was examined using a metabolic response assessment on a post-radiotherapy FDG-PET-CT scan. Radiotherapy was delivered in fractions of 1.8 Gy, twice a day, with a median prescribed dose of 60 Gy. Results. Overall survival was worse in patients with residual metabolic active areas compared with the patients with a complete metabolic response (p=0.0001). In univariate analysis, three variables were significantly associated with residual disease: larger primary gross tumor volume (GTVprimary, p=0.002), higher pre-treatment maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max , p=0.0005) in the primary tumor and shorter overall treatment time (OTT, p=0.046). A multivariate model including GTVprimary, SUV max , equivalent radiation dose at 2 Gy corrected for time (EQD2, T) and OTT yielded an area under the curve assessed by the leave-one-out cross validation of 0.71 (95% CI, 0.65-0.76). Conclusion. Our results confirmed the validity of metabolic response assessment as a surrogate of survival. We developed a multivariate model that is able to identify patients at risk of residual disease. These patients may benefit from

  13. Metabolic Effects of Obesity and Its Interaction with Endocrine Diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Melissa; Hoenig, Margarethe

    2016-09-01

    Obesity in pet dogs and cats is a significant problem in developed countries, and seems to be increasing in prevalence. Excess body fat has adverse metabolic consequences, including insulin resistance, altered adipokine secretion, changes in metabolic rate, abnormal lipid metabolism, and fat accumulation in visceral organs. Obese cats are predisposed to endocrine and metabolic disorders such as diabetes and hepatic lipidosis. A connection likely also exists between obesity and diabetes mellitus in dogs. No system has been developed to identify obese pets at greatest risk for development of obesity-associated metabolic diseases, and further study in this area is needed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. The characteristic changes of betung bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper pretreated by fungal pretreatment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Widya Fatriasari

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The fungal pretreatment effect on chemical structural and morphological changes of Betung Bamboo was evaluated based on its biomass components after being cultivated by white rot fungi, Trametes versicolor. Betung bamboo powder (15 g was exposed to liquid inoculum of white rot fungi and incubated at 270C for 15, 30 and 45 days. The treated samples were then characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction and SEM-EDS analyses. Cultivation for 30 days with 5 and 10% loadings retained greater selectivity compared to that of the other treatments. FTIR spectra demonstrated that the fungus affected the decreasing of functional group quantities without changing the functional groups. The decrease in intensity at wave number of 1246 cm-1 (guaiacyl of lignin was greater than that at wave number of 1328 cm-1 (deformation combination of syringyl and xylan after fungal treatment. X-ray analysis showed the pretreated samples had a higher crystallinity than the untreated ones which might be due to the cleavage of amorphous fractions of cellulose. The pretreated samples have more fragile than the untreated ones confirmed by SEM. Crystalline allomorph calculated by XRD analysis showed that fungus pretreatment for 30 days has transformed triclinic structure of cellulose to monoclinic structure.

  15. Correlation between CD34 expression and chromosomal abnormalities but not clinical outcome in acute myeloid leukemia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fruchart, C; Lenormand, B; Bastard, C; Boulet, D; Lesesve, J F; Callat, M P; Stamatoullas, A; Monconduit, M; Tilly, H

    1996-11-01

    The hemopoietic stem cell marker CD34 has been reported to be a useful predictor of treatment outcome in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Previous data suggested that CD34 expression may be associated with other poor prognosis factors in AML such as undifferentiated leukemia, secondary AML (SAML), and clonal abnormalities involving chromosome 5 and 7. In order to analyze the correlations between the clinicopathologic features, cytogenetic and CD34 expression in AML, we retrospectively investigated 99 patients with newly diagnosed AML: 85 with de novo disease and 14 with secondary AML (SAML). Eighty-six patients who received the same induction chemotherapy were available for clinical outcome. Defining a case as positive when > or = 20% of bone marrow cells collected at diagnosis expressed the CD34 antigen, forty-five patients were included in the CD34 positive group. Ninety patients had adequate cytogenetic analysis. Thirty-two patients (72%) with CD34 positive AML exhibited an abnormal karyotype whereas 15 patients (28%) with CD34 negative AML had abnormal metaphases (P /= 20% (P clinical outcome in AML should take into account the results of pretreatment karyotype.

  16. New paradigms for metabolic modeling of human cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mardinoglu, Adil; Nielsen, Jens

    2015-01-01

    review recent work on reconstruction of GEMs for human cell/tissue types and cancer, and the use of GEMs for identification of metabolic changes occurring in response to disease development. We further discuss how GEMs can be used for the development of efficient therapeutic strategies. Finally......, challenges in integration of cell/tissue models for simulation of whole body functions as well as integration of GEMs with other biological networks for generating complete cell/tissue models are presented.......Abnormalities in cellular functions are associated with the progression of human diseases, often resulting in metabolic reprogramming. GEnome-scale metabolic Models (GEMs) have enabled studying global metabolic reprogramming in connection with disease development in a systematic manner. Here we...

  17. Sex-Specific Association between Metabolic Abnormalities and Elevated Alanine Aminotransferase Levels in a Military Cohort: The CHIEF Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kai-Wen Chen

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The association of metabolic syndrome (MetS components with elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT levels, a marker of hepatic injury, may differ between men and women. However, the sex-specific association in a military young population which has a low prevalence of MetS was unclear. We conducted a cross-sectional examination in 6738 men and 766 women, aged 18–50 years, from the cardiorespiratory fitness study in armed forces (CHIEF in eastern Taiwan. The components of MetS were defined according to the updated International Diabetes Federation (IDF ethnic criteria for Asians. Elevated ALT levels were defined as ≥40 U/L for both sexes and ≥30 U/L for women alternatively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the sex-specific association between MetS components and elevated ALT. The prevalence of MetS and elevated ALT in men were 11.9% and 12.7% respectively, and in women were 3.5%, and 3.8% respectively. In men, high-density lipoprotein < 40 mg/dL, blood pressures ≥ 130/85 mmHg, serum triglycerides ≥ 150 mg/dL, and waist size ≥ 90 cm were associated with elevated ALT (odds ratios (OR and 95% confidence intervals: 1.59 (1.34–1.90, 1.40 (1.19–1.65, 2.00 (1.68–2.39, and 1.68 (1.38–2.04; all p < 0.001; whereas in women, only fasting plasma glucose ≥ 100 mg/dL was associated with elevated ALT ≥ 40 U/L (OR: 7.59 (2.35–24.51, p = 0.001 and ALT ≥ 30 U/L (2.67 (0.89–7.95, p = 0.08. Our findings suggest that the relationship between metabolic abnormalities and elevated ALT may differ by sex, possibly due to the MetS more prevalent in young adult men than in women.

  18. White matter abnormalities of microstructure and physiological noise in schizophrenia

    OpenAIRE

    Cheng, Hu; Newman, Sharlene D.; Kent, Jerillyn S.; Bolbecker, Amanda; Klaunig, Mallory J.; O'Donnell, Brian F.; Puce, Aina; Hetrick, William P.

    2015-01-01

    White matter abnormalities in schizophrenia have been revealed by many imaging techniques and analysis methods. One of the findings by diffusion tensor imaging is a decrease in fractional anisotropy (FA), which is an indicator of white matter integrity. On the other hand, elevation of metabolic rate in white matter was observed from positron emission tomography (PET) studies. In this report, we aim to compare the two structural and functional effects on the same subjects. Our comparison is ba...

  19. Metabolic disorders in menopause

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Grzegorz Stachowiak

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Metabolic disorders occurring in menopause, including dyslipidemia, disorders of carbohydrate metabolism (impaired glucose tolerance – IGT, type 2 diabetes mellitus – T2DM or components of metabolic syndrome, constitute risk factors for cardiovascular disease in women. A key role could be played here by hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance and visceral obesity, all contributing to dyslipidemia, oxidative stress, inflammation, alter coagulation and atherosclerosis observed during the menopausal period. Undiagnosed and untreated, metabolic disorders may adversely affect the length and quality of women’s life. Prevention and treatment preceded by early diagnosis should be the main goal for the physicians involved in menopausal care. This article represents a short review of the current knowledge concerning metabolic disorders (e.g. obesity, polycystic ovary syndrome or thyroid diseases in menopause, including the role of a tailored menopausal hormone therapy (HT. According to current data, HT is not recommend as a preventive strategy for metabolic disorders in menopause. Nevertheless, as part of a comprehensive strategy to prevent chronic diseases after menopause, menopausal hormone therapy, particularly estrogen therapy may be considered (after balancing benefits/risks and excluding women with absolute contraindications to this therapy. Life-style modifications, with moderate physical activity and healthy diet at the forefront, should be still the first choice recommendation for all patients with menopausal metabolic abnormalities.

  20. Effects of an Agaricus blazei Aqueous Extract Pretreatment on Paracetamol-Induced Brain and Liver Injury in Rats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andréia A. Soares

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The action of an Agaricus blazei aqueous extract pretreatment on paracetamol injury in rats was examined not only in terms of the classical indicators (e.g., levels of hepatic enzymes in the plasma but also in terms of functional and metabolic parameters (e.g., gluconeogenesis. Considering solely the classical indicators for tissue damage, the results can be regarded as an indication that the A. blazei extract is able to provide a reasonable degree of protection against the paracetamol injury in both the hepatic and brain tissues. The A. blazei pretreatment largely prevented the increased levels of hepatic enzymes in the plasma (ASP, ALT, LDH, and ALP and practically normalized the TBARS levels in both liver and brain tissues. With respect to the functional and metabolic parameters of the liver, however, the extract provided little or no protection. This includes morphological signs of inflammation and the especially important functional parameter gluconeogenesis, which was impaired by paracetamol. Considering these results and the long list of extracts and substances that are said to have hepatoprotective effects, it would be useful to incorporate evaluations of functional parameters into the experimental protocols of studies aiming to attribute or refute effective hepatoprotective actions to natural products.

  1. The metabolic vascular syndrome - guide to an individualized treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanefeld, Markolf; Pistrosch, Frank; Bornstein, Stefan R; Birkenfeld, Andreas L

    2016-03-01

    In ancient Greek medicine the concept of a distinct syndrome (going together) was used to label 'a group of signs and symptoms' that occur together and 'characterize a particular abnormality and condition'. The (dys)metabolic syndrome is a common cluster of five pre-morbid metabolic-vascular risk factors or diseases associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity, fatty liver disease and risk of cancer. The risk for major complications such as cardiovascular diseases, NASH and some cancers develops along a continuum of risk factors into clinical diseases. Therefore we still include hyperglycemia, visceral obesity, dyslipidemia and hypertension as diagnostic traits in the definition according to the term 'deadly quartet'. From the beginning elevated blood pressure and hyperglycemia were core traits of the metabolic syndrome associated with endothelial dysfunction and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Thus metabolic and vascular abnormalities are in extricable linked. Therefore it seems reasonable to extend the term to metabolic-vascular syndrome (MVS) to signal the clinical relevance and related risk of multimorbidity. This has important implications for integrated diagnostics and therapeutic approach. According to the definition of a syndrome the rapid global rise in the prevalence of all traits and comorbidities of the MVS is mainly caused by rapid changes in life-style and sociocultural transition resp. with over- and malnutrition, low physical activity and social stress as a common soil.

  2. Clinical approach to inherited metabolic disorders in neonates

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Saudubray, J. M.; Narcy, C.; Lyonnet, L.; Bonnefont, J. P.; Poll The, B. T.; Munnich, A.

    1990-01-01

    Most inborn errors of intermediary metabolism presenting in the neonatal period fall schematically into three clinical categories: (1) those which lead to a neurological distress 'intoxication type' with a symptom-free interval, vomiting, comas, hypertonia, abnormal movements and frequent humoral

  3. Prenatal ethanol exposure-induced adrenal developmental abnormality of male offspring rats and its possible intrauterine programming mechanisms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huang, Hegui; He, Zheng; Zhu, Chunyan; Liu, Lian; Kou, Hao; Shen, Lang [Department of Pharmacology, Wuhan University School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wuhan 430071 (China); Wang, Hui, E-mail: wanghui19@whu.edu.cn [Department of Pharmacology, Wuhan University School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wuhan 430071 (China); Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory of Developmentally Originated Disorder, Wuhan 430071 (China)

    2015-10-01

    Fetal adrenal developmental status is the major determinant of fetal tissue maturation and offspring growth. We have previously proposed that prenatal ethanol exposure (PEE) suppresses fetal adrenal corticosterone (CORT) synthesis. Here, we focused on PEE-induced adrenal developmental abnormalities of male offspring rats before and after birth, and aimed to explore its intrauterine programming mechanisms. A rat model of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) was established by PEE (4 g/kg·d). In PEE fetus, increased serum CORT concentration and decreased insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) concentration, with lower bodyweight and structural abnormalities as well as a decreased Ki67 expression (proliferative marker), were observed in the male fetal adrenal cortex. Adrenal glucocorticoid (GC)-metabolic activation system was enhanced while gene expression of IGF1 signaling pathway with steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) was decreased. Furthermore, in the male adult offspring of PEE, serum CORT level was decreased but IGF1 was increased with partial catch-up growth, and Ki67 expression demonstrated no obvious change. Adrenal GC-metabolic activation system was inhibited, while IGF1 signaling pathway and 3β-HSD was enhanced with the steroidogenic factor 1 (SF1), and StAR was down-regulated in the adult adrenal. Based on these findings, we propose a “two-programming” mechanism for PEE-induced adrenal developmental toxicity: “the first programming” is a lower functional programming of adrenal steroidogenesis, and “the second programming” is GC-metabolic activation system-related GC-IGF1 axis programming. - Highlights: • Prenatal ethanol exposure induces adrenal developmental abnormality in offspring rats. • Prenatal ethanol exposure induces intrauterine programming of adrenal steroidogenesis. • Intrauterine GC-IGF1 axis programming might mediate adrenal developmental abnormality.

  4. Prenatal ethanol exposure-induced adrenal developmental abnormality of male offspring rats and its possible intrauterine programming mechanisms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, Hegui; He, Zheng; Zhu, Chunyan; Liu, Lian; Kou, Hao; Shen, Lang; Wang, Hui

    2015-01-01

    Fetal adrenal developmental status is the major determinant of fetal tissue maturation and offspring growth. We have previously proposed that prenatal ethanol exposure (PEE) suppresses fetal adrenal corticosterone (CORT) synthesis. Here, we focused on PEE-induced adrenal developmental abnormalities of male offspring rats before and after birth, and aimed to explore its intrauterine programming mechanisms. A rat model of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) was established by PEE (4 g/kg·d). In PEE fetus, increased serum CORT concentration and decreased insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) concentration, with lower bodyweight and structural abnormalities as well as a decreased Ki67 expression (proliferative marker), were observed in the male fetal adrenal cortex. Adrenal glucocorticoid (GC)-metabolic activation system was enhanced while gene expression of IGF1 signaling pathway with steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) was decreased. Furthermore, in the male adult offspring of PEE, serum CORT level was decreased but IGF1 was increased with partial catch-up growth, and Ki67 expression demonstrated no obvious change. Adrenal GC-metabolic activation system was inhibited, while IGF1 signaling pathway and 3β-HSD was enhanced with the steroidogenic factor 1 (SF1), and StAR was down-regulated in the adult adrenal. Based on these findings, we propose a “two-programming” mechanism for PEE-induced adrenal developmental toxicity: “the first programming” is a lower functional programming of adrenal steroidogenesis, and “the second programming” is GC-metabolic activation system-related GC-IGF1 axis programming. - Highlights: • Prenatal ethanol exposure induces adrenal developmental abnormality in offspring rats. • Prenatal ethanol exposure induces intrauterine programming of adrenal steroidogenesis. • Intrauterine GC-IGF1 axis programming might mediate adrenal developmental abnormality.

  5. Enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated soybean straw

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu Zhong; Wang Qunhui; Jiang Zhaohua; Yang Xuexin; Ji Yongzhen

    2007-01-01

    In order to produce lactic acid, from agricultural residues such as soybean straw, which is a raw material for biodegradable plastic production, it is necessary to decompose the soybean straw into soluble sugars. Enzymatic hydrolysis is one of the methods in common use, while pretreatment is the effective way to increase the hydrolysis rate. The optimal conditions of pretreatment using ammonia and enzymatic hydrolysis of soybean straw were determined. Compared with the untreated straw, cellulose in straw pretreated by ammonia liquor (10%) soaking for 24 h at room temperature increased 70.27%, whereas hemicellulose and lignin in pretreated straw decreased to 41.45% and 30.16%, respectively. The results of infrared spectra (IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis also showed that the structure and the surface of the straw were changed through pretreatment that is in favor of the following enzymatic hydrolysis. maximum enzymatic hydrolysis rate of 51.22% was achieved at a substrate concentration of 5% (w/v) at 50 deg. C and pH 4.8 using cellulase (50 fpu/g of substrate) for 36 h

  6. Mutations in THAP11 cause an inborn error of cobalamin metabolism and developmental abnormalities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Quintana, Anita M; Yu, Hung-Chun; Brebner, Alison

    2017-01-01

    roles in normal brain development. The loss of THAP11 in zebrafish embryos results in craniofacial abnormalities including the complete loss of Meckel's cartilage, the ceratohyal, and all of the ceratobranchial cartilages. These data are consistent with our previous work that demonstrated a role...

  7. Feeling Abnormal: Simulation of Deviancy in Abnormal and Exceptionality Courses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernald, Charles D.

    1980-01-01

    Describes activity in which student in abnormal psychology and psychology of exceptional children classes personally experience being judged abnormal. The experience allows the students to remember relevant research, become sensitized to the feelings of individuals classified as deviant, and use caution in classifying individuals as abnormal.…

  8. Predictive value of pretreatment metabolic activity measured by fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in patients with metastatic advanced gastric cancer: the maximal SUV of the stomach is a prognostic factor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Jun Chul; Cheoi, Kungseok; Chung, Hyunsoo; Lee, Hyuk; Shin, Sung Kwan; Lee, Sang Kil; Lee, Yong Chan [Yonsei University College of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine and Institute of Gastroenterology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Jae-Hoon; Yun, Mi Jin [Yonsei University College of Medicine, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2012-07-15

    Few studies have evaluated metabolic activity by {sup 18}F-FDG PET as a prognostic factor in advanced gastric cancer (AGC). We investigated its prognostic role in metastatic AGC. We enrolled 82 patients with metastatic AGC, who were treatment-naive and underwent pretreatment {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT scanning. In each patient, the maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax) was measured in each target lesion. Stomach{sub SUVmax} was defined as SUVmax in the stomach, while Total{sub SUVmax} was defined as the highest SUVmax among all the target lesions. The stomach was the organ most frequently displaying the highest SUVmax among all the target lesions (in 67.1 % of patients). A Total{sub SUVmax} value of 11.5 was the value with the maximum sum of sensitivity and specificity from receiver-operating characteristic curves for progression-free survival (PFS). PFS was significantly longer in patients with a Total{sub SUVmax} value <11.5 than in those with a Total{sub SUVmax} value {>=}11.5 (P = 0.023); however, overall survival (OS) was not (P = 0.055). A Stomach{sub SUVmax} value of 6.0 was derived by similar methods. PFS and OS were significantly longer in those with a Stomach{sub SUVmax} value <6.0 than in those with a Stomach{sub SUVmax} value {>=}6.0 (P = 0.001 and P = 0.006, respectively). Furthermore, those with a low Total{sub SUVmax} and those with a low Stomach{sub SUVmax} showed better chemotherapeutic responses (P = 0.016 and P = 0.034, respectively). Among patients with histologically undifferentiated carcinomas, those with lower Total{sub SUVmax} and those with lower Stomach{sub SUVmax} showed longer median PFS (P = 0.027 and P = 0.005, respectively) and OS (P = 0.009 and P <0.001, respectively). Multivariate analysis demonstrated Stomach{sub SUVmax} as an independent predictor of PFS (P = 0.002) and OS (P = 0.038). Pretreatment metabolic activity may be a useful prognostic marker in patients with metastatic AGC undergoing palliative chemotherapy. Notably

  9. The effect of wastewater pretreatment on nanofiltration membrane performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Hashlamon

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Membrane fouling is considered a serious obstacle for operation and cost efficiency in wastewater treatment using nanofiltration (NF. However, pretreatment is the most practical way to reduce this prior to NF. In this research, two types of wastewaters were pretreated with different methods prior to NF to examine the effect of pretreatment on membrane fouling in terms of turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD and permeate flux. Turbidity and COD were measured to assess solid foulants and organic species in the wastewater, respectively. The first sample was secondary treated sewage, which was pretreated using coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation (CFS only. Steady flux was increased from 24 L/m2h for wastewater without pretreatment to 32.1 L/m2h with pretreatment. COD was also eliminated after CFS/NF, and turbidity was reduced to 0.6 NTU. The second sample was diluted biodiesel wastewater, which was pretreated using a combination of powdered-activated carbon (PAC adsorption and CFS (PAC/CFS. Steady flux was increased from 22.3 L/m2h for wastewater without pretreatment to 28.7 L/m2h with pretreatment; biodiesel wastewater quality also improved. Turbidity was reduced from 12 to 0.6 NTU, and COD was reduced from 526 to 4 mg/L after NF with PAC/CFS pretreatment, while COD was reduced from 526 to 95 mg/L using NF without pretreatment.

  10. SUBCLINICAL HYPOTHYROIDISM IN METABOLIC SYNDROME AND ROLE OF CRP IN 50 ADULT PATIENTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pratik Shah

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND Metabolic Syndrome (MetS is generally characterised as a clustering of the abnormal levels of blood lipids (low HDL and high triglycerides, impaired fasting glucose, elevated blood pressure, and excess abdominal obesity. The objectives of the study areTo evaluate presence of Subclinical Hypothyroidism in the study population of the patients with metabolic syndrome. To find out relation between Subclinical Hypothyroidism and different parameters of metabolic syndrome. To evaluate whether patients of metabolic syndrome with raised hs-CRP have an increased risk of having hypothyroidism. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 50 adult patients who met with inclusion criteria were selected. Patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS who fulfilled the NCEP-ATP III criteria: 3 out of 5 criteria positive. Patients with liver disorders, renal disorders, congestive cardiac failure, pregnant women, patients on oral contraceptive pills, statins and other medications that alter thyroid functions (e.g. lithium, amiodarone or γ-interferon were excluded from the study. RESULTS A total of 50 patients of metabolic syndrome were enrolled. Out of which 36 were euthyroid, 3 were overt hypothyroid and 11 were subclinical hypothyroid. Out of 11 patients of subclinical hypothyroidism, 9 were female and 2 were male patients. Out of 28 females, 9 (32% were SCH while out of 22 males, 2 (9% were SCH. Out of 50 patients, 3 were overt hypothyroid. All 3 patients had BP >130/85, waist circumference was >88 cm and HDL of 130/85, HDL 150 mg/dL and fasting blood glucose of >100 mg/dL were more associated with male patients. CONCLUSION Subclinical Hypothyroidism was present in 22% of study population and more so in females having metabolic syndrome (32%. Hence, it will be worthwhile to screen female metabolic syndrome patients for thyroid function abnormality. Abnormal blood pressure, triglycerides and HDL cholesterol levels were more associated with subclinical hypothyroidism

  11. Abnormal myocardial free fatty acid utilization deteriorates with morphological changes in the hypertensive heart

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nakayama, Hiroyuki; Morozumi, Takakazu; Nanto, Shinsuke [Kansai Rosai Hospital, Amagasaki, Hyogo (Japan)] (and others)

    2001-09-01

    The left ventricle's morphological adaptation to high blood pressure is classified into 4 patterns based on mass and wall thickness. The geometric changes caused by maladaptation to pressure overload possibly relate to progression of contractile dysfunction with abnormal energy metabolism. The present study assessed whether the geometric adaptation of the left ventricle (LV) to high blood pressure relates to changes in myocardial energy metabolism, especially free fatty acid (FFA) utilization. Thirty-five patients with essential hypertension underwent echocardiography and dual isotopes myocardial scintigraphy using iodine-123 labeled 15-p-iodophenyl-3-(R,S)-methylpentadecanoic acid (BMIPP, an analogue of a FFA) and thallium-201 (Tl-201). Systolic (endocardial fractional shortening; %FS) and diastolic indices (the ratio of early to atrial filling waves; E/A) of LV function were also assessed. Quantitative myocardial BMIPP uptake was evaluated by the BMIPP/Tl-201 myocardial uptake ratio (B/T). The subjects were divided into 4 groups based on LV mass and wall thickness: concentric hypertrophy (CH), eccentric hypertrophy (EH), concentric remodeling (CR), and normal geometry (N). The %FS was lower in the EH group than in the other groups. The mitral E/A ratio in the CH group was lowest. B/T was significantly decreased in the EH group compared with the N group (p<0.05). B/T correlated with the mitral E/A ratio significantly (p<0.05, r=0.42), whereas there was no relationship between %FS and B/T. These results indicate that the geometric changes occurring in hypertensive hearts strongly correlate with alternations in cardiac function and with abnormal myocardial FFA metabolism, and that the latter is associated with diastolic abnormality, but not with systolic function. (author)

  12. Pattern of acid base abnormalities in critically ill patinets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmad, T.M.; Mehmood, A.; Malik, T.M.

    2015-01-01

    To find out the pattern of acid base abnormalities in critically ill patients in a tertiary care health facility. Study Design: A descriptive study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in the department of pathology, Combined Military Hospital Kharian from January 2013 to June 2013. Patients and Methods: Two hundred and fifty patients suffering from various diseases and presenting with exacerbation of their clinical conditions were studied. These patients were hospitalized and managed in acute care units of the hospital. Arterial blood gases were analysed to detect acid base status and their correlation with their clinical condition. Concomitant analysis of electrolytes was carried out. Tests related to concurrent illnesses e.g. renal and liver function tests, cardiac enzymes and plasma glucose were assayed by routine end point and kinetic methods. Standard reference materials were used to ensure internal quantify control of analyses. Results: Two hundred and fifteen patients out of 250 studied suffered from acid base disorders. Gender distribution showed a higher percentage of male patients and the mean age was 70.5 ± 17.4 years. Double acid base disorders were the commonest disorders (34%) followed by metabolic acidosis (30%). Anion gap was calculated to further stratify metabolic acidosis and cases of diabetic ketoacidosis were the commonest in this category (47%). Other simple acid base disorders were relatively less frequent. Delta bicarbonate was calculated to unmask the superimposition of respiratory alkalosis or acidosis with metabolic acidosis and metabolic alkalosis. Though triple acid base disorders were noted in a small percentage of cases (05%), but were found to be the most complicated and challenging. Mixed acid base disorders were associated with high mortality. Conclusion: A large number of critically ill patients manifested acid base abnormalities over the full spectrum of these disorders. Mixed acid base disorders were

  13. A Metabolic Study of Huntington's Disease.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rajasree Nambron

    Full Text Available Huntington's disease patients have a number of peripheral manifestations suggestive of metabolic and endocrine abnormalities. We, therefore, investigated a number of metabolic factors in a 24-hour study of Huntington's disease gene carriers (premanifest and moderate stage II/III and controls.Control (n = 15, premanifest (n = 14 and stage II/III (n = 13 participants were studied with blood sampling over a 24-hour period. A battery of clinical tests including neurological rating and function scales were performed. Visceral and subcutaneous adipose distribution was measured using magnetic resonance imaging. We quantified fasting baseline concentrations of glucose, insulin, cholesterol, triglycerides, lipoprotein (a, fatty acids, amino acids, lactate and osteokines. Leptin and ghrelin were quantified in fasting samples and after a standardised meal. We assessed glucose, insulin, growth hormone and cortisol concentrations during a prolonged oral glucose tolerance test.We found no highly significant differences in carbohydrate, protein or lipid metabolism markers between healthy controls, premanifest and stage II/III Huntington's disease subjects. For some markers (osteoprotegerin, tyrosine, lysine, phenylalanine and arginine there is a suggestion (p values between 0.02 and 0.05 that levels are higher in patients with premanifest HD, but not moderate HD. However, given the large number of statistical tests performed interpretation of these findings must be cautious.Contrary to previous studies that showed altered levels of metabolic markers in patients with Huntington's disease, our study did not demonstrate convincing evidence of abnormalities in any of the markers examined. Our analyses were restricted to Huntington's disease patients not taking neuroleptics, anti-depressants or other medication affecting metabolic pathways. Even with the modest sample sizes studied, the lack of highly significant results, despite many being tested, suggests that

  14. Microbial Lipid Production from Enzymatic Hydrolysate of Pecan Nutshell Pretreated by Combined Pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qin, Lizhen; Qian, Hanyu; He, Yucai

    2017-12-01

    Biodiesel is a fuel composed of monoalkyl esters of long-chain fatty acids derived from renewable biomass sources. In this study, biomass waste pecan nutshell (PS) was attempted to be converted into microbial oil. For effective utilization of PS, sequential pretreatment with ethylene glycol-H 2 SO 4 -water (78:2:20, wt:wt:wt) at 130 °C for 30 min and aqueous ammonia (25 wt%) at 50 °C for 24 h was used to enhance its enzymatic saccharification. Significant linear correlation was obtained about delignification-saccharification (R 2  = 0.9507). SEM and FTIR results indicated that combination pretreatment could effectively remove lignin and xylan in PS for promoting its enzymatic saccharification. After 72 h, the reducing sugars from the hydrolysis of 50 g/L pretreated PS by combination pretreatment could be obtained at 73.6% yield. Using the recovered PS hydrolysates containing 20 g/L glucose as carbon source, microbial lipids produced from the PS hydrolysates by Rhodococcus opacus ACCC41043. Four fatty acids including palmitic acid (C16:0; 23.1%), palmitoleic acid (C16:1; 22.4%), stearic acid (C18:0; 15.3%), and oleic acid (C18:1; 23.9%) were distributed in total fatty acids. In conclusion, this strategy has potential application in the future.

  15. Matrine pretreatment improves cardiac function in rats with diabetic cardiomyopathy via suppressing ROS/TLR-4 signaling pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zhong-wei; Wang, Jun-kui; Qiu, Chuan; Guan, Gong-chang; Liu, Xin-hong; Li, Shang-jian; Deng, Zheng-rong

    2015-03-01

    Matrine is an alkaloid from Sophora alopecuroides L, which has shown a variety of pharmacological activities and potential therapeutic value in cardiovascular diseases. In this study we examined the protective effects of matrine against diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) in rats. Male SD rats were injected with streptozotocin (STZ) to induce DCM. One group of DCM rats was pretreated with matrine (200 mg·kg(-1)·d(-1), po) for 10 consecutive days before STZ injection. Left ventricular function was evaluated using invasive hemodynamic examination, and myocardiac apoptosis was assessed. Primary rat myocytes were used for in vitro experiments. Intracellular ROS generation, MDA content and GPx activity were determined. Real-time PCR and Western blotting were performed to detect the expression of relevant mRNAs and proteins. DCM rats exhibited abnormally elevated non-fasting blood glucose levels at 4 weeks after STZ injection, and LV function impairment at 16 weeks. The cardiac tissues of DCM rats showed markedly increased apoptosis, excessive ROS production, and activation of TLR-4/MyD-88/caspase-8/caspase-3 signaling. Pretreatment with matrine significantly decreased non-fasting blood glucose levels and improved LV function in DCM rats, which were associated with reducing apoptosis and ROS production, and suppressing TLR-4/MyD-88/caspase-8/caspase-3 signaling in cardiac tissues. Incubation in a high-glucose medium induced oxidative stress and activation of TLR-4/MyD-88 signaling in cultured myocytes in vitro, which were significantly attenuated by pretreatment with N-acetylcysteine. Excessive ROS production in DCM activates the TLR-4/MyD-88 signaling, resulting in cardiomyocyte apoptosis, whereas pretreatment with matrine improves cardiac function via suppressing ROS/TLR-4 signaling pathway.

  16. The consequences of chronic kidney disease on bone metabolism and growth in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bacchetta, Justine; Harambat, Jérôme; Cochat, Pierre; Salusky, Isidro B; Wesseling-Perry, Katherine

    2012-08-01

    Growth retardation, decreased final height and renal osteodystrophy (ROD) are common complications of childhood chronic kidney disease (CKD), resulting from a combination of abnormalities in the growth hormone (GH) axis, vitamin D deficiency, hyperparathyroidism, hypogonadism, inadequate nutrition, cachexia and drug toxicity. The impact of CKD-associated bone and mineral disorders (CKD-MBD) may be immediate (serum phosphate/calcium disequilibrium) or delayed (poor growth, ROD, fractures, vascular calcifications, increased morbidity and mortality). In 2012, the clinical management of CKD-MBD in children needs to focus on three main objectives: (i) to provide an optimal growth in order to maximize the final height with an early management with recombinant GH therapy when required, (ii) to equilibrate calcium/phosphate metabolism so as to obtain acceptable bone quality and cardiovascular status and (iii) to correct all metabolic and clinical abnormalities that can worsen bone disease, growth and cardiovascular disease, i.e. metabolic acidosis, anaemia, malnutrition and 25(OH)vitamin D deficiency. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the mineral, bone and vascular abnormalities associated with CKD in children in terms of pathophysiology, diagnosis and clinical management.

  17. Beneficial Effects of Corn Silk on Metabolic Syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Bing; Xiao, Tiegang; Ruan, Jun; Liu, Wensheng

    2017-01-01

    Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a very common medical problem worldwide. It includes obesity, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and abnormal levels of triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. It is closely associated with insulin resistance and may lead to diabetes mellitus, liver diseases, or cardiovascular diseases. Corn silk (CS), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been reported to have multiple beneficial effects, including hypotensive, anti-diabetic, and hypolipidemic properties. This suggests that corn silk could be used to treat or prevent metabolic syndrome. In this review, we will discuss the potential role of corn silk in different components of metabolic syndrome. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  18. Chronic Stress Contributes to Cognitive Dysfunction and Hippocampal Metabolic Abnormalities in APP/PS1 Mice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bing Han

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Background/Aims: Stress response is determined by the brain, and the brain is a sensitive target for stress. Our previous experiments have confirmed that once the stress response is beyond the tolerable limit of the brain, particularly that of the hippocampus, it will have deleterious effects on hippocampal structure and function; however, the metabolic mechanisms for this are not well understood. Methods: Here, we used morris water maze, elisa and gas chromatography-time of flight/mass spectrometry to observe the changes in cognition, neuropathology and metabolomics in the hippocampus of APP/PS1 mice and wild-type (C57 mice caused by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS, we also further explored the correlation between cognition and metabolomics. Results: We found that 4 weeks of CUMS aggravated cognitive impairment and increased amyloid-β deposition in APP/PS1 mice, but did not affect C57 mice. Under non-stress conditions, compared with C57 mice, there were 8 different metabolites in APP/PS1 mice. However, following CUMS, 3 different metabolites were changed compared with untreated C57 mice. Compared to APP/PS1 mice, there were 7 different metabolites in APP/PS1+CUMS mice. Among these alterations, 3-hydroxybutyric acid, valine, serine, beta-alanine and o-phosphorylethanolamine, which are involved in sphingolipid metabolism, synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies, and amino acid metabolism. Conclusion: The results indicate that APP/PS1 mice are more vulnerable to stress than C57 mice, and the metabolic mechanisms of stress-related cognitive impairment in APP/PS1 mice are related to multiple pathways and networks, including sphingolipid metabolism, synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies, and amino acid metabolism.

  19. Ca-48 metabolism studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van der Merwe, D.G.

    1987-03-01

    Calcium metabolism has been studied in depth physiologically and is a relatively well-understood element in biochemistry and medicine. There is still only restricted knowledge of the metabolic fate of calcium in normal and abnormal paediatric subjects. The latter is partially owing to inadequate techniques for tracing and modelling calcium pathways in children. The advent of radioactive tracers has unquestionably enhanced medical research and improved the quality of many metabolic studies. The present study was aimed at the development, promotion and justification of a new tracer technique using the stable isotope, calcium-48. The obvious advantages of such a technique are its harmlessness tothe subject, its applicability to both short- and long-term studies as well as its usefulness to the study for which it was originally motivated, viz research defining the actual relationship between a calcium-deficient diet and the occurrence of rickets in rural Black children in South Africa. Exploratory instrumental analyses were performed specifically with serum samples. This proved successful enough to develop a less specific pre-concentration technique which improved the sensitivity and reduces the cost of doing calcium-48 metabolism studies. The results of a simple metabolic study are presented whereby the scope of the technique is demonstrated in a real situation. The possibilities and limitations of double-isotope metabolic studies are discussed, particularly with regard to strontium as the second tracer

  20. Association of the Pro12Ala Polymorphism with the Metabolic Parameters in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moushira Zaki

    2017-06-01

    CONCLUSION: The PPARG Pro12Ala polymorphism might contribute to the risk of PCOS and abnormal metabolic parameters and could be considered as a biomarker for early diagnosis and clinic prediction of metabolic complications.

  1. Biomass Deconstruction and Pretreatment | Bioenergy | NREL

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deconstruction and Pretreatment Biomass Deconstruction and Pretreatment Our mission is to transform -cyclohexane hydrocarbons were produced by noble metal and acid zeoloite catalytic upgrading of biomass-derived by mechanical refining process. The left side shows biomass feedstock (represented by brown spheres

  2. Static magnetic field treatment of seeds improves carbon and nitrogen metabolism under salinity stress in soybean.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baghel, Lokesh; Kataria, Sunita; Guruprasad, Kadur Narayan

    2016-10-01

    The effectiveness of magnetopriming was assessed for alleviation of salt-induced adverse effects on soybean growth. Soybean seeds were pre-treated with static magnetic field (SMF) of 200 mT for 1 h to evaluate the effect of magnetopriming on growth, carbon and nitrogen metabolism, and yield of soybean plants under different salinity levels (0, 25, and 50 mM NaCl). The adverse effect of NaCl-induced salt stress was found on growth, yield, and various physiological attributes of soybeans. Results indicate that SMF pre-treatment significantly increased plant growth attributes, number of root nodules, nodules, fresh weight, biomass accumulation, and photosynthetic performance under both non-saline and saline conditions as compared to untreated seeds. Polyphasic chlorophyll a fluorescence (OJIP) transients from magnetically treated plants gave a higher fluorescence yield at J-I-P phase. Nitrate reductase activity, PIABS , photosynthetic pigments, and net rate of photosynthesis were also higher in plants that emerged from SMF pre-treated seeds as compared to untreated seeds. Leghemoglobin content and hemechrome content in root nodules were also increased by SMF pre-treatment. Thus pre-sowing exposure of seeds to SMF enhanced carbon and nitrogen metabolism and improved the yield of soybeans in terms of number of pods, number of seeds, and seed weight under saline as well as non-saline conditions. Consequently, SMF pre-treatment effectively mitigated adverse effects of NaCl on soybeans. It indicates that magnetopriming of dry soybean seeds can be effectively used as a pre-sowing treatment for alleviating salinity stress. Bioelectromagnetics. 37:455-470, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Tank Focus Area pretreatment activities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McGinnis, C.P.; Welch, T.D.; Manke, K.L.

    1997-01-01

    Plans call for the high-level wastes to be retrieved from the tanks and immobilized in a stable waste form suitable for long-term isolation. Chemistry and chemical engineering operations are required to retrieve the wastes, to condition the wastes for subsequent steps, and to reduce the costs of the waste management enterprise. Pretreatment includes those processes between retrieval and immobilization, and includes preparation of suitable feed material for immobilization and separations to partition the waste into streams that yield lower life-cycle costs. Some of the technologies being developed by the Tank Focus Area (TFA) to process these wastes are described. These technologies fall roughly into three areas: (1) solid/liquid separation (SLS), (2) sludge pretreatment, and (3) supernate pretreatment

  4. PRETREATING THORIUM FOR ELECTROPLATING

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beach, J.G.; Schaer, G.R.

    1959-07-28

    A method is presented for pretreating a thorium surface prior to electroplating the surface. The pretreatment steps of the invention comprise cleaning by vapor blasting the surface, anodically pickling in a 5 to 15% by volume aqueous hydrochloric acid bath with a current of 125 to 250 amp/sq ft for 3 to 5 min at room temperature, chemically pickling the surface in a 5 to 15% by volume of aqueous sulfuric acid for 3 to 5 min at room temperature, and rinsing the surface with water.

  5. Influence of ultrasound pretreatment on wood physiochemical structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Zhengbin; Wang, Zhenyu; Zhao, Zijian; Yi, Songlin; Mu, Jun; Wang, Xiaoxu

    2017-01-01

    As an initial step to increase the use of renewable biomass resources, this study was aimed at investigating the effects of ultrasound pretreatment on structural changes of wood. Samples were pretreated by ultrasound with the power of 300W and frequency of 28kHz in aqueous soda solution, aqueous acetic acid, or distilled water, then pretreated and control samples were characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results shown that ultrasound pretreatment is indeed effective in modifying the physiochemical structure of eucalyptus wood; the pretreatment decreased the quantity of alkali metals (e.g., potassium, calcium and magnesium) in the resulting material. Compared to the control group, the residual char content of samples pretreated in aqueous soda solution increased by 10.08%-20.12% and the reaction temperature decreased from 361°C to 341°C, however, in samples pretreated by ultrasound in acetic solution or distilled water, the residual char content decreased by 12.40%-21.45% and there were no significant differences in reactivity apart from a slightly higher maximum reaction rate. Ultrasound pretreatment increased the samples' crystallinity up to 35.5% and successfully removed cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin from the samples; the pretreatment also increased the exposure of the sample to the treatment solutions, broke down sample pits, and generated collapses and microchannels on sample pits, and removed attachments in the samples. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Hydroxytyrosol prevents diet-induced metabolic syndrome and attenuates mitochondrial abnormalities in obese mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Ke; Xu, Jie; Zou, Xuan; Li, Yuan; Chen, Cong; Zheng, Adi; Li, Hao; Li, Hua; Szeto, Ignatius Man-Yau; Shi, Yujie; Long, Jiangang; Liu, Jiankang; Feng, Zhihui

    2014-02-01

    A Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil has profound influence on health outcomes including metabolic syndrome. However, the active compound and detailed mechanisms still remain unclear. Hydroxytyrosol (HT), a major polyphenolic compound in virgin olive oil, has received increased attention for its antioxidative activity and regulation of mitochondrial function. Here, we investigated whether HT is the active compound in olive oil exerting a protective effect against metabolic syndrome. In this study, we show that HT could prevent high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obesity, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and insulin resistance in C57BL/6J mice after 17 weeks supplementation. Within liver and skeletal muscle tissues, HT could decrease HFD-induced lipid deposits through inhibition of the SREBP-1c/FAS pathway, ameliorate HFD-induced oxidative stress by enhancing antioxidant enzyme activities, normalize expression of mitochondrial complex subunits and mitochondrial fission marker Drp1, and eventually inhibit apoptosis activation. Moreover, in muscle tissue, the levels of mitochondrial carbonyl protein were decreased and mitochondrial complex activities were significantly improved by HT supplementation. In db/db mice, HT significantly decreased fasting glucose, similar to metformin. Notably, HT decreased serum lipid, at which metformin failed. Also, HT was more effective at decreasing the oxidation levels of lipids and proteins in both liver and muscle tissue. Similar to the results in the HFD model, HT decreased muscle mitochondrial carbonyl protein levels and improved mitochondrial complex activities in db/db mice. Our study links the olive oil component HT to diabetes and metabolic disease through changes that are not limited to decreases in oxidative stress, suggesting a potential pharmaceutical or clinical use of HT in metabolic syndrome treatment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Production of xylitol by a Coniochaeta ligniaria strain tolerant of inhibitors and defective in xylose metabolism

    Science.gov (United States)

    In conversion of biomass to fuels or chemicals, inhibitory compounds arising from physical-chemical pretreatment of the feedstock can interfere with fermentation of the sugars to product. Fungal strain Coniochaeta ligniaria NRRL30616, metabolizes the furan aldehydes furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfu...

  8. Hydrolysis of alkaline pretreated banana peel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fatmawati, A.; Gunawan, K. Y.; Hadiwijaya, F. A.

    2017-11-01

    Banana peel is one of food wastes that are rich in carbohydrate. This shows its potential as fermentation substrate including bio-ethanol. This paper presented banana peel alkaline pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. The pretreatment was intended to prepare banana peel in order to increase hydrolysis performance. The alkaline pretreatment used 10, 20, and 30% w/v NaOH solution and was done at 60, 70 and 80°C for 1 hour. The hydrolysis reaction was conducted using two commercial cellulose enzymes. The reaction time was varied for 3, 5, and 7 days. The best condition for pretreatment process was one conducted using 30% NaOH solution and at 80°C. This condition resulted in cellulose content of 90.27% and acid insoluble lignin content of 2.88%. Seven-day hydrolysis time had exhibited the highest reducing sugar concentration, which was7.2869 g/L.

  9. Aerobic glycolysis and high level of lactate in cancer metabolism and microenvironment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bo Jiang

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Metabolic abnormalities is a hallmark of cancer. About 100 years ago, Nobel laureate Otto Heinrich Warburg first described high rate of glycolysis in cancer cells. Recently more and more novel opinions about cancer metabolism supplement to this hypothesis, consist of glucose uptake, lactic acid generation and secretion, acidification of the microenvironment and cancer immune evasion. Here we briefly review metabolic pathways generating lactate, and discuss the function of higher lactic acid in cancer microenvironments.

  10. Pretreatment of wheat straw for fermentation to methane

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hashimoto, A.G.

    1986-01-01

    The effects of pretreating wheat straw with gamma-ray irradiation, ammonium hydroxide, and sodium hydroxide on methane yield, fermentation rate constant, and loss of feedstock constituents were evaluated using laboratory-scale batch fermentors. Results showed that methane yield increased as pretreatment alkali concentration increased, with the highest yield being 37% over untreated straw for the pretreatment consisting of sodium hydroxide dosage of 34 g OH - /kg volatile solids, at 90 0 C for 1 h. Gamma-ray irradiation had no significant effect on methane yield. Alkaline pretreatment temperatures above 100 0 C caused a decrease in methane yield. After more than 100 days of fermentation, all of the hemicellulose and more than 80% of the cellulose were degraded. The loss in cellulose and hemicellulose accounted for 100% of the volatile solids lost. No consistent effect of pretreatments on batch fermentation rates was noted. Semicontinuous fermentations of straw-manure mixtures confirmed the relative effectiveness of sodium- and ammonium-hydroxide pretreatments

  11. Metabolic alkalosis in adults with stable cystic fibrosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Ghimlas, Fahad; Faughnan, Marie E; Tullis, Elizabeth

    2012-01-01

    The frequency of metabolic alkalosis among adults with stable severe CF-lung disease is unknown. Retrospective chart review. Fourteen CF and 6 COPD (controls) patients were included. FEV1 was similar between the two groups. PaO2 was significantly higher in the COPD (mean ± 2 SD is 72.0 ± 6.8 mmHg,) than in the CF group (56.1 ± 4.1 mmHg). The frequency of metabolic alkalosis in CF patients (12/14, 86%) was significantly greater (p=0.04) than in the COPD group (2/6, 33%). Mixed respiratory acidosis and metabolic alkalosis was evident in 4 CF and 1 COPD patients. Primary metabolic alkalosis was observed in 8 CF and none of the COPD patients. One COPD patient had respiratory and metabolic alkalosis. Metabolic alkalosis is more frequent in stable patients with CF lung disease than in COPD patients. This might be due to defective CFTR function with abnormal electrolyte transport within the kidney and/ or gastrointestinal tract.

  12. Metabolic syndrome and benign prostatic hyperplasia: An update

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ho-Yin Ngai

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Metabolic syndrome (MetS is a cluster of metabolic abnormalities related to central adiposity and insulin resistance. Its importance is increasingly recognized as it associates with increased risks of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. These metabolic aberrations of MetS may lead to development of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS in men. A 26.5%–55.6% prevalence of MetS in men with LUTS was reported in worldwide studies. Although the exact biological pathway is not clear yet, insulin resistance, increased visceral adiposity, sex hormone alterations and cellular inflammatory reactions played significant roles in the related pathophysiological processes. Clinician should recognize the cardiovascular and metabolic impacts of MetS in men with LUTS, early risk factors optimization and use of appropriate medical therapy may possibly alter or slower the progression of LUTS/BPH, and potentially avoid unnecessary morbidities and mortalities from cardiovascular and metabolic diseases for those men.

  13. Metabolic alterations and neurodevelopmental outcome of infants with transposition of the great arteries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, I Sook; Yoon, S Young; Min, J Yeon; Kim, Y Hwue; Ko, J Kok; Kim, K Soo; Seo, D Man; Lee, J Hee

    2006-01-01

    Abnormal neurodevelopment has been reported for infants who were born with transposition of the great arteries (TGA) and underwent arterial switch operation (ASO). This study evaluates the cerebral metabolism of TGA infants at birth and before ASO and neurodevelopment 1 year after ASO. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) was performed on 16 full-term TGA brains before ASO within 3-6 days after birth. The brain metabolite ratios of [NAA/Cr], [Cho/Cr], and [mI/Cr] evaluated measured. Ten infants were evaluated at 1 year using the Bayley Scales of Infants Development II (BSED II). Cerebral metabolism of infants with TGA was altered in parietal white matter (PWM) and occipital gray matter (OGM) at birth before ASO. One year after ASO, [Cho/Cr] in PWM remained altered, but all metabolic ratios in OGM were normal. The results of BSID II at 1 year showed delayed mental and psychomotor development. This delayed neurodevelopmental outcome may reflect consequences of the altered cerebral metabolism in PWM measured by 1H-MRS. It is speculated that the abnormal hemodynamics due to TGA in utero may be responsible for the impaired cerebral metabolism and the subsequent neurodevelopmental deficit.

  14. Effect of triiodothyronine and insulin on glucose metabolism in tissue explants and isolated adipocytes from lean and obese Zucker rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bailey, J.W.

    1985-01-01

    Glucose metabolism in adipocytes from 6 week old lean and obese Zucker rats were sensitive to direct and chronic treatment with insulin and triidothyronine (T 3 ). Insulin had a large stimulatory effect on glucose metabolism in acutely isolated adipocytes. This effect was greater in the lean than in the obese. Fatty acid, CO 2 , and glycerol-glyceride formation from radiolabeled glucose was elevated in the obese over the leans. Pretreatment of isolated adipocytes with pharmacological concentrations of T 3 for 30 minutes prior to the measurement of glucose metabolism had a greater effect on lean than obese adipocytes. The presence of insulin was required to observe the acute effects of T 3 . A 2-hour exposure to physiological levels of T 3 in the presence of insulin in both lean and obese adipocytes decreased lipogenesis. In the absence of insulin, a 2 hour pretreatment with physiological levels of T 3 in tissue from a euthyroid animal produced increased lipogenesis

  15. Pathophysiology and molecular basis of selected metabolic abnormalities in Huntington’s disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jolanta Krzysztoń-Russjan

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Huntington’s disease (HD is an incurable, devastating neurodegenerative disease with a known genetic background and autosomally dominant inheritance pattern. HTT gene mutation (mHTT is associated with polymorphic fragment elongation above 35 repeats of the CAG triplet. The mHTT product is an altered protein with a poly-Q elongated fragment, with the highest expression determined in the central nervous system (CNS and with differentiated expression outside the CNS. A drastic loss of striatal and deeper layers of the cerebral cortex neurons was determined in the CNS, but muscle and body weight mass loss with dysfunction of many organs was also observed. HD symptoms include neurological disturbances, such as choreal movements with dystonia, speech and swallowing impairments, and additionally a variety of psychiatric and behavioral symptoms with cognitive decline have been described.They are the result of disturbances of several cellular pathways related to signal transmission, mitochondrial dysfunction and energy metabolism impairment shown by gene and protein expression and alteration of their functions. Impairment of energy processes demonstrated by a decrease of ATP production and increase of oxidative stress markers was determined in- and outside of the CNS in glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and the electron transport chain. A correlation between the increase of energy metabolism impairment level and the increase in number of CAG repeats in HTT has often been described. The energy metabolism study is an initial stage of sensitive biomarkers and a new therapeutic investigative option for early application in order to inhibit pathological processes in HD.Identification of pathological changes outside the CNS requires a reevaluation of diagnostic and therapeutic rules in HD.

  16. Holter registers and metabolic syndrome

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muñoz-Diosdado, A.; Ramírez-Hernández, L.; Aguilar-Molina, A. M.; Zamora-Justo, J. A.; Gutiérrez-Calleja, R. A.; Virgilio-González, C. D.

    2014-11-01

    There is a relationship between the state of the cardiovascular system and metabolic syndrome (MS). A way to diagnose the heart state of a person is to monitor the electrical activity of the heart using a 24 hours Holter monitor. Scanned ECG signal can be analyzed beat-by-beat by algorithms that separate normal of abnormal heartbeats. If the percentage of abnormal heartbeats is too high it could be argued that the patient has heart problems. We have algorithms that can not only identify the abnormal heartbeats, but they can also classify them, so we classified and counted abnormal heartbeats in patients with MS and subjects without MS. Most of our patients have large waist circumference, high triglycerides and high levels of LDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol although some of them have high blood pressure. We enrolled adult patients with MS free of diabetes in a four month lifestyle intervention program including diet and physical aerobic exercise, and compared with healthy controls. We made an initial registration with a Holter, and 24 hours ECG signal is analyzed to identify and classify the different types of heartbeats. The patients then begin with diet or exercise (at least half an hour daily). Periodically Holter records were taken up and we describe the evolution in time of the number and type of abnormal heartbeats. Results show that the percentage of abnormal heartbeats decreases over time, in some cases the decline is very significant, and almost a reduction to half or less of abnormal heartbeats after several months since the patients changed their eating or physical activity habits.

  17. Metabolism of 2,2′,3,3′,6,6′-Hexachlorobiphenyl (PCB 136) Atropisomers in Tissue Slices from Phenobarbital or Dexamethasone-Induced Rats is Sex-Dependent

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Xianai; Kania-Korwel, Izabela; Chen, Hao; Stamou, Marianna; Dammanahalli, Karigowda J.; Duffel, Michael; Lein, Pamela J.; Lehmler, Hans-Joachim

    2013-01-01

    Chiral polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) such as PCB 136 enantioselectively sensitize the ryanodine receptor (RyR). In light of recent evidence that PCBs cause developmental neurotoxicity via RyR-dependent mechanisms, this suggests that enantioselective PCB metabolism may influence the developmental neurotoxicity of chiral PCBs. However, enantioselective disposition of PCBs has not been fully characterized.The effect of sex and cytochrome P450 (P450) enzyme induction on the enantioselective metabolism of PCB 136 was studied using liver tissue slices prepared from naïve control (CTL), phenobarbital (PB; CYP2B inducer) or dexamethasone (DEX; CYP3A inducer) pretreated adult Sprague-Dawley rats. PCB 136 metabolism was also examined in hippocampal slices derived from untreated rat pups.In liver tissue slices, hydroxylated PCB (OH-PCB) profiles depended on sex and inducer pretreatment, and OH-PCB levels followed the rank orders male > female and PB > DEX > CTL. In contrast, the enantiomeric enrichment of PCB 136 and its metabolites was independent of sex and inducer pretreatment. Only small amounts of PCB 136 partitioned into hippocampal tissue slices and no OH-PCB metabolites were detected.Our results suggest that enantioselective metabolism, sex and induction status of P450 enzymes in the liver may modulate the neurotoxic outcomes of developmental exposure to chiral PCBs. PMID:23581876

  18. Menopause versus aging: The predictor of obesity and metabolic aberrations among menopausal women of Karnataka, South India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shruti Dasgupta

    2012-01-01

    Conclusions: Menopausal transition brings about anomalies in total body composition characterized by an increased body fat mass and central adiposity. This creates a compatible atmosphere for abnormal metabolism and aggravated cardio metabolic risk factors. Thus, menopausal status and associated obesity is the major predictor of metabolic aberrations over age in menopausal women.

  19. Techno-economic analysis of organosolv pretreatment process from lignocellulosic biomass

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rodrigues Gurgel da Silva, Andrè; Errico, Massimiliano; Rong, Ben-Guang

    2018-01-01

    data, we propose a feasible process flowsheet for organosolv pretreatment. Simulation of the pretreatment process provided mass and energy balances for a techno-economic analysis, and the values were compared with the most prevalent and mature pretreatment method: diluted acid. Organosolv pretreatment...... required more energy, 578.1 versus 213.8 MW for diluted acid pretreatment, but resulted in a higher ethanol concentration after the biomass fermentation, 11.1% compared to 5.4%. Total annual costs (TACs) calculations showed advantages for diluted acid pretreatment, but future improvements explored...

  20. Metabolically healthy obesity and risk of mortality: does the definition of metabolic health matter?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinnouho, Guy-Marino; Czernichow, Sébastien; Dugravot, Aline; Batty, G David; Kivimaki, Mika; Singh-Manoux, Archana

    2013-08-01

    To assess the association of a "metabolically healthy obese" phenotype with mortality using five definitions of metabolic health. Adults (n = 5,269; 71.7% men) aged 39-62 years in 1991 through 1993 provided data on BMI and metabolic health, defined using data from the Adult Treatment Panel-III (ATP-III); criteria from two studies; and the Matsuda and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) indices. Cross-classification of BMI categories and metabolic status (healthy/unhealthy) created six groups. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyze associations with all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality during a median follow-up of 17.7 years. A total of 638 individuals (12.1% of the cohort) were obese, of whom 9-41% were metabolically healthy, depending on the definition. Regardless of the definition, compared with metabolically healthy, normal-weight individuals, both the metabolically healthy obese (hazard ratios [HRs] ranged from 1.81 [95% CI 1.16-2.84] for ATP-III to 2.30 [1.13-4.70] for the Matsuda index) and the metabolically abnormal obese (HRs ranged from 1.57 [1.08-2.28] for the Matsuda index to 2.05 [1.44-2.92] for criteria defined in a separate study) had an increased risk of mortality. The only exception was the lack of excess risk using the HOMA criterion for the metabolically healthy obese (1.08; 0.67-1.74). Among the obese, the risk of mortality did not vary as a function of metabolic health apart from when using the HOMA criterion (1.93; 1.15-3.22). Similar results were obtained for cardiovascular mortality. For most definitions of metabolic health, both metabolically healthy and unhealthy obese patients carry an elevated risk of mortality.

  1. White matter abnormalities of microstructure and physiological noise in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Hu; Newman, Sharlene D; Kent, Jerillyn S; Bolbecker, Amanda; Klaunig, Mallory J; O'Donnell, Brian F; Puce, Aina; Hetrick, William P

    2015-12-01

    White matter abnormalities in schizophrenia have been revealed by many imaging techniques and analysis methods. One of the findings by diffusion tensor imaging is a decrease in fractional anisotropy (FA), which is an indicator of white matter integrity. On the other hand, elevation of metabolic rate in white matter was observed from positron emission tomography (PET) studies. In this report, we aim to compare the two structural and functional effects on the same subjects. Our comparison is based on the hypothesis that signal fluctuation in white matter is associated with white matter functional activity. We examined the variance of the signal in resting state fMRI and found significant differences between individuals with schizophrenia and non-psychiatric controls specifically in white matter tissue. Controls showed higher temporal signal-to-noise ratios clustered in regions including temporal, frontal, and parietal lobes, cerebellum, corpus callosum, superior longitudinal fasciculus, and other major white matter tracts. These regions with higher temporal signal-to-noise ratio agree well with those showing higher metabolic activity reported by studies using PET. The results suggest that individuals with schizophrenia tend to have higher functional activity in white matter in certain brain regions relative to healthy controls. Despite some overlaps, the distinct regions for physiological noise are different from those for FA derived from diffusion tensor imaging, and therefore provide a unique angle to explore potential mechanisms to white matter abnormality.

  2. The cradle of metabolic disease

    OpenAIRE

    Galjaard, Sander

    2015-01-01

    Summary -Vascular development and FETAL body composition during pregnancy- The effects of maternal adiposity (high body mass index - high BMI -), nutrient intake and storage (gestational weight gain - GWG -) and (abnormal) glucose tolerance (gestational diabetes - GDM - ) are regarded important cornerstones in metabolic research in pregnancy. In Chapter 1, I explained, that they play an important role in the development of complications in the mother and the fetus, both short- and long-ter...

  3. Biologically Pre-Treated Habitation Waste Water as a Sustainable Green Urine Pre-Treat Solution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, W. Andrew; Thompson, Bret; Sevanthi, Ritesh; Morse, Audra; Meyer, Caitlin; Callahan, Michael

    2017-01-01

    The ability to recover water from urine and flush water is a critical process to allow long term sustainable human habitation in space or bases on the moon or mars. Organic N present as urea or similar compounds can hydrolyze producing free ammonia. This reaction results in an increase in the pH converting ammonium to ammonia which is volatile and not removed by distillation. The increase in pH will also cause precipitation reactions to occur. In order to prevent this, urine on ISS is combined with a pretreat solution. While use of a pretreatment solution has been successful, there are numerous draw backs including: storage and use of highly hazardous solutions, limitations on water recovery (less than 85%), and production of brine with pore dewatering characteristics. We evaluated the use of biologically treated habitation wastewaters (ISS and early planetary base) to replace the current pretreat solution. We evaluated both amended and un-amended bioreactor effluent. For the amended effluent, we evaluated "green" pretreat chemicals including citric acid and citric acid amended with benzoic acid. We used a mock urine/air separator modeled after the urine collection assembly on ISS. The urine/air separator was challenged continually for >6 months. Depending on the test point, the separator was challenged daily with donated urine and flushed with amended or un-amended reactor effluent. We monitored the pH of the urine, flush solution and residual pH in the urine/air separator after each urine event. We also evaluated solids production and biological growth. Our results support the use of both un-amended and amended bioreactor effluent to maintain the operability of the urine /air separator. The ability to use bioreactor effluent could decrease consumable cost, reduce hazards associated with current pre-treat chemicals, allow other membrane based desalination processes to be utilized, and improve brine characteristics.

  4. Pretreatment of Oil Palm Frond (OPF) with Ionic Liquid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azmi, I. S.; Azizan, A.; Salleh, R. Mohd

    2018-05-01

    Pretreatment is the key to unlock the recalcitrance of lignocellulose for cellulosic biofuel production. Increasing attention has been drawn to ionic liquids (ILs) for pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass because this approach was considered as a green engineering method over other conventional methods. In this work, Oil palm frond (OPF) was pretreated by using the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate [EMIM] Ac at the temperature of 99˚C for 3 hours. The characterization of the untreated and pretreated OPF was conducted by using different techniques which are Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The pretreatment of OPF with [EMIM] Ac was demonstrated to be effective evidenced by the significant reduction of Lateral Order Index (LOI) from FTIR, reduction of Crystallinity Index (CI) based on XRD and the significant morphology changes indicated by SEM. The CI value for the pretreated OPF decreased from 0.47 (untreated sample) to 0.28 while the LOI value decreased from 1.10 to 0.24 after pretreatment with [EMIM]Ac and the SEM morphology showed that the pretreated OPF becomes distorted and disordered.

  5. Factors affecting seawater-based pretreatment of lignocellulosic date palm residues

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fang, Chuanji; Thomsen, Mette Hedegaard; Frankaer, Christian Grundahl

    2017-01-01

    Seawater-based pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass is an innovative process at research stage. With respect to process optimization, factors affecting seawater-based pretreatment of lignocellulosic date palm residues were studied for the first time in this paper. Pretreatment temperature (180...... °C–210 °C), salinity of seawater (0 ppt–50 ppt), and catalysts (H2SO4, Na2CO3, and NaOH) were investigated. The results showed that pretreatment temperature exerted the largest influence on seawater-based pretreatment in terms of the enzymatic digestibility and fermentability of pretreated solids...

  6. Methods of pretreating comminuted cellulosic material with carbonate-containing solutions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Francis, Raymond

    2012-11-06

    Methods of pretreating comminuted cellulosic material with an acidic solution and then a carbonate-containing solution to produce a pretreated cellulosic material are provided. The pretreated material may then be further treated in a pulping process, for example, a soda-anthraquinone pulping process, to produce a cellulose pulp. The pretreatment solutions may be extracted from the pretreated cellulose material and selectively re-used, for example, with acid or alkali addition, for the pretreatment solutions. The resulting cellulose pulp is characterized by having reduced lignin content and increased yield compared to prior art treatment processes.

  7. Comparison of SPET brain perfusion and 18F-FDG brain metabolism in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abu-Judeh, H H; Levine, S; Kumar, M; el-Zeftawy, H; Naddaf, S; Lou, J Q; Abdel-Dayem, H M

    1998-11-01

    Chronic fatigue syndrome is a clinically defined condition of uncertain aetiology. We compared 99Tcm-HMPAO single photon emission tomography (SPET) brain perfusion with dual-head 18F-FDG brain metabolism in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Eighteen patients (14 females, 4 males), who fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of the Centers for Disease Control for chronic fatigue syndrome, were investigated. Thirteen patients had abnormal SPET brain perfusion scans and five had normal scans. Fifteen patients had normal glucose brain metabolism scans and three had abnormal scans. We conclude that, in chronic fatigue syndrome patients, there is discordance between SPET brain perfusion and 18F-FDG brain uptake. It is possible to have brain perfusion abnormalities without corresponding changes in glucose uptake.

  8. Obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes mellitus after renal transplantation: prevention and treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wissing, Karl Martin; Pipeleers, Lissa

    2014-04-01

    The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in dialysis patients is high and further increases after transplantation due to weight gain and the detrimental metabolic effects of immunosuppressive drugs. Corticosteroids cause insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia, abnormal glucose metabolism and arterial hypertension. The calcineurin inhibitor tacrolimus is diabetogenic by inhibiting insulin secretion, whereas cyclosporine causes hypertension and increases cholesterol levels. Mtor antagonists are responsible for hyperlipidemia and abnormal glucose metabolism by mechanisms that also implicate insulin resistance. The metabolic syndrome in transplant recipients has numerous detrimental effects such as increasing the risk of new onset diabetes, cardiovascular disease events and patient death. In addition, it has also been linked with accelerated loss of graft function, proteinuria and ultimately graft loss. Prevention and management of the metabolic syndrome are based on increasing physical activity, promotion of weight loss and control of cardiovascular risk factors. Bariatric surgery before or after renal transplantation in patients with body mass index >35 kg/m(2) is an option but its long term effects on graft and patient survival have not been investigated. Steroid withdrawal and replacement of tacrolimus with cyclosporine facilitate control of diabetes, whereas replacement of cyclosporine and mtor antagonists can improve hyperlipidemia. The new costimulation inhibitor belatacept has potent immunosuppressive properties without metabolic adverse effects and will be an important component of immunosuppressive regimens with better metabolic risk profile. Medical treatment of cardiovascular risk factors has to take potential drug interactions with immunosuppressive medication and drug accumulation due to renal insufficiency into account. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Effects of calorie restriction plus fish oil supplementation on abnormal metabolic characteristics and the iron status of middle-aged obese women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Utami, Fasty Arum; Lee, Hsiu-Chuan; Su, Chien-Tien; Guo, Yu-Ru; Tung, Yu-Tang; Huang, Shih-Yi

    2018-02-21

    The increasing prevalence of obesity and sedentary lifestyles has led to a higher incidence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) worldwide as well as in Taiwan. Middle-aged women are at a greater risk of MetS, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease than men because they have more subcutaneous fat and larger waist circumferences compared with men with equal visceral fat levels. In this study, we investigated the effects of calorie restriction (CR) and fish oil supplementation (CRF) on middle-aged Taiwanese women with MetS. An open-label, parallel-arm, controlled trial was conducted for 12 weeks. A total of 75 eligible participants were randomly assigned to the CR or CRF group. Both the dietary intervention groups were further divided into two age groups: ≤45 and >45 years. Changes in MetS severity, inflammatory status, iron status, and red blood cell fatty acid profile were evaluated. A total of 71 participants completed the trial. Both dietary interventions significantly ameliorated MetS and improved the participants' inflammatory status. CR significantly increased the total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) whereas CRF increased hepcidin levels in women aged >45 years. Furthermore, CRF significantly increased the n-6/n-3 and arachidonic acid/docosahexaenoic acid ratios. Both interventions improved the anthropometric and MetS characteristics, including body weight, blood glucose and triglyceride levels, and the score of the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance and quantitative insulin sensitivity check index. In conclusion, the 12-week dietary interventions improved the abnormal metabolic status of middle-aged obese women. CRF was demonstrated to be more effective in ameliorating postprandial glucose level and TIBC in women aged >45 years than in those aged ≤45 years.

  10. Microwave pretreatment of switchgrass for bioethanol production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keshwani, Deepak Radhakrishin

    Lignocellulosic materials are promising alternative feedstocks for bioethanol production. These materials include agricultural residues, cellulosic waste such as newsprint and office paper, logging residues, and herbaceous and woody crops. However, the recalcitrant nature of lignocellulosic biomass necessitates a pretreatment step to improve the yield of fermentable sugars. The overall goal of this dissertation is to expand the current state of knowledge on microwave-based pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. Existing research on bioenergy and value-added applications of switchgrass is reviewed in Chapter 2. Switchgrass is an herbaceous energy crop native to North America and has high biomass productivity, potentially low requirements for agricultural inputs and positive environmental impacts. Based on results from test plots, yields in excess of 20 Mg/ha have been reported. Environmental benefits associated with switchgrass include the potential for carbon sequestration, nutrient recovery from run-off, soil remediation and provision of habitats for grassland birds. Published research on pretreatment of switchgrass reported glucose yields ranging from 70-90% and xylose yields ranging from 70-100% after hydrolysis and ethanol yields ranging from 72-92% after fermentation. Other potential value-added uses of switchgrass include gasification, bio-oil production, newsprint production and fiber reinforcement in thermoplastic composites. Research on microwave-based pretreatment of switchgrass and coastal bermudagrass is presented in Chapter 3. Pretreatments were carried out by immersing the biomass in dilute chemical reagents and exposing the slurry to microwave radiation at 250 watts for residence times ranging from 5 to 20 minutes. Preliminary experiments identified alkalis as suitable chemical reagents for microwave-based pretreatment. An evaluation of different alkalis identified sodium hydroxide as the most effective alkali reagent. Under optimum pretreatment

  11. Pretreating lignocellulosic biomass by the concentrated phosphoric acid plus hydrogen peroxide (PHP) for enzymatic hydrolysis: evaluating the pretreatment flexibility on feedstocks and particle sizes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qing; Wang, Zhanghong; Shen, Fei; Hu, Jinguang; Sun, Fubao; Lin, Lili; Yang, Gang; Zhang, Yanzong; Deng, Shihuai

    2014-08-01

    In order to seek a high-efficient pretreatment path for converting lignocellulosic feedstocks to fermentable sugars by enzymatic hydrolysis, the concentrated H₃PO₄ plus H₂O₂ (PHP) was attempted to pretreat different lignocellulosic biomass for evaluating the pretreatment flexibility on feedstocks. Meanwhile, the responses of pretreatment to particle sizes were also evaluated. When the PHP-pretreatment was employed (final H₂O₂ and H₃PO₄ concentration of 1.77% and 80.0%), 71-96% lignin and more than 95% hemicellulose in various feedstocks (agricultural residues, hardwood, softwood, bamboo, and their mixture, and garden wastes mixture) can be removed. Consequently, more than 90% glucose conversion was uniformly achieved indicating PHP greatly improved the pretreatment flexibility to different feedstocks. Moreover, when wheat straw and oak chips were PHP-pretreated with different sizes, the average glucose conversion reached 94.9% and 100% with lower coefficient of variation (7.9% and 0.0%), which implied PHP-pretreatment can significantly weaken the negative effects of feedstock sizes on subsequent conversion. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. NON-POLLUTING METAL SURFACE FINISHING PRETREATMENT AND PRETREATMENT/CONVERSION COATING

    Science.gov (United States)

    Picklex, a proprietary formulation, is an alterantive to conventional metal surface pretreatments and is claimed not to produce waste or lower production or lower performance. A laboratory program was designed to evaluate Picklex in common, large scale, polluting surface finishin...

  13. Polycystic ovary syndrome: reviewing diagnosis and management of metabolic disturbances.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spritzer, Poli Mara

    2014-03-01

    Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common condition in women at reproductive age associated with reproductive and metabolic dysfunction. Proposed diagnosed criteria for PCOS include two out of three features: androgen excess, menstrual irregularity, and polycystic ovary appearance on ultrasound (PCO), after other causes of hyperandrogenism and dysovulation are excluded. Based on these diagnostic criteria, the most common phenotypes are the "classic PCOS"--hyperandrogenism and oligomenorrhea, with or without PCO; the "ovulatory phenotype"--hyperandrogenism and PCO in ovulatory women; and the "non-hyperandrogenic phenotype", in which there is oligomenorrhea and PCO, without overt hyperandrogenism. The presence of obesity may exacerbate the metabolic and reproductive disorders associated with the syndrome. In addition, PCOS women present higher risk for type 2 diabetes and higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors that seems to be associated with the classic phenotype. The main interventions to minimize cardiovascular and metabolic risks in PCOS are lifestyle changes, pharmacological therapy, and bariatric surgery. Treatment with metformin has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity, lowering blood glucose and androgen levels. These effects are more potent when combined with lifestyle interventions. In conclusion, besides reproductive abnormalities, PCOS has been associated to metabolic comorbidities, most of them linked to obesity. Confounders, such as the lack of standard diagnostic criteria, heterogeneity of the clinical presentation, and presence of obesity, make management of PCOS difficult. Therefore, the approach to metabolic abnormalities should be tailored to the risks and treatment goals of each individual woman.

  14. Genetic and environmental relationships of metabolic and weight phenotypes to metabolic syndrome and diabetes: the healthy twin study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Yun-Mi; Sung, Joohon; Lee, Kayoung

    2015-02-01

    We aimed to examine the relationships, including genetic and environmental correlations, between metabolic and weight phenotypes and factors related to diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Participants of the Healthy Twin Study without diabetes (n=2687; 895 monozygotic and 204 dizygotic twins, and 1588 nontwin family members; mean age, 42.5±13.1 years) were stratified according to body mass index (BMI) (metabolic syndrome categories at baseline. The metabolic traits, namely diabetes and metabolic syndrome, metabolic syndrome components, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), were assessed after 2.5±2.1 years. In a multivariate-adjusted model, those who had metabolic syndrome or overweight phenotypes at baseline were more likely to have higher HbA1C and HOMA-IR levels and abnormal metabolic syndrome components at follow-up as compared to the metabolically healthy normal weight subgroup. The incidence of diabetes was 4.4-fold higher in the metabolically unhealthy but normal weight individuals and 3.3-fold higher in the metabolically unhealthy and overweight individuals as compared with the metabolically healthy normal weight individuals. The heritability of the metabolic syndrome/weight phenotypes was 0.40±0.03. Significant genetic and environmental correlations were observed between the metabolic syndrome/weight phenotypes at baseline and the metabolic traits at follow-up, except for incident diabetes, which only had a significant common genetic sharing with the baseline phenotypes. The genetic and environmental relationships between the metabolic and weight phenotypes at baseline and the metabolic traits at follow-up suggest pleiotropic genetic mechanisms and the crucial role of lifestyle and behavioral factors.

  15. Dilute alkali pretreatment of softwood pine: A biorefinery approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Safari, Ali; Karimi, Keikhosro; Shafiei, Marzieh

    2017-06-01

    Dilute alkali pretreatment was performed on softwood pine to maximize ethanol and biogas production via a biorefinery approach. Alkali pretreatments were performed with 0-2% w/v NaOH at 100-180°C for 1-5h. The liquid fraction of the pretreated substrates was subjected to anaerobic digestion. The solid fraction of the pretreatment was used for separate enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. High ethanol yields of 76.9‒78.0% were achieved by pretreatment with 2% (w/v) NaOH at 180°C. The highest biogas yield of 244mL/g volatile solid (at 25°C, 1bar) was achieved by the pretreatment with 1% (w/v) NaOH at 180°C. The highest gasoline equivalent (sum of ethanol and methane) of 197L per ton of pinewood and the lowest ethanol manufacturing cost of 0.75€/L was obtained after pretreatment with 1% NaOH at 180°C for 5h. The manufacturing cost of ethanol from untreated wood was 4.12€/L. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. In silico analysis of human metabolism: Reconstruction, contextualization and application of genome-scale models

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Geng, Jun; Nielsen, Jens

    2017-01-01

    The arising prevalence of metabolic diseases calls for a holistic approach for analysis of the underlying nature of abnormalities in cellular functions. Through mathematic representation and topological analysis of cellular metabolism, GEnome scale metabolic Models (GEMs) provide a promising fram...... that correctly describe interactions between cells or tissues, and we therefore discuss how GEMs can be integrated with blood circulation models. Finally, we end the review with proposing some possible future research directions....

  17. Effect of dietary energy and polymorphisms in BRAP and GHRL on obesity and metabolic traits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Imaizumi, Takahiro; Ando, Masahiko; Nakatochi, Masahiro; Yasuda, Yoshinari; Honda, Hiroyuki; Kuwatsuka, Yachiyo; Kato, Sawako; Kondo, Takaaki; Iwata, Masamitsu; Nakashima, Toru; Yasui, Hiroshi; Takamatsu, Hideki; Okajima, Hiroshi; Yoshida, Yasuko; Maruyama, Shoichi

    Obesity, a risk factor for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, is a major health concerns among middle-aged men. The aim of this study was to investigate a possible association of dietary habits and obesity related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with obesity and metabolic abnormalities. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using annual health examination data of 5112 male workers, obtained between 2007 and 2011. Average dietary energy was estimated using electronically collected meal purchase data from cafeteria. We examined 8 SNPs related to obesity: GHRL rs696217, PPARG rs1175544, ADIPOQ rs2241766, ADIPOQ rs1501299, PPARD rs2016520, APOA5 rs662799, BRAP rs3782886, and ITGB2 rs235326. We also examined whether SNPs that were shown to associate with obesity affect other metabolic abnormalities such as blood pressure (BP), glucose, and lipid profile. Average dietary energy significantly associated with increased abdominal circumference (AC) and body mass index (BMI). The odds ratios (ORs) of overweight and obesity also increased. The major allele of rs696217 significantly increased BMI and an increased OR with obesity, while the minor allele of rs3782886 was associated with significantly decreased AC and the decreased ORs with overweight and obesity. The minor allele of rs3782886 was also associated with significantly decreased systolic BP (SBP), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and fasting blood sugar (FBS), while rs696217 was not associated with other metabolic abnormalities. Average dietary energy in lunch, rs3782886, and rs696217 were associated with obesity, and rs3782886 was associated with other metabolic abnormalities. Copyright © 2016 Asia Oceania Association for the Study of Obesity. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Silane pre-treatments on copper and aluminium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deflorian, F.; Rossi, S.; Fedrizzi, L.

    2006-01-01

    A large part of aluminium products are coated with an organic layer in order to improve the corrosion resistance. Copper surfaces are also sometimes protected with an organic coating to improve the durability or the aesthetic properties. Examples of industrial applications are household appliances and heat exchanger components. For these applications it is not rare to have the industrial need to treat at the same time components made of aluminium and copper. In order to extend the service life of the organic coated copper a specific surface pre-treatment is often required. Nevertheless, probably because of the limited market of this application, no specific pre-treatments for copper are industrially developed, with the exception of cleaning procedures, but simply extensions of existing pre-treatments optimised for other metals (aluminium, zinc) are used. The application of silane pre-treatments as adhesion promoters for organic coated metals is remarkably increasing in the last decade, because silanes offer very good performance together with high environmental compatibility. The idea is therefore to try to develop a specific silane based pre-treatment for copper. The starting point is the existing silane products for aluminium, optimising the composition and the application conditions (concentration, temperature, pH of the bath, etc.) in order to develop a high performance copper alloy pre-treatment increasing the protective properties and the adhesion of a successively applied organic coating. Moreover these pre-treatments could be used for aluminium alloys too and therefore could be suggested for multi-metals components. The deposits were analysed using FTIR spectroscopy and optical and electron microscopic observations. A careful electrochemical characterisation, mainly by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements (EIS) was carried out to highlight the presence of silane and to evaluate the performance of the different deposits. In order to study an

  19. Pretreatment of Cellulose By Electron Beam Irradiation Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jusri, N. A. A.; Azizan, A.; Ibrahim, N.; Salleh, R. Mohd; Rahman, M. F. Abd

    2018-05-01

    Pretreatment process of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) to produce biofuel has been conducted by using various methods including physical, chemical, physicochemical as well as biological. The conversion of bioethanol process typically involves several steps which consist of pretreatment, hydrolysis, fermentation and separation. In this project, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was used in replacement of LCB since cellulose has the highest content of LCB for the purpose of investigating the effectiveness of new pretreatment method using radiation technology. Irradiation with different doses (100 kGy to 1000 kGy) was conducted by using electron beam accelerator equipment at Agensi Nuklear Malaysia. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses were studied to further understand the effect of the suggested pretreatment step to the content of MCC. Through this method namely IRR-LCB, an ideal and optimal condition for pretreatment prior to the production of biofuel by using LCB may be introduced.

  20. Lower-normal TSH is associated with better metabolic risk factors: a cross-sectional study on spanish men

    Science.gov (United States)

    Background and aims: Subclinical thyroid conditions, defined by normal thyroxin (T4) but abnormal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, may be associated with cardiovascular and metabolic risk. More recently, TSH levels within the normal range have been suggested to be associated with metabolic ...

  1. Mainstream upflow nitritation-anammox system with hybrid anaerobic pretreatment: Long-term performance and microbial community dynamics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiaojin; Sun, Shan; Yuan, Heyang; Badgley, Brian D; He, Zhen

    2017-11-15

    Mainstream nitritation-anammox is of strong interest to energy- and resource-efficient domestic wastewater treatment. However, there lack in-depth studies of pretreatment, tests of actual wastewater, and examination of long-term performance. Herein, an upflow nitritation-anammox granular reactor has been investigated to treat primary effluent with a hybrid anaerobic reactor (HAR) as pretreatment for more than 300 days. This system achieved 92% of COD removal, 75% of which was accomplished by the HAR, and had an average final effluent COD concentration of 22 mg L -1 . More than 90% of ammonium was removed in the nitritation-anammox reactor, achieving a nitrogen removal rate of 81.0 g N m -3  d -1 in the last stage. The accumulation of sulfate-reducing bacteria in the HAR evidenced the effect of sulfate on COD removal and subsequent nitrogen removal. Anammox bacteria (predominantly Ca. Jettenia asiatica) accounted for up to 40.2% of total granular communities, but their abundance decreased over time in the suspended communities. The dynamics of major metabolisms and functional genes involved in nitrogen conversion were predicted by PICRUSt based on the taxonomic data, providing more insights into the functions of the microbial communities. These results have demonstrated the effectiveness and importance of anaerobic pretreatment to successful mainstream nitritation-anammox. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Self-reported fatigue common among optimally treated HIV patients: no correlation with cerebral FDG-PET scanning abnormalities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Ase B; Law, Ian; Ostrowski, Sisse R

    2006-01-01

    patients (n = 95), known to be HIV positive for 5 years, on anti-retroviral therapy for a minimum of 3 years and with CD4 counts above 0.2 x 10(9) cells/l, completed a validated fatigue inventory, and plasma was analysed for pro-inflammatory markers including tumour necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin 6......-PET) scanning. RESULTS: Fifteen percent suffered from severe fatigue, but no association with pro-inflammatory markers was found. About 50% of the FDG-PET-scanned patients showed minor abnormalities in the relative cerebral metabolic rate of glucose. These abnormalities were not associated with fatigue...

  3. CCDC115 Deficiency Causes a Disorder of Golgi Homeostasis with Abnormal Protein Glycosylation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jansen, Jos C; Cirak, Sebahattin; van Scherpenzeel, Monique; Timal, Sharita; Reunert, Janine; Rust, Stephan; Pérez, Belén; Vicogne, Dorothée; Krawitz, Peter; Wada, Yoshinao; Ashikov, Angel; Pérez-Cerdá, Celia; Medrano, Celia; Arnoldy, Andrea; Hoischen, Alexander; Huijben, Karin; Steenbergen, Gerry; Quelhas, Dulce; Diogo, Luisa; Rymen, Daisy; Jaeken, Jaak; Guffon, Nathalie; Cheillan, David; van den Heuvel, Lambertus P; Maeda, Yusuke; Kaiser, Olaf; Schara, Ulrike; Gerner, Patrick; van den Boogert, Marjolein A W; Holleboom, Adriaan G; Nassogne, Marie-Cécile; Sokal, Etienne; Salomon, Jody; van den Bogaart, Geert; Drenth, Joost P H; Huynen, Martijn A; Veltman, Joris A; Wevers, Ron A; Morava, Eva; Matthijs, Gert; Foulquier, François; Marquardt, Thorsten; Lefeber, Dirk J

    2016-02-04

    Disorders of Golgi homeostasis form an emerging group of genetic defects. The highly heterogeneous clinical spectrum is not explained by our current understanding of the underlying cell-biological processes in the Golgi. Therefore, uncovering genetic defects and annotating gene function are challenging. Exome sequencing in a family with three siblings affected by abnormal Golgi glycosylation revealed a homozygous missense mutation, c.92T>C (p.Leu31Ser), in coiled-coil domain containing 115 (CCDC115), the function of which is unknown. The same mutation was identified in three unrelated families, and in one family it was compound heterozygous in combination with a heterozygous deletion of CCDC115. An additional homozygous missense mutation, c.31G>T (p.Asp11Tyr), was found in a family with two affected siblings. All individuals displayed a storage-disease-like phenotype involving hepatosplenomegaly, which regressed with age, highly elevated bone-derived alkaline phosphatase, elevated aminotransferases, and elevated cholesterol, in combination with abnormal copper metabolism and neurological symptoms. Two individuals died of liver failure, and one individual was successfully treated by liver transplantation. Abnormal N- and mucin type O-glycosylation was found on serum proteins, and reduced metabolic labeling of sialic acids was found in fibroblasts, which was restored after complementation with wild-type CCDC115. PSI-BLAST homology detection revealed reciprocal homology with Vma22p, the yeast V-ATPase assembly factor located in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Human CCDC115 mainly localized to the ERGIC and to COPI vesicles, but not to the ER. These data, in combination with the phenotypic spectrum, which is distinct from that associated with defects in V-ATPase core subunits, suggest a more general role for CCDC115 in Golgi trafficking. Our study reveals CCDC115 deficiency as a disorder of Golgi homeostasis that can be readily identified via screening for abnormal

  4. Mineral metabolism in European children living with a renal transplant

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bonthuis, Marjolein; Busutti, Marco; van Stralen, Karlijn J

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Data on mineral metabolism in pediatric renal transplant recipients largely arise from small single-center studies. In adult patients, abnormal mineral levels are related to a higher risk of graft failure. This study used data from the European Society for Paediatric...... on prevention and treatment of renal osteodystrophy in children on chronic renal failure. RESULTS: Abnormal serum phosphorus levels were observed in 25% (14% hypophosphatemia and 11% hyperphosphatemia), altered serum calcium in 30% (19% hypocalcemia, 11% hypercalcemia), and hyperparathyroidism in 41...

  5. Structural changes of corn stover lignin during acid pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moxley, Geoffrey; Gaspar, Armindo Ribeiro; Higgins, Don; Xu, Hui

    2012-09-01

    In this study, raw corn stover was subjected to dilute acid pretreatments over a range of severities under conditions similar to those identified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in their techno-economic analysis of biochemical conversion of corn stover to ethanol. The pretreated corn stover then underwent enzymatic hydrolysis with yields above 70 % at moderate enzyme loading conditions. The enzyme exhausted lignin residues were characterized by ³¹P NMR spectroscopy and functional moieties quantified and correlated to enzymatic hydrolysis yields. Results from this study indicated that both xylan solubilization and lignin degradation are important for improving the enzyme accessibility and digestibility of dilute acid pretreated corn stover. At lower pretreatment temperatures, there is a good correlation between xylan solubilization and cellulose accessibility. At higher pretreatment temperatures, lignin degradation correlated better with cellulose accessibility, represented by the increase in phenolic groups. During acid pretreatment, the ratio of syringyl/guaiacyl functional groups also gradually changed from less than 1 to greater than 1 with the increase in pretreatment temperature. This implies that more syringyl units are released from lignin depolymerization of aryl ether linkages than guaiacyl units. The condensed phenolic units are also correlated with the increase in pretreatment temperature up to 180 °C, beyond which point condensation reactions may overtake the hydrolysis of aryl ether linkages as the dominant reactions of lignin, thus leading to decreased cellulose accessibility.

  6. VAPB/ALS8 MSP ligands regulate striated muscle energy metabolism critical for adult survival in caenorhabditis elegans.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sung Min Han

    Full Text Available Mutations in VAPB/ALS8 are associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA, two motor neuron diseases that often include alterations in energy metabolism. We have shown that C. elegans and Drosophila neurons secrete a cleavage product of VAPB, the N-terminal major sperm protein domain (vMSP. Secreted vMSPs signal through Roundabout and Lar-like receptors expressed on striated muscle. The muscle signaling pathway localizes mitochondria to myofilaments, alters their fission/fusion balance, and promotes energy production. Here, we show that neuronal loss of the C. elegans VAPB homolog triggers metabolic alterations that appear to compensate for muscle mitochondrial dysfunction. When vMSP levels drop, cytoskeletal or mitochondrial abnormalities in muscle induce elevated DAF-16, the Forkhead Box O (FoxO homolog, transcription factor activity. DAF-16 promotes muscle triacylglycerol accumulation, increases ATP levels in adults, and extends lifespan, despite reduced muscle mitochondria electron transport chain activity. Finally, Vapb knock-out mice exhibit abnormal muscular triacylglycerol levels and FoxO target gene transcriptional responses to fasting and refeeding. Our data indicate that impaired vMSP signaling to striated muscle alters FoxO activity, which affects energy metabolism. Abnormalities in energy metabolism of ALS patients may thus constitute a compensatory mechanism counterbalancing skeletal muscle mitochondrial dysfunction.

  7. Dietary Omega-3 Fatty Acid Deficiency and High Fructose Intake in the Development of Metabolic Syndrome, Brain Metabolic Abnormalities, and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Artemis P. Simopoulos

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Western diets are characterized by both dietary omega-3 fatty acid deficiency and increased fructose intake. The latter found in high amounts in added sugars such as sucrose and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS. Both a low intake of omega-3 fatty acids or a high fructose intake contribute to metabolic syndrome, liver steatosis or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD, promote brain insulin resistance, and increase the vulnerability to cognitive dysfunction. Insulin resistance is the core perturbation of metabolic syndrome. Multiple cognitive domains are affected by metabolic syndrome in adults and in obese adolescents, with volume losses in the hippocampus and frontal lobe, affecting executive function. Fish oil supplementation maintains proper insulin signaling in the brain, ameliorates NAFLD and decreases the risk to metabolic syndrome suggesting that adequate levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the diet can cope with the metabolic challenges imposed by high fructose intake in Western diets which is of major public health importance. This review presents the current status of the mechanisms involved in the development of the metabolic syndrome, brain insulin resistance, and NAFLD a most promising area of research in Nutrition for the prevention of these conditions, chronic diseases, and improvement of Public Health.

  8. The Effect of Ultrasound Pretreatment on Poplar Wood Dimensional Stability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shu Qiu

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Dimensional stability is a key property of wood that significantly affects its applications. The effect of an ultrasound pretreatment on poplar wood (Populous tomentosa dimensional stability was examined. During the pretreatments, wood samples were immersed in distilled water and treated ultrasonically under three different powers and frequencies. The samples were then analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR and X-ray diffraction (XRD. The chemical transformation of the cell-wall material was studied and then associated with the change of water absorption and the swelling coefficient. The results showed that the water absorption decreased after the ultrasonic pretreatment. The axial and radial swelling coefficients of the pretreated samples decreased, while the tangential swelling coefficients increased. The volumetric swelling coefficient of pretreated specimens fluctuated near 4.48% (the volumetric swelling coefficient of untreated wood. Ultrasonic pretreatment increased the number of hydrophilic groups, such as the hydroxyl, acetyl, and uronic ester groups. Meanwhile, the pretreatment also increased the degree of crystallinity and reduced the available polar groups. These two factors together caused the change of the moisture absorption and the swelling coefficient of the pretreated wood. These conclusions suggest that the ultrasonic pretreatment is a promising method for further chemical modification of wood.

  9. Genetics of homocysteine metabolism and associated disorders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Brustolin

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Homocysteine is a sulfur-containing amino acid derived from the metabolism of methionine, an essential amino acid, and is metabolized by one of two pathways: remethylation or transsulfuration. Abnormalities of these pathways lead to hyperhomocysteinemia. Hyperhomocysteinemia is observed in approximately 5% of the general population and is associated with an increased risk for many disorders, including vascular and neurodegenerative diseases, autoimmune disorders, birth defects, diabetes, renal disease, osteoporosis, neuropsychiatric disorders, and cancer. We review here the correlation between homocysteine metabolism and the disorders described above with genetic variants on genes coding for enzymes of homocysteine metabolism relevant to clinical practice, especially common variants of the MTHFR gene, 677C>T and 1298A>C. We also discuss the management of hyperhomocysteinemia with folic acid supplementation and fortification of folic acid and the impact of a decrease in the prevalence of congenital anomalies and a decline in the incidence of stroke mortality.

  10. Pretreatment of macroalgae for volatile fatty acid production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pham, Thi Nhan; Um, Youngsoon; Yoon, Hyon Hee

    2013-10-01

    In this study, a novel method was proposed for the biological pretreatment of macroalgae (Laminaria japonica, Pachymeniopsis elliptica, and Enteromorpha crinita) for production of volatile fatty acid (VFA) by anaerobic fermentation. The amount of VFA produced from 40 g/L of L. japonica increased from 8.3 g/L (control) to 15.6 g/L when it was biologically pretreated with Vibrio harveyi. The biological treatment of L. japonica with Vibrio spp. was most effective likely due to the alginate lyase activity of Vibrio spp. However, a considerable effect was also observed after biological pretreatment of P. elliptica and E. crinita, which are red and green algae, respectively. Alkaline pretreatment of 40 g/L of L. japonica with 0.5 N NaOH resulted in an increase of VFA production to 12.2 g/L. These results indicate that VFA production from macroalgae can be significantly enhanced using the proposed biological pretreatments. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Effectiveness of community-based exercise intervention programme in obese adults with metabolic syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Shu-Hung; Chen, Miao-Chuan; Chien, Nai-Hui; Lin, Hsih-Fong

    2016-09-01

    The objective of this study was to change the anthropometric, clinical, biochemical indicators and the rate of metabolic syndrome among obese adults in community. Obesity is an indicator of metabolic syndrome and cardiometabolic diseases. Obesity increases national health care expenditure in Taiwan. The high prevalence of obesity is not only a public health issue but also an economic problem. Changes in lifestyle can help to prevent metabolic syndrome for individuals with obesity. A randomised controlled trial was applied. In this randomised controlled trial by location, 136 metabolically abnormal obese individuals were included. The related indicators with metabolic syndrome were measured at baseline and after six months. The experimental group participated in a six-month community-based programme including provided exercise environments, exercise skills and volunteers' reminding. The control group was only provided environment and skills. One hundred and thirty-one participants completed this trail. In comparison with the baseline, the intervention group showed a significant increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (2·34 mg/dl), and decrease in body weight (1·09 kg), waist circumference (3·63 cm), systolic blood pressure (10·52 mmHg), diastolic blood pressure (5·21 mmHg), fasting blood glucose (5·84 mg/dl) and body mass index (0·74 kg/m(2) ). In the control group, significant decrease in body mass index and waist circumference were discovered. Compared to the changes between the two groups, the results showed there were significant differences in waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The community-based intervention could help to improve high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, reduce body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure and fasting blood glucose in metabolically abnormal obese. This community-based programme helped metabolically abnormal

  12. Abnormal uterine bleeding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anovulatory bleeding; Abnormal uterine bleeding - hormonal; Polymenorrhea - dysfunctional uterine bleeding ... ACOG committee opinion no. 557: Management of acute abnormal uterine bleeding in nonpregnant reproductive-aged women. Reaffirmed 2015. www. ...

  13. Long-term carbimazole pretreatment reduces the efficacy of radioiodine therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C Shivaprasad

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Data from several studies suggest that pretreatment with antithyroid drugs (ATD before 131 I increases the risk of treatment failure. This effect has been demonstrated more consistently with propylthiouracil than with carbimazole (CMZ or methimazole (MMI. Men with Graves′ disease (GD have a lower rate of remission with 131 I compared to women and the impact of long-term ATD pretreatment on the success of 131 I is unknown. The objective of our study was to compare the efficacy of fixed doses of radioiodine between patients with and without long-term CMZ pretreatment. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective study on 335 male patients with GD treated with 131 I from 1998 to 2008. 148 patients had been pretreated with CMZ, and the remaining 187 patients received 131 I without pretreatment. We compared the success rate of a single dose of 131 I, between patients with and without long-term CMZ pretreatment. Results: The success rate of a single dose of 131 I was significantly higher in patients without pretreatment than in patients who were pretreated with CMZ (91.4% vs. 82.3%, P = 0.01. The rate of hypothyroidism in the first 6 months after 131 I therapy was significantly higher in patients without pretreatment (55.1% vs. 44.6%, P = 0.05. There was also a trend for higher cumulative rate of hypothyroidism at last follow-up in nonpretreated patients (78.1% vs. 69.7%. Conclusion: Male patients with Graves′ hyperthyroidism pretreated with CMZ have lower efficacy with 131I therapy compared to nonpretreated patients. CMZ pretreatment given for a prolonged period reduces the efficacy of 131 I therapy.

  14. Pretreatment on Corn Stover with Low Concentration of Formic Acid

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xu, Jian; Thomsen, Mette Hedegaard; Thomsen, Anne Belinda

    2009-01-01

    the cellulose easily degraded into sugars and further fermented to ethanol. In this work, hydrothermal pretreatment on corn stover at 195 degrees for 15 min with and without lower concentration of formic acid was compared in terms of sugar recoveries and ethanol fermentation. For pretreatment with formic acid...... pretreatment without formic acid. Toxicity tests of liquor parts showed that there were no inhibitions found for both pretreatment conditions. After simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of the pretreated corn stover with Baker's yeast, the highest ethanol yield of 76.5% of the theoretical...

  15. The critical role of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine metabolism in health and disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Veen, Jelske N; Kennelly, John P; Wan, Sereana; Vance, Jean E; Vance, Dennis E; Jacobs, René L

    2017-09-01

    Phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) are the most abundant phospholipids in all mammalian cell membranes. In the 1950s, Eugene Kennedy and co-workers performed groundbreaking research that established the general outline of many of the pathways of phospholipid biosynthesis. In recent years, the importance of phospholipid metabolism in regulating lipid, lipoprotein and whole-body energy metabolism has been demonstrated in numerous dietary studies and knockout animal models. The purpose of this review is to highlight the unappreciated impact of phospholipid metabolism on health and disease. Abnormally high, and abnormally low, cellular PC/PE molar ratios in various tissues can influence energy metabolism and have been linked to disease progression. For example, inhibition of hepatic PC synthesis impairs very low density lipoprotein secretion and changes in hepatic phospholipid composition have been linked to fatty liver disease and impaired liver regeneration after surgery. The relative abundance of PC and PE regulates the size and dynamics of lipid droplets. In mitochondria, changes in the PC/PE molar ratio affect energy production. We highlight data showing that changes in the PC and/or PE content of various tissues are implicated in metabolic disorders such as atherosclerosis, insulin resistance and obesity. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Membrane Lipid Therapy: Drugs Targeting Biomembranes edited by Pablo V. Escribá. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Extrusion Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass: A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jun Zheng

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass to bioethanol has shown environmental, economic and energetic advantages in comparison to bioethanol produced from sugar or starch. However, the pretreatment process for increasing the enzymatic accessibility and improving the digestibility of cellulose is hindered by many physical-chemical, structural and compositional factors, which make these materials difficult to be used as feedstocks for ethanol production. A wide range of pretreatment methods has been developed to alter or remove structural and compositional impediments to (enzymatic hydrolysis over the last few decades; however, only a few of them can be used at commercial scale due to economic feasibility. This paper will give an overview of extrusion pretreatment for bioethanol production with a special focus on twin-screw extruders. An economic assessment of this pretreatment is also discussed to determine its feasibility for future industrial cellulosic ethanol plant designs.

  17. Epstein–Barr Virus-Induced Metabolic Rearrangements in Human B-Cell Lymphomas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pier P. Piccaluga

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Tumor metabolism has been the object of several studies in the past, leading to the pivotal observation of a consistent shift toward aerobic glycolysis (so-called Warburg effect. More recently, several additional investigations proved that tumor metabolism is profoundly affected during tumorigenesis, including glucose, lipid and amino-acid metabolism. It is noticeable that metabolic reprogramming can represent a suitable therapeutic target in many cancer types. Epstein–Barr virus (EBV was the first virus linked with cancer in humans when Burkitt lymphoma (BL was described. Besides other well-known effects, it was recently demonstrated that EBV can induce significant modification in cell metabolism, which may lead or contribute to neoplastic transformation of human cells. Similarly, virus-induced tumorigenesis is characterized by relevant metabolic abnormalities directly induced by the oncoviruses. In this article, the authors critically review the most recent literature concerning EBV-induced metabolism alterations in lymphomas.

  18. Alkaline pretreatment of Mexican pine residues for bioethanol ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Alkaline pretreatment of Mexican pine residues for bioethanol production. ... Keywords: Lignocellulosic biomass, alkaline pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentable sugars, fermentation. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(31), pp.

  19. Metabolic interaction between n-hexane and toluene in vivo and in vitro

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Perbellini, L.; Brugnone, F.; Leone, R.; Fracasso, M.E.; Venturini, M.S.

    1982-01-01

    Metabolic interference between n-hexane and toluene was studied both in vivo and in vitro. In in vivo experiments the urinary excretion of n-hexane and toluene metabolites was tested in rats treated with the two solvents separately or in combination. The same experimental program was repeated in rats pretreated with phenobarbital (PB). The urinary excretion of n-hexane metabolites in rats treated with the two solvents showed a significantly decreased excretion of all n-hexane metabolites in comparison with those treated with n-hexane alone. In rats pretreated with PB the excretion of n-hexane metabolites was significantly higher compared with that of unpretreated rats; the combined administration of the two solvents showed in this case, too, that n-hexane metabolite excretion was less than that found in rats treated with n-hexane alone. The biotransformation of toluene to o-cresol and hippuric acid studied in the urine of rats treated with or without n-hexane and pretreated or not with PB did not show any difference. The in vitro metabolic interference was studied by measuring the disappearance of solvents from rat's incubated liver microsomes. The inhibition constant of toluene on n-hexane biotransformation was 7.5 ..mu..M and that of n-hexane on toluene was 30 ..mu..M. The data show that a mutual non-competitive interference exists in vitro between n-hexane and toluene. The interference of toluene on n-hexane biotransformation was detectable also in vivo experiments, while n-hexane did not modify the biotransformation of toluene.

  20. Combined (alkaline+ultrasonic) pretreatment effect on sewage sludge disintegration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Dong-Hoon; Jeong, Emma; Oh, Sae-Eun; Shin, Hang-Sik

    2010-05-01

    The individual effects of alkaline (pH 8-13) and ultrasonic (3750-45,000kJ/kg TS) pretreatments on the disintegration of sewage sludge were separately tested, and then the effect of combining these two methods at different intensity levels was investigated using response surface methodology (RSM). In the combined pretreatment, ultrasonic treatment was applied to the alkali-pretreated sludge. While the solubilization (SCOD/TCOD) increase was limited to 50% in individual pretreatments, it reached 70% in combined pretreatment, and the results clearly showed that preconditioning of sludge at high pH levels played a crucial role in enhancing the disintegration efficiency of the subsequent ultrasonic pretreatment. By applying regression analysis, the disintegration degree (DD) was fitted based on the actual value to a second order polynomial equation: Y=-172.44+29.82X(1)+5.30x10(-3)X(2)-7.53x10(-5)X(1)X(2)-1.10X(1)(2)-1.043x10(-7)X(2)(2), where X(1), X(2), and Y are pH, specific energy input (kJ/kg TS), and DD, respectively. In a 2D contour plot describing the tendency of DD with respect to pH and specific energy input, it was clear that DD increased as pH increased, but it seemed that DD decreased when the specific energy input exceeded about 20,000kJ/kg TS. This phenomenon tells us that there exists a certain point where additional energy input is ineffective in achieving further disintegration. A synergetic disintegration effect was also found in the combined pretreatment, with lower specific energy input in ultrasonic pretreatment yielding higher synergetic effect. Finally, in order to see the combined pretreatment effect in continuous operation, the sludge pretreated with low intensity alkaline (pH 9)/ultrasonic (7500kJ/kg TS) treatment was fed to a 3 L of anaerobic sequencing batch reactor after 70 days of control operation. CH(4) production yield significantly increased from 81.9+/-4.5mL CH(4)/g COD(added) to 127.3+/-5.0mL CH(4)/g COD(added) by pretreatment, and

  1. Metabolic control and bone health in adolescents with type 1 diabetes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohan Subburaman

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D have decreased bone mineral density (BMD and increased fracture risk, yet the etiologies remain elusive. Early detection of derangements in bone biomarkers during adolescence could lead to timely recognition. In adolescents with T1D, we evaluated the relationships between metabolic control, BMD, and bone anabolic and turnover markers. Methods Cross-sectional study of 57 adolescent subjects with T1D who had HbA1c consistently ≥ 9% (Poor Control, PC n = 27 or Results There were no differences between HbA1c groups in BMD, components of the IGF system, or 25-hydroxyvitamin D status. The prevalence of 25-hydroxyvitamin D abnormalities was similar to that seen in the general adolescent population. Few patients met the recommended dietary allowance (RDA for vitamin D or calcium. Conclusions These data provide no evidence of association between degree of metabolic control and BMD in adolescents with T1D. Adolescents with T1D have a high prevalence of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D abnormalities. Longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate the predictive value of vitamin D abnormalities on fracture risk.

  2. Urine - abnormal color

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003139.htm Urine - abnormal color To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. The usual color of urine is straw-yellow. Abnormally colored urine ...

  3. Tooth - abnormal colors

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003065.htm Tooth - abnormal colors To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. Abnormal tooth color is any color other than white to yellowish- ...

  4. Prevalence of plasma lipid abnormalities and its association with glucose metabolism in Spain: the di@bet.es study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martinez-Hervas, Sergio; Carmena, Rafael; Ascaso, Juan F; Real, Jose T; Masana, Luis; Catalá, Miguel; Vendrell, Joan; Vázquez, José Antonio; Valdés, Sergio; Urrutia, Inés; Soriguer, Federico; Serrano-Rios, Manuel; Rojo-Martínez, Gemma; Pascual-Manich, Gemma; Ortega, Emilio; Mora-Peces, Inmaculada; Menéndez, Edelmiro; Martínez-Larrad, Maria T; López-Alba, Alfonso; Gomis, Ramón; Goday, Albert; Girbés, Juan; Gaztambide, Sonia; Franch, Josep; Delgado, Elías; Castell, Conxa; Castaño, Luis; Casamitjana, Roser; Calle-Pascual, Alfonso; Bordiú, Elena

    2014-01-01

    Dyslipidemia is a significant contributor to the elevated CVD risk observed in type 2 diabetes mellitus. We assessed the prevalence of dyslipidemia and its association with glucose metabolism status in a representative sample of the adult population in Spain and the percentage of subjects at guideline-recommended LDL-C goals. The di@bet.es study is a national, cross-sectional population-based survey of 5728 adults. A total of 4776 subjects were studied. Dyslipidemia was diagnosed in 56.8% of subjects; only 13.2% of subjects were treated with lipid lowering drugs. Lipid abnormalities were found in 56.8% of Spanish adults: 23.3% with high LDL-C, 21.5% high TG, 35.8% high non-HDL-C, and 17.2% low HDL-C. Most normal subjects showed an LDL-C ≤ 3.36 mmol/l. Pre-diabetics presented similar proportion when considering a goal of 3.36 mmol/l, but only 35% of them reached an LDL-C goal ≤ 2.6 mmol/l. Finally, 45.3% of diabetics had an LDL-C ≤ 2.6 mmol/l, and only 11.3% achieved an LDL-C ≤ 1.8 mmol/l. Our study demonstrates a high prevalence of dyslipidemia in the adult Spanish population, and a low use of lipid-lowering drugs. Moreover, the number of subjects achieving their corresponding LDL-C goal is small, particularly in subjects at high cardiovascular risk, such as diabetics. Copyright © 2013 Sociedad Española de Arteriosclerosis. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

  5. FRACTIONAL CRYSTALLIZATION TESTING WITH INTERIM PRETREATMENT SYSTEM FEEDS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    HERTING DL

    2008-01-01

    The fractional crystallization process was developed as a pretreatment method for saltcake waste retrieved from Hanford single-shell tanks (SST). The process separates the retrieved SST waste into a high-level waste stream containing the bulk of the radionuclides and a low-activity waste stream containing the bulk of the nonradioactive sodium salts. The Interim Pretreatment System project shifted the focus on pretreatment planning from SST waste to double-shell tank waste

  6. [Conference report: Belgian consensus on metabolic problems associated with atypical antipsychotics].

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Nayer, A; De Hert, M; Scheen, A; Van Gaal, L; Peuskens, J

    2007-01-01

    The current literature supports that schizophrenia (and bipolar disorders) appear to be associated with a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes. Because of the silent nature of diabetes mellitus, and the fact that schizophrenic patients are not screened comprehensively for the disease, the true prevalence of hyperglycemia and diabetes may be substantially underestimated. Notably, it has been suggested that schizophrenia as such carries an increased risk, as certain characteristics of schizophrenic patients such as unhealthy life style promote the diabetes risk. This risk may be increased by antipsychotic drug treatment, as was already suggested for first-generation antipsychotics (FGA). The amount of literature on the association of SGA and metabolic disorders is much larger however, although well-controlled prospective data are sparse. Reports comprise abnormal glucose regulation, exacerbation of existing type 1 and 2 diabetes, new-onset pseudo-type 1 or type 2 diabetes, diabetic ketoacidosis, coma and death. In large-scale studies (mostly retrospective), reviews and meta-analyses, the association was not found for all drugs. According to recent reviews, the risk of developing diabetes was highest for clozapine and olanzapine, followed by quetiapine and risperidone. The hierarchy of liability of weight gain, or differential effects on insulin resistance was also in the described order. Apart from disturbances in glucose metabolism, further frequent metabolic abnormalities in schizophrenic patients on SGA include features of the metabolic syndrome. Antipsychotics such as clozapine and olanzapine have also been associated with hypertriglyceridemia, while agents such as haloperidol, risperidone and ziprasidone were associated with reductions in plasma triglycerides. Amisulpride, aripiprazole and ziprasidone seem to carry the lowest risk for weight gain, diabetes and effects on insulin resistance. As a consequence, there is a shift in attention toward physical health

  7. microRNAs and lipid metabolism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aryal, Binod; Singh, Abhishek K.; Rotllan, Noemi; Price, Nathan; Fernández-Hernando, Carlos

    2017-01-01

    Purpose of review Work over the last decade has identified the important role of microRNAs (miRNAS) in regulating lipoprotein metabolism and associated disorders including metabolic syndrome, obesity and atherosclerosis. This review summarizes the most recent findings in the field, highlighting the contribution of miRNAs in controlling low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) metabolism. Recent findings A number of miRNAs have emerged as important regulators of lipid metabolism, including miR-122 and miR-33. Work over the last two years has identified additional functions of miR-33 including the regulation of macrophage activation and mitochondrial metabolism. Moreover, it has recently been shown that miR-33 regulates vascular homeostasis and cardiac adaptation in response to pressure overload. In addition to miR-33 and miR-122, recent GWAS have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the proximity of miRNAs genes associated with abnormal levels of circulating lipids in humans. Several of these miRNA, such as miR-148a and miR-128-1, target important proteins that regulate cellular cholesterol metabolism, including the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and the ATP-binding cassette A1 (ABCA1). Summary microRNAs have emerged as critical regulators of cholesterol metabolism and promising therapeutic targets for treating cardiometabolic disorders including atherosclerosis. Here, we discuss the recent findings in the field highlighting the novel mechanisms by which miR-33 controls lipid metabolism and atherogenesis and the identification of novel miRNAs that regulate LDL metabolism. Finally, we summarize the recent findings that identified miR-33 as an important non-coding RNA that controls cardiovascular homeostasis independent of its role in regulating lipid metabolism. PMID:28333713

  8. A Healthy Beverage Consumption Pattern Is Inversely Associated with the Risk of Obesity and Metabolic Abnormalities in Korean Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Kyung Won; Shin, Dayeon

    2018-03-23

    reduce risks of obesity and metabolic abnormalities; however, individuals who consume sugar-sweetened beverages should be advised on the adverse effects of those beverages on the risk of obesity and MetS.

  9. Metabolic syndrome and aerobic fitness in patients with first-episode schizophrenia, including a 1-year follow-up

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nyboe, L.; Vestergaard, C. H.; Moeller, M. K.

    2015-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and metabolic abnormalities in patients with first-episode schizophrenia (FES) with sex- and age-matched healthy controls; to investigate changes in MetS during 1year of treatment; and to investigate predictors of MetS. METHODS: Pa...

  10. EFFECT OF AQUEOUS PRETREATMENT ON PYROLYSIS CHARACTERISTICS OF NAPIER GRASS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ISAH YAKUB MOHAMMED

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Effect of non-catalytic aqueous pretretment on pyrolysis characteristics of Napier grass was investigated using thermogravimetric analyser. Increasing pretreatment severity (0.0-2.0 improved pyrolysis process. The residual mass at the end of pyrolysis for the pretreated sample was about 50% less compared to the untreated sample. Kinetics of the process was evaluated using order based model and both pretreated and untreated samples followed first order reaction. The activation energy of the pretreated samples was similar and higher than that of the raw sample which was attributed to faster rate of decomposition due removal of hetromaterials (ash, extractives and some hemicellulose in the pretreatment stage. Finally, this pretreatment method has demonstrated effectiveness for the removal of pyrolysis retardants and will improve the quantity and quality of bio-oil yield.

  11. Branched-Chain Amino Acids and Insulin Metabolism: The Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study (IRAS)

    OpenAIRE

    Lee, C. Christine; Watkins, Steve M.; Lorenzo, Carlos; Wagenknecht, Lynne E.; Il?yasova, Dora; Chen, Yii-Der I.; Haffner, Steven M.; Hanley, Anthony J.

    2016-01-01

    OBJECTIVE Recent studies using untargeted metabolomics approaches have suggested that plasma branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are associated with incident diabetes. However, little is known about the role of plasma BCAAs in metabolic abnormalities underlying diabetes and whether these relationships are consistent across ethnic populations at high risk for diabetes. We investigated the associations of BCAAs with insulin sensitivity (SI), acute insulin response (AIR), and metabolic clearance ...

  12. Improving biogas production from microalgae by enzymatic pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Passos, Fabiana; Hom-Diaz, Andrea; Blanquez, Paqui; Vicent, Teresa; Ferrer, Ivet

    2016-01-01

    In this study, enzymatic pretreatment of microalgal biomass was investigated under different conditions and evaluated using biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests. Cellulase, glucohydrolase and an enzyme mix composed of cellulase, glucohydrolase and xylanase were selected based on the microalgae cell wall composition (cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin and glycoprotein). All of them increased organic matter solubilisation, obtaining high values already after 6h of pretreatment with an enzyme dose of 1% for cellulase and the enzyme mix. BMP tests with pretreated microalgae showed a methane yield increase of 8 and 15% for cellulase and the enzyme mix, respectively. Prospective research should evaluate enzymatic pretreatments in continuous anaerobic reactors so as to estimate the energy balance and economic cost of the process. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Plant abnormality inspection device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takenaka, Toshio.

    1990-01-01

    The present invention concerns a plant abnormality inspection device for conducting remote or automatic patrolling inspection in a plant and, more particularly, relates to such a device as capable of detecting abnormal odors. That is, the device comprises a moving device for moving to a predetermined position in the plant, a plurality of gas sensors for different kind of gases to be inspected mounted thereon, a comparator for comparing the concentration of a gas detected by the gas sensor with the normal gas concentration at the predetermined position and a judging means for judging the absence or presence of abnormality depending on the combination of the result of the comparison and deliverying a signal if the state is abnormal. As a result, a slight amount of gas responsible to odors released upon abnormality of the plant can be detected by a plurality of gas sensors for different kinds gases to rapidly and easily find abnormal portions in the plant. (I.S.)

  14. Persistent lipid abnormalities in statin-treated patients with diabetes mellitus in Europe and Canada: results of the Dyslipidaemia International Study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Leiter, L. A.; Lundman, P.; da Silva, P. M.; Drexel, H.; Jünger, C.; Gitt, A. K.; Absenger, Guun; Albrich, Ernst; Allinger, Berndt; Allinger, Stephan; Anacher, Gerald; Angermayr, Gertraud; Angermeier, Hermann; Anzengruber, Aneas; Archimanitis, Gabriele; Arnsteiner, Patricia; Auberger, Wolfgang; Azhary, Mawaheb; Barfuss, Michael; Bauer, Christian; Bauer, Birgit Elisabeth; Beclin, Thomas; Binder, Thomas; Binder, Gabriele; Böhler, Dietmar; Brändle, Johann; Breslmair, Jörg; Brettlecker, Marlis; Bürger, Michael; Calvi, Inge; Dorfinger, Werner; Doringer-Schnepf, Elisabeth; Eer, Anton; Eckmayr, Christine; Eder, Franz; Egermann, Margit; Erath, Michael; Etzinger, Michael; Etzinger, Claudia; Fiedler, Lothar; Filip, Wolfgang; Filip, Michaela; Föchterle, Johann; Fodor, Anita; Frieden, Thomas; Gareiss, Mertens; Gföllner, Peter; Ghamarian, Thomas; Goritschan, Michael; Haar, Klaus; Habeler, Gerhard; Hadjiivanov, Valery; Haiböck, Christian; Hammer, Regina; Hartmann, Siegfried; Haschkovitz, Herbert; Hauer, Walter; Hauer, Josef; Haunschmidt, Christian; Heimayr, Christine; Hengl, Wolfgang; Hengl, Gunter; Hermann, Rudolf; Herrmann, Rainer; Hillebrand, Roswitha; Hintersteininger, Otto; Hirsch, Michael; Hitzinger, Martin; Hochegger, Tanja; Hockl, Wolfgang; Hoi, Michael; Hörmann, Jan; Hudler, Brigitte; Imb, Gerhard; Joichl, Anea; Jungbauer, Karl; Kapl, Gerlinde; Kerschbaum, Margit; Kienesberger, Franz; Killinger, Gerhard; Kitzler, Gerhard; Klein, Franz; Kleinbichler, Dietmar; Kohr, Anton; Kopetzky, Michael; Korthals, Christian; Kortschak, Werner; Koschutnik, Martin; Kraus, Werner A.; Kurzemann, Susanne; Lavicka, Claus; Lehner, Guido; Lenz, Jürgen; Lepuschütz, Sabine; Lichtenwallner, Michael; Lober, Reinhard; Loidl, Christine; Lopatka, Eduard; Ludwig, Rudolf; Maca, Thomas; Mair, Anneliese; Mandak, Michael; Margreiter, Maria; Margreiter, Anea; Markovics, Michael; Matejicek, Frieich; Mohilla, Maximillian; Moll, Christian; Mörz, Beate; Mörz, Reinhard; Nagl, Heinz; Neumayr, Günther; Oberroitmair, Helmut; Oberzinner, Michael; Pallamar, Walter; Pangratz, Sibylle; Parandian, Laurenz; Paulus, Alexana; Pfaffenwimmer, Christoph; Plaichinger, Peter; Pokorn, Thomas; Polanec, Helmuth; Pöll-Weiss, Barbara; Pralea, Doralina; Puttinger, Johann; Quinton, Thomas; Ranegger, Matthias; Rass, Sepp; Rauch, Heribert; Riehs, Manfred; Robetin, Erich; Rohringer, Jörg; Rupprechter, Josef; Sadjed, Eduard; Schimbach, Johann Alois; Schmid, Jutta; Schneiderbauer, Rotraud; Schopper, Wolfgang; Schulze-Bauer, Alfred; Schuster, Gottfried; Schwarz, Johann; Schwarz, Maria; Schweighofer, Christoph; Schwelle, Franz; Simma, Hanspeter; Sock, Renate; Sock, Reinhard; Sprenger, Fritz; Stiglmayr, Thomas; Stocker, Ilse; Stütz, Pia; Tama, Mustafa; Teleky, Ursula; Tschauko, Werner; Veits, Martin; Vikydal, Gerhard; Vlaschitz, Karl; Wais, Elisabeth; Wais, Adam; Wegmann, Robert; Wehle, Franz; Weindl, Manfred; Weinhandl, Manuela; Wendt, Ursula; Wendt, Klaus; Werner-Tutschku, Volker; Werner-Tutschku, Christine; Wilscher, Josef; Wind, Norbert; Winter, Aneas; Wolfschütz, Gerald; Wolfsgruber, Markus; Wolfsgruber, Brigitte; Wurm, Renate; Ziebart-Schroth, Arno; Zimmermann, Maximillian; Zinnagl, Aneas; Zirm, Anea; Zirm Canada, Bernhard; Bokenfohr, Grace Mary; Liu, Edmond K. H.; Melling, Gordon W.; Papp, Edward William; Sachdeva, Ashok K.; Snyman, Ernst Retief; Varma, Sonya; Ward, Richard A.; Tiong Wong, Anew Pak; Basson, Paul J.; Brodie, Brian D.; Chahal, Sukhjiwan Jeevyn; Chan, William Y.; Chow, John C.; Cormack, Maura; Eddy, Donald H. J.; Ezekiel, Daniel; Farquhar, Anew; Gu, Shian; Hii, Ting H.; Ho-Asjoe, Marianne P. K.; Hosie, Anew; Jaffer, Shahin; Jakubowski, Anew T.; Karim, Mandy; Kiai, Cristina; Kooy, Jacobus; Lytle, Craig R.; Mcleod, Kevin Lain; Morgan, David C.; Myckatyn, Michael M.; Ng, John P. Y.; Schriemer, Ronnald; Schumacher, Gerhard; Grey Stopforth, James; Hoo Tsui, Winston Wai; Wilson, Robin T.; Wong, Danny; Wong, Wilfred T.; Yeung, Margaret M. W.; Cram, David Harvey; Kumari Dissanayake, Dilani Tamara; Gerber, Johan Daniel W.; Haligowski, David; Hrabarchuk, Blair; Kroczak, Tadeusz J.; Lipson, Alan H.; Mahay, Raj K.; Wessels Mare, Abraham Carel; Mohamdee, Feisal John; Olynyk, Frederick Theodore; Pieterse, Wickus; Ramgoolam, Rajenanath; Rothova, Anna; Saunders, Kevin Kenneth; Szajkowski, Stanley; van Gend, Richard F.; van Rensburg, Nicolaas Marthinus Jansen; Anand, Sanjiv; Baer, Carolyn E. H.; Basque, Eric J. Y.; Benaya, Sebastian; Bessoudo, Ricardo; Bhalla, Jaswinder; Chettiar, Nataraj V.; Craig, Brian N.; Desrosiers, France; Ranjani Imbulgoda, Manel; Morgan, Gareth M.; Nowak, Zbigniew J.; Scott, Daniel G.; Searles, Gregory R.; Slorach, J. Ninian; Stevenson, Robert N.; Browne, Noel John; Bruff, Karl Joseph; Collingwood, John Maurice; Collins, Wayne; Over, Aidan; Gabriel, Anthony M.; Govender, Moonsamy; Hart, David G.; Hatcher, Lydia B.; Janes, John; Kielty, John F.; Krisdaphongs, Michoke; Lush, Richard Boyd; Moulton, William Bertram; Riche, Cyril R.; Rideout, Gary M.; Roberts, Bernard C.; Walsh, Paul E.; Wight, Harold G.; Woodland, K. Heather; Woodland, Robert C.; Atkinson, Bradley Charles; Chow, Carlyle S. H. A.; Collins, James A.; Graham, Robert D.; Hosein, Jalal; Machel, Teresa M.; Mahaney, Gordon Ralston; Mclean, James Robert Bruce; Murray, Michael R.; Myatt, Gregory Alexander; Ozere, Christopher P.; Saha, Amal Krishna; Sanders, David Herbert; Seaman, Donald Maxwell; Seaman, James Gordon; Swinamer, Deanna; Voon Yee, Kenny Yew; Ali, Mohamed Mustapha; Bankay, Clarence D. C.; Beduhn, Eitel Erich Reinhold; Callaghan, Denis J.; Chan, Yun Kai; Chaudhri, Arif R.; Chen, Richard Y. Y.; Conway, James Robin; Cunningham, William L.; Cusimano, Steven Lawrence; Souza, Eleanor De; de Souza, Selwyn X.; Deyoung, John Paul; Epstein, Ralph; Faiers, Alan Arthur; Figurado, Victor John; Forbes, F. Basil Trayer; Gabor, Zsuzsanna; Gallardo, Rodolfo Canonizado; Gaur, Shiva K.; George, Elizabeth; Hartford, Brian J.; Shiu-Chung Ho, Michael; Ho, Chung; Ismail, Shiraz H.; Bhushan Kalra, Bharat; Koprowicz, Kinga; Kumar, Naresh; Lam, Clement; Lau, Ming-Jarm; Law, Hugo Kwok Cheung; Fung, Max Leung Sui; Liutkus, Joanne Frances; Lotfallah, Talaat K.; Luton, Robert G.; Meneses, Gloria S.; Miller, Mark Lee; Nagji, Noorbegum; Ng, Ken H. M.; Ng Thow Hing, Roland E.; Pandey, Amritanshu Shekhar; Petrov, Ivan; Rosenthall, Wendy; Rudner, Howard; Russell, Alan Douglas; Sanchez, Zenia A.; Shaban, Joseph A.; Shariff, Shiraz B. K.; Shih, Chung Ming; Sinclair, Duncan W.; Spink, Donald Richard; Tung, Tommy Hak Tsun; Vizel, Saul; Yanover, David Frederick; Zavodni, Louis S.; Cusack, Paul; Dewar, Charles M.; Hooley, Peter; Kassner, Rachel Anne; Mackinnon, Randy James; Molyneaux, Harold W.; Shetty, Karunakara Naduhithlu; Barrière, Ginette; Berjat, Maria B.; Bernucci, Bruno; Bérubé, Claude; Boueau, Ghyslain; Chehayeb, Raja; Ciricillo, Domenico; Constance, Christian M.; Côté, Gilles; Desroches, Jacques; Gagnon, Robert; Gaueau, Gilles; Godbout, Jean Louis; Harvey, Pierre; Hassan, Youssef; Hoang, Ngoc Vinh; Houde, Danielle; Lalonde, Alain-Paul; Lavoie, Régis; Leclair, Normand; Meagher, Luc; Ouimet, Alain; Plourde, Simon; Rioux, Denis W.; Roberge, Claude; Roy, Bruno; Sasseville, Richard; Serfaty, Samuel; Theriault, Lyne; Timothée, Jean R.; Tjia, Sabine; Tremblay, Bruno; Turcotte, Jean; Bose, Sabyasachi; Aletta Bouwer, Hester; Chernesky, Patricia A.; Johnson, Mervin Louis; Kemp, David R.; Lai, Raymond Pong-Che; Lee, Frank R.; Lipsett, William G. C.; Lombard, Schalk J.; Majid, Falah S.; Malan, Johannes J.; Maree, Narinda; Nayar, Arun; Nel, Mandi; Oduntan, Oluwole O.; Rajakumar, Alphonsus R. J.; Baraka Ramadan, Fauzi; Shamsuzzaman, Mohammed; Vermeulen, Abraham P. M.; Fred, C.; Anthonsen, Birgitte; Ardest, Steen Pennerup; Arnold-Larsen, Susanne Kajsa; Axelsen, Allan; Barfoed, Klaus; Birkler, Niels Erik; Blokkebak, Jens; Boserup, Jørgen; Kettrup Brassøe, Jens Ole; Chovanec, Martin; Lykke Christensen, Bendt; Christensen, Micael; Skjøth Christensen, Randi; Eidner, Per Olav; Eisbo, Jørn; Elsvor, Jan; Engmann, Ida Veng-Christensen; Eriksen, Rene Milling; Frederiksen, Thorkil; Frølund, Hanne Charlotte; Garne, Susanne; Giørtz, Agnete; Gregersen, Bettina; Halkier, Merete Lundbye; Hansen, Jens Georg; Harder, Jan; Jørgen, Hans; Henriksen, O.; Kirkeby Hoffmann, Michael; Holk, Erik; Hollensen, Jan; Jacobsen, Rune; Jakobsen, Lotte; Jensen, Christian; Jensen, Morten; Jensen, Vibeke; Jepsen, Peter; Johannsen, Jens Arne; Verner Johansen, Lars; Johansen, Ole Steen; Juul, Kristian; Jørgensen, Arvid Frank; Jørgensen, Peter; Jørgensen, Ulrik Miilmann; Kensmark, Lars; Kjellerup, Carsten; Kjaer, Ejner; Kjaersgaard, Morten; Klubien, Peter; Kolby, Peter; Korsgaard Thomsen, Kristian; Krebs, Peter; Kristiansen, Tom; Lyng, Flemming; Madsen, Natalia V.; Meyer-Christensen, Jesper; Mogensen, Ole; Mortensen, Finn; Nielsen, Lotta Marie; Nielsen, Per Schiwe; Nielsen, Søren Kjærem; Ommen, Henrik; Juhl Otte, Jens; Østergaard Paridon, Volle; Parm, Michael; Peampour, Kian; Petersen, Kirsten; Pilgaard, Peder Jensen; Poulsen, Svend Erik; Preisler, Thomas; Hast Prins, Søren Ulrik; Randløv, Annette; Rasmussen, Birgit Reindahl; Elmegaard Rasmussen, Peter; Rasmussen, Regnar; Roed, Søren Flemming; Sander, Kirsten Foltmar; Schmidt, Ejnar Ørum; Jørgen Schultz, Paul; Smidemann, Margit; Solgaard, Jørgen; Stripp, Tommy; Søderlund, Michael Rene M.; Søgaard, Henning; Søndergaard, Dorte E.; Sørensen, Birgitte H.; Sørensen, Gerhard Seth; Thøgersen, Niels; Toftdahl, Hans; Uggerhøj, Hanne; Uhrenholt, Bjarne; Veronika Ullisch, Eva; Valentiner-Branth, Christian; Vinberg, Jørgen; Vinter, Svend Aage; Vittrup, Preben; Winther-Pedersen, Niels; Wøldike, Anne Grete; Zederkof, Jørgen M.; Thue Østergaard, Merete; Abiven, Patrick; Abraham, Dominique; de Beaumais, Philippe Adam; Ado, Jean Pierre; Affres, Helene; Agache, Regis; Airault Leman, Anne Marie; Moussarih, Abdallah Al; Albaric, Christian; Allaouchiche, Thierry; Allignol, Christian; Ammor, Mohammed; Ammoun Bourdelas, Corinne; Amsallem, Luc; Anquez, Denis; Antonini, Jean Michel; Assuied, Virginia; Attia, Gerard; Audebert, Olivier; Audibert, Henri; Ayach, Claude; Bagdadlian, Serge; Bagni, Marina; Baillet, Jean; Ballivian Cardozo, Fernando; Baranes, Robert; Barbier, Patricia; Barousse, Francoise; Bas, Sylvie; Battaglia, Jean Marc; Baudonnat, Bruno; Bauple, Jean Louis; Domengetroy, Frederic Baylac; Beard, Thierry; Beaumier, Eric; Beaumont, Jean Francois; Baylac Domengetroy, Frederic; Beck, Christian; Behar, Michel; Behr, Bernard; Benady, Richard; Benghanem, Mohamed Mounir; Benichou, Herve; Bensoussan, Jean Marc; Bensussan, Pierre; Bercegeay, Pascal; Berneau, Jean Baptiste; Bertolotti, Alexane; Bertrand, Sylviane; Besson, Alain; Bezanson, Christophe; Bezier, Christophe; Bezzina, Remy; Bichon, Herve; Bickar, Pierre; Billot, Pierre; Billot Belmere, Marie Claude; Bisson, Francois; Blanc, Dominique; Bloch, Jean Luc; Bloch, Bernard; Blondin, Hyacinthe; Blot, Jacques; Bloud, Raymond; Blouin, Pascal; Boesch, Christophe; Boiteux, Jean Luc; Bonnafous, Pierre; Bonneau, Yanick; Bonnefoy, Laurent; Borg, Bernard; Borys, Jean Michel; Brunehaut Petaut, Myriam; Boschmans, Sabine; Said, Rami Bou; Bouallouche, Abderrahmane; Bouchet, Jacques; Bouchlaghem, Khaled; Boulen, Yvon; Bouline, Benoit; Bounekhla, Mohamed Salah; Bouquin, Vincent; Bourgeois, Marie Brigitte; Bourgois, Didier; Brandily, Christian; Brandt, Pierre; Branquart, Frederic; Breilh, Patrick; Brilleman, Fabrice; Brisson, Thierry; Brocard, Francis; Bruel, Pierre; Brun, Jean Pierre; Buisson, Jean Gabriel; Buisson Virmoux, Isabelle; Bur, Christian; Cabal Malville, Elodie; Cabantous, Serge; Cabrol, Pierre; Cagnoli Gromovoi, Sylviane; Caillaux, Bruno Xavier; Caillot, Didier; Canchon Ottaviani, Isabelle; Canu, Philippe; Caramella, Alexana; Caramella, Alexane; Cardaillac, Christian; Carrivale, Alain; Cartal, Jean Pierre; Cassany, Bernard; Cauon, Bernard; Causeret, Jean Marie; Caye, Philippe; Cayet, Jean Paul; Cazor, Gilles; Cesarini, Joel; Chakra, Georges; Chambeau, Bernadette; Chambon, Valerie; Chanas, Jack; Chapuzot, Patrick; Charon, Ane; Charpin, Eric; Charton, Frederic; Cheikel, Jean; Chemin, Philippe; Chennouf, Kamel; Chequel, Henri; Chevrier, Denis; Ciroux, Patrick; Cissou, Yves; Claeys, Jean Luc; Clariond, Yves; Classen, Olivier; Cloerec, Ane; Clouet, Sophie; Cloup Lefeuvre, Anne Marie; Cochet, Chantal; Cocuau, Didier; Cohen, Henri; Cohen Presberg, Pascale Cohen; Colin, Stephane; Colin, Remy; Colucci, Robert; Come, Philippe; Condouret, Pierre; Conturie, Agnes; Corbin, Ane; Corticelli, Paola; Coste, Daniel; Cotrel, Olivier; Coueau, Sylvie; Coulon, Paul; Courdy, Christian; Courtin, Marc; Courtot, Pierre; Coutrey, Laurent; Couval, Rene; Cravello, Patrick; Cressey, Olivier; Cuisinier, Yves; Cunin, Bernard; Cunnington, Bernard; Cusseau, Herve; Cuvelier, Christian; Arailh, Bruno D.; Dabboura, Adib; Dages, Laurence; Dahmani, Noureddine; Dandignac, Jean Christophe; Daney, Dominique; Dannel, Bernard; Darbois, Dominique; Dareths, Philippe; Daubin, Daniel; David, Jean Claude; de Foiard, Patrick; de Mallmann Guyot, Veronique De; de Wit, Marie Astrid; Debast, Francoise; Deboute, Eric; Debuc, Jean Pierre; Dechoux, Edouard; Decloux, Olivier; Decruyenaere, Yannick; Dejans, Jacques Maurice; Delarue, Michel; Delattre, Xavier; Delmaire, Patrick; Denis, Lucien; Deschamps Ben Ayed, Myriam; Devins, Pascal; Dezou, Sylvie; Dieuzaide, Pierre; Dirheimer, Bertrand; Dominguez, Paul; Donadille, Florence; Dondain, Benoit; Doridan, Pierre; Ouhet, Pascal; Dubois, Arnaud; Dubois, Ane; Ducharme, Pascal; Duchez, Paul; Dulard, Catherine; Dumoulin, Marc; Duprey, Georges; Durand, Jacques; Mohamed, Ibrahim; Chehab, El; Emery, Bernard; Emmanuel, Georges; Ashari, Ghazaleh Esna; Evrard, Eric; Fargeot Lamy, Aleth; Farges, Jean Louis; Faucher, Patrick; Faucie, Alain; Faure, Yves; Favre, Jean Jacques; Felipe, Jean Louis; Feret, Daniel; Ferragu, Alain; Ferrandin, Gerard; Ferriot, Francois; Finelle, Laurent; Flond, Jacques; Foieri, Jean; Fol, Stephane; Fontaine, Brigitte; Forichon, Dominique; Foucry, Michel; Fournier, Jean Francois; Fregeac, Bernard; Fuchs, Martin; Gabriel, Franck; Gaimard, Didier; Gallois, Stephane; Garapon, Georges; Garas, Mamdouh; Garcia, Pierre; Garcia, Jean Michel; Garcia, Marie Pierre; Garman, Waddah; Garzuel, Dominique; Gaspard, Jean Marc; Gauci, Laurent; Gautheron, Patrick; Gauthier, Jacques; Gauthier Lafaye, Pierre Yves; Gay, Michel Charles; Gay Duc, Bernadette; Gayout, Olivier; Gegu, Yann; Gentile, Francois; Germain, Emmanuel; Gharbi, Gerard; Gigandet Tamarelle, Catherine; Gilardie, Alain; Gilles Verliat, Martine; Gillet, Thierry; Gnana, Philippe; Goguey, Alain; Gombert, Alain; Gonin, Bernard; Gonzales, Philippe; Goulesque, Xavier; Graba, Jean Marc; Granier, Alain; Greiner, Olivier; Groboz, Martial; Gromoff, Serge; Grossemy, Xavier; Grossi, Christian; Guenin, Frederic; Gueranger, Pierre; Guerin, Patrick; Guerineau, Jean Pierre; Guessous Zghal, Fathia; Guicheux, Dominique; Guillere, Jacqueline; Guyonnet, Gilles; Haddad, Samir; Hadj, Nordine; Hamani, Djamel; Hamm, Jacky; Hammoudi, Djamal; Harle, Xavier; Harnie Coussau, Pierre; Hazen, Richard; Hembert, Francois; Hemon, Pierre; Hergue, Michel; Hestin, Christian; Heyraud, Luc; Hindennach, Dieter; Hirot, Etienne; Ho Wang Yin, Chan Shing; Hocquelet Denis, Catherine; Hoppe, Patrice; Horovitz, Daniel; Hours, Jean Michel; Houta, Benjamin; Hua, Gerard; Hui Bon Hoa, Nicole; Humez, Philippe; Hurier, Michel; Husson, Gerald; Hyvernat, Guy; Ichard, Jean Francois; Impens, Claude; Iovescu, Decebal; Jacob, Philippe; Jacob, Gildas; Jacquemart, Jean Pierre; Jacquier, Philippe; Jahanshahi Honorat, Shideh; Jalladeau, Jean Francois; Jan, Luc; Jannel, Yves; Jarrige, Vincent; Jeremiasz, Richard; Annick Jestin Depond, Marie; Joseph, Michel; Joseph Henri Fargue, Helene; Joubrel, Alain; Jouet, Alain; Julien, Bruno; Jullien, Francois; Jullien, Jean Louis; Kadoche, David; Kahl, Etienne; Kanawati, Aiman; Khalife, Sami; Khettou, Christophe; Kiers, Jean Paul; Kissel, Christian; Klein, Jean Claude; Klopfenstein, Samuel; Koch, Alexis; Koenig, Georges; Kohler, Philippe; Koriche, Abdelmalek; Labernardiere, Nicole; Labet, Philippe; Lablanche, Fabien; Laborde Laulhe, Vincent; Lagorce, Xavier; Laine, Eric; Lalague, Pascal; Laleu, Jean Noel; Lambert, Michel; Lambert Ledain, Mireille Lambert; Lambertyn, Xavier; Lame, Jean Francois; Langlois, Frederic; Lanoix, Eric; Laprade, Michel; Lasseri, Charaf; Laterrade, Bernard; Laurent, Jean Claude; Laurier, Bernard; Laval, Laurent; Le Borgne, Patrick; Le Franc, Pierre; Le Henaff, Patrick; Le Noir de Carlan, Herve; Le Roy, Jean Pierre; Le Roy Hennion, Florence; Lebon, Louis; Lecler, Olivier; Leclerc, Philippe; Ledieu, Christian; Lefebvre, Bernard; Lefevre, Philippe; Lehujeur, Catherine; Leiber, Christian; Leick, Gerard; Lemberthe, Thierry; Lenevez, Norbert; Lenoble, Patrick; Leriche, Philippe; Leroux, Eric; Leroy, Jean Michel; Leroy, Christian; Lescaillez, Dominique; Leurele, Christian; Lhermann, Sophie; Libermann, Pierre; Licari, Gilbert; Lo Re, Antoine; Long, Philippe; Long, Jean Louis; Lormeau, Boris; Louchart, Jean Christophe; Lucas, Jean Pierre; Luquet, Thierry; Lussato, Philippe; Maarouf, Moustapha; Mabilais, Francois; Magnier Sinclair, Christine; Mahot Moreau, Pascale; Malafosse, Denis; Mandirac, Jean Paul; Manolis, Jerome; Mante, Jean Pierre; Maquaire, Claude; Marchal, Thierry; Marchand, Guillaume; Marillesse, Olivier; Marmier, Gabriel; Herve Maron, Yves; Marrachelli, Nadine; Marsaux, Michel; Martin, Bruno; Martin, Michel; Deiss, Pascale Martin; Masson, Arnaud; Mativa, Bruno; Matton, Jean Francois; Mauffrey, Jean; Mauriere, Serge; Maurois, Georges; Maury, Joceline; Mayer, Frederic; Menu, Pierre; Mercier, Bernard; Messmer, Daniel; Mestiri, Sami; Meyer, Gilles; Michaelides, Michael; Michaud, Gilles; Michenaud, Bernard; Mielot, Stephane; Millory Marco, Jerry Anne; Mingam, Stephane; Mira, Reginald; Mius, Stephane; Monnier Meteau, Marie Paule; Mora, Francis; Morbois Trabut, Louise; Morosi, Laurent; Mougeolle, Jean Luc; Mouget, Jean Louis; Mouroux, Daniel; Mouthon, Jean Marie; Muller, Jacques; Nakache, Ane; Narbonne, Herve; Navarranne Roumec, Anne; Navarro, Pierre; Neubrand, Jean Yves; Nguyen, Quang Thieu; Nguyen Quang, Guy; Nguyen Xuan, Thong; Niot, Patrice; Oudart, Jean Maurice; Outteryck, Alain; Pages, Jean Marie; Paillet, Charles; Pain, Jean Marie; Pangaud de Gouville, Patricia; Paquin, Olivier; Parent, Vincent; Parer Richard, Claire; Parrot, Francine; Parthenay, Pascal; Pascariello, Jean Claude; Passebon, Jean Claude; Pere, Alain; Perelstein, Laurent; Perot, Michel; Petit, Richard; Petit, Philippe; Petit, Francois; Petruzzi, Philippe; Phelipeau, Denis; Philippon, Jean Claude; Philippon, Gilles; Picard, Bruno; Picard, Jean Claude; Picot, Bernard; Piera, Jean Francois; Pieri, Alain; Piffoux, Eric; Pilard, Patrick; Pillet, Alain; Pinot, Philippe; Pinzani, Alain; Pleskof, Alain; Plessier, Jean Claude; Plisson, Alain; Pochon, Claude; Poggi, Valerie; Poirat, Alain; Poiree, Maurice; Polleux, Janick; Noel Pontecaille, Jean; Posocco, Regis; Pospiech, Jean Claude; Pradies, Felix; Prevot, Remi; Pueyo, Jean Bernard; Quaelli, Jacques; Rabbia, Michel; Rabemananjara, Aimery; Rami, Saad; Rapin, Jean Jacques; Rasquin, Corinne; Ratinaud, Didier; Reboud, Bruno; Reboul, Philippe; Reichman, Jean Jacques; Reinhardt, Patrick; Renard Houta, Catherine Renard; Reverdy, Olivier; Revol, Michel; Rey, Pierre Alain; Richardeau, Yves; Rives, Bernard; Robida, Christine; Rochez Fraiberg, Muriel; Rodet, Jean Pierre; Rolland, Jean Francois; Romand, Bruno; Romano, Jean Paul; Rosati Gretere, Chantal; Rosey, Alain; Rosset, Martial; Rossi, Jean Pierre; Rouquette, Georges; Rousseau, Michel; Rousselon, Xavier; Roy, Christophe; Royer, Denis; Ruetsch, Marcel; Saade, Maurice; Saby Kuchler, Nicolas; Samar, Guy; Sanchez, Pierre Yves; Sane, Alain; Sanz, Jean Paul; Sardon, Michel; Sarrazin, Marc Eric; Sasportes, Gilbert; Saudou, Francis; Sauze, Elisabeth; Savary, Pascal; Schenowitz, Alain; Schmartz, Pierre; Schoepfer, Marc Olivier; Seewagen, Jacques; Serramoune, Denis; Serre, Christian; Sicard Guroo, Helene; Sichãc, Jean Philippe; Sifaoui, Sylvain; Simoncello, Marc; Simonin, Marie Jeanne; Simonnet, Jean Francois; Spindler, Didier; Steier, Alain; Sultan, Charles Raphael; Taghipour, Kouroch; Talayrach, Bruno; Talbot, Francois; Talhouarn, Vanessa; Tallec, Yves; Tarasco Schenrey, Elisabeth; Tarrene, Michel; Tater, Dominique; Tessier, Bernard; Teste, Marie; Thierry, Dominique; Thiollier, Patrice; Thoreau, Frederic; Thual, Jean; Traen, Vincent; Trigano, Jacques Alexane; Troussier, Jean Bernard; Truong Ky Minh, Bernard; van Melckebeke, Gerard; Vaque, Philippe; Vaucelle, Celine; Vedel, Eric; Venu, Didier; Verdavoine, Patrick; Vergeron, Jean; Viallon, Philippe; Viault, Dominique; Vieules, Jean Max; Vigier, Jean Paul; Vilain, Jean Marie; Villard, Bruno; Vitoux, Jean Francois; Viviand, Paul; Vivien, Olivier; Walter, Patrice; Waquier, Patrick; Waszkiewicz, Jean Marc; Weidich, Stephane; Westerfeld, Raymond; Weynachter, Gerald; Wilhelm, Pierre; Wolff, Claude; Wursthorn, Marc; Zammattio, Didier; Zylinski, Bernard; Lauer, Peter; Kühn, Uwe; Weltzel, Wolfgang; Mohr, Hella; Weyland, Klaus; Spittel, Bärbel; Böhm, Günter; Ferdowsy, Said; Hanusch, Peter; Spiekermann, Josef; Albert, Edwin; Stuff, Karl; Jungmair, Wolfgang; Koller, Sabine; Schubert, Wilhelm; Schlehahn, Fred; Bormann, Gundula; Graf, Kristof; Stiehler, Gisela; Bock, Manfred; Müller, Angelika; Haufe, Michael; Nielsen, Lorenz; Raum, Doris; Rogler, Karin; Bürstner, Joachim; Völk, Hans-Jörg; Sachse, Michael; Escher, Torsten; Doumit, Adel; O'dey, Hildegard; Holzmann, Ulrike; Sauer, Hermann; Schellenberg, Gottfried; Carius, Jürgen; Dänschel, Wilfried; Kopf, Aneas; Zerr, Elena; Tatalovic, Ratko; Rupp, Heiun; Anders, Elfriede; Mende, Marion; Volk, Ulrich; Hagenow, Aneas; Lang, Thomas; Schmitz, Karl-Heinz; Gössling, Jan-Henik; Mutsch, Günther; Steidel, Joachim; Osten, Klaus; Giokoglu, Kiriakos; Bellisch, Sabine; Füll, Katja; Walther, Wolfgang; Flick, Sabine; Dünnebier, Rosemarie; Dharmawan, Ichsan; Schönmehl, Wolfgang; Hoss, Valentin; Kipping, Stephan; Wolf, Hans-Joachim; Wolf, Hans-Frieich; Willmann, Volker; Bugarski, Bruno; Hoffschröer, Josef; Von Wallfeld, Siegrun; Ruhland, Guun; Bulling, Daniel; Häusler, Maren; Haustein, Gabriele; Kallenbach, Cornelia; Schwemmler, Claudia; Frank, Antje; Lodder-Bender, Ulrike; Rawe, Klaus; Reinert, Hans-Ferdinand; Schönhof, Petra; Fahrenschon, Klaus; Schorcht, Elisabeth; Etzold, Erika; Brehm, Michael; Paust, Wolf-Dieter; Schulte-Kemna, Achim; Pötter, Klaus-Werner; Ott-Voigtländer, Ulrike; Schwenke, Reto; Thinesse-Mallwitz, Manuela; Siml, Steffi; Stern, Hirene; Roelen, Harald; Scherhag, Klaus-Peter; Matulla, Petra; Herrmann, Hans Joachim; Neumann, Gerhard; Barbuia, Marius; Vormann, Reinhold; Hitzler, Karl; Linum, Aneas; Hanke, Klaus; Hohberg, Hans-Joachim; Klingel, Roger; Hohnstädter, Rainer; Klasen, Hartmut; Aschermann, Peter; Grau, Wilfried; Killinger, Paul; Gross, Kathrin; Naus, Rainer; Todoroff, Karin; Zühlke, Wolfgang; Kellner, Hanns-Ulrich; Hager, Eva; Thieme, Jochen; Kornitzky, Michael; Rösch, Volker; Heinze, Elke; Hiederer, Wolfgang; Konz, Karl-Heinz; Köhler, Michael; Diekmann, Martin; Junghans, Edith; Dietermann, Friedgard; Kerp, Ekkehard; Schäfer-Lehnhausen, Silvia; Kruck, Irmtraut; Ettelt, Rolf; Hölscher, Aneas; Kittler, Sybil; Jung, Heiun; Mailänder, Albert; Nowara, Peter; Ritschl, Harald; Mödl, Bernhard; Gallwitz, Torsten; Meyer, Stephan; Peter, Anton; Peters, Otto; Pflaum, Petra; Fröhlich, Karl-Heinz; Mertens, Hans-Jürgen; Merlin-Sprünken, Verena; Erpenbach, Klaus; Fervers, Frank; Kuhl, Ulrike; Halsig, Friedemann; Rein, Wilfried; Hauser, Ernst-Richard; Laubenthal, Florin; Richard, Frank; Langer, Claus; Lange, Rainer; Eska, Jan; Mohanty, George; Lange, Isengard; Eltges, Nicole; Kuntz, Christoph; Mechery, Thomas; Vöckl, Josef; Viergutz, Christoph; Stähle-Klose, Claudia; Sohr, Katja; Böhler, Steffen; Brecke, Georg; Burls, Malcolm; Werner, Karl-Michael; Vorpahl, Ralf; Stahl-Weigert, Beate; Bunge, Gerd; Thomsen, Jutta; Blessing, Erwin; Bengel, Bengel; Buhlmann, Ulla; Tröger, Tröger; Sippel, Sippel; Vossschulte, Vossschulte; Wilms, Wilms; Appelt, Appelt; Dauterstedt, Dauterstedt; Witte, Witte; Böttger, Uta; Wyborski, Waltraud; Strache, Sabine; Böttger, Werner; Zeiner, Luise; Wuttke, Wanda; Stoidner- Amann, Annette; Stoermer, Brigitte; Bock, Stephan; Groos-März, Cornelia; Thamm, Maria-Elisabeth; Meier, Josef; Schneider, Martin; Niessen, Ulrich; Storm, Gernot-Rainer; Streitbürger, Elmar; Münkel, Thomas; Palfi, Mihai; Naumann, Ulrich; Tannhof, Gabriele; Streibhardt, Frank; Gebhardt, Wolfgang; Nieswandt, Gerhard; Gerke, Ulrich; Nöhring, Axel; Bott, Jochen; Goertz, Jutta; Winkler, Dietmar; Lotter, Edith; Kraaz, Katja; Bärwinkel, Petra; Hildebrandt, Diana; Weyers, Georg; Kubin-Siring, Birgit; Baier, Eduard; Weber, Thomas; Holz, Dirk-Egbert; Wolfers, Johannes; Kihm, Wolfgang; Kamali-Ernst, Schirin; Amann, Wolfgang; Kaase, Hans-Jürgen; Banning, Ottmar; Voigt, Thomas; Grünert, Frank; Gürtler, Michael; Pferdmenges, Karin; van Treek, Heiko; Möller, Bernd; Weigel, Sybille; Jun Hassler, Normann; Mauer, Helmuth; Beckers, Erwin; Weber, Clemens-August; Hawash, Hana; Ladke, Dietrich; Labitzky, Gerlinde; Kunkel, Petra; Hartung, Wolfgang; Pomykaj, Thomas; Prokop, Heiun; Schleif, Thomas; Cascino, Luisa; Exner, Petra; Daelman, Eric; Dietrich, Aneas; Prasse, Thomas; Brundisch, Stefanie; Schipper, Ralf; Duderstaedt, Bernd; de Haan, Fokko; Schmidt-Reinwald, Astrid; Seidel, Peter; Schmitz, Joachim; Bülent, Ergec; Ja Pique, Pyoong; Ding, Roland; Eggeling, Thomas; Duderstaedt, Elvira; Ferchland, Hans-Peter; Kruth, Renate; Gralla, Dieter; Köhler, Angelika; Laborge, Joachim Rene; Hammer, Harald; Richter, Ilona; Sauldie, Happy; Valk-Denkema, Inge Van Der; van der Valk, Leo; Feely, John; Dunne, Liam; Cox, John; Doyle, Michael; O'Gorman, Mary; Kennedy, John; Maher, Brian; Forde, Derek; Harrington, Peter; Cronin, Brian; Coady, Anew; Craig, John; O'Dowd, Caroline; O'Doherty, Brian; O'Connor, Patrick; Ling, Roland; Perry, Majella; Crowley, James; Keaveney, Lynda; Townley, Eadaoin; O'Shea, Eamonn; Regan, Michael; Cunningham, Seamus; Bluett, Desmond; Whyte, Oliver; Casey, Michael; Ruane, Fergal; Fitzgerald, Eleanor; O'Beirn, Eugene; Faller, Eamonn; Moffatt, Sean; Coleman, Michael; Day, Brendan; Mcadam, Brendan; O'Neill, Daragh; Mac Mahon, Conor; Wheeler, Mark; Byrne, Sheila; Fulcher, Kieran; CAREY, Owen; O'Connell, Kieran; Keane, Jack; Almarsomi, Laith; Vaughan, Carl; O'Callaghan, Tom; Grufferty, Tadgh; Shanahan, Eamon; Crowley, Brendan; Moran, Joe; Cotter, Jeremy; Healy, Colin; Curtin, Tom; Dillon, Joe; Dennehy, Thomas; Murphy, Elaine; Kennedy, Michael; Coffey, Donal; Carroll, Paul O.; Oliver, Barry; Mccarthy, Shane; Joyce, Peter; O'Shea, Gerard; Apperloo, A. J.; Basart, D. C. G.; Bax, M.; Beysens, P. A. J.; Breed, J. G. S.; Derks, A.; Eijgenraam, J. W.; Hermann, J. P. R.; Janus, C. L.; Kaasjager, H. A. H.; Klomps, H. C.; Koole, M. A. C.; Koster, T.; Kroon, C.; Lieverse, A. G.; Massaar-Hagen, B. E. M.; Moghaddam, F.; Oldenburg-Ligtenberg, P. C.; Potter van Loon, B. J.; Stroes, E. S. G.; Twickler, Th B.; van Asperdt, F. G. M. H.; van Asseldonk, J. P. M.; van der Loos, T. L. J. M.; van der Velde, R. Y.; van der Vring, J. A. F.; van Dorp, W. T.; van Essen, G. G.; van Kalmthout, P. M.; van Liebergen, R. A. M.; van Wissem, S.; Waanders, H.; Withagen, A. J. A. M.; Andersen, Per Vidar Klemet; Andersen, Randi F.; Andersson, Egil; Arnstad, Asle; Belguendouz, Larbi; Birkeland, Inge Arve; Bjørkum, Kari; Bredvold, Thor; Brevig, Leif Harald; Buchman, Erik; Burkeland-Matre, Rune; Burski, Krzysztoft; Byre, Roald; Bø, Per Erik; Dahl, Erik; Duch, Anna; Duong, Khoa; Dvergsdal, Peter; Edvardsen, Magne; Ernø, Asbjørn; Fredwall, Svein Otto; Glasø, Morten; Glasø, Jan; Grini, Asbjørn; Hallaråker, Arne; Normann Hansen, Age Normann; Haugland, Helge Haugland; Henrichsen, Svein Høegh; Hestnes, Atle; Idehen, Norman I. E.; Jacobsen, Kristin Løland; Johansen, Ture; Johnsen, Roald; Jonasmo, Kåre; Kirknes, Svetalana; Kjetså, Arild; Kjaer, Peter; Knoph, Erik; Knutssøn, Carl; Koss, Arne; Kravtchenko, Oleg; Krogsæter, Dagfinn; Langaker, Kåre; Lind, Knut W.; Lund, Kjell Rømyhr; Madsbu, Sverre; Mehlum, Yvonne E. Mazurek; Moon, Philipp; Movafagh, Aram; Myhrer, Kurt; Nørager, Dan Michael; Ore, Stephan; Rafat, Hooshang B.; Rød, Reinert; Schmidt-Melbye, Torgeir; Singh, Navneet; Singsås, Tore; Skjelvan, Gunnar; Smet, Arthur; Staalesen, Staale; Storeheier, Espen; Storhaug, Sidsel; Storm-Larsen, Ane; Sundby, Jon Eivind; Syverstad, Dag Eivind; Sørensen, Anne Sissel; Torjusen, Trygve B.; Torkelsen, Arne; Tunby, Jan Reidar; Vanberg, Pål Johan; Vevatne, Audun; Vikse, Arild; Wahlstrøm, Viktor; Walaas, Kirsten; Walløe, Arne Eyolf; Wear-Hansen, Hans-Gunnar; Ole Ystgaard, Ole Aneas; Zimmermann, Birgit; Øvsthus, Knut; Aião, Julio; Albuquerque, Mario; Alves, Fernando; Esteves, Antonio; Amaral, Maria Fatima; Amaral, Fátima; Amorim, Helena; Anade, Benilde; Anade, Maria Benilde; Antonio, Godinho; Araujo, Francisco; Arriaga, Antonio; Baeta, Sonia; Afonso, Francisca Banha; Beato, Vitor; Beirão, Paula; Martins, Ausenda Belo; Bernardes, Jose; Botas, Luis; Baeta, Antonio; Ramos, Manuel Braga; Brandão, Peo; Brandão, Antonio G.; Brandão, Antonio; Raposo, Antonio Caetano; Carrilho, Francisco; Carvalho, Isabel; Carvalho, Patricia; Castel-Branco, Ana; Castellano, Maria Desamparados; Corredoura, Ana; Corredoura, Ana Sofia; Costa, Vitor; Coutinho, João; Crujo, Francisco; Cunha, Damião; Dias, Manuela; Fernandes, Maria Emilia; Ferreira, Gustavo; Ferreira, Dirce; Ferreira, Jorge; Ferreira, Antonio M.; Fonseca, Antonio; Freitas, Paula; Gago, Amandio; Galego, Rosa; Garrett, Antonio Viriato; Gavina, Cristina; Simões, José Geraldes; Gomes, Maria Fatima; Gomes, Norberto; Gomez, Brigitte; Graça, Peo; Gravato, Antonio; Guedes, Nuno Filipe; Guerra, Fernanda; Issa, Custódio; João, Isabel Fernandes; João, Isabel; Jorge, Vasco; Leite, Maria Salome; Lousada, Nuno; Macedo, Filipe M.; Madeira Lopes, João; Magalhães, Jorge; Marinho, Jose Carlos; Marques, Carlos; Marques, Jose Augusto; Marques Ferreira, Antonio; Martins, Jose Carlos; Martins, J. Belo; Matos, Alice; Melo, Miguel; Miguel, Antonia; Monteiro, Filomena; Monteiro, Francisco; Monteiro, Filomena B.; Sarmento, João Morais; Morato Sá, Maria José; Mota, Joana; Moura, Luis; Moura, Brenda; Neves, Lena; Neves, Celestino; Oliveira, Maria; Oliveira Ramos, Manuel; Osorio, Ramos; Pacheco, Joao; Palma, Isabel; Peixoto, Maria Cristina; Pereira, Helder; Pestana, João; Pignatelli, Duarte; Pinho, Hernani; Puig, Jorge; Raindo, Maria; Ramos, Helena; Rebelo, Marta; Roigues, Antonio; Roigues, Alvaro; Roigues, Elisabete; Rola, José; Rovytchcva, Milena; Sa, João; Santos, Fernando; Santos, João Cesar; Sequeira Duarte, Joao; Serra E Silva, Polybio; Silva, Bernardino; Silva, Paula; Silva, Maria; Silva, Francisco; Silva, Dora; Silva, José; Silvestre, Isabel; Simões, Heleno; Soares, Manuela; Sousa, Nelson; Sousa, Antonio; Souto, Delfina; Teixeira, Esmeralda; Torres, Isabel; Valle, Tahydi; Ventura, Carlos; Vicente, Ana; Vieira, Muriel; Alfaro, Rafael; Alonso, Roigo; Alvarez, Juan Carlos; Allut, Germán; Amado, Jose A.; Ampuero, Javier; Angel, Luis Fernando; Antolín, Eduardo; Anton, Javier; Aranda, Jose Luis; Argimon, Jordi; Arques, Francesc; Arribas, Jose Peo; Arroya, Concepción; Arroyo, Jose Antonio; Auladell, Maria Antonia; Bajo, Julian; BALVIN, Alberto; Ballester, Jose Vicente; Barreda Glez, Maria Jesus; Becerra, Antonio; Bermejo, Juan Carlos; Bernacer, Luis; Besada, Ricardo; Blasco, Jesús; Bravo, Manuel; Bueno, Francisco Manuel; Campo, Ignacio; Carrasco, Jose Luis; Catalán, José Ignacio; Cobo, Jose; Coello, Ignacio; Combarro, Jesús; Contreras, Juan A.; Correa, Julian; Cortilla, Alberto; Cuatrecasas, Guillem; Chicharro, Sana; de Dios, Juan; de Los Arcos, Enrique; de Portugal, Jose; del Cañizo, Francisco; del Molino, Fatima; Díaz, Jose Luis; Domingo, Javier; Escobar, Carlos; Escoda, Jaume; Espinosa, Eugenio; Ester, Francisco; Fernandez, Antonio; Ferreiro, Manuel; Fondas, Jose Maria; Fraile, Angel Luis; Franco, Miguel; Fuentes, Francisco; Garcia, Jose Antonio; Garcia, Domingo; Garcia, Manuel Enrique; García, Luis; Garcia, Jesus; Gilabert, Rosa; Goiria, Begoña; Gomez, Purificación; Gomez-Calcerrada, David; Gonzalez, Manuel; Gonzalez, Jose Manuel; Guijarro, Carlos; Guirao Gujarro, Victor; Herrera, Carlos; Herrera, Maria Carmen; Herrero, Miguel; Ibarguren, Amaya; Irigoyen, Luis; Jimenez, Blas; Lamelas, Jose Antonio; Laplaza, Ismael; Laporta, Felix; Lazo, Victor; Leal, Mariano; Ledesma, Vicente; Lopez, Peo; Lopez, Pablo; Lopez, Alberto; López, Maria Jose; Lopez-Cepero, Eduardo; Lorenzo, Francisco; Lucena, Javier; Luquín, Rafael; Lloveras, Ariadna; Maceda, Teresa; Macia, Ramon; Marti, Cristina; Martin, Jose Maria; Martin, Isodoro; Martín Lesende, Iñaki; Martinez, Mercedes; Martinez, Juan Alberto; Martinez, Peo; Martinez, Angel; Mato, Fernando; Medel, Federico; Mederos, Ana Maria; Mediavilla, Javier; Mediavilla, Gregorio; Mestron, Antonio; Michans, Antonio; Millán, Jesús; Molina, Carlos; Monroy, Carmelo; Monte, Inés; Montes, Jose Maria; Morales, Clotilde; Morales, Francisco J.; Morata, Carmen; Mori, Carlos; Muñoz, Jaime; Muñoz, Maria Jose; Núnez, Julio; Nuñez, Alfonso; Ocaña, Fermin; Olaz, Fernando; Ollero Artigas, Anes; Ortega, Juan; Oteo, Olga; Pascual, Jose Maria; Paya, Jose Antonio; Pechuan, Joaquín; Penedo Suarez, Ramón; Perez, Eugenia; Pesquera, Carlos; Pia, Gonzalo; Piea, Maria; Pinilla, Martin; Pita, Alejano; Pose, Antonio; Prieto Díaz, Miguel Angel; Quesada, Carmen; Ramirez, Francisco; Ramirez, Carmen; Ramirez, Luisa; Reinares, Leonardo; Rey, Salvador; Ribas, Montse; Ridaura, Amparo; Ridocci, Francisco; Rigueiro, Peo; Rivera, Salomón; Robles, Antonio; Rodero, Estrella; Roiguez, Jose Angel; Romero, Fernando; Romero Hernandez, Franklin; Romeu, Regina; Rubio Buisán, Lorenzo; Salas, Fernando; Sánchez, Carlos; Sánchez, Jesus; Saponi, Jose Maria; Serres, Miguel; Suarez, Saturnino; Suarez, Carmen; Tato, Maria; Tebar, Francisco Javier; Toda, Maria Roca; Tofe, Santiago; Urdiain, Raquel; Vaamonde, Leopoldo; Valderrama, Javier; Vazquez, Jose Antonio; Velazquez, Osvaldo; Venell, Federico; Vilariño, Ruben; Villa, Maria Jesus; Villar, Maria Dolores; Zarauza, Jesus; Zuñiga, Manuel; Abab, Jose Luis; Abad, Eduardo; Abad, Rafael; Afonso, Carmen; Aguilar, Gerardo; Alberiche, Maria Del Pino; Alcolea, Rosa; Alegria, Eduardo; Almagro, Fátima; Almenara, Africa; Almenos, Maria Cruz; Alonso, Javier; Alvarez, Manuel; Ampudia, Javier; Andia, Victor Manuel; Anglada, Jordi; Aranda, Miguel Ángel; Arbelo, Lorenzo; Armengol, Francesc; Arnau, Asunción; Arrarte, Vicente; Arribas, Bienvenido; Artiñano, Yolanda; Avilés, Benjamín; Ayensa, Javier; Ballestar, Enric; Ballester, Javier; Barcelo, Bartolome; Barcena, Felix; Barranco, Mercedes; Barrena, Isabel; Barriales, Vicente; Barrot, Joan; Bartolome, Jose A.; Belmonte, Joan; Bellés, Amadeo; Benito, Josefina; Bernad, Antonio; Biendicho, Armando; Blanco, Rubén; Boix, Evangelina; Bonora, Carlos; Boxó, Jose Ramon; Brea, Angel; Caballero, Peo; Cabrera, Peo; Cabrero, Juan Jose; Calduch, Lourdes; Calero, Francisco; Calvo Garcia, Jose Javier; Camacho, Jose; Canales, Juan Jose; Caparros, Jorge; Carbonell, Francisco; Caro, Manuel; Castilla, Miguel Angel; Castillo, Luis; Cepero, Daniel; Cerdan, Miguel; Cimbora, Antonio; Civera, Miguel; Colchero, Justo; Comas Fuentes, Angel; Corpas, Clara; Corrales, Juan Antonio; Cotobal, Eusebio; Cruz, Carmen; Cruz, Inmaculada; de La Flor, Manuel D.; de Luis, Alberto; del Alamo, Alberto; del Rosario, Victor; Diego, Carlos; D'Lacoste, Marta; Doganis Peppas, Constantino; Dominguez, Jose Ramon; Durá, Francisco Javier; Durand, Jose L.; Ena, Javier; Encinas, Ana Rosa; Erdozain, Juan Peo; Escribano, Jose; Escriva, Blanca; Esteve, Eduardo; Facila, Lorenzo; Fenoll, Federico; Fernandez, Eugenio; Fernandez, Celia; Fernandez, Maria Jesus; Fernandez, Antonia; Fernandez, Jacinto; Fernandez, Severo; Fernandez, Jose Manuel; Fernandez, Jose Manuel Fernandez; Ferrer, Juan Carlos; Ferrer, Peo; Ferrer Bascuñana, Peo; Fierro, Maria Jose; Flores, Julio; Fuentes, Fernando; Fuertes, Jorge; Galgo, Alberto; Galvez, Angel; Gallego, Anea; Garcia, Maria Angeles; Garcia, Jose; Garcia, Maria Luisa; Garcia, Peo; Garcia, Javier; García, Francisco; Garrido, Nícolas Garrido; Gil, Manuel Gil; Ginés Gascón, Ramón; Godoy, Diego; Gomez, Carlos Manuel; Gonzalez, Miguel; Gonzalez, Rosa; Gonzalez, Rocío; Gonzalez, Enrique; Gonzalez, Juan Jose; Gonzalez, Joaquin; Gonzalez Huambos, Adan; Guerrero, Jordi; Guillen, Rosario; Guirao, Lorenzo; Gutierrez, Fernando; Gutierrez, Diego; Hernandez, Alberto; Hernandez, Antonio; Hernandis, Vicenta; Herrero, Jose Vicente; Herreros, Benjamin; Hevia Roiguez, Eduardo; Horgue, Antonio; Illan, Fatima; Inigo, Pilar; Ibrahim Jaber, Ali; Jimenez, Manuel; Jornet, Agusti; Juanola, Ester; Laguna, Alfonso; Latorre, Juan; Lebron, Jose Antonio; Lecube, Albert; Ledesma, Claudio; Ligorria, Cristina; Lima, Joan; López, Jose Enrique; Lopez, Manuel; López, José Antonio; López, Jaime; López, Isio; Lozano, Jose Vicente; Mangas, Miguel Angel; Mangas, Alipio; Manzano, Antonio; Maraver, Juan; Marco, Maria Dolores; Marchán, Enrique; Marchante, Francisco; Marin, Fernando; Marreo, Josefa Esther; Martin, Manuel; Martin, Alberto; Martin, Francisco Javier; Martinez, Antonio; Martinez, Guillermo; Martínez, Luis; Martinez Barselo, Antonio Pablo; Mas, Emili; Mascareño, Isabel; Mascarós, Enrique; Massa, Rita; Mazón, Pilar; Mediavilla, Juan Diego; Mena, Candido; Mendez, Jose; Mendez, Jose Maria; Mezquita Raya, Peo; Millan, Jose Maria; Millaruelo, Jose; Minguela, Ester; Miret, Pere; Molina, Mariano; Molina, Carmen; Montagud, Blanca; Montalban, Coral; Montiel, Angel; Montoro, Javier; Monze, Bernardo; Moreno, Francisco Luis; Morillas, Antonio; Moro, Jose Antonio; Moya, Ana; Muñiz, Ovidio; Muñoz, Manuel; Navarro, Vicente Luis; Nerin, Jesus; Nicolas, Ricardo; Nogueiras, Concepción; Ojeda, Benito; Olmerilla, Javier; Oller, Guillermo; Ortega, Antonio; Ortega, Manuel; Ortega, Miguel; Ortiz, Maria Jose; Otegui Alarduya, Luis; Palet, Jordi; Palomo, Jesus; Paytubí, Carlos; Peiro, Rafael; Pelaez, Carmen; Peña, Peo; Peñafiel, Javier; Perez, Antonia; Perez, Elvira; Perez, Tomas; Peso, Miguel; Pilar, Juan Manuel; Piñeiro, Carlos; Plaza, Jose Antonio; Polo, Noelia; Portal, Maria; Prieto, Jesus; Prieto, Luis; Prieto Novo, Manuel; Puñal, Peo; Quesada, Miguel; Quindimil, Jose Antonio; Rabade, Jose Manuel; Ramila Beraza, Luis Antonio; Ramirez, José Manuel; Ramos, Jose Antonio; Ramos, Francisco; Rayo, Manuel; Reixa Vizoso, Sol; Reyes, Antonio; Rico, Miguel Angel; Ripoll, Tomas; Rivera, Antonio; Robres, Mariano; Rodilla, Enrique; Roiguez, Miguel Angel; Roiguez, Zoilo Jesus; Roiguez, Carlos; Roiguez, Pilar; Roiguez, Melchor; Roiguez, Alfonso; Rojas, Domingo; Rosell, Luis; Rossignoli, Carlos; Rueda, Antonio; Rueda, Eloy; Ruix, Anes; Ruiz, Jose Antonio; Ruiz, Luis; Saban, Jose; Saez, Francisco Jose; Salleras, Narcis; Sánchez, Gerardo; Sanchez, Gloria; Sanchez, Angel; Sanfeliu, Josep Maria; Sangros Gonzalez, Javier; Santos, Francisco; Santus, Eufrosina; Sebastian, Alfredo; Seguro, Maria Eugenia; Selles, David; Serrano, Daniel; Serrano, Soledad; Serrano, Adalberto; Sestorain, Francisco; Solbes, Ruben; Soriano, Cristina; Suárez, Héctor; Surroca, Maria Luisa; Tarabini, Ada; Tarraga, Peo; Teixido, Eulalia; Terron, Raquel; Torres, Antonio; Tortosa, Jose Maria; Tortosa, Frederic; Valdés, Carmen; Valdés, Peo; Valiente, Jose Ignacio; Varo, Antonio; Vazquez, Enrique; Vázquez, Luis; Vela Ruiz de Morales, Jose Manuel; Vericat, Antonio; Vicioso, Peo; Vilaplana, Carlos; Villazón, Francisco; Lidia Viñas, Lidia Viñas; Zuagoitia, Jose Felix; Nörgaard, Faris; Dziamski, Ryszard; Haglund, Lars; Holm, Daniela; Sars, Mikael; Jagunic, Ivica; Östgård, Per; Kumlin, Lars; Jacobsson, Michael; Hamad, Yousef; Jäger, Wanje; Särhammar, Lars; Olsson, Anders; Boldt-Christmas, Antonina; Nyborg, Karin; Kjellström, Thomas; Ghazal, Faris; Wikström, Lene; Holby, Torulf; Bhiladvala, Pallonji; Kynde, Sara Maria; Eizyk, Enrique Julio; Tengblad, Anders; Christoffersson, Ole; Sjöström, Astrid; Kynde, Christian; Katzman, Per; Tenhunen, Anita; Lennermo, Klas; Lindholm, Carl-Johan; Löndahl, Magnus; Elfstrand, Aino; Grönlund-Brown, Inger; Ziedén, Bo; Minnhagen, Karin; Lindvall, Peter; Fant, Kristina; Kaczynski, Jacek; Wallmark, Anders; Wallén, Carl-Erik; Wallberg, Håkan; Grönquist, Lennart; Hansen, John Albert; Björkander, Inge; Timberg, Ingar; Rosenqvist, Ulf; Fries, Robert; Carlsson, Jan-Erik; Rautio, Aslak Tauno; Sjöberg, Lennart; Wirdby, Alexander; Höök, Peter; Larsson, Åsa; Bergström, Catharina Lysell; Jwayed, Addnan; Smolowicz, Adam; Lindman, Anne-Christine; Nilsson, Per; Tarrach, Gerrit; Carlsson, Ingolf; Wieloch, Mattias; Rindevall, Peter; Strömblad, Gunnar; Holmberg, Göran; Shahnazarian, Henrik; Melchior, Jan; Younan, Kamal; Hansson, Anders; Bjurklint, Dag; Borgencrantz, Bertil; Sjöström, Malin; Mullaart, Mikael; Munoz, Marjatta; Jakkola, Vallentina; Romot, Jaan; Dash, Rabinarayan; Magnusson, Jan-Olof; Ahmed, Saman; Jonsson, Christina; Pipkorn, Owe; Bray, Edward; Wolff, Aneas; Black, Iain; Head, Christopher; Allan, Anthony

    2011-01-01

    To assess the prevalence of persistent lipid abnormalities in statin-treated patients with diabetes with and without the metabolic syndrome. This was a cross-sectional study of 22,063 statin-treated outpatients consecutively recruited by clinicians in Canada and 11 European countries. Patient

  15. Alterations in myocardial free fatty acid clearance precede mechanical abnormalities in canine tachycardia-induced heart failure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freeman, G L; Colston, J T; Miller, D D

    1994-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether abnormalities of free fatty acid metabolism are present before the onset of overt mechanical dysfunction in dogs with tachycardia-induced heart failure. We studied six dogs chronically instrumented to allow assessment of left ventricular function in the pressure-volume plane. Free fatty acid clearance was assessed according to the washout rate of a free fatty acid analog, iodophenylpentadecanoic acid ([123I]PPA or IPPA). IPPA clearance was measured within 1 hour of the hemodynamic assessment. The animals were studied under baseline conditions and 11.7 +/- 3.6 days after ventricular pacing at a rate of 240 beats/min. Hemodynamic studies after pacing showed a nonsignificant increase in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (11.7 +/- 4.7 to 17.4 +/- 6.5 mm Hg) and a nonsignificant decrease in the maximum derivative of pressure with respect to time (1836 +/- 164 vs 1688 +/- 422 mm Hg/sec). There was also no change in the time constant of left ventricular relaxation, which was 34.8 +/- 7.67 msec before and 35.3 +/- 7.3 msec after pacing. However, a significant prolongation in the clearance half-time of [123I]PPA, from 86.1 +/- 23.9 to 146.5 +/- 22.6 minutes (p < 0.01) was found. Thus abnormal lipid clearance appears before the onset of significant mechanical dysfunction in tachycardia-induced heart failure. This suggests that abnormal substrate metabolism may play an important role in the pathogenesis of this condition.

  16. Activation of glassy carbon electrodes by photocatalytic pretreatment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dumanli, Onur [Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Art, Ondokuz Mayis University, Kurupelit, 55139 Samsun (Turkey); Onar, A. Nur [Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Art, Ondokuz Mayis University, Kurupelit, 55139 Samsun (Turkey)], E-mail: nonar@omu.edu.tr

    2009-11-01

    This paper describes a simple and rapid photocatalytic pretreatment procedure that removes contaminants from glassy carbon (GC) surfaces. The effectiveness of TiO{sub 2} mediated photocatalytic pretreatment procedure was compared to commonly used alumina polishing procedure. Cyclic voltammetric and chronocoulometric measurements were carried out to assess the changes in electrode reactivity by using four redox systems. Electrochemical measurements obtained on photocatalytically treated GC electrodes showed a more active surface relative to polished GC. In cyclic voltammograms of epinephrine, Fe(CN){sub 6}{sup 3-/4-} and ferrocene redox systems, higher oxidation and reduction currents were observed. The heterogeneous electron transfer rate constants (k{sup o}) were calculated for Fe(CN){sub 6}{sup 3-/4-} and ferrocene which were greater for photocatalytic pretreatment. Chronocoulometry was performed in order to find the amount of adsorbed methylene blue onto the electrode and was calculated as 0.34 pmol cm{sup -2} for photocatalytically pretreated GC. The proposed photocatalytic GC electrode cleansing and activating pretreatment procedure was more effective than classical alumina polishing.

  17. Electrogastrography abnormalities appear early in children with diabetes type 1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Posfay-Barbe, Klara M; Lindley, Keith J; Schwitzgebel, Valérie M; Belli, Dominique C; Schäppi, Michela G

    2011-10-01

    The objective of the study was to evaluate gastric myoelectrical activity in young patients with diabetes and to correlate it with their metabolic control [fasting blood glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin, and fructosamine] and BMI during a 3 years follow-up. Surface electrogastrography (EGG) was performed on 49 children with diabetes aged 10.3±4.4 (mean±SD) years and 17 age-matched healthy controls after fasting glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin, and fructosamine were measured. EGG parameters [percentage of bradygastria, 3 cycles per minute, tachygastria, dominant frequency instability coefficient, and power ratio] were analysed and compared with blood analysis. Patients with diabetes exhibited an increase in preprandial bradygastria 7.9±8.8 cpm (mean±SD) compared with controls 2.1±1.0 (P=0.011), with an associated decrease in preprandial normogastria (72.2±14.5 vs. 82.7±14.7; P=0.013). Normogastric power ratio (postprandial/ preprandial power) was significantly increased in the children with diabetes compared with controls (mean: 6.67 vs. 3.14, P=0.034). A longer duration of diabetes was associated with an increased risk of EGG abnormalities (P=0.036). Marked hyperglycaemia at the time of study was associated with postprandial bradygastria (P=0.01) and power ratio bradygastria (P=0.042). Changes in glycosylated haemoglobin, fructosamine and BMI did not affect EGG parameters. EGG abnormalities, presented early in a high proportion of diabetic children, are related to the acute hyperglycaemia. These abnormalities are not consistently present in the follow-up studies and not related to the glycosylated haemoglobin and fructosamine. Diabetic autonomic neuropathy is therefore an unlikely pathogenic factor for EGG abnormalities in children with diabetes.

  18. Survey of Lignin-Structure Changes and Depolymerization during Ionic Liquid Pretreatment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dutta, Tanmoy; Isern, Nancy G.; Sun, Jian; Wang, Eileen; Hull, Sarah; Cort, John R.; Simmons, Blake A.; Singh, Seema

    2017-09-26

    A detailed study of chemical changes in lignin structure during the ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment process is not only pivotal for understanding and overcoming biomass recalcitrance during IL pretreatment, but also is necessary for designing new routes for lignin valorization. Chemical changes in lignin were systematically studied as a function of pretreatment temperature, time and type of IL used. Kraft lignin was used as the lignin source and common pretreatment conditions were employed using three different ILs of varying chemical structure in terms of acidic or basic character. The chemical changes in the lignin structure due to IL pretreatment processes were monitored using 1H-13C HSQC NMR, 31P NMR, elemental analysis, GPC, FT-IR, and the depolymerized products were analyzed using GC-MS. Although pretreatment in acidic IL, triethylammonium hydrogensulfate ([TEA][HSO4]) results in maximum decrease in β-aryl ether bond, maximum dehydration and recondensation pathways were also evident, with the net process showing a minimum decrease in the molecular weight of regenerated lignin. However, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2C1Im][OAc]) pretreatment yields a smaller decrease in the β-aryl ether content along with minimum evidence of recondensation, resulting in the maximum decrease in the molecular weight. Cholinium lysinate ([Ch][Lys]) pretreatment shows an intermediate result, with moderate depolymerization, dehydration and recondensation observed. The depolymerization products after IL pretreatment are found to be a function of the pretreatment temperature and the specific chemical nature of the IL used. At higher pretreatment temperature, [Ch][Lys] pretreatment yields guaiacol, [TEA][HSO4] yields guaiacylacetone, and [C2C1Im][OAc] yields both guaiacol and guaiacylacetone as major products. These results clearly indicate that the changes in lignin structure as well as the depolymerized product profile depend on the pretreatment conditions and the nature

  19. Biorefining of wheat straw: accounting for the distribution of mineral elements in pretreated biomass by an extended pretreatment – severity equation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Le, Duy Michael; Sørensen, Hanne Risbjerg; Knudsen, Niels Ole

    2014-01-01

    Background: Mineral elements present in lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks may accumulate in biorefinery process streams and cause technological problems, or alternatively can be reaped for value addition. A better understanding of the distribution of minerals in biomass in response to pretreatment...... factors is therefore important in relation to development of new biorefinery processes. The objective of the present study was to examine the levels of mineral elements in pretreated wheat straw in response to systematic variations in the hydrothermal pretreatment parameters (pH, temperature......) Silicon, iron, copper, aluminum correlated with lignin and cellulose levels, but the levels of these constituents showed no severity-dependent trends. For the first group, an expanded pretreatment-severity equation, containing a specific factor for each constituent, accounting for variability due...

  20. Management issues in the metabolic syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deedwania, P C; Gupta, R

    2006-10-01

    The metabolic syndrome or cardiovascular dysmetabolic syndrome is characterized by obesity, central obesity, insulin resistance, atherogenic dyslipidemia, and hypertension. The major risk factors leading to this syndrome are physical inactivity and an atherogenic diet and cornerstone clinical feature is abdominal obesity or adiposity. In addition, patients usually have elevated triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, elevated LDL cholesterol, other abnormal lipid parameters, hypertension, and elevated fasting blood glucose. Impaired fibrinolysis, increased susceptibility to thrombotic events, and raised inflammatory markers are also observed. Given that India has the largest number of subjects with type-2 diabetes in the world it can be extrapolated that this country also has the largest number of patients with the metabolic syndrome. Epidemiological studies confirm a high prevalence. Therapeutic approach involves intervention at a macro-level and control of multiple risk factors using therapeutic lifestyle approaches (diet control and increased physical activity, pharmacotherapy - anti-obesity agents) for control of obesity and visceral obesity, and targeted approach for control of individual risk factors. Pharmacological therapy is a critical step in the management of patients with metabolic syndrome when lifestyle modifications fail to achieve the therapeutic goals. Anti-obesity drugs such as sibutramine and orlistat can be tried to reduce weight and central obesity and jointly control the metabolic syndrome components. Other than weight loss, there is no single best therapy and treatment should consist of treatment of individual components of the metabolic syndrome. Newer drugs such as the endocannabinoid receptor blocker,rimonabant, appear promising in this regard. Atherogenic dyslipidemia should be controlled initially with statins if there is an increase in LDL cholesterol. If there are other lipid abnormalities then combination therapy of statin with fibrates

  1. Metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdullah M Alshehri

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The constellation of dyslipidemia (hypertriglyceridemia and low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, elevated blood pressure, impaired glucose tolerance, and central obesity is now classified as metabolic syndrome, also called syndrome X. In the past few years, several expert groups have attempted to set forth simple diagnostic criteria for use in clinical practice to identify patients who manifest the multiple components of the metabolic syndrome. These criteria have varied somewhat in specific elements, but in general, they include a combination of multiple and metabolic risk factors. The most widely recognized of the metabolic risk factors are atherogenic dyslipidemia, elevated blood pressure, and elevated plasma glucose. Individuals with these characteristics, commonly manifest a prothrombotic state as well as and a proinflammatory state. Atherogenic dyslipidemia consists of an aggregation of lipoprotein abnormalities including elevated serum triglyceride and apolipoprotein B (apoB, increased small LDL particles, and a reduced level of HDL cholesterol (HDL-C. The metabolic syndrome is often referred to as if it were a discrete entity with a single cause. Available data suggest that it truly is a syndrome, ie, a grouping of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD risk factors, that probably has more than one cause. Regardless of cause, the syndrome identifies individuals at an elevated risk for ASCVD. The magnitude of the increased risk can vary according to the components of the syndrome present as well as the other, non-metabolic syndrome risk factors in a particular person.

  2. Metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdullah M Alshehri

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available The constellation of dyslipidemia (hypertriglyceridemia and low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, elevated blood pressure, impaired glucose tolerance, and central obesity is now classified as metabolic syndrome, also called syndrome X. In the past few years, several expert groups have attempted to set forth simple diagnostic criteria for use in clinical practice to identify patients who manifest the multiple components of the metabolic syndrome. These criteria have varied somewhat in specific elements, but in general, they include a combination of multiple and metabolic risk factors. The most widely recognized of the metabolic risk factors are atherogenic dyslipidemia, elevated blood pressure, and elevated plasma glucose. Individuals with these characteristics, commonly manifest a prothrombotic state as well as and a proinflammatory state. Atherogenic dyslipidemia consists of an aggregation of lipoprotein abnormalities including elevated serum triglyceride and apolipoprotein B (apoB, increased small LDL particles, and a reduced level of HDL cholesterol (HDL-C. The metabolic syndrome is often referred to as if it were a discrete entity with a single cause. Available data suggest that it truly is a syndrome, ie, a grouping of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD risk factors, that probably has more than one cause. Regardless of cause, the syndrome identifies individuals at an elevated risk for ASCVD. The magnitude of the increased risk can vary according to the components of the syndrome present as well as the other, non-metabolic syndrome risk factors in a particular person.

  3. The metabolic clearance rate of corticosterone in lean and obese male Zucker rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    White, B.D.; Corll, C.B.; Porter, J.R.

    1989-01-01

    The obese Zucker rat is an animal model of human juvenile-onset obesity. These rats exhibit numerous endocrine and metabolic abnormalities. Adrenalectomy of obese rats has been shown to reduce or reverse several of these abnormalities, thereby implying that corticosterone may contribute to the expression of obesity in this animal. Furthermore, it has been shown that the circadian rhythm of plasma corticosterone is disturbed in obese Zucker rats resulting in elevated morning plasma corticosterone concentrations in obese rats as compared to lean rats. In a effort to better elucidate the mechanism of the elevated morning levels of plasma corticosterone, the metabolic clearance rate of corticosterone was determined in the morning for lean and obese male Zucker rats (12 to 20 weeks). Additionally, the biliary and urinary excretion of labeled corticosterone and/or its metabolites were determined. The metabolic clearance rate of corticosterone was significantly greater in obese rats than in their lean counterparts. Both the metabolic clearance rate and the volume of compartments significantly correlated with body weight. No correlation was found between body weight and the elimination rate constant. The increased metabolic clearance rate of obese rats appeared to be due to an increase in the physiologic distribution of corticosterone and not to an alteration in the enzymes responsible for corticosterone metabolism. It appears that the metabolic clearance rate of corticosterone in obese Zucker rats does not contribute to elevated morning concentrations of plasma corticosterone previously observed in these animals. It suggests that the adrenal corticosterone secretion rate must actually be greater than one would expect from the plasma corticosterone concentrations alone

  4. Metabolic activation of 2-methylfuran by rat microsomal systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ravindranath, V.; Boyd, M.R.

    1985-01-01

    2-Methylfuran (2-MF), a constituent of cigarette smoke and coffee, causes necrosis of liver, lungs, and kidneys in rodents. 2-MF is metabolically activated by mixed-function oxidases to acetylacrolein, a reactive metabolite that binds covalently to microsomal protein. The hepatic microsomal metabolism of 2-MF to reactive metabolite required the presence of NADPH and oxygen and was dependent on incubation time and substrate concentration. The microsomal metabolism of 2-MF was inducible by pretreatment of rats with phenobarbital and was inhibited by piperonyl butoxide and N-octyl imidazole, which indicates that the metabolism of 2-MF may be mediated by cytochrome P-450. Acetylacrolein was a potent inhibitor of mixed-function oxidase and completely inhibited the microsomal metabolism of 2-MF, indicating that 2-MF is a suicide substrate for the enzyme. The sulfhydryl nucleophile cysteine was a better trapping agent of the reactive metabolite of 2-MF than N-acetylcysteine or glutathione. Lysine decreased the covalent binding of 2-MF metabolites, presumably by reacting with the aldehyde group of acetylacrolein. In addition, in the presence of NADPH, 2-MF was bioactivated by both pulmonary and renal cortical microsomes to reactive metabolites that were covalently bound to microsomal proteins

  5. Pretreatment of Reed by Wet Oxidation and Subsequent Utilization of the Pretreated Fibers for Ethanol Production

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Szijarto, Nora; Kádár, Zsófia; Varga, Eniko

    2009-01-01

    lignocelluloses usually do. In the present study, wet oxidation was investigated as the pretreatment method to enhance the enzymatic digestibility of reed cellulose to soluble sugars and thus improve the convertibility of reed to ethanol. The most effective treatment increased the digestibility of reed cellulose...... of cellulose to glucose was 82.4%. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of pretreated solids resulted in a final ethanol concentration as high as 8.7 g/L, yielding 73% of the theoretical....

  6. Making lignin accessible for anaerobic digestion by wet-explosion pretreatment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ahring, Birgitte Kiær; Biswas, Rajib; Ahamed, Aftab

    2015-01-01

    of lignin during anaerobic digestion processes. The pretreatment of feedlot manure was performed in a 10 L reactor at 170 C for 25 min using 4 bars oxygen and the material was fed to a continuous stirred tank reactor operated at 55 C for anaerobic digestion. Methane yield of untreated and pretreated...... material was 70 ± 27 and 320 ± 36 L/kg-VS/day, respectively, or 4.5 times higher yield as a result of the pretreatment. Aliphatic acids formed during the pretreatment were utilized by microbes. 44.4% lignin in pretreated material was actually converted in the anaerobic digestion process compared to 12...

  7. Improvement in cardiac function and free fatty acid metabolism in a case of dilated cardiomyopathy with CD36 deficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirooka, K; Yasumura, Y; Ishida, Y; Komamura, K; Hanatani, A; Nakatani, S; Yamagishi, M; Miyatake, K

    2000-09-01

    A 27-year-old man diagnosed as having dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) without myocardial accumulation of 123I-beta-methyl-iodophenylpentadecanoic acid, and he was found to have type I CD36 deficiency. This abnormality of cardiac free fatty acid metabolism was also confirmed by other methods: 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography, measurements of myocardial respiratory quotient and cardiac fatty acid uptake. Although the type I CD36 deficiency was reconfirmed after 3 months, the abnormal free fatty acid metabolism improved after carvedilol therapy and was accompanied by improved cardiac function. Apart from a cause-and-effect relationship, carvedilol can improve cardiac function and increase free fatty acid metabolism in patients with both DCM and CD36 deficiency.

  8. Effects of Pretreatment Methods on Electrodes and SOFC Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guo-Bin Jung

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Commercially available tapes (anode, electrolyte and paste (cathode were choosen to prepare anode-supported cells for solid oxide fuel cell applications. For both anode-supported cells or electrolyte-supported cells, the anode needs pretreatment to reduce NiO/YSZ to Ni/YSZ to increase its conductivity as well as its catalytic characteristics. In this study, the effects of different pretreatments (open-circuit, closed-circuit on cathode and anodes as well as SOFC performance are investigated. To investigate the influence of closed-circuit pretreatment on the NiO/YSZ anode alone, a Pt cathode is utilized as reference for comparison with the LSM cathode. The characterization of the electrical resistance, AC impedance, and SOFC performance of the resulting electrodes and/or anode-supported cell were carried out. It’s found that the influence of open-circuit pretreatment on the LSM cathode is limited. However, the influence of closed-circuit pretreatment on both the LSM cathode and NiO/YSZ anode and the resulting SOFC performance is profound. The effect of closed-circuit pretreatment on the NiO/YSZ anode is attributed to its change of electronic/pore structure as well as catalytic characteristics. With closed-circuit pretreatment, the SOFC performance improved greatly from the change of LSM cathode (and Pt reference compared to the Ni/YSZ anode.

  9. Lower aerobic capacity was associated with abnormal intramuscular energetics in patients with metabolic syndrome

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yokota, Takashi; Kinugawa, Shintaro; Okita, Koichi

    2011-01-01

    Lower aerobic capacity is a strong and independent predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, the mechanisms are not fully elucidated. We tested the hypothesis that skeletal muscle dysfunction could contribute to the lower aerobic capacity in MetS patients. The incremental exercise tests with cycle ergometer were performed in 12 male patients with MetS with no habitual exercise and 11 age-, sex- and activity-matched control subjects to assess the aerobic capacity. We performed 31 phosphorus-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to assess the high-energy phosphate metabolism in skeletal muscle during aerobic exercise. Proton-MRS was also performed to measure intramyocellular lipid (IMCL) content. Peak oxygen uptake (peak VO 2 ; 34.1±6.2 vs. 41.4±8.4 ml kg -1 min -1 , P -1 min -1 , P 2 (r=-0.64) and AT (r=-0.60), respectively. IMCL content was threefold higher in MetS and was inversely correlated with peak VO 2 (r=-0.47) and AT (r=-0.52), respectively. Moreover, there was a positive correlation between IMCL content and PCr loss (r=0.64). These results suggested that lean-body aerobic capacity in MetS patients was lower compared with activity-matched healthy subjects, which might be due to the reduced intramuscular fatty acid oxidative metabolism. (author)

  10. Rewiring AMPK and Mitochondrial Retrograde Signaling for Metabolic Control of Aging and Histone Acetylation in Respiratory-Defective Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Magnus N. Friis

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Abnormal respiratory metabolism plays a role in numerous human disorders. We find that regulation of overall histone acetylation is perturbed in respiratory-incompetent (ρ0 yeast. Because histone acetylation is highly sensitive to acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA availability, we sought interventions that suppress this ρ0 phenotype through reprogramming metabolism. Nutritional intervention studies led to the discovery that genetic coactivation of the mitochondrion-to-nucleus retrograde (RTG response and the AMPK (Snf1 pathway prevents abnormal histone deacetylation in ρ0 cells. Metabolic profiling of signaling mutants uncovered links between chromatin-dependent phenotypes of ρ0 cells and metabolism of ATP, acetyl-CoA, glutathione, branched-chain amino acids, and the storage carbohydrate trehalose. Importantly, RTG/AMPK activation reprograms energy metabolism to increase the supply of acetyl-CoA to lysine acetyltransferases and extend the chronological lifespan of ρ0 cells. Our results strengthen the framework for rational design of nutrient supplementation schemes and drug-discovery initiatives aimed at mimicking the therapeutic benefits of dietary interventions.

  11. Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 (FGF23 and Disorders of Phosphate Metabolism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tasuku Saito

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Derangements in serum phosphate level result in rickets/osteomalacia or ectopic calcification indicating that healthy people without these abnormalities maintain serum phosphate within certain ranges. These results indicate that there must be a regulatory mechanism of serum phosphate level. Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23 was identified as the last member of FGF family. FGF23 is produced by bone and reduces serum phosphate level by suppressing phosphate reabsorption in proximal tubules and intestinal phosphate absorption through lowering 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D level. It has been shown that excess and deficient actions of FGF23 result in hypophosphatemic rickets/osteomalacia and hyperphosphatemic tumoral calcinosis, respectively. These results indicate that FGF23 works as a hormone, and several disorders of phosphate metabolism can be viewed as endocrine diseases. It may become possible to treat patients with abnormal phosphate metabolism by pharmacologically modifying the activity of FGF23.

  12. Abnormal pressures as hydrodynamic phenomena

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neuzil, C.E.

    1995-01-01

    So-called abnormal pressures, subsurface fluid pressures significantly higher or lower than hydrostatic, have excited speculation about their origin since subsurface exploration first encountered them. Two distinct conceptual models for abnormal pressures have gained currency among earth scientists. The static model sees abnormal pressures generally as relict features preserved by a virtual absence of fluid flow over geologic time. The hydrodynamic model instead envisions abnormal pressures as phenomena in which flow usually plays an important role. This paper develops the theoretical framework for abnormal pressures as hydrodynamic phenomena, shows that it explains the manifold occurrences of abnormal pressures, and examines the implications of this approach. -from Author

  13. Clinical and metabolic characteristics of Turkish adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ates, Seda; Aydın, Serdar; Ozcan, Pinar; Soyman, Zeynep; Gokmen Karasu, Ayse Filiz; Sevket, Osman

    2018-02-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical, endocrine, metabolic features and prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MBS) in Turkish adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and the differences in metabolic parameters between adolescent PCOS with or without the presence of polycystic ovaries (PCO) on ultrasound. Subjects (n = 77) were classified into two groups: oligomenorrhea (O) and clinical and/or biochemical hyperandrogenism (HA) (n = 38), without PCO and O + HA with PCO (n = 39). The control group consisted of 33 age-matched adolescents. Adolescents with PCOS had a significantly higher body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and levels of LH, LH/FSH ratio, triglyceride, insulin, HOMA-IR, free androgen index and lower levels of SHBG and FSH. After adjustment for BMI, LH, LH: FSH ratio remained significantly higher. Adolescents with PCOS had a higher prevalence of MBS. No significant differences in lipid profiles, insulin levels and insulin sensitivity in both the PCOS groups were seen. HDL-C levels were lower in the O + HA + PCO group compared to the controls. BMI may be the major contributing factor in the development of metabolic abnormalities in adolescents with PCOS. Impact statement Many studies have investigated the effect of PCOS on metabolic and cardiovascular risks. It is thought that PCOS increases metabolic and cardiovascular risks. Increase in metabolic and cardiovascular risks associated with PCOS may be handled with early diagnosis and early intervention of PCOS in adolescents, although the diagnosis of PCOS in adolescents could be hard because of the features of PCOS overlapping normal pubertal physiological events. However, early identification of adolescent girls with PCOS may provide opportunities for prevention of well-known health risks associated with this syndrome and reduction of long-term health consequences of PCOS by reducing androgen levels and improving metabolic profile. Our results also

  14. Metabolic disturbances connecting obesity and depression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cecile eHryhorczuk

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Obesity markedly increases the odds of developing depression. Depressed mood not only impairs motivation, quality of life and overall functioning but also increases the risks of obesity complications. Abdominal obesity is a better predictor of depression and anxiety risk than overall adipose mass. A growing amount of research suggests that metabolic abnormalities stemming from central obesity that lead to metabolic disease may also responsible for the increased incidence of depression in obesity. As reviewed here, a higher mass of dysfunctional adipose tissue is associated with several metabolic disturbances that are either directly or indirectly implicated in the control of emotions and mood. To better comprehend the development of depression in obesity, this review pulls together select findings addressing the link between adiposity, diet and negative emotional states and discusses the evidence that alterations in glucocorticoids, adipose-derived hormones and inflammatory signalling that are characteristic of central obesity may be involved.

  15. Metabolic imaging of patients with cardiomyopathy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Geltman, E.M.

    1991-01-01

    The cardiomyopathies comprise a diverse group of illnesses that can be characterized functionally by several techniques. However, the delineation of derangements of regional perfusion and metabolism have been accomplished only relatively recently with positron emission tomography (PET). Regional myocardial accumulation and clearance of 11C-palmitate, the primary myocardial substrate under most conditions, demonstrate marked spatial heterogeneity when studied under fasting conditions or with glucose loading. PET with 11C-palmitate permits the noninvasive differentiation of patients with nonischemic from ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy, since patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy demonstrate large zones of intensely depressed accumulation of 11C-palmitate, probably reflecting prior infarction. Patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and Duchenne's muscular dystrophy demonstrate relatively unique patterns of myocardial abnormalities of perfusion and metabolism. The availability of new tracers and techniques for the evaluation of myocardial metabolism (11C-acetate), perfusion (H2(15)O), and autonomic tone (11-C-hydroxyephedrine) should facilitate further understanding of the pathogenesis of the cardiomyopathies

  16. Enhanced thermophilic fermentative hydrogen production from cassava stillage by chemical pretreatments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Wen; Luo, Gang; Xie, Li; Zhou, Qi

    2013-01-01

    Acid and alkaline pretreatments for enhanced hydrogen production from cassava stillage were investigated in the present study. The result showed that acid pretreatment was suitable for enhancement of soluble carbohydrate while alkaline pretreatment stimulated more soluble total organic carbon production from cassava stillage. Acid pretreatment thereby has higher capacity to promote hydrogen production compared with alkaline pretreatment. Effects of pretreatment temperature, time and acid concentration on hydrogen production were also revealed by response surface methodology. The results showed that the increase of all factors increased the soluble carbohydrate production, whereas hydrogen production was inhibited when the factors exceeded their optimal values. The optimal conditions for hydrogen production were pretreatment temperature 89.5 °C, concentration 1.4% and time 69 min for the highest hydrogen production of 434 mL, 67% higher than raw cassava stillage.

  17. Understanding of alkaline pretreatment parameters for corn stover enzymatic saccharification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen Ye

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Previous research on alkaline pretreatment has mainly focused on optimization of the process parameters to improve substrate digestibility. To achieve satisfactory sugar yield, extremely high chemical loading and enzyme dosages were typically used. Relatively little attention has been paid to reduction of chemical consumption and process waste management, which has proven to be an indispensable component of the bio-refineries. To indicate alkali strength, both alkali concentration in pretreatment solution (g alkali/g pretreatment liquor or g alkali/L pretreatment liquor and alkali loading based on biomass solids (g alkali/g dry biomass have been widely used. The dual approaches make it difficult to compare the chemical consumption in different process scenarios while evaluating the cost effectiveness of this pretreatment technology. The current work addresses these issues through pretreatment of corn stover at various combinations of pretreatment conditions. Enzymatic hydrolysis with different enzyme blends was subsequently performed to identify the effects of pretreatment parameters on substrate digestibility as well as process operational and capital costs. Results The results showed that sodium hydroxide loading is the most dominant variable for enzymatic digestibility. To reach 70% glucan conversion while avoiding extensive degradation of hemicellulose, approximately 0.08 g NaOH/g corn stover was required. It was also concluded that alkali loading based on total solids (g NaOH/g dry biomass governs the pretreatment efficiency. Supplementing cellulase with accessory enzymes such as α-arabinofuranosidase and β-xylosidase significantly improved the conversion of the hemicellulose by 6–17%. Conclusions The current work presents the impact of alkaline pretreatment parameters on the enzymatic hydrolysis of corn stover as well as the process operational and capital investment costs. The high chemical consumption for alkaline

  18. Impact of pretreatment on colour and texture of watermelon rind

    Science.gov (United States)

    Athmaselvi, K.; Alagusundaram, K.; Kavitha, C.; Arumuganathan, T.

    2012-07-01

    The effect of osmotic dehydration pretreatment on water loss, solid gain, colour and textural change was investigated. Watermelon rind 1 x 1 cm size was immersed in sucrose solution of 40, 50 and 60° Brix after pretreatment with microwave and conventional boiling in water for 1, 3, and 5 min, respectively. Water loss and solid gain increased with the time of cooking and sugar concentration. Microwave pretreated samples showed higher water loss and solid gain. Increase in the time of cooking decreased the brightness of all the samples. Microwave pretreated samples showed higher `b' values than conventionally pretreated ones. There was no significant difference (P≤0.05) in texture profile analysis parameters except for hardness. Hardness decreased with increase in time of cooking and sugar concentration. Second order regression model was developed for water loss and solid gain of microwave and conventional pretreated watermelon rind.

  19. Biomass pretreatment affects Ustilago maydis in producing itaconic acid

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Klement Tobias

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In the last years, the biotechnological production of platform chemicals for fuel components has become a major focus of interest. Although ligno-cellulosic material is considered as suitable feedstock, the almost inevitable pretreatment of this recalcitrant material may interfere with the subsequent fermentation steps. In this study, the fungus Ustilago maydis was used to produce itaconic acid as platform chemical for the synthesis of potential biofuels such as 3-methyltetrahydrofuran. No studies, however, have investigated how pretreatment of ligno-cellulosic biomass precisely influences the subsequent fermentation by U. maydis. Thus, this current study aims to first characterize U. maydis in shake flasks and then to evaluate the influence of three exemplary pretreatment methods on the cultivation and itaconic acid production of this fungus. Cellulose enzymatically hydrolysed in seawater and salt-assisted organic-acid catalysed cellulose were investigated as substrates. Lastly, hydrolysed hemicellulose from fractionated beech wood was applied as substrate. Results U. maydis was characterized on shake flask level regarding its itaconic acid production on glucose. Nitrogen limitation was shown to be a crucial condition for the production of itaconic acid. For itaconic acid concentrations above 25 g/L, a significant product inhibition was observed. Performing experiments that simulated influences of possible pretreatment methods, U. maydis was only slightly affected by high osmolarities up to 3.5 osmol/L as well as of 0.1 M oxalic acid. The production of itaconic acid was achieved on pretreated cellulose in seawater and on the hydrolysed hemicellulosic fraction of pretreated beech wood. Conclusion The fungus U. maydis is a promising producer of itaconic acid, since it grows as single cells (yeast-like in submerged cultivations and it is extremely robust in high osmotic media and real seawater. Moreover, U. maydis can grow on

  20. Detoxification of wood preserving waste under ambient, enhanced and chemical pretreatment conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hong, M.S.; Brown, K.W.; Dale, B.E.; Donnelly, K.C.; He, L.Y.; Markiewicz, K.V. [Texas A and M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)

    1994-12-31

    Detoxification of pentachlorophenol-containing wood preserving waste was monitored under ambient, enhanced and chemical pretreatment conditions for genotoxicity and parent compound removal. Samples were collected throughout the treatment periods and sequentially extracted with dichloromethane and methanol with the Tecator Soxtec apparatus. The organic extracts were analyzed on GC/ECD and GC/MS. The extract mutagenic and genotoxic potentials were evaluated with and without metabolic activation with the Salmonella Microsomal and E. coli Prophage Induction assays. The Salmonella mutagenic responses of extracts from Weswood soil amended with wood preserving waste and treated under ambient conditions were 2.0, 34.6 and 2.4 times greater than the solvent control on days 0, 540 and 1,200 respectively. Organic extracts of soil amended with wood preserving waste and treated under enhanced conditions in a solid-phase rotating drum bioreactor had mutagenic potentials of 3.4, 4.9 and 3.5 on days 0, 14 and 30, respectively. Extracts from wood preserving waste sludge treated with potassium polyethylene glycol were shown to have mutagenic potentials of 2.8, 6.1 and 3.8 at 0, 10 and 30 minutes. The results indicate that the initial products of the wood preserving waste detoxification under all treatment conditions appear to have greater genotoxic potentials than the starting material. The results also suggest that a more rapid detoxification occurs under enhanced and chemical pretreatment conditions.

  1. Treatment, Therapy and Management of Metabolic Epilepsy: A Systematic Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vanessa Lin Lin Lee

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Metabolic epilepsy is a metabolic abnormality which is associated with an increased risk of epilepsy development in affected individuals. Commonly used antiepileptic drugs are typically ineffective against metabolic epilepsy as they do not address its root cause. Presently, there is no review available which summarizes all the treatment options for metabolic epilepsy. Thus, we systematically reviewed literature which reported on the treatment, therapy and management of metabolic epilepsy from four databases, namely PubMed, Springer, Scopus and ScienceDirect. After applying our inclusion and exclusion criteria as per the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA guidelines, we reviewed a total of 43 articles. Based on the reviewed articles, we summarized the methods used for the treatment, therapy and management of metabolic epilepsy. These methods were tailored to address the root causes of the metabolic disturbances rather than targeting the epilepsy phenotype alone. Diet modification and dietary supplementation, alone or in combination with antiepileptic drugs, are used in tackling the different types of metabolic epilepsy. Identification, treatment, therapy and management of the underlying metabolic derangements can improve behavior, cognitive function and reduce seizure frequency and/or severity in patients.

  2. Reduced CD300LG mRNA tissue expression, increased intramyocellular lipid content and impaired glucose metabolism in healthy male carriers of Arg82Cys in CD300LG

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Støy, Julie; Kampmann, Ulla; Mengel, Annette

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND: CD300LG rs72836561 (c.313C>T, p.Arg82Cys) has in genetic-epidemiological studies been associated with the lipoprotein abnormalities of the metabolic syndrome. CD300LG belongs to the CD300-family of membrane-bound molecules which have the ability to recognize and interact with extracel......BACKGROUND: CD300LG rs72836561 (c.313C>T, p.Arg82Cys) has in genetic-epidemiological studies been associated with the lipoprotein abnormalities of the metabolic syndrome. CD300LG belongs to the CD300-family of membrane-bound molecules which have the ability to recognize and interact...... with extracellular lipids. We tested whether this specific polymorphism results in abnormal lipid accumulation in skeletal muscle and liver and other indices of metabolic dysfunction. METHODS: 40 healthy men with a mean age of 55 years were characterized metabolically including assessment of insulin sensitivity...

  3. Removal mechanism of tritium by variously pretreated silica gel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakashima, M.; Tachikawa, E.; Saeki, M.; Aratono, Y.

    1981-01-01

    Removal mechanisms of HTO from variously pretreated and non-pretreated silica gel columns were investigated with pulse-loading with tritiated water vapor. With non-pretreated silica gel, the HTO physisorbed on the upper part of the column comes into contact with surface hydroxyl groups while passing downward the column, so that in each equilibration a part of the tritium is incorporated into hydroxyl groups by H/T isotopic exchange reactions. With the silica gel pretreated at a temperature below 400 0 C, most of tritium in the applied HTO is easily incorporated into surface hydroxyl groups in the upper part of the column either by H/T isotopic exchange reactions or by rehydration of the dehydrated surface (siloxyl linkage). In the pretreatment above 400 0 C, essentially all the tritium is trapped by siloxyl groups of various stabilities. The ease of rehydration of siloxyl groups by applied HTO depends on their stabilities, which, in turn, depend on the pretreatment temperature. As a general trend, treatment at higher temperature promotes annealing of the constrained siloxyl groups and thus the rate of rehydration becomes slower. (author)

  4. Will acarbose improve the metabolic abnormalities of insulin-resistant type 2 diabetes mellitus?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, R; Lintott, C J; Zimmet, P; Campbell, L; Bowen, K; Welborn, T

    1999-03-01

    Individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (n = 105; age 36-71 years) on diet therapy alone, and with quite good glycaemic control (mean HbA1c approximately 7.0%) were randomized to receive acarbose (100 mg three times daily) or placebo for 16 weeks, and changes in clinical and metabolic parameters indicative of Syndrome X were monitored. Fasting levels of glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c), true insulin, proinsulin, fibrinogen and lipids were measured four times weekly, and glucose, insulin, proinsulin and triglyceride responses to a standardized 1.6 MJ breakfast were determined at 0, 1 and 2 h post meal. Analysis was on an intention-to-treat basis. Fasting levels of glucose (P fasting glucose and triglyceride levels, lowers HbA1c and limits the glycaemic and insulin response to food in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus with Syndrome X. Pharmacological agents that improve the metabolic environment and reduce insulin resistance have the potential to limit the progression of atherogenesis associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

  5. Hepatic Steatosis as a Marker of Metabolic Dysfunction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fabbrini, Elisa; Magkos, Faidon

    2015-01-01

    Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the liver manifestation of the complex metabolic derangements associated with obesity. NAFLD is characterized by excessive deposition of fat in the liver (steatosis) and develops when hepatic fatty acid availability from plasma and de novo synthesis exceeds hepatic fatty acid disposal by oxidation and triglyceride export. Hepatic steatosis is therefore the biochemical result of an imbalance between complex pathways of lipid metabolism, and is associated with an array of adverse changes in glucose, fatty acid, and lipoprotein metabolism across all tissues of the body. Intrahepatic triglyceride (IHTG) content is therefore a very good marker (and in some cases may be the cause) of the presence and the degree of multiple-organ metabolic dysfunction. These metabolic abnormalities are likely responsible for many cardiometabolic risk factors associated with NAFLD, such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia. Understanding the factors involved in the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of NAFLD will lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the metabolic complications of obesity, and hopefully to the discovery of novel effective treatments for their reversal. PMID:26102213

  6. Dielectric barrier discharge plasma pretreatment on hydrolysis of microcrystalline cellulose

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Fangmin; Long, Zhouyang; Liu, Sa; Qin, Zhenglong

    2017-04-01

    Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma was used as a pretreatment method for downstream hydrolysis of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC). The degree of polymerization (DP) of MCC decreased after it was pretreated by DBD plasma under a carrier gas of air/argon. The effectiveness of depolymerization was found to be influenced by the crystallinity of MCC when under the pretreatment of DBD plasma. With the addition of tert-butyl alcohol in the treated MCC water suspension solution, depolymerization effectiveness of MCC was inhibited. When MCC was pretreated by DBD plasma for 30 min, the total reducing sugar concentration (TRSC) and liquefaction yield (LY) of pretreated-MCC (PMCC) increased by 82.98% and 34.18% respectively compared with those for raw MCC.

  7. [Markers for early detection of alterations in carbohydrate metabolism after acute myocardial infarction].

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Gea-García, J H; Benali, L; Galcerá-Tomás, J; Padilla-Serrano, A; Andreu-Soler, E; Melgarejo-Moreno, A; Alonso-Fernández, N

    2014-03-01

    Undiagnosed abnormal glucose metabolism is often seen in patients admitted with acute myocardial infarction, although there is no consensus on which patients should be studied with a view to establishing an early diagnosis. The present study examines the potential of certain variables obtained upon admission to diagnose abnormal glucose metabolism. A prospective cohort study was carried out. The Intensive Care Unit of Arrixaca University Hospital (Murcia), Spain. A total of 138 patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit with acute myocardial infarction and without known or de novo diabetes mellitus. After one year, oral glucose tolerance testing was performed. Clinical and laboratory test parameters were recorded upon admission and one year after discharge. Additionally, after one year, oral glucose tolerance tests were made, and a study was made of the capacity of the variables obtained at admission to diagnose diabetes, based on the ROC curves and multivariate analysis. Of the 138 patients, 112 (72.5%) had glucose metabolic alteration, including 16.7% with diabetes. HbA1c was independently associated with a diagnosis of diabetes (RR: 7.28, 95%CI 1.65 to 32.05, P = .009), and showed the largest area under the ROC curve for diabetes (0.81, 95%CI 0.69 to 0.92, P = .001). In patients with acute myocardial infarction, HbA1c helps identify those individuals with abnormal glucose metabolism after one year. Thus, its determination in this group of patients could be used to identify those subjects requiring a more exhaustive study in order to establish an early diagnosis. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. and SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

  8. Potential of potassium hydroxide pretreatment of switchgrass for fermentable sugar production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Rajat; Palled, Vijaykumar; Sharma-Shivappa, Ratna R; Osborne, Jason

    2013-02-01

    Chemical pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass has been extensively investigated for sugar generation and subsequent fuel production. Alkaline pretreatment has emerged as one of the popular chemical pretreatment methods, but most attempts thus far have utilized NaOH for the pretreatment process. This study aimed at investigating the potential of potassium hydroxide (KOH) as a viable alternative alkaline reagent for lignocellulosic pretreatment based on its different reactivity patterns compared to NaOH. Performer switchgrass was pretreated at KOH concentrations of 0.5-2% for varying treatment times of 6-48 h, 6-24 h, and 0.25-1 h at 21, 50, and 121 °C, respectively. The pretreatments resulted in the highest percent sugar retention of 99.26% at 0.5%, 21 °C, 12 h while delignification up to 55.4% was observed with 2% KOH, 121 °C, 1 h. Six pretreatment conditions were selected for subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis with Cellic CTec2® for sugar generation. The pretreatment condition of 0.5% KOH, 24 h, 21 °C was determined to be the most effective as it utilized the least amount of KOH while generating 582.4 mg sugar/g raw biomass for a corresponding percent carbohydrate conversion of 91.8%.

  9. Determining pathogenetic connection between disorders of lipid and carbohydrate metabolism and non-malignant pathology of thyroid gland in children , born from parents, Chernobyl accident survivors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kopilova, O.V.; Stepanenko, O.A.; Belyingyio, T.O.

    2014-01-01

    The 92 children aged 12-17 years were examined with the purpose to study the links between carbohydrate and lipid metabolic abnormalities and non-malignant thyroid disorders in descendants of the Chernobyl accident survivors. Clinical, anthropometrical studies and hormonal assays were applied. Carbohydrate and lipid metabolic abnormalities were revealed in every third case of thyroid disease. It confirms our supposition of such a possibility being due to the fact that radiation impact even in low doses can result in pronounced metabolic disorders lading to entire endocrine disregulation. It is relevant in children of the puberty age

  10. Effects of different pretreatment methods on fermentation types and dominant bacteria for hydrogen production

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ren, Nan-Qi; Guo, Wan-Qian; Liu, Bing-Feng; Wang, Xing-Zu; Ding, Jie; Chen, Zhao-Bo [State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, Heilongjiang (China); Wang, Xiang-Jing; Xiang, Wen-Sheng [Research Center of Life Science and Biotechnology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030 (China)

    2008-08-15

    In order to enrich hydrogen producing bacteria and to establish high-efficient communities of the mixed microbial cultures, inoculum needs to be pretreated before the cultivation. Four pretreatment methods including heat-shock pretreatment, acid pretreatment, alkaline pretreatment and repeated-aeration pretreatment were performed on the seed sludge which was collected from a secondary settling tank of a municipal wastewater treatment plant. In contrast to the control test without any pretreatment, the heat-shock pretreatment, acid pretreatment and repeated-aeration pretreatment completely suppressed the methanogenic activity of the seed sludge, but the alkaline pretreatment did not. Employing different pretreatment methods resulted in the change in fermentation types as butyric-acid type fermentation was achieved by the heat-shock and alkaline pretreatments, mixed-acid type fermentation was achieved by acid pretreatment and the control, and ethanol-type fermentation was observed by repeated-aeration pretreatment. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) profiles revealed that pretreatment method substantially affected the species composition of microbial communities. The highest hydrogen yield of 1.96 mol/mol-glucose was observed with the repeated-aeration pretreatment method, while the lowest was obtained as the seed sludge was acidified. It is concluded that the pretreatment methods led to the difference in the initial microbial communities which might be directly responsible for different fermentation types and hydrogen yields. (author)

  11. Optimization and evaluation of alkaline potassium permanganate pretreatment of corncob.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Lijuan; Cui, Youzhi; Cai, Rui; Liu, Xueqiang; Zhang, Cuiying; Xiao, Dongguang

    2015-03-01

    Alkaline potassium permanganate solution (APP) was applied to the pretreatment of corncob with a simple and effective optimization of APP concentration, reaction time, temperature and solid to liquid ratio (SLR). The optimized pretreatment conditions were at 2% (w/v) potassium permanganate with SLR of 1:10 treating for 6h at 50°C. This simple one-step treatment resulted in significant 94.56% of the cellulose and 81.47% of the hemicellulose recoveries and 46.79% of the lignin removal of corncob. The reducing sugar in the hydrolysate from APP-pretreated corncob was 8.39g/L after 12h enzymatic hydrolysis, which was 1.44 and 1.29 folds higher than those from raw and acid pretreated corncobs. Physical characteristics, crystallinity and structure of the pretreated corncob were analyzed and assessed by SEM, XRD and FTIR. The APP pretreatment process was novel and enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose by affecting composition and structural features. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Improved pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass using enzymatically-generated peracetic acid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, DeLu Tyler; Jing, Qing; AlDajani, Waleed Wafa; Duncan, Shona; Tschirner, Ulrike; Schilling, Jonathan; Kazlauskas, Romas J

    2011-04-01

    Release of sugars from lignocellulosic biomass is inefficient because lignin, an aromatic polymer, blocks access of enzymes to the sugar polymers. Pretreatments remove lignin and disrupt its structure, thereby enhancing sugar release. In previous work, enzymatically generated peracetic acid was used to pretreat aspen wood. This pretreatment removed 45% of the lignin and the subsequent saccharification released 97% of the sugars remaining after pretreatment. In this paper, the amount of enzyme needed is reduced tenfold using first, an improved enzyme variant that makes twice as much peracetic acid and second, a two-phase reaction to generate the peracetic acid, which allows enzyme reuse. In addition, the eight pretreatment cycles are reduced to only one by increasing the volume of peracetic acid solution and increasing the temperature to 60 °C and the reaction time to 6h. For the pretreatment step, the weight ratio of peracetic acid to wood determines the amount of lignin removed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Size effects on acid bisulfite pretreatment efficiency: multiple product yields in spent liquor and enzymatic digestibility of pretreated solids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yalan Liu; Jinwu Wang; Michael P. Wolcott

    2017-01-01

    Currently, feedstock size effects on chemical pretreatment performance were not clear due to the complexity of the pretreatment process and multiple evaluation standards such as the sugar recovery in spent liquor or enzymatic digestibility. In this study, we evaluated the size effects by various ways: the sugar recovery and coproduct yields in spent liquor, the...

  14. Effects of L-carnitine pretreatment in methamphetamine and 3-nitropropionic acid-induced neurotoxicity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Binienda, Zbigniew K; Przybyla, Beata D; Robinson, Bonnie L; Salem, Nadia; Virmani, Ashraf; Amato, Antonino; Ali, Syed F

    2006-08-01

    Adult, male Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with 3-ni-tropropionic acid (3-NPA) at 30 mg/kg or methamphetamine (METH) at 20 mg/kg alone or following pretreatment with L-cartnitine (LC) at 100 mg/kg. Rectal temperature was measured before and 4 h following treatment. Animals were sacrificed at 4 h posttreatment. Monoamine neurotransmitters, dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT), and their metabolites were analyzed in the striatum using high-performance liquid chromatography method coupled with electrochemical detection (HPLC/ED). Transcripts of several genes related to DA metabolism were quantified using real time reverse transciption polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Core temperature decreased significantly after 3-NPA acid and increased in METH-treated rats (P protection against METH toxicity.

  15. Extensive metabolic disorders are present in APC(min) tumorigenesis mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zhenzhen; Xiao, Yi; Zhou, Zhengxiang; Mao, Xiaoxiao; Cai, Jinxing; Xiong, Lu; Liao, Chaonan; Huang, Fulian; Liu, Zehao; Ali Sheikh, Md Sayed; Plutzky, Jorge; Huang, He; Yang, Tianlun; Duan, Qiong

    2016-05-15

    Wnt signaling plays essential role in mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) differentiation. Activation of Wnt signaling suppresses adipogenesis, but promotes osteogenesis in MSC. Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) is a negative regulator of β-catenin and Wnt signaling activity. The mutation of APC gene leads to the activation of Wnt signaling and is responsible for tumorigenesis in APC(min) mouse; however, very few studies focused on its metabolic abnormalities. The present study reports a widespread metabolic disorder phenotype in APC(min) mice. The old APC(min) mice have decreased body weight and impaired adipogenesis, but severe hyperlipidemia, which mimic the phenotypes of Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP), an inherited disease also caused by APC gene mutation in human. We found that the expression of lipid metabolism and free fat acids (FA) use genes in the white adipose tissue (WAT) of the APC(min) mice is much lower than those of control. The changed gene expression pattern may lead to the disability of circulatory lipid transportation and storage at WAT. Moreover, the APC(min) mice could not maintain the core body temperature in cold condition. PET-CT determination revealed that the BAT of APC(min) mice has significantly impaired ability to take up (18)FDG from the blood. Morphological studies identified that the brown adipocytes of APC(min) mice were filled with lipid droplets but fewer mitochondria. These results matched with the findings of impaired BAT function in APC(min) mice. Collectively, our study explores a new mechanism that explains abnormal metabolism in APC(min) mice and provides insights into studying the metabolic disorders of FAP patients. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Pretreatment of Biomass by Aqueous Ammonia for Bioethanol Production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Tae Hyun; Gupta, Rajesh; Lee, Y. Y.

    The methods of pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass using aqueous ammonia are described. The main effect of ammonia treatment of biomass is delignification without significantly affecting the carbohydrate contents. It is a very effective pretreatment method especially for substrates that have low lignin contents such as agricultural residues and herbaceous feedstock. The ammonia-based pretreatment is well suited for simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) because the treated biomass retains cellulose as well as hemicellulose. It has been demonstrated that overall ethanol yield above 75% of the theoretical maximum on the basis of total carbohydrate is achievable from corn stover pretreated with aqueous ammonia by way of SSCF. There are two different types of pretreatment methods based on aqueous ammonia: (1) high severity, low contact time process (ammonia recycle percolation; ARP), (2) low severity, high treatment time process (soaking in aqueous ammonia; SAA). Both of these methods are described and discussed for their features and effectiveness.

  17. Flow-through pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass with inorganic nanoporous membranes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bhave, Ramesh R.; Lynd, Lee; Shao, Xiongjun

    2018-04-03

    A process for the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass is provided. The process generally includes flowing water through a pretreatment reactor containing a bed of particulate ligno-cellulosic biomass to produce a pressurized, high-temperature hydrolyzate exit stream, separating solubilized compounds from the hydrolyzate exit stream using an inorganic nanoporous membrane element, fractionating the retentate enriched in solubilized organic components and recycling the permeate to the pretreatment reactor. The pretreatment process provides solubilized organics in concentrated form for the subsequent conversion into biofuels and other chemicals.

  18. Abnormal sound detection device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamada, Izumi; Matsui, Yuji.

    1995-01-01

    Only components synchronized with rotation of pumps are sampled from detected acoustic sounds, to judge the presence or absence of abnormality based on the magnitude of the synchronized components. A synchronized component sampling means can remove resonance sounds and other acoustic sounds generated at a synchronously with the rotation based on the knowledge that generated acoustic components in a normal state are a sort of resonance sounds and are not precisely synchronized with the number of rotation. On the other hand, abnormal sounds of a rotating body are often caused by compulsory force accompanying the rotation as a generation source, and the abnormal sounds can be detected by extracting only the rotation-synchronized components. Since components of normal acoustic sounds generated at present are discriminated from the detected sounds, reduction of the abnormal sounds due to a signal processing can be avoided and, as a result, abnormal sound detection sensitivity can be improved. Further, since it is adapted to discriminate the occurrence of the abnormal sound from the actually detected sounds, the other frequency components which are forecast but not generated actually are not removed, so that it is further effective for the improvement of detection sensitivity. (N.H.)

  19. Enzymatic protein hydrolysates from high pressure-pretreated isolated pea proteins have better antioxidant properties than similar hydrolysates produced from heat pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Girgih, Abraham T; Chao, Dongfang; Lin, Lin; He, Rong; Jung, Stephanie; Aluko, Rotimi E

    2015-12-01

    Isolated pea protein (IPP) dispersions (1%, w/v) were pretreated with high pressure (HP) of 200, 400, or 600 MPa for 5 min at 24 °C or high temperature (HT) for 30 min at 100 °C prior to hydrolysis with 1% (w/w) Alcalase. HP pretreatment of IPP at 400 and 600 MPa levels led to significantly (P40%) oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC) of hydrolysates. 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, superoxide radical and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities of pea protein hydrolysates were also significantly (PProtein hydrolysates from HT IPP showed no ORAC, superoxide or hydroxyl scavenging activity but had significantly (Pprotein hydrolysates had weaker antioxidant properties than glutathione but overall, the HP pretreatment was superior to HT pretreatment in facilitating enzymatic release of antioxidant peptides from IPP. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Wet oxidation pretreatment of rape straw for ethanol production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arvaniti, Efthalia; Bjerre, Anne Belinda; Schmidt, Jens Ejbye

    2012-01-01

    Rape straw can be used for production of second generation bioethanol. In this paper we optimized the pretreatment of rape straw for this purpose using Wet oxidation (WO). The effect of reaction temperature, reaction time, and oxygen gas pressure was investigated for maximum ethanol yield via Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF). To reduce the water use and increase the energy efficiency in WO pretreatment features like recycling liquid (filtrate), presoaking of rape straw in water or recycled filtrate before WO, skip washing pretreated solids (filter cake) after WO, or use of whole slurry (Filter cake + filtrate) in SSF were also tested. Except ethanol yields, pretreatment methods were evaluated based on achieved glucose yields, amount of water used, recovery of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. The highest ethanol yield obtained was 67% after fermenting the whole slurry produced by WO at 205 °C for 3 min with 12 bar of oxygen gas pressure and featured with presoaking in water. At these conditions after pre-treatment, cellulose and hemicellulose was recovered quantitatively (100%) together with 86% of the lignin. WO treatments of 2–3 min at 205–210 °C with 12 bar of oxygen gas produced higher ethanol yields and cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin recoveries, than 15 min WO treatment at 195 °C. Also, recycling filtrate and use of higher oxygen gas pressure reduced recovery of materials. The use of filtrate could be inhibitory for the yeast, but also reduced lactic acid formation in SSF. -- Highlights: ► Wet Oxidation pretreatment on rape straw for sugar and ethanol production. ► Variables were reaction time, temperature, and oxygen gas pressure. ► Also, other configurations for increase of water and energy efficiency. ► Short Wet oxidation pretreatment (2–3 min) produced highest ethanol yield. ► After these pretreatment conditions recovery of lignin in solids was 86%.

  1. Impact of metabolic disorders on the relation between overweight/obesity and incident myocardial infarction and ischaemic stroke in fertile women

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, S S; Andersson, C; Berger, S M

    2015-01-01

    and smoking, the risk of the composite outcome of myocardial infarction and ischaemic stroke was assessed with metabolic disorders (i.e. hypertensive conditions, abnormal glucose metabolism and/or dyslipidaemia) included as time-dependent variables. RESULTS: The population comprised 261,489 women with median...

  2. Investigation of Pleurotus ostreatus pretreatment on switchgrass for ethanol production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slavens, Shelyn Gehle

    Fungal pretreatment using the white-rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus on switchgrass for ethanol production was studied. In a small-scale storage study, small switchgrass bales were inoculated with fungal spawn and automatically watered to maintain moisture. Sampled at 25, 53, and 81 d, the switchgrass composition was determined and liquid hot water (LHW) pretreatment was conducted. Fungal pretreatment significantly decreased the xylan and lignin content; glucan was not significantly affected by fungal loading. The glucan, xylan, and lignin contents significantly decreased with increased fungal pretreatment time. The effects of the fungal pretreatment were not highly evident after the LHW pretreatment, showing only changes based on sampling time. Although other biological activity within the bales increased cellulose degradation, the fungal pretreatment successfully reduced the switchgrass lignin and hemicellulose contents. In a laboratory-scale nutrient supplementation study, copper, manganese, glucose, or water was added to switchgrass to induce production of ligninolytic enzymes by P. ostreatus. After 40 d, ligninolytic enzyme activities and biomass composition were determined and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) was conducted to determine ethanol yield. Laccase activity was similar for all supplements and manganese peroxidase (MnP) activity was significantly less in copper-treated samples than in the other fungal-inoculated samples. The fungal pretreatment reduced glucan, xylan, and lignin content, while increasing extractable sugars content. The lowest lignin contents occurred in the water-fungal treated samples and produced the greatest ethanol yields. The greatest lignin contents occurred in the copper-fungal treated samples and produced the lowest ethanol yields. Manganese-fungal and glucose-fungal treated samples had similar, intermediate lignin contents and produced similar, intermediate ethanol yields. Ethanol yields from switchgrass

  3. Literature Review of Physical and Chemical Pretreatment Processes for Lignocellulosic Biomass

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harmsen, P.; Bakker, R. [Wageningen University and Research centre WUR, Food and Biobased Research WUR-FBR, Wageningen (Netherlands); Huijgen, W.J.J. [ECN Biomass, Coal and Environment, Petten (Netherlands); Bermudez Lopez, L. [Abengoa Bioenergia Nuevas Tecnologias ABNT (Spain)

    2010-09-15

    This literature review was performed within the BioSynergy project (2007-2010). BioSynergy is a European Integrated Project supported through the Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (038994-SES6). BioSynergy stands for 'BIOmass for the market competitive and environmentally friendly SYNthesis of bio-products together with the production of secondary enERGY carriers through the biorefinery approach'. Within the BioSynergy project the overall goal of the pretreatment routes being developed is to convert raw lignocellulosic biomass into its composing sugars and lignin in a market competitive and environmentally sustainable way. This report reviews lignocellulose pretreatment in general as well as specific pretreatment technologies that are developed within the BioSynergy project including steam explosion (ABNT), mechanical/alkaline fractionation (WUR) and organosolv fractionation (ECN). In addition to these pretreatment technologies, other pretreatment technologies are studied within the BioSynergy project such as acetic/formic acid pretreatment and mild- and strong acid pretreatment.

  4. Mechanism of waste biomass pyrolysis: Effect of physical and chemical pre-treatments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Das, Oisik; Sarmah, Ajit K.

    2015-01-01

    To impart usability in waste based biomass through thermo-chemical reactions, several physical and chemical pre-treatments were conducted to gain an insight on their mode of action, effect on the chemistry and the change in thermal degradation profiles. Two different waste biomasses (Douglas fir, a softwood and hybrid poplar, a hardwood) were subjected to four different pre-treatments, namely, hot water pre-treatment, torrefaction, acid (sulphuric acid) and salt (ammonium phosphate) doping. Post pre-treatments, the changes in the biomass structure, chemistry, and thermal makeup were studied through electron microscopy, atomic absorption/ultra violet spectroscopy, ion exchange chromatography, and thermogravimetry. The pre-treatments significantly reduced the amounts of inorganic ash, extractives, metals, and hemicellulose from both the biomass samples. Furthermore, hot water and torrefaction pre-treatment caused mechanical disruption in biomass fibres leading to smaller particle sizes. Torrefaction of Douglas fir wood yielded more solid product than hybrid poplar. Finally, the salt pre-treatment increased the activation energies of the biomass samples (especially Douglas fir) to a great extent. Thus, salt pre-treatment was found to bestow thermal stability in the biomass. - Highlights: • Pre-treatments reduce ash, extractives, alkalines and hemicellulose from biomass. • Torrefaction of Douglas fir yields more solid product than hybrid poplar. • Salt pretreatment significantly increases the activation energy of biomass. • Acid and salt pretreatment bestows thermal stability in biomass.

  5. Mechanism of waste biomass pyrolysis: Effect of physical and chemical pre-treatments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Das, Oisik [Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman 99164-6120, WA (United States); Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Auckland, Auckland 1142 (New Zealand); Sarmah, Ajit K., E-mail: a.sarmah@auckland.ac.nz [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Auckland, Auckland 1142 (New Zealand)

    2015-12-15

    To impart usability in waste based biomass through thermo-chemical reactions, several physical and chemical pre-treatments were conducted to gain an insight on their mode of action, effect on the chemistry and the change in thermal degradation profiles. Two different waste biomasses (Douglas fir, a softwood and hybrid poplar, a hardwood) were subjected to four different pre-treatments, namely, hot water pre-treatment, torrefaction, acid (sulphuric acid) and salt (ammonium phosphate) doping. Post pre-treatments, the changes in the biomass structure, chemistry, and thermal makeup were studied through electron microscopy, atomic absorption/ultra violet spectroscopy, ion exchange chromatography, and thermogravimetry. The pre-treatments significantly reduced the amounts of inorganic ash, extractives, metals, and hemicellulose from both the biomass samples. Furthermore, hot water and torrefaction pre-treatment caused mechanical disruption in biomass fibres leading to smaller particle sizes. Torrefaction of Douglas fir wood yielded more solid product than hybrid poplar. Finally, the salt pre-treatment increased the activation energies of the biomass samples (especially Douglas fir) to a great extent. Thus, salt pre-treatment was found to bestow thermal stability in the biomass. - Highlights: • Pre-treatments reduce ash, extractives, alkalines and hemicellulose from biomass. • Torrefaction of Douglas fir yields more solid product than hybrid poplar. • Salt pretreatment significantly increases the activation energy of biomass. • Acid and salt pretreatment bestows thermal stability in biomass.

  6. Pretreatment Characteristics of Waste Oak Wood by Ammonia Percolation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jun-Seok; Kim, Hyunjoon; Lee, Jin-Suk; Lee, Joon-Pyo; Park, Soon-Chul

    A log of waste oak wood collected from a Korean mushroom farm has been tested for ammonia percolation pretreatment. The waste log has different physical characteristics from that of virgin oak wood. The density of the waste wood was 30% lower than that of virgin oak wood. However, there is little difference in the chemical compositions between the woods. Due to the difference in physical characteristics, the optimal pretreatment conditions were also quite different. While for waste oak the optimum temperature was determined to be 130°C, for virgin oak wood the optimum pretreatment was only achieved at 170°C. Presoaking for 12 h with ammonia solution before pretreatment was helpful to increase the delignification efficiency.

  7. 40 CFR 455.46 - Pretreatment standards for existing sources (PSES).

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... pretreated at the facility. The Control Authority may waive pretreatment for these two wastewaters only if... Authority at the time of renewing or modifying its individual control mechanism or pretreatment agreement of... Authority an initial certification statement as described in § 455.41(a); (3) The discharger will submit to...

  8. Evaluation of skeletal muscle metabolism in patients with congestive heart failure using phosphorus nuclear magnetic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilson, J.R.

    1988-01-01

    Patients with congestive heart failure are frequently limited by muscular fatigue due skeletal muscle underperfusion and deconditioning. Muscle underperfusion and deconditioning both produce distinctive changes in metabolic parameters which are readily measured by phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Therefore, phosphorus NMR should provide a useful noninvasive method of assessing muscle performance in heart failure. This chapter describes a protocol which allows detection of forearm muscle metabolic abnormalities in patients with heart failure, abnormalities that seem to be caused by muscle deconditioning. In the future, it is anticipated that this approach may prove to be an extremely useful method for objectively assessing muscle fatigue in patients with heart failure and for monitoring the effects on therapeutic interventions designed to treat this fatigue

  9. Comparison of microwave and conduction-convection heating autohydrolysis pretreatment for bioethanol production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguilar-Reynosa, Alejandra; Romaní, Aloia; Rodríguez-Jasso, Rosa M; Aguilar, Cristóbal N; Garrote, Gil; Ruiz, Héctor A

    2017-11-01

    This work describes the application of two forms of heating for autohydrolysis pretreatment on isothermal regimen: conduction-convection heating and microwave heating processing using corn stover as raw material for bioethanol production. Pretreatments were performed using different operational conditions: residence time (10-50 min) and temperature (160-200°C) for both pretreatments. Subsequently, the susceptibility of pretreated solids was studied using low enzyme loads, and high substrate loads. The highest conversion was 95.1% for microwave pretreated solids. Also solids pretreated by microwave heating processing showed better ethanol conversion in simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process (92% corresponding to 33.8g/L). Therefore, microwave heating processing is a promising technology in the pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. [Enhancement of anaerobic digestion of excess sludge by acid-alkali pretreatment].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Guang-Huan; Zhou, Xing-Qiu; Wu, Jian-Dong

    2012-06-01

    In order to enhance the efficiency of anaerobic digestion of excess sludge, acid-alkali pretreatment method was studied. Three different pretreatment methods (alkali alone,acid-alkali, alkali-acid) were compared to investigate their impacts on hydrolysis and acidification of activated sludge. In addition, their influences on methane-producing in subsequent anaerobic digestion process were also studied. The results showed that the soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) of alkaline treatment alone was about 16% higher than the combining of acid and alkali treatment, SCOD concentration increased to 5406.1 mg x L(-1) after 8 d pretreatment. After treated by acid (pH 4.0, 4 d) and alkali (pH 10.0, 4 d), the acetic acid production and its content in short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were higher than other pretreatment methods. And the acetic acid production (as COD/VSS) could reach 74.4 mg x g(-1), accounting for 60.5% of SCFAs. After acid-alkali pretreatment, the C: N ratio of the sludge mixed liquor was about 25, and the C: P ratio was between 35-40, which was more favorable than C: N and C: P ratio of alkali alone and alkali-acid to subsequent anaerobic digestion. The control experiments showed that, after acid-alkali pretreatment, anaerobic digestion cumulative methane yield (CH4/VSS(in)) reached to 136.1 mL x g(-1) at 15 d, which was about 2.5-, 1.6-, and 1.7-fold of the blank (unpretreated), alkali alone pretreatment and alkali-acid pretreatment, respectively. After acid-alkali pretreatment for 8 d and anaerobic digestion for 15 d, the removal efficiency of VSS was about 60.9%, and the sludge reduction effect was better than other pretreatments. It is obvious that the acid-alkali pretreatment method was more favorable to anaerobic digestion and sludge reduction.

  11. Effect of scutellarin on the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of clopidogrel in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Xinmeng; Jin, Jing; Chen, Yaobin; Peng, Lingling; Zhong, Guoping; Li, Jiali; Bi, Huichang; Cai, Yefeng; Huang, Min

    2015-01-01

    Erigeron breviscapus (Vant.) Hand-Mazz, a traditional Chinese medicine, is often co-prescribed with clopidogrel for the treatment of ischemic vascular diseases. Scutellarin is the representative bioactive flavonoid isolated from this herb. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of scutellarin on the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of clopidogrel. The in vitro studies using rat liver microsomes showed that scutellarin significantly inhibited the metabolism of clopidogrel. The IC50 value was 2.1 µM. Ten male rats were employed to investigate the effect of scutellarin on the pharmacokinetics of clopidogrel in vivo. After pretreatment with scutellarin, there were significant increases in the AUC0-∞ (from 0.9 ± 0.4 to 1.7 ± 0.6 ng/ml h; p <0.05) and Cmax (from 0.4 ± 0.1 to 0.9 ± 0.1 ng/ml; p <0.05) of clopidogrel. The pharmacokinetic data for clopidogrel active metabolite showed significant decreases in AUC0-∞ (18.2 ± 5.6 to 11.4 ± 3.7 ng/ml h; p <0.05) and Cmax (from 8.2 ± 1.2 to 4.3 ± 0.3 ng/ml; p <0.05) after pretreatment with scutellarin. Collectively, the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of clopidogrel were significantly affected by scutellarin. This study indicated that potential herb-drug interaction between scutellarin and clopidogrel should be taken into consideration in clinical use. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  12. Klinefelter syndrome, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes: review of literature and clinical perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salzano, Andrea; D'Assante, Roberta; Heaney, Liam M; Monaco, Federica; Rengo, Giuseppe; Valente, Pietro; Pasquali, Daniela; Bossone, Eduardo; Gianfrilli, Daniele; Lenzi, Andrea; Cittadini, Antonio; Marra, Alberto M; Napoli, Raffaele

    2018-03-23

    Klinefelter syndrome (KS), the most frequent chromosomic abnormality in males, is associated with hypergonadotropic hypogonadism and an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The mechanisms involved in increasing risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality are not completely understood. This review summarises the current understandings of the complex relationship between KS, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk in order to plan future studies and improve current strategies to reduce mortality in this high-risk population. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus for manuscripts published prior to November 2017 using key words "Klinefelter syndrome" AND "insulin resistance" OR "metabolic syndrome" OR "diabetes mellitus" OR "cardiovascular disease" OR "testosterone". Manuscripts were collated, studied and carried forward for discussion where appropriate. Insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes are more frequently diagnosed in KS than in the general population; however, the contribution of hypogonadism to metabolic derangement is highly controversial. Whether this dangerous combination of risk factors fully explains the CVD burden of KS patients remains unclear. In addition, testosterone replacement therapy only exerts a marginal action on the CVD system. Since fat accumulation and distribution seem to play a relevant role in triggering metabolic abnormalities, an early diagnosis and a tailored intervention strategy with drugs aimed at targeting excessive visceral fat deposition appear necessary in patients with KS.

  13. The "selfish brain" hypothesis for metabolic abnormalities in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia A hipótese do "cérebro egoísta" para alterações metabólicas no transtorno bipolar e na esquizofrenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rodrigo Barbachan Mansur

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Metabolic abnormalities are frequent in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BD, leading to a high prevalence of diabetes and metabolic syndrome in this population. Moreover, mortality rates among patients are higher than in the general population, especially due to cardiovascular diseases. Several neurobiological systems involved in energy metabolism have been shown to be altered in both illnesses; however, the cause of metabolic abnormalities and how they relate to schizophrenia and BD pathophysiology are still largely unknown. The "selfish brain" theory is a recent paradigm postulating that, in order to maintain its own energy supply stable, the brain modulates energy metabolism in the periphery by regulation of both allocation and intake of nutrients. We hypothesize that the metabolic alterations observed in these disorders are a result of an inefficient regulation of the brain energy supply and its compensatory mechanisms. The selfish brain theory can also expand our understanding of stress adaptation and neuroprogression in schizophrenia and BD, and, overall, can have important clinical implications for both illnesses.Alterações metabólicas são frequentes em pacientes com esquizofrenia e transtorno bipolar (TB, levando a uma alta prevalência de diabetes e síndrome metabólica nessa população. Além disso, as taxas de mortalidade entre pacientes são mais altas do que na população geral, especialmente em decorrência de doenças cardiovasculares. Vários sistemas neurobiológicos envolvidos no metabolismo energético têm demonstrado alterações nas duas doenças; no entanto, a causa das alterações metabólicas e a forma como elas se relacionam com a fisiopatologia da esquizofrenia e do TB ainda são arenas em grande parte desconhecidas. A teoria do "cérebro egoísta" é um paradigma recente que postula que, para manter estável seu próprio fornecimento de energia, o cérebro modula o metabolismo da energia na

  14. Relationship between pretreatment level of plasma Epstein-Barr virus DNA, tumor burden, and metabolic activity in advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma, Brigette; King, Ann; Lo, Y.M. Dennis; Yau, Y.Y.; Zee, Benny; Hui, Edwin P.; Leung, Sing F.; Mo, Frankie; Kam, Michael K.; Ahuja, Anil; Kwan, Wing H.; Chan, Anthony

    2006-01-01

    Purpose: Plasma Epstein-Barr virus DNA (pEBV DNA) is an important prognostic marker in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). This study tested the hypotheses that pEBV DNA reflects tumor burden and metabolic activity by evaluating its relationship with tumor volume and 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose ( 18 F-FDG) uptake in NPC. Methods and Materials: Pre-treatment pEBV DNA analysis, 18 F-FDG positron emission tomography-computed tomography scan (PET-CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head and neck were performed in 57 patients. Net volume (cm 3 ) of the primary tumor (T vol ) and regional nodes (N vol ) were quantified on MRI. 18 F-FDG uptake was expressed as the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max ) at the primary tumor (T suv ) and regional nodes (N suv ). Lesions with SUV max ≥ 2.5 were considered malignant. Relationship between SUV max , natural logarithm (log) of pEBV DNA, and square root (sq) of MRI volumes was analyzed using the Wilcoxon test. A linear regression model was constructed to test for any interaction between variables and disease stage. Results: Log-pEBV DNA showed significant correlation with sq-T vol (r = 0.393), sq-N vol (r = 0.452), total tumor volume (sq-Total vol = T vol + N vol , r = 0.554), T suv (r = 0.276), N suv (r = 0.434), and total SUV max (Total suv = T suv + N suv , r = 0.457). Likewise, sq-T vol was correlated to T suv (r 0.426), and sq-N vol with N suv (r = 0.651). Regression analysis showed that only log-pEBV DNA was significantly associated with sq-Total vol (p vol was significantly associated with T suv (p = 0.002; parameter estimate = 3.923; 95% confidence interval = 1.498-6.348). Conclusion: This study supports the hypothesis that cell-free plasma EBV DNA is a marker of tumor burden in EBV-related NPC

  15. Measurement of tritiated norepinephrine metabolism in intact rat brain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Levitt, M.; Kowalik, S.; Barkai, A.I.

    1983-01-01

    A procedure for the study of NE metabolism in the intact rat brain is described. The method involves ventriculocisternal perfusion of the adult male rat with artificial CSF containing [ 3 H]NE. Radioactivity in the perfusate associated with NE and its metabolites 3,4-dihydroxymandelic acid (DOMA), 3,4-dihydroxphenylethyleneglycol (DHPG), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxymandelic acid (VMA), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethyleneglycol (MHPG), and normetanephrine (NMN) is separated using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). After 80 min the radioactivity in the perfusate reaches an apparent steady-state. Analysis of the steady-state samples shows higher activity in the fractions corresponding to DHPG and MHPG than in those corresponding to DOMA and VMA, confirming glycol formation as the major pathway of NE metabolism in rat brain. Pretreatment with an MAO inhibitor (tranylcypromine) results in a marked decrease in the deaminated metabolites DHPG and MHPG and a concurrent increase in NMN. The results indicate this to be a sensitive procedure for the in vivo determination of changes in NE metabolism. (Auth.)

  16. Cost comparison for REDC pretreatment project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robinson, S.M.; Homan, F.J.

    1997-06-01

    This analysis has been prepared to support the planned expenditure to provide the Radiochemical Engineering Development Center (REDC) with the capability to pretreat their liquid low-level waste (LLLW) before discharging it to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) LLLW system. Pretreatment will remove most of the radioactivity, particularly the transuranic isotopes and Cs-137 from the waste to be discharged. This will render the supernates that accumulate in the storage tanks low-activity Class B low-level wastes rather than high-activity Class B or Class C wastes. The sludges will be Class C rather than remote-handled transuranic (RH-TRU) wastes. When REDC wastes are commingled with other ORNL LLLW, the present-worth treatment and transport costs are higher by a factor of 1.3 for the no-pretreatment cases. This result is consistent with data from similar studies conducted at other sites. Based on the information presented in this analysis, the recommendation is to proceed with REDC treatment projects

  17. Influence of detection of pretreatment cytogenetic abnormalities on first complete remission and survival in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milena Georgieva Velizarova

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL in adults focuses on the initial assessment of the prognostic relevant cytogenetic features as well as a response-guided therapy based on molecular data. We examined the importance of molecular-cytogenetic abnormalities for complete remission (CR rates and the overall survival (OS in adult ALLs.Materials and Methods: Conventional cytogenetics and fluorescence in situ hybridization were performed on bone marrow cells from 33 newly-diagnosed ALL adults. Two karyotype categories [standard- risk group- normal karyotype, hyperdiplody and other structural aberrations, and high-risk group-t(11q23/MLL, t(9;22/bcr-abl, t(1;19, t(8;14, C-MYC and complex karyotype] and the biologically and clinically relevant ALL ploidy subgroups were prospectively defined.Results: Chromosomal abnormalities were found in 52% of the cases with a high rate of poor-risk translocations - t(9;22, t(8q24, t(11q23, t(1;19. The total CR rate was 67% and the median time for achievement 2.33 months. Male sex, an age below 35 years and the absence of high risk translocations might have contributed to the high CR rates. Female patients, hyperdiplody, low white blood cells (WBC, and random cytogenetic aberrations had the longest OS. OS, 3- and 5-years survival periods were significantly shorter for poor-risk than standard risk group (p=.015, p=.001 and p=.005, respectively.Conclusion: This study emphasizes the lack of influence of cytogenetic aberrations on the CR and the time to achieve CR. However, our observations show that these aberrations are an independent prognostic factor in adult ALL - they allow predicting therapy resistance and the OS time after intensetreatment.

  18. ALA Pretreatment Improves Waterlogging Tolerance of Fig Plants.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuyan An

    Full Text Available 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA, a natural and environmentally friendly plant growth regulator, can improve plant tolerance to various environmental stresses. However, whether ALA can improve plant waterlogging tolerance is unknown. Here, we investigated the effects of ALA pretreatment on the waterlogging-induced damage of fig (Ficus carica Linn. plants, which often suffer from waterlogging stress. ALA pretreatment significantly alleviated stress-induced morphological damage, increased leaf relative water content (RWC, and reduced leaf superoxide anion ([Formula: see text] production rate and malonaldehyde (MDA content in fig leaves, indicating ALA mitigates waterlogging stress of fig plants. We further demonstrated that ALA pretreatment largely promoted leaf chlorophyll content, photosynthetic electron transfer ability, and photosynthetic performance index, indicating ALA significantly improves plant photosynthetic efficiency under waterlogging stress. Moreover, ALA pretreatment significantly increased activities of leaf superoxide dismutase (SOD and peroxidase (POD, root vigor, and activities of root alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH, indicating ALA also significantly improves antioxidant ability and root function of fig plants under waterlogging stress. Taken together, ALA pretreatment improves waterlogging tolerance of fig plants significantly, and the promoted root respiration, leaf photosynthesis, and antioxidant ability may contribute greatly to this improvement. Our data firstly shows that ALA can improve plant waterlogging tolerance.

  19. Electrocardiographic abnormalities in opiate addicts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallner, Christina; Stöllberger, Claudia; Hlavin, Anton; Finsterer, Josef; Hager, Isabella; Hermann, Peter

    2008-12-01

    To determine in a cross-sectional study the prevalence of electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities in opiate addicts who were therapy-seeking and its association with demographic, clinical and drug-specific parameters. In consecutive therapy-seeking opiate addicts, a 12-lead ECG was registered within 24 hours after admission and evaluated according to a pre-set protocol between October 2004 and August 2006. Additionally, demographic, clinical and drug-specific parameters were recorded. Included were 511 opiate-addicts, 25% female, with a mean age of 29 years (range 17-59 years). One or more ECG abnormalities were found in 314 patients (61%). In the 511 patients we found most commonly ST abnormalities (19%), QTc prolongation (13%), tall R- and/or S-waves (11%) and missing R progression (10%). ECG abnormalities were more common in males than in females (64 versus 54%, P seizures less often (16 versus 27%, P opiate addicts. The most frequent ECG abnormalities are ST abnormalities, QTc prolongation and tall R- and/or S-waves. ST abnormalities are associated with cannabis, and QTc prolongation with methadone and benzodiazepines.

  20. New pentose dimers with bicyclic moieties from pretreated biomass

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, H.; Sørensen, Henrik Rokkjær; Tanner, David Ackland

    2017-01-01

    In lignocellulosic biorefinery processes involving enzyme catalysed reactions it is a challenge that enzyme inhibiting compounds are generated and liberated during pretreatment of the biomass. In this study the contribution to cellulase inhibition from xylooligosaccharides and newly discovered...... oligophenolic compounds from pilot scale pretreated wheat straw was assessed at two different pretreatment severities. An increase in severity of the pretreatment led to more oligophenol compounds and in turn the total overall cellulase inhibition increased. When the xylooligosaccharides were enzymatically...... degraded prior to cellulose hydrolysis, a relief in cellulase inhibition was observed, but some inhibition remained, suggesting that other components also played a role in inhibition. We propose that these components include dipentoses with bicyclic moieties and feruloylated tripentoses, because LC...

  1. Roentgenologic abnormalities in Down's syndrome

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Higuchi, Takehiko; Russell, W J; Komatsuda, Michio; Neriishi, Shotaro

    1968-07-25

    Roentgenograms of 28 patients with Down's syndrome were reviewed with emphasis on all previously reported abnormalities and any possible additional ones. Most of the abnormalities occurred with the same frequency as previously reported, but some less frequently reported findings were also seen. One abnormal vertebral measurement found in this series may be an additional stigma of Down's syndrome. All of the 27 cases studied cytogenetically had chromosomal abnormalities consistent with this disease. This study emphasizes the need for roentgenologic norms for the Japanese, and the desirability of combining chromosome studies with roentgenological abnormalities and clinical observations in diagnosing Down's syndrome. 19 references, 2 figures, 5 tables.

  2. Metabolic abnormalities associated with weight loss during chemoirradiation of head-and-neck cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, Alexander; Jabbari, Siavash; Worden, Francis P.; Bradford, Carol R.; Chepeha, Douglas B.; Teknos, Theodoros N.; Liao, Jay J.; Nyquist, Gurston G.; Tsien, Christina; Schipper, Matthew J.; Urba, Susan; Wolf, Gregory T.; Eisbruch, Avraham

    2005-01-01

    Purpose: Weight loss caused by acute mucositis and dysphagia is common during concurrent chemoirradiation (chemo-RT) of head-and-neck (HN) cancer. The metabolic consequences of weight loss during chemo-RT were investigated. Patients and Methods: Ninety-six patients with locally advanced HN cancer were treated from 1995 to 2001 on protocols that consisted of 1 to 2 cycles of induction cisplatin/5-fluorouracil followed by irradiation (70 Gy over 7 weeks) concurrent with cisplatin (100 mg/m 2 every 3 weeks). Body weights and metabolic evaluations were obtained before and during induction chemotherapy and chemo-RT. Greatest percent changes in weight and in the laboratory values were calculated for each phase of therapy. Results: During induction chemotherapy, significant changes were found in BUN, BUN:creatinine ratio, HCO 3 , Mg, and albumin, but not in creatinine, Na, K, or weight. During chemo-RT, significant additional changes were observed in all parameters measured, including increases in BUN, creatinine, BUN: creatinine ratio, and HCO 3 and decreases in Mg, albumin, Na, K, and weight. The magnitude of most of these changes was significantly greater during chemo-RT than during induction chemotherapy. During chemo-RT, 35% of the patients had more than 10% body weight loss and 6 patients had an increase in creatinine of more than 100%, including 5 patients with Grade 2 nephrotoxicity, all of whom had weight loss 10% or more. Significant correlations were found between weight loss and creatinine (p < 0.0001) or BUN (p = 0.0002) rises, but not with BUN:creatinine ratio or other metabolic changes. Age, gender, tobacco history, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus were not significant predictors of nephrotoxicity. Conclusions: Weight loss during cisplatin-containing chemo-RT was found to be associated with reduced kidney function. These findings do not establish cause-effect relationships; however, they highlight the importance of intensive supportive measures of

  3. Environmentally Friendly Pretreatment for Department of Defense Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-29

    Develop an environmentally friendly pretreatment system for multi-material Department of Defense applications ― Free of hexavalent chromium (Cr6...Zn phosphate and chrome wash primer •Two Zirconium pretreatment variations passed the 336 hr and 1000 hr B-117 outlined per MIL-DTL-53022 or MIL

  4. Enhanced biogas production from penicillin bacterial residue by thermal-alkaline pretreatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhong, Weizhang; Li, Guixia; Gao, Yan; Li, Zaixing; Geng, Xiaoling; Li, Yubing; Yang, Jingliang; Zhou, Chonghui

    2015-01-01

    In this study, the orthogonal experimental design was used to determine the optimum conditions for the effect of thermal alkaline; pretreatment on the anaerobic digestion of penicillin bacterial residue. The biodegradability of the penicillin; bacterial residue was evaluated by biochemical methane potential tests in laboratory. The optimum values of temperature,; alkali concentration, pretreatment time and moisture content for the thermal-alkaline pretreatment were determined as; 70 °C, 6% (w/v), 30 min, and 85%, respectively. Thermal-alkaline pretreatment could significantly enhance the soluble; chemical oxygen demand solubilization, the suspended solid solubilization and the biodegradability. Biogas production; was enhanced by the thermal-alkaline pretreatment, probably as a result of the breakdown of cell walls and membranes of; micro-organisms, which may facilitate the contact between organic molecules and anaerobic microorganisms.; Keywords: penicillin bacterial residue; anaerobic digestion; biochemical methane potential tests; pretreatment

  5. Autohydrolysis pretreatment assessment in ethanol production from agave bagasse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rios-González, Leopoldo J; Morales-Martínez, Thelma K; Rodríguez-Flores, María F; Rodríguez-De la Garza, José A; Castillo-Quiroz, David; Castro-Montoya, Agustín J; Martinez, Alfredo

    2017-10-01

    The aim of the present work was to assess the autohydrolysis pretreatment of Agave tequilana bagasse for ethanol production. The pretreatment was conducted using a one-liter high pressure Parr reactor under different severity factors (SF) at a 1:6w/v ratio (solid:liquid) and 200rpm. The solids obtained under the selected autohydrolysis conditions were subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis with a commercial cellulase cocktail, and the enzymatic hydrolysate was fermented using Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The results obtained from the pretreatment process showed that the glucan content in the pretreated solid was mostly preserved, and an increase in the digestibility was observed for the case with a SF of 4.13 (190°C, 30min). Enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated solids showed a yield of 74.3%, with a glucose concentration of 126g/L, resulting in 65.26g/L of ethanol after 10h of fermentation, which represent a 98.4% conversion according to the theoretical ethanol yield value. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Pretreating wheat straw by the concentrated phosphoric acid plus hydrogen peroxide (PHP): Investigations on pretreatment conditions and structure changes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qing; Hu, Jinguang; Shen, Fei; Mei, Zili; Yang, Gang; Zhang, Yanzong; Hu, Yaodong; Zhang, Jing; Deng, Shihuai

    2016-01-01

    Wheat straw was pretreated by PHP (the concentrated H3PO4 plus H2O2) to clarify effects of temperature, time and H3PO4 proportion on hemicellulose removal, delignification, cellulose recovery and enzymatic digestibility. Overall, hemicellulose removal was intensified by PHP comparing to the concentrated H3PO4. Moreover, efficient delignification specially happened in PHP pretreatment. Hemicellulose removal and delignification by PHP positively responded to temperature and time. Increasing H3PO4 proportion in PHP can promote hemicellulose removal, however, decrease the delignification. Maximum hemicellulose removal and delignification were achieved at 100% and 83.7% by PHP. Enzymatic digestibility of PHP-pretreated wheat straw was greatly improved by increasing temperature, time and H3PO4 proportion, and complete hydrolysis can be achieved consequently. As temperature of 30-40°C, time of 2.0 h and H3PO4 proportion of 60% were employed, more than 92% cellulose was retained in the pretreated wheat straw, and 29.1-32.6g glucose can be harvested from 100g wheat straw. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Asiatic Acid Alleviates Hemodynamic and Metabolic Alterations via Restoring eNOS/iNOS Expression, Oxidative Stress, and Inflammation in Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome Rats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Poungrat Pakdeechote

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Asiatic acid is a triterpenoid isolated from Centella asiatica. The present study aimed to investigate whether asiatic acid could lessen the metabolic, cardiovascular complications in rats with metabolic syndrome (MS induced by a high-carbohydrate, high-fat (HCHF diet. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed with HCHF diet with 15% fructose in drinking water for 12 weeks to induce MS. MS rats were treated with asiatic acid (10 or 20 mg/kg/day or vehicle for a further three weeks. MS rats had an impairment of oral glucose tolerance, increases in fasting blood glucose, serum insulin, total cholesterol, triglycerides, mean arterial blood pressure, heart rate, and hindlimb vascular resistance; these were related to the augmentation of vascular superoxide anion production, plasma malondialdehyde and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α levels (p < 0.05. Plasma nitrate and nitrite (NOx were markedly high with upregulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS expression, but dowregulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS expression (p < 0.05. Asiatic acid significantly improved insulin sensitivity, lipid profiles, hemodynamic parameters, oxidative stress markers, plasma TNF-α, NOx, and recovered abnormality of eNOS/iNOS expressions in MS rats (p < 0.05. In conclusion, asiatic acid improved metabolic, hemodynamic abnormalities in MS rats that could be associated with its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effects and recovering regulation of eNOS/iNOS expression.

  8. Brain glucose metabolism in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients as assessed with FDG-PET: impact on outcome and chemotherapy effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Hugo Ja; de Klerk, John Mh; Fijnheer, Rob; Heggelman, Ben Gf; Dubois, Stefan V; Nievelstein, Rutger Aj; Kwee, Thomas C

    2016-06-01

    There is a lack of data on the effect of rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) therapy on brain glucose metabolism of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients, as measured by 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). Moreover, the prognostic value of brain glucose metabolism measurements is currently unknown. To investigate the use of FDG-PET for measurement of brain glucose metabolism in R-CHOP-treated DLBCL patients, and to assess its prognostic value. This retrospective study included DLBCL patients who underwent FDG-PET including the brain. FDG-PET metabolic volume products (MVPs) of the entire brain, cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, and cerebellum were measured, before and after R-CHOP therapy. Whole-body total lesion glycolysis (TLG) was also measured. Thirty-eight patients were included, of whom 18 had an appropriate end-of-treatment FDG-PET scan. There were no significant differences (P > 0.199) between pre- and post-treatment brain glucose metabolism metrics. Low basal ganglia MVP was associated with a significantly worse progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) (P = 0.020 and P = 0.032), and low cerebellar MVP was associated with a significantly worse OS (P = 0.034). There were non-significant very weak correlations between pretreatment brain glucose metabolism metrics and TLG. In the multivariate Cox regression, only the National Comprehensive Cancer Network International Prognostic Index (NCCN-IPI) remained an independent predictor of PFS (hazard ratio 3.787, P = 0.007) and OS (hazard ratio 2.903, P = 0.0345). Brain glucose metabolism was not affected by R-CHOP therapy. Low pretreatment brain glucose metabolism was associated with a worse outcome, but did not surpass the predictive value of the NCCN-IPI. © The Foundation Acta Radiologica 2015.

  9. Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Associated with Components of Metabolic Syndrome among People in Rural China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Jing; Shen, Chong; Chu, Min J; Gao, Yue X; Xu, Guang F; Huang, Jian P; Xu, Qiong Q; Cai, Hui

    2016-01-01

    Metabolic syndrome is prevalent worldwide and its prevalence is related to physical activity, race, and lifestyle. Little data is available for people living in rural areas of China. In this study we examined associations of physical activity and sedentary behaviors with metabolic syndrome components among people in rural China. The Nantong Metabolic Syndrome Study recruited 13,505 female and 6,997 male participants between 2007 and 2008. Data of socio-demographic characteristics and lifestyle were collected. The associations of physical activity and sedentary behaviors with metabolic syndrome components were analyzed. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 21.6%. It was significantly lower in men than in women. Low risks of metabolic syndrome were observed in those who did less sitting and engaged in more vigorous physical activity. The highest tertile of vigorous physical activity was associated with 15-40% decreased odds of metabolic syndrome and all of its components, except for low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in men. Women with the highest tertile of moderate physical activity had 15-30% lower odds of central obesity, high glucose, and high triglycerides compared with those in the lowest tertile. Sitting time >42 hours per week had a 4%-12% attributable risk of metabolic syndrome, central obesity, and high triglycerides in both genders, and abnormal glucose and diastolic blood pressure in women. Sleeping for more than 8 hours per day was associated with risk of high serum glucose and lipids. Our data suggested that physical activity has a preventive effect against metabolic syndrome and all its abnormal components, and that longer sitting time and sleep duration are associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome components, including central obesity and high triglycerides, glucose, and diastolic blood pressure. This study could provide information for future investigation into these associations. Also, recommendations are developed to reduce

  10. Heterologous expression of a ketohexokinase in potato plants leads to inhibited rates of photosynthesis, severe growth retardation and abnormal leaf development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Geigenberger, P.; Regierer, B.; Lytovchenko, A.

    2004-01-01

    of ketohexokinase but did not accumulate fructose 1-phosphate. They were, however, characterised by a severe growth retardation and abnormal leaf development. Studies of (14)CO(2) assimilation and metabolism, and of the levels of photosynthetic pigments, revealed that these lines exhibited restricted photosynthesis......In the present paper we investigated the effect of heterologous expression of a rat liver ketohexokinase in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plants with the aim of investigating the role of fructose 1-phosphate in plant metabolism. Plants were generated that contained appreciable activity...

  11. Hemorheological abnormalities in lipoprotein lipase deficient mice with severe hypertriglyceridemia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Tieqiang; Guo Jun; Li Hui; Huang Wei; Xian Xunde; Ross, Colin J.D.; Hayden, Michael R.; Wen Zongyao; Liu George

    2006-01-01

    Severe hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) is a metabolic disturbance often seen in clinical practice. It is known to induce life-threatening acute pancreatitis, but its role in atherogenesis remains elusive. Hemorheological abnormality was thought to play an important role in pathogenesis of both pancreatitis and atherosclerosis. However, hemorheology in severe HTG was not well investigated. Recently, we established a severe HTG mouse model deficient in lipoprotein lipase (LPL) in which severe HTG was observed to cause a significant increase in plasma viscosity. Disturbances of erythrocytes were also documented, including decreased deformability, electrophoresis rate, and membrane fluidity, and increased osmotic fragility. Scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that most erythrocytes of LPL deficient mice deformed with protrusions, irregular appearances or indistinct concaves. Analysis of erythrocyte membrane lipids showed decreased cholesterol (Ch) and phospholipid (PL) contents but unaltered Ch/PL ratio. The changes of membrane lipids may be partially responsible for the hemorheological and morphologic abnormalities of erythrocytes. This study indicated that severe HTG could lead to significant impairment of hemorheology and this model may be useful in delineating the role of severe HTG in the pathogenesis of hyperlipidemic pancreatitis and atherosclerosis

  12. Metabolism of a new synthetic progestagen, Org 2969, in female volunteers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Viinikka, L.; Ylikorkala, O.; Vihko, R.; Hasenack, H.G.; Nieuwenhuyse, H.

    1980-01-01

    The metabolism of a new synthetic progestagen, Org 2969 was studied in 4 healthy female volunteers. During the first part of the study (Phase I), the volunteers ingested 50 μg (about 0.1 mCi) of [16- 3 H]Org 2969 together with 50 μg of ethinyloestradiol as a single dose. During the second part of the study (Phase II), a 10-day pre-treatment with the same dosage of non-radioactive compound preceded the administration of the radioactive steroid. A peak level of total radioactivity, representing 3.16-5.02% of the dose given/l of serum, was achieved within 2-3 h in Phase I. During Phase II, the corresponding figures were 4.54-5.13% after 1.5-3 h. The difference was mainly due to an increase of freely-extractable steroids during Phase II. The difference can at least partly be explained by assuming a change in the kinetics of the metabolism of Org 2969 by pre-treatment with Org 2969 and ethinyloestradiol. The mean recovery of radioactivity in urine and faeces was 83.0%/48.1%/34.9% (total/urine/faeces) of the total dose in Phase I and 76.1%/45.2%/30.9% during Phase II. The differences in the total excretion and in the radioactivity excreted in the faeces were significant. (author)

  13. Sex difference in the principal cytochrome P-450 for tributyltin metabolism in rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohhira, Shuji; Enomoto, Mitsunori; Matsui, Hisao

    2006-01-01

    Tributyltin is metabolized by cytochrome P-450 (CYP) system enzymes, and its metabolic fate may contribute to the toxicity of the chemical. In the present study, it is examined whether sex differences in the metabolism of tributyltin exist in rats. In addition, the in vivo and in vitro metabolism of tributyltin was investigated using rat hepatic CYP systems to confirm the principal CYP involved. A significant sex difference in metabolism occurred both in vivo and in vitro, suggesting that one of the CYPs responsible for tributyltin metabolism in rats is male specific or predominant at least. Eight cDNA-expressed rat CYPs, including typical phenobarbital (PB)-inducible forms and members of the CYP2C subfamily, were tested to determine their capability for tributyltin metabolism. Among the enzymes studied, a statistically significant dealkylation of tributyltin was mediated by CYP2C6 and 2C11. Furthermore, the sex difference in metabolism disappeared in vitro after anti-rat CYP2C11 antibody pretreatment because CYP2C11 is a major male-specific form in rats. These results indicate that CYP2C6 is the principal CYP for tributyltin metabolism in female rats, whereas CYP2C11 as well as 2C6 is involved in tributyltin metabolism in male rats, and it is suggested that CYP2C11 is responsible for the significant sex difference in the metabolism of tributyltin observed in rats

  14. Changes in Growth, Auxin- and Ribonucleic Acid Metabolism in Wheat Coleoptile Sections Following Pulse Treatment with Indole-3-Acetic Acid

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Truelsen, T.A.; Galston, A.W.

    1966-01-01

    after the pretreatment showed that the attered growth patterns could be ascribed to declining auxin content with time, but not to thc actual concentration in the sections. The results indicate that the metabolic activation brought about by IAA leads to its own disappearance. Such a phenomenon...

  15. Abnormality diagnosis device for nuclear reactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Utsunomiya, Kazuhiro; Oyama, Shinmi; Sakaba, Hideo

    1989-02-21

    According to the present invention, abnormality such as abnormal increase of temperature in a nuclear reactor is detected to send a signal to control rod drives, etc. thereby stopping the operation of the nuclear reactor. Receiving/transmission device transmits a signal for conducting normal operation of an abnormality information section, as well as receives an echo signal from the abnormality information section to transmit an abnormal signal to a reactor protection system. The abnormality information section is disposed to fuel assemblies, receives a signal from the receiving/transmission device for conducting the normal operation to transmit a normal echo signal, as well as changes the echo signal when detecting the nuclear reactor abnormality. By the foregoing method, since the abnormality information section is disposed to the fuel assemblies, various effects can be attained such as: (1) there is no response delay from the occurrence of abnormality to emergency counter measure after detection, (2) high burnup degree for fuels can thus be possible to improve the economical property, (3) the abnormality information section can be taken out from the reactor container together with fuel assemablies by an existent take-out mechanism and (4) since wireless transmission and reception are established between the receiving/transmission device and the abnormality information section, cables are not required in the container. (K.M.).

  16. Abnormal Brain Connectivity Spectrum Disorders Following Thimerosal Administration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David A. Geier

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD, tic disorder (TD, and hyperkinetic syndrome of childhood (attention deficit disorder [ADD]/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD] are disorders recently defined as abnormal connectivity spectrum disorders (ACSDs because they show a similar pattern of abnormal brain connectivity. This study examines whether these disorders are associated with exposure to thimerosal, a mercury (Hg-based preservative. Methods: A hypothesis testing case-control study evaluated the Vaccine Safety Datalink for the potential dose-dependent odds ratios (ORs for diagnoses of ASD, TD, and ADD/ADHD compared to controls, following exposure to Hg from thimerosal-containing Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines administrated within the first 15 months of life. Febrile seizures, cerebral degeneration, and unspecified disorders of metabolism, which are not biologically plausibly linked to thimerosal, were examined as control outcomes. Results: On a per 25 μg Hg basis, cases diagnosed with ASD (OR = 1.493, TD (OR = 1.428, or ADD/ADHD (OR = 1.503 were significantly (P < .001 more likely than controls to have received increased Hg exposure. Similar relationships were observed when separated by gender. Cases diagnosed with control outcomes were no more likely than controls to have received increased Hg exposure. Conclusion: The results suggest that Hg exposure from thimerosal is significantly associated with the ACSDs of ASD, TD, and ADD/ADHD.

  17. Perturbations in amino acids and metabolic pathways in osteoarthritis patients determined by targeted metabolomics analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Rui; Han, Su; Liu, Xuefeng; Wang, Kunpeng; Zhou, Yong; Yang, Chundong; Zhang, Xi

    2018-05-15

    Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative synovial joint disease affecting people worldwide. However, the exact pathogenesis of OA remains unclear. Metabolomics analysis was performed to obtain insight into possible pathogenic mechanisms and diagnostic biomarkers of OA. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC-TQ-MS), followed by multivariate statistical analysis, was used to determine the serum amino acid profiles of 32 OA patients and 35 healthy controls. Variable importance for project values and Student's t-test were used to determine the metabolic abnormalities in OA. Another 30 OA patients were used as independent samples to validate the alterations in amino acids. MetaboAnalyst was used to identify the key amino acid pathways and construct metabolic networks describing their relationships. A total of 25 amino acids and four biogenic amines were detected by UPLC-TQ-MS. Differences in amino acid profiles were found between the healthy controls and OA patients. Alanine, γ-aminobutyric acid and 4-hydroxy-l-proline were important biomarkers distinguishing OA patients from healthy controls. The metabolic pathways with the most significant effects were involved in metabolism of alanine, aspartate, glutamate, arginine and proline. The results of this study improve understanding of the amino acid metabolic abnormalities and pathogenic mechanisms of OA at the molecular level. The metabolic perturbations may be important for the diagnosis and prevention of OA. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS OF SWITCHGRASS AND COASTAL BERMUDA GRASS PRETREATED USING DIFFERENT CHEMICAL METHODS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiele Xu

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available To investigate the effects of biomass feedstock and pretreatment method on the enzyme requirement during hydrolysis, swichgrass and coastal Bermuda grass pretreated using H2SO4, NaOH, and Ca(OH2 at the optimal conditions were subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis using two enzyme combinations: NS 50013 + NS 50010 and Cellic CTec + Cellic HTec. The enzyme loadings were optimized, and correlations between feedstock property, pretreatment strategy, and enzyme usage were evaluated. The results show that pretreatment methods resulting in greater lignin contents in the pretreated biomass were generally associated with higher enzyme requirements. More sugars could be recovered from alkaline-pretreated biomass during enzymatic hydrolysis due to the better carbohydrate preservation achieved at mild pretreatment temperatures. The cellulase enzyme, Cellic CTec, was more efficient in catalyzing the hydrolysis of coastal Bermuda grass, a feedstock more digestible than the pretreated swichgrass, following pretreatment with NaOH or Ca(OH2.

  19. Lignocellulose pretreatment severity – relating pH to biomatrix opening

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Mads; Meyer, Anne S.

    2010-01-01

    the hydrolysis yields (glucose, xylose) and the pretreatment pH, but no correlation with the pretreatment temperature (90–200 °C). A better recognition and understanding of the factors affecting biomatrix opening, and use of more standardized evaluation protocols, will allow for the identification of new...... pretreatment strategies that improve biomass utilization and permit rational enzymatic hydrolysis of the cellulose....

  20. Improving enzymatic saccharification of cassava stem using peroxide and microwave assisted pre-treatment techniques

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sudha A.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The effectiveness of microwave assisted alkali (MAA and alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP pre-treatment methods in improving the enzymatic saccharification of cassava stem was investigated. Ground cassava stems were by MAA method by varying microwave power, NaOH concentration and pre-treatment time. AHP method was performed at various H2O2 concentrations, pre-treatment temperatures and times. The results showed that reducing sugar yield was higher from MAA pretreated stem when compared with AHP pre-treatment, which demonstrated that MAA pre-treatment was effective in releasing sugars. SEM studies on the pre-treated samples revealed extensive distortion of fibres in MAA pre-treated than AHP pre-treated samples, which showed pores and cracks in the fibrous structure. Spectral studies showed the change in the chemical structure of pre-treated samples. The work revealed that the studied pre-treatment methods were effective in improving the enzymatic saccharification of cassava stem.

  1. Pretreatment of agricultural biomass for anaerobic digestion: Current state and challenges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paudel, Shukra Raj; Banjara, Sushant Prasad; Choi, Oh Kyung; Park, Ki Young; Kim, Young Mo; Lee, Jae Woo

    2017-12-01

    The anaerobic digestion (AD) of agricultural biomass is an attractive second generation biofuel with potential environmental and economic benefits. Most agricultural biomass contains lignocellulose which requires pretreatment prior to AD. For optimization, the pretreatment methods need to be specific to the characteristics of the biomass feedstock. In this review, cereal residue, fruit and vegetable wastes, grasses and animal manure were selected as the agricultural biomass candidates, and the fundamentals and current state of various pretreatment methods used for AD of these feedstocks were investigated. Several nonconventional methods (electrical, ionic liquid-based chemicals, ruminant biological pretreatment) offer potential as targeted pretreatments of lignocellulosic biomass, but each comes with its own challenges. Pursuing an energy-intensive route, a combined bioethanol-biogas production could be a promising a second biofuel refinery option, further emphasizing the importance of pretreatment when lignocellulosic feedstock is used. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Advances in paper-based sample pretreatment for point-of-care testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Rui Hua; Yang, Hui; Choi, Jane Ru; Gong, Yan; Feng, Shang Sheng; Pingguan-Murphy, Belinda; Huang, Qing Sheng; Shi, Jun Ling; Mei, Qi Bing; Xu, Feng

    2017-06-01

    In recent years, paper-based point-of-care testing (POCT) has been widely used in medical diagnostics, food safety and environmental monitoring. However, a high-cost, time-consuming and equipment-dependent sample pretreatment technique is generally required for raw sample processing, which are impractical for low-resource and disease-endemic areas. Therefore, there is an escalating demand for a cost-effective, simple and portable pretreatment technique, to be coupled with the commonly used paper-based assay (e.g. lateral flow assay) in POCT. In this review, we focus on the importance of using paper as a platform for sample pretreatment. We firstly discuss the beneficial use of paper for sample pretreatment, including sample collection and storage, separation, extraction, and concentration. We highlight the working principle and fabrication of each sample pretreatment device, the existing challenges and the future perspectives for developing paper-based sample pretreatment technique.

  3. Microwave assisted acid and alkali pretreatment of Miscanthus biomass for biorefineries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zongyuan Zhu

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Miscanthus is a major bioenergy crop in Europe and a potential feedstock for second generation biofuels. Thermochemical pretreatment is a significant step in the process of converting lignocellulosic biomass into fermentable sugars. In this work, microwave energy was applied to facilitate NaOH and H2SO4 pretreatments of Miscanthus. This was carried out at 180 ℃ in a monomode microwave cavity at 300 W. Our results show that H2SO4 pretreatment contributes to the breakdown of hemicelluloses and cellulose, leading to a high glucose yield. The maximum sugar yield from available carbohydrates during pretreatment is 75.3% (0.2 M H2SO4 20 Min, and glucose yield is 46.7% under these conditions. NaOH and water pretreatments tend to break down only hemicellulose in preference to cellulose, contributing to high xylose yield. Compared to conventional heating NaOH/H2SO4 pretreatment, 12 times higher sugar yield was obtained by using microwave assisted pretreatment within half the time. NaOH pretreatments lead to a significantly enhanced digestibility of the residue, because the effective removal of lignin and hemicellulose makes cellulose fibres more accessible to cellulases. Morphological study of biomass shows that the tightly packed fibres in the Miscanthus were dismantled and exposed under NaOH condition. We studied sugar degradation under microwave assisted H2SO4 conditions. The results shows that 6-8% biomass was converted into levulinic acid (LA during pretreatment, showing the possibility of using microwave technology to produce LA from biomass. The outcome of this work shows great potential for using microwave in the thermo-chemical pretreatment for biomass and also selective production of LA from biomass.

  4. Evaluation of Alkali-Pretreated Soybean Straw for Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seonghun Kim

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Soybean straw is a renewable resource in agricultural residues that can be used for lignocellulosic bioethanol production. To enhance enzymatic digestibility and fermentability, the biomass was prepared with an alkali-thermal pretreatment (sodium hydroxide, 121°C, 60 min. The delignification yield was 34.1~53%, in proportion to the amount of sodium hydroxide, from 0.5 to 3.0 M. The lignin and hemicellulose contents of the pretreated biomass were reduced by the pretreatment process, whereas the proportion of cellulose was increased. Under optimal condition, the pretreated biomass consisted of 74.0±0.1% cellulose, 10.3±0.1% hemicellulose, and 10.1±0.6% lignin. During enzymatic saccharification using Cellic® CTec2 cellulase, 10% (w/v of pretreated soybean straw was hydrolyzed completely and converted to 67.3±2.1 g/L glucose and 9.4±0.5 g/L xylose with a 90.9% yield efficiency. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of the pretreated biomass by Saccharomyces cerevisiae W303-1A produced 30.5±1.2 g/L ethanol in 0.5 L fermented medium containing 10% (w/v pretreated biomass after 72 h. The ethanol productivity was 0.305 g ethanol/g dry biomass and 0.45 g ethanol/g glucose after fermentation, with a low concentration of organic acid metabolites. Also, 82% of fermentable sugar was used by the yeast for ethanol fermentation. These results show that the combination of alkaline pretreatment and biomass hydrolysate is useful for enhancing bioethanol productivity using delignified soybean straw.

  5. Fabrication of indium tin oxide (ITO) thin film with pre-treated sol coating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hong, Sung-Jei; Han, Jeong-In

    2004-01-01

    A new pre-treated sol-coating method to fabricate an indium tin oxide (ITO) thin film is introduced in this paper. The pre-treatment sol-coating method is to form a seed layer on the substrate before spin coating of ITO sol. The pre-treatment was carried out at room temperature in order not to damage the substrate during the pre-treatment. It is effective to enhance the formation of the ITO sol film on the substrate, owing to the seed layer. The seed layer consists of ultrafine grains, which are observed at the pre-treated substrate. For the optimal pre-treatment condition, we used pre-treatment times of 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours to observe the effect on the characteristics of ITO sol film. As a result, the lowest resistance could be achieved with a pre-treatment time of 72 hours. The optical transmittance of the ITO sol film with the pre-treatment time of 72 hours exceeded 80 % at a wavelength of 400 nm. So, an ITO sol film with good electrical and optical properties could be fabricated by using the pretreatment sol coating.

  6. Skeletal muscle abnormalities and exercise capacity in adults with a Fontan circulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cordina, Rachael; O'Meagher, Shamus; Gould, Haslinda; Rae, Caroline; Kemp, Graham; Pasco, Julie A; Celermajer, David S; Singh, Nalin

    2013-10-01

    The peripheral muscle pump is key in promoting cardiac filling during exercise, especially in subjects who lack a subpulmonary ventricle (the Fontan circulation). A muscle-wasting syndrome exists in acquired heart failure but has not been assessed in Fontan subjects. We sought to investigate whether adults with the Fontan circulation exhibit reduced skeletal muscle mass and/or metabolic abnormalities. Sixteen New York Heart Association Class I/II Fontan adults (30±2 years) underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing and lean mass quantification with dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA); eight had calf muscle (31)P magnetic resonance spectroscopy as did eight healthy age-matched and sex-matched controls. DXA results were compared with Australian reference data. Single tertiary referral centre. Peak VO2 was 1.9±0.1 L/min (66±3% of predicted values). Skeletal muscle mass assessed by relative appendicular lean mass index was significantly reduced compared with age-matched and sex-matched reference values (Z-score -1.46±0.22, pskeletal muscle mass correlated with poorer VO2 max (r=0.67, p=0.004). Overall, skeletal muscle mass T-score (derived from comparison with young normal reference mean) was -1.47±0.21; 4/16 Fontan subjects had sarcopenic range muscle wasting (T-score Muscle aerobic capacity, measured by the rate constant (k) of postexercise phosphocreatine resynthesis, was significantly impaired in Fontan adults versus controls (1.48±0.13 vs 2.40±0.33 min(-1), p=0.02). Fontan adults have reduced skeletal muscle mass and intrinsic muscle metabolic abnormalities.

  7. Feasibility of Hydrothermal Pretreatment on Maize Silage for Bioethanol Production

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xu, Jian; Thomsen, Mette Hedegaard; Thomsen, Anne Belinda

    2010-01-01

    The potential of maize silage as a feedstock to produce bioethanol was evaluated in the present study. The hydrothermal pretreatment with five different pretreatment severity factors (PSF) was employed to pretreat the maize silage and compared in terms of sugar recovery, toxic test, and ethanol...... the liquors from the five conditions were not toxic to the Baker’s yeast. Pretreatment under 195°C for 7 min had the similar PSF with that of 185°C for 15 min, and both gave the higher ethanol concentration of 19.92 and 19.98 g/L, respectively. The ethanol concentration from untreated maize silage was only 7...

  8. Conversion of alkaline pretreated empty palm fruit bunch (EPFB) to phenols

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nor Aishah Saidina Amin; Roslindawati Haron

    2010-01-01

    Various efforts on green chemistry are being directed at producing renewable chemicals. Chemicals derived from biomass can be the basis for building blocks in the chemicals industry. Phenols, traditionally produced from petroleum, can be derived from biomass for naturally-sourced solvents. Lignocellulose biomass consists of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. Lignocellulose components can be altered by various chemical pretreatment methods. EFB contains about 60% cellulose and almost equal portions of lignin and hemicelluloses. Pretreatment of EFB fragmentized and degraded the lignocellulose structure in order to produce chemicals under thermochemical process. In this work, EFB was chemically pretreated with different sodium hydroxide (NaOH) concentrations to concentrated lignocellulose before being pyrolyzed to produce solid, gas and liquid products. Pyrolysis was conducted after the pretreatment step to evaluate the effects of pretreatment process on production and compositions of the bio-oil. The conversions of EFB were reported to be 61wt%, 47wt% and 42 wt%, after pretreatment with 5 wt%, 15 wt% and 25 wt%,NaOH concentrations, respectively. GCMS analysis results revealed the crude bio-oil contained dominantly phenol. Pyrolysis of the alkaline pretreated EFB seemed potential to produce biomass-based phenols. (author)

  9. Cell-wall structural changes in wheat straw pretreated for bioethanol production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jørgensen Henning

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Pretreatment is an essential step in the enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass and subsequent production of bioethanol. Recent results indicate that only a mild pretreatment is necessary in an industrial, economically feasible system. The Integrated Biomass Utilisation System hydrothermal pretreatment process has previously been shown to be effective in preparing wheat straw for these processes without the application of additional chemicals. In the current work, the effect of the pretreatment on the straw cell-wall matrix and its components are characterised microscopically (atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy and spectroscopically (attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in order to understand this increase in digestibility. Results The hydrothermal pretreatment does not degrade the fibrillar structure of cellulose but causes profound lignin re-localisation. Results from the current work indicate that wax has been removed and hemicellulose has been partially removed. Similar changes were found in wheat straw pretreated by steam explosion. Conclusion Results indicate that hydrothermal pretreatment increases the digestibility by increasing the accessibility of the cellulose through a re-localisation of lignin and a partial removal of hemicellulose, rather than by disruption of the cell wall.

  10. Effect of Different Sugar Beet Pulp Pretreatments on Biogas Production Efficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziemiński, Krzysztof; Kowalska-Wentel, Monika

    2017-03-01

    The objective of this study was to determine the effect of different sugar beet pulp (SBP) pretreatments on biogas yield from anaerobic digestion. SBP was subjected to grinding, thermal-pressure processing, enzymatic hydrolysis, or combination of these pretreatments. It was observed that grinding of SBP to 2.5-mm particles resulted in the cumulative biogas productivity of 617.2 mL/g volatile solids (VS), which was 20.2 % higher compared to the biogas yield from the not pretreated SBP, and comparable to that from not ground, enzymatically hydrolyzed SBP. The highest cumulative biogas productivity, 898.7 mL/g VS, was obtained from the ground, thermal-pressure pretreated and enzymatically hydrolyzed SBP. The latter pretreatment variant enabled to achieve the highest glucose concentration (24.765 mg/mL) in the enzymatic hydrolysates. The analysis of energy balance showed that the increase in the number of SBP pretreatment operations significantly reduced the gain of electric energy.

  11. Metabolism of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in copper-laden rat: A model of Wilson's disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carpenter, T.O.; Pendrak, M.L.; Anast, C.S.

    1988-01-01

    Wilson's disease results in excess tissue accumulation of copper and is often complicated by skeletal and mineral abnormalities. The authors investigated vitamin D metabolism in rats fed a copper-laden diet rendering hepatic copper content comparable with that found in Wilson's disease. Injection of 25-hydroxyvitamin D 3 [25(OH)D 3 ] resulted in reduced 1,25--dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH) 2 D] levels in copper-intoxicated rats. In vitro 25(OH)D-1α-hydroxylase activity was impaired in renal mitochondria from copper-intoxicated animals. Activity was also inhibited in mitochondrial from controls when copper was added to incubation media. Impaired conversion of 25(OH)D to 1,25(OH) 2 D occurs in copper intoxication and suggests that altered vitamin D metabolism is a potential factor in the development of bone and mineral abnormalities in Wilson's disease

  12. Cofilin/Twinstar phosphorylation levels increase in response to impaired coenzyme a metabolism.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katarzyna Siudeja

    Full Text Available Coenzyme A (CoA is a pantothenic acid-derived metabolite essential for many fundamental cellular processes including energy, lipid and amino acid metabolism. Pantothenate kinase (PANK, which catalyses the first step in the conversion of pantothenic acid to CoA, has been associated with a rare neurodegenerative disorder PKAN. However, the consequences of impaired PANK activity are poorly understood. Here we use Drosophila and human neuronal cell cultures to show how PANK deficiency leads to abnormalities in F-actin organization. Cells with reduced PANK activity are characterized by abnormally high levels of phosphorylated cofilin, a conserved actin filament severing protein. The increased levels of phospho-cofilin coincide with morphological changes of PANK-deficient Drosophila S2 cells and human neuronal SHSY-5Y cells. The latter exhibit also markedly reduced ability to form neurites in culture--a process that is strongly dependent on actin remodeling. Our results reveal a novel and conserved link between a metabolic biosynthesis pathway, and regulation of cellular actin dynamics.

  13. MRI and CT appearances in metabolic encephalopathies due to systemic diseases in adults

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bathla, G.; Hegde, A.N.

    2013-01-01

    The term encephalopathy refers to a clinical scenario of diffuse brain dysfunction, commonly due to a systemic, metabolic, or toxic derangement. Often the clinical evaluation is unsatisfactory in this scenario and imaging plays an important role in the diagnosis, assessment of treatment response, and prognostication of the disorder. Hence, it is important for radiologists to be familiar with the imaging features of some relatively frequently acquired metabolic encephalopathies encountered in the hospital setting. This study reviews the computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of a number of metabolic encephalopathies that occur as part of systemic diseases in adults. The following conditions are covered in this review: hypoglycaemic encephalopathy, hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy, non-ketotic hyperglycaemia, hepatic encephalopathy, uraemic encephalopathy, hyperammonaemic encephalopathy, and posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome. MRI is the imaging method of choice in evaluating these conditions. Due to their high metabolic activity, bilateral basal ganglia changes are evident in the majority of cases. Concurrent imaging abnormalities in other parts of the central nervous system often provide useful diagnostic information about the likely underlying cause of the encephalopathy. Besides this, abnormal signal intensity and diffusion restriction patterns on MRI and MR spectroscopy features may provide important clues as to the diagnosis and guide further management. Frequently, the diagnosis is not straightforward and typical imaging features require correlation with clinical and laboratory data for accurate assessment

  14. Hydrogen storage in graphite nanofibers: effect of synthesis catalyst and pretreatment conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lueking, Angela D; Yang, Ralph T; Rodriguez, Nelly M; Baker, R Terry K

    2004-02-03

    A series of graphite nanofibers (GNFs) that were subjected to various pretreatments were used to determine how modifications in the carbon structure formed during either synthesis or pretreatment steps results in active or inactive materials for hydrogen storage. The nanofibers possessing a herringbone structure and a high degree of defects were found to exhibit the best performance for hydrogen storage. These materials were exposed to several pretreatment procedures, including oxidative, reductive, and inert environments. Significant hydrogen storage levels were found for several in situ pretreatments. Examination of the nanofibers by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) after pretreatment and subsequent hydrogen storage revealed the existence of edge attack and an enhancement in the generation of structural defects. These findings suggest that pretreatment in certain environments results in the creation of catalytic sites that are favorable toward hydrogen storage. The best pretreatment resulted in a 3.8% hydrogen release after exposure at 69 bar and room temperature.

  15. Cardiovascular, hormonal and metabolic responses to graded exercise in juvenile diabetics with and without autonomic neuropathy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hilsted, J; Galbo, H; Christensen, N J

    1980-01-01

    Thirteen juvenile diabetics were studied in order to determine if decreased beat-to-beat variation during deep respiration, indicating abnormal autonomic nerve function, imply that cardiovascular, hormonal and metabolic responses are impaired. Patients with decreased beat-to-beat variation had to...... to be more heavily stressed during exercise to reach a certain heart rate or catecholamine level. The relation between other metabolic and hormonal response is discussed....

  16. Fungal pretreatment of straw for enhanced biogas yield

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feng, Xinmei; Pilar Castillo, Maria del; Schnuerer, Anna

    2013-07-01

    Among lignocellulosic materials from the agricultural sector, straw is considered to have the biggest potential as a biofuel and therefore also represents a big potential for biogas production. However, the degradation of lignocellulosic materials is somewhat restricted due to the high content of lignin that binds cellulose and hemicellulose and makes them unavailable for microbial degradation. Consequently, low methane yields are achieved. The biodegradability of the lignocellulosic material can be increased by a pretreatment. Optimally the pre-treatment should give an increase in the formation of sugars while avoiding the degradation or loss of carbohydrates and the formation of inhibitory by-products. The treatment should also be cost-effective. Different methods for pre-treatment of lignocellulosic material have been explored, for example thermal, acid, alkaline and oxidative pretreatments. However, they often have a high energy demand. Biological treatment with fungi represents an alternative method for pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials that could be comparably more environmentally friendly, easier to operate and with low energy input. The fungal groups of interest for lignocellulose degradation are the wood decaying fungi, such as the white-, brown-rot and cellulose degraders. The purpose with this work was to increase the biogas potential of straw by using a pretreatment with fungi. Straw was incubated with fungi at aerobic conditions under certain periods of time. The growth and colonization of the straw by the fungi was expected to increase the availability of the lignocellulosic structure of the straw and thus positively affect the biogas potential. In addition also, the spent lignocellulosic material from the cultivation of edible fungi was investigated. We hypothesized that also growth of edible fungi could give a more accessible material and thus give higher biogas potential compared to the substrate before fungal growth.

  17. Bioethanol production: Pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of softwood

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tengborg, Charlotte

    2000-05-01

    The enzymatic hydrolysis process can be used to produce bioethanol from softwood, which are the dominating raw material in the Northern hemisphere. This thesis deals with the development of the process focusing on the pretreatment and the enzymatic hydrolysis stages. The influence of pretreatment conditions on sugar yield, and the effect of inhibitors on the ethanol yield, were investigated for spruce and pine. The maximum yields of hemicellulose sugars and glucose were obtained under different pretreatment conditions. This indicates that two-stage pretreatment may be preferable. The added catalysts, H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} and SO{sub 2}, resulted in similar total sugar yields about 40 g/100 g dry raw material. However, the fermentability of SO{sub 2}-impregnated material was better. This pretreatment resulted in the formation of inhibitors to the subsequent process steps, e.g. sugar and lignin degradation products. The glucose yield in the enzymatic hydrolysis stage was affected by various parameters such as enzyme loading, temperature, pH, residence time, substrate concentration, and agitation. To decrease the amount of fresh water used and thereby waste water produced, the sugar-rich prehydrolysate from the pretreatment step was included in the enzymatic hydrolysis of the solid fraction, resulting in a reduction in the cellulose conversion of up to 36%. Different prehydrolysate detoxification methods, such as treatment with Ca(OH){sub 2}, laccase, and fermentation using yeast, were investigated. The latter was shown to be very efficient. The amount of fresh water used can be further reduced by recycling various process streams. This was simulated experimentally in a bench-scale process. A reduction in fresh water demand of 50% was obtained without any further negative effects on either hydrolysis or fermentation.

  18. Bioethanol from lignocellulose - pretreatment, enzyme immobilization and hydrolysis kinetics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tsai, Chien Tai

    , the cost of enzyme is still the bottle neck, re-using the enzyme is apossible way to reduce the input of enzyme in the process. In the point view of engineering, the prediction of enzymatic hydrolysis kinetics under different substrate loading, enzyme combination is usful for process design. Therefore...... lignocellulose is the required high cellulase enzyme dosages that increase the processing costs. One method to decrease the enzyme dosage is to re-use BG, which hydrolyze the soluble substrate cellobiose. Based on the hypothesis that immobilized BG can be re-used, how many times the enzyme could be recycled...... liquid and pretreatment time can be reduced, the influence of substrate concentration, pretreatment time and temperature were investigated and optimized. Pretreatment of barley straw by [EMIM]Ac, correlative models were constructed using 3 different pretreatment parameters (temperature, time...

  19. Ensiling as pretreatment of grass for lignocellulosic biomass conversion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ambye-Jensen, Morten

    for subsequent enzymatic saccharification of cellulose and hemicellulose, by using the temperate grass Festulolium Hykor. The method was additionally combined with hydrothermal treatment, in order to decrease the required severity of an industrial applied pretreatment method. The first part of the project...... conditions providing the best possible pretreatment effect. The parameters were biomass composition, varied by ensiling of four seasonal cuts of grass, different dry matter (DM) content at ensiling, and an addition of different lactic acid bacteria species. First of all, the study confirmed that ensiling can...... act as a method of pretreatment and improve the enzymatic cellulose convertibility of grass. Furthermore, low DM ensiling was found to improve the effects of pretreatment due to a higher production of organic acids in the silage. The effect of applied lactic acid bacteria species was, however...

  20. Tank waste pretreatment issues, alternatives and strategies for resolution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, W.C.; Appel, J.; Barton, W.B.; Orme, R.M.; Holton, L.K. Jr.

    1993-02-01

    The US Department of Energy (DOE) has established the Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) to safely manage and dispose of the Hanford Site tank waste. The overall strategy for disposing of tank waste is evolving and initial recommendations on a course of action are expected in March, 1993. Pretreatment of these wastes may be required for one or both of the following reasons: (1) resolution of tank safety issues, and (2) preparation of low level and high level waste fractions for disposal. Pretreatment is faced with several issues that must be addressed by the deployment strategies that are being formulated. These issues are identified. There is also a discussion of several pretreatment deployment strategies and how these strategies address the issues. Finally, the technology alternatives that are being considered for the pretreatment function are briefly discussed

  1. Potable water recovery for spacecraft application by electrolytic pretreatment/air evaporation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wells, G. W.

    1975-01-01

    A process for the recovery of potable water from urine using electrolytic pretreatment followed by distillation in a closed-cycle air evaporator has been developed and tested. Both the electrolytic pretreatment unit and the air evaporation unit are six-person, flight-concept prototype, automated units. Significantly extended wick lifetimes have been achieved in the air evaporation unit using electrolytically pretreated, as opposed to chemically pretreated, urine feed. Parametric test data are presented on product water quality, wick life, process power, maintenance requirements, and expendable requirements.

  2. Enhanced thermophilic fermentative hydrogen production from cassava stillage by chemical pretreatments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Wen; Luo, Gang; Xie, Li

    2013-01-01

    Acid and alkaline pretreatments for enhanced hydrogen production from cassava stillage were investigated in the present study. The result showed that acid pretreatment was suitable for enhancement of soluble carbohydrate while alkaline pretreatment stimulated more soluble total organic carbon...... that the increase of all factors increased the soluble carbohydrate production, whereas hydrogen production was inhibited when the factors exceeded their optimal values. The optimal conditions for hydrogen production were pretreatment temperature 89.5 °C, concentration 1.4% and time 69 min for the highest hydrogen...

  3. An improved technology for decontaminating ruthenium in uranium purification cycle by hydroxylamine pretreatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qi Zhanshun; Zhu Zhixuan; Zhang Pilu

    1996-01-01

    The Influences of hydroxylamine concentration, pretreatment time, acidity and the concentration of stabilizer have been studied, and the best pretreatment condition for the improvement of Ru decontamination in uranium purification cycle by hydroxylamine pretreatment has been obtained. The results show that no satisfactory result can be obtained by solely using hydroxylamine as pretreatment agent unless a small amount of hydrazine is added into the pretreatment system as stabilizer

  4. Process analysis and optimization of simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation of ethylenediamine-pretreated corn stover for ethanol production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qin, Lei; Zhao, Xiong; Li, Wen-Chao; Zhu, Jia-Qing; Liu, Li; Li, Bing-Zhi; Yuan, Ying-Jin

    2018-01-01

    Improving ethanol concentration and reducing enzyme dosage are main challenges in bioethanol refinery from lignocellulosic biomass. Ethylenediamine (EDA) pretreatment is a novel method to improve enzymatic digestibility of lignocellulose. In this study, simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) process using EDA-pretreated corn stover was analyzed and optimized to verify the constraint factors on ethanol production. Highest ethanol concentration was achieved with the following optimized SSCF conditions at 6% glucan loading: 12-h pre-hydrolysis, 34 °C, pH 5.4, and inoculum size of 5 g dry cell/L. As glucan loading increased from 6 to 9%, ethanol concentration increased from 33.8 to 48.0 g/L, while ethanol yield reduced by 7%. Mass balance of SSCF showed that the reduction of ethanol yield with the increasing solid loading was mainly due to the decrease of glucan enzymatic conversion and xylose metabolism of the strain. Tween 20 and BSA increased ethanol concentration through enhancing enzymatic efficiency. The solid-recycled SSCF process reduced enzyme dosage by 40% (from 20 to 12 mg protein/g glucan) to achieve the similar ethanol concentration (~ 40 g/L) comparing to conventional SSCF. Here, we established an efficient SSCF procedure using EDA-pretreated biomass. Glucose enzymatic yield and yeast viability were regarded as the key factors affecting ethanol production at high solid loading. The extensive analysis of SSCF would be constructive to overcome the bottlenecks and improve ethanol production in cellulosic ethanol refinery.

  5. The pretreatment of corn stover with Gloeophyllum trabeum KU-41 for enzymatic hydrolysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gao Ziqing

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Pretreatment is an essential step in the enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass for bio-ethanol production. The dominant concern in this step is how to decrease the high cost of pretreatment while achieving a high sugar yield. Fungal pretreatment of biomass was previously reported to be effective, with the advantage of having a low energy requirement and requiring no application of additional chemicals. In this work, Gloeophyllum trabeum KU-41 was chosen for corn stover pretreatment through screening with 40 strains of wood-rot fungi. The objective of the current work is to find out which characteristics of corn stover pretreated with G. trabeum KU-41 determine the pretreatment method to be successful and worthwhile to apply. This will be done by determining the lignin content, structural carbohydrate, cellulose crystallinity, initial adsorption capacity of cellulase and specific surface area of pretreated corn stover. Results The content of xylan in pretreated corn stover was decreased by 43% in comparison to the untreated corn stover. The initial cellulase adsorption capacity and the specific surface area of corn stover pretreated with G. trabeum were increased by 7.0- and 2.5-fold, respectively. Also there was little increase in the cellulose crystallinity of pretreated corn stover. Conclusion G. trabeum has an efficient degradation system, and the results indicated that the conversion of cellulose to glucose increases as the accessibility of cellulose increases due to the partial removal of xylan and the structure breakage of the cell wall. This pretreatment method can be further explored as an alternative to the thermochemical pretreatment method.

  6. Dietary fatty acid metabolism in prediabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noll, Christophe; Carpentier, André C

    2017-02-01

    Experimental evidences are strong for a role of long-chain saturated fatty acids in the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Ectopic accretion of triglycerides in lean organs is a characteristic of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes and has been linked to end-organ complications. The contribution of disordered dietary fatty acid (DFA) metabolism to lean organ overexposure and lipotoxicity is still unclear, however. DFA metabolism is very complex and very difficult to study in vivo in humans. We have recently developed a novel imaging method using PET with oral administration of 14-R,S-F-fluoro-6-thia-heptadecanoic acid (FTHA) to quantify organ-specific DFA partitioning. Our studies thus far confirmed impaired storage of DFA per volume of fat mass in abdominal adipose tissues of individuals with prediabetes. They also highlighted the increased channeling of DFA toward the heart, associated with subclinical reduction in cardiac systolic and diastolic function in individuals with prediabetes. In the present review, we summarize previous work on DFA metabolism in healthy and prediabetic states and discuss these in the light of our novel findings using PET imaging of DFA metabolism. We herein provide an integrated view of abnormal organ-specific DFA partitioning in prediabetes in humans.

  7. The cerebral blood flow and metabolism for Broca's aphasia using positron emission tomography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kato, Toshiaki

    1987-01-01

    A total of 11 patients with Broca's aphasia (BA) underwent positron emission tomography (PET) with the purpose of investigating the responsible region and the symptomatic flow and metabolism thresholds for BA. Computed tomography (CT) was concurrently performed. In the group of 3 patients undergoing PET with C-11 glucose, both PET and CT provided abnormal findings in the region that is thought to be responsible for BA (Broca's area), including the cortex and subcortex in the anterior region to Sylvian fissure. The Broca's area in the remaining one was shown as low C-11 accumulation area on PET and as isodensity on CT. The second group, consisting of 8 BA patients and 30 control patients without BA, underwent PET using O-15 steady method. PET showed reduction of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and oxygen metabolic rate (rCMRO 2 ) in the Broca's area in all BA patients. Computed tomography showed abnormal low density in the Broca's area in 3 patients, and abnormal findings in the basal ganglionic region and subcortex without evidence for abnormal low density in the Broca's area in the other 5 patients. Comparison of rCBF and rCMRO 2 in BA patients with those in control patients may show the symptomatic thresholds to be 20 - 27 ml/100 g/min for rCBF and 2.0 ml/100 g/min for rCMRO 2 . (Namekawa, K.)

  8. Biosorption of heavy metals by pretreated biomass of aspergillus niger

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Javaid, A.; Bajwa, R.; Manzoor, T.

    2011-01-01

    The present study reports the bio sorption potential of chemically pretreated mycelial biomass of fungus Aspergillus niger van. Tieghem for Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions from aqueous phase. Fungal biomass was pretreated with different types of alkaline/salts (NaOH, NaHCO/sub 3/, Na/sub 2/CO/sub 3/, NaCl and CaCl/sub 2/), acids (HCl and H/sub 2/SO/sub 4/) and detergent. Pretreatment of biomass with Na/sub 2/CO/sub 3/ and NaOH were proved to increase or maintain adsorption efficiency and capacity in comparison to untreated biomass. Pretreatment with NaHCO/sub 3/, detergent, NaCl and CaCl/sub 2/ significantly reduce (10-40%) metal sequestering efficiency of the adsorbent. Whereas, acid treatments resulted in drastic loss (80%) in metal uptake efficiency of the biomass. Amongst various pretreatments, Na/sub 2/CO/sub 3/ could be use efficiently for the removal of Ni(II) and Cu(II) ions from aqueous solution using A. niger. (author)

  9. Methods for producing extracted and digested products from pretreated lignocellulosic biomass

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chundawat, Shishir; Sousa, Leonardo Da Costa; Cheh, Albert M.; Balan; , Venkatesh; Dale, Bruce

    2017-05-16

    Methods for producing extracted and digested products from pretreated lignocellulosic biomass are provided. The methods include converting native cellulose I.sub..beta. to cellulose III.sub.I by pretreating the lignocellulosic biomass with liquid ammonia under certain conditions, and performing extracting or digesting steps on the pretreated/converted lignocellulosic biomass.

  10. Cell-wall structural changes in wheat straw pretreated for bioethanol production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jan B. Kristensen; G. Thygesen Lisbeth; Claus Felby; Henning Jorgensen; Thomas Elder

    2008-01-01

    Pretreatment is an essential step in the enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass and subsequent production of bioethanol. Recent results indicate that only a mild pretreatment is necessary in an industrial, economically feasible system. The Integrated Biomass Utilisation System hydrothermal pretreatment process has previously been shown to be effective in preparing wheat straw...

  11. Short-Term Treatment with Bisphenol-A Leads to Metabolic Abnormalities in Adult Male Mice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Batista, Thiago M.; Alonso-Magdalena, Paloma; Vieira, Elaine; Amaral, Maria Esmeria C.; Cederroth, Christopher R.; Nef, Serge; Quesada, Ivan; Carneiro, Everardo M.; Nadal, Angel

    2012-01-01

    Bisphenol-A (BPA) is one of the most widespread endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) used as the base compound in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics. Although evidence points to consider exposure to BPA as a risk factor for insulin resistance, its actions on whole body metabolism and on insulin-sensitive tissues are still unclear. The aim of the present work was to study the effects of low doses of BPA in insulin-sensitive peripheral tissues and whole body metabolism in adult mice. Adult mice were treated with subcutaneous injection of 100 µg/kg BPA or vehicle for 8 days. Whole body energy homeostasis was assessed with in vivo indirect calorimetry. Insulin signaling assays were conducted by western blot analysis. Mice treated with BPA were insulin resistant and had increased glucose-stimulated insulin release. BPA-treated mice had decreased food intake, lower body temperature and locomotor activity compared to control. In skeletal muscle, insulin-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor β subunit was impaired in BPA-treated mice. This impairment was associated with a reduced insulin-stimulated Akt phosphorylation in the Thr308 residue. Both skeletal muscle and liver displayed an upregulation of IRS-1 protein by BPA. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway was also impaired in the skeletal muscle from BPA-treated mice. In the liver, BPA effects were of lesser intensity with decreased insulin-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor β subunit. In conclusion, short-term treatment with low doses of BPA slows down whole body energy metabolism and disrupts insulin signaling in peripheral tissues. Thus, our findings support the notion that BPA can be considered a risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes. PMID:22470480

  12. Short-term chemical pretreatment cannot replace curettage in photodynamic therapy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nissen, Christoffer V; Wiegell, Stine Regin; Philipsen, Peter Alshede

    2016-01-01

    pretreatment with curettage and two combination ointments containing calcipotriol/betamethasone and salicylic acid/betamethasone affect PpIX fluorescence after the application of methyl aminolevulinate MAL and 5-aminolevulinic acid (BF-200 ALA). METHODS: Four fields on the forearms of 30 healthy volunteers...... were pretreated with curettage or short-term application of calcipotriol/betamethasone or salicylic acid/betamethasone for 20 min. Two fields were not pretreated, thus serving as reference. After pretreatment, MAL or BF-200 ALA was applied for 24 h, and PpIX fluorescence was measured hourly from 1 to 5...... h and after 18, 21 and 24 h. RESULTS: Curettage significantly enhanced PpIX fluorescence for MAL from 1 to 21 h (P salicylic acid...

  13. Thermo-chemical pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis for enhancing saccharification of catalpa sawdust.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Shuguang; Zhang, Guangming; Zhang, Panyue; Li, Fan; Fan, Shiyang; Li, Juan

    2016-04-01

    To improve the reducing sugar production from catalpa sawdust, thermo-chemical pretreatments were examined and the chemicals used including NaOH, Ca(OH)2, H2SO4, and HCl. The hemicellulose solubilization and cellulose crystallinity index (CrI) were significantly increased after thermo-alkaline pretreatments, and the thermo-Ca(OH)2 pretreatment showed the best improvement for reducing sugar production comparing to other three pretreatments. The conditions of thermo-Ca(OH)2 pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis were systematically optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the reducing sugar yield increased by 1185.7% comparing to the control. This study indicates that the thermo-Ca(OH)2 pretreatment is ideal for the saccharification of catalpa sawdust and that catalpa sawdust is a promising raw material for biofuel. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Arginine metabolism is altered in adults with A-B + ketosis-prone diabetes

    Science.gov (United States)

    A-B + ketosis-prone diabetes (KPD) is a subset of type 2 diabetes in which patients have severe but reversible B cell dysfunction of unknown etiology. Plasma metabolomic analysis indicates that abnormal arginine metabolism may be involved. The objective of this study was to determine the relation be...

  15. 40 CFR 439.37 - Pretreatment standards for new sources (PSNS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ...) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURING POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Chemical Synthesis... achieve the pretreatment standard for ammonia (as N). (b) The pretreatment standards for cyanide are as...

  16. Normal and abnormal growth plate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumar, R.; Madewell, J.E.; Swischuk, L.E.

    1987-01-01

    Skeletal growth is a dynamic process. A knowledge of the structure and function of the normal growth plate is essential in order to understand the pathophysiology of abnormal skeletal growth in various diseases. In this well-illustrated article, the authors provide a radiographic classification of abnormal growth plates and discuss mechanisms that lead to growth plate abnormalities

  17. Effect of pretreating of host oil on coprocessing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hajdu, P.E.; Tierney, J.W.; Wender, I. [Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

    1995-12-31

    The principal objective of this research was to determine if coprocessing performance (i.e., coal conversion and oil yield) could be significantly improved by pretreating the heavy resid prior to reacting it with coal. For this purpose, two petroleum vacuum resids (1000{degrees}F+), one from the Amoco Co. and another from the Citgo Co., were used as such and after they had been pretreated by catalytic hydrogenation and hydrocracking reactions. The pretreatments were aimed at improving the host oil by; (1) converting any aromatic structures in the petroleum to hydroaromatic compounds capable of donating hydrogen, (2) cracking the heavy oil to lower molecular weight material that might serve as a better solvent, (3) reducing the coking propensity of the heavy oil through the hydrogenation of polynuclear aromatic compounds, and (4) removing metals and heteroatoms that might poison a coprocessing catalyst. Highly dispersed catalysts, including fine particle Fe- and Mo-based, and dicobalt octacarbonyl, Co{sub 2}(CO){sub 8}, were used in this study. The untreated and pretreated resids were extensively characterized in order to determine chemical changes brought about by the pretreatments. The modified heavy oils were then coprocessed with an Illinois No. 6 coal as well as with a Wyodak coal, and compared to coprocessing with untreated resids under the same hydroliquefaction conditions. The amount of oil derived from coal was estimated by measuring the level of phenolic oxygen (derived mainly from coal) present in the oil products. Results are presented and discussed.

  18. Perfusion abnormality of the caudate nucleus in patients with paroxysmal kinesigenic choreoathetosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Joo, Eun Yeon; Hong, Seung Bong; Tae, Woo Suk; Kim, Jee Hyun; Han, Sun Jung; Seo, Dae Won; Lee, Kyung-Han; Kim, Byung Tae; Kim, Myoung-Hee; Kim, Seunghwan; Lee, Mann Hyung

    2005-01-01

    Previous cerebral blood flow and glucose metabolism studies suggest that the basal ganglia or thalamus is involved in the pathogenesis of paroxysmal kinesigenic choreoathetosis (PKC). However, the underlying cerebral abnormalities in idiopathic PKC have not been elucidated. To localise cerebral perfusion abnormalities in PKC, we performed interictal brain perfusion 99m Tc-ethylcysteinate dimer (ECD) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in PKC patients and in normal controls. Sixteen patients with idiopathic PKC and 18 age- and sex-matched normal controls were included. The patients were de novo diagnosed as having PKC, or had not taken medication for at least 3 months; none of them had structural abnormalities on MRI. Patients had a history of PKC attacks of a duration not exceeding 5 min and starting either on one side or on both sides of the body. These attacks were always induced by a sudden initiation of voluntary movement. PKC attacks were recorded in a hospital after being induced by neurology staff in 13 of the 16 patients. Interictal brain perfusion 99m Tc-ECD SPECT was performed in all 16 patients and 18 normal controls. Differences between the cerebral perfusion in the PKC group and the normal control group were tested by statistical parametric mapping. Student's t test was used for inter-group comparisons. Compared with normal controls, patients with idiopathic PKC showed interictal hypoperfusion in the posterior regions of the bilateral caudate nuclei (false discovery rate-corrected P<0.001 with a small volume correction). This study showed that cerebral perfusion abnormality of bilateral caudate nuclei is present in idiopathic PKC. (orig.)

  19. Perfusion abnormality of the caudate nucleus in patients with paroxysmal kinesigenic choreoathetosis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Joo, Eun Yeon; Hong, Seung Bong; Tae, Woo Suk; Kim, Jee Hyun; Han, Sun Jung; Seo, Dae Won [Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Samsung Medical Center and Center for Clinical Medicine, SBRI, Seoul (Korea); Lee, Kyung-Han; Kim, Byung Tae [Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Samsung Medical Center and Center for Clinical Medicine, SBRI, Seoul (Korea); Kim, Myoung-Hee [Ewha Women' s University, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Seoul (Korea); Kim, Seunghwan [POSTECH, APCTP/NCSL, Department of Physics, Pohang (Korea); Lee, Mann Hyung [Catholic University of Daegue, College of Pharmacy, Gyongbook (Korea)

    2005-10-01

    Previous cerebral blood flow and glucose metabolism studies suggest that the basal ganglia or thalamus is involved in the pathogenesis of paroxysmal kinesigenic choreoathetosis (PKC). However, the underlying cerebral abnormalities in idiopathic PKC have not been elucidated. To localise cerebral perfusion abnormalities in PKC, we performed interictal brain perfusion {sup 99m}Tc-ethylcysteinate dimer (ECD) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in PKC patients and in normal controls. Sixteen patients with idiopathic PKC and 18 age- and sex-matched normal controls were included. The patients were de novo diagnosed as having PKC, or had not taken medication for at least 3 months; none of them had structural abnormalities on MRI. Patients had a history of PKC attacks of a duration not exceeding 5 min and starting either on one side or on both sides of the body. These attacks were always induced by a sudden initiation of voluntary movement. PKC attacks were recorded in a hospital after being induced by neurology staff in 13 of the 16 patients. Interictal brain perfusion {sup 99m}Tc-ECD SPECT was performed in all 16 patients and 18 normal controls. Differences between the cerebral perfusion in the PKC group and the normal control group were tested by statistical parametric mapping. Student's t test was used for inter-group comparisons. Compared with normal controls, patients with idiopathic PKC showed interictal hypoperfusion in the posterior regions of the bilateral caudate nuclei (false discovery rate-corrected P<0.001 with a small volume correction). This study showed that cerebral perfusion abnormality of bilateral caudate nuclei is present in idiopathic PKC. (orig.)

  20. Clinical Findings Documenting Cellular and Molecular Abnormalities of Glia in Depressive Disorders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boldizsár Czéh

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Depressive disorders are complex, multifactorial mental disorders with unknown neurobiology. Numerous theories aim to explain the pathophysiology. According to the “gliocentric theory”, glial abnormalities are responsible for the development of the disease. The aim of this review article is to summarize the rapidly growing number of cellular and molecular evidences indicating disturbed glial functioning in depressive disorders. We focus here exclusively on the clinical studies and present the in vivo neuroimaging findings together with the postmortem molecular and histopathological data. Postmortem studies demonstrate glial cell loss while the in vivo imaging data reveal disturbed glial functioning and altered white matter microstructure. Molecular studies report on altered gene expression of glial specific genes. In sum, the clinical findings provide ample evidences on glial pathology and demonstrate that all major glial cell types are affected. However, we still lack convincing theories explaining how the glial abnormalities develop and how exactly contribute to the emotional and cognitive disturbances. Abnormal astrocytic functioning may lead to disturbed metabolism affecting ion homeostasis and glutamate clearance, which in turn, affect synaptic communication. Abnormal oligodendrocyte functioning may disrupt the connectivity of neuronal networks, while microglial activation indicates neuroinflammatory processes. These cellular changes may relate to each other or they may indicate different endophenotypes. A theory has been put forward that the stress-induced inflammation—mediated by microglial activation—triggers a cascade of events leading to damaged astrocytes and oligodendroglia and consequently to their dysfunctions. The clinical data support the “gliocentric” theory, but future research should clarify whether these glial changes are truly the cause or simply the consequences of this devastating disorder.