Current Issue : April - June Volume : 2012 Issue Number : 2 Articles : 7 Articles
Water (H2O) is the most abundant and important molecule of life. Natural water contains small amount of heavy isotopes.\r\nPreviously, few animal model studies have shown that the isotopic composition of body water could play important roles in\r\nphysiology and pathophysiology. Here we study the stable isotopic ratios of hydrogen (d2H) and oxygen (d18O) in human\r\nblood plasma. The stable isotopic ratio is defined and determined by dsample = [(Rsample/RSTD)21] * 1000, where R is the\r\nmolar ratio of rare to abundant, for example, 18O/16O. We observe that the d2H and the d18O in human blood plasma are\r\nassociated with the human renal functions. The water isotope ratios of the d2H and d18O in human blood plasma of the\r\ncontrol subjects are comparable to those of the diabetes subjects (with healthy kidney), but are statistically higher than\r\nthose of the end stage renal disease subjects (p,0.001 for both ANOVA and Student�s t-test). In addition, our data indicate\r\nthe existence of the biological homeostasis of water isotopes in all subjects, except the end stage renal disease subjects\r\nunder the haemodialysis treatment. Furthermore, the unexpected water contents (d2H and d18O) in blood plasma of body\r\nwater may shed light on a novel assessment of renal functions....
It has been hypothesized that exposure to heavy metals may impair male reproduction. To measure the effect produced by low doses of heavy metals on semen parameters, it is necessary to clarify in which body fluids those measurements must be performed. Sixty-one men attending infertility clinics participated in our study. Concentrations of lead, cadmium, and mercury were measured in whole blood, blood plasma, and seminal plasma using spectroanalytical and electrochemical methods. Semen analyses were performed according to World Health Organization criteria. For statistical analysis, Spearman''s rank correlations, mean comparison tests, and discriminant analysis were calculated. Significant correlations between the measured concentrations of the three heavy metals in the same biological fluids were observed. However, no similar relationship was seen when comparing the concentrations in different body fluids of the same metal. According to our results and previous publications, seminal plasma might be the best body fluid for assessing impairment of human semen parameters....
Background & Aims: Colorectal cancer incidence and deaths are reduced by the detection and removal of early-stage,\ntreatable neoplasia but we lack proven biomarkers sensitive for both cancer and pre-invasive adenomas. The aims of this\nstudy were to determine if adenomas and cancers exhibit characteristic patterns of biomarker expression and to explore\nwhether a tissue-discovered (and validated) biomarker is differentially expressed in the plasma of patients with colorectal\nadenomas or cancer.\nMethods: Candidate RNA biomarkers were identified by oligonucleotide microarray analysis of colorectal specimens (222\nnormal, 29 adenoma, 161 adenocarcinoma and 50 colitis) and validated in a previously untested cohort of 68 colorectal\nspecimens using a custom-designed oligonucleotide microarray. One validated biomarker, KIAA1199, was assayed using\nqRT-PCR on plasma extracted RNA from 20 colonoscopy-confirmed healthy controls, 20 patients with adenoma, and 20 with\ncancer.\nResults: Genome-wide analysis uncovered reproducible gene expression signatures for both adenomas and cancers\ncompared to controls. 386/489 (79%) of the adenoma and 439/529 (83%) of the adenocarcinoma biomarkers were validated\nin independent tissues. We also identified genes differentially expressed in adenomas compared to cancer. KIAA1199 was\nselected for further analysis based on consistent up-regulation in neoplasia, previous studies and its interest as an\nuncharacterized gene. Plasma KIAA1199 RNA levels were significantly higher in patients with either cancer or adenoma (31/\n40) compared to neoplasia-free controls (6/20).\nConclusions: Colorectal neoplasia exhibits characteristic patterns of gene expression. KIAA1199 is differentially expressed in\nneoplastic tissues and KIAA1199 transcripts are more abundant in the plasma of patients with either cancer or adenoma\ncompared to controls....
Background: Rapid detection of bloodstream infections (BSIs) can be lifesaving. We investigated the sample processing and\nassay parameters necessary for highly-sensitive detection of bloodstream bacteria, using Staphylococcus aureus as a model\npathogen and an automated fluidic sample processing ââ?¬â?? polymerase chain reaction (PCR) platform as a model diagnostic\nsystem.\nMethodology/Principal Findings: We compared a short 128 bp amplicon hemi-nested PCR and a relatively shorter 79 bp\namplicon nested PCR targeting the S. aureus nuc and sodA genes, respectively. The sodA nested assay showed an enhanced\nlimit of detection (LOD) of 5 genomic copies per reaction or 10 colony forming units (CFU) per ml blood over 50 copies per\nreaction or 50 CFU/ml for the nuc assay. To establish optimal extraction protocols, we investigated the relative abundance\nof the bacteria in different components of the blood (white blood cells (WBCs), plasma or whole blood), using the above\nassays. The blood samples were obtained from the patients who were culture positive for S. aureus. Whole blood resulted in\nmaximum PCR positives with sodA assay (90% positive) as opposed to cell-associated bacteria (in WBCs) (71% samples\npositive) or free bacterial DNA in plasma (62.5% samples positive). Both the assays were further tested for direct detection of\nS. aureus in patient whole blood samples that were contemporaneous culture positive. S. aureus was detected in 40/45 of\nculture-positive patients (sensitivity 89%, 95% CI 0.75ââ?¬â??0.96) and 0/59 negative controls with the sodA assay (specificity\n100%, 95% CI 0.92ââ?¬â??1).\nConclusions: We have demonstrated a highly sensitive two-hour assay for detection of sepsis causing bacteria like S. aureus\ndirectly in 1 ml of whole blood, without the need for blood culture....
The achievement of parasitological cure of dogs with visceral leishmaniasis (VL) remains a great challenge,\nsince dogs act as main reservoir for transmission of Leishmania infantum to humans and respond poorly to\nconventional drugs including pentavalent antimonials. Liposome-encapsulated antimonials are hundreds of\ntimes more effective than the free drugs against VL based on parasite suppression in the liver. However,\ncomplete parasite elimination in dogs seems to depend on the ability of liposomes to reach less accessible\ninfection sites such as the bone marrow and the skin. Recently, the reduction of liposome size from 1200- to\n400-nm diameter was found to improve the targeting of Sb to the bone marrow of dogs with VL. In the present\n \n\n\n\n \n\nvesicle diameter from 400- to 175-nm on the pharmacokinetics of Sb\nin dogs with VL and on the distribution of Sb in the liver, spleen and bone marrow were investigated. For this\npurpose, two liposome formulations of meglumine antimoniate with the same lipid composition but different\nmean hydrodynamic diameters were prepared. The formulations were given to mongrel dogs with VL as a\nsingle intravenous bolus injection and Sb concentrations were determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption\nspectroscopy. Surprisingly, much more prolonged blood levels of Sb were achieved from small size (175 nm)\nthan medium size (400 nm) liposomes. Small size vesicles were also less effective than medium size ones\nin targeting Sb to the liver. On the other hand, similar Sb concentrations were achieved in both spleen and\nbone marrow. In conclusion, the prolonged blood circulation time of liposomes with 175-nm diameter makes this\nnanosystem suitable for passive drug targeting to the less accessible infection sites in dogs with VL....
Different studies reported the presence of oxidized (carbonylated) albumin in the extravascular pool, but not in the\r\nintravascular one of cigarette smokers. In this study we attempted to explain this apparent discrepancy exposing human\r\nserum albumin (HSA) to aqueous cigarette smoke extract (CSE). CSE induces HSA carbonylation and oxidation of the HSA\r\nCys34 sulfhydryl group. An antioxidant action of glutathione, cysteine, and its synthetic derivative N-acetylcysteine was\r\nobserved only at supra-physiological concentrations, suggesting that physiological (plasma) concentrations of glutathione\r\nand cysteine in the low micromolar range are ineffective in preventing cigarette smokeââ?¬â??induced oxidation of HSA.\r\nDifferently, human erythrocytes resulted to be protective towards CSE-induced oxidation (carbonylation and thiol oxidation)\r\nof both HSA and total human plasma proteins....
eNOS activation resulting in mitochondrial biogenesis is believed to play a central role in life span extension promoted by\ncalorie restriction (CR). We investigated the mechanism of this activation by treating vascular cells with serum from CR rats\nand found increased Akt and eNOS phosphorylation, in addition to enhanced nitrite release. Inhibiting Akt phosphorylation\nor immunoprecipitating adiponectin (found in high quantities in CR serum) completely prevented the increment in nitrite\nrelease and eNOS activation. Overall, we demonstrate that adiponectin in the serum from CR animals increases NON\nsignaling by activating the insulin pathway. These results suggest this hormone may be a determinant regulator of the\nbeneficial effects of CR....
Loading....