Transplantation of purified autologous fat: a 3-year follow-up is disappointing.

The idea of autologous fat microtransplants has recently resurfaced because of interest by the press. Past experiments have shown that small amounts of fat may be transplanted with an expected survival rate between 10 and 50 percent without ectodermis. A great fund of knowledge exists showing that skin grafts will survive quite dependably if their thickness is up to about 0.0020 inch. For the first week or so, they live by diffusion and inosculation, and then neovascularization enables them to continue viability. I have developed a technique whereby fat is harvested through a blunt cannula with minimal vacuum to prevent explosion of the cellular fat globules. Fibrin and cellular debris are removed, and the fat globules are separated from the free fat, blood, and other constituents of the aspirate. Individual, free-floating 1- to 3-mm adipose fragments are then suspended in nutrient solution and injected through an 18-gauge needle. Multiple radial pathways, with each fat segment being separated from the other by host tissue, maximizes the host-prosthesis interface and the possibility for exchange of nutrients. I have attempted this procedure in more than 100 patients with widely varying results. In acne pits of the face, no significant improvement could be noted 6 weeks after injection. For the first few weeks, a near-perfect result was obtained, but none of these transplants in scarred areas of this kind have been of benefit. Injection of 10 to 50 cc in other areas has resulted in some cells (perhaps 10 percent) surviving over 2 years.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Quantitative Muscle MRI as an Assessment Tool for Monitoring Disease Progression in LGMD2I: A Multicentre Longitudinal Study

Background

Outcome measures for clinical trials in neuromuscular diseases are typically based on physical assessments which are dependent on patient effort, combine the effort of different muscle groups, and may not be sensitive to progression over short trial periods in slow-progressing diseases. We hypothesised that quantitative fat imaging by MRI (Dixon technique) could provide more discriminating quantitative, patient-independent measurements of the progress of muscle fat replacement within individual muscle groups.

Objective

To determine whether quantitative fat imaging could measure disease progression in a cohort of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy 2I (LGMD2I) patients over a 12 month period.

Methods

32 adult patients (17 male;15 female) from 4 European tertiary referral centres with the homozygous c.826C>A mutation in the fukutin-related protein gene (FKRP) completed baseline and follow up measurements 12 months later. Quantitative fat imaging was performed and muscle fat fraction change was compared with (i) muscle strength and function assessed using standardized physical tests and (ii) standard T1-weighted MRI graded on a 6 point scale.

Results

There was a significant increase in muscle fat fraction in 9 of the 14 muscles analyzed using the quantitative MRI technique from baseline to 12 months follow up. Changes were not seen in the conventional longitudinal physical assessments or in qualitative scoring of the T₁w images.

Conclusions

Quantitative muscle MRI, using the Dixon technique, could be used as an important longitudinal outcome measure to assess muscle pathology and monitor therapeutic efficacy in patients with LGMD2I.     

版纳鱼螈的生殖系统解剖

版纳鱼螈(Ichthyophis bannanica)是我国无足目(Apoda)的仅有代表,本研究采用传统的解剖学方法对版纳鱼螈的生殖系统进行观察比较。研究结果表明,雌性生殖系统由卵巢、输卵管、脂肪体和泄殖腔构成;雄性生殖系统由精巢、输精(尿)管、缪氏管、脂肪体、泄殖腔和交配器所组成。卵巢一对,半透明长囊状,内含许多大小不一的球状卵母细胞。精巢一对,分叶状,每小叶包含许多小室,存在小叶融合现象。     

Strategic diel regulation of body mass in European robins

Stochastic dynamic programming (SDP) is a computational technique that has been used to model daily routines of foraging in small birds. A diurnal bird must build up its fat reserves towards dusk in order to avoid starvation during the night, when it cannot feed. However, as well as the benefits of avoiding starvation, storing fat imposes costs such as an increased predation risk and higher flight and metabolic costs. There is therefore an optimal level of fat reserves for a bird to reach at dusk in order to survive overnight without being left with excessive fat reserves at dawn. I tested a prediction common to all SDP models of daily foraging routines, that a bird will attempt to reach this level at dusk, regardless of its fat reserves the previous dawn. I provided supplementary food to manipulate the fat reserves at dawn of free-living European robins, Erithacus rubecula. Diurnal changes in body mass (a reliable estimate of fat reserves) were then monitored remotely. Robins provided with an ad libitum food supply reached almost exactly the same body mass at dusk, regardless of their body mass at dawn, supporting the prediction that birds attempt to reach a target level of reserves at dusk. Copyright 2000 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.     

En bloc cervical lipectomy for treatment of the problem neck in facial rejuvenation surgery

The treatment of cervical fat in facial aesthetic surgery has received much attention in recent years. Suction lipectomy has become a very popular technique for removing cervical fat because it is easy to perform and results in few complications. This paper describes the en bloc excision of cervical fat in conjunction with rhytidectomy. The senior author has treated 1,000 patients over 17 years using this technique with a high degree of patient satisfaction and minimal morbidity. Although suction lipectomy alone may be indicated for the younger patient, our experience suggests that the en bloc excisional technique is the treatment of choice in the older patient in whom a rhytidectomy is also indicated. In contrast with suction lipectomy, we have found that the en bloc excision of cervical fat allows for more anatomic dissection and facilitates removal of greater amounts of fat and better redraping of the cervical skin.     

Apolipoprotein A‐I possesses an anti‐obesity effect associated with increase of energy expenditure and up‐regulation of UCP1 in brown fat

Apolipoprotein A‐I (ApoA‐I) is the most abundant protein constituent of high‐density lipoprotein (HDL). Reduced plasma HDL and ApoA‐I levels have been found to be associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome in human beings. However, whether or not ApoA‐I has a direct effect on obesity is largely unknown. Here we analysed the anti‐obesity effect of ApoA‐I using two mouse models, a transgenic mouse with overexpression of ApoA‐I and the mice administered with an ApoA‐I mimetic peptide D‐4F. The mice were induced to develop obesity by feeding with high fat diet. Both ApoA‐I overexpression and D‐4F treatment could significantly reduce white fat mass and slightly improve insulin sensitivity in the mice. Metabolic analyses revealed that ApoA‐I overexpression and D‐4F treatment enhanced energy expenditure in the mice. The mRNA level of uncoupling protein (UCP)1 in brown fat tissue was elevated by ApoA‐I transgenic mice. ApoA‐I and D‐4F treatment was able to increase UCP1 mRNA and protein levels as well as to stimulate AMP‐activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation in brown adipocytes in culture. Taken together, our results reveal that ApoA‐I has an anti‐obesity effect in the mouse and such effect is associated with increases in energy expenditure and UCP1 expression in the brown fat tissue.     

A classification scheme for scoring subcutaneous fat depots of shorebirds

ABSTRACT.   Different scoring systems have been developed for assessing fat stores in birds. Most have been used with passerines, and there is no widely used standard for studies of shorebirds. I developed a new fat-scoring classification scheme for shorebirds that was tested in Poland with juvenile Dunlins ( Calidris alpina ) during autumn and Wood Sandpipers ( Tringa glareola ) during spring migration. My proposed fatness scale is based on a qualitative assessment of the amount of fat in the axillary region and, if necessary, the furcular region. The resulting fat scores do not predict the actual amount of fat carried by a bird, but can be used to assign birds to a particular state of fatness and allow comparison of birds with different scores. Analysis revealed that the relationship between fat scores and predicted fat mass was approximately linear for both Dunlins and Wood Sandpipers. Although the scale I propose was tested with 20 species of shorebirds, sample sizes for larger species were small and consisted exclusively of lean and moderately fat birds. As a result, my proposed fat-scoring system should be evaluated using larger and fatter shorebirds because it has only been validated for one small and one medium-sized species.     

Curette fat sculpture in rhytidectomy: improving the nasolabial and labiomandibular folds

The nasolabial and labiomandibular folds develop with facial aging by an anterior caudal descent of the fat prominences of the same name. Young patients with minimal folding can be corrected by substances inserted in the fold; however, this and other techniques have failed satisfactorily to improve the folds naturally and permanently. Identification of the prominences and removal of the fat superficial to the skin by curettes have proven safe and effective and superior to fat suction. Complications include small hematomas and visible depressions in the sculpted areas. There was no nerve or skin injury. Follow-up of this technique (an improvement of a previous technique) is 3 1/2 years.     

Modification of the caloric intake as a function of energy expenditure in patients with diarrhea]

We have compared, using non protein RQ method, energy expenditures of diarrheic patients with intraperitoneal or intraluminal suppuration and feed enterally (group II) or intravenously (group III). Five non suppurative diarrheic patients feed enterally were studied as control (group I). Carbohydrate, protein and fat intakes were not significantly different in the 3 groups of patients. Patients of group II metabolized significantly less of carbohydrate (p less than 0.01) and more of fat (P less than 0.01) than groups I and III patients. Carbohydrate and fat expenditures of patients of groups I and III were not significantly different. Conclusion: 1) There is a possible trouble of carbohydrate absorption in suppurative diarrheic patients. 2) Therefore caloric intake must be preferably parenteral in these patients.     

Why do hoarding birds gain fat in winter in the wrong way? Suggestions from a dynamic model

In winter, small birds should be fat to avoid starvation andlean and agile to escape predators. This means that they facea trade-off between the costs and benefits of carrying fat reserves.Every day they must gain enough fat to survive the coming night.Food-hoarding species can afford to carry less fat than nonhoardersbecause they can store energy outside the body. Furthermore, hoardersshould avoid carrying excessive fat during the day because theycan gain fat fast by retrieving food late in the afternoon.With no stored supplies, nonhoarders face more unpredictableaccess to food, and they should start gaining fat earlier inthe day. The predicted pattern is then that nonhoarders gainfat early and that hoarders gain fat late in the day. Recent fielddata show the opposite pattern: hoarders gain relatively morefat reserves in the morning than nonhoarders do. Using a dynamicmodel that mimics the conditions in a boreal winter forest,I investigated under which conditions this pattern will arise.The only assumption of those investigated that produced thispattern was to relax the effect of mass-dependent predation risk.I did this by introducing a limit under which fat reserves didnot affect predation risk. Hoarders then started the day bygaining fat in the morning. Later, when they had reached a safer(but still not risky) level, they switched to hoarding. Thepattern I searched would only occur if either not all food waspossible to store, or if retrieval gave less energy than foragingin good weather conditions. If I assumed that low levels ofbody fat also increased predation risk, hoarders would cachein the morning when they carried least fat. I discuss empiricalevidence for how body fat affects predation risk. In summary,the factors that produced the pattern I searched were a changein the predation-mortality function combined with restrictions onhoarding.     

Vitellogenin accumulation in the fat body and haemolymph of Locusta migratoria in relation to egg maturation

Vitellogenins first appear in the fat body of Locusta migratoria during subphase I of vitellogenesis and increase to a constant level during subphase II. A second increase occurs shortly before the oöcyte attains maximal size. Vitellogenin content of fat body subsequently returns to that of subphase I, appropriate to the size of the subterminal oöcyte. The absolute amount of vitellogenin in the fat body is low compared to that found in the haemolymph. Fat body and haemolymph vitellogenins have immunological properties similar to oöcyte yolk proteins—when challenged with oöcyte protein antiserum. They exhibit similar electrophoretic mobility in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and are complex glyco-lipoproteins.     

A sparing procedure to clear the mouse mammary fat pad of epithelial components for transplantation analysis

Transplantation of epithelial cells into cleared fat pads is a widely used technique in the study of mammary gland biology. It was first described in 1959 and has remained a valuable technique, most recently in conjunction with the analysis of mammary anlagen from knockout mice with an embryonic lethal phenotype or reproductive defect, and for mammary epithelial stem-cell assays or analysis of precancerous cells. Mammary glands, unlike most other organs, mainly develop postnatally. When the small amount of endogenous epithelium present in the fat pad of a prepubertal mouse is removed, this clearance leaves a natural microenvironment that can be repopulated with exogenously supplied epithelial cells. Cells with the appropriate developmental potential (stem cells or progenitor cells) can regenerate the epithelial portion of the mammary gland after puberty and pregnancy. The conventional clearance of the fat pad is an involved surgical procedure. We have improved the technique and minimized surgery and recovery time, while maintaining an efficient removal of endogenous epithelium from the mammary fat pad.     

The Accumulation of Visceral Adipose Tissue may be Influenced by Intra-Abdominal Temperature

Despite the established link between visceral obesity and major chronic diseases, little is known about physiologic factors that directly and specifically lead to the accumulation of visceral fat. I hypothesize that reduced intra-abdominal temperature might be a physical factor underlying the partitioning of adipose tissue to the intra-abdominal region rather than the periphery. The hypothesis is supported by biochemical reports that rat and bovine lipoprotein lipase have increased activity when incubated at lower temperatures. Persons exercising in cool water have been found to preserve subcutaneous fat whereas comparable exercise without local cooling results in subcutaneous fat loss. Pima Indians, a group that commonly acquires extreme levels of visceral fat, have been found to have lower intraabdominal temperatures during sleep than weight-matched European-Americans. In a study of four young men and four young women, I have noted that mean intra-abdominal basal temperatures were higher for women than men (36.51 ± 0.18°C vs. 35.91 ± 0.11°C; p = .0014). Since the men are more likely to acquire visceral obesity at later age, this also provides support for my hypothesis. Investigators might wish to examine further the temperature dependence of adipose-tissue lipoprotein lipase, the temperature variation between sites of adipose tissue, and the effects of foods, physical activities, smoking and drugs on localized body temperature.     

Feeding rats a high fat/carbohydrate ratio diet reduces jejunal S/I activity ratio and unsialylated galactose on glycosylated chain of S–I complex

AimsWe examined whether decreasing jejunal sucrase/isomaltase (S/I) activity ratio by feeding rats a high fat/carbohydrate ratio diet is regulated by changing glycosylated chains on the S–I complex.Main methodsJejunal activities of sucrase, isomaltase and β-1,4-galactosyltransferase were examined in rats fed a high fat/carbohydrate or a low fat/carbohydrate ratio diet. The amount of galactose and mannose in the glycosylated chain on the S–I complex in rats fed both diets was determined using RCA₁₂₀ and Con A lectins, respectively. The effects of reducing unsialylated galactose from the glycosylated chain on the S–I complex were assessed by determining sucrase activity in purified S–I complex treated with β-galactosidase.Key findings and significanceFeeding rats a high fat/carbohydrate ratio diet reduced jejunal S/I activity ratio in mucosal homogenates and purified fractions. The level of unsialylated galactose in glycosylated chains on the S–I complex was reduced by feeding rats a high fat/carbohydrate ratio diet. The form with reduced levels of unsialylated galactose had lower sucrase activity than that with more unsialylated galactose. The reduction of galactose on the S–I complex by β-galactosidase in vitro reduced sucrase activity. Feeding rats a high fat/carbohydrate ratio diet also reduced jejunal β-1,4-galactosyltransferase activity. Taken together, decreasing the S/I activity ratio by feeding rats a high fat/carbohydrate diet is associated with the reduction of unsialylated galactose on the glycosylated chain of the S–I complex.     

Abdominal Visceral Fat is Associated with a BclI Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism at the Glucocorticoid Receptor Gene Locus

Several investigations have suggested that body fat distribution is influenced by nonpathologic variations in the responsiveness to Cortisol. Genetic variations in the glucocorticoid receptor (GRL) could therefore potentially have an impact on the level of abdominal fat. A restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) has previously been detected with the BelI restriction enzyme in the GRL gene identifying two alleles with fragment lengths of 4.5 and 2.3 kb. This study investigates whether abdominal fat areas measured by computerized tomography (CT) are associated with this polymorphism in 152 middle-aged men and women. The less frequent 4.5-kb allele was found to be associated with a higher abdominal visceral fat (A VF) area independently of total body fat mass (4.5/4.5 vs. 2.3/2.3 kb genotype; men: 190.7 ± 30.1 vs. 150.7 ± 33.3 cm², p=0.04; women: 132.7 ± 37.3 vs. 101.3 ± 34.5 cm², p=0.06). However, the association with AVF was seen only in subjects of the lower tertile of the percent body fat level. In these subjects, the polymorphism was found to account for 41% (p=0.003) and 35% (p=0.007), in men and women, respectively, of the total variance in AVF area. The consistent association between the GRL polymorphism detected with BelI and AVF area suggests that this gene or a locus in linkage disequilibrium with the BelI restriction site may contribute to the accumulation of AVF.     

黑腹果蝇单胚培养技术的建立

过硬单胚培养十一项特殊的技术,运用此技术可以从果蝇单个原肠胚（同一基因型）中提取细胞进行体外培养,科观察到各种细胞的分化过程,从而能研究导致发生异常或致死突变的机制。通过反复摸索实验,我们在本实验室的条件下,建立了黑腹果蝇（D. melanogaster）单胚培养技术,并对野生型（Canton special, CS.）果蝇的单胚细胞进行体外培养,观察到了各种细胞,如肌肉细胞、神经细胞、脂肪细胞、以及成虫盘等的分化及其发生规律性,为今后研究突变奠定了基础。实验过程中,我们采用了载玻片法和培养皿法。两种方法各有特点及利弊,本文一并进行讨论。Abstract:We can culture the cells of single gastrula (the gene type of cells is same) in vitro,we now have cstablished the technique of single embryo culture in Drosophila.We have seen the differentiated state of myocytes, neurocytes,hemocyte cells,epithelical cells and imagical disk by this technique.     

Chronotype and Body Composition in Bipolar Disorder

We explored whether obesity in patients with bipolar disorder is associated with their chronotype. A group of 29 patients with bipolar I disorder, not currently experiencing an affective episode, were assessed for total body fat, mood symptoms, and self-reported circadian chronotype and sleep quality. Chronotype explained 19% of the variance in body fat, after age, sex, mood state, and sleep quality were accounted for. This association suggested that evening chronotype patients have a higher percentage of total body fat. Evening chronotype could be a proxy for as yet unknown specific causes of the high rate of obesity and obesity-related diseases in bipolar disorder.     

Substituting dietary polyunsaturated fat with monounsaturated fat increases insulin sensitivity in cultured rat hepatocytes

Increased dietary fat intake generally, and saturated fat specifically, will lead to impairment of insulin action and to development of metabolic syndrome. The aim of this study was to find out changing of hepatic glucose output in dependence of high monounsaturated and high polyunsaturated fat diet and possible direct action of insulin in hepatocytes. Hepatocytes were isolated by a collagenase perfusion technique and cultured for 24 h in M 199 serum-free medium. The glucose production in hepatocytes isolated from rats on high polyunsaturated fat diet, as well as those isolated from rats on high monounsaturated fat diet was significantly higher than in standard controls. Insulin significantly decreased glucose production but only in hepatocytes obtained from rats on high monounsaturated fat diet. On the other side energy expenditure was significantly higher in rats on high monounsaturated fat diet and significantly lower in rats on high polyunsaturated fat diet comparable with animals on standard diet. Monounsaturated fat in Mediterranean diet could have beneficial effect on the development of the metabolic syndrome by increasing insulin sensitivity and energy expenditure.     

Particle-size distribution of very low density plasma lipoproteins during fat absorption in man

The size distributions of electrophoretically isolated subfractions of the very low density human plasma lipoproteins have been determined using electron microscopy. The primary and secondary particles observed in plasma of normal subjects after fat ingestion appear to have similar size distributions. Particles produced by corn oil feeding can be fixed by the osmium tetroxide reaction while those produced by butter fat feeding could not be fixed or made visible by this technique. Good agreement between particle size as measured by electron microscopy and particle size as predicted by ultra-centrifugal analysis was obtained.