High glucose levels impact visual response properties of retinal ganglion cells in C57 mice—An <Emphasis Type=\"Italic\">in vitro</Emphasis> physiological study

This study investigated visual response properties of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) under high glucose levels. Extracellular single-unit responses of RGCs from mouse retinas were recorded. And the eyecup was prepared as a flat mount in a recording chamber and superfused with Ames medium. The averaged RF size of the ON RGCs (34.1±2.9, n=14) was significantly smaller than the OFF RGCs under the HG (49.3±0.3, n=12) (P<0.0001) conditions. The same reduction pattern was also observed in the osmotic control group (HM) between ON and OFF RGCs (P<0.0001). The averaged luminance threshold (LT) of ON RGCs increased significantly under HG or HM (HG: P<0.0001; HM: P<0.0002). OFF RGCs exhibited a similar response pattern under the same conditions (HG: P<0.01; HM: P<0.0002). The averaged contrast gain of ON cells was significantly lower than that of OFF cells with the HM treatment (P<0.015, unpaired Student’s t test). The averaged contrast gain of ON cells was significantly higher than OFF cells with the HG treatment (P<0.0001). The present results suggest that HG reduced receptive field center size, suppressed luminance threshold, and attenuated contrast gain of RGCs. The impact of HG on ON and OFF RGCs may be mediated via different mechanisms.     

Dose—response relationship for radiation-induced translocations in somatic and germ cells of mice

Dose—response curves (0–600 rad X-rays) for induced reciprocal translocations in bone-marrow cells and in spermatogonia (scored in spermatocytes) of the mouse were constructed. The obtained results suggest that factors influencing aberration yields in somatic cells, are similar to those in germ cells and strengthen the premise for qualitative extrapolation from somatic cells to germ cells.     

In?vitro and in?vivo study on the effect of antifungal agents on hematopoietic cells in mice

Liposomal amphotericin B, voriconazole, and caspofungin are currently used for systemic and severe fungal infections. Patients with malignant diseases are treated with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) for the recovery of granulocytes after chemotherapy or hematopoietic cell (HC) transplantation. Since they have a high incidence of fungal infections, they inevitably receive antifungal drugs for treatment and prophylaxis. Despite their proven less toxicity for various cell types comparatively with amphotericin B and the decrease in the number of leukocytes that has been reported as a possible complication in clinical studies, the effect of liposomal amphotericin B, voriconazole, and caspofungin on HCs has not been clarified. The present study aimed to examine the in vitro and in vivo effect of these three modern antifungals on HCs. Colony-forming unit (CFU) assays of murine bone marrow cells were performed in methylcellulose medium with or without cytokines and in the presence or absence of various concentrations of liposomal amphotericin B, voriconazole, and caspofungin. In the in vivo experiments, the absolute number of granulocytes was determined during leukocyte recovery in sublethally irradiated mice receiving each antifungal agent separately, with or without G-CSF. In vitro, all three antifungal drugs were nontoxic and, interestingly, they significantly increased the number of CFU-granulocyte-macrophage colonies in the presence of cytokines, at all concentrations tested. This was contrary to the concentration-dependent toxicity and the significant decrease caused by conventional amphotericin B. In vivo, the number of granulocytes was significantly higher with caspofungin plus G-CSF treatment, higher and to a lesser extent higher, but not statistically significantly, with voriconazole plus G-CSF and liposomal amphotericin B plus G-CSF treatments, respectively, as compared with G-CSF alone. These data indicate a potential synergistic effect of these antifungals with the cytokines, in vitro and in vivo, with subsequent positive effect on hematopoiesis.     

Glycolysis activity in flight muscles of birds according to their physiological function. An experimental model in vitro to study aerobic and anaerobic glycolysis activity separately

Curcumin, an active ingredient of Curcumin longa mediates its anti-inflammatory effects through inhibition of NFkB. Several pathways including toll-like receptors (TLR) induce NFkB leading to inflammation. In this study, we investigated the effects of curcumin on the expression of TLR-4 and MyD88, the upstream signaling pathway in experimental colitis induced in the Sprague-Dawley male rats by intra-rectal administration of trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS). The animals which received TNBS were divided into two groups: Group 1, received aqueous suspension of curcumin (100 mg/Kg body weight) 2 h prior to inducing colitis, and the treatment was repeated every day for 5 days, and Group 2 and non-colitis (Group 3) animals received phosphate buffered saline (PBS) in a similar fashion. Non-colitis animals (Group 4) received curcumin and served as controls. Animals were sacrificed on day 5 post-TNBS by cervical dislocation, colon was taken out, and cleaned with PBS. Levels of TLR-4, MyD88, and NFkB proteins were measured using ECL Western blot analysis, and TLR-4 mRNA by a competitive RT-PCR method. Colitis was confirmed histologically by measuring myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the colonic tissues. TNBS-induced increase in the level of MPO activity and MDA concentrations was reversed by curcumin treatment, whereas the same dose of curcumin did not affect their levels in the non-colitis animals. Increases in the levels of TLR-4, MyD88, and NFkB proteins in inflamed tissue were also suppressed significantly by curcumin treatment. The level of TLR-4 mRNA remained unchanged in the colitis animals. These findings demonstrate that signaling pathway of curcumin-induced inhibition of inflammation involves TLR-4 and MyD88, and therefore may serve as an important therapeutic target in IBD.     

Biased over-expression of CD4− natural killer T cells induces the expansion of marginal zone B cells in aged Vα14 TCR transgenic C57BL/6 mice

Marginal zone B (MZB) cells play an important role in the host defense against blood-borne pathogens. Recently, it has been reported that MZB cells amplify dendritic cell-mediated activation of natural killer T (NKT) cells, suggesting that MZB cells are required for optimal NKT cell stimulation. Prior studies have led us to test whether the increased levels of NKT cells would have an immunological impact on MZB cells. To this end, we employed Vα14 TCR transgenic (tg) mice and found that MZB cells were 2 to 3 times more abundant in these mice, compared with wild-type mice, at 15 weeks of age. In addition, this expansion of MZB cells was not observed in young (5-week-old) Vα14 TCR tg mice, implying that aging is one of the factors regulating MZB cell expansion. Because NKT cells consist of heterogeneous subsets with distinct immunological functions, we next examined whether there were any alterations to the frequencies of individual NKT subpopulations. Interestingly, Vα14 TCR tg mice manifested a biased increase in levels of CD4^? NKT cells. These cells are known to produce IFNγ, which may explain the unexpected expansion of MZB cells in Vα14 TCR tg mice, because IFNγ has been reported to activate MZB cells to produce IL10. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the specific increase in numbers of CD4^? NKT cells may contribute to MZB cell expansion.     

An analytical framework for social life cycle impact assessment—part 2: case study of labor impacts in an IC packaging company

Purpose

The pressure on brand firms in the electronics industry to improve the labor conditions of their workers in their global production networks is increasing. Given the significance of mitigating the impacts of production on labor, this study used the new development method of social life cycle impact assessment (SLCIA) for conducting labor impact assessment. An illustrative example in an integrated circuit (IC) packaging company is presented to demonstrate the assessment of the impacts and the identification of the potential for improvement of labor practices among three factories.

Methods

SLCIA method was proposed based on the UNEP/SETAC Guidelines that were reviewed in our previous work, Part 1 (in a previous article): Methodology. The proposed method was used to assess the impacts of operations on labor in the three factories of an IC packaging company. Nineteen indicators of labor–stakeholders were used to collect data from factories and organizations in 2012. The obtained values from these three factories were translated into social impact scores that ranged from 1 to 5. The score of each indicator was multiplied by the weights of each indicator, and a final score of labor situations was generated to identify the hotspots of labor impacts and to identify the factory with better labor performance.

Results and discussion

The main goal of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed SLCIA method in assessing the labor impacts in the electronics industry. Among three factories of IC packaging, factory C was ranked as having the lowest social impact on labor with a higher performance, followed by factories B and A. In addition, the results show that four indicators, “lacking labor union,” “did not hire a sufficient number of disabled employees,” “overtime work that exceeded the legal limit,” and “excessive number of dispatched workers,” were recognized as the main social impacts on labor in IC packaging production.

Conclusions

The SLCA technique was used to assess the impacts of the production processes of three IC packaging factories on the labor conditions of their factory workers. The proposed method shed light on the significant impacts of such processes. The proposed model demonstrated its potential advantage by systematically and effectively identifying the labor impact hotspots, which could assist managers in devising strategies that could improve the labor situations within their organizations.

     

Green tea extracts reduce leukocyte cell–Derived chemotaxin 2 and selenoprotein P levels in the livers of C57BL/6J mice fed a high-fat diet

Epidemiological studies suggest that green tea extracts (GTEs), including catechins such as epigallocatechin gallate and epicatechin gallate, have a beneficial effect on obesity, hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, endothelial dysfunction, and inflammation. Although several studies have shown that catechins directly modulate the cellular and molecular alterations in the liver tissue, the contributions of indirect mechanisms underlying these systemic effects of catechins remain unclear. In this study, we report that, in the C57BL/6J mouse liver, GTEs reduce high-fat diet-induced increases in the levels of hepatokines, liver-derived secretary proteins such as leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 and selenoprotein P production, which have been shown to induce systemic adverse effects, including several metabolic diseases. These findings suggest that the systemic effects of GTEs involve the regulation of hepatokine production as an indirect mechanism.