Algal Carotenoids 51. Secondary carotenoids 2.Haematococcus pluvialis aplanospores as a source of (3S, 3′S)-astaxanthin esters

Aplanospores ofHaematococcus pluvialis MUR 145 contained 0.7% carotenoids (dry wt. basis) consisting of β,β-carotene (5% of total carotenoid), echinenone (4%), canthaxanthin (4%), (3S,3′S)-astaxanthin diester (34%), (3S,3′S)-astaxanthin monoester (46%), (3S,3′S)-astaxanthin (1%) and (3R,3′R,6′R)-lutein (6%). The astaxanthin esters were examined by TLC and HPLC and VIS,¹H NMR and mass spectra recorded. Their chirality was determined by the camphanate method (Vecchi & Müller, 1979) after anaerobic hydrolysis. The tough cell wall of the aplanospores required enzymatic treatment prior to pigment extraction. The potential use of this microalga as a feed ingredient in aquaculture is discussed briefly.     

Algal carotenoids 52; secondary carotenoids of algae 3; carotenoids in a natural bloom of Euglena sanguinea

Quantitative carotenoid analysis of a natural bloom of Euglena sanguinea Ehrenberg revealed the presence of β,β-carotene (1% of total carotenoids), monoesters of adonirubin (3%), diesters of (3S, 3′R)-adonixanthin (13%), diesters of (3S, 3′S)-astaxanthin (75%), 19-monoester of (3R, 3′R, 6R)-loroxanthin (1%), (3R, 3′R)-diatoxanthin (6%), diadinoxanthin (1%) and neoxanthin (traces). The carotenoid content amounted to 0.7% of the dry wt. Methods employed included TLC, HPLC, VIS, MS, CD and H NMR (400 and 500 MHz). The high content of ketocarotenoids is characteristic of secondary carotenoids produced under stressed growth conditions. Previously secondary carotenoids were associated with green algae (Chlorophyceae), but have now been encountered in Euglenophyceae.     

Large Pseudomonas phages isolated from barley rhizosphere

Abstract: Five bacteriophages infecting common fluorescent pseudomonads ( Pseudomonas fluorescens and Pseudomonas putida ) were isolated from barley rhizosphere soil. Morphological and molecular characteristics of the phages are described together with selected phage-host interactions. All phages belonged to the Myoviridae family with isometrical heads on contractile tails; 4 of them were unusually large and had complex protein and DNA profiles. The large phages had estimated genome sizes of 200 kb or more. Restriction enzyme analyses and DNA-DNA hybridizations showed that all isolates represented different phage species. None of the isolates were observed to establish lysogeny with the main host strain, P. putida MM1. The large phages multiplied slowly on their hosts, producing very small plaques; one-step growth experiments with one of the large phages (Psp 4) hence demonstrated a long latent period (2.5 h) and a very small burst size (10 particles). One of the large phages (Psp 3) was abundant in the rhizosphere (approx. 10⁴ pfu g⁻¹ soil) and had a particularly broad host range which extended to both fluorescent ( Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. fluorescens, P. putida and Pseudomonas chlororaphis ) and non-fluorescent (Pseudomonas stutzeri) Pseudomonas spp. occurring in soil. The ecological importance of the large Pseudomonas phages must be further studied, but their slow multiplication rates suggested a possible mechanism of balanced phage-host co-existence in the rhizosphere.     

The Risk of Schizophrenia and Child Psychiatric Disorders in Offspring of Mothers with Lung Cancer and Other Types of Cancer: A Danish Nationwide Register Study

Background

Maternal immune responses and brain-reactive antibodies have been proposed as possible causal mechanisms for schizophrenia and some child psychiatric disorders. According to this hypothesis maternal antibodies may cross the placenta and interact with the developing CNS of the fetus causing future neurodevelopmental disorders. Therefore, we investigated if children of mothers with cancer might be at higher risk of developing psychiatric disorders, with particular focus on small-cell lung cancer, which is known to induce production of antibodies binding to CNS elements.

Methods

Nationwide population-based registers were linked, including the Danish Psychiatric Central Register and The Danish Cancer Registry. Data were analyzed as a cohort study using survival analysis techniques. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and accompanying 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used as measures of relative risk.

Results

In general, parental cancer was not associated with schizophrenia in the offspring (IRR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.95-1.01). Furthermore, we found no temporal associations with maternal cancer in general; neither around the pregnancy period. However, maternal small-cell lung cancer increased the risk of early-onset schizophrenia and maternal small-cell lung cancer diagnosed within 20 years after childbirth increased the risk of schizophrenia. Parental cancer was not associated with child psychiatric disorders (IRR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.98-1.05) except for the smoking related cancers. There was a significantly increased risk of child psychiatric disorders in offspring of both mothers (IRR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.16-1.58) and fathers (IRR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.30-1.66) with lung cancer of all types.

Conclusions

In general, parental cancer did not increase the risk of schizophrenia nor of child psychiatric disorders. However, maternal small-cell lung cancer increased the risk of schizophrenia in subgroups; and lung cancer in general increased the risk of child psychiatric disorders, which could be due to risk factors associated with parental smoking.     

Elevated p16ink4a Expression in Human Labial Salivary Glands as a Potential Correlate of Cognitive Aging in Late Midlife

Background

The cell-cycle inhibitor and tumor suppressor cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor, p16^ink4a, is one of the two gene products of the ink4a/ARF (cdkn2a) locus on chromosome 9q21. Up-regulation of p16^ink4a has been linked to cellular senescence, and findings from studies on different mammalian tissues suggest that p16^ink4a may be a biomarker of organismal versus chronological age.

Objective

The aim of this study was to examine the immunolocalization pattern of p16^ink4a in human labial salivary gland (LSG) tissue, and to analyze whether its expression level in LSGs is a peripheral correlate of cognitive decline in late midlife.

Methods

The present study was a part of a study of causes and predictors of cognitive decline in middle-aged men in a Danish birth cohort. It is based on data from 181 male participants from the Danish Metropolit birth cohort, born in 1953, who were examined for age-associated alterations in cognition, dental health, and morphological and autonomic innervation characteristics of the LSGs. The participants were allocated to two groups based on the relative change in cognitive performance from young adulthood to late midlife. LSG biopsies were analyzed by qRT-PCR for the expression level of p16^ink4a. Immunohistochemistry was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections of LSGs.

Results

p16^ink4a immunoreactivity was observed in LSG ductal, myoepithelial, and stromal cells, but not in acinar cells. The mean relative expression of p16^ink4a in LSGs was higher in the group of participants with decline in cognitive performance. A logistic regression analysis revealed that the relative p16 expression was predictive of the participant’s group assignment. A negative correlation was found between relative p16^ink4a expression and the participant’s standardized regression residuals from early adulthood to late midlife cognitive performance scores.

Conclusions

p16^ink4a expression in human LSGs may constitute a potential peripheral correlate of cognitive decline. Human labial salivary glands seem suitable for studies on organismal as opposed to chronological age.