Infant birth weight and third trimester maternal plasma markers of vascular integrity: the MIREC study

Background: There is paucity of information on mechanisms constituting adverse birth outcomes. We assessed here the relationship between vascular integrity and adverse birth effects.

Methods and results: Third trimester maternal plasma (n?=?144) from the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals Study (MIREC) was analysed for vascular, inflammatory and oxidative stress markers by HPLC-fluorescence, protein array and EIA method. Analysis of the <25th and >75th percentile birth weight subgroups revealed markers associated with birth weight (ETs, MMP-9, VEGF, and 8-isoPGF-2α) and gestational age (ET-1, MMP-2, and VEGF).

Conclusions: Mechanistic insights into adverse birth outcome pathways can be achieved by integrating information on multiple biomarkers, physiology using systems biology approach.     

Bradykinin-stimulated release of [3H]arachidonic acid from phospholipids of HSDM1C1 cells: comparison of diacyl phospholipids and plasmalogens as sources of prostaglandin precursors

Ethanolamine plasmalogens (1-alk-1'-enyl-2-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamines) of many tissues contain high levels of arachidonate at their 2-position, and in certain tissues have been implicated as possible donors of arachidonate required in the synthesis of prostaglandins and thromboxanes. In the present study, [3H]arachidonate-labeled phospholipids of HSDM1C1 cells, a cell line derived from a mouse fibrosarcoma, were examined to determine the donor of the arachidonic acid released upon bradykinin stimulation of the synthesis of PGE2. HSDM1C1 cells labeled with [3H]arachidonic acid for 24 hr in serum-free medium were used in most of the experiments and had the following distribution of label among the cellular lipids; phosphatidylcholine (33%), phosphatidylinositol (20%), diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (15%), ethanolamine plasmalogen (15%), and less polar lipids )16%). Bradykinin treatment stimulated a rapid hydrolysis of [3H]arachidonate from the cellular lipids and conversion of the released acid to PGE2, which was secreted into the medium. The label was released predominantly from phosphatidylinositol and possibly from phosphatidylcholine with no detectable change in the labeling of diacyl- or 1-alk-1'-enyl-2-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine. The ethanolamine plasmalogens, therefore, do not appear to be involved in the stimulated release of arachidonate in the HSDM1C1 cells. Indomethacin blocked the bradykinin-stimulated synthesis of PGE2 and to a lesser degree inhibited the release of [3H]arachidonate from the cellular lipids into the medium.     

Virus PCR assay panels: an alternative to the mouse antibody production test

Antibody production tests have traditionally been used to test biological materials for viral contamination. Now molecular biology techniques have emerged as an alternative. The authors compare MAP testing with PCR-based detection methods, focusing on differences in animal use, laboratory requirements, sample size, and limits of detection.     

Combined Drug Treatment of Obesity

Pharmacological treatment of obesity has been neglected as a viable therapeutic option for many years. Recent long term studies with combinations of obesity drugs gives promise that drugs may play a role in weight maintenance, which classically has been the most difficult aspect of treating obesity. Currently available obesity drugs include centrally acting adrenergic agents and serotonin agonists. Drugs still in development include a lipase inhibitor that produces fat malabsorption, a combined adrenergic-serotonergic reuptake inhibitor, various gut-central nervous system peptides, and a number of beta-3 agonists. Any of these obesity drugs given alone produces modest weight loss, and for most, weight loss continues for as long as medication is given. The most successful drug regimens to date are combinations of phentermine and fenfluramine or of ephedrine, caffeine, and/or aspirin. The former combination produces reduction in body weight and complications of obesity for 2 to almost 4 years in clinical trials to date. More research is needed to document long term efficacy and particularly the long term safety of these and other combinations.     

Rhombomys opimus contribution to the “fertile island” effect of tamarisk mounds in Junggar Basin

Fertile islands are created and maintained by a combination of physical and biologically mediated processes. Plants have been shown to be very important in the formation of fertile islands, and recent research indicates that the activities of burrowing animals have a significant influence on the physiochemical properties of soil that can promote the development of fertile islands. In this paper, we chose tamarisk (Tamarix spp.)??a constructive species that grows in the oasis-desert ecotone, and the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus)??a widely distributed rodent in Central Asia to study the influence of great gerbils on soil nutrient dynamics in tamarisk mounds. Results indicate that fertile islands exist in tamarisk mounds without burrows of the great gerbil. However, the great gerbil??s burrowing activities promote the fertile island effect in tamarisk mounds: soil nutrients under shrubs with great gerbil activity were significantly higher than inter-mound areas in both surface soil and deep soil from 15 to 50?cm. Available nitrogen in mounds with rodent burrows was over twice as high as in tamarisk mounds without burrows at the same depth. The great gerbil??s burrowing activities promote the concentration of soil nutrients in the tamarisk mounds.     

EFFECTS OF LOW NITROGEN LEVELS AND VARIOUS NITROGEN SOURCES ON GROWTH AND WHORL DEVELOPMENT IN ACETABULARIA (CHLOROPHYTA)1

Nitrate, ammonia, urea, and glycine were compared as nitrogen sources for Acetabularia mediterranea. Cells grew normally in media containing nitrate or urea, while cells did not grow at all when the same amount of N was supplied as ammonium ion. The utilization of glycine remains questionable. Cells in medium without added N (NDM) increased in length and some formed reproductive caps. The whorls of vegetative cells showed considerable hypertrophy in NDM and in glycine. This hypertrophy was due to the elongation of only the first-(a₁) and second- (a₂) order articles. When cut, the basal portion of cells without added N regenerated new apices with whorls. The development of these whorls was inversely proportional to the NO₂ concentration. Analyses showed that the intracellular nitrogen pool in young cells and regenerating bases was very small, about 1/10 of that of fully grown cells. Therefore we suggest that trace amounts of N contaminants in the medium supported growth and development, the uptake of which was facilitated by the hypertrophied whorls, under N-limited conditions.