Angiotensin converting enzyme I/D,angiotensinogen M235T and AT1-R A/C1166 gene polymorphisms in patients with acromegaly

Acromegaly is associated with increased morbidity and mortality related to cardiovascular disease. Hypertension is one of the most common cardiovascular risk factors in acromegalic patients. The aim of this study was to investigate association between the frequencies of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) I/D, angiotensinogen (AGT) M235T and the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1-R) A/C1166 gene polymorphisms and some clinical parameters of acromegalic patients. Total of 33 acromegalic patients and 63 controls were enrolled to study. We determined the ACE I/D, AGT M235T and AT1-R A/C1166 gene polymorphisms. Serum insulin, glucose, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, growth hormone and Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) levels of subjects were analyzed. The frequencies of ACE and M235T AGT genotype were not significantly different between control and patients. The distribution of AT1R A/C1166 genotypes was significantly different between patients and control subjects (P = 0.016). None of the three ACE genotypes, DD, ID and II displayed significant difference in acromegalic patients. A significant difference in systolic blood pressure and the serum IGF-I levels among the three AGT genotype, MM, MT and TT genotypes was found in patient group. Individuals with MT genotypes had significantly higher serum IGF-I levels and systolic blood pressure than MM and TT genotype subjects, P < 0.05. In addition, serum triglyceride and HDL levels differed significantly between MM and MT genotypes, P < 0.05. However, systolic blood pressure of patients with CC genotypes was found to be significantly higher than AA genotypes individuals in acromegaly group, P < 0.05. It can be said that the angiotensinojen MT and AT1R CC1166 genotype carriers may have more risk than other genotypes in the development of hypertension in acromegaly.     

May TLR4 Asp299Gly and IL17 His161Arg polymorphism be associated with progression of primary measles infection to subacute sclerosing panencephalitis?

SSPE is a progressive neurological disorder of children. Only some of the children who are infected with measles virus develop SSPE, which supports individual variation. TLR-2 and TLR-4 play an important role in innate immunity by recognizing envelope proteins of MV. Another important cytokine that plays an important role in orchestrating innate immune function is IL-17. The purpose of our study is to elucidate whether the TLR2, TLR4, IL17F and IL17A gene polymorphisms are susceptibility genes for the development of SSPE.     

Oxidative protein damage in plasma of type 2 diabetic patients.

In this study, we evaluated protein oxidation in 84 patients with Type 2 diabetes with no complications and in 61 healthy volunteers who formed the control group, whose ages matched those of the patients. We determined plasma carbonyl and plasma thiol levels as markers of oxidative protein damage and erythrocyte glutathione, plasma ceruloplasmin and transferrin as markers of free radical scavengers. The concentrations (mean +/- SD) of both of plasma carbonyl (1.24 +/- 0.46 vs. 0.72 +/- 0.17 nmole/mg protein; p < 0.0001) and lipid hydroperoxides (1.8 +/- 0.63 vs. 1.3 +/- 0.21 micromole/l; p < 0.0001) were increased, and the concentration of plasma transferrin (3.85 +/- 0.65 vs. 4.59 +/- 0.79 g/l; p < 0.05) was decreased, respectively, in Type 2 diabetic patients compared with those of the controls. There were no significant differences in the concentrations of plasma thiol (0.0064 +/- 0.001 vs. 0.0068 +/- 0.001 micromole/mg protein), erythrocyte glutathione (2.54 +/- 0.57 vs. 2.65 +/- 0.56 mg/g Hb), plasma ceruloplasmin (548 +/- 107.30 vs. 609 +/- 93.34 mg/l) between the patients and the controls. These changes observed in diabetic patients contribute to the imbalance in the redox status of the plasma. We attribute this imbalance to oxidative protein damage in Type 2 diabetic patients clinically free of complications.     

Molecular identification of yeast,lactic and acetic acid bacteria species during spoilage of tchapalo,a traditional sorghum beer from Côte d’Ivoire

Yeasts, lactic and acetic acid bacteria are responsible of microbial spoilage of alcoholic beverages. However species involved in deterioration of sorghum beer produced in Côte d’Ivoire has not been investigated. This study was carried out to identify species of yeast, LAB and AAB during spoilage of tchapalo in order to define the best strategy for beer preservative. Thus, a total of 210 yeasts, LAB and AAB were isolated from samples of tchapalo stored at ambient temperature and at 4 °C for 3 days. Based on PCR–RFLP of the ITS region and the sequencing of D1/D2 domain, yeast isolates were assigned to seven species (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida tropicalis, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, Trichosporon asahii, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Meyerozyma guilliermondii and Trichosporon coremiiforme). During the storage at ambient temperature and at 4 °C, S. cerevisiae was the predominant species (>?76%). Excepted R. mucilaginosa, occurrence of non-Saccharomyces species was sporadic. LAB species detected in fresh samples using molecular methods were Pediococcus acidilactici, Lactobacillus paracasei, Lb. curvatus, Lb. fermentum and Weisssella paramesenteroides. P. acidilactici was the dominant species (47.8%) followed by Lb. paracasei (17.5%). W. paramesenteroides and Lb. fermentum were not detected during the spoilage at ambient temperature while at 4 °C W. paramesenteroides and Lb. paracasei have not been detected. For AAB, the species found were Acetobacter pasteurianus sub paradoxus and Acetobacter cerevisiae. These species were common to all samples during spoilage and A. pasteurianus sub paradoxus was the most frequently detected.     

An integrative anatomical,morphological, micromorphological and molecular approach to Turkish epidendroid and orchidoid species (Orchidaceae)

We aimed to describe and analyse the morphological, anatomical and micromorphological traits of 36 Turkish orchids representing 12 genera (e.g. Anacamptis, Cephalanthera, Dactylorhiza, Orchis, Serapias) in detail and analyse their usability for solving phylogenetic and taxonomic issues. We applied UPGMA cluster analysis to anatomical, morphological and micromorphological characters such as root tubers, leaf and flower structures, pit, sclerenchymatic sheath, vascular bundle shape, crystal and starch, exodermis and endodermis structure, stomata type, bulliform cells in roots, shoots and leaves, surface structures like papillae, hairs and ornamentation on flower parts, leaves, fruits and seeds. Furthermore, in a phylogenetic framework, we analysed nuclear ribosomal ITS diversity in the same orchid species belonging, and in a combined Bayesian phylogenetic analysis based on anatomical, morphological, micromorphogical and ITS data we confirmed the usefulness of multiple data sets for effectively assessing taxonomically critical orchids. In the combined analysis, all genera were resolved as monophyletic with topologies congruent with recently published more thorough molecular phylogenetic reconstructions, while the trees obtained by seprately analysing the ITS and the anatomical, morphological, micromorphogical data were less resolved and partly inconclusive.     

Neurotoxic,cytotoxic, apoptotic and antiproliferative effects of some marine algae extracts on the NA2B cell line

Oxidative stress contributes to cancer pathologies and to apoptosis. Marine algae exhibit cytotoxic, antiproliferative and apoptotic effects; their metabolites have been used to treat many types of cancer. We investigated in culture extracts of Petalonia fascia, Jania longifurca and Halimeda tuna to determine their effects on mouse neuroblastoma cell line, NA2B. NA2B cells were treated with algae extracts, and the survival and proliferation of NA2B cells were assessed using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The effects of algae extracts on oxidative stress in NA2B cells also were investigated using nitric oxide synthase (NOS) immunocytochemistry and apoptosis was assessed using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling. We observed significant neurite inhibition with moderate damage by the neurotoxicity-screening test (NST) at IC₅₀ dilutions of the extracts. MTT demonstrated that J. longifurca extracts were more toxic than P. fascia and H. tuna extracts. We found an increase of endothelial and inducible NOS immunostaining for oxidative stress and TUNEL analysis revealed increased apoptosis after application of extract. Our findings suggest that the algae we tested may have potential use for treatment of cancer.     

Invasion fitness,inclusive fitness,and reproductive numbers in heterogeneous populations

How should fitness be measured to determine which phenotype or “strategy” is uninvadable when evolution occurs in a group‐structured population subject to local demographic and environmental heterogeneity? Several fitness measures, such as basic reproductive number, lifetime dispersal success of a local lineage, or inclusive fitness have been proposed to address this question, but the relationships between them and their generality remains unclear. Here, we ascertain uninvadability (all mutant strategies always go extinct) in terms of the asymptotic per capita number of mutant copies produced by a mutant lineage arising as a single copy in a resident population (“invasion fitness”). We show that from invasion fitness uninvadability is equivalently characterized by at least three conceptually distinct fitness measures: (i) lineage fitness, giving the average individual fitness of a randomly sampled mutant lineage member; (ii) inclusive fitness, giving a reproductive value weighted average of the direct fitness costs and relatedness weighted indirect fitness benefits accruing to a randomly sampled mutant lineage member; and (iii) basic reproductive number (and variations thereof) giving lifetime success of a lineage in a single group, and which is an invasion fitness proxy. Our analysis connects approaches that have been deemed different, generalizes the exact version of inclusive fitness to class‐structured populations, and provides a biological interpretation of natural selection on a mutant allele under arbitrary strength of selection.