Aging-associated increase in indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) activity appears to be unrelated to the transcription of the IDO1 or IDO2 genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells

Background

Old age is associated with increased levels of circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines, a phenomenon termed inflamm-aging. Elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines have been associated with several age-associated diseases and with a shortened lifespan. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) has immunomodulatory properties and its activity is elevated in inflammation, autoimmune disorders and malignancies. We have previously shown that IDO activity is increased in nonagenarians compared to young individuals and that high IDO activity is associated with mortality at old age.

Findings

In this study our aim was to assess whether this difference in IDO activity in the plasma was due to the differential expression of either the IDO1 or IDO2 gene in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Our results show that IDO1 and IDO2 are not differently expressed in nonagenarians compared to controls and that the expression of IDO genes is not associated with the level of IDO activity in the plasma.

Conclusion

The level of IDO activity in the plasma is not regulated through the expression of IDO1 or IDO2 in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells.     

Permanent Genetic Resources added to Molecular Ecology Resources Database 1 February 2013–31 March 2013

This article documents the addition of 142 microsatellite marker loci to the Molecular Ecology Resources database. Loci were developed for the following species: Agriophyllum squarrosum, Amazilia cyanocephala, Batillaria attramentaria, Fungal strain CTeY1 (Ascomycota), Gadopsis marmoratus, Juniperus phoenicea subsp. turbinata, Liriomyza sativae, Lupinus polyphyllus, Metschnikowia reukaufii, Puccinia striiformis and Xylocopa grisescens. These loci were cross‐tested on the following species: Amazilia beryllina, Amazilia candida, Amazilia rutila, Amazilia tzacatl, Amazilia violiceps, Amazilia yucatanensis, Campylopterus curvipennis, Cynanthus sordidus, Hylocharis leucotis, Juniperus brevifolia, Juniperus cedrus, Juniperus osteosperma, Juniperus oxycedrus, Juniperus thurifera, Liriomyza bryoniae, Liriomyza chinensis, Liriomyza huidobrensis and Liriomyza trifolii.     

Heritability,Environmental Effects,and Genetic and Phenotypic Correlations of Oxidative Stress Resistance-Related Enzyme Activities During Early Life Stages in Atlantic Salmon

Oxidative stress (OS) may pose important physiological constraints on individuals, affecting trade-offs between growth and reproduction or ageing and survival. Despite such evolutionary and ecological importance, the results from studies on the magnitude of individual variation in OS resistance and the underlying causes of this variation such as genetic, environmental, and maternal origins, remain inconclusive. Using a high throughput methodology, we investigated the activity levels in three OS resistance-related enzymes (superoxide dismutase, SOD; glutathione reductase, GR; glutathione S-transferase, GST) during the early life stages of 1000 individuals from 50 paternal half-sib families in two populations of Atlantic salmon. Using animal mixed models, we detected the presence of narrow-sense heritability for SOD and GST; that for GST differed between populations due to differences in environmental variance. We found support for the presence of common environmental variation, including maternal effects, for only GR. Using a bivariate animal model, we detected a positive environmental correlation between activity levels of SOD and GST but were unable to detect an additive genetic correlation. Our results complement previous heritability findings for levels of reactive oxygen species or OS resistance by demonstrating the presence of heritability for OS-related enzyme activities. Our findings provide a foundation for future work, such as investigations on the evolutionary importance of variation in enzyme activities. In addition, our findings emphasise the importance of accounting for developmental stage, environmental variance, and kin relationships when investigating the OS-response at the enzyme activity level.     

Paraganglia in the urogenital tract of man

Summary According to the earlier concept, the paraganglia of man are believed to degenerate during the first postnatal years after their dominance during the fetal period. Clinical case reports on persisting paraganglia led us to extensive exploration of surgical material obtained from urological and gynecological surgery. The formaldehyde induced fluorescence (FIF) was used for tracing the catecholamine containing tissues. The fluorescence intensities were recorded with a Lietz MPV 2 microspectrophotometer.Solitary, small paraganglia were found in all patients studied. They were expecially frequent in the walls of the urinary bladder and in the connective tissue surrounding the urogenital organs. The intensity of the fluorescence was comparable to pharmacological standard of 10^–2 M noradrenaline and at the same level as the FIF of human fetal paraganglia. All cells of the paraganglionic clusters exhibited FIF and no signs of degeneration could be observed.It is suggested that the paraganglia of man do not degenerate postnatally but persist as a remarcable catecholamine reservoir, which might be of physiological importance.     

Somatostatin-like immunoreactivity in human sympathetic ganglia

Summary The localization of somatostatin-like immunore-activity (SOM-LI) was examined in human lumbar sympathetic ganglia using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase method. Few of the principal neurons showed immunolabelling for somatostatin and sparse networks of nerve terminals were unevenly associated with ganglion cells. Using light microscopy, the most intense SOM-LI was seen in the perinuclear zone of the neurons. Electron-microscopically, the staining was localized on the membranes of the Golgi apparatuses. In the nerve terminals, SOM-LI was seen inside the small vesicles (40–60 nm diameter). All neurons with SOM-LI were also found to be tyrosine-hydroxylase immunoreactive when excamined with a double-staining technique. These results provide evidence that somatostatin and noradrenaline co-exist in human sympathetic neurons.     

The effect of ageing on the histochemically demonstrable catecholamines in the hypogastric (main pelvic) ganglion of the rat

Summary The effect of ageing on adrenergic neurons was studied in the hypogastric ganglion of the male rat using the formaldehyde-induced fluorescence method.With age, two changes were obvious. Firstly, the fluorescence intensity of the neurons decreased throughout postnatal life and the number of completely non-fluorescent adrenergic neurons increased. Secondly, the amount of non-specific fluorescence due to lipofuscin pigment increased. The pigment fluorescence was also found around the neurons in satellite cells.     

Effect of norepinephrine,prenalterol and metoprolol on the histochemical localization of adenylate cyclase activity in the brown adipose tissue of newborn rat

Summary Norepinephrine-stimulated adenylate cyclase enzyme (EC 4.6.1.1) was histochemically demonstrated by electron microscope in the plasmalemmas of the newborn rat adipocytes. The precipitating agent in the histochemical reaction was cobalt salt. Metoprolol, a selective ₁-blocker given in vivo abolished almost totally the reaction products from the outer surfaces of the plasmalemmas. In vitro treatment did not yield constantly reproducible results. Prenalterol (H 133/22 —CGP 7760/B Hässle) a selective -agonist given in vivo stimulated enzyme activity in the plasmalemmas. The reaction, however, showed different localization patterns and enhanced amounts of reaction products in the membranes. It is proposed that the histochemical demonstration of amine-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in the adipocyte plasmalemmas corresponds to the hormonal receptor sites. The question of the sensitivity of the receptors is discussed.     

Light and electron microscopic evidences of the presence of c-fos-like immunoreactivity in the rat adrenal cortex

The presence and localization of c-fos-like immunoreactivity in the rat adrenal cortex has been demonstrated by immunocytochemical methods at both light and electron microscopic level. C-fos-like immunoreactivity was detected in the zona fasciculata and the zona reticulata, but not in the zona glomerulosa. Ultrastructurally, all products of c-fos-like immunoreaction were localized exclusively in the regions associated with the euchromatin in the nucleus of the immunoreactive cells. Moreover, a higher density of the immunoreactive cells in the adrenal cortex of pregnant rats was found with quantitative immunocytochemistry as compared to the non-pregnant. The characteristic zonation of c-fos-like immunoreactivity in the adrenal cortex suggest that the c-fos protein is involved in the normal function of the glucocorticoid-producing cells of mammalian adrenals. The numerical increase in the immunoreactive cells in pregnant rats implies that basal expression of the c-fos-like protein may vary with the functional state of the cortical cells.