Obesity in Older Adults: Technical Review and Position Statement of the American Society for Nutrition and NAASO,The Obesity Society

Obesity causes serious medical complications and impairs quality of life. Moreover, in older persons, obesity can exacerbate the age‐related decline in physical function and lead to frailty. However, appropriate treatment for obesity in older persons is controversial because of the reduction in relative health risks associated with increasing body mass index and the concern that weight loss could have potential harmful effects in the older population. This joint position statement from the American Society for Nutrition and NAASO, The Obesity Society reviews the clinical issues related to obesity in older persons and provides health professionals with appropriate weight‐management guidelines for obese older patients. The current data show that weight‐loss therapy improves physical function, quality of life, and the medical complications associated with obesity in older persons. Therefore, weight‐loss therapy that minimizes muscle and bone losses is recommended for older persons who are obese and who have functional impairments or medical complications that can benefit from weight loss.     

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Effects of nonapeptide antagonists on oxytocin- and arginine-vasopressin-induced analgesia in mice

Several peptides, including arginine-vasopressin (AVP), neurotensin, and substance P, produce analgesia that is not mediated by opiate systems. Using the hot plate test, we studied the analgesic effects of intracisternal (i.c.) administration of various doses of the nonapeptide oxytocin (OXY) in Swiss-Webster mice. We found that OXY (1-4 micrograms) significantly increased the latency of animals to jump or lick their paws after placement on a hot plate. This effect was not blocked by naloxone pretreatment, which suggests that it is not opiate dependent. Using the hot plate test, we confirmed that AVP (1 and 4 micrograms) also produces analgesia. We then studied the analgesia produced by OXY and by AVP using 3 nonapeptide analogues with antagonist properties: [Pen1, LpMePhe2, Thr4, Orn8]OXY (PLMPTO-OXY) that has anti-oxytocic properties in the uterine contraction assay, d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)AVP(dTM-AVP) which antagonizes the antidiuretic properties of AVP and d(CH2)5D-Ile2,Abu4-AVP (dIA-AVP) which antagonizes the vasopressor effects of AVP. Simultaneous administration of PLMPTO-OXY completely blocked the analgesia produced by OXY whereas the antidiuretic antagonist dIA-AVP partially blocked OXY-induced analgesia and dTM-AVP had no effect. None of the antagonists used blocked AVP-induced analgesia. We concluded that the neural systems mediating the analgesic effects of i.c. OXY differ from those for AVP.     

Successful infection of the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) with human varicella-zoster virus.

The common marmoset, Callithrix jacchus, can be infected with human varicella-zoster virus (VZV), both wild-type strain KMcC and attenuated vaccine strain Oka/Merck. Infection was accomplished with either whole-cell-associated or cell extract VZV by combined oral-nasal-conjunctival application and was characterized by substantial and persistent anti-VZV antibody responses. The infectivity of VZV for marmosets was destroyed by treatment of inocula with heat or UV light. Diluted inocula with as few as 40 PFU/ml were infectious for marmosets. The lungs were demonstrated to be a major site of viral replication; both the presence of viral antigens and signs of pneumonia were demonstrated in lung tissues. Four serial passages of VZV KMcC were carried out in C. jacchus by a process of in vitro isolation and culturing of VZV from infected lung tissue and reapplication of the cultured isolates to fresh animals. The isolated viruses were identified as VZV both serologically and by restriction endonuclease analyses. The C. jacchus infectivity model should prove useful for determining the efficacy of subunit and live recombinant VZV vaccines as well as for the study of zoster.