We have studied Ragweed pollen concentration in the atmosphere of Leghorn (Livorno). where Ragweed is not widespread. Our data, from 1991 to 1995, confirm the presence of Ragweed pollen in the atmosphere of Leghorn in low concentrations (highest value of 11 pollen grains/m3) from August to the end of September. Even if the sensitization level in our area is 6.76%, the clinical significance of Ragweed pollinosis is still very low. 相似文献
White adipose tissue (WAT) is innervated by the sympathetic nervous system. A role for WAT sympathetic noradrenergic nerves in lipid mobilization has been suggested. To gain insight into the involvement of nerve activity in the delipidation process, WAT nerves were investigated in rat retroperitoneal and epididymal depots after prolonged fasting. A significant increase in tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) content was found in epididymal and, especially, retroperitoneal WAT by Western blotting. Accordingly, an increased immunoreactivity for TH was detected by immunohistochemistry in epididymal and, especially, retroperitoneal vascular and parenchymal noradrenergic nerves. Neuropeptide Y (NPY)-containing nerves were found around arteries and in the parenchyma. Double-staining experiments and confocal microscopy showed that most perivascular and some parenchymal noradrenergic nerves also contained NPY. Detection of protein gene product (PGP) 9.5, a general marker of peripheral nerves, by Western blotting and PGP 9.5-TH by double-staining experiments showed significantly increased noradrenergic nerve density in fasted retroperitoneal, but not epididymal depots, suggesting that formation of new nerves takes place in retroperitoneal WAT in fasting conditions. On the whole, these data confirm the important role of sympathetic noradrenergic nerves in WAT lipid mobilization during fasting but also raise questions about the physiological role of regional-dependent nerve adjustments and their functional significance in relation to white adipocyte secretory products. 相似文献
New experimental results on bacterial growth inspire a novel top-down approach to study cell metabolism, combining mass balance and proteomic constraints to extend and complement Flux Balance Analysis. We introduce here Constrained Allocation Flux Balance Analysis, CAFBA, in which the biosynthetic costs associated to growth are accounted for in an effective way through a single additional genome-wide constraint. Its roots lie in the experimentally observed pattern of proteome allocation for metabolic functions, allowing to bridge regulation and metabolism in a transparent way under the principle of growth-rate maximization. We provide a simple method to solve CAFBA efficiently and propose an “ensemble averaging” procedure to account for unknown protein costs. Applying this approach to modeling E. coli metabolism, we find that, as the growth rate increases, CAFBA solutions cross over from respiratory, growth-yield maximizing states (preferred at slow growth) to fermentative states with carbon overflow (preferred at fast growth). In addition, CAFBA allows for quantitatively accurate predictions on the rate of acetate excretion and growth yield based on only 3 parameters determined by empirical growth laws. 相似文献
Non-celiac wheat sensitivity is an emerging wheat-related syndrome showing peak prevalence in Western populations. Recent studies hypothesize that new gliadin alleles introduced in the human diet by replacement of ancient wheat with modern varieties can prompt immune responses mediated by the CXCR3-chemokine axis potentially underlying such pathogenic inflammation. This cultural shift may also explain disease epidemiology, having turned European-specific adaptive alleles previously targeted by natural selection into disadvantageous ones.
Methods
To explore this evolutionary scenario, we performed ultra-deep sequencing of genes pivotal in the CXCR3-inflammatory pathway on individuals diagnosed for non-celiac wheat sensitivity and we applied anthropological evolutionary genetics methods to sequence data from worldwide populations to investigate the genetic legacy of natural selection on these loci.
Results
Our results indicate that balancing selection has maintained two divergent CXCL10/CXCL11 haplotypes in Europeans, one responsible for boosting inflammatory reactions and another for encoding moderate chemokine expression.
Conclusions
This led to considerably higher occurrence of the former haplotype in Western people than in Africans and East Asians, suggesting that they might be more prone to side effects related to the consumption of modern wheat varieties. Accordingly, this study contributed to shed new light on some of the mechanisms potentially involved in the disease etiology and on the evolutionary bases of its present-day epidemiological patterns. Moreover, overrepresentation of disease homozygotes for the dis-adaptive haplotype plausibly accounts for their even more enhanced CXCR3-axis expression and for their further increase in disease risk, representing a promising finding to be validated by larger follow-up studies.
Several studies have suggested that the majority of iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) in wheat grains are associated with phytate, but a nuanced approach to unravel important tissue‐level variation in element speciation within the grain is lacking. Here, we present spatially resolved Fe‐speciation data obtained directly from different grain tissues using the newly developed synchrotron‐based technique of X‐ray absorption near‐edge spectroscopy imaging, coupling this with high‐definition μ‐X‐ray fluorescence microscopy to map the co‐localization of essential elements. In the aleurone, phosphorus (P) is co‐localized with Fe and Zn, and X‐ray absorption near‐edge structure imaging confirmed that Fe is chelated by phytate in this tissue layer. In the crease tissues, Zn is also positively related to P distribution, albeit less so than in the aleurone. Speciation analysis suggests that Fe is bound to nicotianamine rather than phytate in the nucellar projection, and that more complex Fe structures may also be present. In the embryo, high Zn concentrations are present in the root and shoot primordium, co‐occurring with sulfur and presumably bound to thiol groups. Overall, Fe is mainly concentrated in the scutellum and co‐localized with P. This high resolution imaging and speciation analysis reveals the complexity of the physiological processes responsible for element accumulation and bioaccessibility. 相似文献
We have previously shown that clusters of guanine quadruplex (G4) structures can form in the human herpes simplex-1 (HSV-1) genome. Here we used immunofluorescence and immune-electron microscopy with a G4-specific monoclonal antibody to visualize G4 structures in HSV-1 infected cells. We found that G4 formation and localization within the cells was virus cycle dependent: viral G4s peaked at the time of viral DNA replication in the cell nucleus, moved to the nuclear membrane at the time of virus nuclear egress and were later found in HSV-1 immature virions released from the cell nucleus. Colocalization of G4s with ICP8, a viral DNA processing protein, was observed in viral replication compartments. G4s were lost upon treatment with DNAse and inhibitors of HSV-1 DNA replication. The notable increase in G4s upon HSV-1 infection suggests a key role of these structures in the HSV-1 biology and indicates new targets to control both the lytic and latent infection. 相似文献
Background: The arid and nutrient-poor Southwestern Australia is one of the global biodiversity hotspots. Embedded in this landscape, granite outcrops are considered terrestrial insular habitats supporting habitat heterogeneity when compared to the more homogenous surrounds. Ecology of plant species and communities on granite outcrops has been addressed in numerous studies. However, functional diversity (FD) in context of the environmental heterogeneity remained unexplored.
Aims: We tested whether mesic deep-soil habitats on granite outcrops can sustain larger FD than dry shallow-soil habitats.
Methods: We calculated FD for dominant species for five single traits (leaf dry matter content, foliar δ13C, foliar C:N ratio, plant height and specific leaf area) and their combinations. We employed Generalized Additive Mixed Models to quantify the relationship between selected climate and soil depth variables, and FD.
Results: More benign (deep-soil) habitats supported larger FD for foliar C:N, plant height and for multiple traits than did shallow-soil habitats.
Conclusions: We suggest that: (1) functional diversification, likely aimed at avoiding intra- and interspecific competition for light and nutrients acquisition, might be the important factor in deep-soil habitats; (2) deep-soils patches on and around granite outcrops may serve as ecological microrefugia for biota associated with resource-rich environments. 相似文献
Ischemic injury triggers inflammatory cascades and changes in the protein synthesis, neurotransmitters and neuro-hormones in the brain parenchyma that may further amplify the tissue damage. The “Triage® Stroke Panel”, a biochemical multimarker assay, detects Brain Natriuretic Peptide (BNP), D-Dimers (DD), Matrix-Metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), and S100β protein generating a Multimarker index of these values (MMX). The aims of this prospective study in consecutive patients with ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke were to assess: 1) the rate of an increase of biomarkers (BNP, D-dimer, MMP-9 and S-100β) tested with the Triage Stroke Panel; 2) the correlation between the increase of these biomarkers and functional outcome at 4 months; 3) the risk factors for the increase of biomarkers.
Methods
The outcome of the study was 120-day mortality and it was compared in patients with Stroke Panel >4 and ≤4. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to identify independent predictors for death and for the increase of biomarkers.
Results
244 consecutive patients (mean age 73.02 years; 53.7 % males) were included in the study; 210 ischemic strokes and 34 hemorrhagic strokes. 161/244 (66.0 %) had an increase of biomarkers. At 120 days, 85 patients had died (34.8 %). Death was seen in 68/161 patients with an increase of biomarkers (42.2 %) compared with 17/83 patients without (20.5 %). Regression logistic analysis found that a Stroke Panel >4 (OR 3.1; 95 % CI 1.5–6.2, p?=?0.002) was associated with mortality. The increase of biomarkers was independently predicted by an increase of PCR on admission (OR 2.9, 95 CI 1.4–6.0, p?=?0.003).
Conclusions
An increase of biochemical markers such as BNP, D-Dimers, MMP-9, and S100β tested with a Triage Stroke Panel (>4) was correlated with mortality at 120 days from stroke onset.