Prolonged feeding of mice with conjugated linoleic acid increases hepatic fatty acid synthesis relative to oxidation

Feeding mice conjugated linoleic acid (9 cis,11 trans/9 trans,11 cis-and 10 trans,12 cis-CLA in equal amounts) resulted in triacylglycerol accumulation in the liver. The objective of this study was to examine whether this steatosis is associated with changes in hepatic fatty acid synthesis and oxidation. Therefore, we measured the activities of key enzymes of fatty acid synthesis, i.e., acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthase and of fatty acid oxidation, i.e., 3-hydroxy-acyl-CoA dehydrogenase and citrate synthase in livers of mice fed a diet with 0.5% (w/w) CLA. CLA (a 1:1 mixture of the 10 trans, 12 cis and 9 cis, 11 trans isomers of octadecadenoic acid) was administered for 3 and 12 weeks with high-oleic sunflower oil fed as control. The proportion of body fat was significantly lower on the CLA than on the control diet and this effect was already significant after 3 weeks. The specific activites of 3-hydroxy-acyl-CoA dehydrogenase and citrate synthase were unaffected by CLA both after 3 and 12 weeks. The specific activity of fatty acid synthase was nonsignificantly raised (by 12%) after 3 weeks on the CLA diet but had increased significantly (by 34%) after 12 weeks of feeding. The specific activity of acetyl-CoA carboxylase had also increased both after 3 weeks (by 53%) and 12 weeks (by 23%) on the CLA diet, but this effect did not reach statistical significance. Due to CLA-induced hepatomegaly, the overall capacity for both fatty acid oxidation and synthesis-as evidenced by the total hepatic activities of 3-hydroxy-acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, and fatty acid synthase-was significantly greater in the CLA-fed group after 12 weeks, although the overall capacity for fatty acid synthesis had increased more than that for fatty acid oxidation. Thus, this study indicates that prolonged, but not short-term, feeding mice with CLA increased hepatic fatty acid synthesis relative to oxidation, despite the decrease in body fat and the increase in liver weight seen earlier. It is concluded that the observed CLA-induced changes in hepatic fatty acid synthesis and oxidation are the result, rather than the cause, of the lowering of body fat.     

Adaptive reproductive variation along a pollution gradient in a wolf spider

When populations are exposed to environmental pollutants, growth and reproduction might be strongly reduced due to an increased detoxification effort. Sublethal metal pollution is therefore to be expected to cause the same selection pressure as a low resource habitat and might alter the reproductive strategy. Optimality models of life history theory predict that when resource availability is reduced, growth and reproductive output are reduced and that the release of fewer but larger propagules will be favoured. This was tested by applying a life history model to reproductive trait measurements in six populations of the wolf spider Pirata piraticus in which the assumptions of the model are satisfied. Internal Cd, Cu and Zn body burden were strongly correlated with each other, and differed strongly between the populations, indicating consistently differing metal exposure at the different sites. Pb levels were extremely variable within each population and did not differ between the populations. Females from populations with high concentrations of the first three heavy metals showed a strongly reduced reproductive output and fecundity, indicating a high reduction in resource availability due to detoxification processes. Egg size in contrast was negatively correlated with fecundity and reproductive output and as a consequence positively related with internal metal burden. Our results are thus in strong agreement with the predictions of the optimality models and confirm the benefits of a larger propagule size when resource availability is reduced.     

The evidential value in the DNA database search controversy and the two-stain problem

Summary . Does the evidential strength of a DNA match depend on whether the suspect was identified through database search or through other evidence (“probable cause”)? In Balding and Donnelly (1995, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A 158, 21–53) and elsewhere, it has been argued that the evidential strength is slightly larger in a database search case than in a probable cause case, while Stockmarr (1999 , Biometrics 55, 671–677) reached the opposite conclusion. Both these approaches use likelihood ratios. By making an excursion to a similar problem, the two‐stain problem, we argue in this article that there are certain fundamental difficulties with the use of a likelihood ratio, which can be avoided by concentrating on the posterior odds. This approach helps resolving the above‐mentioned conflict.     

Prevention of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in common marmosets using an anti-IL-12p40 monoclonal antibody

The experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model in the common marmoset approximates recognized features of the human disease multiple sclerosis (MS) with regard to its clinical presentation as well as neuropathological and radiological aspects of the lesions in brain and spinal cord. IL-12 is a proinflammatory cytokine that is produced by APC and promotes differentiation of Th1 effector cells. IL-12 is produced in the developing lesions of patients with MS as well as in EAE-affected animals. Previously it was shown that interference in IL-12 pathways effectively prevents EAE in rodents. In this study we report that in vivo neutralization of IL-12p40 using a novel Ab has beneficial effects in the myelin-induced EAE model in common marmosets. The Ab was injected i.v. at 7-day intervals starting well after immunization (day 14) and was continued until the end of the study (day 86). Stable levels of the Ab were measured 3 days after each injection throughout the study period. During this period anti-Ab responses could not be detected. We demonstrate that anti-IL-12p40 treatment has a protective effect on the neurological dysfunction as well as on neuropathological changes normally observed in the brain and spinal cord of EAE-affected individuals.     

Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome: vesicle formation from yeast to man

The disorders known as Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) are a group of genetic diseases resulting from abnormal formation of intracellular vesicles. In HPS, dysfunction of melanosomes results in oculocutaneous albinism, and absence of platelet dense bodies causes a bleeding diathesis. In addition, some HPS patients suffer granulomatous colitis or fatal pulmonary fibrosis, perhaps due to mistrafficking of a subset of lysosomes. The impaired function of specific organelles indicates that the causative genes encode proteins operative in the formation of certain vesicles. Four such genes, HPS1, ADTB3A, HPS3, and HPS4, are associated with the four known subtypes of HPS, i.e. HPS-1, HPS-2, HPS-3, and HPS-4. ADTB3A codes for the beta 3 A subunit of adaptor complex-3, known to assist in vesicle formation from the trans-Golgi network or late endosome. However, the functions of the HPS1, HPS3, and HPS4 gene products remain unknown. These three genes arose with the evolution of mammals and have no homologs in yeast, reflecting their specialized function. In contrast, all four known HPS-causing genes have homologs in mice, a species with 14 different models of HPS, i.e. hypopigmentation and a platelet storage pool deficiency. Pursuit of the mechanism of mammalian vesicle formation and trafficking, impaired in HPS, relies upon investigation of these mouse models as well as studies of protein complexes involved in yeast vacuole formation.     

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 inhibits ultraviolet B-induced apoptosis,Jun kinase activation,and interleukin-6 production in primary human keratinocytes

We investigated the capacity of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) [1,25(OH)(2)D(3)] to protect human keratinocytes against the hazardous effects of ultraviolet B (UVB)-irradiation, recognized as the most important etiological factor in the development of skin cancer. Cytoprotective effects of 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) on UVB-irradiated keratinocytes were seen morphologically and quantified using a colorimetric survival assay. Moreover, 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) suppressed UVB-induced apoptotic cell death. An ELISA, detecting DNA-fragmentation, demonstrated that pretreatment of keratinocytes with 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) 1 microM for 24 h reduced UVB-stimulated apoptosis by 55-70%. This suppression required pharmacological concentrations 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) and a preincubation period of several hours. In addition, 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) also inhibited mitochondrial cytochrome c release (90%), a hallmark event of UVB-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, we demonstrated that 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) reduced two important mediators of the UV-response, namely, c-Jun-NH(2)-terminal kinase (JNK) activation and interleukin-6 (IL-6) production. As shown by Western blotting, pretreatment of keratinocytes with 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) 1 microM diminished UVB-stimulated JNK activation with more than 30%. 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) treatment (1 microM) reduced UVB-induced IL-6 mRNA expression and secretion with 75-90%. Taken together, these findings suggest the existence of a photoprotective effect of active vitamin D(3) and create new perspectives for the pharmacological use of active vitamin D compounds in the prevention of UVB-induced skin damage and carcinogenesis.