Focus: Sex and Gender Health: Tobacco Smoking and the Resting Maternal Brain: A Preliminary Study of Frontal EEG

Tobacco smoking has been attributed to a wide range of detrimental health consequences for both women and their children. In addition to its known physical health effects, smoking may also impact maternal neural responses and subsequent caregiving behavior. To begin investigating this issue, we employed electroencephalography (EEG) to examine resting neural oscillations of tobacco-smoking mothers (n = 35) and non-smoking mothers (n = 35). We examined seven EEG frequency bands recorded from frontal electrode sites (delta, theta, alpha, alpha₁, alpha₂, beta, and gamma). While no between-group differences were present in high-frequency bands (alpha₂, beta, gamma), smokers showed greater spectral power in low-frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, alpha₁) compared to non-smokers. This increased power in low-frequency bands of tobacco-smoking mothers is consistent with a less aroused state and may be one mechanism through which smoking might affect the maternal brain and caregiving behavior.     

Course of HIV-I infection in a cohort of homosexual and bisexual men: an 11 year follow up study.

OBJECTIVE--To characterise the natural history of sexually transmitted HIV-I infection in homosexual and bisexual men. DESIGN--Cohort study. SETTING--San Francisco municipal sexually transmitted disease clinic. PATIENTS--Cohort included 6705 homosexual and bisexual men originally recruited from 1978 to 1980 for studies of sexually transmitted hepatitis B. This analysis is of 489 cohort members who were either HIV-I seropositive on entry into the cohort (n = 312) or seroconverted during the study period and had less than or equal to 24 months between the dates of their last seronegative and first seropositive specimens (n = 177). A subset of 442 of these men was examined in 1988 or 1989 or had been reported to have developed AIDS. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Development of clinical signs and symptoms of HIV-I infection, including AIDS, AIDS related complex, asymptomatic generalised lymphadenopathy, and no signs or symptoms of infection. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS--Of the 422 men examined in 1988 or 1989 or reported as having AIDS, 341 had been infected from 1977 to 1980; 49% (167) of these men had died of AIDS, 10% (34) were alive with AIDS, 19% (65) had AIDS related complex, 3% (10) had asymptomatic generalised lymphadenopathy, and 19% (34) had no clinical signs or symptoms of HIV-I infection. Cumulative risk of AIDS by duration of HIV-I infection was analysed for all 489 men by the Kaplan-Meier method. Of these 489 men, 226 (46%) had been diagnosed as having AIDS. We estimated that 13% of cohort members will have developed AIDS within five years of seroconversion, 51% within 10 years, and 54% within 11.1 years. CONCLUSION--Our analysis confirming the importance of duration of infection to clinical state and the high risk of AIDS after infection underscores the importance of continuing efforts both to prevent transmission of HIV-I and to develop further treatments to slow or stall the progression of HIV-I infection to AIDS.     

Systematic evaluation of the adrenocortical function in patients with paracoccidioidomycosis

Limited cortisol response to ACTH stimulation has been documented in 22 to 48% of patients with paracoccidioidomycosis (PM). Different approaches to interpret the test and inadequate selection of patients preclude an accurate appraisal of the actual incidence of adrenal insufficiency in PM. Rapid cosyntropin (ACTH) stimulation tests were performed in 38 consecutive patients (9 with the localized and 29 with the disseminated form of PM) and 40 normal controls. Subnormal cortisol responses to ACTH (60 minutes post-ACTH values below 455 nmol/l, 95% confidence limits) were found in only 4 patients (14%) with disseminated PM. If a retrospective sample of 6 patients studied previously (in whom tests were indicated due to clinical suspicion of Addison's disease) were included, or if the absolute cortisol increment above baseline was used for interpretation, we would find figures closer to those previously reported (23 and 24%, respectively). These data reflect that non-systematic evaluation or selection of a substandard criterion to interpret the test overestimates the frequency of adrenocortical insufficiency in PM.     

Maresin 1 attenuates pro-inflammatory activation induced by β-amyloid and stimulates its uptake

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common dementia, characterized by pathological accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ) and hyperphosphorylation of tau protein, together with a damaging chronic inflammation. The lack of effective treatments urgently warrants new therapeutic strategies. Resolution of inflammation, associated with beneficial and regenerative activities, is mediated by specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators (SPMs) including maresin 1 (MaR1). Decreased levels of MaR1 have been observed in AD brains. However, the pro-resolving role of MaR1 in AD has not been fully investigated. In the present study, human monocyte-derived microglia (MdM) and a differentiated human monocyte cell line (THP-1 cells) exposed to Aβ were used as models of AD neuroinflammation. We have studied the potential of MaR1 to inhibit pro-inflammatory activation of Aβ and assessed its ability to stimulate phagocytosis of Aβ₄₂. MaR1 inhibited the Aβ₄₂-induced increase in cytokine secretion and stimulated the uptake of Aβ₄₂ in both MdM and differentiated THP-1 cells. MaR1 was also found to decrease chemokine secretion and reduce the associated increase in the activation marker CD40. Activation of kinases involved in transduction of inflammation was not affected by MaR1, but the activity of nuclear factor (NF)-κB was decreased. Our data show that MaR1 exerts effects that indicate a pro-resolving role in the context of AD and thus presents itself as a potential therapeutic target for AD.     

Pathogen resistance in Sphagneticola trilobata (Singapore daisy): molecular associations and differentially expressed genes in response to disease from a widespread fungus

Genetica - Understanding the molecular associations underlying pathogen resistance in invasive plant species is likely to provide useful insights into the effective control of alien plants, thereby...     

The structure of the ventricle of Elliptio complanatus, a fresh-water lamellibranch

The morphology of the ventricle of the fresh-water lamellibranch, Elliptio complanatus, was investigated. Contrary to the condition reported previously in Tritogonia verrucosa, the two atria in Elliptio communicate with the ventricular lumen through separate openings, each guarded by an atrio-ventricular valve. Fixation of ventricle for electron microscopy with 2.5% buffered glutaraldehyde did not appear to shrink the tissue, in spite of the low blood osmolarity to which the muscle is adapted. Ventricle tissue is composed of smooth muscle fibers, containing a central nucleus, glycogen, mitochondria, paramyosin, dense bodies and “attachment plaques,” much like the ventricle of the salt-water clam, Venus (Mercenaria) mercenaria.