Roles of insulin receptor substrate-1, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, and release of intracellular Ca2+ stores in insulin-stimulated insulin secretion in beta -cells

The signaling pathway by which insulin stimulates insulin secretion and increases in intracellular free Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) in isolated mouse pancreatic beta-cells and clonal beta-cells was investigated. Application of insulin to single beta-cells resulted in increases in [Ca(2+)](i) that were of lower magnitude, slower onset, and longer lifetime than that observed with stimulation with tolbutamide. Furthermore, the increases in [Ca(2+)](i) originated from interior regions of the cell rather than from the plasma membrane as with depolarizing stimuli. The insulin-induced [Ca(2+)](i) changes and insulin secretion at single beta-cells were abolished by treatment with 100 nm wortmannin or 1 micrometer thapsigargin; however, they were unaffected by 10 micrometer U73122, 20 micrometer nifedipine, or removal of Ca(2+) from the medium. Insulin-stimulated insulin secretion was also abolished by treatment with 2 micrometer bisindolylmaleimide I, but [Ca(2+)](i) changes were unaffected. In an insulin receptor substrate-1 gene disrupted beta-cell tumor line, insulin did not evoke either [Ca(2+)](i) changes or insulin secretion. The data suggest that autocrine-activated increases in [Ca(2+)](i) are due to release of intracellular Ca(2+) stores, especially the endoplasmic reticulum, mediated by insulin receptor substrate-1 and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. Autocrine activation of insulin secretion is mediated by the increase in [Ca(2+)](i) and activation of protein kinase C.     

Loss of insulin signaling in hepatocytes leads to severe insulin resistance and progressive hepatic dysfunction

The liver plays a central role in the control of glucose homeostasis and is subject to complex regulation by substrates, insulin, and other hormones. To investigate the effect of the loss of direct insulin action in liver, we have used the Cre-loxP system to inactivate the insulin receptor gene in hepatocytes. Liver-specific insulin receptor knockout (LIRKO) mice exhibit dramatic insulin resistance, severe glucose intolerance, and a failure of insulin to suppress hepatic glucose production and to regulate hepatic gene expression. These alterations are paralleled by marked hyperinsulinemia due to a combination of increased insulin secretion and decreased insulin clearance. With aging, the LIRKO liver exhibits morphological and functional changes, and the metabolic phenotype becomes less severe. Thus, insulin signaling in liver is critical in regulating glucose homeostasis and maintaining normal hepatic function.     

Antinociceptive effect of sumatriptan in mice.

Antinociceptive effect of the antimigraine drug sumatriptan (5-HT1A agonist) was studied against acetic acid-induced writhing in mice. Sumatriptan produced the effect in a dose-dependent manner (1, 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg, s.c.). Naloxone (1 mg/kg i.p.) an opiate antagonist failed to reverse sumatriptan-induced antinociception. Cholinomimetic physostigmine (0.05 mg/kg, i.p.) potentiated and the muscarinic antagonist atropine (5 mg/kg, i.p.) blocked the antinociceptive effect of sumatriptan, respectively. The antinociceptive effect of sumatriptan was compared with an another 5-HT agonist (5-HT1A) buspirone which also produced antinociception. Like sumatriptan-analgesia, the buspirone response was also potentiated by physostigmine in atropine sensitive way. Further, buspirone potentiated the analgesic effect of sumatriptan. These observations suggest that 5-HT1A agonists produce antinociception possibly by modulating central cholinergic activity.     

Effects of some curing agents on phenotypic stability in Pseudomonas putida degrading ε-caprolactam

A strain of Pseudomonas putida MCM B-408 capable of utilizing -caprolactam (monomer of nylon-6) as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen was found to harbour a single 32-kb plasmid with the same electrophoretic mobility as that of pARI180, a reference plasmid. Acridine orange, ethidium bromide, mitomycin C and SDS failed to cure the plasmid and the phenotype. Elevated temperature alone (40°C) was found to be ineffective in curing. Phenotype, but not the plasmid, was cured at a frequency of 2.63% when acridine orange and elevated temperature (40°C) were used together. The studies therefore indicated that the phenotypic expression of caprolactam degradative genes is quite stable and that Pseudomonas putida MCM B-408 may degrade -caprolactam from waste-water satisfactorily without spontaneous loss of the property under adverse environmental conditions.     

Micropropagation of licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) through shoot tip and nodal cultures

Summary Apical and axillary buds ofGlycyrrhiza glabra commonly known as licorice, a plant of repute in the Indian system of medicine, were used for induction of adventitious shoots. For induction of multiple shoots, Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) medium with N⁶-benzyladenine (BA, 0.88–8.87 μM) was used. Reduction in major salts of MS medium enhanced the multiplication ratio up to 1∶10. Plants transferred to the greenhouse showed 90% survival. The present work describes a stepwise protocol for production ofGlycyrrhiza glabra plants on simple minimal media, where very high multiplication rates with healthy root systems were obtained. Roots being the organ of commercial importance, the protocol has tremendous potential.     

On clustering in database servers for supporting mobile clients

The use of mobile computers is gaining popularity. There is an increasing trend in the number of users with laptops, PDAs, and smart phones. Access to information repositories in the future will be dominated by mobile clients rather than traditional “fixed” clients. These mobile clients download information by periodically connecting to repositories of data stored in either databases or file systems. Such mobile clients constitute a new and different kind of workload and exhibit a different access pattern than seen in traditional client server systems. Though file systems have been modified to handle clients that can download information, disconnect, and later reintegrate, databases have not been redesigned to accommodate mobile clients. There is a need to support mobile clients in the context of client server databases. This paper is about organizing the database server to take into consideration the access patterns of mobile clients. We propose the concept of hoard attributes which capture these access patterns. Three different techniques for organizing data on the server based on the hoard attribute are presented. We argue that each technique is suited for a particular workload. The workload is a combination of requests from mobile clients and traditional clients. This reorganization also allows us to address issues of concurrency control, disconnection and replica control in mobile databases. We present simulation results that show the performance of server reorganization using hoard attributes. We also provide an elaborate discussion of issues resulting from this reorganization in this new paradigm taking into account both mobile and traditional clients. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Impact of an Interdisciplinary Deep Brain Stimulation Screening Model on Post-Surgical Complications in Essential Tremor Patients

Objective

To investigate the relationship of our interdisciplinary screening process on post-operative unintended hospitalizations and quality of life.

Background

There are currently no standardized criteria for selection of appropriate Deep Brain Stimulation candidates and little hard data exists to support the use of any singular method.

Methods

An Essential Tremor cohort was selected from our institutional Deep Brain Stimulation database. The interdisciplinary model utilized seven specialties who pre-operatively screened all potential Deep Brain Stimulation candidates. Concerns for surgery raised by each specialty were documented and classified as none, minor, or major. Charts were reviewed to identify unintended hospitalizations and quality of life measurements at 1 year post-surgery.

Results

Eighty-six percent (44/51) of the potential screened candidates were approved for Deep Brain Stimulation. Eight (18%) patients had an unintended hospitalization during the follow-up period. Patients with minor or major concerns raised by any specialty service had significantly more unintended hospitalizations when compared to patients without concerns (75% vs. 25%, p < 0.005). The rate of hospitalization revealed a direct relationship to the “level of concern”; ranging from 100% if major concerns, 42% if minor concerns, and 7% if no concerns raised, p = 0.001. Quality of life scores significantly worsened in patients with unintended hospitalizations at 6 (p = 0.046) and 12 months (p = 0.027) when compared to baseline scores. No significant differences in tremor scores between unintended and non-unintended hospitalizations were observed.

Conclusions

The number and level of concerns raised during interdisciplinary Deep Brain Stimulation screenings were significantly related to unintended hospitalizations and to a reduced quality of life. The interdisciplinary evaluation may help to stratify risk for these complications. However, data should be interpreted with caution due to the limitations of our study. Further prospective comparative and larger studies are required to confirm our results.     

Is the Association between Vitamin D and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Confounded by Obesity? Evidence from the Andhra Pradesh Children and Parents Study (APCAPS)

Background

Evidence of an association between serum vitamin D and cardiovascular disease risk is inconsistent and comes predominantly from studies in high-income settings. We assessed the association between serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D₃ (25(OH)D) and cardiovascular disease risk factors in a population of young Indian adults.

Methods

Cross-sectional analyses of data from APCAPS (Andhra Pradesh Children and Parents Study); a prospective birth cohort study in rural south India. Participants were 1038 (40.3% females) adults aged 18-24 years. Main outcome measures were blood pressures, fasting serum lipids (cholesterols and triglycerides), fasting glucose, insulin, measures of arterial stiffness (aortic augmentation index and aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV)), carotid intima-media thickness, body mass index (BMI) and body fat (dual X-ray absorptiometry).

Results

Vitamin D deficiency (≤20ng/ml) was observed in 41.1% of this lean (mean BMI: 19.5) and active (mean minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity per day: 186) population. Vitamin D deficiency was associated with higher median body fat in both males (15.9% body fat in vitamin D deficient males vs. 14.6% in non-deficient males, p<0.05) and females (29.1% body fat in vitamin D deficient females vs. 27.8% in non-deficient females, p<0.05) but no associations were observed between vitamin D deficiency and mean BMI or median fat mass index (FMI). Except a weak inverse association with fasting insulin in males, there was no clear association between serum vitamin D levels and cardiovascular disease risk factors in fully adjusted models.

Conclusions

We did not find clear evidence for an association between serum vitamin D levels and cardiovascular disease risk factors. Our results, consistent with the limited evidence from randomised trials of vitamin D supplementation and Mendelian randomisation experiments, suggest that the postulated link between serum vitamin D and cardiovascular disease may be non-causal. Instead, it may be attributable to confounding by lifestyle factors such as obesity and physical inactivity which may provide more fruitful targets for cardiovascular disease prevention.