Design characteristics of worksite environmental interventions for obesity prevention

Objective: This paper describes the design characteristics of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)‐funded studies that are testing innovative environmental interventions for weight control and obesity prevention at worksites. Research Methods and Procedures: Seven separate studies that have a total of 114 worksites (～48,000 employees) across studies are being conducted. The worksite settings include hotels, hospitals, manufacturing facilities, businesses, schools, and bus garages located across the U.S. Each study uses its own conceptual model drawn from the literature and includes the socio‐ecological model for health promotion, the epidemiological triad, and those integrating organizational and social contexts. The interventions, which are offered to all employees, include environmental‐ and individual‐level approaches to improve physical activity and promote healthful eating practices. Environmental strategies include reducing portion sizes, modifying cafeteria recipes to lower their fat contents, and increasing the accessibility of fitness equipment at the workplace. Across all seven studies about 48% (N = 23,000) of the population is randomly selected for measurements. The primary outcome measure is change in BMI or body weight after two years of intervention. Secondary measures include waist circumference, objective, and self‐report measures of physical activity, dietary intake, changes in vending machines and cafeteria food offerings, work productivity, healthcare use, and return on investment. Discussion: The results of these studies could have important implications for the design and implementation of worksite overweight and obesity control programs.     

Comparison of different delivery systems of DNA vaccination for the induction of protection against tuberculosis in mice and guinea pigs

The great challenges for researchers working in the field of vaccinology are optimizing DNA vaccines for use in humans or large animals and creating effective single-dose vaccines using appropriated controlled delivery systems. Plasmid DNA encoding the heat-shock protein 65 (hsp65) (DNAhsp65) has been shown to induce protective and therapeutic immune responses in a murine model of tuberculosis (TB). Despite the success of naked DNAhsp65-based vaccine to protect mice against TB, it requires multiple doses of high amounts of DNA for effective immunization. In order to optimize this DNA vaccine and simplify the vaccination schedule, we coencapsulated DNAhsp65 and the adjuvant trehalose dimycolate (TDM) into biodegradable poly (DL-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microspheres for a single dose administration. Moreover, a single-shot prime-boost vaccine formulation based on a mixture of two different PLGA microspheres, presenting faster and slower release of, respectively, DNAhsp65 and the recombinant hsp65 protein was also developed. These formulations were tested in mice as well as in guinea pigs by comparison with the efficacy and toxicity induced by the naked DNA preparation or BCG. The single-shot prime-boost formulation clearly presented good efficacy and diminished lung pathology in both mice and guinea pigs.