Preventing iron deficiency in preschool children by implementing an educational and screening programme in an inner city practice.

OBJECTIVE--To assess the feasibility and acceptability of screening young children for iron deficiency in a deprived inner city practice and to assess the effects of a programme of dietary education. DESIGN--Prospective study of children in general practice, comparison with historical controls. SETTING--A deprived inner city practice. PATIENTS--127 Children aged 13-24 months. Findings were compared with those in 110 children of the same age studied previously. INTERVENTIONS--All mothers received dietary education antenatally and in the first year after giving birth. Screening for iron deficiency (defined as mean cell volume less than 75 fl and haemoglobin concentration less than 105 g/l) and haemoglobinopathy (when appropriate) was offered for all children attending for immunisation against measles, mumps, and rubella over 12 months; capillary blood samples were taken after immunisation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Uptake of the screening programme expressed as the percentage of all children eligible for immunisation who were screened, and the effectiveness of the dietary education as shown by the prevalence of iron deficiency in the two groups. RESULTS--Altogether, 122 of the 127 (96%) children who attended for immunisation had their haemoglobin concentration and mean cell volume measured; 90% of all children aged 13-24 months in the practice were screened. Dietary education, clinical procedures, and counselling were incorporated successfully into the clinic''s work. Ten children (8%) were iron deficient, all of whom responded to iron supplements, and eight had a haemoglobinopathy trait. In the previous study 110 children (70%) had been screened and 28 children (25%) had been iron deficient. The two groups were similar in terms of sex, social class, and ethnic group. CONCLUSIONS--Screening young children for iron deficiency, sickle cell disease, and thalassaemia when they attended for immunisation was acceptable and successful in a socially deprived inner city practice. Dietary education may have accounted for some of the reduction in the prevalence of iron deficiency that occurred over the two years.     

Cold adaption of enzymes: Structural comparison between salmon and bovine trypsins

The crystal structure of an anionic form of salmon trypsin has been determined at 1.82 Å resolution. We report the first structure of a trypsin from a phoikilothermic organism in a detailed comparison to mammalian trypsins in order to look for structural rationalizations for the cold-adaption features of salmon trypsin. This form of salmon trypsin (T II) comprises 222 residues, and is homologous to bovine trypsin (BT) in about 65% of the primary structure. The tertiary structures are similar, with an overall displacement in main chain atomic positions between salmon trypsin and various crystal structures of bovine trypsin of about 0.8 Å. Intramolecular hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions are compared and discussed in order to estimate possible differences in molecular flexibility which might explain the higher catalytic efficiency and lower thermostability of salmon trypsin compared to bovine trypsin. No overall differences in intramolecular interactions are detected between the two structures, but there are differences in certain regions of the structures which may explain some of the observed differences in physical properties. The distribution of charged residues is different in the two trypsins, and the impact this might have on substrate affinity has been discussed. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Development of a biosensor for assaying postmortem nucleotide degradation in fish tissues

An enzyme sensor system has been developed to assess the freshness level in fish tissue. The system was designed to measure the K value, the concentration ratio of [Hx + HxR] and [Hx + HxR + IMP], where Hx, HxR, and IMP are hypoxanthine, inosine and inosine-5'-monophosphate, respectively. The [Hx + HxR] concentration in tissue extract was measured by nucleoside phosphorylase and xanthine oxidase immobilized on a preactivated nylon membrane and attached to the tip of a polarographic electrode. The electrode amperometrically detected the products of degradation, hydrogen peroxide and uric acid. For determination of [IMP + HxR + Hx], IMP was first converted to HxR by nucleotidase immobilized on the wall of a polystyrene tube. The enzyme electrode consisting of nucleoside phosphorylase and xanthine oxidase provided excellent reproducible results for at least 40 repeated assays and immobilized nucleotidase was good for at least 40 assays as well. The K value for each sample could be determined in ca. 10 min. When applied to K value measurements in several fish meats, the results obtained agreed well with those obtained by the conventional enzymatic method.     

High Beta-Palmitate Fat Controls the Intestinal Inflammatory Response and Limits Intestinal Damage in Mucin Muc2 Deficient Mice

Background

Palmitic-acid esterified to the sn-1,3 positions of the glycerol backbone (alpha, alpha’-palmitate), the predominant palmitate conformation in regular infant formula fat, is poorly absorbed and might cause abdominal discomfort. In contrast, palmitic-acid esterified to the sn-2 position (beta-palmitate), the main palmitate conformation in human milk fat, is well absorbed. The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of high alpha, alpha’-palmitate fat (HAPF) diet and high beta-palmitate fat (HBPF) diet on colitis development in Muc2 deficient (Muc2^−/−) mice, a well-described animal model for spontaneous enterocolitis due to the lack of a protective mucus layer.

Methods

Muc2^−/− mice received AIN-93G reference diet, HAPF diet or HBPF diet for 5 weeks after weaning. Clinical symptoms, intestinal morphology and inflammation in the distal colon were analyzed.

Results

Both HBPF diet and AIN-93G diet limited the extent of intestinal erosions and morphological damage in Muc2^−/− mice compared with HAPF diet. In addition, the immunosuppressive regulatory T (Treg) cell response as demonstrated by the up-regulation of Foxp3, Tgfb1 and Ebi3 gene expression levels was enhanced by HBPF diet compared with AIN-93G and HAPF diets. HBPF diet also increased the gene expression of Pparg and enzymatic antioxidants (Sod1, Sod3 and Gpx1), genes all reported to be involved in promoting an immunosuppressive Treg cell response and to protect against colitis.

Conclusions

This study shows for the first time that HBPF diet limits the intestinal mucosal damage and controls the inflammatory response in Muc2^−/− mice by inducing an immunosuppressive Treg cell response.     

Metabolic profiling of rhizomes of native populations of the strictly endemic Croatian species Iris adriatica

Iris adriatica Trinajsti? ex Miti? (Iridaceae L.) is a strictly endemic taxon from Croatia. It is a rhizomatous dwarf plant from the I. pumila complex with a distribution area limited to the Croatian part of the Mediterranean area, mainly central Dalmatia. The genus Iris is known for its richness in isoflavonoids which also play a significant role in chemotaxonomy and biological activity. Hence, in the current study, different plant batches of I. adriatica collected in early spring of 2016 were analysed for their phytochemical profiles and qualitatively compared. UHPLC-PDA-ESI-MS analyses of methanolic rhizome extracts were performed. Altogether, 36 compounds, representing isoflavonoids (including 6,7-methylendioxy derivatives), benzophenones and xanthones were found as aglycones or in glycosidically bound form to be the main constituent groups of I. adriatica rhizomes. Qualitative results were identical between different batches of plant material from collection sites in central Dalmatia, they differed only in quantity. For some phenolic compounds of I. adriatica, chemotaxonomic relevance was detected.     

Amyloid‐β‐induced occludin down‐regulation and increased permeability in human brain endothelial cells is mediated by MAPK activation

Vascular dysfunction is emerging as a key pathological hallmark in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). A leaky blood–brain barrier (BBB) has been described in AD patient tissue and in vivo AD mouse models. Brain endothelial cells (BECs) are linked together by tight junctional (TJ) proteins, which are a key determinant in restricting the permeability of the BBB. The amyloid β (Aβ) peptides of 1–40 and 1–42 amino acids are believed to be pivotal in AD pathogenesis. We therefore decided to investigate the effect of Aβ 1–40, the Aβ variant found at the highest concentration in human plasma, on the permeability of an immortalized human BEC line, hCMEC/D3. Aβ 1–40 induced a marked increase in hCMEC/D3 cell permeability to the paracellular tracer 70 kD FITC‐dextran when compared with cells incubated with the scrambled Aβ 1–40 peptide. Increased permeability was associated with a specific decrease, both at the protein and mRNA level, in the TJ protein occludin, whereas claudin‐5 and ZO‐1 were unaffected. JNK and p38MAPK inhibition prevented both Aβ 1–40‐mediated down‐regulation of occludin and the increase in paracellular permeability in hCMEC/D3 cells. Our findings suggest that the JNK and p38MAPK pathways might represent attractive therapeutic targets for preventing BBB dysfunction in AD.     

Effects of nest-box density on the behavior of Tree Swallows during nest building

ABSTRACT.   In territorial species, increased density is often linked to an increase in aggressive interactions, which may result in trade-offs between competitive behavior and nest construction. We examined the impact of nesting in areas of high-density versus low-density nest boxes on conspecific interactions and nest-building effort in a population of Tree Swallows ( Tachycineta bicolor ). We also examined whether expected differences in behavior related to variation in nest quality and reproductive success in high-density and low-density areas. No differences in either nest-building behavior or reproductive success were observed between areas of high-density and low-density boxes, but there was a tendency of more frequent behavioral interactions at high density. Similarly, there was a significant difference between pairs defending single nest boxes and those defending multiple nest boxes in the number of interactions with conspecifics. These results suggest that although there may be more competition with conspecifics for Tree Swallows nesting at high density, this does not appear to affect either nest quality or reproductive success.