Climate change. Hidden health benefits of greenhouse gas mitigation.
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Satellite radar altimetry measurements indicate that the East Antarctic ice-sheet interior north of 81.6 degrees S increased in mass by 45 +/- 7 billion metric tons per year from 1992 to 2003. Comparisons with contemporaneous meteorological model snowfall estimates suggest that the gain in mass was associated with increased precipitation. A gain of this magnitude is enough to slow sea-level rise by 0.12 +/- 0.02 millimeters per year.
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The rare hereditary disorder Fanconi anemia (FA) is characterized by progressive bone marrow failure, congenital skeletal abnormality, elevated susceptibility to cancer, and cellular hypersensitivity to DNA cross-linking chemicals and sometimes other DNA-damaging agents. Molecular cloning identified six causative genes (FANCA, -C, -D2, -E, -F, and -G) encoding a multiprotein complex whose precise biochemical function remains elusive. Recent studies implicate this complex in DNA damage responses that are linked to the breast cancer susceptibility proteins BRCA1 and BRCA2. Mutations in BRCA2, which participates in homologous recombination (HR), are the underlying cause in some FA patients. To elucidate the roles of FA genes in HR, we disrupted the FANCG/XRCC9 locus in the chicken B-cell line DT40. FANCG-deficient DT40 cells resemble mammalian fancg mutants in that they are sensitive to killing by cisplatin and mitomycin C (MMC) and exhibit increased MMC and radiation-induced chromosome breakage. We find that the repair of I-SceI-induced chromosomal double-strand breaks (DSBs) by HR is decreased approximately 9-fold in fancg cells compared with the parental and FANCG-complemented cells. In addition, the efficiency of gene targeting is mildly decreased in FANCG-deficient cells, but depends on the specific locus. We conclude that FANCG is required for efficient HR-mediated repair of at least some types of DSBs.
Renal transplant recipients are susceptible to a number of fungal infections amenable to therapy with amphotericin B, but azotaemia is an almost invariable sequel to the use of this agent. As intravenous mannitol has been shown to minimize nephrotoxicity induced by amphotericin B in dogs we treated four kidney transplant recipients who had systemic fungal infections with mannitol and amphotericin B. None showed significant reduction in renal function though a mild metabolic acidosis did develop.
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BACKGROUND: Trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNBS) induces chronic transmural inflammatory lesions in the rat colon. Injury is facilitated by barrier disruption and invasion of commensal bacteria. However, certain bacteria have shown anti-inflammatory properties in in vitro models. AIM: To investigate in vivo the anti-inflammatory effect of Lactobacillus casei DN-114 001. METHODS: Rats with a colonic segment excluded from faecal transit were surgically prepared. After washing the lumen with antibiotics, the excluded segment was recolonized (control group: standard flora of rat origin; test group: standard flora and L casei). Microbial colonisation was confirmed by culture of segment washing, and colitis was then induced by instillation of TNBS. One day after, intestinal lesions were blindly graded by macro- and microscopic scores, and myeloperoxidase activity measured in tissue homogenates. Translocation of bacteria to mesenteric lymph nodes, spleen and liver was investigated. RESULTS: Test rats showed a smaller area of mucosal injury than control rats (p<0.05). Maximum depth lesion scores were similar in both groups but myeloperoxidase activity was lower in test than in control rats (p<0.05). Remarkably, bacterial translocation was quantitatively lower (p<0.01) and less frequent (p<0.05) in test than in control rats. CONCLUSION: In rats colonised with L casei, mucosal injury, inflammatory response, and barrier disruption after TNBS challenge were attenuated. Bacterial communities colonising the mucosa can modify inflammatory responses to luminal challenges.
Debate continues about the ethics of sham surgery controls. The most powerful argument for sham surgery controls is that rigorous experiments are needed to demonstrate safety and efficacy of surgical procedures. Without such experiments, there is danger of adopting worthless procedures in clinical practice. Opponents of sham surgery controls argue that sham surgery constitutes unacceptable violation of the rights of research subjects. Recent philosophical discussion has used two thought experiments-the transplant case and the trolley problem-to explore the circumstances under which individuals may be harmed to benefit a larger group. The transplant case is felt to exemplify circumstances that forbid harming some to benefit a larger group while the trolley problem exemplifies circumstances that permit harming some to benefit others. I argue that sham surgery controls satisfy criteria derived from the trolley problem and are morally permissible.
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Chronic hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) is an important factor in development of arterial hypertension. HHcy is associated with activation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs); however, it is unclear whether HHcy-dependent extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation plays a role in arterial hypertrophy and hypertension. We tested the hypothesis that in HHcy the mechanism of arterial hypertension involves arterial dysfunction in response to ECM accumulation between endothelial and arterial smooth muscle cells and subsequent endothelium-myocyte (E-M) uncoupling. To decrease plasma Hcy, dietary supplementation with 3-deazaadenosine (DZA), the S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase inhibitor, was administered to cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) knockout (KO) mice. Mice were grouped as follows: wild type (WT; control), WT+DZA, CBSKO, and CBSKO+DZA (n = 4/group). Mean aortic blood pressure and heart rate were monitored in real time with a telemetric system before, during, and after DZA treatment (6 wk total). In vivo aorta function and morphology were analyzed by M-mode and Doppler echocardiography in anesthetized mice. Aorta MMP activity in unfixed cryostat sections was measured with DQ gelatin. Aorta MMP-2, MMP-9, and connexin 43 expression were measured by RT-PCR and Western blot analyses, respectively. HHcy caused increased aortic blood pressure and resistance, tachycardia, and increased wall thickness and ECM accumulation in aortic wall vs. control groups. There was a linear correlation between aortic wall thickness and plasma Hcy levels. MMP-2, MMP-9, and connexin 43 expression were increased in HHcy. In the CBSKO+DZA group, aortic blood pressure and levels of MMP and connexin 43 were close to those found in control groups. However, removal of DZA reversed the aortic lumen-to-wall thickness ratio in CBSKO mice, suggesting, in part, a role of vascular remodeling in the increase in blood pressure in HHcy. The results show that arterial hypertension in HHcy mice is, in part, associated with arterial remodeling and E-M uncoupling in response to MMP activation.
We quantitated the ability of intratracheally administered liposome-encapsulated antioxidant enzymes to reduce reactive oxygen species injury to the pulmonary microvasculature. Cationic liposomes containing 3,500 U of Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase (Cu,Zn SOD) and 3,124 U of catalase were instilled into rabbits. The animals were killed 2-72 h later and their lungs were removed and perfused with Krebs Ringer with 5% wt/vol of fat-free bovine serum albumin. The pulmonary filtration co-efficient (Kf,c) was measured before and after adding 500 microM xanthine and 5 mU/ml xanthine oxidase (XO) into the lung perfusate. Two hours after a single intratracheal instillation of liposome-entrapped Cu,Zn SOD and catalase, lung antioxidant enzyme activities were 34 and 125% higher than the corresponding control values, remained virtually unchanged for up to 8 h post-instillation, and then decreased, reaching baseline values between 24 and 72 h. Addition of xanthine and XO into the lung perfusate of un-instilled rabbits, or rabbits that received liposomes with inactivated enzymes, caused a 100% increase in Kf,c (control value: 2 +/- 0.12 ml.min-1 x cmH2O-1 per 100 g dry lung weight). On the other hand, Kf,c values of rabbits lungs instilled with liposome-encapsulated active Cu,Zn SOD and catalase and challenged with xanthine and XO 8-24 h later remained at baseline levels. Instillation of liposomes containing either enzyme was equally effective in preventing the increase in Kf,c, indicating that both superoxide anions and hydrogen peroxide were necessary for the initiation of injury. We concluded that intratracheal instillation of liposome-encapsulated antioxidant enzymes caused a transient increase of lung antioxidant enzyme levels which protects the pulmonary microvasculature from free radical-initiated injury.
Surfactant liposomes, encapsulating CuZn-superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase, increase alveolar type II cell antioxidant activity and protect cells against oxidant stress. We examined whether intratracheal instillation of antioxidant-surfactant liposomes increases lung antioxidant activity in premature rabbits. Pregnant New Zealand White rabbits were delivered by cesarean section on day 28 or 29 of gestation or allowed to deliver spontaneously. After premature birth or at 2 days of age in the term rabbits, the pups from each litter were divided into four groups. One group received 0.1 ml/15 g birth wt of antioxidant-surfactant liposomes by intratracheal injection and was then exposed to hyperoxia (> 95% oxygen) for 24 h and killed. The second group received an equal amount of surfactant liposomes without antioxidant enzymes and was exposed to hyperoxia for 24 h. The third group received air placebo and was exposed to hyperoxia for 24 h, and the fourth group was killed after birth if premature or at 2 days of age if term. After the pups were killed, lung homogenates were investigated for total SOD and catalase activity and DNA content. Each treatment group consisted of 12-15 rabbit pups. Lung antioxidant enzyme activity increased with advancing maturity. Among the premature rabbits, total lung SOD and catalase activity were lowest in the pups killed before hyperoxia and the air placebo controls exposed to hyperoxia, intermediate in the pups treated with liposomes without antioxidant enzymes and hyperoxia, and highest in the pups that received antioxidant-surfactant liposomes and hyperoxia.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors exert modulatory effects on a number of cell signaling cascades by preventing the synthesis of various isoprenoids derived from the mevalonate pathway. In the present study, we describe a novel pleiotropic effect of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, also commonly known as statins, on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced type IV collagen accumulation. VEGF is an angiogenic polypeptide that is also known to play a central role in endothelial cell permeability and differentiation. Recently, VEGF has also been implicated in promoting extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation, although the precise signaling mechanism that mediates VEGF-induced ECM expansion remains poorly characterized. Elucidation of the mechanisms through which VEGF exerts its effect on ECM is clearly a prerequisite for both understanding the complex biology of this molecule as well as targeting VEGF in several pathological processes. To this end, this study explored the underlying molecular mechanisms mediating VEGF-induced ECM expansion in mesangial cells. Our findings show that VEGF stimulation elicits a robust increase in ECM accumulation that involves RhoA activation, an intact actin cytoskeleton, and beta(1)- integrin activation. Our data also indicate that simvastatin, via mevalonate depletion, reverses VEGF-induced ECM accumulation by preventing RhoA activation.
Our hypothesis is that impairment of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARgamma) initiates renal dysfunction by increasing renal glomerular matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) activity because of increased renal homocysteine (Hcy) and decreased nitric oxide (NO) levels. C57BL/6J mice were made diabetic (D) by being fed a high-fat-calorie diet, and an increase in PPARgamma activity was induced by adding pioglitazone (Pi) to the diet. Mice were grouped as follows: normal calorie diet (N), D, N+Pi, and D+Pi (n = 6/group). The glomerular filtration rate (GFR), renal artery blood flow and pressure, and plasma glucose were measured. Renal glomeruli and preglomerular arterioles were isolated. Plasma and glomerular levels of NO, Hcy, and MMP activity were measured. The contractile response to phenylephrine and the dilatation response to acetylcholine in renal arteriolar rings were measured in a tissue myobath. In N, D, N+Pi, and D+Pi groups, respectively, GFR was 9.4 +/- 1.2, 3.9 +/- 1.1, 9.2 +/- 1.6, and 8.4 +/- 1.4 microl x min(-1) x g body wt(-1). Renovascular resistance was 140 +/- 3, 367 +/- 21, 161 +/- 9, and 153 +/- 10 mmHg x ml x min(-1). Levels of Hcy were increased from 5.8 +/- 1.5 in the N to 18.0 +/- 4.0 micromol/l in the D group. Glomerular levels of MMP-2 were increased in D mice compared with N mice, and there was no change in levels of MMP-9. Treatment with Pi ameliorated glomerular levels of MMP-2 and Hcy in the D group. Renal artery ring contraction and relaxation by phenylephrine and acetylcholine, respectively, were attenuated in the D groups compared with the N groups. Results suggest that a PPARgamma agonist ameliorates preglomerular arteriole remodeling in diabetes by decreasing tissue levels of Hcy and MMP-2 activity and increasing NO.