近视眼的屈光度、眼轴、角膜屈光力的相关性探讨

目的：探讨近视眼的屈光度、眼轴、角膜屈光力之间的相关关系以及近视的成因。方法：将204例(348只眼)近视患者分为三组：低度近视组62眼(屈光度＜-3．0D）；中度近视组159眼(屈光度-3．0D～-6．0D)；高度近视组127眼(屈光度＞-6．0D)。测量患者眼的屈光度、角膜屈光力及眼轴，与近视程度、角膜屈光力、眼轴的关系。结果：在低度近视组，62只眼屈光度与眼轴长度无显著相关性，而屈光度与角膜水平径、垂直径屈光力呈正相关(P＜0．05)，相关具有显著性；在中度近视组和高度近视组屈光度与眼轴长呈正相关(P＜0．05)，相关具有显著性，且随近视度数的增加，与眼轴长的相关系数呈递增趋势，而中、高度组患者眼屈光度与角膜水平径及垂直径屈光力无显著相关性。结论：在近视性屈光不正的影响因素中，低度近视眼患者受角膜屈光力的影响相对较大，而眼轴的作用甚微；在中、高度近视眼患者中，眼轴长是影响近视程度的主要因素，而角膜屈光力几乎不起作用。     

A dysbiotic subpopulation of alcohol-dependent subjects

The vast majority of studies that assessed the importance of biological factors for the development of psychiatric disorders focused on processes occurring at the brain level. Alcohol-dependence is a very frequent psychiatric disorder where psycho-pharmacological interventions are only of moderate efficacy. Our laboratory has recently described that a subpopulation of alcohol-dependent subjects, that accounted for approximately 40% of individuals tested, presented with an increased intestinal permeability, with a dysbiosis, with alterations in the metabolomic content of faeces - that could play a role in the increased permeability - and finally with a more severe profile of alcohol-dependence than the other non-dysbiotic subpopulation. In this addendum, we discuss the implications of our observations for the pathophysiology of alcohol dependence where we try to discriminate which addiction dimensions are likely related to the gut microbiota alterations and whether these alterations are the cause or the consequence of drinking habits.     

Role of negative affects in pathophysiology and clinical expression of irritable bowel syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome(IBS)is regarded as a multifactorial disease in which alterations in the brain-gut axis signaling play a major role.The biopsychosocial model applied to the understanding of IBS pathophysiology assumes that psychosocial factors,interacting with peripheral/central neuroendocrine and immune changes,may induce symptoms of IBS,modulate symptom severity,influence illness experience and quality of life,and affect outcome.The present review focuses on the role of negative affects,including depression,anxiety,and anger,on pathogenesis and clinical expression of IBS.The potential role of the autonomic nervous system,stress-hormone system,and immune system in the pathophysiology of both negative affects and IBS are taken into account.Psychiatric comorbidity and subclinical variations in levels of depression,anxiety,and anger are further discussed in relation to the main pathophysiological and symptomatic correlates of IBS,such as sensorimotor functions,gut microbiota,inflammation/immunity,and symptom reporting.     

Hypothalamic insulin and glucagon-like peptide-1 levels in an animal model of depression and their effect on corticotropin-releasing hormone promoter gene activity in a hypothalamic cell line

Background

In depression, excessive glucocorticoid action may cause maladaptive brain changes, including in the pathways controlling energy metabolism. Insulin and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), besides regulation of glucose homeostasis, also possess neurotrophic properties. Current study was aimed at investigating the influence of prenatal stress (PS) on insulin, GLP-1 and their receptor (IR and GLP-1R) levels in the hypothalamus. GLP-1 and GLP-1R were assayed also in the hippocampus and frontal cortex – brain regions mainly affected in depression. The second objective was to determine the influence of exendin-4 and insulin on CRH promoter gene activity in in vitro conditions.

The microbiota-gut-brain axis in functional gastrointestinal disorders

Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are highly prevalent and pose a significant burden on health care and society, and impact patients’ quality of life. FGIDs comprise a heterogeneous group of disorders, with unclear underlying pathophysiology. They are considered to result from the interaction of altered gut physiology and psychological factors via the gut-brain axis, where brain and gut symptoms are reciprocally influencing each other’s expression. Intestinal microbiota, as a part of the gut-brain axis, plays a central role in FGIDs. Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, a prototype of FGIDs, display altered composition of the gut microbiota compared with healthy controls and benefit, at the gastrointestinal and psychological levels, from the use of probiotics and antibiotics. This review aims to recapitulate the available literature on FGIDs and microbiota-gut-brain axis.     

Glucagon-like Peptide 1 (7-36 hide) Secretion in Response to Luminal Sucrose from the Upper and Lower Gut: A Study Using α-Glucosidase Inhibition (Acarbose)

Background: After nutrient ingestion there is an early response of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) immunoreactivity, although GLP-1 is mainly produced in endocrine cells from the lower gut (ileum and colon/rectum), suggesting that indirect stimulation is important after the ingestion of carbohydrates that are predominantly absorbed from the upper intestine.

Methods: To enable contact of sucrose with lower gut mucosa, sucrose was administered by mouth with and without the simultaneous ingestion of 100mg of the α-glucosidase inhibitor acarbose to six normal healthy volunteers.

Results: There was an early increment in GLP-1 15min after sucrose ingestion. With acarbose, sucrose reached the colon approximately 120min after ingestion, as indicated by an increment in breath hydrogen exhalation (p < 0.0001), and GLP-1 release was prolonged (p < 0.0001). The sucrose-related increments in glucose, insulin, C-peptide, and gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) and the suppression of glucagon were only marginally affected by acarbose administration.

Conclusions: GLP-1 release appears to be influenced by indirect mechanisms (early response after sucrose) and by direct luminal contact with lower gut mucosal endocrine cells (late response with acarbose).     

BMPs and Chordin regulate patterning of the directive axis in a sea anemone

The TGF-β molecules Dpp/BMP2/4/7 and their antagonist Sog/Chd play a conserved role in establishing the dorso-ventral (DV) axis in bilaterians. Homologues of BMPs and the antagonist, Chordin, have been isolated from Cnidaria and show a striking asymmetric expression pattern with respect to the primary oral-aboral (OA) axis. We used Morpholino knockdowns of Nematostella dpp (bmp2/4), bmp5-8, chordin, and tolloid to investigate their function during early development of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. Molecular analysis of the BMP Morpholino phenotypes revealed an upregulated and radialized expression of bmps and chordin in ectoderm and endoderm indicating a negative feedback loop. Our data further suggest that BMP signaling is required for symmetry breaking of bmp and chordin expression during gastrulation. While bmps and chordin marker genes of the ectodermal OA axis extended aborally, other ectodermal markers of the OA axis were not significantly affected. By contrast, expression of other endodermal marker genes marking both the OA and the directive axis were abolished. Our data suggest that the logic of BMP2/4 signaling and the BMP antagonist, Chordin, differs significantly between Cnidaria and Bilateria, yet the double negative feedback loop detected in Nematostella bears systemic similarities with part of the regulatory network of the DV axis patterning system in amphibians.     

Celiac artery stenting: a new strategy for patients with pancreaticoduodenal artery aneurysm associated with stenosis of the celiac artery

We report a new strategy—celiac artery stenting—to relieve stenosis of the celiac arterial root. This was performed in two patients with pancreaticoduodenal artery (PDA) aneurysm associated with a stenotic celiac arterial root. The first patient was a 66-year-old man complaining of abrupt onset of upper abdominal pain. Abdominal computed tomography revealed a huge retroperitoneal hematoma behind the duodenum, and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) angiography demonstrated an aneurysm arising from inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery and celiac arteriography showed a stenotic celiac arterial root. Transcatheter embolization of the aneurysm was tried, but failed. Because of his unstable hemodynamics, emergent laparotomy with resection of the aneurysm was performed. Fourteen days after the operation, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with celiac arterial stenting was done. The patient was discharged 2 days later, and has had no further bleeding episode for 3 years. The second patient was a 46-year-old woman, who also complained of acute upper abdominal pain. Abdominal computed tomography disclosed a huge retroperitoneal hematoma, and selective SMA angiography demonstrated an aneurysm arising from the inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery, and celiac arteriography showed a stenotic celiac arterial root. Because angiography showed no active bleeding from the aneurysm, percutaneous transluminal angioplastic stenting of the stenotic celiac artery was performed. She was discharged 5 days later and has had no further bleeding episode for 2 years. Celiac arterial stenting, as shown in our two patients, could be easily and safely employed in patients with PDA aneurysm associated with a stenotic celiac arterial root to release the stenosis of the celiac arterial root and to prevent further possible bleeding.