A randomized,triple‐blind,placebo‐controlled clinical trial,evaluating the sesamin supplement effects on proteolytic enzymes,inflammatory markers,and clinical indices in women with rheumatoid arthritis

Inflammation is one of the main characteristics of rheumatoid arthritis. Based on the antiinflammatory properties of sesame, this study was conducted to evaluate the sesamin supplement effects on serum levels of some proteolytic enzymes, inflammatory biomarkers, and clinical indices in women with rheumatoid arthritis. In this randomized, triple‐blind, placebo‐controlled clinical trial, 44 patients were randomly divided in intervention and control groups. Patients received 200‐mg/day sesamin supplement or placebo in the intervention and control group for 6 weeks. Serum levels of proteolytic enzymes (hyaluronidase, aggrecanase, and matrix metalloproteinases‐3) and inflammatory biomarkers (hs‐CRP, IL‐1β, IL‐6, TNF‐α, and cyclooxygenase‐2) were measured with enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay method at the beginning and end of the study. After intervention, serum levels of hyaluronidase and matrix metalloproteinases‐3 decreased significantly in sesamin group. Also, serum levels of hs‐CRP, TNF‐α, and cyclooxygenase‐2 in intervention group were significantly decreased in intervention group compared with placebo group. Sesamin supplementation also caused a significant reduction in the number of tender joints and severity of pain in these patients. According to the results, it seems that the sesamin by reducing inflammatory mediators can relieve clinical symptoms and pathological changes that caused by inflammatory impairment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.     

Molecular characterization of resistance to rifampicin in clinical isolates of Neisseria meningitidis

Among 3904 meningococcal isolates collected between October 2002 and June 2007 by the French Meningococcal Reference Centre, eight (0.20%) were resistant to rifampicin (Rif-R; MIC >1 mg/L) and 27 (0.69%) were intermediate-resistant to rifampicin (Rif-I; MICs between 0.38 mg/L and 1 mg/L) according to the E-test method. The MICs determined by agar dilution were lower, eliminating the E-test intermediate category. All Rif-R isolates had mutations in the rpoB gene, resulting in substitutions at or near amino acid position 552, which were absent in non-resistant isolates. These data suggest that a rifampicin clinical breakpoint of 1.0 mg/L should be adopted for Neisseria meningitidis .     

Nutritional status and serum zinc and selenium levels in Iranian HIV infected individuals

Background  

Human immunodeficiency virus infected individuals are prone to malnutrition due to increased energy requirements, enteropathy and increased catabolism. Trace elements such as zinc and selenium have major role in maintaining a healthy immune system. This study was designed to evaluate the nutritional status of Iranian subjects who were newly diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus infection and to compare serum level of zinc and selenium in these patients with those of the sex and aged match healthy subjects.     

Plasma dilution improves cognition and attenuates neuroinflammation in old mice

Our recent study has established that young blood factors are not causal, nor necessary, for the systemic rejuvenation of mammalian tissues. Instead, a procedure referred to as neutral blood exchange (NBE) that resets signaling milieu to a pro-regenerative state through dilution of old plasma, enhanced the health and repair of the muscle and liver, and promoted better hippocampal neurogenesis in 2-year-old mice (Mehdipour et al., Aging 12:8790–8819, 2020). Here we expand the rejuvenative phenotypes of NBE, focusing on the brain. Namely, our results demonstrate that old mice perform much better in novel object and novel texture (whisker discrimination) tests after a single NBE, which is accompanied by reduced neuroinflammation (less-activated CD68⁺ microglia). Evidence against attenuation/dilution of peripheral senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) as the main mechanism behind NBE was that the senolytic ABT 263 had limited effects on neuroinflammation and did not enhance hippocampal neurogenesis in the old mice. Interestingly, peripherally acting ABT 263 and NBE both diminished SA-βGal signal in the old brain, demonstrating that peripheral senescence propagates to the brain, but NBE was more robustly rejuvenative than ABT 263, suggesting that rejuvenation was not simply by reducing senescence. Explaining the mechanism of the positive effects of NBE on the brain, our comparative proteomics analysis demonstrated that dilution of old blood plasma yields an increase in the determinants of brain maintenance and repair in mice and in people. These findings confirm the paradigm of rejuvenation through dilution of age-elevated systemic factors and extrapolate it to brain health and function.

     

Ocular dominance plasticity is stably maintained in the absence of alpha calcium calmodulin kinase II (alphaCaMKII) autophosphorylation

The molecule alpha calcium calmodulin kinase II (alphaCaMKII) is known to play a fundamental role in the induction of many forms of synaptic plasticity. A major theory of alphaCaMKII function proposes that autophosphorylation of the molecule mediates not only the induction but also the maintenance of synaptic plasticity. To test this hypothesis, we assessed ocular dominance plasticity in genetically engineered mice that carry a mutation preventing autophosphorylation of alphaCaMKII. These mutant mice are deficient in plasticity after monocular deprivation, but a sufficiently long period of monocular deprivation will induce ocular dominance plasticity. After induction of ocular dominance plasticity, the stability of the induced changes was assayed after binocular deprivation. Plasticity in homozygous mutant animals was as stable as that measured in WT littermates; also, response characteristics did not differ between the two groups. Our results suggest that alphaCaMKII autophosphorylation is required for the induction of ocular dominance plasticity but is not needed for its stable maintenance thereafter.