Idiopathic myointimal hyperplasia of mesenteric veins: a rare mimic of idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease

Idiopathic myointimal hyperplasia of mesenteric veins (IMHMV) is a rare and poorly understood disease that occurs in the rectosigmoid colon of predominantly young, previously healthy male patients. IMHMV typically requires segmental resection due to complications after a relatively protracted clinical course. This disease presents a challenging diagnostic dilemma for the clinician because it is initially often confused with chronic idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease. We report a case of IMHMV, illustrate endoscopic and histopathologic features, and review key characteristics of this rare entity.     

Insulin treatment reverses the postreceptor defect in adipocyte 3-O-methylglucose transport in type II diabetes mellitus

The insulin resistance of type II diabetes mellitus is due to both receptor and postreceptor defects of in vivo insulin action, with the postreceptor defect being the predominant abnormality. Diminished glucose transport has been found in adipocytes from patients with type II diabetes, suggesting that decreased cellular glucose transport activity may be responsible in part for the in vivo postreceptor defect observed in these patients. Recent studies have shown that the in vivo postreceptor defect initially present in patients with Type II diabetes is significantly reversed by insulin therapy. For these reasons, we speculated that the defect in adipocyte glucose transport might also be corrected with exogenous insulin therapy. Therefore, we measured adipocyte 3-O-methylglucose transport in cells from five type II diabetic subjects before and after a 2-week period of intensive insulin treatment. Glycemic control was significantly improved by this regimen. The mean (+/- SE) fasting serum glucose level fell from 292 +/- 24 to 135 +/- 29 mg/100 ml (P less than 0.005), and the mean integrated glucose area under a 7-h meal tolerance test curve decreased from 171,212 +/- 20,403 to 72,408 +/- 9,292 mg/min . dl. The mean 3-O-methylglucose transport activity increased after treatment at all insulin concentrations studied, including basal (before, 0.18 +/- 0.05; after, 0.45 +/- 0.09 pmol/2 X 10(5) cells . 10 sec; P less than 0.005) and maximally effective (25 ng/ml) insulin concentrations (before, 0.50 +/- 0.14; after, 1.32 +/- 0.30 pmol/2 X 10(5) cells . 10 sec; P less than 0.025), although the mean maximal glucose transport activity was still 25% decreased compared to normal values, indicating that a residual in vitro postreceptor defect remained. These results corresponded well with the degree of reversal (75%) of the in vivo postreceptor defect, as assessed by the euglycemic glucose clamp technique. These studies demonstrated that the decrease in adipocyte glucose transport activity in type II diabetes is practically reversible by intensive insulin therapy. This closely corresponds to the reversal by insulin therapy of the postreceptor defect expressed in vivo and provides further evidence that a cellular cause of the postreceptor defect in type II diabetes is a decrease in glucose transport system activity in the major insulin target tissues.     

Androgen-repressed phenotype in human prostate cancer

An androgen-repressed human prostate cancer cell line, ARCaP, was established and characterized. This cell line was derived from the ascites fluid of a patient with advanced metastatic disease. In contrast to the behavior of androgen-dependent LNCaP and its androgen-independent C4-2 subline, androgen and estrogen suppress the growth of ARCaP cells in a dose-dependent manner in vivo and in vitro. ARCaP is tumorigenic and highly metastatic. It metastasizes to the lymph node, lung, pancreas, liver, kidney, and bone, and forms ascites fluid in athymic hosts. ARCaP cells express low levels of androgen receptor mRNA and prostate-specific antigen mRNA and protein. Immunohistochemical staining shows that ARCaP cells stain intensely for epidermal growth factor receptor, c-erb B2/neu, and c-erb B3. Staining is negative for chromogranin A and positive for bombesin, serotonin, neuron-specific enolase, and the c-met protooncogene (a hepatic growth factor/scatter factor receptor). ARCaP cells also secrete high levels of gelatinase A and B and some stromelysin, which suggests that this cell line may contain markers representing invasive adenocarcinoma with selective neuronendocrine phenotypes. Along with its repression of growth, androgen is also found to repress the expression of prostate-specific antigen in ARCaP cells as detected by a prostate-specific antigen promoter–β-galactosidase reporter assay. Our results suggest that the androgen-repressed state may be central to prostate cancer progression and that advanced prostate cancer can progress from an androgen-independent to an androgen-repressed state.     

Integrated phytoremediation focused on microbial investigation

Phytoremediation is an environmentally friendly green rehabilitation technology that is often incorporated with an application to improve phytohormones required for the growth of agricultural plants with the expectation to improve the effectiveness of plant rehabilitation. This study adopts phytoremediation, a green remediation technology, for the sake of restoring soil fertility and ensuring environmental sustainability, and adds ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid (EDDS) and the plant growth regulator (GA₃) to examine the overall efficiency of phytoremediation. The experiments using pots in this study finds that environmentally sustainable phytoremediation achieves the greatest efficacy regarding the remediation of soil polluted by copper, zinc and nickel. The best combination of operational factors is the addition of the EDDS and GA₃. The environment where the EDDS is added shows a poorer performance in the remediation of the heavy metal lead. In addition, the PCR(Polymerase chain reaction)-DGGE analysis results of bacterial flora change show that the combination “heavy metal + EDDS + GA₃” brings about the richest bacterial flora, indicating that the addition of EDDS and GA₃ can stimulate microbial growth, thereby achieving richer bacterial flora.

Phytoremediation is a green rehabilitation technology that is often incorporated with an application to improve phytohormones required for the growth of agricultural plants with the expectation to improve the effectiveness of plant rehabilitation.     

Effects of heterogeneous risk factors on psychological distress in adolescents with autism and victimization experiences in Taiwan

Purpose: To investigate the prevalence of various types of bullying victimization among adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and examine the effects of victimization on the mental health of adolescents with ASD.

Methods: The sample was collected from the Special Needs Education Longitudinal Study (SNELS) database released in 2011. Variables comprising seven psychological distress (PD) items and four types of bullying victimization and family-, school-, and peer-related factors were included in a multivariate regression analysis.

Results: Exclusion and verbal bullying were most frequently reported, 72.4% of students with ASD experiencing exclusion bullying and 66% of them experiencing verbal bullying. Among the victims, delayed bedtime, use of medication, and conflicts with parents significantly increased PD. By contrast, good relationships with parents and friends and liking school environments relieved PD symptoms. Furthermore, delayed bedtime after 12 a.m. enhanced the effects of exclusion victimization on PD in the participants.

Conclusions: Our results indicated that bullying victimization among adolescents with ASD was a risk factor for their psychological well-being. Nevertheless, good parent–adolescent and interpeer relationships improved their mental health. Our results can serve as a reference in implementing strategies for motivating parents and teachers to pay more attention to the needs of adolescents with ASD.

• Implications for Rehabilitation

• More than 80% of adolescents with autism experience at least one type of bullying victimization.

• Bullying victimization attributes to a major factor influencing mental health of adolescents with autism.

• Good parent–adolescent and interpeer relationships can play beneficial roles in improving mental health of the adolescents.

     

Mesenchymal stem cells for treating ocular surface diseases

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have become a promising tool for cell therapy in regenerative medicine. They are readily available, demonstrate powerful differentiation capabilities and present immunosuppressive properties that aid them in surviving from host immune rejection for its great potential use in allograft. Currently clinical trials are underway using MSC, both culture-expanded allogeneic and autologous, for the treatment of a range of diseases not treatable by conventional therapies. A vast array of studies has dedicated towards the use of MSC for treating corneal diseases with very promising outcomes. MSC have successfully differentiated into keratocytes both in vitro and in vivo, and corneal epithelial cells in vitro, but it is uncertain if MSC can assume corneal epithelial cells in vivo. However, to date few studies have unequivocally established the efficacy of MSC for treating corneal endothelial defects. Currently, the diversity in protocols of the isolation and expansion of MSC are hindering to the assessment of cell treatment ability and the further development of treatment regimens. Therefore, future studies should develop international standards for MSC isolation and characterization. In this review, we discuss recent advances in MSC for treating ocular surface diseases.     

Canavanine induces insulin release via activation of imidazoline I3 receptors

The aim of the present study was to identify the effect of canavanine on the imidazoline receptor because canavanine is a guanidinium derivative that has a similar structure to imidazoline receptor ligands. Transfected Chinese hamster ovary‐K1 cells expressing imidazoline receptors (nischarin (NISCH)‐CHO‐K1 cells) were used to elucidate the direct effects of canavanine on imidazoline receptors. In addition, the imidazoline I₃ receptor has been implicated in stimulation of insulin secretion from pancreatic β‐cells. Wistar rats were used to investigate the effects of canavanine (0.1, 1 and 2.5 mg/kg, i.v.) on insulin secretion. In addition the a specific I₃ receptor antagonist KU14R (4 or 8 mg/kg, i.v.) was used to block I₃ receptors. Canavanine decreased blood glucose by increasing plasma insulin in rats. In addition, canavanine increased calcium influx into NISCH‐CHO‐K1 cells in a manner similar to agmatine, the endogenous ligand of imidazoline receptors. Moreover, KU12R dose‐dependently attenuated canavanine‐induced insulin secretion in HIT‐T15 pancreatic β‐cells and in the plasma of rats. The data suggest that canavanine is an agonist of I₃ receptors both in vivo and in vitro. Thus, canavanine would be a useful tool in imidazoline receptor research.     

Individual Differences in Impulsive Action Reflect Variation in the Cortical Serotonin 5-HT2A Receptor System

Impulsivity is an important feature of multiple neuropsychiatric disorders, and individual variation in the degree of inherent impulsivity could play a role in the generation or exacerbation of problematic behaviors. Serotonin (5-HT) actions at the 5-HT_2AR receptor (5-HT_2AR) promote and 5-HT_2AR antagonists suppress impulsive action (the inability to withhold premature responses; motor impulsivity) upon systemic administration or microinfusion directly into the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a node in the corticostriatal circuit that is thought to play a role in the regulation of impulsive action. We hypothesized that the functional capacity of the 5-HT_2AR, which is governed by its expression, localization, and protein/protein interactions (eg, postsynaptic density 95 (PSD95)), may drive the predisposition to inherent impulsive action. Stable high-impulsive (HI) and low-impulsive (LI) phenotypes were identified from an outbred rodent population with the 1-choice serial reaction time (1-CSRT) task. HI rats exhibited a greater head-twitch response following administration of the preferential 5-HT_2AR agonist 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine (DOI) and were more sensitive to the effects of the selective 5-HT_2AR antagonist M100907 to suppress impulsive action relative to LI rats. A positive correlation was observed between levels of premature responses and 5-HT_2AR binding density in frontal cortex ([³H]-ketanserin radioligand binding). Elevated mPFC 5-HT_2AR protein expression concomitant with augmented association of the 5-HT_2AR with PSD95 differentiated HI from LI rats. The observed differential sensitivity of HI and LI rats to 5-HT_2AR ligands and associated distinct 5-HT_2AR protein profiles provide evidence that spontaneously occurring individual differences in impulsive action reflect variation in the cortical 5-HT_2AR system.