Running reduces stress and enhances cell genesis in aged mice

Cell proliferation and neurogenesis are diminished in the aging mouse dentate gyrus. However, it is not known whether isolated or social living affects cell genesis and stress levels in old animals. To address this question, aged (17–18 months old) female C57Bl/6 mice were single or group housed, under sedentary or running conditions. We demonstrate that both individual and socially housed aged C57Bl/6 mice have comparable basal cell proliferation levels and demonstrate increased running-induced cell genesis. To assess stress levels in young and aged mice, corticosterone (CORT) was measured at the onset of the active/dark cycle and 4 h later. In young mice, no differences in CORT levels were observed as a result of physical activity or housing conditions. However, a significant increase in stress in socially housed, aged sedentary animals was observed at the onset of the dark cycle; CORT returned to basal levels 4 h later. Together, these results indicate that voluntary exercise reduces stress in group housed aged animals and enhances hippocampal cell proliferation.     

Rotarix®: vaccine performance 6 years postlicensure

Rotarix(?) was first licensed in 2004 and rapidly introduced into private and public markets worldwide. In a previous 2009 article, we reviewed the impact of rotavirus-associated disease, the rationale for different vaccines, prelicensure efficacy studies and cost-effectiveness studies for Rotarix. As of September 2011, Rotarix had been licensed in 123 countries in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia, of which 27 have incorporated the vaccine into national or regional immunization programs. The current review intends to provide the reader with further insight into this vaccine, focusing mainly on the new information obtained after a 6-year postlicensure period. This review will provide only a brief summary of prelicensure studies extensively discussed in the previous publication and refer, in more depth, to the worldwide experience with the vaccine, vaccine impact, and safety observed in effectiveness and observational studies, including a particular analysis on protection against rotavirus G2P[4].     

Pathogen Chip for Respiratory Tract Infections

Determining the viral etiology of respiratory tract infections (RTI) has been limited for the most part to specific primer PCR-based methods due to their increased sensitivity and specificity compared to other methods, such as tissue culture. However, specific primer approaches have limited the ability to fully understand the diversity of infecting pathogens. A pathogen chip system (PathChip), developed at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), using a random-tagged PCR coupled to a chip with over 170,000 probes, has the potential to recognize all known human viral pathogens. We tested 290 nasal wash specimens from Filipino children <2 years of age with respiratory tract infections using culture and 3 PCR methods—EraGen, Luminex, and the GIS PathChip. The PathChip had good diagnostic accuracy, ranging from 85.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 81.3 to 89.7%) for rhinovirus/enteroviruses to 98.6% (95% CI, 96.5 to 99.6%) for PIV 2, compared to the other methods and additionally identified a number of viruses not detected by these methods.     

Identification and characterization of neuronal precursors and their progeny from human fetal tissue.

We have examined primary human neuronal precursors (HNPs) from 18-22-week-old fetuses. We showed that E-NCAM/MAP2/beta-III tubulin-immunoreactive neuronal precursors divide in vitro and could be induced to differentiate into mature neurons in 2 weeks. HNPs did not express nestin and differentiated slowly compared to rodent neuronal restricted precursors (NRPs, 5 days). Immunocytochemical and physiological analyses showed that HNPs could generate a heterogeneous population of neurons that expressed neurofilament-associated protein and various neurotransmitters, neurotransmitter synthesizing enzymes, voltage-gated ion channels, and ligand-gated neurotransmitter receptors and could fire action potentials. Undifferentiated and differentiated HNPs did not coexpress glial markers. Only a subset of cells that expressed GFP under the control of the Talpha1 tubulin promoter was E-NCAM/beta-III tubulin-immunoreactive, indicating nonexclusive overlap between these two HNP cell populations. Overall, HNPs resemble NRPs isolated from rodent tissue and appear to be a neuronal precursor population.     

A verbal and non-verbal treatment comparison study in aphasia

Abstract

Treatment comparison studies in aphasia that have incorporated group designs have generally shown few differences between treatments (Sarno et al. 1970, Wertz et al. 1981, Shewan and Kertesz 1984, Hartman and Landau 1987). On the other hand, single-case within-subject design treatment comparison studies have generally shown distinct differences between treatments (Thompson and McReynolds 1986, Loverso et al. 1989, Kearns and Yedor 1991). Results from these studies indicate that direct production treatment is better than auditory-visual stimulation treatment to improve wb-question production (Thompson and McReynolds 1986), clinician-delivered treatment is more efficient than microcomputer–clinician-assisted treatment (Loverso et al. 19891, and divergent treatment is better than convergent treatment for improving the content of communication (Kearns and Yedor 1991). These single-case within-subject design studies have provided much needed detailed information regarding the effects of specific treatments.     

Post hoc analysis of the Exenatide‐PD trial—Factors that predict response

Exenatide, a glucagon‐like peptide‐1 agonist and a licensed treatment for Type 2 diabetes significantly reduced deterioration in motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease in a randomized, placebo‐controlled trial. In addition, there were trends favouring the exenatide group in assessments of nonmotor symptoms, cognition, and quality of life. The aim of this exploratory post hoc analysis was to generate new hypotheses regarding (a) whether candidate baseline factors might predict the magnitude of response to exenatide; and (b) whether the beneficial effects of exenatide reported for the overall population are consistent in various subgroups of patients. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to determine possible predictors of motor response to exenatide in this cohort. Potential treatment by subgroup interactions for changes in; motor severity, nonmotor symptoms, cognition, and quality of life after 48‐weeks treatment with exenatide were evaluated among post hoc subgroups defined by age, motor phenotype, disease duration, disease severity, body mass index (BMI), and insulin resistance. In the subgroup analyses, exenatide once‐weekly was associated with broadly improved outcome measures assessing motor severity, nonmotor symptoms, cognition, and quality of life across all subgroups, however, tremor‐dominant phenotype and lower Movement Disorder Society‐Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS‐UPDRS) Part‐2 scores predicted greatest motor response to exenatide and there was an indication that patients with older age of onset and disease duration over 10 years responded less well. While patients with a range of demographic and clinical factors can potentially benefit from exenatide once‐weekly, these data support an emphasis towards recruiting patients at earlier disease in future planned clinical trials of gluacagon‐like peptide‐1 (GLP‐1) receptor agonists in Parkinson's disease (PD).     

Omeprazole‐induced hypertrichosis in two children

Omeprazole significantly increases duodenal prostaglandin E₂ synthesis. Prostaglandins are involved in hair growth regulation: prostaglandin E₂ and prostaglandin F₂ alpha stimulate hair growth, and prostaglandin D₂ has an inhibitory effect. The use of omeprazole can cause acquired generalized hypertrichosis by increasing prostaglandin E₂ levels.     

Segmental Prurigo Pigmentosa

Prurigo pigmentosa (PP) is an inflammatory skin disease of unknown origin. The skin lesions in PP are symmetrically distributed on the back, chest, and neck. Pruritus is a prominent feature in many cases. We report on a 13‐year‐old girl with lesions typical of PP in a segmental arrangement on her left chest. A segmental distribution of PP has not been previously reported.