Stability of Glucose Concentrations in Frozen Plasma

Background:Conflicting information is available regarding the stability of glucose concentrations in frozen plasma samples. Clinical trials could benefit from such long-term storage because it would allow usage of a central laboratory with higher-quality laboratory analyzers in contrast to mobile analyzers in a decentralized setting.Methods:In this study, venous blood samples were collected in lithium-heparin gel tubes. Plasma was separated immediately after blood was drawn, and from each of the 21 plasma samples, 6 aliquots were prepared for measurement at 6 time points: immediately and after 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12 weeks. Between sampling and measurement, aliquots were stored at less than −20°C. Transport on dry ice was simulated by placing aliquots in a −80°C freezer for 5 days between weeks 8 and 12. Measurements were performed on a hexokinase-based laboratory analyzer.Average relative differences and corresponding 99% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated between the stored aliquots’ and the immediately measured aliquots’ glucose concentrations. Glucose concentrations were deemed stable as long as average relative differences were ≤±2.5%.Results:Over the whole 12-weeks duration, the largest average relative difference was −1.82% (99% CI: –2.25% to −1.39%). Shorter storage durations tended to lead to less bias.Conclusion:In this study, the stability of glucose concentrations in frozen plasma samples obtained with lithium-heparin gel tubes could be shown for up to 12 weeks. Future studies should be performed to assess whether this is independent of the glucose analyzer and the type of sampling tube used.     

Neurophysiological Markers for Monitoring Exercise and Recovery Cycles in Endurance Sports

The current study analyzes the suitability and reliability of selected neurophysiological and vegetative nervous system markers as biomarkers for exercise and recovery in endurance sport. Sixty-two healthy men and women, endurance trained and moderately trained, performed two identical acute endurance tests (running trial 1 and running trial 2) followed by a washout period of four weeks. Exercise protocol consisted of an acute running trial lasting 60 minutes. An intensity corresponding to 95% of the heart rate at individual anaerobic threshold for 40 minutes was followed by 20 minutes at 110%. At pre-exercise, post-exercise, three hours post-exercise and 24 hours post-exercise, experimental diagnostics on Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), heart rate variability (HRV), Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT), and Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) were performed. Significant changes over time were found for all parameters (p < .05). Furthermore, there was an approached statistical significance in the interaction between gender and training status in BDNF regulation (F₍₃₎ = 2.43; p = 0.06), while gender differences were found only for LF/HF-ratio (3hPoEx, F₍₃₎ = 3.40; p = 0.002). Regarding the reliability, poor ICC-values (< 0.5) were found for BDNF, Stroop sensitivity and pNN50, while all other parameters showed moderate ICC-values (0.5-0.75). Plasma-BDNF, SCWT performance, pain perception and all HRV parameters are suitable exercise-sensitive markers after an acute endurance exercise. Moreover, pain perception, SCWT reaction time and all HRV parameters show a moderate reliability, others rather poor. In summary, a selected neurophysiological and vegetative marker panel can be used to determine exercise load and recovery in endurance sports, but its repeatability is limited due to its vaguely reliability. Key points

• Pain perception and the Stroop test have moderate reliability in the use of exercise and recovery markers after two identical exercise loads in endurance sports
• Markers of heart rate variability also show moderate reliability as biomarkers after intense endurance exercise under identical conditions.
• There are associations between neurophysiological markers and inflammatory blood markers after endurance exercise that are partially associated with gender and training status

Key words: NNervous system, monitoring training, biomarkers, reliability, executive function, heart rate variability     

Modelling the global economic costs of tobacco product waste

Tobacco smoking continues to cause considerable premature mortality and morbidity worldwide. Most of the approximately six trillion cigarettes sold globally each year are discarded improperly as toxic environmental waste. Tobacco product waste, including cigarette butts, is the most commonly collected waste item worldwide. Of particular concern is the cellulose acetate filter, a poorly degradable plastic additive attached to most commercially manufactured cigarettes. This filter was introduced by the tobacco industry to reduce smokers’ perception of harm and risk but it has no health benefit. To inform health policy and practice and improve public health outcomes, governments and society can benefit from cost estimates of preventing, properly disposing of and/or cleaning up tobacco product waste. Estimating the costs of tobacco product waste to communities and responsible authorities could encourage the development of health, environmental and fiscal policy interventions and shift accountability for the costs of tobacco product waste onto the global tobacco industry. To support health and environmental policy-making, we therefore propose an empirical approach to estimate the economic costs of tobacco product waste based on its negative environmental externalities. We first present general estimates for six representative countries and then identify data gaps that need to be addressed to develop global estimates. Interventions against tobacco product waste may be new channels to regulate tobacco products across sectors – for example, health, environment and finance – and consequently reduce overall tobacco use.     

Effects of an Omega-3 Supplemented,High-Protein Diet in Combination with Vibration and Resistance Exercise on Muscle Power and Inflammation in Old Adults: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Inflammaging is considered to drive loss of muscle function. Omega-3 fatty acids exhibit anti-inflammatory properties. Therefore, we examined the effects of eight weeks of vibration and home-based resistance exercise combined with a whey-enriched, omega-3-supplemented diet on muscle power, inflammation and muscle biomarkers in community-dwelling old adults. Methods: Participants were randomized to either exercise (3x/week, n = 20), exercise + high-protein diet (1.2–1.5 g/kg, n = 20), or exercise + high-protein and omega-3-enriched diet (2.2 g/day, n = 21). Muscle power (watt/m²) and chair rise test (CRT) time (s) were assessed via CRT measured with mechanography. Furthermore, leg strength (kg/m²) and fasting concentrations of inflammatory (interleukin (IL-) 6, IL-10, high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB-1)) and muscle biomarkers (insulin-like growth factor (IGF-) 1, IGF-binding protein-3, myostatin) were assessed. Results: Sixty-one participants (70.6 ± 4.7 years; 47% men) completed the study. According to generalized linear mixed models, a high-protein diet improved leg strength and CRT time. Only IGF-1 increased with additional omega-3. Sex-specific analyses revealed that muscle power, IL-6, IL-6/IL-10 ratio, and HMGB-1 improved significantly in the male high-protein, omega-3-enriched group only. Conclusion: Vibration and home-based resistance exercise combined with a high-protein, omega-3-enriched diet increased muscle power and reduced inflammation in old men, but not in old women. While muscle biomarkers remained unchanged, a high-protein diet combined with exercise improved leg strength and CRT time.     

The impact of visual dysfunctions in recent-onset psychosis and clinical high-risk state for psychosis

Subtle subjective visual dysfunctions (VisDys) are reported by about 50% of patients with schizophrenia and are suggested to predict psychosis states. Deeper insight into VisDys, particularly in early psychosis states, could foster the understanding of basic disease mechanisms mediating susceptibility to psychosis, and thereby inform preventive interventions. We systematically investigated the relationship between VisDys and core clinical measures across three early phase psychiatric conditions. Second, we used a novel multivariate pattern analysis approach to predict VisDys by resting-state functional connectivity within relevant brain systems. VisDys assessed with the Schizophrenia Proneness Instrument (SPI-A), clinical measures, and resting-state fMRI data were examined in recent-onset psychosis (ROP, n = 147), clinical high-risk states of psychosis (CHR, n = 143), recent-onset depression (ROD, n = 151), and healthy controls (HC, n = 280). Our multivariate pattern analysis approach used pairwise functional connectivity within occipital (ON) and frontoparietal (FPN) networks implicated in visual information processing to predict VisDys. VisDys were reported more often in ROP (50.34%), and CHR (55.94%) than in ROD (16.56%), and HC (4.28%). Higher severity of VisDys was associated with less functional remission in both CHR and ROP, and, in CHR specifically, lower quality of life (Qol), higher depressiveness, and more severe impairment of visuospatial constructability. ON functional connectivity predicted presence of VisDys in ROP (balanced accuracy 60.17%, p = 0.0001) and CHR (67.38%, p = 0.029), while in the combined ROP + CHR sample VisDys were predicted by FPN (61.11%, p = 0.006). These large-sample study findings suggest that VisDys are clinically highly relevant not only in ROP but especially in CHR, being closely related to aspects of functional outcome, depressiveness, and Qol. Findings from multivariate pattern analysis support a model of functional integrity within ON and FPN driving the VisDys phenomenon and being implicated in core disease mechanisms of early psychosis states.Subject terms: Predictive markers, Psychosis     

Co-Occurrence of Hypoglycin A and Hypoglycin B in Sycamore and Box Elder Maple Proved by LC-MS/MS and LC-HR-MS

Hypoglycin A (HGA) and methylenecyclpropylglycine (MCPrG) are formed by some maple trees (Acer species) and have been associated with incidences of atypical myopathy among horses in pastures. In this work, a simple and sensitive ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS) method without derivatization was developed for the quantification of HGA and MCPrG in maple samples and validated according to EU guidelines. The LOQ presented here for HGA (16.4 µg/kg) is considerably lower than the lowest published LOQ (500 µg/kg). This method confirms that sycamore and box elder maple contain considerable amounts of HGA and MCPrG. In addition, the presence of the dipeptides hypoglycin B and γ-glutamyl-MCPrG in these two maple species is shown using high-resolution MS. This is the first report on the presence of these dipeptides in maple since 1973. The presence of HGB and γ-glutamyl-MCPrG could change the way we understand animal intoxication following the ingestion of maple.     

Recombinant LSDV Strains in Asia: Vaccine Spillover or Natural Emergence?

From 2017 to 2019, several vaccine-like recombinant strains of lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) were discovered in Kazakhstan and neighbouring regions of Russia and China. Shortly before their emergence, the authorities in Kazakhstan launched a mass vaccination campaign with the Neethling-based Lumpivax vaccine. Since none of the other countries in the affected region had used a homologous LSDV vaccine, it was soon suspected that the Lumpivax vaccine was the cause of these unusual LSDV strains. In this study, we performed a genome-wide molecular analysis to investigate the composition of two Lumpivax vaccine batches and to establish a possible link between the vaccine and the recent outbreaks. Although labelled as a pure Neethling-based LSDV vaccine, the Lumpivax vaccine appears to be a complex mixture of multiple CaPVs. Using an iterative enrichment/assembly strategy, we obtained the complete genomes of a Neethling-like LSDV vaccine strain, a KSGP-like LSDV vaccine strain and a Sudan-like GTPV strain. The same analysis also revealed the presence of several recombinant LSDV strains that were (almost) identical to the recently described vaccine-like LSDV strains. Based on their InDel/SNP signatures, the vaccine-like recombinant strains can be divided into four groups. Each group has a distinct breakpoint pattern resulting from multiple recombination events, with the number of genetic exchanges ranging from 126 to 146. The enormous divergence of the recombinant strains suggests that they arose during seed production. The recent emergence of vaccine-like LSDV strains in large parts of Asia is, therefore, most likely the result of a spillover from animals vaccinated with the Lumpivax vaccine.