Loss of function,missense, and intronic variants in NOTCH1 confer different risks for left ventricular outflow tract obstructive heart defects in two European cohorts

Loss of function variants in NOTCH1 cause left ventricular outflow tract obstructive defects (LVOTO). However, the risk conferred by rare and noncoding variants in NOTCH1 for LVOTO remains largely uncharacterized. In a cohort of 49 families affected by hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a severe form of LVOTO, we discovered predicted loss of function NOTCH1 variants in 6% of individuals. Rare or low-frequency missense variants were found in 16% of families. To make a quantitative estimate of the genetic risk posed by variants in NOTCH1 for LVOTO, we studied associations of 400 coding and noncoding variants in NOTCH1 in 1,085 cases and 332,788 controls from the UK Biobank. Two rare intronic variants in strong linkage disequilibrium displayed significant association with risk for LVOTO amongst European-ancestry individuals. This result was replicated in an independent analysis of 210 cases and 68,762 controls of non-European and mixed ancestry. In conclusion, carrying rare predicted loss of function variants in NOTCH1 confer significant risk for LVOTO. In addition, the two intronic variants seem to be associated with an increased risk for these defects. Our approach demonstrates the utility of population-based data sets in quantifying the specific risk of individual variants for disease-related phenotypes.     

Endothelin modulation of neuroeffector transmission in rat and guinea pig vas deferens

The effects of endothelin-1 (human, porcine) on contractions induced by transmural nerve stimulation, exogenous ATP or noradrenaline, and on the release of [3H]noradrenaline were studied in guinea pig and rat vas deferens. Endothelin enhanced nerve-induced contractile responses, increased basal muscle tone and increased the contractile response to exogenous ATP in both guinea pig and rat vas deferens. Endothelin did not affect the contractile responses to exogenous noradrenaline. The calcium channel blocker felodipine antagonized the stimulating effects of endothelin in the rat vas deferens, whereas blockade of lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase pathways by a combination of BW 755C and indomethacin was without effect. In rat vas deferens preparations preincubated with [3H]noradrenaline, endothelin inhibited the 3H overflow induced by transmural stimulation, although the contractile responses were enhanced by endothelin. Pretreatment with forskolin or felodipine did not abolish the endothelin inhibition of radiotracer overflow. In conclusion, endothelin can modulate adrenergic and purinergic neuroeffector transmission in both guinea pig and rat vas deferens via inhibitory prejunctional and stimulant postjunctional mechanisms. The stimulant postjunctional effect seemed to predominate in our experiments.     

Complications following combined transrectal aspiration and core biopsy of the prostate

Ultrasound guided biopsy of the prostate with fine needle (22G) as well as trucut needle (18G) was performed in 145 patients with a suspicion of prostate cancer. After three weeks all patients were interviewed about complications associated with the biopsy. Hematuria and/or hemospermia occurred in 2/3 of the patients. None of the hemorrhages was severe and all ceased spontaneously. E. coli infection of the urinary tract occurred in 9 cases (6.2%). Five of the infections caused high fever and necessitated hospital care with parenteral antibiotics for 1 to 8 days. The patients with infection had no signs of immunological defects by which they might have been identified before the biopsy. As a consequence of these observations we now use prophylactic antibiotics when core biopsy of the prostate is performed transrectally.     

Effect on cooking time on mutagen formation in smoke, crust and pan residue from pan-broiled pork

The effect of cooking time on mutagenic activity in crust, pan residue and smoke from pan-broiled pork patties was studied in the Ames Salmonella mutagenicity test system. The effect on mutagenicity of reheating the cooked patties and of keeping them warm was also studied. The meat was broiled at 200 degrees C for various times between 2 and 10 min. Broiled meat was reheated up to 5 times at 200 degrees C, each time to a centre temperature of 70 degrees C. Reheating was also performed in a microwave oven for 2 min and in an electric oven at 200 degrees C for 10 min. In addition, broiled patties were kept warm at 60 degrees C in an incubator for up to 9 hr. The mutagenic activity increased rapidly in all fractions except the volatile phase over the first 6 min of cooking, after which time only a slight increase was seen. At cooking times below 4 min no mutagenic activity was detected in the smoke. Reheating or keeping the meat warm for up to 9 hr had very little effect on the mutagenic activity of the meat. Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography mutagenicity profiles of the aerosol, crust and pan-residue extracts showed no major qualitative differences in samples cooked at different times. It is concluded that during pan broiling at 200 degrees C the major part of the mutagenic activity is formed during the first 6 min of cooking. Reheating the meat or keeping it warm does not significantly affect the mutagenic activity. No major additional mutagens are formed during continued heating for up to 25 min.     

Development of tyrosine hydroxylase-, dopamine- and dopamine β-hydroxylase-immunoreactive neurons in a teleost, the three-spined stickleback

The development of catecholaminergic neuronal systems in the brain of a teleost, the three-spined stickleback, was studied through embryonic to early larval stages by immunocytochemistry using specific antibodies against dopamine, tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine β-hydroxylase. By analysing the spatiotemporal patterns of development for the catecholaminergic nuclei, possible homologies with nuclei in amniote brains have been identified.

The noradrenergic neurons in the isthmus region of the rostral rhombencephalon originate in the same manner as the A4–A7 + subcoeruleus group in mammals. Their developmental characteristics show the largest similarities with the subcoeruleus group of birds and mammals, although some features are shared with developing A6 (locus coeruleus) neurons.

Catecholaminergic neurons never appear during development in the ventral mesencephalon of the three-spined stickleback. A group of large dopaminergic neurons that accompany the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-contacting neurons follows the border between the hypothalamus and the ventral thalamus into the caudal hypothalamus, where they are continuous with the dopaminergic neurons in the posterior tuberculum. They are thus topologically comparable with the dopaminergic neurons of the zona incerta in mammals.

The dopaminergic CSF-contacting neurons that line the median, lateral and posterior recesses of the third ventricle do not contain tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactivity at any developmental stage. This indicates that they take up and accumulate exogenous dopamine or -dihydroxyphenylalanine, and do not synthesize dopamine from tyrosine at any developmental stage. Tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive neurons appear in the pineal organ on the day of hatching (120 h post-fertilization). They were still observed in 240-h-old larvae, but are absent in the pineal organ of adult sticklebacks.

The initial appearance and subsequent differentiation of catecholaminergic neurons in the stickle-back embryo follow essentially the same spatial and temporal pattern as in amphibian, avian and mammalian embryos. This observation supports the hypothesis that morphologically, topologically and chemically similar monoaminergic neurons in different vertebrate classes are homologous.