3‐Keto‐1,5‐bisphosphonates Alleviate Serum‐Oxidative Stress in the High‐fat Diet Induced Obesity in Rats

Obesity has become a leading global health problem owing to its strong association with a high incidence of oxidative stress. Many epidemiologic studies showed that an antioxidant supplementation decreases the state of oxidative stress. In the present work, a HFD ‐induced rat obesity and oxidative stress were used to investigate the link between fat deposition and serum‐oxidative stress markers. We also studied the effect of a chronic administration of 3‐keto‐1,5‐bisphosphonates 1 (a & b) (40 μg/kg/8 weeks/i.p.). Exposure of rats to HFD during 16 weeks induced fat deposition, weight gain and metabolic disruption characterized by an increase in cholesterol, triglyceride and glycemia levels, and a decrease in ionizable calcium and free iron concentrations. HFD also induced serum‐oxidative stress status vocalized by an increase in ROS ( H ₂ O ₂ ), MDA and PC levels, with a decrease in antioxidant enzyme activity ( CAT , GP x , SOD ). Importantly, 3‐keto‐1,5‐bisphosphonates corrected all the deleterious effects of HFD treatment in vivo, but it failed to inhibit lipases in vitro and in vivo. These studies suggest that 3‐keto‐1,5‐bisphosphonates 1 could be considered as safe antioxidant agents that should also find other potential biological applications.     

Use of AUDIT-C as a tool to identify hazardous alcohol consumption in admitted trauma patients

Introduction

Alcohol use is an important contributor to injuries. Simple bedside tools to identify trauma patients with potentially harmful drinking may assist in brief intervention efforts in clinical practice. The objective of the study was to determine and compare the accuracy of alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) and an abbreviated version of this test, in the detection of hazardous drinking.

Methods

A cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of admitted trauma patients at a single Australian major trauma centre. Eligible patients completed the AUDIT. AUDIT survey responses were scored in two ways, using the full form scale and secondly an abbreviated (AUDIT C) scale which uses only the first 3 questions. AUDIT and AUDIT-C scores were then evaluated with respect to the primary study measure; the detection of hazardous alcohol consumption based on a full alcohol consumption history. Sensitivities for each relevant score were calculated and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine test accuracy.

Results

During the study period, 523 trauma admissions were identified and of these 146 (28%) were screened. The optimum cut off scores for AUDIT and AUDIT-C were 8 and 5 respectively corresponding to sensitivities of 88% and 91% and both tests had excellent overall accuracy for the detection of hazardous alcohol consumption. There was no significant difference between AUDIT-C and AUDIT performance (p = 0.395) (AUDIT-C AUROC 0.96 95%CI 0.93, 0.99).

Conclusion

AUDIT-C appears to be a potentially useful screening tool for use trauma centres, but that further research with larger samples is required.     

Monoclonal antibodies raised against Xenopus p53 interact with human p73

The p53 tumor suppressor gene belongs to a multigene family that includes two paralogues, p63 and p73. The structure of the p63 and p73 genes is quite similar, but both have common activities with p53, such as DNA binding and transactivation. Both p53 and p73 bind to mdm2, but only p53 is degraded through the activity of mdm2. p63 neither binds to nor is degraded by mdm2 despite important conservation in the key interacting residues. Using a panel of monoclonal antibodies raised against human and Xenopus p53, we have been able to find several antibodies that cross-react strongly with human p73. These antibodies react both with exogenous p73 expressed in mammalian cells and with endogenous p73. Interestingly, all these antibodies react with the same epitope localized in the amino-terminus of p53, but have no cross-reaction with p63. This epitope corresponds to the exact mdm2 binding site to p53. These antibodies inhibit the interaction between either p53 or p73 and mdm2, and may be useful tools for the study of these proteins. Furthermore, our studies suggest that there exist specific spatial requirements for the interaction between p53 or p73 and mdm2.     

The increasing burden of pelvic fractures in older people, New South Wales, Australia

Despite their significant health burden, epidemiological information regarding pelvic fractures is scarce. In this study, we examine trends in admission for pelvic fractures to acute hospitals in New South Wales, Australia, between July 1988 and June 2000, using routinely collected hospital separations statistics. Over this period, the number of admissions for pelvic fractures among those aged 50 years and over increased by 58.4% in men and 110.8% in women. Age-specific rates of admissions per 100,000 population for pelvic fracture also rose significantly, particularly for those aged at least 75 years. The number and proportion of transport related pelvic fractures fell significantly for both men (chi(2)=23.82, d.f.=1, p<0.001) and women (chi(2)=49.26, d.f.=1, p<0.001) while those resulting from falls increased significantly over the 12-year-period. Falls are increasingly becoming the single most important cause of pelvic injuries in older people, suggesting that preventive measures aimed at reducing the risk of falls need to be pursued. Factors contributing to the rise of fall-related pelvic fractures need to be investigated to inform strategies aimed at reversing the observed increase in the number and age-specific rates of pelvic fractures in older people.     

Work-related injury in NSW hospitalisation and workers' compensation datasets: a comparative analysis

OBJECTIVE: To undertake a comparative analysis of the New South Wales (NSW) Inpatient Statistics Collection (ISC) and Workers' Compensation Scheme Statistics (WCSS) for the 1999/2000 financial year in an attempt to evaluate their respective roles in the surveillance and monitoring of work-related injuries in NSW. METHODS: Work-related injuries in ISC were identified mainly by using the ICD-10 activity code and payment status and were compared with injury-related claims reported in WCSS. RESULTS: In 1990/2000, the majority of hospital separations for work-related injury involved males (86.2%) who came into contact with various objects, including machinery and tools, representing the most common mechanisms of injury, and open wounds and fractures of the upper and lower limbs as the most common injury nature/location. Injuries reported in the WCSS were also dominated by males (70%), with muscular stress while handling objects as the most common mechanism of injury and sprain and strain of the lower back as the leading nature/location of injury. The proportion of workers aged 15-19 years in the WCSS (1.2%) was over five times lower than the proportion of the same age group recorded in the ISC. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The analysis indicates that the ISC and WCSS complement each other in characterising the burden of work-related injuries in NSW. Linking compensation and outcomes data, including hospital admissions and emergency presentations, will provide a more comprehensive picture of the nature and the factors contributing to work-related injuries. Such data will inform policy and program development aimed at reducing the burden of this type of injury in the community.