Comparison between Low Frequency Magnetic Field Stimulation and Nerve Growth Factor Treatment of Cultured Chromaffin Cells, on Neurite Growth, Noradrenaline Release, Excitable Properties, and Grafting in Nigrostriatal Lesioned Rats

Adrenal chromaffin cells in vitro respond to nerve growth factor (NGF) by expressing neuronal traits. Low frequency magnetic (LFM) field stimulation, while inducing a variety of effects on several cell types, has never been studied as to its effects on chromaffin cell cultures. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of LFM field stimulation with that of NGF on the morphological phenotype, on noradrenaline (NA) release, and on membrane excitability of cultured chromaffin cells. We also tested the effects of grafting LFM and NGF-treated chromaffin cells into the caudate nucleus of rats with 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the nigrostriatal pathway. The results of this study showed that LFM field stimulation produced neurite growth of cultured chromaffin cells in a manner similar to that of NGF exposure. The combination of the two procedures did not induce changes above those observed by NGF alone. Both NGF- and LFM-treated chromaffin cells released [³H]NA equally in response to a depolarizing concentration of KCl. On the other, Na⁺ current density of LFM field stimulation increased, but to a lesser extent than that seen in NGF-treated cells. In addition both types of cells when transplanted into nigrostriatal-lesioned animals induced a similar decrease in the motor asymmetries produced by the lesion. When NGF- or LFM-treated chromaffin cells where compared to untreated control cells, no significant differences were observed in [³H]NA release, on Na⁺ current densities, or on postgraft motor asymmetries. The results are discussed in terms of the fact that LFM-stimulated cells can be differentiated in a manner similar to NGF-treated cells, by acquiring sympathetic like traits which in turn can diminish motor asymmetries when grafted into nigrostriatal-lesioned rats.     

Effect of family role on response to disaster

This study hypothesized that family role (marital and parental status) would moderate the effect of disaster exposure on the mental health of victims. The study included St. Louis residents exposed to floods and dioxin, as well as Puerto Rican respondents exposed to floods and mudslides. In St. Louis, worst outcomes were found for single and married parents exposed to disaster, substantially exceeding the symptomatology of all unexposed respondents except non-victim single parents. In Puerto Rico, victims without families had higher levels of alcohol abuse symptoms than did any other subgroup. Perceived emotional support was found to be an important moderator of disaster's effect on psychiatric distress in this site, generally overriding the effect of family role. Single parents in both sites who were exposed to disaster had substantially reduced levels of emotional support available to them, as compared to unexposed single parents, suggesting that single parents are at particularly high risk for losing access to emotional support following a disaster. This study suggests that both single and married parents constitute important high-risk victim groups. The findings also suggest that those perceiving they lack adequate emotional support, regardless of family role, may be in special need of services.     

Interaction between a live avian pneumovirus vaccine and two different Newcastle disease virus vaccines in broiler chickens with maternal antibodies to Newcastle disease virus.

Broiler chicks with maternal antibodies to Newcastle disease virus (NDV) but none to avian metapneumovirus (APV) were divided into six groups. One group was kept as an unvaccinated control group. Three of the other groups were vaccinated at 1 day old with live APV vaccine or one of two live NDV vaccines (VG/GA or HB1). The remaining two groups received the APV vaccine in combination with either of the two NDV vaccines at 1 day old. At intervals after vaccination for up to 42 days, distribution of the viruses in the tissues was monitored, together with humoral antibody responses. Few NDV isolations were made from any NDV-vaccinated chicks, probably due to the presence of NDV maternal antibodies. In both dual-vaccinated groups, APV persisted longer (up to 21 days post vaccination (d.p.v.)) than in the single vaccinates (up to 14 d.p.v.). After 14 d.p.v., antibody titres against APV in both dual-vaccinated groups remained higher than the single APV vaccinates. For NDV haemagglutination inhibition antibodies, similar titres were found in the single and dual NDV VG/GA vaccinates. However, for chickens dually vaccinated with NDV HB1 and APV, the haemagglutination inhibition titres were significantly higher at 21 and 28 d.p.v. than the single HB1 vaccinates. These differences reflect the fact that NDV haemagglutination inhibition titres may depend on the NDV vaccine used.     

Disseminated histoplasmosis successfully treated with liposomal amphotericin B following azathioprine therapy in a patient from a nonendemic area

Histoplasma infections in Europe are rare, and acute disseminated histoplasmosis has been observed only in immunocompromised persons. An unusual case of autochthonous disseminated histoplasmosis in a 22-year-old Spanish man who had been treated with azathioprine and prednisone for 4 weeks before admission is reported. The development of an acute form of the disease may represent an endogenous reactivation of a latent infection as a complication of immunosuppression resulting from the use of these drugs. This case illustrates the potential risk of this opportunistic fungal infection in patients receiving azathioprine therapy, an association that has been rarely described before.     

How a community-based organization and an academic health center are creating an effective partnership for training and service.

Community-academic partnerships in the training of doctors offer unique learning opportunities of great importance. Such partnerships can induce a paradigm shift such that physicians view community as a teaching resource and partner rather than as a passive recipient of services or solely as a placement site. The authors describe a model of a community-academic partnership in New York City, begun in 1995, in which, for training and service, pediatric residents are integrally involved in a community-based program. Principles adapted from the Community-Campus Partnerships for Health's principles of partnership provide a framework for portraying the essential elements of developing and maintaining the partnership. The authors explain the clashes that may arise between partners and show how the principles of partnership guide partnership members in working and learning within a setting that by its nature entails conflict and inequality. This report is based on the knowledge gained from the structured reflections of both members of this partnership: the residency program at a large academic health center and the community-based social service organization. Such partnerships provide the training ground for the development of physicians who understand the social and cultural determinants of health and constructively use community agencies' input in promoting child health and well-being. Within this framework, community-based organizations are not solely service providers but become educators of physicians-in-training who, with new knowledge gained through the partnership, more effectively contribute to the overall health of the communities they serve.     

A Systematic Review of the Dietary Choline Impact on Cognition from a Psychobiological Approach: Insights from Animal Studies

The influence of dietary choline availability on cognition is currently being suggested by animal and human studies which have focused mainly on the early developmental stages. The aim of this review is to systematically search through the available rodent (rats and mice) research published during the last two decades that has assessed the effect of dietary choline interventions on cognition and related attentional and emotional processes for the entire life span. The review has been conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement guidelines covering peer-reviewed studies included in PubMed and Scopus databases. After excluding duplicates and applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria we have reviewed a total of 44 articles published in 25 journals with the contribution of 146 authors. The results are analyzed based on the timing and duration of the dietary intervention and the behavioral tests applied, amongst other variables. Overall, the available results provide compelling support for the relevance of dietary choline in cognition. The beneficial effects of choline supplementation is more evident in recognition rather than in spatial memory tasks when assessing nonpathological samples whilst these effects extend to other relational memory tasks in neuropathological models. However, the limited number of studies that have evaluated other cognitive functions suggest a wider range of potential effects. More research is needed to draw conclusions about the critical variables and the nature of the impact on specific cognitive processes. The results are discussed on the terms of the theoretical framework underlying the relationship between the brain systems and cognition.     

Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Delayed Fracture Healing in Mmp10 (Stromelysin 2) Knockout Mice

The remodeling of the extracellular matrix is a central function in endochondral ossification and bone homeostasis. During secondary fracture healing, vascular invasion and bone growth requires the removal of the cartilage intermediate and the coordinate action of the collagenase matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-13, produced by hypertrophic chondrocytes, and the gelatinase MMP-9, produced by cells of hematopoietic lineage. Interfering with these MMP activities results in impaired fracture healing characterized by cartilage accumulation and delayed vascularization. MMP-10, Stromelysin 2, a matrix metalloproteinase with high homology to MMP-3 (Stromelysin 1), presents a wide range of putative substrates identified in vitro, but its targets and functions in vivo and especially during fracture healing and bone homeostasis are not well defined. Here, we investigated the role of MMP-10 through bone regeneration in C57BL/6 mice. During secondary fracture healing, MMP-10 is expressed by hematopoietic cells and its maximum expression peak is associated with cartilage resorption at 14 days post fracture (dpf). In accordance with this expression pattern, when Mmp10 is globally silenced, we observed an impaired fracture-healing phenotype at 14 dpf, characterized by delayed cartilage resorption and TRAP-positive cell accumulation. This phenotype can be rescued by a non-competitive transplant of wild-type bone marrow, indicating that MMP-10 functions are required only in cells of hematopoietic linage. In addition, we found that this phenotype is a consequence of reduced gelatinase activity and the lack of proMMP-9 processing in macrophages. Our data provide evidence of the in vivo function of MMP-10 during endochondral ossification and defines the macrophages as the lead cell population in cartilage removal and vascular invasion. © 2021 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).