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Exposure to inflammation exacerbates injury in neonatal encephalopathy (NE). We hypothesized that brain biomarker mRNA, cytokine mRNA and microRNA differentiate inflammation (E. coli LPS), hypoxia (Hypoxia), and inflammation-sensitized hypoxia (LPS+Hypoxia) in an NE piglet model.Sixteen piglets were randomized: (i) LPS 2μg/kg bolus; 1μg/kg infusion (LPS; n=5), (ii) Saline with hypoxia (Hypoxia; n=6), (iii) LPS commencing 4h pre-hypoxia (LPS+Hypoxia; n=5). Total RNA was acquired at baseline, 4h after LPS and 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48h post-insult (animals euthanized at 48h). Quantitative PCR was performed for cytokines (IL1A, IL6, CXCL8, IL10, TNFA) and brain biomarkers (ENO2, UCHL1, S100B, GFAP, CRP, BDNF, MAPT). MicroRNA was detected using GeneChip (Affymetrix) microarrays. Fold changes from baseline were compared between groups and correlated with cell death (TUNEL) at 48h.Within 6h post-insult, we observed increased IL1A, CXCL8, CCL2 and ENO2 mRNA in LPS+Hypoxia and LPS compared to Hypoxia. IL10 mRNA differentiated all groups. Four microRNAs differentiated LPS+Hypoxia and Hypoxia: hsa-miR-23a, 27a, 31-5p, 193-5p. Cell death correlated with TNFA (R=0.69; p<0.01) at 1-3h and ENO2 (R=-0.69; p=0.01) at 48h.mRNA and miRNA differentiated hypoxia from inflammation-sensitized hypoxia within 6h in a piglet model. This information may inform human studies to enable triage for tailored neuroprotection in NE.Early stratification of infants with neonatal encephalopathy is key to provide tailored neuroprotection.IL1A, CXCL8, IL10, CCL2 and NSE mRNA are promising biomarkers of inflammation-sensitized hypoxia.IL10 mRNA levels differentiated all three pathological states; fold changes from baseline was the highest in LPS+Hypoxia animals, followed by LPS and Hypoxia at 6h.miR-23, -27, -31-5p and -193-5p were significantly upregulated within 6h of a hypoxia insult.Functional analysis highlighted the diverse roles of miRNA in the cellular processes.

Autonomic nervous system activation mediates the increase in whole-body glucose uptake in response to electroacupuncture but the mechanisms are largely unknown.To identify the molecular mechanisms underlying electroacupuncture-induced glucose uptake in skeletal muscle in insulin-resistant overweight/obese women with and without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).Participants: In a case-control study, skeletal muscle biopsies were collected from 15 women with PCOS and 14 controls before and after electroacupuncture. Gene expression and methylation was analyzed using Illumina BeadChips arrays.A single bout of electroacupuncture restores metabolic and transcriptional alterations and induces epigenetic changes in skeletal muscle. Transcriptomic analysis revealed 180 unique genes (q<0.05) whose expression was changed by electroacupuncture, with 95% of the changes towards a healthier phenotype. We identified DNA methylation changes at 304 unique sites (q<0.20), and these changes correlated with altered expression of 101 genes (p<0.05). Among the 50 most upregulated genes in response to electroacupuncture, 38% were also upregulated in response to exercise. We identified a subset of genes that were selectively altered by electroacupuncture in women with PCOS. For example, MSX1 and SRNX1 were decreased in muscle tissue of women with PCOS and were increased by electroacupuncture and exercise. siRNA-mediated silencing of these two genes in cultured myotubes decreased glycogen synthesis, supporting a role for these genes in glucose homeostasis.Our findings provide evidence that electroacupuncture normalizes gene expression in skeletal muscle in a manner similar to acute exercise. Electroacupuncture might therefore be a useful way of assisting those who have difficulties performing exercise.

[...]a substantial increase in long-term funding for multidisciplinary research programmes is absolutely essential to reduce the burden of individual suffering and the enormous societal cost of AD. In 2015, almost 47 million people worldwide were estimated to be affected by dementia, and the numbers are expected to reach 75 million by 2030, and 131 million by 2050, with the greatest increase expected in low-income and middle-income countries.2 In 2012 and 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) presented reports in which it acknowledged this trend--sometimes described in terms of a fast-growing epidemic--and concluded that AD and other dementias should be regarded as a global public health priority.3,4 Similar policy declarations have been made by the European Union5 (EU) and by some individual countries. Care for people with dementia is provided by several sectors in society, with the social-care (long-term care and home services) and informal-care (provided by non-professional caregivers) sectors accounting for the greatest proportion of costs--even greater than the cost of direct medical care.6 In cost-of-illness studies, total societal cost estimates for dementia in Europe in 2010 were between $238·6 billion6 and [euro]105·6 billion.7 The economic costs of caring for a growing number of people with AD and other dementias are formidable, but the combined economic and societal burden of dementia is more daunting still, corresponding to the aggregate burden of people with dementia and their next of kin.

The human gut microbiota has gained interest as an environmental factor that may contribute to health or disease 1 . The development of next-generation probiotics is a promising strategy to modulate the gut microbiota and improve human health; however, several key candidate next-generation probiotics are strictly anaerobic 2 and may require synergy with other bacteria for optimal growth. Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is a highly prevalent and abundant human gut bacterium associated with human health, but it has not yet been developed into probiotic formulations 2 . Here we describe the co-isolation of F. prausnitzii and Desulfovibrio piger , a sulfate-reducing bacterium, and their cross-feeding for growth and butyrate production. To produce a next-generation probiotic formulation, we adapted F. prausnitzii to tolerate oxygen exposure, and, in proof-of-concept studies, we demonstrate that the symbiotic product is tolerated by mice and humans (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03728868 ) and is detected in the human gut in a subset of study participants. Our study describes a technology for the production of next-generation probiotics based on the adaptation of strictly anaerobic bacteria to tolerate oxygen exposures without a reduction in potential beneficial properties. Our technology may be used for the development of other strictly anaerobic strains as next-generation probiotics. The anaerobic gut bacterium Faecalibacterium prausnitzii was isolated and adapted for oxygen tolerance to develop a next-generation probiotic for the treatment of conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and type 2 diabetes.

Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.5-22.7) and 16.5 cm (13.3- 19.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8- 144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries.

Mutations in a tubulin gene caused infertility due to oocyte arrest in about a third of families tested. The investigators found that the mutant tubulins wreak havoc on microtubule assembly in the oocyte. Successful human reproduction starts when a metaphase II oocyte fuses with a sperm cell to form a fertilized egg. In human oocytes, the meiotic cell cycle begins in the neonatal ovary and pauses at prophase I of meiosis until puberty, when a surge of luteinizing hormone stimulates the resumption of meiosis and ovulation. This leads to progression of the oocyte from metaphase I to metaphase II. 1 – 3 Oocytes arrested in prophase I have an intact nucleus, termed the germinal vesicle, whereas oocytes that have resumed meiosis are characterized by the breakdown of the germinal vesicle. After germinal-vesicle breakdown, metaphase I . . .

Exercise training prevents age‐related decline in muscle function. Targeting epigenetic aging is a promising actionable mechanism and late‐life exercise mitigates epigenetic aging in rodent muscle. Whether exercise training can decelerate, or reverse epigenetic aging in humans is unknown. Here, we performed a powerful meta‐analysis of the methylome and transcriptome of an unprecedented number of human skeletal muscle samples (n = 3176). We show that: (1) individuals with higher baseline aerobic fitness have younger epigenetic and transcriptomic profiles, (2) exercise training leads to significant shifts of epigenetic and transcriptomic patterns toward a younger profile, and (3) muscle disuse “ages” the transcriptome. Higher fitness levels were associated with attenuated differential methylation and transcription during aging. Furthermore, both epigenetic and transcriptomic profiles shifted toward a younger state after exercise training interventions, while the transcriptome shifted toward an older state after forced muscle disuse. We demonstrate that exercise training targets many of the age‐related transcripts and DNA methylation loci to maintain younger methylome and transcriptome profiles, specifically in genes related to muscle structure, metabolism, and mitochondrial function. Our comprehensive analysis will inform future studies aiming to identify the best combination of therapeutics and exercise regimes to optimize longevity. Higher fitness levels were associated with attenuated differential methylation and transcription during aging in human muscle. Furthermore, exercise training targets many of the age‐related transcripts and DNA methylation loci to maintain younger methylome and transcriptome profiles, specifically in genes related to muscle structure, metabolism, and mitochondrial function. Our comprehensive analysis will inform future studies aiming to identify the best exercise regimes to optimize longevity.

Ruth Loos and colleagues report results of a large genome-wide association study for body mass index. They identify 18 new loci associated with this trait, some of which map near key hypothalamic regulators of energy balance. Obesity is globally prevalent and highly heritable, but its underlying genetic factors remain largely elusive. To identify genetic loci for obesity susceptibility, we examined associations between body mass index and ∼2.8 million SNPs in up to 123,865 individuals with targeted follow up of 42 SNPs in up to 125,931 additional individuals. We confirmed 14 known obesity susceptibility loci and identified 18 new loci associated with body mass index ( P < 5 × 10 −8 ), one of which includes a copy number variant near GPRC5B. Some loci (at MC4R , POMC , SH2B1 and BDNF ) map near key hypothalamic regulators of energy balance, and one of these loci is near GIPR , an incretin receptor. Furthermore, genes in other newly associated loci may provide new insights into human body weight regulation.

Mitochondrial complex I is central to the pathological reactive oxygen species (ROS) production that underlies cardiac ischemia–reperfusion (IR) injury. ND6-P25L mice are homoplasmic for a disease-causing mtDNA point mutation encoding the P25L substitution in the ND6 subunit of complex I. The cryo-EM structure of ND6-P25L complex I revealed subtle structural changes that facilitate rapid conversion to the “deactive” state, usually formed only after prolonged inactivity. Despite its tendency to adopt the “deactive” state, the mutant complex is fully active for NADH oxidation, but cannot generate ROS by reverse electron transfer (RET). ND6-P25L mitochondria function normally, except for their lack of RET ROS production, and ND6-P25L mice are protected against cardiac IR injury in vivo. Thus, this single point mutation in complex I, which does not affect oxidative phosphorylation but renders the complex unable to catalyse RET, demonstrates the pathological role of ROS production by RET during IR injury. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production by reverse electron transfer (RET) through complex I is thought to cause tissue damage from heart attacks. Here, the authors combine in vivo work with biochemical and cryo-EM analyses to characterize the effects of a P25L mutation in the ND6 subunit of mitochondrial complex I. They observe that this mutation does not affect oxidative phosphorylation but renders complex I unable to generate ROS by RET: ND6-P25L mice are protected against cardiac ischaemia–reperfusion injury, thus providing evidence for the proposed role of ROS production in myocardial infarction.

The Standards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA) were published in five journals in 2001 and 2002. These guidelines, in the form of a checklist and explanations for use by authors and journal editors, were designed to improve reporting of acupuncture trials, particularly the interventions, thereby facilitating their interpretation and replication. Subsequent reviews of the application and impact of STRICTA have highlighted the value of STRICTA as well as scope for improvements and revision. To manage the revision process a collaboration between the STRICTA Group, the CONSORT Group, and the Chinese Cochrane Centre was developed in 2008. An expert panel with 47 participants was convened that provided electronic feedback on a revised draft of the checklist. At a subsequent face-to-face meeting in Freiburg, a group of 21 participants further revised the STRICTA checklist and planned dissemination. The new STRICTA checklist, which is an official extension of CONSORT, includes six items and 17 sub-items. These set out reporting guidelines for the acupuncture rationale, the details of needling, the treatment regimen, other components of treatment, the practitioner background, and the control or comparator interventions. In addition, and as part of this revision process, the explanations for each item have been elaborated, and examples of good reporting for each item are provided. In addition, the word “controlled” in STRICTA is replaced by “clinical”, to indicate that STRICTA is applicable to a broad range of clinical evaluation designs, including uncontrolled outcome studies and case reports. It is intended that the revised STRICTA, in conjunction with both the main CONSORT Statement and extension for nonpharmacologic treatment, will raise the quality of reporting of clinical trials of acupuncture.