Bunndelgado3033

Caffeine use was operationalized as a three-level factor no use, less then 100 mg per day, and 100 + mg per day, with the latter being the approximate equivalent of the minimum of a typical cup of coffee or can of energy drink. Caffeine use of 100 mg + per day was significantly related to alcohol use at 6-months follow-up (OR 1.79, RR 1.56, p = .037). We conclude that caffeine consumption among 11-12-year-old adolescents may be a factor in early onset of alcohol use.

Diets rich in fats and/or carbohydrates are used to study obesity and related metabolic complications. We studied the effects of a high fat high fructose diet (HFFD) on intermediary metabolism and the development of oxidative stress in mouse liver and tested the ability of alpha-ketoglutarate to prevent HFFD-induced changes.

Male mice were fed a standard diet (10% kcal fat) or HFFD (45% kcal fat, 15% kcal fructose) with or without addition of 1% alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG) in drinking water for 8weeks.

The HFFD had no effect on body mass but activated fructolysis and glycolysis and induced inflammation and oxidative stress with a concomitant increase in activity of antioxidant enzymes in the mouse liver. HFFD-fed mice also showed lower mRNA levels of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 (PDK4) and slightly increased intensity of mitochondrial respiration in liver compared to mice on the standard diet. No significant effects of HFFD on transcription of PDK2 and PGC1α, a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor co-activator-1α, or protein levels of p-AMPK, an active form of AMP-activated protein kinase, were found. The addition of AKG to HFFD decreased oxidized glutathione levels, did not affect levels of lipid peroxides and PDK4 transcripts but increased activities of hexokinase and phosphofructokinase in mouse liver.

Supplementation with AKG had weak modulating effects on HFFD-induced oxidative stress and changes in energetics in mouse liver.

Our research expands the understanding of diet-induced metabolic switching and elucidates further roles of alpha-ketoglutarate as a metabolic regulator.

Our research expands the understanding of diet-induced metabolic switching and elucidates further roles of alpha-ketoglutarate as a metabolic regulator.

To evaluate associations between changes in weight, length, and weight/length ratio during infancy and outcomes later in life among individuals born extremely preterm.

Among participants in the Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborn (ELGAN) study, we measured weight and length at discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and at age 2years and evaluated neurocognitive, psychiatric, and health outcomes at age 10years and 15years. Using multivariable logistic regression, we estimated associations between gains in weight, length, and weight/length ratio z-scores between discharge and 2years and outcomes at 10 and 15years. High gain was defined as the top quintile of change; low gain, as the bottom quintile of change.

High gains in weight and weight/length were associated with greater odds of obesity at 10years, but not at 15years. These associations were found only for females. High gain in length z-score was associated with lower odds of obesity at 15years. The only association found between high gains in growth measures and more favorable neurocognitive or psychiatric outcomes was between high gain in weight/length and lower odds of cognitive impairment at age 10years.

During the 2years after NICU discharge, females born extremely preterm with high gains in weight/length or weight have greater odds of obesity at 10years, but not at 15years. Infants with high growth gains in the 2years after NICU discharge have neurocognitive and psychiatric outcomes in middle childhood and adolescence similar to those of infants with lower gains in weight and weight/length.

During the 2 years after NICU discharge, females born extremely preterm with high gains in weight/length or weight have greater odds of obesity at 10 years, but not at 15 years. Infants with high growth gains in the 2 years after NICU discharge have neurocognitive and psychiatric outcomes in middle childhood and adolescence similar to those of infants with lower gains in weight and weight/length.An extracellular pectinase from a mixed consortium of Bacillus sp. (BSP) was immobilized onto graphene oxide/chitosan composite (GO/CS) through covalent binding to enhance its recycling and operational stability features. Different parameters were optimized, including cross-linker concentration (%), time, pH, and GO/CS-pectinase ratios. GO/CS-pectinase was further characterized by FT-IR and XRD. The activity of GO/CS-pectinase was reached up to 804 μmolmin-1 with an immobilization efficiency of 80.64 ± 1.15 % under optimum conditions. GO/CS-pectinase exhibited a 3.0-folds higher half-life (t1/2) than free pectinase at 50, 55, and 60 °C, respectively. The Vmax and KM values of GO/CS-pectinase were found to be nearly equal to the free pectinase indicating that conformational flexibility was retained. GSK467 manufacturer Kd, t1/2, ∆G*, ∆H*, and ∆S* of both free pectinase and GO/CS-pectinase was 0.0339 & 0.0721 min-1, 9.62 and 40.44 min, 81.35, 90.72 kJmol-1, 47.098 & 63.635 kJmol-1, -102.86 & -81.340 Jmole-1 K-1. SEM morphological analysis further confirmed the successful binding of pectinase with GO/CS, which retained about 92 % of its original catalytic activity after ten consecutive reaction cycles. Finally, GO/CS-pectinase was employed for guava juice clarification which exhibited the turbidity reduction up to 81 % after 75 min of treatment.Non-healing wounds have long been the subject of scientific and clinical investigations. Despite breakthroughs in understanding the biology of delayed wound healing, only limited advances have been made in properly treating wounds. Recently, research into nucleic acids (NAs) such as small-interfering RNA (siRNA), microRNA (miRNA), plasmid DNA (pDNA), aptamers, and antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) has resulted in the development of a latest therapeutic strategy for wound healing. In this regard, dendrimers, scaffolds, lipid nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, hydrogels, and metal nanoparticles have all been explored as NA delivery techniques. However, the translational possibility of NA remains a substantial barrier. As a result, different NAs must be identified, and their distribution method must be optimized. This review explores the role of NA-based therapeutics in various stages of wound healing and provides an update on the most recent findings in the development of NA-based nanomedicine and biomaterials, which may offer the potential for the invention of novel therapies for this long-term condition. Further, the challenges and potential for miRNA-based techniques to be translated into clinical applications are also highlighted.The extracellular insoluble deposits of highly ordered cross-β-structure-containing amyloid fibrils form the pathological basis for protein misfolding diseases. As amyloid fibrils are cytotoxic, inhibition of the process is a therapeutic strategy. Several small molecules have been identified and used as fibrillation inhibitors in the recent past. In this work, we investigate the effect of Orange G on insulin amyloid formation using fluorescence-based assays and negative-stain electron microscopy (EM). We show that Orange G effectively attenuates nucleation, thereby inhibiting amyloid fibrillation in a dose-dependent manner. Fluorescence quenching titrations of Orange G showed a reasonably strong binding affinity to native insulin. Binding isotherm measurements revealed the binding of Orange G to pre-formed insulin fibrils too, indicating that Orange G likely binds and stabilizes the mature fibrils and prevents the release of toxic oligomers which could be potential nuclei or templates for further fibrillation. Molecular docking of Orange G with native insulin and amyloid-like peptide structures were also carried out to analyse the contributing interactions and binding free energy. The findings of our study emphasize the use of Orange G as a molecular probe to identify and design inhibitors of amyloid fibrillation and to investigate the structural and toxic mechanisms underlying amyloid formation.In diabetic nephropathy, hyperglycemia elevates albumin glycation and also results in increased plasma aldosterone. Both glycation and aldosterone are reported to cause oxidative stress by downregulating the NRF-2 pathway and thereby resulting in reduced levels of antioxidants and glycation detoxifying enzymes. We hypothesize that an interaction between aldosterone and glycated albumin may be responsible for amplified oxidative stress and concomitant renal cell damage. Hence, human serum albumin was glycated by methylglyoxal (MGO) in presence of aldosterone. Different structural modifications of albumin, functional modifications and aldosterone binding were analyzed. HEK-293 T cells were treated with aldosterone+glycated albumin along with inhibitors of receptors for mineralocorticoid (MR) and advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE). Cellular MGO content, antioxidant markers (nitric oxide, glutathione, catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase), detoxification enzymes (aldose reductase, Glyoxalase I, II), their expression along with NRF-2 and Keap-1 were measured. Aldosterone binds to albumin with high affinity which is static and spontaneous. Cell treatment by aldosterone+glycated albumin increased intracellular MGO, MR and RAGE expression; hampered antioxidant, detoxification enzyme activities and reduced NRF-2, Keap-1 expression. Thus, the glycated albumin-aldosterone interaction and its adverse effect on renal cells were confirmed. The results will help in developing better pharmacotherapeutic strategies for diabetic nephropathy.This study focuses the comparison on yield of microbial dextran using treated sugarcane molasses (SCM) as a feed stock from different treatment methods. The suitable method for treatment of SCM was identified on the basis of microbial dextran production. The different factors namely the concentrations of total sugars, nitrogen sources, inoculum size, shaking speed, initial medium pH, and phosphate sources influencing the production of microbial dextran were studied. The maximum yield of dextran was obtained to be 17.18 ± 0.08 g L-1 using the conventional optimization. The structural analysis of produced dextran from SCM with various treatment techniques was compared using Fourier-transform infra-red analysis and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Later, the rheological behavior of produced microbial dextran was examined and found to be a non-Newtonian. To the best of our knowledge, the comparison on the production of microbial dextran through fermentation using SCM with various treatment strategies has not been performed yet.Suitable drying method is critical for the preservation of physicochemical and pharmacological quality of lychee pulp polysaccharides (LPPs). In current work, the effects of five drying methods, i.e. air drying (A), infrared drying (I), heat pump drying (H), vacuum freeze drying (F) and freeze vacuum drying combined with heat pump drying (FH) on the physicochemical characterizations, antioxidant activities and hypoglycemic activities of LPPs were explored. Results showed all five drying methods led to thermal aggregation of LPPs and the stronger the thermal effect induced by drying, the more serious the aggregations were. Additionally, the thermal aggregation significantly affected the composition, structure and biological activity of LPPs. Less thermal aggregation was observed in LPPF and LPPFH, which exhibited stronger oxygen, DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities, higher ferric-reducing power and better α-glycosidase and α-amylase inhibition activities, resulting from their higher contents of neutral sugar, protein and uronic acid and lower molecular weight than LPPA and LPPI.