Paper wasps: A model clade for social cognition.

Paper wasps are a highly intelligent group of socially flexible insects with complex lives and variation in social structures. They engage in sophisticated communication within their small societies using olfaction, vibration, and even visual signals of quality or individual identity in some species. Here we describe the social biology of paper wasps as well as the impressive visual and cognitive abilities seen in this group. We summarize the recent discoveries about where and how social information is processed in the wasp brain and highlight the potential of this clade to further our understanding of the neural underpinnings of complex social cognition, its development, and its evolution.

Statins in the Cause and Prevention of Cancer: Confounding by Indication and Mediation by Rhabdomyolysis and Phosphate Toxicity.

Statins are drugs used in cardiovascular pharmacotherapy to decrease hypercholesterolemia and lower the risk of atherosclerosis. Statins also increase the risk of rhabdomyolysis, which is often minimized in comparison with large relative risk reductions of cardiovascular disease reported in clinical trials. By contrast, absolute risk reductions of cardiovascular disease are often clinically insignificant and unreported in statin clinical trials. Additionally, cytotoxic effects of statins inhibit cancer cell proliferation and reduce cancer risk, but other studies found that statins are carcinogenic. Due to an inverse association between incidence of cancer and atherosclerosis, the indication to prescribe statins likely biases the association of statins with cancer prevention. Dietary patterns associated with atherosclerosis and cancer contain inverse amounts of cholesterol and phosphate, an essential mineral that stimulates tumorigenesis. Accordingly, lower cancer risk is associated with high dietary cholesterol intake and increased risk of atherosclerosis. Furthermore, serum is exposed to excessive inorganic phosphate that could increase cancer risk as rhabdomyolysis induced by statins releases phosphate from skeletal muscle breakdown. Increased risk of comorbid conditions associated with statins may share the mediating factor of phosphate toxicity. More research is warranted on statins in the cause and prevention of cancer.

Nerve Versus Tendon Transfers in the Management of Isolated Upper Extremity Peripheral Nerve Injuries.

Upper extremity peripheral nerve injuries present functional deficits that are amenable to management by tendon or nerve transfers. The principles of tendon and nerve transfers are discussed, with technical descriptions of preferred tendon and nerve transfers for radial, median, and ulnar nerve injuries.

Spontaneous Tumor Regression and Reversion: Insights and Associations with Reduced Dietary Phosphate.

Tumors that spontaneously shrink from unknown causes in tumor regression, and that return to normal cells in tumor reversion, are phenomena with the potential to contribute new knowledge and novel therapies for cancer patient survival. Tumorigenesis is associated with dysregulated phosphate metabolism and an increased transport of phosphate into tumor cells, potentially mediated by phosphate overload from excessive dietary phosphate intake, a significant problem in Western societies. This paper proposes that reduced dietary phosphate overload and reregulated phosphate metabolism may reverse an imbalance of kinases and phosphatases in cell signaling and cellular proliferation, thereby activating autophagy in tumor regression and reversion. Dietary phosphate can also be reduced by sickness-associated anorexia, fasting-mimicking diets, and other diets low in phosphate, all of which have been associated with tumor regression. Tumor reversion has also been demonstrated by transplanting cancer cells into a healthy microenvironment, plausibly associated with normal cellular phosphate concentrations. Evidence also suggests that the sequestration and containment of excessive phosphate within encapsulated tumors is protective in cancer patients, preventing the release of potentially lethal amounts of phosphate into the general circulation. Reducing dietary phosphate overload has the potential to provide a novel, safe, and effective reversion therapy for cancer patients, and further research is warranted.

STING promotes homeostatic maintenance of tissues and confers longevity with aging.

Local immune processes within aging tissues are a significant driver of aging associated dysfunction, but tissue-autonomous pathways and cell types that modulate these responses remain poorly characterized. The cytosolic DNA sensing pathway, acting through cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) and Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING), is broadly expressed in tissues, and is poised to regulate local type I interferon (IFN-I)-dependent and independent inflammatory processes within tissues. Recent studies suggest that the cGAS/STING pathway may drive pathology in various in vitro and in vivo models of accelerated aging. To date, however, the role of the cGAS/STING pathway in physiological aging processes, in the absence of genetic drivers, has remained unexplored. This remains a relevant gap, as STING is ubiquitously expressed, implicated in multitudinous disorders, and loss of function polymorphisms of STING are highly prevalent in the human population (>50%). Here we reveal that, during physiological aging, STING-deficiency leads to a significant shortening of murine lifespan, increased pro-inflammatory serum cytokines and tissue infiltrates, as well as salient changes in histological composition and organization. We note that aging hearts, livers, and kidneys express distinct subsets of inflammatory, interferon-stimulated gene (ISG), and senescence genes, collectively comprising an immune fingerprint for each tissue. These distinctive patterns are largely imprinted by tissue-specific stromal and myeloid cells. Using cellular interaction network analyses, immunofluorescence, and histopathology data, we show that these immune fingerprints shape the tissue architecture and the landscape of cell-cell interactions in aging tissues. These age-associated immune fingerprints are grossly dysregulated with STING-deficiency, with key genes that define aging STING-sufficient tissues greatly diminished in the absence of STING. Changes in immune signatures are concomitant with a restructuring of the stromal and myeloid fractions, whereby cell:cell interactions are grossly altered and resulting in disorganization of tissue architecture in STING-deficient organs. This altered homeostasis in aging STING-deficient tissues is associated with a cross-tissue loss of homeostatic tissue-resident macrophage (TRM) populations in these tissues. Ex vivo analyses reveal that basal STING-signaling limits the susceptibility of TRMs to death-inducing stimuli and determines their in situ localization in tissue niches, thereby promoting tissue homeostasis. Collectively, these data upend the paradigm that cGAS/STING signaling is primarily pathological in aging and instead indicate that basal STING signaling sustains tissue function and supports organismal longevity. Critically, our study urges caution in the indiscriminate targeting of these pathways, which may result in unpredictable and pathological consequences for health during aging.

Myopia, Sodium Chloride, and Vitreous Fluid Imbalance: A Nutritional Epidemiology Perspective.

Theories of myopia etiology based on near work and lack of outdoor exposure have had inconsistent support and have not prevented the rising prevalence of global myopia. New scientific theories in the cause and prevention of myopia are needed. Myopia prevalence is low in native people consuming traditional diets lacking in sodium chloride, and nutritional epidemiological evidence supports the association of rising myopia prevalence with dietary sodium intake. East Asian populations have among the highest rates of myopia associated with high dietary sodium. Similar associations of sodium and rising myopia prevalence were observed in the United States in the late 20th century. The present perspective synthesizes nutritional epidemiology evidence with pathophysiological concepts and proposes that axial myopia occurs from increased fluid retention in the vitreous of the eye, induced by dietary sodium chloride intake. Salt disturbs ionic permeability of retinal membranes, increases the osmotic gradient flow of fluid into the vitreous, and stretches ocular tissue during axial elongation. Based on the present nutritional epidemiology evidence, experimental research should investigate the effect of sodium chloride as the cause of myopia, and clinical research should test a very low-salt diet in myopia correction and prevention.

Discovery and optimization of spirocyclic lactams that inhibit acyl-ACP thioesterase.

BACKGROUND: There are various methods to control weeds, that represent considerable challenges for farmers around the globe, although applying small molecular compounds is still the most effective and versatile technology to date. In the search for novel chemical entities with new modes-of-action that can control weeds displaying resistance, we have investigated two spirocyclic classes of acyl-ACP thioesterase inhibitors based on X-ray co-crystal structures and subsequent modelling studies. RESULTS: By exploiting scaffold-hopping and isostere concepts, we were able to identify new spirolactam-based lead structures showing promising activity in vivo against commercially important grass weeds in line with strong target affinity. CONCLUSION: The present work covers a series of novel herbicidal lead structures that contain a spirocyclic lactam as a structural key feature carrying ortho-substituted benzyl or heteroarylmethylene side chains. These new compounds show good acyl-ACP thioesterase inhibition in line with strong herbicidal activity. Glasshouse trials showed that the spirolactams outlined herein display promising control of grass-weed species in pre-emergence application combined with dose-response windows that enable partial selectivity in wheat and corn. Remarkably, some of the novel acyl-ACP thioesterase-inhibitors showed efficacy against resistant grass weeds such as Alopecurus myosuroides and Lolium spp. on competitive levels compared with commercial standards. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Can a Low-Phosphate Diet for Chronic Kidney Disease Treat Cancer? An Interdisciplinary Literature Review.

Background: Cancer therapeutics have a low success rate in clinical trials. An interdisciplinary approach is needed to translate basic, clinical, and remote fields of research knowledge into novel cancer treatments. Recent research has identified high dietary phosphate intake as a risk factor associated with cancer incidence. A model of tumor dynamics predicted that reducing phosphate levels sequestered in the tumor microenvironment could substantially reduce tumor size. Coincidently, a low-phosphate diet is already in use to help patients with chronic kidney disease manage high serum phosphate levels. Methods: A grounded-theory literature-review method was used to synthesize interdisciplinary findings from the basic and clinical sciences, including oncology, nephrology, nutritional epidemiology, and dietetic research on cancer. Results: Findings of tumor remission associated with fasting and a ketogenic diet, which lower intake of dietary phosphate, support the hypothesis that a low-phosphate diet will reduce levels of phosphate sequestered in the tumor microenvironment and reduce tumor size. Additionally, long-term effects of a low-phosphate diet may reverse dysregulated phosphate metabolism associated with tumorigenesis and prevent cancer recurrence. Conclusions: Evidence in this article provides the rationale to test a low-phosphate diet as a dietary intervention to reduce tumor size and lower risk of cancer recurrence.

Breast cancer, alcohol, and phosphate toxicity.

Alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, even at low alcohol intake levels, but public awareness of the breast cancer risk associated with alcohol intake is low. Furthermore, the causative mechanisms underlying alcohol's association with breast cancer are unknown. The present theoretical paper uses a modified grounded theory method to review the research literature and propose that alcohol's association with breast cancer is mediated by phosphate toxicity, the accumulation of excess inorganic phosphate in body tissue. Serum levels of inorganic phosphate are regulated through a network of hormones released from the bone, kidneys, parathyroid glands, and intestines. Alcohol burdens renal function, which may disturb the regulation of inorganic phosphate, impair phosphate excretion, and increase phosphate toxicity. In addition to causing cellular dehydration, alcohol is an etiologic factor in nontraumatic rhabdomyolysis, which ruptures cell membranes and releases inorganic phosphate into the serum, leading to hyperphosphatemia. Phosphate toxicity is also associated with tumorigenesis, as high levels of inorganic phosphate within the tumor microenvironment activate cell signaling pathways and promote cancer cell growth. Furthermore, phosphate toxicity potentially links cancer and kidney disease in onco-nephrology. Insights into the mediating role of phosphate toxicity may lead to future research and interventions that raise public health awareness of breast cancer risk and alcohol consumption.

Breast Cancer and Bone Mineral Density in a U.S. Cohort of Middle-Aged Women: Associations with Phosphate Toxicity.

Breast cancer is associated with phosphate toxicity, the toxic effect from dysregulated phosphate metabolism that can stimulate tumorigenesis. Phosphate toxicity and dysregulated phosphate metabolism are also associated with bone mineral abnormalities, including excessive bone mineral loss and deposition. Based on shared associations with dysregulated phosphate metabolism and phosphate toxicity, a hypothesis proposed in the present mixed methods-grounded theory study posits that middle-aged women with incidence of breast cancer had a greater magnitude of changes in bone mineral density over time compared with women who remained cancer-free. To test this hypothesis, a mixed-effects model was used to analyze the associations of breast cancer incidence with spinal bone mineral density changes in the U.S. Study of Women's Health Across the Nation. Compared with women in the cohort who remained cancer-free, women who self-reported breast cancer had higher bone mineral density at baseline, but had more rapid losses in bone mineral density during follow-up visits. These findings agree with the hypothesis that a greater magnitude of changes in bone mineral density over time is associated with breast cancer in a cohort of middle-aged women. The findings also have implications for studies investigating dysregulated phosphate metabolism and phosphate toxicity as causative factors of bone metastasis in metastatic breast cancer. Additionally, the authors previously found increased breast cancer risk associated with high dietary phosphate intake in the same cohort of middle-aged women, and more studies should investigate a low-phosphorus diet to reduce bone mineral abnormalities and tumorigenesis in breast cancer patients.

High Dietary Phosphorus Is Associated with Increased Breast Cancer Risk in a U.S. Cohort of Middle-Aged Women.

Research has shown that high amounts of dietary phosphorus that are twice the amount of the U.S. dietary reference intake of 700 mg for adults are associated with all-cause mortality, phosphate toxicity, and tumorigenesis. The present nested case-control study measured the relative risk of self-reported breast cancer associated with dietary phosphate intake over 10 annual visits in a cohort of middle-aged U.S. women from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation. Analyzing data from food frequency questionnaires, the highest level of daily dietary phosphorus intake, >1800 mg of phosphorus, was approximately equivalent to the dietary phosphorus levels in menus promoted by the United States Department of Agriculture. After adjusting for participants' energy intake, this level of dietary phosphorus was associated with a 2.3-fold increased risk of breast cancer incidence compared to the reference dietary phosphorus level of 800 to 1000 mg, which is based on recommendations from the U.S. National Kidney Foundation, (RR: 2.30, 95% CI: 0.94-5.61, p = 0.07). Despite the lack of statistical significance, likely due to the small sample size of the cohort, the present nested case-control study's clinically significant effect size, dose-response, temporality, specificity, biological plausibility, consistency, coherence, and analogy with other research findings meet the criteria for inferred causality in observational studies, warranting further investigations. Furthermore, these findings suggest that a low-phosphate diet should be tested on patients with breast cancer.

Sialadenitis of the anterior mandibular vestibule: A subset of burning mouth syndrome.

Burning Mouth syndrome (BMS) is a relatively common oral neurosensory disorder known for oral burning pain. In that there is a relative absence of oral clinical findings and systemic causation, the diagnosis of BMS is challenging. Sialadenitis of the anterior mandibular vestibule appears to be a subset of BMS. The lip component of chronic orofacial pain is potentially an important concern with regard to the diagnosis and treatment of chronic orofacial pain. Discussion regarding the etiology, diagnosis, and therapy of this condition is provided.

Oral Nodular Chronic Hyperplastic Candidiasis of the Tongue: A Case Report.

Oral nodular chronic hyperplastic candidiasis (CHC) is a rare subset of oral CHC, a relatively uncommon condition associated with immunosuppression. We present a case of a 73-year-old female with nodular CHC of the tongue and a medical history noted for type 2 diabetes. Additionally, we discuss the diagnosis, management, and conditions potentially associated with oral nodular CHC.

Salt-Sensitive Hypertension: Mediation by Salt-Induced Hypervolemia and Phosphate-Induced Vascular Calcification.

Preventing hypertension by restricting dietary salt intake, sodium chloride, is well established in public health policy, but a pathophysiological mechanism has yet to explain the controversial clinical finding that some individuals have a greater risk of hypertension from exposure to salt intake, termed salt-sensitive hypertension. The present perspective paper synthesizes interdisciplinary findings from the research literature and offers novel insights proposing that the pathogenesis of salt-sensitive hypertension is mediated by interaction of salt-induced hypervolemia and phosphate-induced vascular calcification. Arterial stiffness and blood pressure increase as calcification in the vascular media layer reduces arterial elasticity, preventing arteries from expanding to accommodate extracellular fluid overload in hypervolemia related to salt intake. Furthermore, phosphate has been found to be a direct inducer of vascular calcification. Reduction of dietary phosphate may help reduce salt-sensitive hypertension by lowering the prevalence and progression of vascular calcification. Further research should investigate the correlation of vascular calcification with salt-sensitive hypertension, and public health recommendations to prevent hypertension should encourage reductions of both sodium-induced hypervolemia and phosphate-induced vascular calcification.

Approach to Tendinopathies of the Upper Limb: What Works.

Tendinopathies are some of the most common diagnoses treated by hand surgeons. Diagnoses such as trigger digit, de Quervain tenosynovitis, extensor carpi ulnaris tendinitis, and epicondylitis often resolve with nonoperative treatment and/or a single ambulatory procedure. When symptoms persist or worsen after surgery, patients are disappointed and treatment can be challenging. This article reviews practical points in evaluation of such cases, and surgical options that work in revision scenarios.

Automated Regularized Deconvolution for Eliminating Extra-Column Effects in Fast High-Efficiency Separations.

With the introduction of ultrahigh efficiency columns and fast separations, the need to eliminate peak deformation contributed by the instrument must be effectively solved. Herein, we develop a robust framework to automate deconvolution and minimize its artifacts, such as negative dips, wild noise oscillations, and ringing, by combining regularized deconvolution and Perona-Malik (PM) anisotropic diffusion methods. A asymmetric generalized normal (AGN) function is proposed to model the instrumental response for the first time. With no-column data at various flow rates, the interior point optimization algorithm extracts the parameters describing instrumental distortion. The column-only chromatogram was reconstructed using the Tikhonov regularization technique with minimal instrumental distortion. For illustration, four different chromatography systems are used in fast chiral and achiral separations with 2.1 and 4.6 mm i.d. columns. Ordinary HPLC data can approach highly optimized UHPLC data. Similarly, in fast HPLC-circular dichroism (CD) detection, 8000 plates were gained for a fast chiral separation. Moment analysis of deconvolved peaks confirms correction of the center of mass, variance, skew, and kurtosis. This approach can be easily integrated and used with virtually any separation and detection system to provide enhanced analytical data.

Dysregulated phosphate metabolism in autism spectrum disorder: associations and insights for future research.

Studies of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) related to exposure to toxic levels of dietary phosphate are lacking. Phosphate toxicity from dysregulated phosphate metabolism can negatively impact almost every major organ system of the body, including the central nervous system. The present paper used a grounded theory-literature review method to synthesise associations of dysregulated phosphate metabolism with the aetiology of ASD. Cell signalling in autism has been linked to an altered balance between phosphoinositide kinases, which phosphorylate proteins, and the counteracting effect of phosphatases in neuronal membranes. Glial cell overgrowth in the developing ASD brain can lead to disturbances in neuro-circuitry, neuroinflammation and immune responses which are potentially related to excessive inorganic phosphate. The rise in ASD prevalence has been suggested to originate in changes to the gut microbiome from increasing consumption of additives in processed food, including phosphate additives. Ketogenic diets and dietary patterns that eliminate casein also reduce phosphate intake, which may account for many of the suggested benefits of these diets in children with ASD. Dysregulated phosphate metabolism is causatively linked to comorbid conditions associated with ASD such as cancer, tuberous sclerosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, diabetes, epilepsy, obesity, chronic kidney disease, tauopathy, cardiovascular disease and bone mineral disorders. Associations and proposals presented in this paper offer novel insights and directions for future research linking the aetiology of ASD with dysregulated phosphate metabolism and phosphate toxicity from excessive dietary phosphorus intake.

Phosphate toxicity and SERCA2a dysfunction in sudden cardiac arrest.

Almost half of the people who die from sudden cardiac arrest have no detectable heart disease. Among children and young adults, the cause of approximately one-third of deaths from sudden cardiac arrest remains unexplained after thorough examination. Sudden cardiac arrest and related sudden cardiac death are attributed to dysfunctional cardiac ion-channels. The present perspective paper proposes a pathophysiological mechanism by which phosphate toxicity from cellular accumulation of dysregulated inorganic phosphate interferes with normal calcium handling in the heart, leading to sudden cardiac arrest. During cardiac muscle relaxation following contraction, SERCA2a pumps actively transport calcium ions into the sarcoplasmic reticulum, powered by ATP hydrolysis that produces ADP and inorganic phosphate end products. Reviewed evidence supports the proposal that end-product inhibition of SERCA2a occurs as increasing levels of inorganic phosphate drive up phosphate toxicity and bring cardiac function to a sudden and unexpected halt. The paper concludes that end-product inhibition from ATP hydrolysis is the mediating factor in the association of sudden cardiac arrest with phosphate toxicity. However, current technology lacks the ability to directly measure this pathophysiological mechanism in active myocardium, and further research is needed to confirm phosphate toxicity as a risk factor in individuals with sudden cardiac arrest. Moreover, phosphate toxicity may be reduced through modification of dietary phosphate intake, with potential for employing low-phosphate dietary interventions to reduce the risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

Cancer Cachexia and Dysregulated Phosphate Metabolism: Insights from Mutant p53 and Mutant Klotho Mouse Models.

The present perspective article proposes that cachexia, muscle wasting in cancer, is mediated by dysregulated phosphate metabolism and phosphate toxicity that can damage tissues in most major organ systems. A diet high in phosphorus fed to mice deficient in klotho, a cofactor that regulates phosphate metabolism, accelerates aging, sarcopenia, general organ atrophy, kyphosis, and osteoporosis. Similar effects are seen in phenotypes of mutant p53 mice that overexpress the p53 tumor suppressor gene. Although mutant p53 mice do not develop tumors compared to wild-type mice, mutant p53 mice have shorter mean lifespans. Furthermore, tumorigenesis is associated with the sequestration of excessive inorganic phosphate, and dangerous levels of phosphate are released into circulation during tumor lysis syndrome. In total, this evidence implies that tumorigenesis may be a compensatory mechanism that provides protective effects against systemic exposure to dysregulated phosphate metabolism and phosphate toxicity related to cachexia in cancer. Moreover, the hypothetical protection against phosphate toxicity afforded by tumorigenesis also provides an alternate explanation for putative tumor evasion of the immune system. Insights proposed in this perspective paper provide new directions for further research, with potential to develop novel interventions and clinical applications that modify dietary phosphate intake to reduce cachexia in cancer patients.

Correction: Brown, R.B. Sodium Chloride, Migraine and Salt Withdrawal: Controversy and Insights. Med. Sci. 2021, 9, 67.

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