Electroconvulsive therapy and structural neuroplasticity in neocortical, limbic and paralimbic cortex.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a highly effective and rapidly acting treatment for severe depression. To understand the biological bases of therapeutic response, we examined variations in cortical thickness from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data in 29 patients scanned at three time points during an ECT treatment index series and in 29 controls at two time points. Changes in thickness across time and with symptom improvement were evaluated at high spatial resolution across the cortex and within discrete cortical regions of interest. Patients showed increased thickness over the course of ECT in the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), inferior and superior temporal, parahippocampal, entorhinal and fusiform cortex and in distributed prefrontal areas. No changes across time occurred in controls. In temporal and fusiform regions showing significant ECT effects, thickness differed between patients and controls at baseline and change in thickness related to therapeutic response in patients. In the ACC, these relationships occurred in treatment responders only, and thickness measured soon after treatment initiation predicted the overall ECT response. ECT leads to widespread neuroplasticity in neocortical, limbic and paralimbic regions and changes relate to the extent of antidepressant response. Variations in ACC thickness, which discriminate treatment responders and predict response early in the course of ECT, may represent a biomarker of overall clinical outcome. Because post-mortem studies show focal reductions in glial density and neuronal size in patients with severe depression, ECT-related increases in thickness may be attributable to neuroplastic processes affecting the size and/or density of neurons and glia and their connections.

Evaluation of high humidity and wet marinade methods for pasteurization of jerky.

The USDA FSIS meat and poultry jerky compliance guidelines recommend a high humidity or liquid immersion pasteurization step before drying. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of high humidity (>90%) or wet marinade pasteurization on jerky characteristics (water activity, moisture/protein ratio, total aerobic plate count [TAC]) and sensory properties. Jerky pasteurized by nonmarinade method A (76.6 degrees C dry bulb, 54.4 degrees C oven wet bulb temperature for 1 h) had highest sensory scores for spice intensity and interior cured color (redness), and generally lower TACs than jerky from marinade pasteurization methods. Jerky pasteurized by method B (54 degrees C for 121 min in marinade) had higher TACs than other methods. Approximately 2-log reduction in TAC was observed using marinade pasteurization in the smokehouse to internal temperature of 60 degrees for 12 min (method C), or in hot marinade to internal temperature of 70 degrees C before drying (method D), but jerky was less spicy and somewhat darker than jerky from method A. Extruded jerky (1.5-cm thickness) was similar to intact jerky for spice flavor intensity and interior redness, but required longer drying time to reach the target Aw of 0.85. Marinade pasteurization by methods C or D was feasible, and may be a preferred alternative for some processors, since monitoring of oven humidity during pasteurization is not necessary.