Effects of various acute hypoxic conditions on the hemorheological response during exercise and recovery1.

Even though exercise hemorheology at hypoxic condition has been considered as a good tool to understand clinical hemorheology, there have been limited studies reported. Previous researches showed that hemorheological variables are closely correlated with oxygen delivery capacity during exercise. The present study investigated hypoxic responses including RBC deformability and aggregation, metabolic parameters and complete blood cell counts at various hypoxic conditions during cycling exercise and recovery. Eleven Korean healthy male subjects performed submaximal bike exercise at sea level (20.9% O2) and under various hypoxic conditions (16.5% O2, 14.5% O2, 12.8% O2, and 11.2% O2) in a random order. The submaximal bike exercise intensity of the subjects was 70% maximum heart rate at sea level. All variables were measured at rest, during exercise and recovery 30-minute, respectively. As oxygen partial pressure decreased, arterial blood oxygen saturation decreased but oxygen uptake did not change much. Heart rate and lactate concentration during exercise increased when oxygen partial pressure is less than or equal to 14.5% O2 condition. Red blood cell (RBC) counts, hemoglobin counts, and hematocrit level were not apparently altered with hypoxic conditions. RBC deformability showed significant alterations at 11.2% O2 conditions compared with other hypoxic conditions during exercise or recovery, except at 10 minutes recovery. However, decreases in oxygen partial pressure did not affect red blood cell aggregation. Therefore, we conclude that alterations in RBC deformability may reduce aerobic capabilities at hypoxic condition.

Prevalence and characterization of Campylobacter spp. isolated from domestic and imported poultry meat in Korea, 2004­2008.

Campylobacteriosis in humans is primarily caused by handling or consuming contaminated poultry or their products. The aims of this study were to estimate the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in domestic and imported poultry meat in Korea and to further characterize the obtained isolates. From 2004 to 2008, a total of 475 domestic and 867 imported raw poultry meat samples were examined for the presence of Campylobacter spp. Among 475 domestic poultry meat samples, Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli were isolated from 219 (46.1%) and 156 (32.8%), respectively. Relative prevalence of C. jejuni and C. coli was higher in meat from Brazil (39/78, 50.0% and 7/78, 8.9%) and France (32/96, 33.3% and 8/96, 8.3%), whereas lower in meat from Denmark (72/516, 14.0% and 12/516, 2.3%) and Thailand (5/39, 12.8% and 3/39, 7.6%). The resistance to ampicillin and tetracycline was highly prevalent in Campylobacter spp. from most countries investigated, whereas lower in meat from Denmark. On the other hand, the prevalence of erythromycin and gentamicin resistance was less than 10% in most countries. The resistance rate to nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin, and enrofloxacin ranged from 11.9% to 87.5%. The use of fla-polymerase chain reaction­restriction fragment length polymorphism for epidemiological analysis found that some pattern types were considerably more frequent and distinct in meat from each country. In conclusion, we report the presence of high contamination in domestic and imported poultry meat in Korea and the antimicrobial and genetic diversity of Campylobacter spp. between each country.

Reversal of myo-inositol metabolic level in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of rats exposed to forced swimming test following desipramine treatment: an in vivo localized (1)H-MRS study at 4.7 T.

The forced swimming test (FST) is a useful paradigm that is relatively quick and simple to perform and has been utilized to predict antidepressant activity based on learned helplessness as a model of depression. To date, few studies have used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) to assess antidepressant effects in rats. The purpose of this study was to assess desipramine (DMI) effects on the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of the rats, which were randomly assigned to three groups (control, n=10; FST+saline, n=10; FST+DMI, n=10), using single-voxel localization technique. All (1)H-MRS experiments were performed on a Bruker 4.7-T scanner with 400 mm bore magnet, allowing for acquisition of in vivo (1)H point-resolved spectroscopy spectra (TR/TE=3000/30 ms, number of data points=2048, NEX=512, voxel volume=27 µl, scan time=25 min). Proton metabolites were quantified automatically using LCModel software and were expressed as ratios to total creatine (Cr+PCr). Major target metabolites such as N-acetyl aspartate (NAA)+N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG), glutamate+glutamine (Glu+Gln), glycerophosphorylcholine+phosphorylcholine (GPC+PCho), myo-inositol (mIns) and taurine (Tau) were successfully quantified with Cramer-Rao lower boundary ≤10%. There were significantly higher mIns/(Cr+PCr) and mIns/(NAA+NAAG) ratios in the FST+saline group compared to the control group. In the FST+DMI group, both mIns/(Cr+PCr) and mIns/(NAA+NAAG) ratios were significantly decreased to the level similar to those in the control group. No other metabolite ratios were significantly different among the three groups. Our findings suggest a possible role of altered mIns level within the left DLPFC of the rat model for depression.

Quantification of cellular uptake and in vivo tracking of transduction using real-time monitoring.

Protein transduction domains (PTDs) are short amino acid sequences that promote their own translocation across the cell plasma membrane and have been studied for possible use in drug delivery and gene therapy. However, no direct method to quantify transduction is available. Here, using a new luciferase-tagged human PTD, we show that cellular uptake levels can be determined in a reliable manner. Furthermore, we show that enhanced in vivo tracking by human PTD can be quantified in a mouse model. This is the first report on the direct quantification of PTD transduction in vitro and in vivo, which will be necessary for studying its possible therapeutic application in drug delivery and gene therapy.