Biochemical composition of the Australasian sea cucumber, Australostichopus mollis, from a nutritional point of view

BACKGROUND: Sea cucumbers are highly prized seafood in Asia, where the demand for them has increased dramatically in recent years. However, nutritional information is only available for only a few of the commercially traded species. METHODS: In this study, the biochemical composition of the sea cucumber Australostichopus mollis was evaluated in terms of the major functional components: collagen, amino acid and fatty acid content using standard analytical procedures. RESULTS: The collagen, mostly type I, formed a homogeneously clustered network constituting 1.4% of the wet weight of adult A. mollis which is lower than for some other species of sea cucumber. The collagen consisted ofα1andα2 chains (around 116 kDa),αchain dimers,ßchains (around 212 kDa), and small amounts of γ components.The most abundant amino acids were glycine, alanine, threonine, serine and proline (lysine/arginine ratio of 0.1).Threonine was the most abundant essential amino acid, followed by methionine and valine, while glycine was the dominant non-essential amino acid. The sea cucumbers had a low lipid content (0.2 and 0.1% of wet weight forthe viscera and body wall, respectively) which is below the range reported for most other species of sea cucumber.The lipid contained high levels of PUFA (54%) compared to MUFA (23%) and SFA (24%). The dominant PUFA was arachidonic acid in both the body wall and viscera, followed by eicosapentaenoic acid. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the Australasian sea cucumber has strong potential as a functional food due to its high levels of PUFA and essential amino acids, comparing favourably with the most commercially valuable sea cucumbers.

(Pro)renin receptor activation increases profibrotic markers and fibroblast-like phenotype through MAPK-dependent ROS formation in mouse renal collecting duct cells.

Recent studies suggested that activation of the PRR upregulates profibrotic markers through reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation; however, the exact mechanisms have not been investigated in CD cells. We hypothesized that activation of the PRR increases the expression of profibrotic markers through MAPK-dependent ROS formation in CD cells. Mouse renal CD cell line (M-1) was treated with recombinant prorenin plus ROS or MAPK inhibitors and PRR-shRNA to evaluate their effect on the expression of profibrotic markers. PRR immunostaining revealed plasma membrane and intracellular localization. Recombinant prorenin increases ROS formation (6.0 ± 0.5 vs 3.9 ± 0.1 nmol/L DCF/µg total protein, P < .05) and expression of profibrotic markers CTGF (149 ± 12%, P < .05), α-SMA (160 ± 20%, P < .05), and PAI-I (153 ± 13%, P < .05) at 10-8  mol/L. Recombinant prorenin-induced phospho ERK 1/2 (p44 and p42) at 10-8 and 10-6  mol/L after 20 minutes. Prorenin-dependent ROS formation and augmentation of profibrotic factors were blunted by ROS scavengers (trolox, p-coumaric acid, ascorbic acid), the MEK inhibitor PD98059 and PRR transfections with PRR-shRNA. No effects were observed in the presence of antioxidants alone. Prorenin-induced upregulation of collagen I and fibronectin was blunted by ROS scavenging or MEK inhibition independently. PRR-shRNA partially prevented this induction. After 24 hours prorenin treatment M-1 cells undergo to epithelial-mesenchymal transition phenotype, however MEK inhibitor PD98059 and PRR knockdown prevented this effect. These results suggest that PRR might have a significant role in tubular damage during conditions of high prorenin-renin secretion in the CD.

Uso del lisado plaquetario en artrosis de rodilla / Use of lysed platelets in osteoarthritis of the knee

Introducción: la artrosis es la enfermedad más frecuente de todos los trastornos articulares. Sus tratamientos son variables y van desde los procederes conservadores al quirúrgico pasando por las infiltraciones articulares; últimamente se ha agregado el uso de plasma rico en plaquetas. Objetivo: describir la evolución clínica de 20 pacientes con osteoartritis de rodilla que se les realizó infiltración con lisado plaquetario. Material y métodos: se desarrolló un estudio longitudinal prospectivo, con una muestra de 20 pacientes remitidos a consulta de Ortopedia del Hospital Docente «Dr. Enrique Cabrera¼ con diagnóstico de artrosis de rodilla, de octubre de 2011 a octubre 2012, que cumplieran con los criterios de inclusión establecidos. Se les realizó infiltración articular con lisado plaquetario autólogo y un seguimiento clínico usando variables como dolor, movilidad articular, fuerza muscular y escala funcional. Se conformó una base de datos para el procesamiento estadístico. Se calcularon medidas de resúmenes. Resultados: 14 eran del sexo femenino y 6 masculinos, con una edad que osciló entre los 39 y 81 años, Se infiltraron en total 35 rodillas. Existió una tendencia hacia la mejoría del dolor en 15 pacientes, y ganancia en la fuerza muscular de las rodillas tratadas, en cuanto a la evaluación de actividades físicas, la tendencia fue del paso de las dificultades muy severas y severas a leve o ninguna. Conclusiones: la mejoría en el dolor, la recuperación articular y de la escala funcional en la mayoría de los pacientes es un signo que apoya la mediación de las factores plaquetarios en la acción antiinflamatoria inmediata y su potencial regenerativo.

Introduction: Osteoarthritis is the most common joint ailment. Its treatments vary from conservative procedures to surgery, passing through joint injections and lately the use of plasma enriched in platelets. Objective: describe the clinical evolution of 20 patients with knee osteoarthritis who received joint injection of lysed platelets. Material and Methods: we did a prospective longitudinal study with a 20 patient sample, referred with kneeosteoarthritis to the service of Orthopedics of the «Dr. Enrique Cabrera¼ University Hospital, provided they meet the inclusion requirements. Autologous lysed platelets were injected and a clinical follow up using variables such as pain, joint mobility, muscular strength and functional scale. A database was filled for statistical processing. It were calculated statistical measures. Results: out of the 20 patients 14 were male and 6 female, age 39 to 81. 35 knees were injected. There was a trend to decrease of pain in 15 patients and gain of muscular strength in the injected cases. Regarding evolution of the physical activities, the tendency was improvement from very severe and severe to slight or none. Conclusions: the improvement of pain, joint recovery and functional scale in the vast majority of the treated patients supports the mediation of platelet factors in the immediate anti-inflammatory action and its regenerative potential.

Ontogenetic variation in parasite infracommunities of the clingfish Sicyases sanguineus (Pisces: Gobiesocidae).

This study analyzed the variation of the parasite infracommunities and their relationship with the diet and spatial distribution of the clingfish Sicyases sanguineus during its ontogeny. In total, 154 clingfish were collected from the intertidal and the upper subtidal zone of Pacific Ocean along the central Chilean coast. A wide range in body length (1.4-34.5 cm) was observed, including juvenile and adult specimens. Eleven parasite species were found in the clingfish, i.e., 2 Copepoda, 2 Hirudinea, 1 Monogenea, 5 Digenea, and 1 Cestoda. The prevalence, total abundance, Brillouin's diversity index, and the infracommunity species richness increased with fish body length. The parasite communities, the diet, and the spatial distribution changed during clingfish ontogeny, specifically between juveniles (<20 cm body length [BL]) and adults (>20 cm BL). When fish reached a 20-cm BL, a considerable increment in abundance and species richness of parasites was observed; this coincided with an increase in the number of prey items in the diet and with a change of the fish from the intertidal into the subtidal zone. Therefore, the ontogeny of S. sanguineus is important for the variation of parasite infracommunities, which also was associated with dietary and spatial distribution shifts of this fish.

Epidemiología del suicidio en la segunda región de Chile / Epidemiology of suicide at the second region of Chile

Como problema de salud pública el suicidio ha adquirido especial relevancia estas últimas décadas. El los países occidentales ocupa las primeras cinco a diez causas de muerte. Desde un punto de vista epidemiológico el estudio de los patrones de muerte por suicidio podría arrojar luz sobre acciones que pudieran ser preventivas y por lo tanto salvadores de vidas. El presente es un estudio descriptivo destinado a conocer las características epidemiológicas del suicidio en la II Región, en el período comprendido entre los años 1989-1995. Se utilizó como metodología la revisión de la totalidad de los certificados de defunción que resume la mortalidad general de la Región en el período antes citado. Para recolectar la información se confeccionó un instrumento especialmente diseñado para este efecto. Se encontró un total de 194 casos: 161 hombres y 33 mujeres (relación H/M de 4,8-1). El promedio de edad de los hombres fue 39,05 y de las mujeres 43,12 años. A diferencia de otros estudios no se observó el efecto edad, ya que la población afectada es esencialmente joven en edad productiva. Las estaciones de mayor frecuencia de suicidio en los hombres son el invierno y el verano. No se encontró tendencia alguna respecto de los días de la semana. A partir de 1991 se observó un alza importante de suicidios en la Región (aumentó 14,6 por ciento) a expensas de los hombres, lo cual se reveló en lastasas que muestran valores altos comparados con el resto del país y Santiago. En las mujeres, a pesar de que no se observó alza en el suicidio, las tasas son igualmente elevadas hecha la comparación anterior. Se concluye la necesidad de efectuar otros estudios destinados a clarificar este problema

An automated system for detection and analysis of locomotor behavior in crustaceans

An efficient and simple system in presented for the analysis of crustacean locomotor behavior. The system is composed by six dual-compartment actographic chambers with photocoupling circuit for movement detection, and a device for acquisition and analysis of cata. Such device is made by a digital interface which feeds in to a microcomputer with disc unit and printer. Information is processed in real time during the experiment, with a simultaneous printout and storage in a floppy disc