Childhood maltreatment in bariatric patients and its association with postoperative weight, depressive, and eating disorder symptoms.

PURPOSE: The present study aimed to compare prevalence rates of childhood maltreatment between patients with severe obesity undergoing bariatric surgery and patients without a surgical procedure. Second purpose was to calculate the association between childhood maltreatment and outcomes 6 and 12 months after a bariatric procedure. METHODS: Childhood maltreatment was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and compared between 120 bariatric surgery patients and 346 non-surgery patients with severe obesity. For the bariatric surgery subgroup, linear mixed models with repeated measures were used to analyze the predictive value of childhood maltreatment on weight outcomes and psychopathology. Additionally, between- and within-group comparisons were calculated to compare patients with and without childhood maltreatment regarding BMI and weight loss (%TWL, %EWL), depression severity (BDI-II), eating disorder psychopathology (EDE-Q), and suicidal ideation (BSS), at baseline, 6- and 12-month assessment. RESULTS: Prevalence rates for childhood maltreatment, depression and suicidal ideation were significantly higher in non-surgery compared to bariatric surgery patients. Within the surgery group, no significant interaction effect between childhood maltreatment and time was found. Hence, childhood maltreatment did not impact the course of body weight, depression and eating disorder psychopathology from pre- to post-surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Significantly higher rates of childhood maltreatment were found within non-surgery patients with obesity in comparison to bariatric surgery patients. Childhood maltreatment did not predict poorer outcomes after surgery. Since history of childhood maltreatment may increase the risk for psychological disturbances, regular screening and, if necessary, psychological support should be offered to both groups. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case-control analytic studies, Level III. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: Deutsches Register Klinischer Studien-German Clinical Trials Register: DRKS00003976.

Obesity and co-morbid psychiatric disorders as contraindications for bariatric surgery?-A case study.

INTRODUCTION: Many patients undergoing bariatric surgery report current or past psychiatric disorders and controversy exists regarding their outcome after bariatric surgery. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We present a case of an obese patient with a borderline personality disorder, a recurrent depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress symptoms and binge eating episodes who underwent bariatric surgery. DISCUSSION: Although the psychiatric disorders remained, the procedure contributed to an improvement of the health status and well-being of the patient. Adequate psychological care after the surgical procedure is necessary to enable a long-term stabilization of patients with mental co-morbidities. CONCLUSION: Patients with psychiatric co-morbidities should not be excluded from the procedure if adequate post-operative support is provided.

The emerging role of photorespiration and non-photorespiratory peroxisomal metabolism in pathogen defence.

Photorespiration represents one of the major highways of primary plant metabolism and is the most prominent example of metabolic cell organelle integration, since the pathway requires the concerted action of plastidial, peroxisomal, mitochondrial and cytosolic enzymes and organellar transport proteins. Oxygenation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate by Rubisco leads to the formation of large amounts of 2-phosphoglycolate, which are recycled to 3-phosphoglycerate by the photorespiratory C2 cycle, concomitant with stoichiometric production rates of H2 O2 in peroxisomes. Apart from its significance for agricultural productivity, a secondary function of photorespiration in pathogen defence has emerged only recently. Here, we summarise literature data supporting the crosstalk between photorespiration and pathogen defence and perform a meta-expression analysis of photorespiratory genes during pathogen attack. Moreover, we screened Arabidopsis proteins newly predicted using machine learning methods to be targeted to peroxisomes, the central H2 O2 -producing organelle of photorespiration, for homologues of known pathogen defence proteins and analysed their expression during pathogen infection. The analyses further support the idea that photorespiration and non-photorespiratory peroxisomal metabolism play multi-faceted roles in pathogen defence beyond metabolism of reactive oxygen species.

Risk of completed suicide after bariatric surgery: a systematic review.

Bariatric surgery is one of the most effective treatments for morbid obesity, and a large body of research indicates significant long-term weight loss. While overall mortality decreases in patients who received bariatric surgery, a number of studies have shown that suicide rates are higher in bariatric patients than in control groups. The objective of this study was to present a systematic review of suicide mortality after bariatric surgery and calculate an estimate for the suicide rate. Literature researches of the databases PubMed, Web of Knowledge, PsychInfo, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar were conducted. Thirty studies concerning bariatric surgery and completed suicides met the inclusion criteria. We included 28 studies in the estimation of a suicide rate for the bariatric population. Only one study (Tindle et al.) put a main focus on suicide after bariatric surgery; this was therefore chosen as an adequate reference figure for comparison. The other 27 chosen studies were compared with World Health Organization data and the suicide rate reported by Tindle et al. Twenty-three thousand eight hundred eighty-five people were included in the analysis. In the literature, we found a total of 95 suicides when examining 190,000 person-years of post-bariatric surgery data. Little information was provided describing the reasons for suicide and the time-point of these events after surgery. We estimated a suicide rate of 4.1/10,000 person-years (95% confidence interval [3.2, 5.1]/10,000 person-years). A comparison with Tindle et al. demonstrates that their rate is significantly higher than our estimate (P = 0.03). Bariatric surgery patients show higher suicide rates than the general population. Therefore, there is a great need to identify persons at risk and post-operative psychological monitoring is recommended.

Engineering photorespiration: current state and future possibilities.

Reduction of flux through photorespiration has been viewed as a major way to improve crop carbon fixation and yield since the energy-consuming reactions associated with this pathway were discovered. This view has been supported by the biomasses increases observed in model species that expressed artificial bypass reactions to photorespiration. Here, we present an overview about the major current attempts to reduce photorespiratory losses in crop species and provide suggestions for future research priorities.

Perspectives on plant photorespiratory metabolism.

Being intimately intertwined with (C3) photosynthesis, photorespiration is an incredibly high flux-bearing pathway. Traditionally, the photorespiratory cycle was viewed as closed pathway to refill the Calvin-Benson cycle with organic carbon. However, given the network nature of metabolism, it hence follows that photorespiration will interact with many other pathways. In this article, we review current understanding of these interactions and attempt to define key priorities for future research, which will allow us greater fundamental comprehension of general metabolic and developmental consequences of perturbation of this crucial metabolic process.

Sequence haplotypes revealed by sequence-tagged site fine mapping of the Ror1 gene in the centromeric region of barley chromosome 1H.

We describe the development of polymerase chain reaction-based, sequence-tagged site (STS) markers for fine mapping of the barley (Hordeum vulgare) Ror1 gene required for broad-spectrum resistance to powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei). After locating Ror1 to the centromeric region of barley chromosome 1H using a combined amplified fragment length polymorphism/restriction fragment-length polymorphism (RFLP) approach, sequences of RFLP probes from this chromosome region of barley and corresponding genome regions from the related grass species oat (Avena spp.), wheat, and Triticum monococcum were used to develop STS markers. Primers based on the RFLP probe sequences were used to polymerase chain reaction-amplify and directly sequence homologous DNA stretches from each of four parents that were used for mapping. Over 28,000 bp from 22 markers were compared. In addition to one insertion/deletion of at least 2.0 kb, 79 small unique sequence polymorphisms were observed, including 65 single nucleotide substitutions, two dinucleotide substitutions, 11 insertion/deletions, and one 5-bp/10-bp exchange. The frequency of polymorphism between any two barley lines ranged from 0.9 to 3.0 kb, and was greatest for comparisons involving an Ethiopian landrace. Haplotype structure was observed in the marker sequences over distances of several hundred basepairs. Polymorphisms in 16 STSs were used to generate genetic markers, scored by restriction enzyme digestion or by direct sequencing. Over 2,300 segregants from three populations were used in Ror1 linkage analysis, mapping Ror1 to a 0.2- to 0.5-cM marker interval. We discuss the implications of sequence haplotypes and STS markers for the generation of high-density maps in cereals.

DEDD, a novel death effector domain-containing protein, targeted to the nucleolus.

The CD95 signaling pathway comprises proteins that contain one or two death effector domains (DED), such as FADD/Mort1 or caspase-8. Here we describe a novel 37 kDa protein, DEDD, that contains an N-terminal DED. DEDD is highly conserved between human and mouse (98. 7% identity) and is ubiquitously expressed. Overexpression of DEDD in 293T cells induced weak apoptosis, mainly through its DED by which it interacts with FADD and caspase-8. Endogenous DEDD was found in the cytoplasm and translocated into the nucleus upon stimulation of CD95. Immunocytological studies revealed that overexpressed DEDD directly translocated into the nucleus, where it co-localizes in the nucleolus with UBF, a basal factor required for RNA polymerase I transcription. Consistent with its nuclear localization, DEDD contains two nuclear localization signals and the C-terminal part shares sequence homology with histones. Recombinant DEDD binds to both DNA and reconstituted mononucleosomes and inhibits transcription in a reconstituted in vitro system. The results suggest that DEDD is a final target of a chain of events by which the CD95-induced apoptotic signal is transferred into the nucleolus to shut off cellular biosynthetic activities.

Interaction Analyses of Genes Required for Resistance Responses to Powdery Mildew in Barley Reveal Distinct Pathways Leading to Leaf Cell Death.

Race-specific resistance in barley to the powdery mildew fungus (Erysiphe graminis f sp hordei) is associated with a cell death reaction (hypersensitive response [HR]). Genetically, it is dependent on dominant resistance genes (Mlx), and in most cases, it is also dependent on Rar1 and Rar2. Non-race-specific resistance to the fungus, which is due to the lack of the Mlo wild-type allele, is dependent on Ror1 and Ror2 and is not associated with an HR in the region of pathogen attack. However, the absence of the Mlo wild-type allele stimulates a spontaneous cell death response in foliar tissue. This response is also controlled by Ror1 and Ror2, as indicated by trypan blue staining patterns. Lack of Mlo enhances transcript accumulation of pathogenesis-related genes upon fungal challenge, and this response is diminished by mutations in Ror genes. Using DNA marker-assisted selection of genotypes, we provide evidence, via gene interaction studies, that Ror1 and Ror2 are not essential components of race-specific resistance and do not compromise hypersensitive cell death. Reciprocal experiments show that neither is Rar1 a component of mlo-controlled resistance nor does it affect spontaneous cell death. We show that mlo- and Ror-dependent resistance is active when challenged with E. g. f sp tritici, a nonhost pathogen of barley. Our observations suggest separate genetic pathways operating in race-specific and non-race-specific resistance; they indicate also a separate genetic control of hypersensitive and spontaneous cell death in foliar tissue.

Identification of Genes Required for the Function of Non-Race-Specific mlo Resistance to Powdery Mildew in Barley.

Recessive alleles (mlo) of the Mlo locus in barley mediate a broad, non-race-specific resistance reaction to the powdery mildew fungus Erysiphe graminis f sp hordei. A mutational approach was used to identify genes that are required for the function of mlo. Six susceptible M2 individuals were isolated after inoculation with the fungal isolate K1 from chemically mutagenized seed carrying the mlo-5 allele. Susceptibility in each of these individuals is due to monogenic, recessively inherited mutations in loci unlinked to mlo. The mutants identify two unlinked complementation groups, designated Ror1 and Ror2 (required for mlo-specified resistance). Both Ror genes are required for the function of different tested mlo alleles and for mlo function after challenge with different isolates of E. g. f sp hordei. A quantitative cytological time course analysis revealed that the host cell penetration efficiency in the mutants is intermediate compared with mlo-resistant and Mlo-susceptible genotypes. Ror1 and Ror2 mutants could be differentiated from each other by the same criterion. The spontaneous formation of cell wall appositions in mlo plants, a subcellular structure believed to represent part of the mlo defense, is suppressed in mlo/ror genotypes. In contrast, accumulation of major structural components in the appositions is seemingly unaltered. We conclude that there is a regulatory function for the Ror genes in mlo-specified resistance and propose a model in which the Mlo wild-type allele functions as a negative regulator and the Ror genes act as positive regulators of a non-race-specific resistance response.