The effects of fasting on acute ischemic infarcts in the rat.

Inflammation is largely detrimental early in the acute phase of stroke but beneficial at more chronic stages. Fasting has been shown to reduce inflammation acutely. This preliminary study aimed to determine whether post-ischemic fasting improves stroke outcomes through attenuated inflammation.

Role of Hydrogen Sulfide in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Hydrogen sulfide (HS), originally known as toxic gas, has now attracted attention as one of the gasotransmitters involved in many reactions in the human body. HS has been assumed to play a role in the pathogenesis of many chronic diseases, of which the exact pathogenesis remains unknown. One of them is inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a chronic intestinal disease subclassified as Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC).

The influence of liver transplantation on the interplay between gut microbiome and bile acid homeostasis in children with biliary atresia.

Background: Biliary atresia (BA) causes neonatal cholestasis and rapidly progresses into cirrhosis if left untreated. Kasai portoenterostomy may delay cirrhosis. BA remains among the most common indications for liver transplantation (LT) during childhood.

Developing a metabolic clearance rate framework as a translational analysis approach for hyperpolarized C magnetic resonance imaging.

Hyperpolarized carbon-13 magnetic resonance imaging is a promising technique for in vivo metabolic interrogation of alterations between health and disease. This study introduces a formalism for quantifying the metabolic information in hyperpolarized imaging. This study investigated a novel perfusion formalism and metabolic clearance rate (MCR) model in pre-clinical stroke and in the healthy human brain.

The relationship between glucose and the liver-alpha cell axis - A systematic review.

Until recently, glucagon was considered a mere antagonist to insulin, protecting the body from hypoglycemia. This notion changed with the discovery of the liver-alpha cell axis (LACA) as a feedback loop. The LACA describes how glucagon secretion and pancreatic alpha cell proliferation are stimulated by circulating amino acids.

Cerebroprotection in the endovascular era: an update.

Despite advances in clinical diagnosis and increasing numbers of patients eligible for revascularisation, ischaemic stroke remains a significant public health concern accounting for 3.3 million deaths annually. In addition to recanalisation therapy, patient outcomes could be improved through cerebroprotection, but all translational attempts have remained unsuccessful.

The Role of Macronutrients in the Pathogenesis, Prevention and Treatment of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in the Paediatric Population-A Review.

Paediatric non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the most common chronic liver disease in childhood. Obesity is the main risk factor. Nutrition and lifestyle are the key elements in preventing and treating NAFLD in the absence of approved drug therapy.

Role of Energy Metabolism and Mitochondrial Function in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic recurring inflammation of the intestine which can be debilitating for those with intractable disease. However, the etiopathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disorders remains to be solved. The hypothesis that mitochondrial dysfunction is a crucial factor in the disease process is being validated by an increasing number of recent studies.

Single Point Insulin Sensitivity Estimator in Pediatric Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Background: Attenuated insulin-sensitivity (IS) is a central feature of pediatric non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We recently developed a new index, single point insulin sensitivity estimator (SPISE), based on triglycerides, high-density-lipoprotein and body-mass-index (BMI), and validated by euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp-test (EHCT) in adolescents. This study aims to assess the performance of SPISE as an estimation of hepatic insulin (in-)sensitivity.

Expression of Oxidative Phosphorylation Complexes and Mitochondrial Mass in Pediatric and Adult Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Introduction: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is a multifactorial intestinal disorder but its precise etiology remains elusive. As the cells of the intestinal mucosa have high energy demands, mitochondria may play a role in IBD pathogenesis. The present study is aimed at evaluating the expression levels of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) complexes in IBD.

The Role of Protein and Fat Intake on Insulin Therapy in Glycaemic Control of Paediatric Type 1 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Research Gaps.

Carbohydrate counting (CHC) is the established form of calculating bolus insulin for meals in children with type 1 diabetes (T1DM). With the widespread use of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) observation time has become gapless. Recently, the impact of fat, protein and not only carbohydrates on prolonged postprandial hyperglycaemia have become more evident to patients and health-care professionals alike.

Human Skin Permeation Enhancement Using PLGA Nanoparticles Is Mediated by Local pH Changes.

The steady improvement and optimization of transdermal permeation is a constant and challenging pharmaceutical task. In this study the influence of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles on the dermal permeation of the anti-inflammatory drug flufenamic acid (FFA) was investigated. For this aim, different vehicles under non-buffered and buffered conditions and different skin models (human heat separated epidermis and reconstructed human epidermis equivalents) were tested.

Age-Related Deterioration of Mitochondrial Function in the Intestine.

Aging is an important and inevitable biological process in human life, associated with the onset of chronic disease and death. The mechanisms behind aging remain unclear. However, changes in mitochondrial function and structure, including reduced activity of the mitochondrial respiratory chain and increased production of reactive oxygen species-thus oxidative damage-are believed to play a major role.

Rapamycin Induces an eNOS (Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase) Dependent Increase in Brain Collateral Perfusion in Wistar and Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats.

Background And Purpose: Rapamycin is a clinically approved mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor that has been shown to be neuroprotective in animal models of stroke. However, the mechanism of rapamycin-induced neuroprotection is still being explored. Our aims were to determine if rapamycin improved leptomeningeal collateral perfusion, to determine if this is through eNOS (endothelial nitric oxide synthase)-mediated vessel dilation and to determine if rapamycin increases immediate postreperfusion blood flow.

Changes in the expression of oxidative phosphorylation complexes in the aging intestinal mucosa.

Objective: Mitochondria produce cellular energy via oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), mediated by respiratory chain complexes I to IV and ATP synthase (complex V). Mitochondrial respiratory complexes have been shown to decline with age in several tissues. As the intestinal epithelium is a tissue with a high energy demand, the aim of the present study was to establish whether the expression profile of OXPHOS subunits in the intestinal mucosa changes during the aging process.

Self-Reported Headaches in Patients with Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms Treated with the Pipeline Embolization Device.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to analyze patients' perceptions of their headaches both before and after Pipeline flow diversion treatment of their unruptured intracranial aneurysms, with the goal of identifying prognostic factors associated with headache patterns to improve predictions of overall outcomes.

Methods: We retrospectively identified 133 patients treated with the Pipeline embolization device (PED) between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2016, at an academic institution in the United States. Patients with at least 6 months of clinical follow-up, who had completed a validated telephone survey assessing their headache perceptions before and after treatment of their UIAs, were included.

Defining a Clopidogrel Response Cut-Off Value Using Light Transmission Aggregometry Before Pipeline Embolization of Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms.

Background: The choice of appropriate antiplatelet therapy before the Pipeline Embolization Device (PED) placement is usually guided by platelet function testing such as light transmission aggregometry (LTA). In this study, we aimed to define the optimal threshold LTA value for clopidogrel responsiveness to predict the risk of postprocedural thromboembolic complications and to help guide appropriate antiplatelet regimen.

Methods: A prospectively maintained database at an academic neurosurgical center in the United States was retrospectively analyzed from 2014 to 2017 to identify patients with unruptured intracranial aneurysms treated with the PED.

Neurosurgical Resident Error: A Survey of U.S. Neurosurgery Residency Training Program Directors' Perceptions.

Background: Efforts to address resident errors and to enhance patient safety have included systemic reforms, such as the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's (ACGME's) mandated duty-hour restrictions, and specialty-specific initiatives such as the neurosurgery Milestone Project. However, there is currently little data describing the basis for these errors or outlining trends in neurosurgical resident error.

Methods: An online questionnaire was distributed to program directors of 108 U.

Somatic retrotransposition is infrequent in glioblastomas.

Background: Gliomas are the most common primary brain tumors in adults. We sought to understand the roles of endogenous transposable elements in these malignancies by identifying evidence of somatic retrotransposition in glioblastomas (GBM). We performed transposon insertion profiling of the active subfamily of Long INterspersed Element-1 (LINE-1) elements by deep sequencing (TIPseq) on genomic DNA of low passage oncosphere cell lines derived from 7 primary GBM biopsies, 3 secondary GBM tissue samples, and matched normal intravenous blood samples from the same individuals.

Structure and properties of the esterase from non-LTR retrotransposons suggest a role for lipids in retrotransposition.

Non-LTR retrotransposons are mobile genetic elements and play a major role in eukaryotic genome evolution and disease. Similar to retroviruses they encode a reverse transcriptase, but their genomic integration mechanism is fundamentally different, and they lack homologs of the retroviral nucleocapsid-forming protein Gag. Instead, their first open reading frames encode distinct multi-domain proteins (ORF1ps) presumed to package the retrotransposon-encoded RNA into ribonucleoprotein particles (RNPs).