Initiating or changing to a fixed-dose combination of Fluticasone propionate/Formoterol over Fluticasone propionate/Salmeterol: A real-life effectiveness and cost impact evaluation.

Objective: Asthma has a substantial impact on quality of life and health care resources. The identification of a more cost-effective, yet equally efficacious, treatment could positively influence the economic burden of this disease. Fluticasone propionate/Formoterol (FP/FOR) may be as effective as Fluticasone Salmeterol (FP/SAL).

Effects of down-regulating ornithine decarboxylase upon putrescine-associated metabolism and growth in Nicotiana tabacum L.

Transgenic plants of Nicotiana tabacum L. homozygous for an RNAi construct designed to silence ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) had significantly lower concentrations of nicotine and nornicotine, but significantly higher concentrations of anatabine, compared with vector-only controls. Silencing of ODC also led to significantly reduced concentrations of polyamines (putrescine, spermidine and spermine), tyramine and phenolamides (caffeoylputrescine and dicaffeoylspermidine) with concomitant increases in concentrations of amino acids ornithine, arginine, aspartate, glutamate and glutamine.

Metabolic consequences of knocking out UGT85B1, the gene encoding the glucosyltransferase required for synthesis of dhurrin in Sorghum bicolor (L. Moench).

Many important food crops produce cyanogenic glucosides as natural defense compounds to protect against herbivory or pathogen attack. It has also been suggested that these nitrogen-based secondary metabolites act as storage reserves of nitrogen. In sorghum, three key genes, CYP79A1, CYP71E1 and UGT85B1, encode two Cytochrome P450s and a glycosyltransferase, respectively, the enzymes essential for synthesis of the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin.

Alkaloid production and capacity for methyljasmonate induction by hairy roots of two species in Tribe Anthocercideae, family Solanaceae.

In addition to producing medicinally important tropane alkaloids, some species in the mainly Australian Solanaceous tribe Anthocercideae, sister to genus Nicotiana, are known to also contain substantial levels of the pyridine alkaloids nicotine and nornicotine. Here, we demonstrate that axenic hairy root cultures of two tribe Anthocercideae species, Cyphanthera tasmanica Miers and Anthocercis ilicifolia ssp. ilicifolia Hook, contain considerable amounts of both nicotine and nornicotine (~0.

Increased biomass, seed yield and stress tolerance is conferred in Arabidopsis by a novel enzyme from the resurrection grass Sporobolus stapfianus that glycosylates the strigolactone analogue GR24.

Isolation of gene transcripts from desiccated leaf tissues of the resurrection grass, Sporobolus stapfianus, resulted in the identification of a gene, SDG8i, encoding a Group 1 glycosyltransferase (UGT). Here, we examine the effects of introducing this gene, under control of the CaMV35S promoter, into the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Results show that Arabidopsis plants constitutively over-expressing SDG8i exhibit enhanced growth, reduced senescence, cold tolerance and a substantial improvement in protoplasmic drought tolerance.

Effects of PEG-induced osmotic stress on growth and dhurrin levels of forage sorghum.

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is a valuable forage crop in regions with low soil moisture. Sorghum may accumulate high concentrations of the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin when drought stressed resulting in possible cyanide (HCN) intoxication of grazing animals.

The yield of essential oils in Melaleuca alternifolia (Myrtaceae) is regulated through transcript abundance of genes in the MEP pathway.

Medicinal tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) leaves contain large amounts of an essential oil, dominated by monoterpenes. Several enzymes of the chloroplastic methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway are hypothesised to act as bottlenecks to the production of monoterpenes. We investigated, whether transcript abundance of genes encoding for enzymes of the MEP pathway were correlated with foliar terpenes in M.

The effect of plant tissue and vaccine formulation on the oral immunogenicity of a model plant-made antigen in sheep.

Antigen-specific antibody responses against a model antigen (the B subunit of the heat labile toxin of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, LTB) were studied in sheep following oral immunisation with plant-made and delivered vaccines. Delivery from a root-based vehicle resulted in antigen-specific immune responses in mucosal secretions of the abomasum and small intestine and mesenteric lymph nodes. Immune responses from the corresponding leaf-based vaccine were more robust and included stimulation of antigen-specific antibodies in mucosal secretions of the abomasum.

RNAi-mediated down-regulation of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) impedes wound-stress stimulation of anabasine synthesis in Nicotiana glauca.

Unlike most Nicotiana species, leaf tissues of the globally significant weed Nicotiana glauca Grah. (Argentinian tree tobacco) contains anabasine as the main component of its alkaloid pool, with concentrations typically increasing several fold in response to wounding of plants. The Δ(1)-piperidinium ring of anabasine is synthesised from cadaverine, via the decarboxylation of lysine, however the identity of the protein catalysing this reaction remains unknown.

An interspecific Nicotiana hybrid as a useful and cost-effective platform for production of animal vaccines.

The use of transgenic plants to produce novel products has great biotechnological potential as the relatively inexpensive inputs of light, water, and nutrients are utilised in return for potentially valuable bioactive metabolites, diagnostic proteins and vaccines. Extensive research is ongoing in this area internationally with the aim of producing plant-made vaccines of importance for both animals and humans. Vaccine purification is generally regarded as being integral to the preparation of safe and effective vaccines for use in humans.

Use of the wound-inducible NtQPT2 promoter from Nicotiana tabacum for production of a plant-made vaccine.

The wound-inducible quinolinate phosphoribosyl transferase promoter from Nicotiana tabacum (NtQPT2) was assessed for its capacity to produce B-subunit of the heat-labile toxin (LTB) from enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in transgenic plant tissues. Comparisons were made with the widely used and constitutive Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S (CaMV35S) promoter. The NtQPT2 promoter produced somewhat lower average concentrations of LTB protein per unit weight of hairy root tissue but allowed better growth thereby producing similar or higher overall average yields of LTB per culture batch.

A combined biochemical screen and TILLING approach identifies mutations in Sorghum bicolor L. Moench resulting in acyanogenic forage production.

Cyanogenic glucosides are present in several crop plants and can pose a significant problem for human and animal consumption, because of their ability to release toxic hydrogen cyanide. Sorghum bicolor L. contains the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin.

The release and induced immune responses of a plant-made and delivered antigen in the mouse gut.

This study investigated the site of release of a model vaccine antigen from plant cells and the corresponding induced immune response. Three plant tissues (leaf, fruit and hairy root) and two formulations (aqueous and lipid) were compared in two mouse trials. A developed technique that enabled detection of antigen release by plant cells determined that antigen release occurred at early sites of the gastrointestinal tract when delivered in leaf material and at later sites when delivered in hairy roots.

Hairy roots cultures from different Solanaceous species have varying capacities to produce E. coli B-subunit heat-labile toxin antigen.

The gene encoding enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli B-subunit heat-labile toxin (LTB) antigen was co-transformed into hairy root cultures of Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco), Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) and Petunia parodii (petunia) under the CaMV35S promoter. Tobacco and petunia roots contained ~65-70 μg LTB g(-1) tissue whilst hairy roots of tomato contained ~10 μg LTB g(-1). Antigen at ~600 ng ml(-1) was detected in growth medium of tobacco and petunia.

APETALA2/ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR and basic helix-loop-helix tobacco transcription factors cooperatively mediate jasmonate-elicited nicotine biosynthesis.

Transcription factors of the plant-specific apetala2/ethylene response factor (AP2/ERF) family control plant secondary metabolism, often as part of signalling cascades induced by jasmonate (JA) or other elicitors. Here, we functionally characterized the JA-inducible tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) AP2/ERF factor ORC1, one of the members of the NIC2-locus ERFs that control nicotine biosynthesis and a close homologue of ORCA3, a transcriptional activator of alkaloid biosynthesis in Catharanthus roseus. ORC1 positively regulated the transcription of several structural genes coding for the enzymes involved in nicotine biosynthesis.

RNAi-mediated down-regulation of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) leads to reduced nicotine and increased anatabine levels in transgenic Nicotiana tabacum L.

In leaf and root tissues of Nicotiana tabacum L. (common tobacco), nicotine is by far the predominant pyridine alkaloid, with anatabine representing only a minor component of the total alkaloid fraction. The pyrrolidine ring of nicotine is derived from the diamine putrescine, which can be synthesized either directly from ornithine via the action of ODC, or from arginine via a three enzymatic step process, initiated by ADC.

Sporobolus stapfianus, a model desiccation-tolerant grass.

Sporobolus stapfianus Gandoger, one of ~40 known 'anabiotic'grass species (i.e. 'able to regain vital activity from a state of latent life'), is the most versatile tool for research into desiccation tolerance in vegetative grass tissue.

The A622 gene in Nicotiana glauca (tree tobacco): evidence for a functional role in pyridine alkaloid synthesis.

Nicotiana glauca (Argentinean tree tobacco) is atypical within the genus Nicotiana, accumulating predominantly anabasine rather than nicotine and/or nornicotine as the main component of its leaf pyridine alkaloid fraction. The current study examines the role of the A622 gene from N. glauca (NgA622) in alkaloid production and utilises an RNAi approach to down-regulate gene expression and diminish levels of A622 protein in transgenic tissues.

Albuterol and exercise effects on ankle extensor strength during 40 days of unloading.

Introduction: In-flight ankle extensor (AEXT) strength losses are an impediment to long-term space travel. The current study examines if albuterol helps resistance exercise (RE) abate AEXT strength loss incurred over a 40-d unloading period.

Methods: All subjects (21 men, M; 15 women, W) performed unilateral limb suspension (ULLS) and exercised on a flywheel ergometer (FERG) with their otherwise unloaded AEXT.

Temporal strength changes from resistance exercise and albuterol on unloaded muscle.

To assess unloaded knee extensor temporal strength changes, healthy subjects without asthma performed 40 continuous days of unilateral limb suspension, whereby their left leg refrained from normal weight-bearing and ambulatory activity. During the 40-day period, subjects performed resistance exercise (REX) with their unloaded leg on an inertial resistance ergometer and, as part of a double-blind design, consumed the maximal oral therapeutic dosage of albuterol (i.e.

Desiccation-tolerance specific gene expression in leaf tissue of the resurrection plant Sporobolus stapfianus.

The desiccation tolerant grass Sporobolus stapfianus Gandoger can modulate cellular processes to prevent the imposition of irreversible damage to cellular components by water deficit. The cellular processes conferring this ability are rapidly attenuated by increased water availability. This resurrection plant can quickly restore normal metabolism.

Antisense-mediated reduction in ADC activity causes minor alterations in the alkaloid profile of cultured hairy roots and regenerated transgenic plants of Nicotiana tabacum.

In species of the genus Nicotiana, as in most plants, the important polyamine precursor putrescine can be derived from the amino acids ornithine and/or arginine via the activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and/or arginine decarboxylase (ADC), respectively. Nicotiana species also utilize putrescine to provide the pyrollidine ring of the defensive alkaloid nicotine and its derivatives. Previous biochemical studies, involving callus tissues cultured in vitro, suggested that the ADC-mediated route to putrescine is used preferentially to provide the putrescine that is utilized for nicotine synthesis in N.

A comparison of isoload and isoinertial leg press training on bone and muscle outcomes.

The subjects of this study (n = 20; 16 women, 4 men) performed 10 weeks of leg press training using one of two exercise modes (isoload or isotonic) with no crossover. Their workouts, which were performed 3 times per week, involved 4 sets of 8 repetitions with maximal voluntary effort. Testing was performed pre- and posttraining to examine bone and muscle changes.