Examining the complex Interplay between gut microbiota abundance and short-chain fatty acid production in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients shortly after onset of disease.

This study aimed to assess differences in the enteral microbiome of relatively recent-onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients (< 6-15 months since symptom onset) compared to healthy individuals, focusing on short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) as potential mediators of host metabolism. We included 28 volunteers (16 ALS, 12 controls) with informed consent. No significant effect of ALS on alpha diversity (measuring the variety and abundance of species within a single sample, and indicating the health and complexity of the microbiome) was observed, but ALS patients had higher abundances of Fusobacteria and Acidobacteria.

Quantifying the role of photoacclimation and self-facilitation for seagrass resilience to light deprivation.

Introduction: Light gradients are ubiquitous in marine systems as light reduces exponentially with depth. Seagrasses have a set of mechanisms that help them to cope with light stress gradients. Physiological photoacclimation and clonal integration help to maximize light capture and minimize carbon losses.

Understanding the depth limit of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa as a critical transition: Field and modeling evidence.

Changes in light and sediment conditions can sometimes trigger abrupt regime shifts in seagrass meadows resulting in dramatic and unexpected die-offs of seagrass. Light attenuates rapidly with depth, and in seagrass systems with non-linear behaviours, can serve as a sharp boundary beyond which the meadow transitions to bare sand. Determining system behaviour is therefore essential to ensuring resilience is maintained and to prevent stubborn critical ecosystem transitions caused by declines in water quality.

Activating cannabinoid receptor 2 preserves axonal health through GSK-3β/NRF2 axis in adrenoleukodystrophy.

Aberrant endocannabinoid signaling accompanies several neurodegenerative disorders, including multiple sclerosis. Here, we report altered endocannabinoid signaling in X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD), a rare neurometabolic demyelinating syndrome caused by malfunction of the peroxisomal ABCD1 transporter, resulting in the accumulation of very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs). We found abnormal levels of cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2r) and related endocannabinoid enzymes in the brain and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of X-ALD patients and in the spinal cord of a murine model of X-ALD.

An integrated assessment of the Good Environmental Status of Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas.

Local, regional and global targets have been set to halt marine biodiversity loss. Europe has set its own policy targets to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) of marine ecosystems by implementing the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) across member states. We combined an extensive dataset across five Mediterranean ecoregions including 26 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), their reference unprotected areas, and a no-trawl case study.

Sublethal effects of a rapidly spreading native alga on a key herbivore.

Multiple anthropogenic stressors are causing a global decline in foundation species, including macrophytes, often resulting in the expansion of functionally different, more stressor-tolerant macrophytes. Previously subdominant species may experience further positive demographic feedback if they are exposed to weaker plant-herbivore interactions, possibly via decreased palatability or being structurally different from the species they are replacing. However, the consequences of the spread of opportunistic macrophytes for the local distribution and life history of herbivores are unknown.

Nuclear lipidome is altered in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A pilot study.

Nucleocytosolic transport, a membrane process, is impaired in motor neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This study analyzes the nuclear lipidome in motor neurons in ALS and examines molecular pathways linked to the major lipid alterations. Nuclei were obtained from the frozen anterior horn of the lumbar spinal cord of ALS patients and age-matched controls.

Impairment of Mitochondrial Redox Status in Peripheral Lymphocytes of Multiple Sclerosis Patients.

Literature suggests that oxidative stress (OS) may be involved in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), in which the immune system is known to play a key role. However, to date, the OS in peripheral lymphocytes and its contribution to the disease remain unknown. The aim of the present study was to explore the influence of OS in peripheral lymphocytes of MS patients.

Consumptive and non-consumptive effects of predators vary with the ontogeny of their prey.

Predators exert a strong influence on ecological communities by reducing the abundance of prey (consumptive effects) and shaping their foraging behavior (non-consumptive effects). Although the prevalence of trophic cascades triggered by non-consumptive effects is increasingly recognized in a wide range of ecosystems, how its relative strength changes as prey individuals grow in size along various life stages remains poorly resolved. We investigated how the effects of predators vary with the ontogeny of a key herbivorous sea urchin, which is responsible for transforming diverse macroalgal forests to a barren state dominated by bare rock and encrusting coralline algae.

The richness of small pockets: Decapod species peak in small seagrass patches where fish predators are absent.

Patchy landscapes behave differently from continuous ones. Patch size can influence species behaviour, movement, feeding and predation rates, with flow-on consequences for the diversity of species that inhabit these patches. To understand the importance of patchiness on regional species pools, we measured decapod richness and abundance in several seagrass patches with contrasting sizes.

Cryptic exon splicing function of TARDBP interacts with autophagy in nervous tissue.

Unlabelled: TARDBP (TAR DNA binding protein) is one of the components of neuronal aggregates in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. We have developed a simple quantitative method to evaluate TARDBP splicing function that was applied to spinal cord, brainstem, motor cortex, and occipital cortex in ALS (n = 8) cases compared to age- and gender-matched control (n = 17). Then, we quantified the abundance of a TARDBP-spliced cryptic exon present in ATG4B (autophagy related 4B cysteine peptidase) mRNA.

Contrasting effects of ocean warming on different components of plant-herbivore interactions.

There is increasing uncertainty of how marine ecosystems will respond to rising temperatures. While studies have focused on the impacts of warming on individual species, knowledge of how species interactions are likely to respond is scant. The strength of even simple two-species interactions is influenced by several interacting mechanisms, each potentially changing with temperature.

Immanent conditions determine imminent collapses: nutrient regimes define the resilience of macroalgal communities.

Predicting where state-changing thresholds lie can be inherently complex in ecosystems characterized by nonlinear dynamics. Unpacking the mechanisms underlying these transitions can help considerably reduce this unpredictability. We used empirical observations, field and laboratory experiments, and mathematical models to examine how differences in nutrient regimes mediate the capacity of macrophyte communities to sustain sea urchin grazing.

Adipocyte lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP) is linked to a specific lipidomic signature.

Objective: Lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP) is part of a family of structurally and functionally related lipid transfer proteins. This study aimed to investigate the associations of LBP with the lipid composition of human adipose tissue.

Methods: Lipidomic analysis was performed in whole adipose tissue.

Interplay between TDP-43 and docosahexaenoic acid-related processes in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Background: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a key lipid in nervous system homeostasis, is depleted in the spinal cord of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (sALS) patients. However, the basis for such loss was unknown.

Methods: DHA synthetic machinery was evaluated in spinal cord samples from ALS patients and controls by immunohistochemistry and western blot.

Early and gender-specific differences in spinal cord mitochondrial function and oxidative stress markers in a mouse model of ALS.

Introduction: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a motor neuron disease with a gender bias towards major prevalence in male individuals. Several data suggest the involvement of oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in its pathogenesis, though differences between genders have not been evaluated. For this reason, we analysed features of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism, as well as mitochondrial chain complex enzyme activities and protein expression, lipid profile, and protein oxidative stress markers, in the Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase with the G93A mutation (hSOD1-G93A)- transgenic mice and Neuro2A(N2A) cells overexpressing hSOD1-G93A.

Do primary health centres and hospitals contribute equally towards achievement of the transversal clinical competencies of medical students? Performance on the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in competency acquisition.

Objectives: The adaptation of the educational programmes of European faculties of medicine to the European Higher Education Area guidelines has focused curricula design on competence acquisition. Competencies are defined as the achievements of a predetermined level of efficacy in real-world scenarios. Our objective was to assess whether performance on a common competence evaluation test, the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), resulted in different scores for second-year students after a practical medical training course took place in a primary health centre (PHC) or in a hospital.

Tor1, Sch9 and PKA downregulation in quiescence rely on Mtl1 to preserve mitochondrial integrity and cell survival.

Here we show that Mtl1, member of the cell wall integrity pathway of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, plays a positive role in chronological life span (CLS). The absence of Mtl1 shortens CLS and causes impairment in the mitochondrial function. This is reflected in a descent in oxygen consumption during the postdiauxic state, an increase in the uncoupled respiration and mitochondrial membrane potential and also a descent in aconitase activity.

Dietary lipid unsaturation influences survival and oxidative modifications of an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis model in a gender-specific manner.

The implication of lipid peroxidation in neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) derive from high abundance of peroxidation-prone polyunsaturated fatty acids in central nervous system and its relatively low antioxidant content. In the present work, we evaluated the effect of dietary changes aimed to modify fatty acid tissular composition in survival, disease onset, protein, and DNA oxidative modifications in the hSODG93A transgenic mice, a model of this motor neuron disease. Both survival and clinical evolution is dependent on dietary fatty acid unsaturation and gender, with high unsaturated diet, leading to loss of the disease-sparing effect of feminine gender.