The unexpected long period of elevated CH emissions from an inundated fen meadow ended only with the occurrence of cattail (Typha latifolia).

Drainage and agricultural use transform natural peatlands from a net carbon (C) sink to a net C source. Rewetting of peatlands, despite of high methane (CH ) emissions, holds the potential to mitigate climate change by greatly reducing CO emissions. However, the time span for this transition is unknown because most studies are limited to a few years.

Resting brain perfusion and selected vascular risk factors in healthy elderly subjects.

Background And Purpose: Both cerebral hypoperfusion and vascular risk factors have been implicated in early aging of the brain and the development of neurodegenerative disease. However, the current knowledge of the importance of cardiovascular health on resting brain perfusion is limited. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the relation between brain perfusion variability and risk factors of endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis in healthy aged subjects.

Bedside monitoring of ventilation distribution and alveolar inflammation in community-acquired pneumonia.

It is unclear whether bedside monitoring tools such as exhaled nitric oxide measurements (FENO) and electrical impedance tomography (EIT) could help guiding patient management in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). We hypothesized that exhaled NO would be increased in CAP patients and could be used to assess resolution of inflammation in the course of CAP therapy. Feasibility of multiple-breath (mb) and single-breath (sb) approach has been investigated.

Relationship between cardiac function and resting cerebral blood flow: MRI measurements in healthy elderly subjects.

Although both impaired cardiac function and reduced cerebral blood flow are associated with ageing, current knowledge of the influence of cardiac function on resting cerebral blood flow (CBF) is limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential effects of cardiac function on CBF. CBF and cardiac output were measured in 31 healthy subjects 50-75 years old using magnetic resonance imaging techniques.

Cognitive functions in middle aged individuals are related to metabolic disturbances and aerobic capacity: a cross-sectional study.

Aims: Metabolic disturbances may contribute to cognitive dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes. We investigated the relation between cognitive impairment and metabolic deteriorations, low physical fitness, low-grade inflammation and abdominal obesity in middle aged individuals.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study including 40 to 65 year-old patients with type 2 diabetes and limited co morbidity (N = 56), age-matched individuals with impaired glucose tolerance (N = 56) as well as age-matched controls with normal glucose tolerance (N = 72).

IL-6, but not TNF-α, increases plasma YKL-40 in human subjects.

Plasma levels of YKL-40 are elevated in patients with systemic infection, inflammatory disorders and cancer. Both monocytes/macrophages, neutrophils, and cancer cells have the capacity to produce YKL-40, but the regulation during the inflammatory response is unknown. To study the possible role of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in the regulation of YKL-40 plasma levels, we included healthy men, who received either recombinant human (rh)IL-6 (n=6), rhTNF-α (n=8) or vehicle (n=7) for 3h.

Cerebral FDG-PET scanning abnormalities in optimally treated HIV patients.

Background: The long-term neurological consequences of HIV infection and treatment are not yet completely understood. In this study we examined the prevalence of cerebral metabolic abnormalities among a cohort of neurologically intact HIV patients with fully suppressed HIV viral loads. Concomitant analyses of circulating brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were performed to correlate these abnormalities with potential signs of neuro-regenerating/protective activity, and concomitant analyses of circulating tumour necrosis factor (TNF) alpha, interleukin (IL) 6, and soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) were performed to correlate these abnormalities with potential signs of neurodegenerative processes.

Commonly studied polymorphisms in inflammatory cytokine genes show only minor effects on mortality and related risk factors in nonagenarians.

Systemic low-grade inflammation is consistently associated with functional status, cognitive functioning, multimorbidity, and survival in oldest olds. If inflammation is either a cause or a consequence of age-related pathology, genetic determinants of late-life survival can reside in cytokine genes polymorphisms, regulating inflammatory responses. The aim of this study was to test associations between commonly studied polymorphisms in interleukin (IL)6, IL10, IL15, and IL18, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha genes and late-life survival in a longitudinal cohort of nonagenarians: the Danish 1905 cohort.

Role of exercise-induced brain-derived neurotrophic factor production in the regulation of energy homeostasis in mammals.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been shown to regulate neuronal development and plasticity and plays a role in learning and memory. Moreover, it is well established that BDNF plays a role in the hypothalamic pathway that controls body weight and energy homeostasis. Recent evidence identifies BDNF as a player not only in central metabolism, but also in regulating energy metabolism in peripheral organs.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor predicts mortality risk in older women.

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that low circulating brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a secretory member of the neurotrophin family that has a protective role in neurodegeneration and stress responses and a regulatory role in metabolism, predicts risk of all-cause mortality in 85-year-old men and women.

Design: Longitudinal study with 50- to 58-month follow-up.

Setting: The 1914 cohort, a population-based cohort established in 1964 by the Research Center for Prevention and Health at Glostrup Hospital.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor is produced by skeletal muscle cells in response to contraction and enhances fat oxidation via activation of AMP-activated protein kinase.

Aims/hypothesis: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is produced in skeletal muscle, but its functional significance is unknown. We aimed to determine the signalling processes and metabolic actions of BDNF.

Methods: We first examined whether exercise induced BDNF expression in humans.

Prognostic impact of hs-CRP and IL-6 in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation treated with electrical cardioversion.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the role of inflammatory processes in the development of atrial fibrillation (AF) and the prognostic impact of inflammatory markers in predicting long-term risk of AF recurrence after electrical cardioversion (CV).

Methods: High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured in 56 patients with persistent AF (lasting mean 128 days (range 14-960), mean age 65 years (34-84)), 19 healthy volunteers and 19 patients with permanent AF. Patients with persistent AF underwent CV.

Human endotoxemia as a model of systemic inflammation.

Systemic inflammation is a pathogenetic component in a vast number of acute and chronic diseases such as sepsis, trauma, type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, and Alzheimer's disease, all of which are associated with a substantial morbidity and mortality. However, the molecular mechanisms and physiological significance of the systemic inflammatory response are still not fully understood. The human endotoxin model, an in vivo model of systemic inflammation in which lipopolysaccharide is injected or infused intravenously in healthy volunteers, may be helpful in unravelling these issues.

Common studied polymorphisms do not affect plasma cytokine levels upon endotoxin exposure in humans.

The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in promoter regions of genes of Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-18, interferon (IFN)-gamma, IL-6 and IL-10 affect the cytokine response during a controlled low-grade inflammatory response in vivo. Two hundred healthy young male volunteers were genotyped, and cytokine levels were measured in response to a low-dose intravenous bolus of Escherichia coli endotoxin. No association was detected between SNPs (TLR-4299, TLR-4399, TNF-308, IL-18-137, IL-18-607, IFN-gamma+874, IL-6-174, IL-10-592 and IL-10-1082) and endotoxin-induced changes in plasma levels of TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL-10.

Atypical early-onset Alzheimer's disease caused by the Iranian APP mutation.

Background: Approximately 1% of all cases of Alzheimer's disease are inherited autosomal dominantly, and to date, three causative genes have been found, the Presenilin 1 (PSEN1) gene, the Presenilin 2 (PSEN2) gene and the Amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene. We describe atypical phenotypic features in a family with a pathogenic APP gene mutation and discuss possible explanations for these atypical features.

Methods And Results: We report a family with a history of dementia compatible with autosomal dominant transmission.

Genetic priming of a proinflammatory profile predicts low IQ in octogenarians.

The purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within interleukin (IL)-18, TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL-10 gene promoter regions are risk factors for cognitive decline in healthy octogenarians, and to isolate the strongest inflammatory biomarkers of cognitive function in the peripheral blood. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale was administered to 112 individuals at ages 80 and 85. An IL-18 haplotype was an independent risk factor of poor Performance IQ.

Cholinergic status modulations in human volunteers under acute inflammation.

Cholinergic Status, the total soluble circulation capacity for acetylcholine hydrolysis, was tested for putative involvement in individual variabilities of the recruitment of immune cells in response to endotoxin challenge. Young (average age 26) and elderly (average age 70) volunteers injected with either Escherichia coli endotoxin or saline on two different occasions were first designated Enhancers and Suppressors if they showed increase or decrease, respectively, in plasma acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity 1.5 h after endotoxin administration compared to saline.

The apolipoprotein E epsilon4-allele and antihypertensive treatment are associated with increased risk of cerebral MRI white matter hyperintensities.

Objective: Apolipoprotein E-epsilon4 (APOE-epsilon4) is a potential risk factor for cerebral vascular disease. The aim of the present study was to examine the relative importance of APOE-epsilon4 and other relevant risk factors for the extent of cerebral white matter hyperintensity (WMH) in a community-based sample of elderly subjects.

Materials And Methods: From a cohort of 976 subjects born in 1914, APOE genotype was determined and MRI examinations were carried out in 75 subjects.

Human models of low-grade inflammation: bolus versus continuous infusion of endotoxin.

Systemic low-grade inflammation is recognized in an increasing number of chronic diseases. With the aim of establishing an experimental human in vivo model of systemic low-grade inflammation, we measured circulating inflammatory mediators after intravenous administration of Escherichia coli endotoxin (0.3 ng/kg of body weight) either as a bolus injection or as a 4-h continuous intravenous infusion, as well as after saline administration, in 10 healthy male subjects on three separate study days.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and type 2 diabetes.

Aims/hypothesis: Decreased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and depression. These disorders are associated with type 2 diabetes, and animal models suggest that BDNF plays a role in insulin resistance. We therefore explored whether BDNF plays a role in human glucose metabolism.

Structural brain abnormalities in early onset first-episode psychosis.

Background: Brain morphometry in children and adolescents with first-episode psychosis offer a unique opportunity for pathogenetic investigations.

Methods: We compared high-resolution 3D T1-weighted magnetic resonance images of the brain in 29 patients (schizophrenia, schizotypal disorder, delusional disorder or other non-organic psychosis), aged 10-18 to those of 29 matched controls, using optimized voxel-based morphometry.

Results: Psychotic patients had frontal white matter abnormalities, but expected (regional) gray matter reductions were not observed.

Motor activation in SPG4-linked hereditary spastic paraplegia.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the extent of motor cortical functional reorganisation in patients with SPG4-linked hereditary spastic paraplegia by exploring cortical motor activation related to movements of clinically affected (lower) and unaffected (upper) limbs.

Methods: Thirteen patients and 13 normal controls matched for age, gender and handedness underwent O15-labelled water positron emission tomography during (1) right ankle flexion-extension, (2) right shoulder flexion-extension and (3) rest. Within-group comparisons of movement vs.

Increased intracranial volume in Parkinson's disease.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA) are neurodegenerative diseases that can be difficult to diagnose and distinguish from each other. STUDY AIMS AND METHODS: Patients with PD and MSA and controls were studied with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using tissue segmentation and outlining of regions in order to identify regional volume changes that might be useful in the diagnosis of the two diseases.

Results: Patients with PD had significantly larger intracranial volumes (ICVs) and significantly smaller putaminal and sustantia nigra volumes than controls.