The Role of Water-Soluble Vitamins and Vitamin D in Prevention and Treatment of Depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder in Adults.

Depression is a major global health concern expected to worsen by 2030. In 2019, 28 million individuals were affected by depressive disorders. Dietary and supplemental vitamins show overall favorable preventative and therapeutic effects on depression.

Suitability of FTIR to distinguish pure cultures of problematic mould species from closely related species in the meat industry.

Aims: The aim of the study was to apply Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) as a rapid screening method for moulds in a specific food production environment (cured meat) and to evaluate whether the method was sufficiently accurate to distinguish Penicillium species that constitute a hazard for the food quality and safety (Penicillium solitum and Penicillium nordicum) from closely related species.

Methods And Results: FTIR was applied to classify the indigenous mycobiota of two production sites for dried and cured meat products in Norway. Results showed that FTIR was suitable to analyse large amounts of data.

Etiology and attitudes: beliefs about the origins of homosexuality and their implications for public policy.

Using survey data from the 2008 election cycle, this article updates and extends analysis of public attitudes regarding various aspects of homosexuality. Continued expansion of public belief in a biological root to homosexuality is found, and variations in such opinions are explored. Public attitudes toward the emerging issue of gay adoption is also examined, finding both similarities with and important differences from attitudes toward same-sex civil unions, although both are profoundly influenced by underlying attitudes regarding the causes of homosexuality.

Anthropometric correlates of basketball free-throw shootings by young girls.

The purpose of this analysis of data from a larger investigation was to assess effects of anthropometric factors on free throw shooting performance of 15 girls from Michigan and 18 from Puerto Rico. Subjects performed 60 free throws (10 trials x 3 ball sizes x 2 basket heights). Correlations were low, with two exceptions, .

Identification of amino acid residues associated with modulation of flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO) activity by imipramine: structure/function studies with FMO1 from pig and rabbit.

The activity of the flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO) can be modulated by a number of nitrogen-containing compounds in a manner that is both isoform and modulator-dependent. We now show that the direction (activation or inhibition) and extent of modulation can also be dependent on substrate concentration. Imipramine activates methimazole metabolism catalyzed by rabbit FMO1 or FMO2 at methimazole concentrations greater than 50 or 100 microM, respectively, and inhibits at lower methimazole concentrations.

Quantitation and kinetic properties of hepatic microsomal and recombinant flavin-containing monooxygenases 3 and 5 from humans.

Variable amounts of flavin-containing monooxygenase isoforms 3 and 5 (FMO3 and FMO5) are present in microsomal preparations from adult, male, human liver. Quantitation with monospecific antibodies and recombinant isoforms as standards showed levels of FMO3 and of FMO5 that ranged from 12.5 to 117 and 3.

Oxidation of cysteine S-conjugates by rabbit liver microsomes and cDNA-expressed flavin-containing mono-oxygenases: studies with S-(1,2-dichlorovinyl)-L-cysteine, S-(1,2,2-trichlorovinyl)-L-cysteine, S-allyl-L-cysteine, and S-benzyl-L-cysteine.

Rabbit liver microsomes catalyzed the highly stereoselective, NADPH- and time-dependent S-oxidation of S-benzyl-L-cysteine (SBC), S-allyl-L-cysteine (SAC), S-(1,2-dichlorovinyl)-L-cysteine (DCVC), and S-(1,2,2-trichlorovinyl)-L-cysteine (TCVC) to their respective sulfoxides. Methimazole, a flavin-containing mono-oxygenase (FMO) substrate, inhibited S-oxidation of all four conjugates. The cytochrome P450 inhibitor 1-benzylimidazole did not affect SAC, SBC, or DCVC S-oxidation but inhibited the S-oxidation of TCVC.

Characterization of the methionine S-oxidase activity of rat liver and kidney microsomes: immunochemical and kinetic evidence for FMO3 being the major catalyst.

Methionine is oxidized to methionine sulfoxide by rat liver and kidney microsomes in an O2- and NADPH-dependent manner. In all microsomal assays, no methionine sulfone was detected. Use of a monoclonal antibody to rat liver cytochrome P-450 reductase, various cytochrome P-450 and peroxidase inhibitors, antioxidants, and competitive flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO) substrates suggested that methionine sulfoxidation was exclusively mediated by FMOs.

Expression of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes in cultured rat tracheal epithelial cells.

Rat tracheal epithelial (RTE) cells were cultured on membrane support with and without retinoic acid (RA). In early (6-day-old) cultures, the epithelium is a monolayer or bilayer of undifferentiated cells and secretes little mucuslike product either in the absence or presence of RA. In late (12- to 15-day-old) cultures, the epithelium differentiates as a mucociliary epithelium in the presence of RA and as a squamous epithelium in the absence of RA.

Characterization of flavin-containing monooxygenase 5 (FMO5) cloned from human and guinea pig: evidence that the unique catalytic properties of FMO5 are not confined to the rabbit ortholog.

Several full-length clones encoding the human and guinea pig orthologs of flavin-containing monooxygenase 5 (FMO5) have been isolated from libraries constructed with hepatic mRNA. The clones were detected by hybridization with the cDNA encoding FMO5 expressed in rabbit. The human and guinea pig cDNAs encode for proteins of 533 amino acids that contain putative pyrophosphate binding domains characteristic of mammalian FMOs.

Detection of antibodies to avian leukosis/sarcoma viruses and reticuloendotheliosis viruses in humans by western blot assay.

Serologic evidence of antibodies in humans to avian leukosis/sarcoma viruses (ALSV) and reticuloendotheliosis viruses (REV) has in general been negative. Because of the difficulty in infecting mammalian cells in vitro with these viruses, it is generally held that they do not infect humans. We first provided presumptive evidence of serologic response to these viruses in human sera of workers in poultry slaughtering plants, using an ELISA.

Unique distribution profiles of glutathione S-transferases in regions of kidney, ureter, and bladder of rabbit.

Background: Glutathione S-transferases detoxify a broad range of exogenous compounds, but are important also in the metabolism of endogenous compounds. Physiologically relevant substrates are the endoperoxide and hydroperoxide metabolites of arachidonic acid that play important roles in many tissues including the kidney.

Experimental Design: We used immunohistochemical and immunoblotting techniques in a systematic study of renal localization of four rabbit enzymes that represent three major mammalian cytosolic glutathione S-transferase classes, alpha, pi, and mu.

Hepatitis C: looking at a virus that hasn't been seen.

Hepatitis C (HCV) is the first virus to be discovered by molecular cloning without direct use of biological or biophysical methods. HCV was first recognised in 1974 as non-A, non-B (NANB) hepatitis resulting from blood transfusions. It took almost 15 years to identify it successfully--by detecting a clone in a library of cDNA prepared from the nucleic acids extracted from plasma known to be infectious for chimpanzees.

Distribution of cytochrome P450 1A1 and NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase in lungs of rabbits treated with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin: ultrastructural immunolocalization and in situ hybridization.

Induction of cytochrome P450 1A1 (P450 1A1) in a variety of tissues is a well established consequence of exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and related compounds. Although localization of the induced protein within the lung has been described, the precise intracellular distribution of the enzyme is not clear. Analysis of tissue sections, microsomal proteins, and mRNA from lungs of treated and untreated rabbits established that P450 1A1 had been induced by treatment with TCDD.

Interstitial pulmonary macrophages produce platelet-derived growth factor that stimulates rat lung fibroblast proliferation in vitro.

Alveolar macrophages from humans and several animal species produce factors in vitro that modulate fibroblast growth and have been proposed as mediators of interstitial pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary interstitial macrophages (IMs) have not been studied previously in this regard. Pulmonary IMs were isolated from prelavaged rat lungs by enzymatic digestion of tissue and subsequent differential adherence of cells to culture dishes.

Perceptual asymmetry in psychosis-prone college students: evidence for left-hemisphere overactivation.

The hypothesis that psychosis-prone students demonstrate a pattern of exaggerated perceptual asymmetry across both left- and right-hemisphere dichotic-listening tasks (consonant-vowel [CV] and tonal contour discrimination) was investigated. Subjects who scored high on the Perceptual Aberration or Magical Ideation scale or both (n = 20) demonstrated a significantly exaggerated right-ear advantage on a CV task in relation to normal control subjects (n = 27) but showed a reduced left-ear advantage on a tone task. The hypothesis of exaggerated functional lateralization across hemispheres in the psychosis-prone subjects was not supported, but the results are consistent with a hypothesis of left hemisphere overactivation in this sample.

Cellular localization of flavin-containing monooxygenase in rabbit lung.

A specific form of flavin monooxygenase has been identified in the lungs of a number of species. Distribution of the pulmonary flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMOp) is of interest because it oxidatively metabolizes a wide variety of nitrogen-, sulfur-, and phosphorous-containing xenobiotics, some of which form highly toxic reactive intermediates. We have identified the nonciliated bronchiolar epithelial (Clara) cell as the predominant location for this enzyme in rabbit lung.

Lung cell toxicity experimentally induced by a mixed dust from Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico.

Lung disease caused by nonoccupational exposures to inorganic particles from the soil has been reported in several areas of the world. We tested the toxic potential of dust samples from a Mexican city (Mexicali) that is frequently affected by dust storms and is geographically related to the area of San Diego, CA, where constituents of the soil have been reported to be fibrogenic. We found that samples of Mexicali dust are a mixture of approximately 75% potassium aluminum silicates (illite) and approximately 20% silica.

Hepatitis C virus: the major causative agent of viral non-A, non-B hepatitis.

A 'blind' recombinant immunoscreening approach, of general application to studies of infectious diseases, was used to clone and identify the genome of the previously uncharacterized non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANB) virus. This agent is a positive-stranded RNA virus that appears to be distantly related to the flaviviridae family. A recombinant viral antigen (C100-3) was used to develop a capture assay for circulating antibody.

Comparison of arachidonic acid metabolism by pulmonary intravascular and alveolar macrophages exposed to particulate and soluble stimuli.

Pulmonary intravascular macrophages, as prominent components of the pulmonary mononuclear phagocyte system, could be significant mediators of lung inflammation. We have shown that intravascular and alveolar macrophages metabolize exogenous arachidonic acid to its inflammatory metabolites via the lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase pathways after exposure to the calcium ionophore A23187. In this study, we compare the metabolism of endogenous arachidonic acid by porcine intravascular and alveolar macrophages after exposure to soluble and particulate stimuli.

Isolation of a cDNA clone derived from a blood-borne non-A, non-B viral hepatitis genome.

A random-primed complementary DNA library was constructed from plasma containing the uncharacterized non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANBH) agent and screened with serum from a patient diagnosed with NANBH. A complementary DNA clone was isolated that was shown to encode an antigen associated specifically with NANBH infections. This clone is not derived from host DNA but from an RNA molecule present in NANBH infections that consists of at least 10,000 nucleotides and that is positive-stranded with respect to the encoded NANBH antigen.

Incorporation of tritiated thymidine by epithelial and interstitial cells in bronchiolar-alveolar regions of asbestos-exposed rats.

Inhaled asbestos causes progressive interstitial lung disease. The authors have performed a series of studies to elucidate early pathogenetic events at sites of fiber deposition in asbestos-exposed rats. This study reports that a single 5-hour exposure to chrysotile asbestos induces significant increases in incorporation of tritiated thymidine (3HTdR) into nuclei of epithelial and interstitial cells of bronchiolar-alveolar regions.

Perceptual asymmetry in schizophrenia and affective disorder: implications from a right hemisphere task.

The patterns of perceptual asymmetry exhibited by normal, schizophrenic, and affectively-disordered subjects on a dichotic tonal discrimination task, were compared. Affectively-disordered subjects' performances differed significantly from those of normal subjects, with normals demonstrating the expected left ear advantage, and affectively-disordered subjects showing no lateral advantage. The performance of the schizophrenic subjects fell between those of the normal and affective groups along a laterality continuum, with paranoid schizophrenic subjects tending to show a larger left ear advantage than non-paranoid schizophrenic subjects.

Brief inhalation of chrysotile asbestos induces rapid proliferation of bronchiolar-alveolar epithelial and interstitial cells.

Inhalation of asbestos fibres causes a progressive interstitial pulmonary fibrosis. To understand the basic cellular mechanisms which lead to this disease, we have studied the earliest proliferative events at the bronchiolar-alveolar regions of rats and mice exposed to chrysotile asbestos for 5 h. Animals were injected with tritiated thymidine 4 h prior to sacrifice at varying times ranging from immediately after cessation of exposure to one month post exposure.