Covid-19: Early Cases and Disease Spread.

The emergence and global spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is critical to understanding how to prevent or control a future viral pandemic. We review the tools used for this retrospective search, their limits, and results obtained from China, France, Italy and the USA. We examine possible scenarios for the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in the human population.

CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing vs. Over-Expression for Fluorescent Extracellular Vesicle-Labeling: A Quantitative Analysis.

Over-expression of fluorescently-labeled markers for extracellular vesicles is frequently used to visualize vesicle up-take and transport. EVs that are labeled by over-expression show considerable heterogeneity regarding the number of fluorophores on single particles, which could potentially bias tracking and up-take studies in favor of more strongly-labeled particles. To avoid the potential artefacts that are caused by over-expression, we developed a genome editing approach for the fluorescent labeling of the extracellular vesicle marker CD63 with green fluorescent protein using the CRISPR/Cas9 technology.

Fluorescence microscopy-based quantitation of GLUT4 translocation.

Postprandial insulin-stimulated glucose uptake into target tissue is crucial for the maintenance of normal blood glucose homeostasis. This step is rate-limited by the number of facilitative glucose transporters type 4 (GLUT4) present in the plasma membrane. Since insulin resistance and impaired GLUT4 translocation are associated with the development of metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes, this transporter has become an important target of antidiabetic drug research.

FODMAP Fingerprinting of Bakery Products and Sourdoughs: Quantitative Assessment and Content Reduction through Fermentation.

Fermentable oligo-, di-, and monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAPs) are associated with digestive disorders and with diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome. In this study, we determined the FODMAP contents of bread, bakery products, and flour and assessed the effectiveness of sourdough fermentation for FODMAP reduction. The fermentation products were analyzed to determine the DP 2-7 and DP >7 fructooligosaccharide (FOS) content of rye and wheat sourdoughs.

Alternative model organisms for toxicological fingerprinting of relevant parameters in food and nutrition.

In the field of (food) toxicology, there is a strong trend of replacing animal trials with alternative methods for the assessment of adverse health effects in humans. The replacement of animal trials is not only driven by ethical concerns but also by the number of potential testing substances (food additives, packaging material, contaminants, and toxicants), which is steadily increasing. In vitro 2D cell culture applications in combination with modeling might provide an applicable first response.

Acute, reproductive, and developmental toxicity of essential oils assessed with alternative in vitro and in vivo systems.

Essential oils (EOs) have attracted increased interest for different applications such as food preservatives, feed additives and ingredients in cosmetics. Due to their reported variable composition of components, they might be acutely toxic to humans and animals in small amounts. Despite the necessity, rigorous toxicity testing in terms of safety evaluation has not been reported so far, especially using alternatives to animal models.

Immunomodulatory Activities of Selected Essential Oils.

Recently, the application of herbal medicine for the prevention and treatment of diseases has gained increasing attention. Essential oils (EOs) are generally known to exert various pharmacological effects, such as antiallergic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. Current literature involving in vitro and in vivo studies indicates the potential of various herbal essential oils as suitable immunomodulators for the alternative treatment of infectious or immune diseases.

Ginseng Extract Ameliorates the Negative Physiological Effects of Heat Stress by Supporting Heat Shock Response and Improving Intestinal Barrier Integrity: Evidence from Studies with Heat-Stressed Caco-2 Cells, and Growing Broilers.

Climatic changes and heat stress have become a great challenge in the livestock industry, negatively affecting, in particular, poultry feed intake and intestinal barrier malfunction. Recently, phytogenic feed additives were applied to reduce heat stress effects on animal farming. Here, we investigated the effects of ginseng extract using various in vitro and in vivo experiments.

In Vitro and In Vivo Inhibition of Intestinal Glucose Transport by Guava (Psidium Guajava) Extracts.

Scope: Known pharmacological activities of guava (Psidium guajava) include modulation of blood glucose levels. However, mechanistic details remain unclear in many cases.

Methods And Results: This study investigated the effects of different guava leaf and fruit extracts on intestinal glucose transport in vitro and on postprandial glucose levels in vivo.

Effects of caffeine or RX821002 in rats with a neonatal ventral hippocampal lesion.

Rats with a neonatal ventral hippocampal lesion (NVHL) are used to model schizophrenia. They show enhanced locomotion and difficulties in learning after puberty. Such behavioral modifications are strengthened by dopaminergic psychostimulant drugs, which is also relevant for schizophrenia because illustrating its dopaminergic facet.

Fear conditioning induces guinea pig auditory cortex activation by foot shock alone.

The present study used an optical imaging paradigm to investigate plastic changes in the auditory cortex induced by fear conditioning, in which a sound (conditioned stimulus, CS) was paired with an electric foot-shock (unconditioned stimulus, US). We report that, after conditioning, auditory information could be retrieved on the basis of an electric foot-shock alone. Before conditioning, the auditory cortex showed no response to a foot-shock presented in the absence of sound.

A critical overview of animal models of psychiatric disorders: challenges and perspectives.

Animal models of psychiatric disorders are a challenging but highly relevant issue. Most psychiatric disorders are very heterogeneous syndromes, resulting from multiple and varied causal factors and characterized by symptoms that can only be inferred with significant limitations in non-human models. As constructing a model that reproduces a whole psychiatric syndrome seems virtually impossible, researchers have tried to focus on endophenotypes, i.

Reduction of sickness absence by an occupational health care management program focusing on self-efficacy and self-management.

Background: The aim of occupational health care management programs (OHMP) is to improve the health status of employees, increase work ability and reduce absence time. This includes better coping abilities, work-related self-efficacy and self-management which are important abilities that should be trained within OHMPs.

Objectives: To study the effectiveness of an OHMP including special interventions to enhance self-efficacy and self-management.

Optical imaging of plastic changes induced by fear conditioning in the auditory cortex.

The plastic changes in the auditory cortex induced by a fear conditioning, through pairing a sound (CS) with an electric foot-shock (US), were investigated using an optical recording method with voltage sensitive dye, RH795. In order to investigate the effects of association learning, optical signals in the auditory cortex in response to CS (12 kHz pure tone) and non-CS (4, 8, 16 kHz pure tone) were recorded before and after normal and sham conditioning. As a result, the response area to CS enlarged only in the conditioning group after the conditioning.

Neonatal ventral hippocampal lesions modify pain perception and evoked potentials in rats.

This work concerns the debate surrounding the modified pain reactivity of patients with schizophrenia and other possible perceptive distortions. Rats with a neonatal ventral hippocampal lesion (NVHL) were used to model the neuro-developmental aspect of schizophrenia, and their reactivity to various stimuli was evaluated. The results could also help understand sensory deficits in other neuro-developmental disorders.

Prefrontal dopamine release and sensory-specific satiety altered in rats with neonatal ventral hippocampal lesions.

Rats with a neonatal ventral hippocampal lesion (NVHL) have been used to model certain features of schizophrenia because they display dopaminergic activity and behavioral alterations consistent with a dysfunctional prefrontal cortex after puberty. Microdialysis studies in normal rats demonstrated increased prefrontal dopamine release during the incentive phase of behavior in an experimental situation specifically designed to evidence this behavioral aspect: the so called "sensory-specific satiety" procedure. Our hypothesis is that if dopaminergic activity in the prefrontal cortex of NVHL rats differs from sham lesioned rats, the responsiveness to the aforementioned experimental situation should also be different.

The inhibition of histone deacetylases reduces the reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior in rats.

Drug addiction is a chronic brain disease characterized by a persistent risk of relapse, even after a long period of abstinence. A current hypothesis states that relapse results from lasting neuroadaptations that are induced in response to repeated drug administration. The adaptations require gene expression, some of which being under the control of stable epigenetic regulations.

The HDAC Inhibitor Phenylbutyrate Reverses Effects of Neonatal Ventral Hippocampal Lesion in Rats.

Recent evidence suggests that epigenetic mechanisms play a role in psychiatric diseases. In this study, we considered rats with neonatal ventral hippocampal lesions (NVHL) that are currently used for modeling neurodevelopmental aspects of schizophrenia. Contribution of epigenetic regulation to the effects of the lesion was investigated, using a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor.

MRI and X-ray scanning images of the brain of 3-, 6- and 9-month-old rats with bilateral neonatal ventral hippocampus lesions.

Rats with bilateral neonatal ventral hippocampus lesions (NVHL) are commonly used for modeling developmental aspects of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Given that functional changes become significant only after puberty, NVHL as well as sham-operated rats were analyzed at the ages of 21, 42 and 63days (i.e.

Acoustic hypersensitivity in adult rats after neonatal ventral hippocampus lesions.

Rats with a bilateral neonatal ventral hippocampus lesion (NVHL) are used as models of neurobiological aspects of schizophrenia. In view of their decreased number of GABAergic interneurons, we hypothesized that they would show increased reactivity to acoustic stimuli. We systematically characterized the acoustic reactivity of NVHL rats and sham operated controls.

Metabolic activity in the brain of juvenile and adult rats with a neonatal ventral hippocampal lesion.

Longitudinal studies on patients for schizophrenia suggest that functional brain perturbations precede the onset of symptoms. Rats with a neonatal ventral hippocampal lesion (NVHL) are considered as a heuristic neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia. We characterized basal metabolic changes observed in NVHL rats before and after the age when known behavioral alterations have been reported.

Selective reorganization of GABAergic transmission in neonatal ventral hippocampal-lesioned rats.

Post-mortem studies suggested a disturbance of the GABAergic system in schizophrenia. Neonatal ventral hippocampal-lesioned (NVHL) rats were used as a neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia. Here, we characterized the GABAergic system, focusing on the GABA-synthesizing enzyme, GAD67, GABAergic interneuron characteristic proteins, and the GABA transporter, gat-1.

Relationship between PPI and baseline startle response.

Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle response to a sudden noise is the reduction in startle observed when the noise is preceded shortly by a mild sensory event, which is often a tone. A part of the literature is based on the assumption that PPI is independent of the baseline startle. A simple model is presented and experimental validation provided.

Histone deacetylase inhibitors decrease cocaine but not sucrose self-administration in rats.

Regulation of gene expression is known to contribute to the long-term adaptations taking place in response to drugs of abuse. Recent studies highlighted the regulation of gene transcription in neurons by chromatin remodeling, a process in which posttranslational modifications of histones play a major role. To test the involvement of epigenetic regulation on drug-reinforcing properties, we submitted rats to the cocaine operant self-administration paradigm.

Overshadowing in conditioned taste aversion or in conditioned emotional response after neonatal ventral hippocampal lesions in rats.

The neonatal hippocampus lesion thought to model schizophrenia should show the same modifications in behavioural tests as other models, especially pharmacological models, namely decreased latent inhibition, blocking and overshadowing. The present study is set out to evaluate overshadowing in order to complement our previous studies, which had tested latent inhibition. "Overshadowing" refers to the decreased conditioning that occurs when the to-be-conditioned stimulus is combined with another stimulus at the conditioning stage.