A randomised controlled trial testing acceptance of practitioner-referral versus self-referral to stop smoking services within the Lung Screen Uptake Trial.

Background And Aims: Optimising smoking cessation (SC) referral strategies within lung cancer screening (LCS) could significantly reduce lung cancer mortality. This study aimed to measure acceptance of referral to SC support by either practitioner-referral or self-referral among participants attending a hospital-based lung health check appointment for LCS as part of the Lung Screen Uptake Trial.

Design: Single-blinded two-arm randomised controlled trial.

Reelin protects against amyloid β toxicity in vivo.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a currently incurable neurodegenerative disorder and is the most common form of dementia in people over the age of 65 years. The predominant genetic risk factor for AD is the ε4 allele encoding apolipoprotein E (ApoE4). The secreted glycoprotein Reelin enhances synaptic plasticity by binding to the multifunctional ApoE receptors apolipoprotein E receptor 2 (Apoer2) and very low density lipoprotein receptor (Vldlr).

Metabolic adaptation allows Amacr-deficient mice to remain symptom-free despite low levels of mature bile acids.

Bile acids play multiple roles in the physiology of vertebrates; they facilitate lipid absorption, serve as signaling molecules to control carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, and provide a disposal route for cholesterol. Unexpectedly, the α-methylacyl-CoA racemase (Amacr) deficient mice, which are unable to complete the peroxisomal cleavage of C27-precursors to the mature C24-bile acids, are physiologically asymptomatic when maintained on a standard laboratory diet. The aim of this study was to uncover the underlying adaptive mechanism with special reference to cholesterol and bile acid metabolism that allows these mice to have a normal life span.

Discovery of a proneurogenic, neuroprotective chemical.

An in vivo screen was performed in search of chemicals capable of enhancing neuron formation in the hippocampus of adult mice. Eight of 1000 small molecules tested enhanced neuron formation in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus. Among these was an aminopropyl carbazole, designated P7C3, endowed with favorable pharmacological properties.

Cholesterol 24-hydroxylase: an enzyme of cholesterol turnover in the brain.

Cholesterol 24-hydroxylase is a highly conserved cytochrome P450 that is responsible for the majority of cholesterol turnover in the vertebrate central nervous system. The enzyme is expressed in neurons, including hippocampal and cortical neurons that are important for learning and memory formation. Disruption of the cholesterol 24-hydroxylase gene in the mouse reduces both cholesterol turnover and synthesis in the brain but does not alter steady-state levels of cholesterol in the tissue.