Relationships between micronutrient losses in sweat and blood pressure among heat-exposed steelworkers.

We aimed to examine the effect of micronutrient losses through sweat on blood pressure (BP) among heat-exposed steelworkers. A total of 224 heat-exposed male steelworkers from an ironworks facility were evaluated in July 2012. We measured the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature Index to evaluate the level of heat stress in the workplace.

Metaplastic esophageal columnar epithelium without goblet cells shows DNA content abnormalities similar to goblet cell-containing epithelium.

Objectives: The mucosa of patients with columnar-lined esophagus recognized on endoscopy usually shows epithelium with and without goblet cells. Columnar epithelium with goblet cells ("Barrett's esophagus") is generally believed to represent a premalignant lesion and has been shown to contain DNA abnormalities. However, the biological properties of non-goblet columnar epithelium remain unknown.

Buried Barrett's epithelium following photodynamic therapy shows reduced crypt proliferation and absence of DNA content abnormalities.

Objectives: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is increasingly used for the treatment of patients with Barrett's esophagus (BE) with dysplasia or early carcinoma. Post-PDT, some patients show residual BE either exposed to the luminal surface (nonburied) or buried underneath reepithelialized squamous mucosa (buried BE). Buried BE may be a serious clinical problem since it can go unnoticed during surveillance endoscopies.

Fulminant hepatic failure secondary to erlotinib.

Erlotinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. We report a case of a patient with stage IV non-small-cell lung cancer who died of fulminant hepatic failure as a result of treatment with erlotinib.

Expression and evolution of delta9 and delta11 desaturase genes in the moth Spodoptera littoralis.

Desaturation of fatty acids is a key reaction in the biosynthesis of moth sex pheromones. The main component of Spodoptera littoralis sex pheromone blend is produced by the action of Delta11 and Delta9 desaturases. In this article, we report on the cloning of four desaturase-like genes in this species: one from the fat body (Sls-FL1) and three (Sls-FL2, Sls-FL3 and Sls-FL4) from the pheromone gland.

Desaturases from the spotted fireworm moth (Choristoneura parallela) shed light on the evolutionary origins of novel moth sex pheromone desaturases.

Six acyl-CoA desaturase-encoding cDNAs from mRNA isolated from the spotted fireworm moth, Choristoneura parallela (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) were characterized and assayed for functionality. The expression levels of these cDNAs were determined in the pheromone gland and fat body by real-time PCR and the resulting patterns are in line with results from published studies on other moth sex pheromone desaturases. The cDNAs were found to correspond to six genes.

Characterization of Z/E11- and Z9-desaturases from the obliquebanded leafroller moth, Choristoneura rosaceana.

A (triangle up) 11-desaturase gene was cloned from the sex pheromone gland of the obliquebanded leafroller moth, Choristoneura rosaceana. The desaturase cDNA sequence spans 1300 nucleotides with an open reading frame encoding a 335 amino-acid protein, which has 81% identity to a Z/E11-desaturase of the redbanded leafroller moth, Argyrotaenia velutinana. A functional assay with a pYES2 yeast expression system demonstrated that the (triangle up) 11-desaturase exhibits unusual substrate and stereospecificities in producing a Z/E11 mixture (7:1) of only C14 acids.

Moth desaturase characterized that produces both Z and E isomers of delta 11-tetradecenoic acids.

The redbanded leafroller moth, Argyrotaenia velutinana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) uses a 92:8 mixture of (Z)-11- and (E)-11-tetradecenyl acetate in its pheromone blend. These are produced in the abdominal pheromone gland from the corresponding acids, which are biosynthesized in the gland in a 3:2 Z/E ratio by desaturation of myristoyl CoA. The delta 11 desaturase involved in this reaction exhibits unusual substrate and stereospecificities in specifically producing Z11 and E11 isomers of tetradecenoic acid, and exhibiting no activity with C16 and C18 precursor acids.

Evolution of moth sex pheromones via ancestral genes.

Mate finding in most moth species involves long-distance signaling via female-emitted sex pheromones. There is a great diversity of pheromone structures used throughout the Lepidoptera, even among closely related species. The conundrum is how signal divergence has occurred.

Gene characterized for membrane desaturase that produces (E)-11 isomers of mono- and diunsaturated fatty acids.

Moth species have evolved integral membrane desaturases that exhibit a wide diversity in substrate specificity, as well as in regiospecificity and stereospecificity of the unsaturated products. We report here the cloning and expression of a single desaturase from the sex pheromone gland of the light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana, that makes E11 isomers of monounsaturated (E11-16 and E11-14) fatty acids and a diunsaturated (E9,E11-14) fatty acid. In the pheromone gland, the monoene precursor is made available by beta oxidation of E11-16 acid with a subsequent two-carbon loss to E9-14 acid.