A 24-week, prospective, randomized, open-label, treat-to-target pilot study of obese type 2 diabetes patients with severe insulin resistance to assess the addition of exenatide on the efficacy of u-500 regular insulin plus metformin.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of 500 U/mL (U-500) regular insulin + metformin with U-500 regular insulin + metformin + exenatide in improving glycemic control in patients with severely insulin-resistant type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Methods: Thirty patients with T2DM and severe insulin resistance were screened, and 28 were randomized to regular insulin U-500 + metformin or the GLP-1 analog exenatide, U-500, and metformin. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels, body weight, and insulin doses were documented at baseline and at 3 and 6 months.

Comparative analysis of neonicotinoid binding to insect membranes: II. An unusual high affinity site for [3H]thiamethoxam in Myzus persicae and Aphis craccivora.

Neonicotinoids represent a class of insect-selective ligands of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Imidacloprid, the first commercially used neonicotinoid insecticide, has been studied on neuronal preparations from many insects to date. Here we report first intrinsic binding data of thiamethoxam, using membranes from Myzus persicae Sulzer and Aphis craccivora Koch.

Retrograde transport of transcription factor NF-kappa B in living neurons.

The mechanism by which signals such as those produced by glutamate are transferred to the nucleus may involve direct transport of an activated transcription factor to trigger long-term transcriptional changes. Ionotropic glutamate receptor activation or depolarization activates transcription factor NF-kappaB and leads to translocation of NF-kappaB from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. We investigated the dynamics of NF-kappaB translocation in living neurons by tracing the NF-kappaB subunit RelA (p65) with jellyfish green fluorescent protein.

Optimized protocol for biolistic transfection of brain slices and dissociated cultured neurons with a hand-held gene gun.

DNA-transfer into postmitotic neurons or neuronal tissues has been a major problem in neurobiology. For this aim different methods have been used such as viral infection, microinjection, lipofection or calcium phosphate precipitation. However, using these techniques, very poor transfection efficiency was achieved except for virus-mediated gene transfer.

Inhibition of NF-kappaB potentiates amyloid beta-mediated neuronal apoptosis.

One mechanism leading to neurodegeneration during Alzheimer's disease (AD) is amyloid beta peptide (Abeta) neurotoxicity. Abeta elicits in cultured central nervous system neurons a biphasic response: a low-dose neurotrophic response and a high-dose neurotoxic response. Previously we reported that NF-kappaB is activated by low doses of Abeta only.

Cultured chick sympathetic neurons: ATP-induced noradrenaline release and its blockade by nicotinic receptor antagonists.

The ATP-induced increase in tritium outflow from cultured chick sympathetic neurons prelabelled with [3H]-noradrenaline was investigated. Seven days-old dissociated cell cultures of embryonic paravertebral ganglia, loaded with [3H]-noradrenaline (0.05 microM), were superfused in the presence of (+)-oxaprotiline and exposed to ATP, ATP-analogues, or 1,1-dimethyl-4-piperazinium (DMPP) for 2 min.

Cultured chick sympathetic neurons: modulation of electrically evoked noradrenaline release by P2-purinoceptors.

The present study investigates the pharmacological profile of P2-purinoceptors modulating noradrenaline release from cultured chick sympathetic neurons. ATP (30 microM-3 mM) and 2-methylthio-ATP (3-100 microM), but not alpha, beta-methylene-ATP (up to 100 microM), caused a significant facilitation of electrically evoked [3H]-noradrenaline release when added 2 min before depolarization. The facilitation declined with time of exposure suggesting receptor desensitization.

[Effect of the menstrual cycle on spontaneous and mitogenous lymphocyte transformation].

The spontaneous and the mitogenous lymphocyte transformation by phyt-hemaglutinine P of the peripheral T-cells of healthy women during the menstrual cycle and after the menopause was measured by the 3H thymidine incorporation into DNA. Whereas the transformation of lymphocytes has a uniform pattern after the menopause, the spontaneous transformation in women with menstrual cycles is diminished during the secretory phase of the cycle and periovulatory reduced stimulation by phyt-hemaglutinine P is observed. The formation of spontaneous rosettes was not different.