The effect of microbial-nutrient interaction on the immune system of young chicks after early probiotic and organic acid administration.

The combined effects of probiotics (Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Streptococcus faecium, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and organic acids (sorbic and citric acid) on intestinal morphology and expression of immune-related genes were investigated. One-day-old chicks were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: birds not receiving probiotic or organic acids (control; T1), or birds receiving an oral combination (1 g/L in water) of 10(8) CFU/g of each of the aforementioned probiotics and organic acids (1% sorbic acid and 0.2% citric acid) for 7 (T2) or 14 d (T3). Each group was divided into 5 replicate pens of 20 birds each, and 5 birds from each group (1 from each pen) were killed on d 11 and 22. Intestinal sections were collected for histological assessment, and reverse transcriptase-PCR analysis was used to assess defensin and cathelicidins expression. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to assess toll-like receptors (TLR) and cytokine expression. Duodenal villus height was greater in T2 and T3 at d 11 (P ≤ 0.036) and 22 (P ≤ 0.015) compared with T1. At d 11, duodenal goblet cell/unit area was less in T3, whereas it was greater in T2 compared with T1 in the jejunum (P = 0.009). Ileal goblet cell/unit area was greater in T3 at d 22 compared with T1 (P < 0.001). Avian beta-defensin-3 was expressed in all tissues except the bursa of T3 birds at d 11, and TLR-2 was down regulated in the cecal tonsil of birds in T2 and T3 at d 11 compared with T1 (P = 0.020 and 0.003, respectively). Expression of IL-12p35 in the ileum at d 11 was down regulated in T2 and T3 compared with T1 (P = 0.030 and 0.012, respectively). Reduced expression of INF-γ was observed in the ileum in T3 compared with T1 at d 11 (P = 0.047). Ileal IL-6 and IL-10 and cecal tonsil interferon-gamma (INF-γ) expressions were greater T2 at d 22 (P ≤ 0.047) than T1. In conclusion, supplementation of combined probiotics and organic acids resulted in inconsistent gut morphology associated responses, and avian beta-defensins and cathelicidins expression were not associated with combined probiotics and organic acids supplementation. Birds supplemented with combined probiotics and organic acids for 7 d showing similar responses in TLR-2, IL-12p35, and IFN-γ compared with those supplemented for 14 d indicates that shorter periods of supplementation might be enough to elicit beneficial responses.

Screening for the metabolic syndrome in community psychiatric patients prescribed antipsychotics: a quality improvement programme.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to evaluate a quality improvement programme designed to increase screening for the metabolic syndrome in community psychiatric patients prescribed antipsychotics. METHOD: Baseline audit against evidence-based standards, followed by provision of benchmarked data and a range of change interventions, with re-audit 1 year later. RESULTS: At baseline, 48 assertive outreach teams across the UK submitted data on screening over the previous year for 1966 patients. At re-audit, 35 of the teams submitted data for 1516 patients. Screening for all four aspects of the metabolic syndrome (measuring blood pressure, obesity, blood glucose and plasma lipids) had increased significantly by re-audit. Clinical variables increasing the likelihood of full screening were clozapine treatment and a known diagnosis of diabetes or dyslipidaemia. CONCLUSION: The programme's success may be partly attributed to the use of a widely-accepted audit standard, and bespoke change interventions that directly addressed barriers to screening identified by the participating clinical teams.

Consumers as educators: implementation of patient feedback in general practice training.

There is growing interest in the adoption of patient-based assessments for the training of general practitioners. Consumers are in a unique position to comment on the quality of the doctor-patient interaction. Involving consumers as partners with general practice (GP) registrars and GP educators in the development of a patient feedback instrument enhances the relevance and acceptability of consumers as educators in GP training. It also demonstrates that social and medical agendas can be harmonized. Two patient feedback instruments on interpersonal skills were trialed in a training program for general practitioners in Australia. It was found that one of the instruments was more discriminating than the other because of its different response scale.

Rediscovering compassion.

There is a growing concern in our society that compassion is a dying virtue, gradually being strangled by narcissism, competition, prejudice, and revenge. Yet psychologists, philosophers, and theologians agree that compassion is at the heart of the behavior that keeps individuals, families, institutions, and societies alive, namely, caring, altruism, justice, morality, and love. This article is meant to be a step in the direction of rediscovering compassion in the light of current knowledge so that the virtue, resuscitated, will once again be seen to be alive and well in our world. To this end, the article discusses the nature, types, and development of compassion.

The myths of relationship abuse.

Fortunately, people are becoming more aware than they used to be of the existence of relationship abuse and are consulting ministers and pastoral counselors to help them deal with this problem. Unfortunately, several myths exist regarding relationship abuse which, if taken as fact, are counterproductive to people involved in such relationships and countertherapeutic for the ministers and pastoral counselors who are attempting to help. This article addresses four commonly held myths regarding relationship abuse and the attendant pastoral implications.

Ministering to cancer patients.

Ministers, both ordained and lay, face a special challenge in caring for cancer patients and their families. It is important for seminarians and ministers to have not only a basic understanding of cancer but also of the myriad psychological and spiritual dynamics that cancer patients and their families present. Cancer presents severe stress not only for patients and families but also for ministers who care for them. It is vitally important for ministers to develop the competence and confidence necessary to face this challenge.

Measurements of somatostatin and neuropeptide Y in the visual cortex of monocularly deprived rats.

The levels of somatostatin and neuropeptide Y were measured with radioimmunoassay bilaterally in visual cortical areas 17, 18, and 18a of rats which had received monocular enucleation at birth. Neuropeptide levels were consistently three- to fourfold higher for neuropeptide Y than for somatostatin. Monocular enucleation did not change somatostatin levels within areas 17 or 18 of either hemisphere but significantly increased somatostatin levels in contralateral area 18a when compared to contralateral areas 17 or 18 3 months after enucleation. The concentrations of neuropeptide Y are significantly greater in areas 17 and 18a than those in area 18, however, neonatal enucleation had no significant effect on neuropeptide Y levels within any visual cortical area of either hemisphere. Visual cortical areas 17, 18, and 18a show differences in the relative concentrations of neuropeptide Y compared to somatostatin. Furthermore, these two peptides respond distinctively to neonatal enucleation. Enucleation had no effect on the concentration of either peptide in samples of frontal cortex. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that area 17 contains far fewer somatostatin neurons than areas 18 or 18a, in marked contrast to the uniform levels of somatostatin measured in all visual cortical areas by radioimmunoassay. Immunohistochemically identified neuropeptide Y-immunoreactive neurons are evenly distributed between areas 17, 18, and 18a and represent about half of the number of somatostatin-immunoreactive cells. While neuropeptide Y levels are significantly different between these visual cortical areas, the numbers of immunoreactive neurons are similar. Thus, relatively few neuropeptide Y cells are accompanied four- to fivefold higher than those for somatostatin, the more abundant cell type.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The emergence of the cortical GABAergic neuron: with particular reference to some peptidergic subpopulations.

The technical developments which have led to our present ability to make predictions about neurochemical identity from morphological observations are retraced with particular reference to the GABAergic neuron and its many subdivisions. The synaptology of four peptidergic sub-populations in the cerebral cortex is examined and described in detail. It is concluded that the recognition of Gray Type 1 and Type 2 synapse types continues to provide a key element in our analysis and understanding of the connectivity of the CNS.

Postnatal development of somatostatin-containing neurons in the visual cortex of normal and dark-reared rats.

The distribution of somatostatin (SRIF)-immunoreactive neurons in the visual cortical areas 17, 18 and 18a of Wistar rats from birth to adulthood was followed in both normal and dark-reared animals. The SRIF neurons show difference in distribution amongst the three cortical areas studied as early as the first postnatal week. Area 17 was distinguished by fewer SRIF cells in the upper layers (I-III), which results in a lower overall density. The SRIF neurons in all areas appeared to increase in numbers up to about 3 weeks and then decline dramatically to adult levels, which were 14-19% of the peak levels. Although this decline was still obvious, it moderated to 25-31% in dark-reared animals. The greatest effect was seen in area 18 where, at 60 days of age, there were twice as many SRIF cells in dark-reared as in normal controls. It is suggested that, under conditions of dark rearing, the overall pattern of development of SRIF neurons, being uninfluenced by extrinsic factors, reveals the cells' genetic potential.

Postnatal development of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-containing neurons in the visual cortex of normal and dark-reared rats.

The effects of dark rearing on the distribution and density of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)-containing neurons in the visual cortical areas (17, 18 and 18a) of rats during postnatal development were examined immunohistochemically. Two groups of Wistar rats, one reared under normal lighting conditions and the other in complete darkness from birth, were used. VIP neurons showed a fairly similar distribution in the three visual areas, being predominantly present in layers II and III. Their pattern of development was found to be similar in the normal and dark-reared animals and was characterized by a marked increase from postnatal day (P) 7 to P21, followed by a gradual diminution to 24-31% of peak densities. Counts of labeled neurons at all ages examined showed that their density was similar in both groups at P7 and P14, but progressively greater in dark-reared animals from P21 and thereafter, so that they only fell to 38-43% of peak densities. Thus, by 60 days of age densities of VIP-labeled neurons in areas 17, 18 and 18a in dark-reared rats were 57%, 49% and 51% higher than in the corresponding areas of the age-matched control rats. These results indicate that the normal decline in the numbers of VIP neurons is not so marked under the conditions of dark rearing.

Postnatal development of neuropeptide Y-containing neurons in the visual cortex of normal- and dark-reared rats.

The postnatal development of neuropeptide Y (NPY)-immunoreactive neurons in the visual cortical areas (17, 18 and 18a) has been studied in Wistar rats reared under normal lighting conditions or in complete darkness. Immunohistochemistry on paraffin sections at postnatal days (P)7, 14, 21, 30 and 60 showed an overall similarity in laminar distribution of NPY neurons in all 3 visual areas of both normal- and dark-reared animals. The pattern of development of NPY neurons was characterized by an increase in their density from P7 to reach a peak at P21 followed by a decline to 37-47% of peak levels at P60. However, this diminution was not so great in dark-reared rats as in the normal, since the density only decreased to 62-78% of peak levels. At P60 the resulting differences in neuron density were marked in areas 17 and 18, where the dark-reared had 75% more cells than normal, and moderate in area 18a (30% more than normal). These results suggest that the normal decline in NPY neurons is not entirely mediated by visual experience since it takes place, albeit to a modified extent, in its total absence.

Proportion of glutamate- and aspartate-immunoreactive neurons in the efferent pathways of the rat visual cortex varies according to the target.

Immunohistochemistry, with antisera directed against glutamate (Glu) or aspartate (Asp), was combined with wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP) histochemistry to examine the distribution, morphology, and proportions of Glu- and Asp-containing neurons that give rise to corticofugal and callosal projections of the rat visual cortex. WGA-HRP injections in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus resulted in retrograde labelling of small and medium-sized cells throughout layer VI of the visual cortex. Of these cells, 60% were also Glu-immunoreactive and 61% Asp-positive. WGA-HRP injections in the superior colliculus labelled large and medium-sized neurons in the upper portion of layer V of the visual cortex. Of these cells, 46% were also stained for Glu and 66% for Asp. Injections in the pontine nuclei resulted in retrograde labelling of cells in the deeper part of cortical layer V. Retrogradely labelled cells, which were also immunoreactive for Glu or Asp, were large pyramidal cells. Corticopontine neurons, which were also Glu-positive, accounted for 42% of the total number of WGA-HRP labelled cells, whilst for Asp-positive neurons this percentage was 51%. Finally, after injections in the visual cortex, retrogradely labelled small and medium-sized cells were found throughout layers II-VI in the contralateral visual cortex. Of these neurons, 38% were also labelled for Glu while 49% were also Asp-immunoreactive. The present results demonstrate that substantial proportions of projection neurons in the rat visual cortex are immunoreactive for Glu or Asp, suggesting that these excitatory amino acids are the major transmitters used by the cortical efferent systems examined. Furthermore, the proportions of these immunoreactive neurons in the efferent pathways vary according to the target.

Development of neuropeptide Y (NPY) immunoreactive neurons in the rat occipital cortex: a combined immunohistochemical-autoradiographic study.

The postnatal development of neuropeptide Y (NPY)-immunoreactive neurons, previously labeled with [3H]thymidine on embryonic days E14-E21, has been studied in the rat occipital cortex. Immunohistochemistry combined with autoradiography showed evidence of a modified "inside-out" pattern of maturation. NPY-neurons are generated between E14 and E20 and are found in layers II-VI of the cortex and the subcortical white matter. NPY neurons from all these birthdates are overproduced at first, although cells generated at E16 produce the greatest excess, followed by E15 and E17. Some of these transient neurons are found in the "wrong" layer for their birthdates, and their elimination produces a more "correct" alignment at maturity. However, most of the NPY neurons that survive are generated at E17, and these cells are found throughout layers II-VI with a preponderance in layer VI. This evidence is strongly suggestive of cell death rather than merely cessation of production of NPY.