3-Nitrooxypropanol substantially decreased enteric methane emissions of dairy cows fed true protein- or urea-containing diets.

Methane is a potent but short-lived greenhouse gas targeted for short-term amelioration of climate change, with enteric methane emitted by ruminants being the most important anthropogenic source of methane. Ruminant production also releases nitrogen to the environment, resulting in groundwater pollution and emissions of greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. We hypothesized that inhibiting rumen methanogenesis in dairy cows with chemical inhibitor 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP) would redirect metabolic hydrogen towards synthesis of microbial amino acids. Our objective was to investigate the effects of 3-NOP on methane emissions, rumen fermentation and nitrogen metabolism of dairy cows fed true protein or urea as nitrogen sources. Eight ruminally-cannulated cows were fed a plant protein or a urea-containing diet during a Control experimental period followed by a methanogenesis inhibition period with 3-NOP supplementation. All diets were unintentionally deficient in nitrogen, and diets supplemented with 3-NOP had higher fiber than diets fed in the Control period. Higher dietary fiber content in the 3-NOP period would be expected to cause higher methane emissions; however, methane emissions adjusted by dry matter and digested organic matter intake were 54% lower with 3-NOP supplementation. Also, despite of the more fibrous diet, 3-NOP shifted rumen fermentation from acetate to propionate. The post-feeding rumen ammonium peak was substantially lower in the 3-NOP period, although that did not translate into greater rumen microbial protein production nor lesser nitrogen excretion in urine. Presumably, because all diets resulted in low rumen ammonium, and intake of digestible organic matter was lower in the 3-NOP period compared to the Control period, the synthesis of microbial amino acids was limited by nitrogen and energy, precluding the evaluation of our hypothesis. Supplementation with 3-NOP was highly effective at decreasing methane emissions with a lower quality diet, both with true protein and urea as nitrogen sources.

The Reduction of Methane Production in the In Vitro Ruminal Fermentation of Different Substrates is Linked with the Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil.

There is interest in identifying natural products capable of manipulating rumen microbial activity to develop new feed additives for ruminant nutrition as a strategy to reduce methane. Two trials were performed using the in vitro gas production technique to evaluate the interaction of substrate (n = 5) and additive (n = 6, increasing doses: 0, 0.3, 3, 30, and 300 µL/L of essential oils-EO-of Lippia turbinata or Tagetes minuta, and monensin at 1.87 mg/L). The two EO utilized were selected because they differ markedly in their chemical composition, especially in the proportion of oxygenated compounds. For both EO, the interaction between the substrate and additive was significant for all variables; however, the interaction behaved differently for the two EO. Within each substrate, the response was dose-dependent, without effects at a low level of EO and a negative outcome at the highest dose. The intermediate dose (30 µL/L) inhibited methane with a slight reduction on substrate digestibility, with L. turbinata being more effective than T. minuta. It is concluded that the effectiveness of the EO to reduce methane production depends on interactions between the substrate that is fermented and the additive dose that generates different characteristics within the incubation medium (e.g., pH); and thus, the chemical nature of the compounds of the EO modulates the magnitude of this response.

Akt/p27kip1 Pathway Is Not Involved in Human Insulinoma Tumorigenesis.

Insulinomas are pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNET), usually benign. Akt/p27kip1 is an intracellular pathway overexpressed in many pNET. There are no data regarding its expression in human insulinomas. We aimed to investigate the expression of Akt and p27kip1 in 24 human insulinomas and to compare them to their expression in normal surrounding islets. Staining was performed on embedded paraffin tissue using polyclonal antibodies against total Akt, p-Akt, p27kip1, and pp27kip1. p-Akt was the predominant form in insulinomas; they presented lower Akt and p-Akt expression than normal islets in 83.3% and 87.5% of tumors, respectively. p27kip1 and pp27kip1 were mainly cytoplasmic in both insulinomas and normal tissue. Cytoplasmic pp27kip1 staining was higher in insulinomas and surprisingly nearly half of the insulinomas also presented nuclear p27kip1 (p = 0.029). No differences were observed in the subcellular localization of p27kip1 and activation of Akt between benign and malignant insulinomas. The low expression of Akt seen in insulinomas might explain the usual benign behavior of this type of pNET. Cytoplasmic p27kip1 in both insulinomas and normal islet cells could reflect the low rate of replication of beta cells, while nuclear p27kip1 would seem to indicate stabilization and nuclear anchoring of the cyclin D-Cdk4 complex. Our data seem to suggest that the Akt pathway is not involved in human insulinoma tumorigenesis.

Trastornos de la personalidad en la jurisprudencia española / Personality disorders in the Spanish jurisprudence

Los trastornos de la personalidad (TP) pueden suponer una afectación de las capacidades cognoscitivas y/o volitivas y, en consecuencia, implicar una modificación de la responsabilidad criminal. Sin embargo, la jurisprudencia, al valorar la incidencia de los TP sobre la imputabilidad, no responde a una regla general. Se presenta un estudio descriptivo retrospectivo del tratamiento jurisprudencial que reciben los TP mediante la revisión de 77 sentencias condenatorias del Tribunal Supremo entre febrero de 1998 y noviembre del 2010. Los TP que más se tienen en cuenta en la valoración de la imputabilidad son el paranoide, límite, no especificado y antisocial, pero sin considerarse eximente de la responsabilidad criminal. En los supuestos de comorbilidad generalmente se aprecia una eximente incompleta o atenuante analógica de anomalía o alteración psíquica. En la condena por delitos cometidos por sujetos afectados por TP, el reconocimiento de dicho trastorno tiene una incidencia relativa en la pena, imponiéndose esta en su mitad inferior o, a lo sumo, rebajándose a la pena inferior en un solo grado. La adopción de medidas de seguridad para los semiimputables en caso de TP es excepcional (AU)

Personality disorders may affect intelligence and free will and therefore imply a criminal imputability alteration. However, Spanish jurisprudence does not follow a general rule when assessing personality disorders’ influence on criminal liability. By reviewing 77 Spanish Supreme Court decisions, we present in this paper a descriptive and retrospective study on how jurisprudence understands and assesses personality disorders. Paranoid, borderline, unspecified and antisocial personality disorders are in practice the more often applied constructs, but they do not imply full exculpation. In comorbidity cases courts usually recognize partial exculpatory defenses or attenuate punishment in reasoning by similarity and analogy to mental disorder. In personality disorder cases sentences, disorders of that kind have a relative influence on measuring penalties-courts impose, if so, a minimum sentence at its lower half or, at most, at only one grade under the minimum grade. Imposing security measures for diminished capacity cases related to personality disorders is exceptional (AU)

Differential Impact of Relative Dose-Intensity Reductions in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Treated with R-CHOP21 or R-CHOP14.

DLBCL is an aggressive lymphoma treated with R-CHOP. Recently, attempts have been made to improve the outcome by increasing both dose-density and intensity but there have been no benefits in terms of survival. When treating malignancies RDI is important to consider but there is little published information on DLBCL. The purpose of this study was to analyze the differential prognostic impact of RDI in two cohorts of DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP21 or R-CHOP14. From January 2001 to August 2013 we included DLBCL patients homogenously treated with R-CHOP21 or R-CHOP14, with or without radiotherapy, at University Hospital Son Espases, Hospital Son Llatzer of Palma and Hospital del Mar of Barcelona (N = 157). In order to avoid selection bias the patients were retrospectively identified from the Pathology Department and Pharmacy registries. Median follow-up was 68 months. There was no difference in the response or survival between the two cohorts. In the R-CHOP21 group, both a reduction higher than 15% in RDI (RR 7.41) and R-IPI (RR 2.99) were independently associated with OS. However, a reduction higher than 15% in RDI (RR 4.41) was only noted for PFS. In the R-CHOP14 group, NCCN-IPI (RR 7.09) and B-symptoms (RR 5.37) for OS; AA stage III-IV (RR 6.26) and bulky disease (RR 4.05) for PFS. There was a trend towards a higher rate of RDI reduction observed in the R-CHOP14 group but it only made an impact in the R-CHOP21 group. We conclude that R-CHOP21 and R-CHOP14 are equivalent regimens in terms of response and survival, but only if RDI reductions are avoided. For patients receiving R-CHOP21 we recommend using clinical and support measures in order to avoid RDI reductions.

Gemcitabine and oxaliplatinum: an effective regimen in patients with refractory and relapsing Hodgkin lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: Most Hodgkin lymphomas (HL) can be cured with current strategies. However, one-third of the cases do not respond or relapse and need salvage regimens. We report the results of a retrospective study using the gemcitabine and oxaliplatinum (GemOx) regimen. METHODS: Patients who relapsed or failed to achieve complete response were eligible and received GemOx salvage therapy. To avoid selection bias and thus to overcome the retrospective nature of the study, all treated patients were included from the pharmacy database. RESULTS: Between 2003-2013, 24 HL patients - relapsing (number [n]=12) or refractory (n=12) - were included, receiving a total of 26 induction treatments with GemOx. Mean previous regimens were 2.38 (42% relapsing after autologous transplantation). Median follow-up was 37 months, and 71% responded (38% of patients achieved complete response). The factors related to better progression-free survival were: B symptoms; response to GemOx; and consolidation with stem cell transplantation. Grades 1 and 2 neurological toxicity was present in 17% of patients. Hematological toxicity was common, with grades 3 and 4 neutropenia (25%) and thrombocytopenia (34%) observed. Progression-free survival was better in patients consolidated with stem cell transplantation. The peripheral blood stem cell collection after GemOx was successful for all candidates. CONCLUSION: 1) The GemOx regimen is effective in relapsed or refractory HL with manageable toxicity. 2) No mobilization failures were observed. 3) Consolidation after response is needed. 4) Its efficacy and favorable toxicity profile might make multiple administrations possible in several recurrences in HL.

Uncoupling of osteoblast-osteoclast regulation in a chemical murine model of Gaucher disease.

Gaucher disease (GD) is caused by mutations in the GBA gene that confer a deficient level of activity of glucocerebrosidase (GCase). This deficiency leads to accumulation of the glycolipid glucocerebroside in the lysosomes of cells of monocyte/macrophage system. Type I GD is the mildest form and is characterized by the absence of neuronopathic affection. Bone compromise in Gaucher disease patients is the most disabling aspect of the disease. However, pathophysiological aspects of skeletal alterations are still poorly understood. The homeostasis of bone tissue is maintained by the balanced processes of bone resorption by osteoclasts and formation by osteoblasts. We decided to test whether bone resorption and/or bone formation could be altered by the use of a chemical in vitro murine model of Gaucher disease. We used two sources of cells from monocyte/macrophages lineage isolated from normal mice, splenocytes (S) and peritoneal macrophages (PM), and were exposed to CBE, the inhibitor of GCase (S-CBE and PM-CBE, respectively). Addition of both conditioned media (CM) from S-CBE and PM-CBE induced the differentiation of osteoclasts precursors from bone marrow to mature and functional osteoclasts. TNF-α could be one of the factors responsible for this effect. On the other hand, addition of CM to an osteoblast cell culture resulted in a reduction in expression of alkaline phosphatase and mineralization process. In conclusion, these results suggest implication of changes in both bone formation and bone resorption and are consistent with the idea that both sides of the homeostatic balance are affected in GD.

Induction of osteoclastogenesis in an in vitro model of Gaucher disease is mediated by T cells via TNF-α.

Gaucher disease is a lysosomal storage disorder caused by deficiency of glucocerebrosidase enzymatic activity leading to accumulation of its substrate glucocerebrosidase mainly in macrophages. Skeletal disorder of Gaucher disease is the major cause of morbidity and is highly refractory to enzyme replacement therapy. However, pathological mechanisms of bone alterations in Gaucher disease are still poorly understood. We hypothesized that cellular alteration in Gaucher disease produces a proinflammatory milieu leading to bone destruction through enhancement of monocyte differentiation to osteoclasts and osteoclasts resorption activity. Against this background we decided to investigate in an in vitro chemical model of Gaucher disease, the capacity of secreted soluble mediators to induce osteoclastogenesis, and the mechanism responsible for this phenomena. We demonstrated that soluble factors produced by CBE-treated PBMC induced differentiation of osteoclasts precursors into mature and active osteoclasts that express chitotriosidase and secrete proinflammatory cytokines. We also showed a role of TNF-α in promoting osteoclastogenesis in Gaucher disease chemical model. To analyze the biological relevance of T cells in osteoclastogenesis of Gaucher disease, we investigated this process in T cell-depleted PBMC cultures. The findings suggest that T cells play a role in osteoclast formation in Gaucher disease. In conclusion, our data suggests that in vitro GCASE deficiency, along with concomitant glucosylceramide accumulation, generates a state of osteoclastogenesis mediated in part by pro-resorptive cytokines, especially TNF-α. Moreover, T cells are involved in osteoclastogenesis in Gaucher disease chemical model.