The Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Lebanese Adults: Results from a National Survey.

Objective. To examine the prevalence and correlates of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) use in Lebanon. Methods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted through face to face interviews on a nationally representative sample of 1,475 Lebanese adults. The survey questionnaire explored the sociodemographic and health related characteristics as well as the types and modes of CAM use. The main outcome in this study was the use of CAM during the last 12 months. Results. Prevalence of CAM use was 29.87% with "folk herbs" being the most commonly used (75%). Two out of five CAM users indicated using it as alternative to conventional therapies and only 28.4% of users disclosed the use of CAM to their physician. CAM use was significantly associated with higher income, presence of a chronic disease, and lack of access to needed health care. Lower odds of CAM use were observed among older adults and those with a higher education level. Conclusions. This study revealed a high prevalence of CAM use in Lebanon. Health policy and decision makers need to facilitate proper regulation and integration of CAM into mainstream medicine and educate health care providers and the public alike on the safe and effective use of CAM therapies.

Comparative study of the neurotrophic effects elicited by VEGF-B and GDNF in preclinical in vivo models of Parkinson's disease.

Vascular endothelial growth factor B (VEGF-B) has recently been shown to be a promising novel neuroprotective agent for several neurodegenerative conditions. In the current study we extended previous work on neuroprotective potential for Parkinson's disease (PD) by testing an expanded dose range of VEGF-B (1 and 10 µg) and directly comparing both neuroprotective and neurorestorative effects of VEGF-B in progressive unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) PD models to a single dose of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF, 10 µg), that has been established by several groups as a standard in both preclinical PD models. In the amphetamine-induced rotational tests the treatment with 1 and 10 µg VEGF-B resulted in significantly improved motor function of 6-OHDA-lesioned rats compared to vehicle-treated 6-OHDA-lesioned rats in the neuroprotection paradigm. Both doses of VEGF-B caused an increase in tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive cell and fiber count in the substantia nigra (SN) and striatum in the neuroprotective experiment. The effect size was comparable to the effects seen with GDNF. In the neurorestoration paradigm, VEGF-B injection had no significant effect in either the behavioral or the immunohistochemical analyses, whereas GDNF injection significantly improved the amphetamine-induced rotational behavior and reduced TH-positive neuronal cell loss in the SN. We also present a strong positive correlation (p=1.9e-50) of the expression of VEGF-B with nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes involved in fatty acid metabolism in rat midbrain, pointing to the mitochondria as a site of action of VEGF-B. GDNF showed a positive correlation with nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes that was not nearly as strong (p=0.018). VEGF-B counteracted rotenone-induced reduction of (a) fatty acid transport protein 1 and 4 levels and (b) both Akt protein and phosphorylation levels in SH-SY5Y cells. We further verified VEGF-B expression in the human SN pars compacta of healthy controls and PD patients, in neuronal cells that show co-expression with neuromelanin. These results have demonstrated that VEGF-B has potential as a neuroprotective agent for PD therapy and should be further investigated.

First Report of Sugarcane mosaic virus on Maize in the Centre Region of France.

In 2007, sweet corn plants (Zea mays cv. Challenger) with symptoms of mosaic resembling those caused by Maize dwarf mosaic virus (MDMV) were observed in production fields in the Centre Region of France. In 10 sweet corn fields surveyed, yield production was decreased by 10 to 20%. Potyvirus-like particles were observed by electron microscopy. Twenty samples from affected plants (cv. Challenger) showing severe mosaic symptoms were tested by ELISA with rabbit polyclonal antibodies to MDMV (Montpellier SupAgro, France) and SCMV (Sugarcane mosaic virus) (Bioreba, Reinach, Switzerland). For all leaves tested, slight and strong positive reactions were observed for MDMV and SCMV, respectively, indicating that the plants were infected by SCMV. Filtered phosphate buffer extracts of infected leaves of field plants (cv. Challenger) were used to mechanically inoculate leaves of different corn plants at the three-leaf stage. Sweet corn cultivars (Atugan, Challenger, Golda, Max, and Rana) and seed corn cultivars (DK315, DK3152, DKC3420, Marcello, and PR38H20) were tested. Two weeks after inoculation, mosaic symptoms were observed on leaves. The sweet corn cultivars (with the exception of cv. Max) were considerably more sensitive to the virus. Using two lots of 1,000 seeds each (cv. Challenger), a rate of seed transmission was estimated to be 0.5 to 0.6%. Total RNA was extracted from infected leaves of cv. Challenger 3 weeks after mechanical inoculation. To confirm the potyvirus species involved, a short conserved fragment of the coat protein gene was reverse transcribed, PCR amplified and sequenced (3). The sequence was deposited in GenBank (Accession No. HM014060). Multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis clearly grouped this isolate called SCMV-MFc (Maize France centre) in the 'Maize' cluster of SCMV, which consists exclusively of isolates from maize. Nucleotide sequence comparison showed that SCMV-MXVrP, a Mexican isolate (2), and SCMV-P3, a Polish isolate (4), have the two closest sequences (285 identical nucleotides of 286). SCMV-MFc is more distantly related with the described SCMV German isolates (1). This is in contrast to SCMV isolates from the traditional Saccharum officinarum cultivars that can be clustered by geographical origin (1). This result could be a consequence of the possible seed transmission of the maize isolates of SCMV. In the future, it will be interesting to check the occurrence of SCMV-MFc in maize fields to assess its economical importance. References: (1) O. Alegria et al. Arch. Virol. 148:357, 2003. (2) F. Espejel et al. Arch. Virol. 151:409, 2006. (3) V. Marie-Jeanne et al. J. Phytopathol. 148:141, 2000. (4) K. Trzmiel. Plant Dis. 93:1078, 2009.

Biological and sequence analysis of a novel European isolate of Barley mild mosaic virus that overcomes the barley rym5 resistance gene.

A Barley mild mosaic virus (BaMMV) isolate from France (BaMMV-Sil) capable of overcoming rym5-controlled resistance was inoculated to barley genotypes carrying various genes for resistance to the barley mosaic viruses. BaMMV-Sil was unable to infect genotypes carrying rym1, rym4, rym8, rym9, or rym11 but genotypes carrying rym3, rym5, rym6 or no known bymovirus resistance gene were susceptible. Plants carrying rym7 or rym10 showed partial resistance with delayed virus accumulation. The two genomic RNAs of BaMMV-Sil were sequenced and compared to published sequences and those of a further common strain isolate from the UK. Four amino acid differences were observed between BaMMV-Sil and European common strain isolates in the polypeptide encoded by RNA1, the RNA species which determines pathogenicity on the rym5 genotypes. Only two of these differences are likely to be functionally important (His rather than Gln at position1217 in the VPg cistron; His rather than Asp at position 1776 in the NIb cistron). Comparisons with related viruses in the genera Bymovirus and Potyvirus suggest that the change in the VPg, which occurs within a motif conserved amongst all viruses within the family Potyviridae, is the more likely cause of rym5 resistance-breaking.

rym15 from the Japanese cultivar Chikurin Ibaraki 1 is a new barley mild mosaic virus (BaMMV) resistance gene mapped on chromosome 6H.

Breeding for resistant cultivars is the only way to prevent high yield loss in barley caused by the soil-borne barley mild mosaic virus (BaMMV) complex. We have characterized the BaMMV resistance of barley cv. Chikurin Ibaraki 1. Doubled haploid lines were obtained from the F(1) between the susceptible six-rowed winter barley cultivar, Plaisant, and Chikurin Ibaraki 1. Each line was tested for reaction to BaMMV by mechanical inoculation followed by DAS-ELISA. Of 44 microsatellites that covered the genome, 22 polymorphic markers were tested on one susceptible and one resistant bulk, each comprising 30 lines. Differential markers and additional microsatellite markers in the same region were then tested on the whole population. A bootstrap analysis was used to compute confidence intervals of distances and to test the orders of the resistance gene and the closest markers. A segregation of 84 resistant/98 susceptible lines fitted a 1:1 ratio (chi(2)=1.08, P=0.30), which corresponds to a single gene in this DH lines population. The resistance gene was flanked by two markers near the centromeric region of chromosome 6HS-Bmag0173, at 0.6+/-1.2 cM, and EBmac0874, at 5.8 +/- 3.4 cM. We propose to name this new resistance gene rym15. This resistance gene and associated markers will increase the possibilities to breed efficiently for new cultivars resistant to the barley mosaic disease.

Genetic diversity of old french six-rowed winter barley varieties assessed with molecular, biochemical and morphological markers and its relation to BaMMV resistance

Twenty-six old French six-rowed winter barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) varieties were characterized for their reaction against barley mild mosaic virus (BaMMV). The genetic diversity of these varieties and two recent barley varieties was assessed using molecular, biochemical and morphological data. Seven old varieties were fully resistant to BaMMV. A higher differentiation level between varieties was observed by using DNA molecular markers compared to biochemical and morphological ones. Correspondence analysis using all markers showed that DNA molecular data could fully discriminate between all varieties, whereas biochemical and morphological markers were not able to achieve a complete discrimination. The dendrogram clustering computed with the DNA marker dissimilarity index showed two main groups. The first group included the seven varieties resistant to the BaMMV, whereas the second contained susceptible varieties. The relationships between these varieties, their diversity level, and their characterization are discussed. We infer that the seven BaMMV-resistant varieties have a common origin.