Children's right to smoke-free air: Public support in Norway for banning smoking in vehicles with children present.

BACKGROUND: Children have a statutory right to a smoke-free environment, and tobacco control advocates are now considering regulation of smoking behavior in the private sphere. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has investigated the support for a ban on smoking in cars with children compared to other possible extensions of the tobacco act among the Norwegian public. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A nationwide representative survey (CAWI) of 5543 participants was conducted in 2014-2015. Respondents were asked to consider several possible new tobacco control measures, through selfreported ranking on 5-point scales for each measure. Multiple logistic regression models were applied to control for confounders (i.a. smoking behavior) for the tendency to state full support. RESULTS: A majority (78 % of all respondents, 61.8% of daily smokers) supported a proposal prohibiting smoking in cars when children are present. This proposal received substantially more support than bans on private balconies, in parks and at public transport stops and work entrances. Full support for the latter proposals varied between 39.9% and 58.1% (between 2.7% and 16.8% among smokers). Differences by smoking status were maintained after multiple controls. INTERPRETATION: The strong endorsement of the proposal (also provided by the majority of current smokers) suggests high legitimacy and compliance, which means that an implementation could be introduced without serious enforcement problems.

Isolation and expansion of adipose-derived stem cells for tissue engineering.

For treatment of cardiac failure with bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells, several clinical trials are ongoing. However, more attention is gathering on the use of adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs). This paper describes the optimization of isolation and propagation of ASCs for subsequent clinical use. In the isolation step, several enzymes were compared with respect to yield of nucleated cells and precursor cells. Our results showed, that the interdonor variablility was greater than differences between individual enzymes. For propagation of cells, different types of media, sera and serum replacers were evaluated regarding their ability to support cell growth and preserve differentiation potential. Most of serum replacers proved inferior to fetal calf serum. Among the media tested, modified Eagle's media alpha was superior in promoting cell growth while preserving the ability to differentiate. Also, the effect of cell seeding density and hypoxic culture was evaluated. In this study, we show that it is possible to maximize cell yield regardless of donor individual characteristics by simple manipulations of media composition, cell seeding density and gaseous environment.

CD4(+) T-cell activation is differentially modulated by bacteria-primed dendritic cells, but is generally down-regulated by n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Appropriate activation of CD4(+) T cells is fundamental for efficient initiation and progression of acquired immune responses. Here, we showed that CD4(+) T-cell activation is dependent on changes in membrane n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and is dynamically regulated by the type of signals provided by dendritic cells (DCs). Upon interaction with DCs primed by different concentrations and species of gut bacteria, CD4(+) T cells were activated according to the type of DC stimulus. The levels of CD80 were found to correlate to the levels of expression of CD28 and to the proliferation of CD4(+) T cells, while the presence of CD40 and CD86 on DCs inversely affected inducible costimulator (ICOS) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) levels in CD4(+) T cells. For all DC stimuli, cells high in n-3 PUFAs showed reduced ability to respond to CD28 stimulation, to proliferate, and to express ICOS and CTLA-4. Diminished T-cell receptor (TCR) and CD28 signalling was found to be responsible for n-3 PUFA effects. Thus, the dietary fatty acid composition influences the overall level of CD4(+) T-cell activation induced by DCs, while the priming effect of the DC stimuli modulates CD80, CD86 and CD40 levels, thereby affecting and shaping activation of acquired immunity by differential regulation of proliferation and costimulatory molecule expression in CD4(+) T cells.

Conjugated linoleic acids reduce body fat in healthy postmenopausal women.

Isomers of conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) reduce fat mass (FM) and increase insulin sensitivity in some, but not all, murine studies. In humans, this effect is still debatable. In this study, we compared the effect of 2 CLA supplements on total and regional FM assessed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, changes in serum insulin and glucose concentrations, and adipose tissue (AT) gene expression in humans. In a double-blind, parallel, 16-wk intervention, we randomized 81 healthy postmenopausal women to 1) 5.5 g/d of 40/40% of cis9,trans11-CLA (c9,t11-CLA) and trans10,cis12-CLA (t10,c12-CLA) (CLA-mix); 2) cis9, trans11-CLA (c9,t11-CLA); or 3) control (olive oil). We assessed all variables before and after the intervention. The CLA-mix group had less total FM (4%) and lower-body FM (7%) than the control (P = 0.02 and < 0.001, respectively). Post hoc analyses showed that serum insulin concentrations were greater in the CLA-mix group (34%) than the control group (P = 0.02) in the highest waist circumference tertile only. AT mRNA expression of glucose transporter 4, leptin, and lipoprotein lipase was lower, whereas expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha was higher in the CLA-mix group than in the control group (P < 0.04). In conclusion, a 50:50 mixture of c9,t11- and t10,c12-CLA isomers resulted in less total and lower-body FM in postmenopausal women and greater serum insulin concentrations in the highest waist circumference tertile. Future research is needed to confirm the insulin desensitizing effect of the CLA mixture and the effect on the mRNA expression of adipocyte-specific genes in humans.

Effect of growth media and serum replacements on the proliferation and differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells.

BACKGROUND AIMS: Studies of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) from BM and adipose tissue have demonstrated similar differentiation potentials along the adipo-, osteo- and chondrogenic lineages. While most clinical trials have been performed using BM-derived MSC, the focus is shifting toward the use of stem cells derived from fat tissue. The aim of the current investigation was to define optimal culture conditions that would facilitate clinical use of adipose-derived stem cells (ASC). METHODS: Different types and concentrations of serum replacers and basal media were tested with respect to the optimal expansion and subsequent differentiation of primary human ASC. The effect of initial seeding density on the growth of ASC was also determined. RESULTS: While several of the serum replacements proved to be clearly inferior to fetal calf serum (FCS) in promoting ASC growth, the knockout serum replacement (KOSR) had expansion properties similar to those of FCS. However, with respect to the capacity to support adipo-, osteo- and chondrogenic differentiation, KOSR proved to be less consistent than FCS. Among the media formulations, modified Eagle medium alpha supported a significantly faster cell expansion than the other basal media while still maintaining the full differentiation potential of ASC. Regarding the plating density most favorable for rapid expansion, we found that initial plating densities ranging from 100 to 200 cell/cm(2) resulted in significantly shorter doubling times than plating densities both below and above that range. CONCLUSIONS: Identification of the optimal basal medium and serum replacer, together with the most favorable plating density, will facilitate cell-based and tissue-engineering applications employing ASC in pre-clinical and clinical settings.

Instability of standard PCR reference genes in adipose-derived stem cells during propagation, differentiation and hypoxic exposure.

BACKGROUND: For the accurate determination of gene expression changes during growth and differentiation studies on adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs), quantitative real-time RT-PCR has become a method of choice. The technology is very sensitive, however, without a proper selection of reference genes, to which the genes of interest are normalized, erroneous results may be obtained. RESULTS: In this study, we have compared the gene expression levels of a panel of twelve widely used reference genes during hypoxic culture, osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation, and passaging of primary human ASCs. We found that several of the commonly used reference genes including 18S rRNA, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and beta-actin were unsuitable for normalization in the conditions we tested, whereas tyrosine 3/tryptophan 5-monooxygenase activation protein (YMHAZ), TATAA-box binding protein (TBP), beta-glucuronidase (GUSB) were the most stable across all conditions. CONCLUSION: When determining gene expression levels in adipose-derived stem cells, we recommend normalizing transcription levels to the geometric mean of YMHAZ, TBP and GUSB.

Comparative analysis of highly defined proteases for the isolation of adipose tissue-derived stem cells.

BACKGROUND: Before the potential of adipose tissue-derived stem cells can fully be exploited for a broad scope of tissue-engineering and cell-based therapeutical applications, an effective and reproducible method for isolation is needed. AIM: To comparatively analyze five highly defined protease formulations, Blendzyme 1-4, liberase H1 and a crude collagenase mixture in the course of digestion that consisted of three 1-h intervals. METHODS: The resulting digests of human adipose tissue aspirates were evaluated for the yield of nucleated cells, viability and frequency of specific lineages, in particular CD90, CD34 and CD45, by flow cytometry. The functionality of the cells was assessed as to the colony-forming capacity in limiting dilution assays. RESULTS: Based on all evaluation criteria, Blendzymes 1 and 2 and liberase H1 demonstrated a superior performance and highest consistency. Blendzyme 3 clearly underperformed compared with all other enzymes, and the performance of the rest of enzymes appeared erratic. As for the length of digestion, a 2-h interval appeared optimal when weighing both the yield and functionality of the cells in the stromal vascular fractions obtained from different adipose tissue samples. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that the highly purified proteases provide a valuable alternative to crude collagenase preparations, especially in scenarios where a high definition and reproducibility of the digestion process is of importance.

An oil mixture with trans-10, cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid increases markers of inflammation and in vivo lipid peroxidation compared with cis-9, trans-11 conjugated linoleic acid in postmenopausal women.

A mixture of trans-10, cis-12 (t10,c12) and cis-9, trans-11 (c9,t11) conjugated linoleic acid (CLA mixture) reduced atherosclerosis in animals, thus the effect of these isomers on endothelial dysfunctions leading to inflammation and atherosclerosis is of interest. We gave 75 healthy postmenopausal women a daily supplement of 5.5 g of oil rich in either CLA mixture, an oil rich in the naturally occurring c9,t11 CLA (CLA milk), respectively, or olive oil for 16 wk in a double-blind, randomized, parallel intervention study. We sampled blood and urine before and after the intervention. The ratios of total cholesterol:HDL cholesterol and concentrations of C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 were significantly higher in women supplemented with the CLA mixture than in those supplemented with CLA milk. Plasma triacylglycerol was significantly higher and HDL cholesterol was lower in women supplemented with the CLA mixture than with olive oil. Both CLA supplements increased lipid peroxidation, a marker of in vivo oxidative stress measured as urinary free 8-iso-prostaglandin F(2alpha). However, the CLA mixture increased lipid peroxidation more than the CLA milk did. The plasma cytokines interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were not affected by the treatments, nor were any of the other variables measured. In conclusion, oil containing trans-10,cis-12 CLA has several adverse effects on classical and novel markers of coronary vascular disease, whereas the c9,t11 CLA isomer is more neutral, except for a small but significant increase in lipid peroxidation compared with olive oil.

The composition of polyunsaturated fatty acids in erythrocytes of lactating mothers and their infants.

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) in breastmilk, specifically docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are important for infant brain development. Accretion of DHA in the infant brain is dependent on DHA-status, intake and metabolism. The aim of this study was to describe changes in maternal and infant erythrocyte (RBC) DHA-status during the first four months of lactation. We examined 17 mothers and their term infants at 1, 2 and 4 months of age. Milk samples and RBC from the mothers and infants were obtained and analysed for fatty acid composition. Comparative analysis of the results showed that the content of DHA in maternal RBC-phosphatidylcholine (PE) decreased over the four month period and this was not accompanied by a decrease in DHA in infant RBC-PE (P = 0.005). The ratio of n-6 PUFA to n-3 PUFA increased over time in maternal RBC-PE, but not in infant RBC-PE (P < 0.001). The level of 22:5n-6 and the ratio of LCPUFA to precursor PUFAs in infant RBC was higher than in maternal RBC phospholipids. (P = and P < 0.001 respectively). We found a decrease in the level of LCPUFA in milk, specifically AA. However, we did not observe a significant decrease in milk DHA, which may have been due to two outliers. These results indicate better DHA-status and a higher n-3/n-6 PUFA in RBC of infants than in mothers. Whether these differences reflect preferential n-3 PUFA transfer via breastmilk or differences in PUFA-metabolism and utilization remains to be shown.

Effects of medium-chain fatty acids and oleic acid on blood lipids, lipoproteins, glucose, insulin, and lipid transfer protein activities.

BACKGROUND: Dietary medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) are of nutritional interest because they are more easily absorbed from dietary medium-chain triacylglycerols (MCTs) than are long-chain fatty acids from, for example, vegetable oils. It has generally been claimed that MCFAs do not increase plasma cholesterol, although this claim is poorly documented. OBJECTIVE: We compared the effects of a diet rich in either MCFAs or oleic acid on fasting blood lipids, lipoproteins, glucose, insulin, and lipid transfer protein activities in healthy men. DESIGN: In a study with a double-blind, randomized, crossover design, 17 healthy young men replaced part of their habitual dietary fat intake with 70 g MCTs (66% 8:0 and 34% 10:0) or high-oleic sunflower oil (89.4% 18:1). Each intervention period lasted 21 d, and the 2 periods were separated by a washout period of 2 wk. Blood samples were taken before and after the intervention periods. RESULTS: Compared with the intake of high-oleic sunflower oil, MCT intake resulted in 11% higher plasma total cholesterol (P = 0.0005), 12% higher LDL cholesterol (P = 0.0001), 32% higher VLDL cholesterol (P = 0.080), a 12% higher ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol (P = 0.002), 22% higher plasma total triacylglycerol (P = 0.0361), and higher plasma glucose (P = 0.033). Plasma HDL-cholesterol and insulin concentrations and activities of cholesterol ester transfer protein and phospholipid transfer protein did not differ significantly between the diets. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with fat high in oleic acid, MCT fat unfavorably affected lipid profiles in healthy young men by increasing plasma LDL cholesterol and triacylglycerol. No changes in the activities of phospholipid transfer protein and cholesterol ester transfer protein were evident.