SummaryA yeast mutant was isolated that was resistant to Baxinduced cell death. It supports a mutation leading to decreased amounts of the protein Uth1p. A strain in which the UTH1 gene is disrupted also exhibits resistance to Bax expression. The absence of Uth1p does not change the mitochondrial localization of Bax, its insertion in the mitochondrial outer membrane or its cytochrome c -releasing activity. On the other hand, the absence of Uth1p does prevent the appearance of other hallmarks related to Bax expression in yeast, such as oxidation of mitochondrial lipid, production of reactive oxygen species and maintenance of plasma membrane properties after ethanol stress. The absence of Uth1p was also found to induce resistance to rapamycin, a specific inducer of autophagy. This resistance only appears when cells are grown under respiratory conditions, but not under fermentative conditions, suggesting that Uth1p acts in an autophagic pathway involving mitochondria, in accordance with its main localization in the outer mitochondrial membrane. Taken together, these data show that Bax is able to activate a death pathway related to autophagy in yeast, which also exhibits typical hallmarks of apoptosis, revealing a possible dual function of Bax in both types of death. This hypothesis is discussed in the light of observations suggesting a coregulation of apoptosis and autophagy in mammalian cells.

Introduction:The aim of this work is to evaluate baricitinib safety with respect to venous thromboembolism (VTE), major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), and serious infection relative to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: Patients with RA from 14 real-world data sources (three disease registries, eight commercial and three government health insurance claims databases) in the United States (n = 9), Europe (n = 3), and Japan (n = 2) were analyzed using a new user active comparator design. Propensity score matching (1:1) controlled for potential confounding. Meta-analysis

The oxidant function of pro-apoptotic protein Bax was investigated through heterologous expression in yeast. Direct measurements of fatty acid content show that Baxexpression induces oxidation of mitochondrial lipids. This effect is prevented by the coexpression of Bcl-x L . The oxidation actually could be followed on isolated mitochondria as respiration-induced peroxidation of polyunsaturated cisparinaric acid and on whole cells as the increase in the amount of thiobarbituric acid-reactive products. Treatments that increase the unsaturation ratio of lipids, making them more sensitive to oxidation, increase kinetics of Bax-induced death. Conversely, inhibitors of lipid oxidation and treatments that decrease the unsaturation ratio of fatty acids decrease kinetics of Bax-induced death. Taken together, these results show that Bax-induced mitochondrial lipid oxidation is relevant to Bax-induced cell death. Conversely, lipid oxidation is poorly related to the massive Bax-induced superoxide and hydrogen peroxide accumulation, which occurs at the same time, as chemical or enzymatic scavenging of ROS does not prevent lipid oxidation nor has any effects on kinetics of Bax-induced cell death. Whatever the origin of mitochondrial lipid oxidation, these data show that it represents a major step in the cascade of events leading to Baxinduced cell death. These results are discussed in the light of the role of lipid oxidation both in mammalian apoptosis and in other forms of cell death in other organisms.

A retrospective, observational, cohort study in primary care. To determine the total direct medical and non-medical cost of chronic low back pain (LBP) in France and its associated factors. Chronic LBP affects 5-10% of the population its burden in France is unknown. Ninety-eight randomly selected general practitioners included 796 adult patients with chronic LBP between October 2001 and December 2002. Direct costs due to physician visits, investigations, medications, hospitalizations, and other medical and non-medical resource use were collected for the 6 months prior to study visit. Costs both reimbursed and not by the French health insurance system were considered. Quality of life (QoL) and disease severity were measured using Short Form (SF)-8 and Roland-Morris disability questionnaire (RMDQ), respectively. Costs were updated to represent 2007 prices. Men represented 50.6% of the 796 patients, mean age was 53 +/- 11.3 years, and the duration of LBP was more than 1 year in 80.9% of patients. The total mean cost per patient over six months was 715.6 euro (95% CI: 644.2-797.8). Of these costs, 22.9% related to care provided by physiotherapists and allied specialists, 19.5% to medications, 17.4% to hospitalizations, 9.6% to investigations, and 12.5% to physician fees. In multivariate analysis, the factors associated with the cost of chronic LBP were disease severity (RMDQ score) and age of the patients. LBP is a disease that is both common and costly.