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Objective: To investigate the effect of 2-month detraining on body composition and glucose tolerance for female collegiate dancers. Design: Longitudinal study of dancers who stopped their regular training for 2 months. Subjects: 16 female collegiate dancers (age: 19.770.11 year, body mass index (BMI): 20.770.56 kg/m 2 ). Measurements: BMI, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), insulin response during OGTT, and blood lipids at baseline and after a 2-month detraining. Results: Glucose tolerance was not significantly affected by the detraining, but the fasted insulin and insulin levels during OGTT were significantly elevated. Fasted free fatty acid (FFA) and triglyceride levels were significantly elevated without change in cholesterol level. BMI was not significantly altered during this detraining period, but the waist circumference and WHR ratio were significantly elevated. Conclusion: Only a 2-month cessation of regular training in female dancers significantly elevated basal and postprandial insulin levels and triglycerides, and were associated with increased basal FFA. This result appears to be partly related to the increased central fatness but not body mass, indicating that the early development of obesity due to reduced physical activity may not necessarily reflect on weight status. A warning is thus warranted for those young women who depend on weight measurement for body fat status monitoring.

Genetic immunization strategies have largely focused on the use of plasmid DNA with a gene gun. However, there remains a clear need to further improve the efficiency, safety, and cost of potential DNA vaccines. The gold particle-coated DNA format delivered through a gene gun is expensive, time and process consuming, and raises aseptic safety concerns. This study aims to determine whether a low-pressured gene gun can deliver noncarrier naked DNA vaccine without any particle coating, and generate similarly strong antigen-specific immunologic responses and potent antitumor effects compared with gold particle-coated DNA vaccine. Our results show that mice vaccinated with noncarrier naked chimeric CRT/E7 DNA lead to dramatic increases in the numbers of E7-specific CD8 + T-cell precursors and markedly raised titers of E7-specific antibodies. Furthermore, noncarrier naked CRT/E7 DNA vaccine generated potent antitumor effects against subcutaneous E7-expressing tumors and pre-established E7-expressing metastatic pulmonary tumors. In addition, mice immunized with noncarrier naked CRT/E7 DNA vaccine had significantly less burning effects on the skin compared with those vaccinated with gold particle-coated CRT/E7 DNA vaccine. We conclude that noncarrier naked CRT/E7 DNA vaccine delivered with a low-pressured gene gun can generate similarly potent immunologic responses and effective antitumor effects has fewer side effects, and is more convenient than conventional gold particle-coated DNA vaccine.

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In addition to its role in the removal of damaged and unneeded proteins, the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) may play a key role in coronary artery disease (CAD). To investigate the expression of ubiquitin in monocytes and lymphocytes isolated from patients at different stages of CAD, 120 patients with CAD (40 with acute myocardial infarction [AMI], 40 with unstable angina pectoris [UAP] and 40 with stable angina pectoris [SAP]) were selected; 40 patients with normal coronary arteries served as controls. At both the mRNA and protein levels, ubiquitin expression was higher in patients with CAD than in controls, and patients with AMI had a much higher expression of ubiquitin (at both the mRNA and protein levels) than those with SAP and UAP. These data indicate that ubiquitin expression increased with increasing severity of CAD, suggesting that ubiquitin may play a critical role in the development and progression of CAD.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of parathyroid hormone (PTH) infusion on antioxidant enzyme activity and lipid peroxidation of erythrocytes in five-sixths nephrectomized (Nx) rats. Five-sixths Nx rats had a higher osmotic fragility in red blood cells (RBC). Thyroparathyroidectomy (TPTX) effectively decreased the abnormality of osmotic fragility in RBC in Nx rats. PTH infusion in Nx-TPTX rats markedly increased the osmotic fragility in RBC. Total glutathione was measured by using the enzyme-recycling method. We found elevated glutathione levels in RBC of five-sixths Nx rats, but this elevation could be inhibited by TPTX and recovered by PTH infusion in Nx-TPTX rats. Five-sixths Nx rats had a lower glutathione peroxidase activity in RBC, but TPTX or PTH infusion was not found to alter the decrease of the glutathione peroxidase activity in RBC of five-sixths Nx rats. These rats had a higher activity in RBC superoxide dismutase as compared with sham-operated controls (p < 0.05), but the higher activity in RBC super-oxide dismutase in Nx rats had been inhibited by TPTX. PTH infusion recovered the higher activity in RBC superoxide dismutase in five-sixths Nx-TPTX rats. Nx rats were not found to alter the activity of catalase in RBC. Neither could TPTX or PTH infusion in Nx rats influence the activity of catalase in RBC. A high lipid peroxidation in RBC was found in five-sixths Nx rats, namely, increased formation of malondialdehyde (MDA) in RBC had been induced to produce lipid peroxidation by H₂O₂, but neither TPTX nor PTH infusion could inhibit or enhance the increase of lipid peroxidation in RBC of Nx rats. These results indicate that PTH infusion did not increase the susceptibility to lipid peroxidation in RBC of five-sixths Nx rats. Thus, the increased osmotic fragility in RBC induced by PTH infusion may not result from the reduction in the RBC defense mechanism against free radical toxicity.

ABSTRACT.We investigated the roles of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and its receptor death receptor 5 (DR5) in the onset of acute leukemia and changes in their expression during chemotherapy. Bone marrow samples from 16 patients newly diagnosed with acute leukemia were collected before chemotherapy. Bone marrow samples from patients with non-hematologic malignancies served as the control group. Peripheral blood samples of patients with acute leukemia were also collected before chemotherapy and at 1 and 3 days after chemotherapy. Mononuclear cells in the bone marrow and peripheral blood were isolated and used to detect the expression of TRAIL and DR5 by flow cytometry. Compared with mononuclear cells from the control group, mononuclear cells from newly diagnosed patients with acute leukemia showed no significant difference in the expression of TRAIL (P > 0.05) but showed significantly increased expression of DR5 (P < 0.05). TRAIL and DR5 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells after chemotherapy was significantly increased compared to expression before chemotherapy (P < 0.05). Patients showing high expression of DR5 had a higher remission rate. One of the mechanisms underlying the treatment of leukemia with chemotherapy drugs may be the induction of TRAIL and DR5, which may promote 18563 Roles of TRAIL and DR5 in acute leukemia ©FUNPEC-RP www.funpecrp.com.br Genetics and Molecular Research 14 (4): 18562-18568 (2015) apoptosis in leukemia cells. TRAIL-mediated apoptosis is regulated by DR5 expression.