Amyloid-beta (Aβ) plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The physiological capacity of peripheral tissues and organs in clearing brain-derived Aβ and its therapeutic potential for AD remains largely unknown. Here, we measured blood Aβ levels in different locations of the circulation in humans and mice, and used a parabiosis model to investigate the effect of peripheral Aβ catabolism on AD pathogenesis. We found that blood Aβ levels in the inferior/posterior vena cava were lower than that in the superior vena cava in both humans and mice. In addition, injected 125I labeled Aβ40 was located mostly in the liver, kidney, gastrointestinal tract, and skin but very little in the brain; suggesting that Aβ derived from the brain can be cleared in the periphery. Parabiosis before and after Aβ deposition in the brain significantly reduced brain Aβ burden without alterations in the expression of amyloid precursor protein, Aβ generating and degrading enzymes, Aβ transport receptors, and AD-type pathologies including hyperphosphorylated tau, neuroinflammation, as well as neuronal degeneration and loss in the brains of parabiotic AD mice. Our study revealed that the peripheral system is potent in clearing brain Aβ and preventing AD pathogenesis. The present work suggests that peripheral Aβ clearance is a valid therapeutic approach for AD, and implies that deficits in the Aβ clearance in the periphery might also contribute to AD pathogenesis.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00401-015-1477-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Here we demonstrated the potential and applicability of terahertz (THz) spectroscopy to detect four commonly found bacteria in the infectious diseases. Besides the different spectral characteristics between bacterial species, THz absorption differences for living bacteria, dead bacteria and bacterial powder of the same species were also investigated. Our results revealed that small differences in water contents between bacterial cells account for distinct discrepancies of the absorption coefficients, which can be used for bacterial species identification. Furthermore, living and dead bacteria showed different absorption coefficients as a result of their different hydration levels, suggesting that THz spectroscopy can be used to rapidly assess the living state of bacteria under test. Our results clearly demonstrated the ability of THz spectroscopy for time-saving and label-free detection of bacteria with minimal sample preparation, potentially to be utilized for point-of-care tests in the near future. Schematic representation of bacterial detection by THz spectroscopy. Different bacteria have distinctive absorption coefficients as a result of their different water contents.
The increasing frequency of early breast cancer cases has driven an increasing number of patients to choose immediate reconstruction with an autologous flap. Omentum-flap-based breast reconstruction is a unique strategy that is highly suitable for repairing moderate tissue defects. However, all available evidence comes from individual reports with small numbers of cases, and the overall effectiveness and safety of the procedure have yet to be reported. Here, we reported 7 cases of laparoscopically harvested omental free flap breast reconstruction and performed a systematic review to assess the applicability and safety of this approach. The data were gathered from MEDLINE, Ovid, Google Scholar and the China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database. In total, we combined 15 articles (410 cases) for analysis. The data revealed that almost all patients (87.6%) were reported to have undergone laparoscopy instead of laparotomy; pedicle flaps were used in 90.9% of the cases, while only 5 (37 cases) used free flaps for reconstruction; and 96.6% (396/410) of all reconstruction procedures were immediate. Almost all of these cases had a small tumour burden (T0/Tis/T1 59.8%; T2 36.8%), and the distribution of tumour location was similar among the four quadrants. The cosmetic outcomes were desirable in most cases (83.9%). There were 41 complications identified in the dataset: partial graft necrosis accounted for the largest percentage (41.5%) of all events, followed by skin necrosis (19.5%), haematoma (12.2%) and wound infection (9.8%). During the follow-up period, which had a short median duration, 2 cases of tumour recurrence were reported. Overall, our systematic review found that omentum-flap-based breast reconstruction could achieve a satisfactory aesthetic outcome, especially for small breasts and tissue replacement after breast-conserving surgery, and the safety of the procedure was also acceptable.
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