Pub Date : 2013-01-01DOI: 10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT008
Brighid O'Neill
{"title":"Corrigendum to: ‘A scientific review of the reported effects of vegan nutrition on the occurrence and prevalence of cancer and cardiovascular disease’","authors":"Brighid O'Neill","doi":"10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT008","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":52095,"journal":{"name":"Bioscience Horizons","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT008","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60764966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2013-01-01DOI: 10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT004
R. J. Sands
Reduced quantities of dead wood in managed forests have resulted in a reduction in the abundance and diversity of saproxylic invertebrates to the extent that many are now considered red list species. To mitigate against this loss, one conservation measure is the provision of dead wood, in the form of piles of chopped logs, i.e. ‘woodstacks’. The heterogeneity and volume of dead wood habitat is considered to be an important component of habitat suitability. However, the value of different wood stack types to invertebrate conservation has rarely been quantified and there is little consensus on how to best to survey the invertebrate fauna of woodstacks. This study used both sticky traps and pitfall traps to sample the invertebrate fauna of three types of sycamore woodstack. Woodstacks were made from 10 logs, 20 logs and 10 scorched logs plus a control woodstack made of unplasticised polyvinyl chloride (uPVC) plastic piping and observed over a 4-week period. A total of 1446 invertebrates from 16 orders, including 127 Coleoptera, were caught during the sampling period. A generalized linear model was used to analyse invertebrate abundance between woodstack and between trap types, and diversity was determined using Shannon diversity indices and analysed using a two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The woodstack type had no effect on the abundance of invertebrates. However, Shannon diversity was highest on the scorched woodstacks, with little difference between the 10 and 20 log stacks and the control uPVC woodstacks. However, closer inspection of orders revealed the uPVC woodstacks to have the lowest abundance and diversity of Coleoptera. This study suggests that constructing woodstacks can provide suitable habitat for a variety of invertebrates. However, these invertebrates may have simply used the structures for shelter and the true value with saproxylic invertebrates could not be measured in this 4-week study. To fully appreciate the conservation value of woodstacks will require longer term studies that examine how and when saproxylic invertebrates use dead and decaying wood.
{"title":"Effect of woodstack structure on invertebrate abundance and diversity","authors":"R. J. Sands","doi":"10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT004","url":null,"abstract":"Reduced quantities of dead wood in managed forests have resulted in a reduction in the abundance and diversity of saproxylic invertebrates to the extent that many are now considered red list species. To mitigate against this loss, one conservation measure is the provision of dead wood, in the form of piles of chopped logs, i.e. ‘woodstacks’. The heterogeneity and volume of dead wood habitat is considered to be an important component of habitat suitability. However, the value of different wood stack types to invertebrate conservation has rarely been quantified and there is little consensus on how to best to survey the invertebrate fauna of woodstacks. This study used both sticky traps and pitfall traps to sample the invertebrate fauna of three types of sycamore woodstack. Woodstacks were made from 10 logs, 20 logs and 10 scorched logs plus a control woodstack made of unplasticised polyvinyl chloride (uPVC) plastic piping and observed over a 4-week period. A total of 1446 invertebrates from 16 orders, including 127 Coleoptera, were caught during the sampling period. A generalized linear model was used to analyse invertebrate abundance between woodstack and between trap types, and diversity was determined using Shannon diversity indices and analysed using a two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The woodstack type had no effect on the abundance of invertebrates. However, Shannon diversity was highest on the scorched woodstacks, with little difference between the 10 and 20 log stacks and the control uPVC woodstacks. However, closer inspection of orders revealed the uPVC woodstacks to have the lowest abundance and diversity of Coleoptera. This study suggests that constructing woodstacks can provide suitable habitat for a variety of invertebrates. However, these invertebrates may have simply used the structures for shelter and the true value with saproxylic invertebrates could not be measured in this 4-week study. To fully appreciate the conservation value of woodstacks will require longer term studies that examine how and when saproxylic invertebrates use dead and decaying wood.","PeriodicalId":52095,"journal":{"name":"Bioscience Horizons","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT004","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60764911","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2013-01-01DOI: 10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT009
C. H. K. Wu
Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is a recently discovered gasotransmitter. It is endogenously synthesized by cystathionine β synthetase, cystathionine γ lyase, cysteine aminotransferase, 3-mercaptopyruvate sulphurtransferase and cysteine lyase. Its metabolism leads to the production of sulphate (SO4 2− ), methanthiol, dimethylsulphide and thiocynate. The gas interacts with ion channels, protein kinases and transcription factors. It is also involved in post-translational modification of proteins via S-sulphhydration. Although debate continues as to whether H2S is pro- or anti-inflammatory, its anti-inflammatory properties seem to have beneficial effects in various lung diseases. Serum levels of H 2S differ between asthma, chronic obstructive pul monary disease and pulmonary fibrosis, which makes it difficult for the gas to be used as a biomarker for lung diseases. Apart from exogenous sources of H2S, targets to enhance or inhibit the gas can be found in its synthesis and metabolism pathway. H2S-releasing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are currently being developed. Further research will aid to determine the precise role of H2S in respiratory diseases.
{"title":"The role of hydrogen sulphide in lung diseases","authors":"C. H. K. Wu","doi":"10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT009","url":null,"abstract":"Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is a recently discovered gasotransmitter. It is endogenously synthesized by cystathionine β synthetase, cystathionine γ lyase, cysteine aminotransferase, 3-mercaptopyruvate sulphurtransferase and cysteine lyase. Its metabolism leads to the production of sulphate (SO4 2− ), methanthiol, dimethylsulphide and thiocynate. The gas interacts with ion channels, protein kinases and transcription factors. It is also involved in post-translational modification of proteins via S-sulphhydration. Although debate continues as to whether H2S is pro- or anti-inflammatory, its anti-inflammatory properties seem to have beneficial effects in various lung diseases. Serum levels of H 2S differ between asthma, chronic obstructive pul monary disease and pulmonary fibrosis, which makes it difficult for the gas to be used as a biomarker for lung diseases. Apart from exogenous sources of H2S, targets to enhance or inhibit the gas can be found in its synthesis and metabolism pathway. H2S-releasing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are currently being developed. Further research will aid to determine the precise role of H2S in respiratory diseases.","PeriodicalId":52095,"journal":{"name":"Bioscience Horizons","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT009","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60765005","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2013-01-01DOI: 10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT001
L. Robertson
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited mental retardation and the most common known cause of autism. It is caused by the expansion of a CGG trinucleotide repeat in the 5′ untranslated region of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene, which encodes the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). FMRP negatively regulates group 1 (Grp 1) metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGlu a.k.a. mGluR) activity, and many FXS phenotypes are thought to be due to the over activity of the Grp 1 mGlu, mGlu5. This review evaluates the evidence for mGlu5 as a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of FXS. A 50% reduction in mGlu5 expression in Fmr1 knockout (KO) mice has been shown to reverse many FXS-relevant phenotypes including alterations in synaptic plasticity, increased dendritic spine density, increased basal hippocampal protein synthesis, inhibitory avoidance extinction and susceptibility to audiogenic seizures. A negative modulator of mGlu5 may, therefore, be expected to have the same effect. In Fmr1 KO mice, Grp 1 mGlu antagonists, such as 2-methyl6-(phenylethynyl)pyridine (MPEP), fenobam and AFQ056, have been shown to reduce audiogenic seizures, reverse altered dendritic spine morphology, reduce excessive protein synthesis and improve behavioural abnormalities. MPEP, however, has failed to reverse altered long-term potentiation in the sensory neocortex or reduce machroorchidism. Clinical trials of mGlu5negative modulators have had some positive outcomes but have had too few participants and were not performed over a long enough period to detect significant effects. Nevertheless, the prospects for development of mGlu5-negative modulators as FXS therapeutics are good and most research supports mGlu5 as a potential therapeutic target.
{"title":"mGlu5 as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of fragile X syndrome","authors":"L. Robertson","doi":"10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT001","url":null,"abstract":"Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited mental retardation and the most common known cause of autism. It is caused by the expansion of a CGG trinucleotide repeat in the 5′ untranslated region of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene, which encodes the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). FMRP negatively regulates group 1 (Grp 1) metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGlu a.k.a. mGluR) activity, and many FXS phenotypes are thought to be due to the over activity of the Grp 1 mGlu, mGlu5. This review evaluates the evidence for mGlu5 as a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of FXS. A 50% reduction in mGlu5 expression in Fmr1 knockout (KO) mice has been shown to reverse many FXS-relevant phenotypes including alterations in synaptic plasticity, increased dendritic spine density, increased basal hippocampal protein synthesis, inhibitory avoidance extinction and susceptibility to audiogenic seizures. A negative modulator of mGlu5 may, therefore, be expected to have the same effect. In Fmr1 KO mice, Grp 1 mGlu antagonists, such as 2-methyl6-(phenylethynyl)pyridine (MPEP), fenobam and AFQ056, have been shown to reduce audiogenic seizures, reverse altered dendritic spine morphology, reduce excessive protein synthesis and improve behavioural abnormalities. MPEP, however, has failed to reverse altered long-term potentiation in the sensory neocortex or reduce machroorchidism. Clinical trials of mGlu5negative modulators have had some positive outcomes but have had too few participants and were not performed over a long enough period to detect significant effects. Nevertheless, the prospects for development of mGlu5-negative modulators as FXS therapeutics are good and most research supports mGlu5 as a potential therapeutic target.","PeriodicalId":52095,"journal":{"name":"Bioscience Horizons","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT001","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60764838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2013-01-01DOI: 10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT011
A. K. Liu
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease affecting millions of people in the world. Cognitive impairments such as progressive memory loss are devastating manifestations from this disease. Current pharmacological treatment has limited efficacy and only provides symptomatic relief without long-term cure. As a result, cell-replacement therapy using stem cells is an emerging potential treatment to AD. In the last decade, there have been animal trials using stem cells to treat and modulate cognitive impairment in AD models via three different mechanisms—replacing the damaged or dead cholinergic neurons; protecting neurons by reducing toxic amyloid protein aggregates or insoluble tau neurofibrillary tangles and promoting neurogenesis in hippocampus by neurotrophic secretions from stem cells. All of the trials showed promising results and improved our understandings about the mechanism of dementia in AD. With the continued improvement in safety profile of stem cell therapy and the creation of a better animal AD model in which to test them, it is feasible that stem cells could be trialled in humans for AD treatment in the next 5–10 years.
{"title":"Stem cell therapy for Alzheimer's disease: hype or hope?","authors":"A. K. Liu","doi":"10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT011","url":null,"abstract":"Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease affecting millions of people in the world. Cognitive impairments such as progressive memory loss are devastating manifestations from this disease. Current pharmacological treatment has limited efficacy and only provides symptomatic relief without long-term cure. As a result, cell-replacement therapy using stem cells is an emerging potential treatment to AD. In the last decade, there have been animal trials using stem cells to treat and modulate cognitive impairment in AD models via three different mechanisms—replacing the damaged or dead cholinergic neurons; protecting neurons by reducing toxic amyloid protein aggregates or insoluble tau neurofibrillary tangles and promoting neurogenesis in hippocampus by neurotrophic secretions from stem cells. All of the trials showed promising results and improved our understandings about the mechanism of dementia in AD. With the continued improvement in safety profile of stem cell therapy and the creation of a better animal AD model in which to test them, it is feasible that stem cells could be trialled in humans for AD treatment in the next 5–10 years.","PeriodicalId":52095,"journal":{"name":"Bioscience Horizons","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT011","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60765471","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2013-01-01DOI: 10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT005
Tolulope Oyebanji
assay for the confirmation of Roche COBAS TaqMan positive tests by comparing results obtained by each method. Consecutive clinical C. trachomatis positive (n = 67) and random negative (n = 17) urogenital samples received at a general district hospital in the North East of England over a 6-month period were examined. Of the total 67 TaqMan-positive samples, 62 (92.5%) of them were also positive by the SmartCycler/EuroClone. There were 5 discrepancies in total (7.5%) and 17 samples were negative on both Roche TaqMan and SmartCycler/EuroClone. The sensitivity and specificity of the method were 92.5 and 100%, respectively. To further assess its specificity, the SmartCycler/EuroClone method was challenged with additional organisms and proved to possess the ability of avoiding false-positive results by correctly identifying these as C. trachomatis DNA negative. Finally, it was found that confirmation of positive C. trachomatis by the SmartCycler/EuroClone method increases the turn around time of chlamydia investigation by 2-folds. In conclusion, the SmartCycler/EuroClone method gave good concordance with the established Roche TaqMan method and proved to be highly suitable for confirmation testing of C. trachomatis positive samples. The remarkable specificity and acceptable sensitivity also confirms its suitability and reliability for this purpose.
{"title":"Evaluation of Cepheid SmartCycler and EuroClone Duplicareal time Dual Easy CT assay for confirmation of Chlamydia trachomatis","authors":"Tolulope Oyebanji","doi":"10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT005","url":null,"abstract":"assay for the confirmation of Roche COBAS TaqMan positive tests by comparing results obtained by each method. Consecutive clinical C. trachomatis positive (n = 67) and random negative (n = 17) urogenital samples received at a general district hospital in the North East of England over a 6-month period were examined. Of the total 67 TaqMan-positive samples, 62 (92.5%) of them were also positive by the SmartCycler/EuroClone. There were 5 discrepancies in total (7.5%) and 17 samples were negative on both Roche TaqMan and SmartCycler/EuroClone. The sensitivity and specificity of the method were 92.5 and 100%, respectively. To further assess its specificity, the SmartCycler/EuroClone method was challenged with additional organisms and proved to possess the ability of avoiding false-positive results by correctly identifying these as C. trachomatis DNA negative. Finally, it was found that confirmation of positive C. trachomatis by the SmartCycler/EuroClone method increases the turn around time of chlamydia investigation by 2-folds. In conclusion, the SmartCycler/EuroClone method gave good concordance with the established Roche TaqMan method and proved to be highly suitable for confirmation testing of C. trachomatis positive samples. The remarkable specificity and acceptable sensitivity also confirms its suitability and reliability for this purpose.","PeriodicalId":52095,"journal":{"name":"Bioscience Horizons","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT005","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60764947","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2013-01-01DOI: 10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT002
Saima Shehzad
glucose-6-phosphatase from bovine liver microsomes using differential centrifugation, and then the enzyme was assayed in the presence and absence of vanadium compounds. The study found that vanadyl compounds inhibit glucose-6-phosphatase, as mean specific enzyme activity was calculated which showed that VOSO 4 at a concentration of 48 µM inhibited glucose6-phosphatase activity by 36.9% (P < 0.0003) and Vace at a concentration of 200 µM inhibited glucosse-6-phosphatase activity by 50% (P < 0.0001) similar to findings in the previous research. However, this study also found using Lineweaver–Burk plot analysis that VOSO4 is a competitive inhibitor of glucose-6-phophatase and Vace is a mixed: non-competitive and uncompetitive inhibitors of glucose-6-phosphatase. The mechanism of inhibitory action of these vanadyl compounds had not been reported previously. The difference in the concentration of inhibitor required may be due to the type of inhibition. This supports the hypothesis to some extent as the results were found to be statistically significant; however, further data will be required to clarify these findings.
{"title":"The potential effect of vanadium compounds on glucose-6-phosphatase","authors":"Saima Shehzad","doi":"10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT002","url":null,"abstract":"glucose-6-phosphatase from bovine liver microsomes using differential centrifugation, and then the enzyme was assayed in the presence and absence of vanadium compounds. The study found that vanadyl compounds inhibit glucose-6-phosphatase, as mean specific enzyme activity was calculated which showed that VOSO 4 at a concentration of 48 µM inhibited glucose6-phosphatase activity by 36.9% (P < 0.0003) and Vace at a concentration of 200 µM inhibited glucosse-6-phosphatase activity by 50% (P < 0.0001) similar to findings in the previous research. However, this study also found using Lineweaver–Burk plot analysis that VOSO4 is a competitive inhibitor of glucose-6-phophatase and Vace is a mixed: non-competitive and uncompetitive inhibitors of glucose-6-phosphatase. The mechanism of inhibitory action of these vanadyl compounds had not been reported previously. The difference in the concentration of inhibitor required may be due to the type of inhibition. This supports the hypothesis to some extent as the results were found to be statistically significant; however, further data will be required to clarify these findings.","PeriodicalId":52095,"journal":{"name":"Bioscience Horizons","volume":"81 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT002","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60764848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2013-01-01DOI: 10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT010
S. Brown, M. Moore-Colyer, D. Hannant
Although genetic analyses suggest that the Skyrian pony is unrelated to other breeds, it shares some physical features with Exmoor ponies, thought to originate in the primitive pony referred to as Pony Type 1, and the Caspian horse, thought to be descended from Horse Type 4. To test the hypothesis that the Skyrian shares the Exmoor’s origin in Pony Type 1, comparisons were made of defined physical characters and morphometric measurements amongst Skyrian ponies, Exmoor ponies and Caspian horses. The average mean character differences were 0.56 ± 0.12 between the Skyrians and Exmoors, 0.43 ± 0.15 between the Skyrians and Caspians and 0.83 ± 0.06 between the Caspians and Exmoors. This approximates to reports comparing other horse breeds and breeds in other species, confirming that the Skyrian is a distinct breed. Using two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Friedman’s ANOVA and post hoc tests, no significant differences were found between Skyrians and Caspians in the eye, neck, body and limb shape (P = 1.000) nor shoulder angle (P = 0.222) nor in the ratios of body length:elbow height, neck length:neck circumference and heart girth: height to withers. However, there were significant differences ( P < 0.001) between Skyrians and Exmoors for these physical characters and ratios. While significant differences existed between Skyrians and Caspians in cephalic profile, parietal crest and tail placement (P < 0.001) and there were similarities between Skyrians and Exmoors in these physical characters (P = 1.000 or 0.098), overall the Skyrians appeared phenotypically closer to the Caspian, but unrelated to either breed. This investigation enabled the evaluation of a methodology comprising systematic, comprehensive investigations of phenotype, with data reduced and analysed by appropriate statistical methods, to clarify equine breed ancestry and phylogeny. The studies confirmed that the analysis of phenotype has utility and potential for investigations of phylogeny in species where there may be a paucity of information from the genetic base. Moreover, this approach has been shown to support and augment knowledge derived from studies based on genetic testing and provide a cost-effective and easily performed method of determining relatedness amongst equine breeds.
{"title":"Phenotypic analyses support investigations of phylogeny in the Skyrian pony and other breeds","authors":"S. Brown, M. Moore-Colyer, D. Hannant","doi":"10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT010","url":null,"abstract":"Although genetic analyses suggest that the Skyrian pony is unrelated to other breeds, it shares some physical features with Exmoor ponies, thought to originate in the primitive pony referred to as Pony Type 1, and the Caspian horse, thought to be descended from Horse Type 4. To test the hypothesis that the Skyrian shares the Exmoor’s origin in Pony Type 1, comparisons were made of defined physical characters and morphometric measurements amongst Skyrian ponies, Exmoor ponies and Caspian horses. The average mean character differences were 0.56 ± 0.12 between the Skyrians and Exmoors, 0.43 ± 0.15 between the Skyrians and Caspians and 0.83 ± 0.06 between the Caspians and Exmoors. This approximates to reports comparing other horse breeds and breeds in other species, confirming that the Skyrian is a distinct breed. Using two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Friedman’s ANOVA and post hoc tests, no significant differences were found between Skyrians and Caspians in the eye, neck, body and limb shape (P = 1.000) nor shoulder angle (P = 0.222) nor in the ratios of body length:elbow height, neck length:neck circumference and heart girth: height to withers. However, there were significant differences ( P < 0.001) between Skyrians and Exmoors for these physical characters and ratios. While significant differences existed between Skyrians and Caspians in cephalic profile, parietal crest and tail placement (P < 0.001) and there were similarities between Skyrians and Exmoors in these physical characters (P = 1.000 or 0.098), overall the Skyrians appeared phenotypically closer to the Caspian, but unrelated to either breed. This investigation enabled the evaluation of a methodology comprising systematic, comprehensive investigations of phenotype, with data reduced and analysed by appropriate statistical methods, to clarify equine breed ancestry and phylogeny. The studies confirmed that the analysis of phenotype has utility and potential for investigations of phylogeny in species where there may be a paucity of information from the genetic base. Moreover, this approach has been shown to support and augment knowledge derived from studies based on genetic testing and provide a cost-effective and easily performed method of determining relatedness amongst equine breeds.","PeriodicalId":52095,"journal":{"name":"Bioscience Horizons","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZT010","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60765145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2012-01-01DOI: 10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZS003
B. Durham
Neurodegenerative disorders, such as motor neurone disease, Alzheimer’s disease and responses to brain traumas such as stroke, involve the unwanted death of neural cells. Although the exact underlying mechanisms leading to neural cell death are not well defined, one contributory event in many situations is the over-excitation of cells caused by too much of the neurotransmitter glutamate. Drugs that inhibit enzymes called histone deacetylases (HDACs) can protect neural cells from glutamate excitotoxicity. However, current inhibitors lack specificity and although they function in vitro, they have a substantial potential for adverse side effects in vivo. HDAC2 and 3 have been implicated in neurotoxicity and here we investigated the neuroprotective potential of three novel HDAC inhibitors that show selectivity for these. The ability of these HDAC inhibitors to protect against glutamate excitotoxicity was tested using cultured organotypic cerebral slices from 7-day-old (P7) Wistar rats. Glutamate excitotoxicity was induced by 200 µM of the glutamate transporter blocker, DL-threo-β-benzyloxyaspartate (DL-TBOA). This was applied alone and alongside 1 µM of the novel HDAC2 and 3 selective inhibitors AH51, AH61 and AH62. Neural cell viability in slices was quantified from assays using the fluorescent stains, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole and ethidium homodimer-1. The induction of glutamate excitotoxicity by DL-TBOA resulted in 41.3 ± 6.1% (n = 7, P < 0.01) loss in cell viability as judged by ethidium homodimer-1 staining. All three novel HDAC inhibitors significantly prevented neural cell death in response to DL-TBOA (P < 0.01), with cell viabilities of 107.5 ± 6.01% (n = 4), 97.1 ± 16.5% (n = 3) and 106.7 ± 6.45% (n = 4) for AH51, AH61 and AH62, respectively. This study has shown that inhibitors selective for HDAC2 and 3 can protect neural cells from death and thus have potential as therapeutic agents against neurotoxicity.
{"title":"Novel histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors with improved selectivity for HDAC2 and 3 protect against neural cell death","authors":"B. Durham","doi":"10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZS003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZS003","url":null,"abstract":"Neurodegenerative disorders, such as motor neurone disease, Alzheimer’s disease and responses to brain traumas such as stroke, involve the unwanted death of neural cells. Although the exact underlying mechanisms leading to neural cell death are not well defined, one contributory event in many situations is the over-excitation of cells caused by too much of the neurotransmitter glutamate. Drugs that inhibit enzymes called histone deacetylases (HDACs) can protect neural cells from glutamate excitotoxicity. However, current inhibitors lack specificity and although they function in vitro, they have a substantial potential for adverse side effects in vivo. HDAC2 and 3 have been implicated in neurotoxicity and here we investigated the neuroprotective potential of three novel HDAC inhibitors that show selectivity for these. The ability of these HDAC inhibitors to protect against glutamate excitotoxicity was tested using cultured organotypic cerebral slices from 7-day-old (P7) Wistar rats. Glutamate excitotoxicity was induced by 200 µM of the glutamate transporter blocker, DL-threo-β-benzyloxyaspartate (DL-TBOA). This was applied alone and alongside 1 µM of the novel HDAC2 and 3 selective inhibitors AH51, AH61 and AH62. Neural cell viability in slices was quantified from assays using the fluorescent stains, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole and ethidium homodimer-1. The induction of glutamate excitotoxicity by DL-TBOA resulted in 41.3 ± 6.1% (n = 7, P < 0.01) loss in cell viability as judged by ethidium homodimer-1 staining. All three novel HDAC inhibitors significantly prevented neural cell death in response to DL-TBOA (P < 0.01), with cell viabilities of 107.5 ± 6.01% (n = 4), 97.1 ± 16.5% (n = 3) and 106.7 ± 6.45% (n = 4) for AH51, AH61 and AH62, respectively. This study has shown that inhibitors selective for HDAC2 and 3 can protect neural cells from death and thus have potential as therapeutic agents against neurotoxicity.","PeriodicalId":52095,"journal":{"name":"Bioscience Horizons","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/BIOHORIZONS/HZS003","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60765224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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