scholarly journals Erythrocytes: Central Actors in Multiple Scenes of Atherosclerosis

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 5843
Author(s):  
Chloé Turpin ◽  
Aurélie Catan ◽  
Olivier Meilhac ◽  
Emmanuel Bourdon ◽  
François Canonne-Hergaux ◽  
...  

The development and progression of atherosclerosis (ATH) involves lipid accumulation, oxidative stress and both vascular and blood cell dysfunction. Erythrocytes, the main circulating cells in the body, exert determinant roles in the gas transport between tissues. Erythrocytes have long been considered as simple bystanders in cardiovascular diseases, including ATH. This review highlights recent knowledge concerning the role of erythrocytes being more than just passive gas carriers, as potent contributors to atherosclerotic plaque progression. Erythrocyte physiology and ATH pathology is first described. Then, a specific chapter delineates the numerous links between erythrocytes and atherogenesis. In particular, we discuss the impact of extravasated erythrocytes in plaque iron homeostasis with potential pathological consequences. Hyperglycaemia is recognised as a significant aggravating contributor to the development of ATH. Then, a special focus is made on glycoxidative modifications of erythrocytes and their role in ATH. This chapter includes recent data proposing glycoxidised erythrocytes as putative contributors to enhanced atherothrombosis in diabetic patients.

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  

Abstract   Childhood obesity has grown to become one of the most dramatic features of the global obesity epidemic, with long-term consequences. The spread of obesity has been fueled by changes in social norms and living environments that have shaped individual behaviours making them conducive to excessive and imbalanced nutrition, sedentary lifestyles, and ultimately obesity and associated diseases. The STOP project will aim to generate scientifically sound, novel and policy-relevant evidence on the factors that have contributed to the spread of childhood obesity in European countries and on the effects of alternative technological and organisational solutions and policy options available to address the problem. STOP will translate the evidence gathered and generated into indicators and measurements, policy briefs and toolkits and multi-stakeholder frameworks. A special focus of STOP is understanding the stakeholders' networks and drivers of stakeholders' action. STOP will establish new ways for policy-relevant evidence to be generated, made available and used in the design and implementation of effective and sustainable solutions for childhood obesity at the EU, national and local levels. Each of the policy work packages will: Produce evidence syntheses and impact simulations for different policy approaches;Assess selected policy approaches and actions in children cohorts and other relevant settings;Devise policy toolkits and policy guidance to support the adoption and implementation of specific actions by relevant actors;Establish a country-based European accountability and monitoring framework in each policy area. The workshop aims to: Showcase the impact of different policy options evaluated throughout the STOP project;Increase participants' understanding and awareness of the opportunities and challenges associated with the implementation of selected policies;Increase awareness of public health professionals of the importance of overcoming siloes in identifying and implementing public health policies;Increase the understanding of multi-stakeholder engagement. The discussion will explore the role of stakeholders across different policy areas. We will explore the different definitions of “stakeholders” and “multi-stakeholders” engagement. This will also be an opportunity to explore some of the benefits, risks and challenges around stakeholder engagement, and explore what are the different types of stakeholders involved in these policies as well as their roles. The workshop will offer an opportunity to: Inform participants about existing physical activity, regulatory and fiscal policies to address childhood obesity;Inform participants about new, innovative EU-level projects that aim to address childhood obesity;Outline preliminary findings of the STOP project with regards to the effectiveness of the evaluated policies;Identify some of the gaps and limitations of existing policies and discuss some of the steps to ensure successful policy implementation. Key messages Present new evidence on what policy approaches work in addressing key determinants of childhood obesity. Showcase findings on the attitudes of different stakeholders towards obesity policies, and debate the benefits, risks and challenges of multi-stakeholder engagement.


1987 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 295-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marleen Pugach ◽  
Mara Sapon-Shevin

The calls for educational reform that have dominated the professional and lay literature for the past few years have been decidedly silent in discussing the role of special education either as a contributor or a solution to the problems being raised. As an introduction to this “Special Focus” on the relationship between general educational reform and special education, this article summarizes some of the more prominent reports with regard to their treatment (and nontreatment) of special education. The impact of proposed reforms for the conceptualization and operation of special education is the subject of the five articles that follow.


2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 383-398
Author(s):  
David S Scott

Although sport is widely utilised as a tool for personal development, capacity building, and fostering peace, there are still numerous theoretical gaps in our knowledge about how sport influences individuals’ identities, and how this translates into their everyday lives. Within the academic literature there has been seemingly little focus placed upon participants’ emotional and embodied accounts of their sport-for-development (SfD) experiences. This paper uses phenomenologically-inspired theory to explore individuals’ lived experiences of a SfD course, and their descriptions of the social interactions and feelings of confidence they encountered, in order to address this lack of experiential data. An ethnographic methodology was used to collect data through four sports leadership course observations, and cyclical interviews over 4–10 months with eleven course attendees, plus individual interviews with five tutors. Participants’ understandings of their course experiences and the subsequent influence these understandings had on their lives were described through their use of the term confidence. A further phenomenological and sociological interrogation of this term enabled confidence to be seen as being experienced as a ‘frame’ and ‘through the body’ by participants. This study provides original conceptualisations of confidence in relation to participants’ SfD experiences, as well as important discussions regarding the role of emotions and embodiment in understanding the impact of SfD on participants’ everyday lives.


Toxins ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 742
Author(s):  
Bogusz Trojanowicz ◽  
Christof Ulrich ◽  
Matthias Girndt

Apelin peptides (APLN) serve as second substrates for angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and, in contrast to angiotensin II (AngII), exert blood-pressure lowering and vasodilatation effects through binding to G-coupled APLN receptor (APLNR). ACE2-mediated cleavage of the APLN may reduce its vasodilatory effects, but decreased ACE2 may potentiate the hypotensive properties of APLN. The role of APLN in uremia is unclear. We investigated the correlations between serum-APLN, leucocytic APLNR, and ACE2 in 32 healthy controls (NP), 66 HD, and 24 CKD3–5 patients, and the impact of APLN peptides on monocytic behavior and ACE2 expression under uremic conditions in vitro. We observed that serum APLN and leucocytic APLNR or SLCO2B1 were significantly elevated in uremic patients and correlated with decreased ACE2 on uremic leucocytes. APLN-treated THP-1 monocytes revealed significantly increased APLNR and ACE2, and reduced TNFa, IL-6, and MCSF. Uremic toxins induced a dramatic increase of miR-421 followed by significant reduction of ACE2 transcripts, partially counteracted with APLN-13 and -36. APLN-36 triggered the most potent transmigration and reduction of endothelial adhesion. These results suggest that although APLN peptides may partly protect against the decay of monocytic ACE2 transcripts, uremic milieu is the most dominant modulator of local ACE2, and likely to contribute to the progression of atherosclerosis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen Snow Andrade ◽  
Jonathan H Westover ◽  
Bernd A Kupka

Prior research has indicated that the nature of work has changed dramatically in recent years in response to economic shifts and an increasingly global economy. In part, this shift has resulted in a greater efficacy of various work-life balance and worker schedule flexibility elements in the experiences of employees in the workplace. However, little is known about the overall comparative quality of work and job satisfaction around the world in response to a shifting and increasingly interconnected global economy. In this study, we use non-panel longitudinal data from the most recent wave of the International Social Survey Program (Work Orientations IV, 2015) to conduct an exploratory comparative analysis of the impact of various workplace conditions, job characteristics, and employee attitudes in relation to comparative job satisfaction across the globe, with a special focus on the role of work-life balance and worker scheduling flexibility. Employees across the globe respond quite differently to work scenarios, which poses challenges for companies operating in multiple countries, requires adjustments to human resource practices to optimize performance levels of employees and reduce turnover expenses, and should caution managers to scrutinize their procedures to adjust to new demands in the workplace. This study adds value by making global comparisons of various workplace factors and their impact on job satisfaction using a database reflecting practices in 37 countries.


2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 343-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinesh Bhugra ◽  
Oyedeji Ayonrinde

The association of life events with the onset of various psychiatric disorders is well-known. The body of evidence has highlighted the impact of negative or positive life events on the genesis of common mental disorders, especially depression. These findings have been replicated across different cultures, although the impact of different life events varies between cultures. In addition, the roles of chronic difficulties (defined in Life events and psychiatric disorders, below) and resulting ongoing chronic stress have been shown to contribute to vulnerability to certain mental illnesses. However, data on the impact of life events, especially those perceived as racial, on members of minority ethnic groups are rather sparse. The questions that need to be addressed concern the perception of life events as racial, the role of pervasive and perceived institutional and individual racism, and chronic difficulties.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Dzimińska ◽  
Justyna Fijałkowska ◽  
Łukasz Sułkowski

This paper aims to propose a conceptual model that synthesizes the existing findings concerning universities as culture change agents for sustainable development. The model could serve as a guidance on how universities might get involved in the pro-SD activities. It also underlines the prerequisite of the quality culture that should be introduced within all the activities of universities to successfully act as culture change agents for SD. This paper builds upon the holistic and inter-disciplinary approach to demonstrate that SD does not happen in isolation and that the role of universities in its creation is significant. This study includes a literature review to contextualize the impact of universities on culture and their potential role in SD. The conclusions stemming from the literature review materialize in the proposal of the conceptual model of the university as the culture change agent for SD. The elaborated framework responds to the need for greater clarity, ordering and systematization of the role of universities in the processes of initiating, promoting and modelling the SD-oriented changes while appreciating the role of culture as an enabler, means of social change and a result of SD-focused interventions. The paper contributes to the body of knowledge by offering a novel perspective on the assumed interrelations between university, its quality culture, university main operations such as education, research and engagement with the society as well as the culture and the agency of stakeholders in the context of meeting the world’s current demands without compromising the needs of future generations.


1994 ◽  
Vol 266 (6) ◽  
pp. F829-F842 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Sharma ◽  
F. N. Ziyadeh

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) is a prototypical multifunctional cytokine, with growth being only one of its many functions. Its receptors and actions are germane to almost every cell in the body involved in tissue injury and repair, and its effects are best understood in the context of a cellular response to a changing environment. The broad areas in which TGF-beta plays a crucial role include cell proliferation and extracellular matrix production. TGF-beta is a key regulatory molecule in the control of the activity of fibroblasts and has been implicated in several disease states characterized by excessive fibrosis. In the kidney, TGF-beta promotes tubuloepithelial cell hypertrophy and regulates the glomerular production of almost every known molecule of the extracellular matrix, including collagens, fibronectin, tenascin, and proteoglycans, as well as the integrins that are the receptors for these molecules. Furthermore, TGF-beta blocks the destruction of newly synthesized extracellular matrix by upregulating the synthesis of protease inhibitors and downregulating the synthesis of matrix-degrading proteases such as stromelysin and collagenase. As will be discussed, there is a strong body of in vitro and in vivo evidence suggesting that persistent overproduction of TGF-beta 1 in glomeruli after the acute inflammatory stage of glomerulonephritis causes glomerulosclerosis. TGF-beta may also be important in a variety of other chronic renal disorders characterized by hypertrophy and sclerosis, such as diabetic nephropathy. In this review we will attempt to offer a basic understanding of the cellular and molecular biology of TGF-beta and its receptors, with special focus on the role of the TGF-beta system in the kidney during development, growth, and disease.


Diseases ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon Perumpail ◽  
Andrew Li ◽  
Nimy John ◽  
Sandy Sallam ◽  
Neha Shah ◽  
...  

There has been a growing interest in the role of vitamin E supplementation in the treatment and/or prevention of nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD). We performed a systematic review of the medical literature from inception through 15 June 2018 by utilizing PubMed and searching for key terms such as NAFLD, vitamin E, alpha-tocopherol, and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Data from studies and medical literature focusing on the role of vitamin E therapy in patients with NAFLD and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) were reviewed. Most studies assessing the impact of vitamin E in NAFLD were designed to evaluate patients with NASH with documented biochemical and histological abnormalities. These studies demonstrated improvement in biochemical profiles, with a decline in or normalization of liver enzymes. Furthermore, histological assessment showed favorable outcomes in lobular inflammation and hepatic steatosis following treatment with vitamin E. Current guidelines regarding the use of vitamin E in the setting of NAFLD recommend that vitamin E-based treatment be restricted to biopsy-proven nondiabetic patients with NASH only. However, some concerns have been raised regarding the use of vitamin E in patients with NASH due to its adverse effects profile and lack of significant improvement in hepatic fibrosis. In conclusion, the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic properties of vitamin E accompanied by ease-of-use and exceptional tolerability have made vitamin E a pragmatic therapeutic choice in non-diabetic patients with histologic evidence of NASH. Future clinical trials with study design to assess vitamin E in combination with other anti-fibrotic agents may yield an additive or synergistic therapeutic effect.


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