Comparison of insulin sensitivity between healthy neonatal foals and horses using minimal model analysis

The equine neonate is considered to have impaired glucose tolerance due to delayed maturation of the pancreatic endocrine system. Few studies have investigated insulin sensitivity in newborn foals using dynamic testing methods. The objective of this study was to assess insulin sensitivity by comparing the insulin-modified frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (I-FSIGTT) between neonatal foals and adult horses. This study was performed on healthy neonatal foals (n = 12), 24 to 60 hours of age, and horses (n = 8), 3 to 14 years of age using dextrose (300 mg/kg IV) and insulin (0.02 IU/kg IV). Insulin sensitivity (SI), acute insulin response to glucose (AIRg), glucose effectiveness (Sg), and disposition index (DI) were calculated using minimal model analysis. Proxy measurements were calculated using fasting insulin and glucose concentrations. Nonparametric statistical methods were used for analysis and reported as median and interquartile range (IQR). SI was significantly higher in foals (18.3 L·min-1· μIU-1 [13.4–28.4]) compared to horses (0.9 L·min-1· μIU-1 [0.5–1.1]); (p < 0.0001). DI was higher in foals (12 × 103 [8 × 103−14 × 103]) compared to horses (4 × 102 [2 × 102−7 × 102]); (p < 0.0001). AIRg and Sg were not different between foals and horses. The modified insulin to glucose ratio (MIRG) was lower in foals (1.72 μIUinsulin2/10·L·mgglucose [1.43–2.68]) compared to horses (3.91 μIU insulin2/10·L·mgglucose [2.57–7.89]); (p = 0.009). The homeostasis model assessment of beta cell function (HOMA-BC%) was higher in horses (78.4% [43–116]) compared to foals (23.2% [17.8–42.2]); (p = 0.0096). Our results suggest that healthy neonatal foals are insulin sensitive in the first days of life, which contradicts current literature regarding the equine neonate. Newborn foals may be more insulin sensitive immediately after birth as an evolutionary adaptation to conserve energy during the transition to extrauterine life.

Production and Properties of Microbial Polyhydroxyalkanoates Synthesized from Hydrolysates of Jerusalem Artichoke Tubers and Vegetative Biomass

One of the major challenges in PHA biotechnology is optimization of biotechnological processes of the entire synthesis, mainly by using new inexpensive carbon substrates. A promising substrate for PHA synthesis may be the sugars extracted from the Jerusalem artichoke. In the present study, hydrolysates of Jerusalem artichoke (JA) tubers and vegetative biomass were produced and used as carbon substrate for PHA synthesis. The hydrolysis procedure (the combination of aqueous extraction and acid hydrolysis, process temperature and duration) influenced the content of reducing substances (RS), monosaccharide contents, and the fructose/glucose ratio. All types of hydrolysates tested as substrates for cultivation of three strains—C. necator B-10646 and R. eutropha B 5786 and B 8562—were suitable for PHA synthesis, producing different biomass concentrations and polymer contents. The most productive process, conducted in 12-L fermenters, was achieved on hydrolysates of JA tubers (X = 66.9 g/L, 82% PHA) and vegetative biomass (55.1 g/L and 62% PHA) produced by aqueous extraction of sugars at 80 °C followed by acid hydrolysis at 60 °C, using the most productive strain, C. necator B-10646. The effects of JA hydrolysates on physicochemical properties of PHAs were studied for the first time. P(3HB) specimens synthesized from the JA hydrolysates, regardless of the source (tubers or vegetative biomass), hydrolysis conditions, and PHA producing strain employed, exhibited the 100–120 °C difference between the Tmelt and Tdegr, prevailing of the crystalline phase over the amorphous one (Cx between 69 and 75%), and variations in weight average molecular weight (409–480) kDa. Supplementation of the culture medium of C. necator B-10646 grown on JA hydrolysates with potassium valerate and ε-caprolactone resulted in the synthesis of P(3HB-co-3HV) and P(3HB-co-4HB) copolymers that had decreased degrees of crystallinity and molecular weights, which influenced the porosity and surface roughness of polymer films prepared from them. The study shows that JA hydrolysates used as carbon source enabled productive synthesis of PHAs, comparable to synthesis from pure sugars. The next step is to scale up PHA synthesis from JA hydrolysates and conduct the feasibility study. The present study contributes to the solution of the critical problem of PHA biotechnology—finding widely available and inexpensive substrates.

Adrenalectomy improves glycemic responses in congenic obese LA/Ntul//-cp RATS

To determine the effects of adrenalectomy on typical insulin-mediated glycemic responses in male obese rats, groups (n=6 -12 rats/phenotype) of normally reared congenic lean and obese animals were fed a Purina chow diet from 6 to 9 weeks of age, and the Chow diet plus a highly palatable cafeteria diet from 9 to 12 weeks of age. The congenic LA/Ntul//-cp rat strain is noted for its longevity and early expression of the obese trait but remains non-diabetic throughout much if not all of its normal lifespan. Subgroups of obese animals were subjected to bilateral adrenalectomy (ADX) at 6 weeks of age to remove glucocorticoid contributions to glycemic parameters. Measures of weight gain (WG )and of glucose tolerance (OGT) were obtained in the three treatment groups at 6, 9 and 12 weeks of age. WG on ADX-obese rats was similar to that of their lean littermates at 6 and 9 weeks of age on the chow diet but increased to twice that observed in their lean littermates from 9 to 12 weeks of age. OGT responses after 30 to 60 minutes and the area under the OGT curve were impaired but not diabetic in obese animals at all ages compared to lean littermates and returned toward those of normally lean rats after ADX. The Insulin to glucose ratio (I:G) was also consistent with insulin resistance in obese but not in ADX-obese or lean rats at 12 weeks of age. In conclusion, ADX resulted in normalization of OGT and glycemic parameters in the obese phenotype at 9 and 12 weeks of age. These results are consistent with normalization of typical insulin-mediated components of glycemic parameters and glucose uptake in peripheral tissues following adrenalectomy of congenic obese rats. The results further suggest that the counterregulatory effects of insulin and glucocorticoid hormones may be contributory to the impaired glycemic responses in the obese phenotype of the LA/N//-cp (corpulent) rat and are consistent with a receptor-mediated element in the development of insulin resistance and glucose uptake in peripheral tissues commonly associated with the early development of obesity in this strain.

Quantile-Dependent Heritability of Glucose, Insulin, Proinsulin, Insulin Resistance, and Glycated Hemoglobin

<b><i>Background:</i></b> “Quantile-dependent expressivity” is a dependence of genetic effects on whether the phenotype (e.g., insulin resistance) is high or low relative to its distribution. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Quantile-specific offspring-parent regression slopes (β_OP) were estimated by quantile regression for fasting glucose concentrations in 6,453 offspring-parent pairs from the Framingham Heart Study. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Quantile-specific heritability (<i>h</i>²), estimated by 2β_OP/(1 + <i>r</i>_spouse), increased 0.0045 ± 0.0007 (<i>p</i> = 8.8 × 10⁻¹⁴) for each 1% increment in the fasting glucose distribution, that is, <i>h</i>² ± SE were 0.057 ± 0.021, 0.095 ± 0.024, 0.146 ± 0.019, 0.293 ± 0.038, and 0.456 ± 0.061 at the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles of the fasting glucose distribution, respectively. Significant increases in quantile-specific heritability were also suggested for fasting insulin (<i>p</i> = 1.2 × 10⁻⁶), homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR, <i>p</i> = 5.3 × 10⁻⁵), insulin/glucose ratio (<i>p</i> = 3.9 × 10⁻⁵), proinsulin (<i>p</i> = 1.4 × 10⁻⁶), proinsulin/insulin ratio (<i>p</i> = 2.7 × 10⁻⁵), and glucose concentrations during a glucose tolerance test (<i>p</i> = 0.001), and their logarithmically transformed values. <b><i>Discussion/Conclusion:</i></b> These findings suggest alternative interpretations to precision medicine and gene-environment interactions, including alternative interpretation of reported synergisms between <i>ACE, ADRB3</i>, <i>PPAR-γ2</i>, and <i>TNF-α</i> polymorphisms and being born small for gestational age on adult insulin resistance (fetal origin theory), and gene-adiposity (<i>APOE, ENPP1, GCKR, IGF2BP2, IL-6, IRS-1, KIAA0280, LEPR, MFHAS1, RETN, TCF7L2</i>), gene-exercise (<i>INS</i>), gene-diet (<i>ACSL1</i>, <i>ELOVL6</i>, <i>IRS-1</i>, <i>PLIN</i>, <i>S100A9</i>), and gene-socioeconomic interactions.

Nectar Chemistry or Flower Morphology—What Is More Important for the Reproductive Success of Generalist Orchid Epipactis palustris in Natural and Anthropogenic Populations?

The aim of this study was to determine the level of reproductive success (RS) in natural and anthropogenic populations of generalist orchid Epipactis palustris and its dependence on flower structure and nectar composition, i.e., amino acids and sugars. We found that both pollinaria removal and female reproductive success were high and similar in all populations, despite differences in flower traits and nectar chemistry. Flower structures were weakly correlated with parameters of RS. Nectar traits were more important in shaping RS; although, we noted differentiated selection on nectar components in distinct populations. Individuals in natural populations produced nectar with a larger amount of sugars and amino acids. The sucrose to (fructose and glucose) ratio in natural populations was close to 1, while in anthropogenic ones, a clear domination of fructose and glucose was noted. Our results indicate that the flower traits and nectar composition of E. palustris reflect its generalist character and meet the requirements of a wide range of pollinators, differing according to body sizes, mouth apparatus, and dietary needs. Simultaneously, differentiation of nectar chemistry suggests a variation of pollinator assemblages in particular populations or domination of their some groups. To our knowledge, a comparison of nectar chemistry between natural and anthropogenic populations of orchids is reported for the first time in this paper.

Nosocomial meningitis laboratory criteria in ICU patients: 5-year surveillance

Introduction. Nosocomial meningitis (NM) is one of the leading complications in neurosurgery due to high mortality and disability rates.Objective. The study was aimed to determine the reference values of laboratory parameters to diagnose NM in neurosurgical patients in the intensive care unit (ICU).Results. The incidence of NM in neurosurgical patients in ICU was 8.4 (95% CI 6.8–10. 0) per 100 patients. The dominant microbial agents of NM were coagulase-negative staphylococci, A. baumannii, and K. pneumoniae. We revealed the increase in leukocytosis, C-reactive protein, and blood procalcitonin in patients with infectious complications of other systems, regardless of NM presence. Episodes of hyponatremia and an increase in body temperature ≥ 38.0 occurred signifcantly more often in patients with NM. Changes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytosis, glucose, lactate, and the CSF/blood glucose ratio can serve as reliable criteria in the NM diagnosis.Conclusions. The diagnosis of NM is most likely when the increase in CSF cytosis > 65 cells/μL, CSF lactate > 4.2 mmol/L is observed, the decrease in the CSF glucose < 2.6 mmol, and CSF/blood glucose ratio < 0.45 is found.

Honey sugars profile of stingless bee Tetragonula laeviceps (Hymenoptera: Meliponinae)

Agus A, Agussalim, Sahlan M, Sabir A. 2021. Honey sugars profile of stingless bee Tetragonula laeviceps (Hymenoptera: Meliponinae). Biodiversitas 22: 5205-5210. Honey was a functional food to improve human health, but irresponsible people used this circumstance to make fake honey. This study aimed to evaluate the profile of the sugar of stingless bee honey [Tetragonula laeviceps (Smith, 1857)] from different geographical origins in Indonesia. Honey, three samples were directly collected from three other sources for meliponiculture of T. laeviceps in Indonesia: Sleman, Klaten, and Gunungkidul. The honey sugars profile was analyzed: glucose, fructose, sucrose, reducing sugar, the sum of fructose and glucose, glucose to moisture ratio, fructose to glucose ratio, and honey pH. Glucose and fructose were analyzed by HPLC, sucrose by Luff Schoorl, reducing the sugar by Layne-Enyon, and pH by a pH meter. The current findings revealed that the geographical origins had a highly significant effect on glucose, fructose, the sum of fructose and glucose, glucose to moisture ratio, fructose to glucose ratio, and honey pH (P<0.01) and significant effect on reducing sugar (P<0.05), but not on sucrose content. Thus, it can be concluded that the origins were affecting the honey sugars profile and honey from Sleman has the highest sugars content, followed by honey from Klaten and the lower was honey from Gunungkidul.

Predictive value of laboratory markers in the development of cardiac events in patients with stable coronary artery disease after elective endovascular revascularization

Aim To reveal a relationship between preprocedural laboratory data and adverse cardiac outcomes (CO) in patients with stable ischemic heart disease (IHD) following elective endovascular revascularization (ER).Material and methods This study included 225 patients with IHD admitted for treatment to the Research Institute of Cardiology of the Tomsk National Research Medical Center. The study included patients with documented IHD and hemodynamically significant coronary stenoses requiring elective ER. Patients were divided into groups based on the presence of complications: group 1, 98 patients with adverse CO and group 2, 127 patients without adverse CO. Besides evaluation of complaints, history, and objective status, general clinical and biochemical tests were performed for all patients. Concentration of glycated hemoglobin (НbА1с) was measured by immunoturbidimetry (DiaSys Diagnostic Systems). Serum concentrations of insulin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), endothelin 1 (ET-1), and homocysteine were measured by enzyme immunoassay. Blood lipid profile was determined by enzymatic colorimetry (DiaSys). Content of non-high-density lipoprotein (non-HDL) cholesterol (CS) was calculated as: CS – HDL CS. Insulin resistance (IR) was assessed by the HOMА-IR index. IR was diagnosed at the index of 2.77. Statistical analyses were performed with Statistica 10.0 and Medcalc 19.2.6 software.Results A one-way regression analysis identified predictors for adverse CO following ER. The most significant predictors were fibrinogen (odds ratio (OR), 1.430; 95 % confidence interval (CI), 1.027–1.990), HbA1c (OR 1.825; 95 % CI, 1.283–2.598), homocysteine (OR, 1.555; 95 % CI, 1.348–1.794), ET-1 (OR, 94.408; 95 % CI, 16.762–531.720), triglycerides (TG)/glucose ratio (OR 1.815; 95 % CI, 1.155–2.853). Based on selected factors, logistic regression models were constructed. However, not all models had a high prognostic power. Only concentrations of ET-1 and homocysteine showed a high prognostic capability in respect of the adverse outcome (88.3 and 85.7 %, respectively).Conclusion For patients with IHD, the prognostic capability of ET-1 and homocysteine with respect of the risk for adverse CO following ER was the highest compared to other markers. The results of the study are completely consistent with data of literature and can be successfully used in clinical practice for optimizing the medical care of patients after elective ER.

Effect of dietary fat intake and genetic risk on glucose and insulin-related traits in Brazilian young adults

Purpose The development of metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2D) is closely linked to a complex interplay between genetic and dietary factors. The prevalence of abdominal obesity, hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidaemia, and high blood pressure among Brazilian adolescents is increasing and hence, early lifestyle interventions targeting these factors might be an effective strategy to prevent or slow the progression of T2D. Methods We aimed to assess the interaction between dietary and genetic factors on metabolic disease-related traits in 200 healthy Brazilian young adults. Dietary intake was assessed using 3-day food records. Ten metabolic disease-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were used to construct a metabolic-genetic risk score (metabolic-GRS). Results We found significant interactions between the metabolic-GRS and total fat intake on fasting insulin level (Pinteraction = 0.017), insulin-glucose ratio (Pinteraction = 0.010) and HOMA-B (Pinteraction = 0.002), respectively, in addition to a borderline GRS-fat intake interaction on HOMA-IR (Pinteraction = 0.051). Within the high-fat intake category [37.98 ± 3.39% of total energy intake (TEI)], individuals with ≥ 5 risk alleles had increased fasting insulin level (P = 0.021), insulin-glucose ratio (P = 0.010), HOMA-B (P = 0.001) and HOMA-IR (P = 0.053) than those with < 5 risk alleles. Conclusion Our study has demonstrated a novel GRS-fat intake interaction in young Brazilian adults, where individuals with higher genetic risk and fat intake had increased glucose and insulin-related traits than those with lower genetic risk. Large intervention and follow-up studies with an objective assessment of dietary factors are needed to confirm our findings.