Covid and Oxytocin: Looking for Microbial Symbiosis

Oxytocin is a hormone with broad implications for general health. This hormone has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant protective effects and has received particular attention due to the pandemic of COVID-19. This review examines materials on the role of microbial symbiosis in COVID-19 and the effect of microbiota on oxytocin. It opens new potential prospects for the use of microbiota and new “nature-like” technologies.

A potential role for endogenous oxytocin in adaptation to cold: implications for health?

Cold water swimming is thought to provide mental and physical health benefits, although the details of the potential signalling pathways involved in the body have not yet been fully established. We know that brown fat/brown adipose tissue is important in thermogenesis, thereby possibly helping in training the body to adapt to cold stimuli. As a result of brown adipose tissue thermogenesis during cold exposure, the body uses up the stored fat energy to produce heat energy. Such metabolism of fat can therefore help combat diseases associated with gain of fat, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Here, we present a potential role for oxytocin in stimulating brown adipose tissue thermogenesis during cold exposure and adaptation. We discuss cold adaptation and brown adipose tissue thermogenesis, and present our hypothesis for the role of oxytocin in cold adaptation and its perceived benefits for health.

The possible role of oxytocin in neuropsychiatric disorders

Oxytocin (OT) is a peptide hormone unique to mammals, typically involved in activities characteristic of this vertebrate class, such as labour and lactation. Evidence suggests a role of OT even in most complex activities, including child attachment, maternal care, couple bonding, emotional and social behaviors. Furthermore, it seems to contribute to the modulation of stress responses, learning, and memory processes, as well as to the connection of social signals with cognition, behaviors and reward. For this reason, for years there has been a debate on the possible contribution of the OT system in the pathophysiology of different neuropsychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, addiction, and schizophrenia. In this article, we describe the most relevant findings on OT system abnormalities in the aforementioned disorders, with a focus on possible therapeutic implications.

Lancashire and South Cumbria New Hospitals Programme: once in a generation or generation gap?

The Lancashire and South Cumbria New Hospitals Programme (NHP) contends that the region has a ‘once in a generation opportunity’ to transform hospitals for 1.8 million local people by 2030. The NHP is the central pillar of a regional strategy developed by Lancashire and South Cumbria Health and Care Partnership (HCP), one of 42 Integrated Care Systems (ICS) constituted by the Conservative Government’s National Health Service (NHS) reform outlined in Integration and Innovation as the building block of services. The strategy envisions organising services as a ‘network’ comprising existing hospital sites and services as spokes which centre around a new world-leading hospital hub. However, rather than being ‘once in a generation’, this model mirrors exactly the intentions of the original architects of the NHS. The NHP is, in fact, a generation gap. The 2030 vision is the realisation of the model which planners conceived in 1948. This paper shows how the original 1948 model emerged and how, ultimately, it was rejected. The rejection was not due to clinical or service failings in the model, but to the rivalries and jealousies of hospitals, services, and universities. This history has several lessons for current health services leaders and the NHP.

Melanocytic lesions: A pilot study using dual HMB-45/Ki67 staining with a new depth measurement to aid diagnosis

Diagnostic pitfalls have been widely documented on atypical naevi, a group of pigmented lesions that occupy a grey portion between benign and malignant variants. As malignant melanoma is associated with a high mortality rate it is vital we have a reliable diagnostic testing method for these challenging lesions. A pilot study was proposed using dual immunohistochemistry staining with a new depth measurement, the Lancaster depth, to develop a validating tool to measure difficult atypical lesions against. The Lancaster depth was recorded for 68 pigmented lesions; 34 benign and 34 malignant, where measurement was taken from the granular layer to the deepest HMB-45/Ki67 dual stained melanocyte. This measurement was compared against the established Breslow depth measurement where the distance between the two was of interest. The mean malignant Lancaster depth at 1.51mm was higher than that of the benign at 0.12mm. There was a statistically significant difference of 1.40mm, P = <.001. There was a statistically significant difference between the mean Lancaster and Breslow depths in both malignant and benign lesions. In the malignant group this was 0.28mm, P = <.001 compared to the benign which was 1.07mm, P = <.001. A narrow distance ratio between the two depths indicated a malignant diagnosis. A wider distance ratio was indicative of a benign diagnosis. As a diagnostic validator the Lancaster depth shows promises but has limitations as a standalone model. Working in conjunction with the Breslow depth we potentially have a useful adjunct to accurately diagnose difficult atypical lesions.