[Sausage or carrot--spoilt for choice].

As far as healthy food is concerned, it cannot be categorized simply as "good" or "bad" since its effect on health depends mainly on the amount and method consumed. Today's recommendations include a diversified diet, a diet which targets energy-balance and provides all nutrients necessary. Living in an affluent society aggravates healthy choices because of a constantly available, large assortment of food items. In general, the way food is prepared these days has changed a lot: mainly, the energy content has constantly increased, while the fiber and natural micronutrient concentrations decreased. Food items with a high energy yield, containing a lot of fat and sugar, affects our energy balance, which may lead to diseases of affluence such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and some kinds of tumors.

Elevated CSF histamine levels in multiple sclerosis patients.

BACKGROUND Histamine is an ubiquitous inflammatory mediator of numerous physiological processes. Histamine and its receptors have been implicated in multiple sclerosis (MS) disease pathogenesis. We prospectively enrolled 36 MS patients and 19 age and gender-matched healthy volunteers for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) histamine analysis. FINDINGS CSF HISTAMINE LEVELS IN MS PATIENT SAMPLES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER (MEDIAN: 35.6 pg/ml) than in controls (median: 5.5 pg/ml; Beta = 0.525, p < 0.001). In addition, histamine increased with age (Pearson's correlation, p < 0.003). CONCLUSIONS Histamine may be an important factor for both the initiation and maintenance of chronic inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system. Our observation encourages a deeper investigation of the role of histamine in MS.

Morphologic-anthropological investigations in tomb K93.12 at Dra’ Abu el-Naga (Western Thebes, Egypt)

In this study we present the analysis of the human remains from tomb K93.12 in the Ancient Egyptian necropolis of Dra’ Abu el-Naga, located opposite the modern city of Luxor in Upper Egypt on the western bank of the Nile. Archaeological findings indicate that the rock tomb was originally built in the early 18th dynasty. Remains of two tomb-temples of the 20th dynasty and the looted burial of the High Priest of Amun Amenhotep have been identified. After the New Kingdom the tomb was reused as a burial place until the 26th dynasty. The skeletal and mummified material of the different tomb areas underwent a detailed anthropological and paleopathological analysis. The human remains were mostly damaged and scattered due to extensive grave robberies. In total, 79 individuals could be partly reconstructed and investigated. The age and sex distribution revealed a male predominance and a high percentage of young children (< 6 years) and adults in the range of 20 to 40 years. The paleopathological analysis showed a high prevalence of stress markers such as cribra orbitalia in the younger individuals, and other pathological conditions such as dental diseases, degenerative diseases and a possible case of ankylosing spondylitis. Additionally, 13 mummies of an intrusive waste pit could be attributed to three different groups belonging to earlier time periods based on their style of mummification and materials used. The study revealed important information on the age and sex distribution and diseases of the individuals buried in tomb K93.12.

The COLOSS BEEBOOK Volume II: Standard methods for Apis mellifera pest and pathogen research

n recent years, declines of honey bee populations have received massive media attention worldwide, yet attempts to understand the causes have been hampered by a lack of standardisation of laboratory techniques. Published as a response to this, the COLOSS BEEBOOK is a unique collaborative venture involving 234 bee scientists from 34 countries, who have produced the definitive guide to how to carry out research on honey bees. It is hoped that these volumes will become the standards to be adopted by bee scientists worldwide. Volume II includes approximately 600 separate protocols dealing with the study of the pests and diseases of the honey bee, Apis mellifera. These cover epidemiology and surveying techniques, virus diseases, bacterial diseases such as European and American foulbrood, fungal and microsporidian diseases such as Nosema, mites such as Acarapis, Varroa and Tropilaelaps, and other pests such as the small hive beetle.

Human TH9 cells are skin-tropic and have autocrine and paracrine proinflammatory capacity.

T helper type 9 (TH9) cells can mediate tumor immunity and participate in autoimmune and allergic inflammation in mice, but little is known about the TH9 cells that develop in vivo in humans. We isolated T cells from human blood and tissues and found that most memory TH9 cells were skin-tropic or skin-resident. Human TH9 cells coexpressed tumor necrosis factor-α and granzyme B and lacked coproduction of TH1/TH2/TH17 cytokines, and many were specific for Candida albicans. Interleukin-9 (IL-9) production was transient and preceded the up-regulation of other inflammatory cytokines. Blocking studies demonstrated that IL-9 was required for maximal production of interferon-γ, IL-9, IL-13, and IL-17 by skin-tropic T cells. IL-9-producing T cells were increased in the skin lesions of psoriasis, suggesting that these cells may contribute to human inflammatory skin disease. Our results indicate that human TH9 cells are a discrete T cell subset, many are tropic for the skin, and although they may function normally to protect against extracellular pathogens, aberrant activation of these cells may contribute to inflammatory diseases of the skin.

The mood-stabilizer lithium prevents hippocampal apoptosis and improves spatial memory in experimental meningitis.

Pneumococcal meningitis is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Brain damage caused by this disease is characterized by apoptosis in the hippocampal dentate gyrus, a morphological correlate of learning deficits in experimental paradigms. The mood stabilizer lithium has previously been found to attenuate brain damage in ischemic and inflammatory diseases of the brain. An infant rat model of pneumococcal meningitis was used to investigate the neuroprotective and neuroregenerative potential of lithium. To assess an effect on the acute disease, LiCl was administered starting five days prior to intracisternal infection with live Streptococcus pneumoniae. Clinical parameters were recorded, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was sampled, and the animals were sacrificed 42 hours after infection to harvest the brain and serum. Cryosections of the brains were stained for Nissl substance to quantify brain injury. Hippocampal gene expression of Bcl-2, Bax, p53, and BDNF was analyzed. Lithium concentrations were measured in serum and CSF. The effect of chronic lithium treatment on spatial memory function and cell survival in the dentate gyrus was evaluated in a Morris water maze and by quantification of BrdU incorporation after LiCl treatment during 3 weeks following infection. In the hippocampus, LiCl significantly reduced apoptosis and gene expression of Bax and p53 while it increased expression of Bcl-2. IL-10, MCP-1, and TNF were significantly increased in animals treated with LiCl compared to NaCl. Chronic LiCl treatment improved spatial memory in infected animals. The mood stabilizer lithium may thus be a therapeutic alternative to attenuate neurofunctional deficits as a result of pneumococcal meningitis.