Interaction between affordance and handedness recognition: a chronometric study

The visualization of tools and manipulable objects activates motor-related areas in the cortex, facilitating possible actions toward them. This pattern of activity may underlie the phenomenon of object affordance. Some cortical motor neurons are also covertly activated during the recognition of body parts such as hands. One hypothesis is that different subpopulations of motor neurons in the frontal cortex are activated in each motor program; for example, canonical neurons in the premotor cortex are responsible for the affordance of visual objects, while mirror neurons support motor imagery triggered during handedness recognition. However, the question remains whether these subpopulations work independently. This hypothesis can be tested with a manual reaction time (MRT) task with a priming paradigm to evaluate whether the view of a manipulable object interferes with the motor imagery of the subject's hand. The MRT provides a measure of the course of information processing in the brain and allows indirect evaluation of cognitive processes. Our results suggest that canonical and mirror neurons work together to create a motor plan involving hand movements to facilitate successful object manipulation.

The superoxide anion donor, potassium superoxide, induces pain and inflammation in mice through production of reactive oxygen species and cyclooxygenase-2

It is currently accepted that superoxide anion (O2•−) is an important mediator in pain and inflammation. The role of superoxide anion in pain and inflammation has been mainly determined indirectly by modulating its production and inactivation. Direct evidence using potassium superoxide (KO2), a superoxide anion donor, demonstrated that it induced thermal hyperalgesia, as assessed by the Hargreaves method. However, it remains to be determined whether KO2 is capable of inducing other inflammatory and nociceptive responses attributed to superoxide anion. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the nociceptive and inflammatory effects of KO2. The KO2-induced inflammatory responses evaluated in mice were: mechanical hyperalgesia (electronic version of von Frey filaments), thermal hyperalgesia (hot plate), edema (caliper rule), myeloperoxidase activity (colorimetric assay), overt pain-like behaviors (flinches, time spent licking and writhing score), leukocyte recruitment, oxidative stress, and cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA expression (quantitative PCR). Administration of KO2 induced mechanical hyperalgesia, thermal hyperalgesia, paw edema, leukocyte recruitment, the writhing response, paw flinching, and paw licking in a dose-dependent manner. KO2 also induced time-dependent cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA expression in the paw skin. The nociceptive, inflammatory, and oxidative stress components of KO2-induced responses were responsive to morphine (analgesic opioid), quercetin (antioxidant flavonoid), and/or celecoxib (anti-inflammatory cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor) treatment. In conclusion, the well-established superoxide anion donor KO2 is a valuable tool for studying the mechanisms and pharmacological susceptibilities of superoxide anion-triggered nociceptive and inflammatory responses ranging from mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia to overt pain-like behaviors, edema, and leukocyte recruitment.

Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activities of an extract, fractions, and compounds isolated from Gochnatia pulchra aerial parts

This paper reports on the in vitro antibacterial and in vivo anti-inflammatory properties of a hydroethanolic extract of the aerial parts of Gochnatia pulchra (HEGP). It also describes the antibacterial activity of HEGP fractions and of the isolated compounds genkwanin, scutellarin, apigenin, and 3,5-O-dicaffeoylquinic acid, as evaluated by a broth microdilution method. While HEGP and its fractions did not provide promising results, the isolated compounds exhibited pronounced antibacterial activity. The most sensitive microorganism was Streptococcus pyogenes, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 100, 50 and 25 µg/mL for genkwanin and the flavonoids apigenin and scutellarin, respectively. Genkwanin produced an MIC value of 25 µg/mL against Enterococcus faecalis. A paw edema model in rats and a pleurisy inflammation model in mice aided investigation of the anti-inflammatory effects of HEGP. This study also evaluated the ability of HEGP to modulate carrageenan-induced interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) production. Orally administered HEGP (250 and 500 mg/kg) inhibited carrageenan-induced paw edema. Regarding carrageenan-induced pleurisy, HEGP at 50, 100, and 250 mg/kg diminished leukocyte migration by 71.43%, 69.24%, and 73.34% (P<0.05), respectively. HEGP suppressed IL-1β and MCP-1 production by 55% and 50% at 50 mg/kg (P<0.05) and 60% and 25% at 100 mg/kg (P<0.05), respectively. HEGP abated TNF-α production by macrophages by 6.6%, 33.3%, and 53.3% at 100, 250, and 500 mg/kg (P<0.05), respectively. HEGP probably exerts anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β, and MCP-1.

Salvaged single-unit cord blood transplantation for 26 patients with hematologic malignancies not in remission

Treatments for patients with hematologic malignancies not in remission are limited, but a few clinical studies have investigated the effects of salvaged unrelated cord blood transplantation (CBT). We retrospectively studied 19 patients with acute leukemia, 5 with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS with refractory anemia with excess blasts [RAEB]), and 2 with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who received 1 CBT unit ≤2 loci human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-mismatched after undergoing myeloablative conditioning regimens between July 2005 and July 2014. All of them were in non-remission before transplantation. The infused total nucleated cell (TNC) dose was 4.07 (range 2.76-6.02)×107/kg and that of CD34+ stem cells was 2.08 (range 0.99-8.65)×105/kg. All patients were engrafted with neutrophils that exceeded 0.5×109/L on median day +17 (range 14-37 days) and had platelet counts of >20×109/L on median day +35 (range 17-70 days). Sixteen patients (61.5%) experienced pre-engraftment syndrome (PES), and six (23.1%) patients progressed to acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The cumulative incidence rates of II-IV acute GVHD and chronic GVHD were 50% and 26.9%, respectively. After a median follow-up of 27 months (range 5-74), 14 patients survived and 3 relapsed. The estimated 2-year overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and non-relapse mortality (NRM) rates were 50.5%, 40.3%, and 35.2%, respectively. Salvaged CBT might be a promising modality for treating hematologic malignancies, even in patients with a high leukemia burden.

HLA-DR3 antigen in the resistance to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy

Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) has been hypothesized as a multifactorial disorder initiated by an environment trigger in individuals with predisposing human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles. Published data on the association between HLA-DR3 antigen and IDC risk are inconclusive. To derive a more precise estimation of the relationship, a meta-analysis was performed. Studies were identified by searching the PUBMED and Embase database (starting from June 2015). A total of 19 case-control studies including 1378 cases and 10383 controls provided data on the association between HLA-DR3 antigen and genetic susceptibility to IDC. Overall, significantly decreased frequency of HLA-DR3 allele (OR=0.72; 95%CI=0.58-0.90; P=0.004) was found in patients with IDC compared with controls. When stratified by myocardial biopsy or non-biopsy cases, statistically decreased risk was found for IDC in myocardial biopsy cases (OR=0.69; 95%CI=0.57-0.84; P=0.0003). In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, borderline statistically significantly decreased risk was found among Europeans from 12 case-control studies (OR=0.76; 95%CI=0.58-1.00; P=0.05). In conclusion, our results suggest that individuals with HLA-DR3 antigen may have a protective effect against IDC.