scholarly journals Inequality: The Dangers of Meat Haves and Have-Nots in a Nicotinamide-Adenine-Dinucleotide World

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian C. Williams ◽  
Lisa J. Hill
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide ◽  
Brain Health ◽  
Chronic Infections ◽  
Vitamin B3 ◽  
Meat Intake ◽  
Death Rates ◽  
Methyl Donors ◽  
Acute Infections ◽  
Omnivorous Diet

Our evolution and recent history can be seen as a “World Hunt” for meat as part of an omnivorous diet. Meat contains key micronutrients namely Nicotinamide (vitamin B3) and methyl-donors with deficits causing pellagra, an archetypal disease of poverty. Inequality is a leading ultimate risk factor invoked in the aetiology of common diseases let alone threats from climate change and pandemic triggered catastrophes. We hypothesize that the origin of inequality was our evolutionary and nutritional move from equal to unequal sharing of the meat supply some 10–20 thousand years ago. High meat intake may have bioengineered powerful ruling classes and lower intake the proletariat with higher fertility, but inferior (brain) health. A fairer quantity of a safer meat intake in future should moderate global variances of fertility, height, health, and prosperity. Death rates of acute infections including emergent zoonoses (such as COVID-19) and chronic infections (such as TB) should fall as might the incidence of some diseases of affluence. Meat justice by improving human capital could make redundant superficial markers, such as skin colour, used to discriminate against peoples and heal a divided world.

Case 43

2020 ◽  
pp. 293-300
Author(s):  
Lucinda Barrett ◽  
Bridget Atkins
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Surgical Management ◽  
Chronic Infections ◽  
Joint Replacements ◽  
Preventative Measures ◽  
Acute Infections ◽  
Primary Procedure ◽  
Hip Replacements ◽  
Rich Countries

The number of joint replacements performed in resource-rich countries has increased significantly in the last few decades and has allowed a significant improvement in the quality of life for many patients. Despite preventative measures, a small fraction (around 1% for hip replacements) will become infected. These can present as acute or chronic infections. They can also occur at any time after the primary procedure. Late acute infections are usually via the haematogenous route and often present to the acute medical take or via infection services. A prompt, appropriate medical and surgical management strategy is important.

scholarly journals Niacin in the Central Nervous System: An Update of Biological Aspects and Clinical Applications

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeria Gasperi ◽  
Matteo Sibilano ◽  
Isabella Savini ◽  
Maria Catani
Keyword(s):  
Central Nervous System ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide ◽  
Cell Cycle Progression ◽  
Neuronal Development ◽  
Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate ◽  
Nicotinamide Adenine ◽  
Vitamin B3 ◽  
Traumatic Injuries ◽  
The Central Nervous System

Niacin (also known as “vitamin B3” or “vitamin PP”) includes two vitamers (nicotinic acid and nicotinamide) giving rise to the coenzymatic forms nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP). The two coenzymes are required for oxidative reactions crucial for energy production, but they are also substrates for enzymes involved in non-redox signaling pathways, thus regulating biological functions, including gene expression, cell cycle progression, DNA repair and cell death. In the central nervous system, vitamin B3 has long been recognized as a key mediator of neuronal development and survival. Here, we will overview available literature data on the neuroprotective role of niacin and its derivatives, especially focusing especially on its involvement in neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases), as well as in other neuropathological conditions (ischemic and traumatic injuries, headache and psychiatric disorders).

scholarly journals Antibiotics drive expansion of rare pathogens in a chronic infection microbiome model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J Varga ◽  
Conan Zhao ◽  
Jacob D Davis ◽  
Yiqi Hao ◽  
Jennifer M Farrell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Infection ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Opportunistic Pathogens ◽  
Chronic Infections ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
Resistant Species ◽  
Pathogen Dynamics ◽  
Acute Infections ◽  
Competitive Release ◽  
Lung Infections

Chronic (long-lasting) infections are globally a major and rising cause of morbidity and mortality. Unlike typical acute infections, chronic infections are ecologically diverse, characterized by the presence of a polymicrobial mix of opportunistic pathogens and human-associated commensals. To address the challenge of chronic infection microbiomes, we focus on a particularly well-characterized disease, cystic fibrosis (CF), where polymicrobial lung infections persist for decades despite frequent exposure to antibiotics. Epidemiological analyses point to conflicting results on the benefits of antibiotic treatment, and are confounded by the dependency of antibiotic exposures on prior pathogen presence, limiting their ability to draw causal inferences on the relationships between antibiotic exposure and pathogen dynamics. To address this limitation, we develop a synthetic infection microbiome model, and benchmark on clinical data. We show that, in the absence of antibiotics, the microbiome structure in a synthetic sputum medium is highly repeatable and dominated by oral commensals. In contrast, challenge with physiologically relevant antibiotic doses leads to substantial community perturbation characterized by multiple alternate pathogen-dominant states and enrichment of drug-resistant species. These results provide evidence that antibiotics can drive the expansion (via competitive release) of previously rare opportunistic pathogens and offer a path towards microbiome-informed conditional treatment strategies.

scholarly journals Nicotinamide, a vitamin B3 ameliorates depressive behaviors independent of SIRT1 activity in mice

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuxi Liu ◽  
Caiqin Li ◽  
Xuelian Fan ◽  
Yifang Kuang ◽  
Xu Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Candidate Gene ◽  
Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide ◽  
Restraint Stress ◽  
Treatment Method ◽  
Sirtuin 1 ◽  
Potential Treatment ◽  
Vitamin B3 ◽  
Dependent Protein ◽  
Protein Deacetylase

AbstractSirtuin 1 (SIRT1), is a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent protein deacetylase and a candidate gene for depression. Nicotinamide (NAM), a form of vitamin B3, is reported as a potential inhibitor of SIRT1. Our previous study found that the 24-h-restraint stress could induce long-term depressive-like phenotypes in mice. These mice displayed increased SIRT1 activity. Here, we studied whether NAM was capable of attenuating depressive behaviors through inhibiting SIRT1 activity. Surprisingly, the application of NAM significantly reversed the depressive behaviors but increased SIRT1 activity further. In contrast, the level of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) was reduced in the restraint model for depression, and recovered by the administration of NAM. Furthermore, the Sirt1flox/flox; Nestin-Cre mice exhibited antidepressant behaviors and increased ATP levels. These data suggest that ATP plays an important role in depression pathogenesis, and NAM could be a potential treatment method for depression by regulating ATP independent of SIRT1 activity.

scholarly journals The chemistry of the vitamin B3 metabolome

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikhail V. Makarov ◽  
Samuel A.J. Trammell ◽  
Marie E. Migaud
Keyword(s):  
Cell Signaling ◽  
Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide ◽  
Cell Metabolism ◽  
Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate ◽  
Chemical Diversity ◽  
Nicotinamide Adenine ◽  
Vitamin B3 ◽  
Phosphorylated Form ◽  
Reduced Forms ◽  
Therapeutic Avenue

Abstract The functional cofactors derived from vitamin B3 are nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), its phosphorylated form, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP+) and their reduced forms (NAD(P)H). These cofactors, together referred as the NAD(P)(H) pool, are intimately implicated in all essential bioenergetics, anabolic and catabolic pathways in all forms of life. This pool also contributes to post-translational protein modifications and second messenger generation. Since NAD+ seats at the cross-road between cell metabolism and cell signaling, manipulation of NAD+ bioavailability through vitamin B3 supplementation has become a valuable nutritional and therapeutic avenue. Yet, much remains unexplored regarding vitamin B3 metabolism. The present review highlights the chemical diversity of the vitamin B3-derived anabolites and catabolites of NAD+ and offers a chemical perspective on the approaches adopted to identify, modulate and measure the contribution of various precursors to the NAD(P)(H) pool.

scholarly journals Planktonics or Biofilms infections?

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Goldstein ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cystic Fibrosis ◽  
Immune Response ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Bacterial Virulence ◽  
Invasive Infection ◽  
Symbiotic Relationship ◽  
Chronic Infections ◽  
Acute Infections ◽  
Colony Forming Units ◽  
Diverse Interactions

There are a large number of diverse interactions between bacteria and their hosts. They range from a symbiotic relationship -beneficial for both parts- to an infection rapidly leading to the host’s death. Amidst these extremes lie the chronic infections. Disease is the manifestation of a combination of bacterial virulence factors and the host’s immune response. A number of bacterial species that produce chronic infectious diseases, such as P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, S. epidermidis or E.coli, are also capable of generating invasive acute infections. A clear example is P. aeruginosa, whose bacteraemia leads to death within hours if no treatment is provided. Such bacterium is able to persist for decades at high numbers [108 to 1010 colony forming units (CFU)/mL] in the airways of patients suffering from cystic fibrosis, never causing an invasive infection, or they can spread beyond the lungs.

scholarly journals Climate Change Is Coming for Our Fish Dinners

Eos ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenessa Duncombe
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Fatty Acids ◽  
Omega 3 Fatty Acids ◽  
Omega 3 ◽  
Brain Health ◽  
Fish Fillet

Your fish fillet may have less omega-3 fatty acids, an important nutrient for brain health, by the end of the century.

scholarly journals Evolutionary rescue is determined by differential selection on demographic rates and density dependence

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna C Vinton ◽  
David A Vasseur
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Density Dependence ◽  
Death Rate ◽  
Selective Pressure ◽  
Death Rates ◽  
Demographic Rates ◽  
Evolutionary Rescue ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Density Dependent Selection

Accelerated rates of climate change are expected to either lead to populations adapting and persisting, or suffering extinction. Traditionally ecological models make extinction predictions based on how environmental change alters the intrinsic growth rate (r). However, these often ignore potential for evolutionary rescue, or to avoid extinction via adaptive evolution. Moreover, the environment may impose selective pressure on specific demographic rates (birth and death) rather than directly on r (the difference between the birth and death rates). Therefore, when we consider the potential for evolutionary rescue, populations with the same r can have different abilities to persist amidst environmental change. We can’t adequately understand evolutionary rescue without accounting for demography, and interactions between density dependence and environmental change. Using stochastic birth-death population models, we found evolutionary rescue more likely when environmental change alters birth rather than the death rate. Furthermore, species that evolve via density dependent selection are less vulnerable to extinction than species that undergo selection independent of population density. Resolving the key demographic factors affected by environmental change can lead to an understanding of how populations evolve to avoid extinction. By incorporating these considerations into our models we can better predict how species will respond to climate change.

Determination of capability of biofilm formation of strains s.aureus selected from the upper respiratory tract

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 42-45
Author(s):  
N. Y. Kravets ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Staphylococcus Aureus ◽  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract ◽  
Chronic Infections ◽  
Inflammatory Lesions ◽  
Acute Infections ◽  
Upper Respiratory

Millions of people have died from acute infections in the past century, but they have been effectively fought through the development of modern vaccines, antibiotics and infection control measures. Chronic infections are slower than acute infections, and the symptoms are often vague, difficult, and sometimes impossible to cure with antibiotics. Important signs of chronic biofilm infections are extreme resistance to antibiotics and many other common antimicrobials, as well as the extraordinary ability to avoid the host’s defenses. One such disease is chronic inflammatory lesions of the tonsils, the main infectious agents of which are gram-positive cocci, strains Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp. The purpose of the study of the ability of strains of Staphylococcus aureus to form a biofilm isolated from the surface of the epithelium of the upper respiratory tract of children. Clinical strains of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria obtained from the oropharynx of 32 children with tonsils affected by the inflammatory process at the age of 4-12 years (median – 7) were studied. The results of microbiological examination of biomaterial obtained from children with chronic inflammatory lesions of the tonsils showed that in 32 samples 25 strains of S. aureus were identified, 12 of them (48%) are capable of forming a biofilm, and 13 strains (52%) (not adhesive) are not had this ability. The study of the dynamics of biofilm formation by selected strains of S. aureus showed an increase in optical density (OS) during three days of cultivation, ranging from 0.143

scholarly journals Inflammation: A Double-Edged Sword in the Response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 250-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina K. Lin ◽  
Barbara I. Kazmierczak
Keyword(s):  
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa ◽  
Defense Mechanisms ◽  
Opportunistic Pathogen ◽  
Innate Immune ◽  
Immune Recognition ◽  
Chronic Infections ◽  
Acute Infections ◽  
Pathogen Persistence ◽  
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Infection ◽  
Pathogen Clearance

The Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa exploits failures of barrier defense and innate immunity to cause acute infections at a range of anatomic sites. We review the defense mechanisms that normally protect against P. aeruginosa pulmonary infection, as well as the bacterial products and activities that trigger their activation. Innate immune recognition of P. aeruginosa is critical for pathogen clearance; nonetheless, inflammation is also associated with pathogen persistence and poor host outcomes. We describe P. aeruginosa adaptations that improve this pathogen's fitness in the inflamed airway, and briefly discuss strategies to manipulate inflammation to benefit the host. Such adjunct therapies may become increasingly important in the treatment of acute and chronic infections caused by this multi-drug-resistant pathogen.

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