Social isolation is a major source of stress and can lead to activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The presence of a close social partner can reduce the magnitude of the HPA-axis response during a stressor, a phenomenon known as social buffering. The oxytocin (OXT) system has been identified as one candidate for mediating social buffering due to its role in the facilitati...

We applied a polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primer (PCR-SSP) method developed by other researchers to study 4 families of newborns with neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAITP) in which serology had provided inconclusive human platelet antigen (HPA) typing data. This method allowed for the identification of the newborn HPAs which were incompatible with their respective mothers....

p-Hydroxyphenylacetate (HPA) hydroxylase (HPAH) from Acinetobacter baumannii catalyzes hydroxylation of HPA to form 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetate. It is a two-protein system consisting of a smaller reductase component (C(1)) and a larger oxygenase component (C(2)). C(1) is a flavoprotein containing FMN, and its function is to provide reduced flavin for C(2) to hydroxylate HPA. We have shown here t...

EARLY REARING EXPERIENCE, HYPOTHALAMIC‐PITUITARY‐ADRENAL (HPA) ACTIVITY, AND SEROTONIN TRANSPORTER GENOTYPE: INFLUENCES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANXIETY IN INFANT RHESUS MONKEYS (MACACA MULATTA) MAY 2009 AMANDA MICHELLE DETTMER, B.S., UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON M.S., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Doctor Melinda A. Novak A gene x environme...

Biotrophic plant pathogens secrete effector proteins that are important for infection of the host. The aim of this study was to identify effectors of the downy mildew pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis (Hpa) that are expressed during infection of its natural host Arabidopsis thaliana. Infection-related transcripts were identified from Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) derived from leaves of t...

The role of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in regulating the growth of Mycobacterium avium in Mycobacterium bovis BCG-resistant and -susceptible congenic mice was evaluated. Restraint was used to activate the HPA axis, which resulted in an increase in the level of corticosterone in the plasma. Activation of the HPA axis increased the susceptibility of BALB/c.Bcgs mice to the grow...

Certain lactic acid bacteria strains belonging to the genus Lactobacillus have been implicated in the accumulation of 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde (3-HPA) during anaerobic glycerol fermentation. In aqueous solution 3-HPA undergoes reversible dimerization and hydration, resulting in an equilibrium state between different derivatives. Wine quality may be compromised by the presence of 3-HPA due to th...

Up to now studies on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity in psychosis have shown inconsistent findings. These inconsistencies have been often ascribed to confounding effects of long duration of illness and chronic treatment with psychotropic medications of the subjects studied (chronic psychosis). In the last years, several studies have focused on the study of subjects at their f...

Changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity constitute a key component of bipolar mania, but the extent and nature of these alterations are not fully understood. We use here the lateral hypothalamic-kindled (LHK) rat model to deliberately induce an acute manic-like episode and measure serum corticosterone concentrations to assess changes in HPA axis activity. A mathematica...

• The study describes a potential novel treatment of fetal alloimmune thrombocytopenia by dissecting the effector activities of an epitopespecific IgG antibody. • Neither the in vivo transplacental transport nor the inhibiting properties of the blocking antibody are impaired by the N-glycan modification. Fetal/neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT) is often caused by maternal alloantibodi...