BACKGROUND Neuropsychiatric signs are critical in primary caregiving of Alzheimer patients and have not yet been fully investigated in murine models. METHODS 18-month-old 3×Tg-AD male mice and their wild-type male littermates (non-Tg) were used. The open field test and the elevated plus maze test were used to evaluate anxiety-like behaviors, whereas the Porsolt forced swim test, the tail susp...

OBJECTIVE We sought to determine if hypertensive adults have a blunted triglyceride catabolic rate (TG K(2)) and if related hemodynamic and vascular alterations are determinants of TG K(2). METHODS Fasting levels of insulin, glucose, lipoproteins and plasma catecholamines were measured in 10 normotensive and 10 hypertensive adults. TG K(2) was determined by an intravenous fat tolerance test. ...

Elevated serum and tissue lipid stores are associated with skeletal muscle insulin resistance and diminished glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, the hallmarks of type 2 diabetes. We studied the effects of 6-wk treatment with the insulin sensitizer troglitazone on substrate storage and utilization in lean control and Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats. Troglitazone prevented development of diabe...

Cholecystokinin (CCK), one of the most abundant neuropeptides in the brain, plays an important role in anxiogenesis through the activation of CCK receptor-2 (CCKR-2). Accumulating evidence, however, has suggested this role depends on endogenous CCKergic "tone," which is largely determined by the expression level of the CCKR-2. Using the tTA/tetO-inducible transgenic (tg) approach, we show here ...

OBJECTIVE To study the relationship between resting heart rate and blood lipid level. METHODS A total of 9 415 subjects aged ⋝ 40 years were included in the present study. Their resting heart rate was monitored and their serum levels of triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured to defin...

The mechanism by which human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection in humans leads to the erosion of lean body mass is poorly defined. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine whether transgenic (Tg) rats that constitutively overexpress HIV-1 viral proteins exhibit muscle wasting and to elucidate putative mechanisms. Over 7 mo, Tg rats gained less body weight than pair-fe...

Caspase-1 is known to activate the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-18. Additionally, it can cleave other substrates, including proteins involved in metabolism. Recently, we showed that caspase-1 deficiency in mice strongly reduces high-fat diet-induced weight gain, at least partly caused by an increased energy production. Increased feces secretion by caspase-1-deficient mice suggests tha...

Wound healing in a pre-existing Th2-dominated skin milieu was assessed by using an epidermal specific interleukin-4 (IL-4) transgenic (Tg) mouse model, which develops a pruritic inflammatory skin condition resembling human atopic dermatitis. Our results demonstrated that IL-4 Tg mice had delayed wound closure and re-epithelialization even though these mice exhibited higher degrees of epithelial...

The etiology of cerebrovascular disease (CVD) in young patients is difficult to establish if the common causes of a focal neurological deficit are excluded by appropriate investigations. Since in some observations prolapse of the mitral-valve (MVP), alterations of platelet function, or both have been linked with cerebral ischemic events, we studied the in vivo platelet release reaction and the ...

BACKGROUND Preeclampsia is a leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide and a serious health problem that affects the majority of women. AIM We investigated the association between lipid profile and maternal obesity among preeclamptic women in the Cape Coast Metropolis. SUBJECT AND METHODS This case-control study involved 60 preeclamptics and 50 healthy pregnant controls matched for age ...