Search results for "45"
showing 10 items of 1896 documents
Direct evidence for positive selection of skin, hair, and eye pigmentation in Europeans during the last 5,000 y
2014
Significance Eye, hair, and skin pigmentation are highly variable in humans, particularly in western Eurasian populations. This diversity may be explained by population history, the relaxation of selection pressures, or positive selection. To investigate whether positive natural selection is responsible for depigmentation within Europe, we estimated the strength of selection acting on three genes known to have significant effects on human pigmentation. In a direct approach, these estimates were made using ancient DNA from prehistoric Europeans and computer simulations. This allowed us to determine selection coefficients for a precisely bounded period in the deep past. Our results indicate t…
Isoflavonoid-based bone-sparing treatments exert a low activity on reproductive organs and on hepatic metabolism of estradiol in ovariectomized rats
2007
International audience; The use of soy isoflavones is a potential alternative to hormone replacement therapy in post-menopausal bone-loss prevention. Nevertheless, phytoestrogens can target other organs and may disrupt cell proliferation, or could modify endogenous steroid hormone metabolism. These mechanisms could be linked to an increased risk of developing cancer. We therefore studied the possible side effects of such treatments in an experimental model of menopause. Forty adult female Wistar rats were ovariectomized and fed with a genistein-, daidzein- or equol-supplemented diet at bone-sparing levels (10 mg/kg BW/day) for 3 months. The estrogenic effects were assessed by histological a…
Role and importance of polymorphisms with respect to DNA methylation for the expression of CYP2E1 enzyme
2014
Different individuals possess slightly different genetic information and show genetically-determined differences in several enzyme activities due to genetic variability. Following an integrated approach, we studied the polymorphisms and methylation of sites contained in the 5' flanking region of the metabolizing enzyme CYP2E1 in correlation to its expression in both tumor and non-neoplastic liver cell lines, since to date little is known about the influence of these (epi)genetic elements in basal conditions and under induction by the specific inductor and a demethylating agent. In treated cells, reduced DNA methylation, assessed both at genomic and gene level, was not consistently associate…
Genotype and Allele Frequencies of Drug-Metabolizing Enzymes and Drug Transporter Genes Affecting Immunosuppressants in the Spanish White Population
2013
Interpatient variability in drug response can be widely explained by genetically determined differences in metabolizing enzymes, drug transporters, and drug targets, leading to different pharmacokinetic and/or pharmacodynamic behaviors of drugs. Genetic variations affect or do not affect drug responses depending on their influence on protein activity and the relevance of such proteins in the pathway of the drug. Also, the frequency of such genetic variations differs among populations, so the clinical relevance of a specific variation is not the same in all of them. In this study, a panel of 33 single nucleotide polymorphisms in 14 different genes (ABCB1, ABCC2, ABCG2, CYP2B6, CYP2C19, CYP2C…
CYP2D6 increases toxicity of the designer drug 4-methylthioamphetamine (4-MTA)
2006
4-Methylthioamphetamine (4-MTA) belongs to a group of new amphetamine derivatives that is usually sold as "ecstasy" or "flatliners" on the illicit drug market. Large interindividual differences in 4-MTA mediated toxicity have been reported in humans. Therefore, we tested whether CYP2D6 or its variant alleles as well as CYP3A4 influence the susceptibility to 4-MTA. For this purpose, we used the colony formation assay with Chinese hamster lung fibroblast V79 cells expressing human wild-type CYP2D6 (CYP2D6*1), the low activity alleles CYP2D6*2, CYP2D6*9, as well as human CYP3A4. The obtained results showed that the expression of wild type CYP2D6*1 clearly enhanced the susceptibility to the cyt…
Assessment of the bioactivity of creosote-contaminated sediment by liver biotransformation system of rainbow trout.
1999
A sediment site in the Lake Jamsanvesi (municipality of Petajavesi, Finland) contaminated by creosote was investigated to assess the possible ecotoxicological risks it may cause to benthic animals, including ones which may arise due to physical measures in remediating the site. It is suggested that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are bioavailable to fish and other aquatic animals during exposure to contaminated water, sediment, and food. In order to assess toxicological risks of sediment contents to fish, juvenile rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss) were intraperitoneally dosed with extracts of the creosote-contaminated sediments and their elutriates. This was compared to pristine …
Long-term response of marine benthic fauna to thin-layer capping with powdered activated carbon in the Grenland fjords, Norway
2021
The Grenland fjords in Norway have a long history of contamination by large emissions of dioxins and mercury. As a possible sediment remediation method in situ, thin-layer capping with powdered activated carbon (AC) mixed with clay was applied at two test sites at 30 m and 95 m depth in the Grenland fjords. This study presents long-term effects of the AC treatment on the benthic community structure, i.e. nine years after capping. Capping with AC significantly reduced the number of species, their abundance and biomass at the two test sites, compared to uncapped reference sites. At the more shallow site, the dominant brittle star species Amphiura filiformis disappeared shortly after capping a…
BIOAVAILABILITY TO JUVENILE RAINBOW TROUT (ONCORYNCHUS MYKISS) OF RETENE AND OTHER MIXED-FUNCTION OXYGENASE-ACTIVE COMPOUNDS FROM SEDIMENTS
2002
Retene (7-isopropyl-1-methylphenanthrene) is a naturally formed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) that causes teratogenicity in fish larvae and induction of cytochrome P450 (CYP1A) enzymes. Retene occurs at high concentrations (or =3,300 microg/g dry wt) in surface sediments contaminated by resin acids from pulp mill effluents. To assess the environmental risks of retene, it is important to evaluate conditions affecting its bioavailability and accumulation by fish. Fingerling rainbow trout were exposed to retene-spiked or naturally contaminated sediments and sampled after 4 d to determine liver CYP1A activity and concentrations of retene metabolites in bile as indicators of retene accum…
Exhumation of the High‐Pressure Tsäkkok Lens, Swedish Caledonides: Insights From the Structural and White Mica 40Ar/39Ar Geochronological Record
2020
Integrated structural, geochemical, and geochronological investigations were conducted on metasedimentary rocks in the eclogite-bearing Tsäkkok Lens of the Seve Nappe Complex (Scandinavian Caledonides) to resolve its exhumation history. Three deformation events are defined. D1 is likely related to the prograde to peak-metamorphic stages, represented by a locally preserved S1. D2 resulted in vertical shortening and is defined by a pervasive S2 and cm-/m-scale F2 closed folds. D2 terminated with Scandian thrusting, which emplaced the overlying Köli Nappe Complex. D3 records NE-SW shortening and constitutes m-/km-scale F3 open folds that deformed the Tsäkkok Lens and Köli Nappe Complex togethe…
Predictor variables for a half marathon race time in recreational male runners
2011
Christoph Alexander Rüst1, Beat Knechtle1,2, Patrizia Knechtle2, Ursula Barandun1, Romuald Lepers3, Thomas Rosemann11Institute of General Practice and Health Services Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; 2Gesundheitszentrum St Gallen, St Gallen, Switzerland; 3INSERM U887, University of Burgundy, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Dijon, FranceAbstract: The aim of this study was to investigate predictor variables of anthropometry, training, and previous experience in order to predict a half marathon race time for future novice recreational male half marathoners. Eighty-four male finishers in the ‘Half Marathon Basel’ completed the race distance within (me…