Animals
Komodo Dragon Thriving After Surgery, Thanks to Denver Zoo Vets
Thus procedure has an 80% fatality rate but thanks not only to the vets, but also zookeepers and vet techs at the Denver Zoo, this Dragon is doing great!
This and That
Waterloo company creates world's 1st microscopic microscope - Kitchener-Waterloo - CBC News
It is a microscope that is smaller than the No. 1 on a now-defunct Canadian penny. But this powerful tool is able to do everything its big brother in laboratories across the country can do for a fraction of the cost. A Waterloo company in Canada has created the world's first microscopic atomic force microscope (AFM)
Arthritis
Obesity and osteoarthritis. - PubMed - NCBI
There is a proven association between obesity and knee osteoarthritis
Roles of Articular Cartilage Aging and Chondrocyte Senescence in the Pathogenesis of Osteoarthritis
Aging changes in articular cartilage that increase the risk of articular cartilage degeneration include fibrillation of the articular surface, decrease in the size and aggregation of proteoglycan aggrecans, increased collagen cross-linking and loss of tensile strength and stiffness. These alterations are most likely primarily the result of aging changes in chondrocyte function that decrease the ability of the cells to maintain the tissue including decreased synthetic activity, synthesis of smaller less uniform aggrecans and less functional link proteins and decreased responsiveness to anabolic growth factors. Recent work suggests that the cause of the age-related loss of chondrocyte function may be progressive senescence of articular cartilage chondrocytes marked by a decline in mitotic activity, increased expression of the senescence-associated enzyme beta-galactosidase and erosion of telomere length.
Restorative Effect of Vitamin D Deficiency on Knee Pain and Quadriceps Muscle Strength in Knee Osteoarthritis. - PubMed - NCBI
Elderly humans with osteoarthritis have a high incidence of vitamin D deficiency and quadriceps weakness. Vitamin D3 restores quadriceps strength without additional exercise, and the result is decreased pain.
Do antioxidant micronutrients protect against the development and progression of knee osteoarthritis? - PubMed - NCBI
High intake of antioxidant micronutrients, especially vitamin C, may reduce the risk of cartilage loss and disease progression in people with OA. We found no effect of antioxidant nutrients on incident OA. This is a Framingham study involving 640 people The role of the quadriceps muscle in mediating risk for knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a common subject of investigation. The quadriceps muscle is a principal contributor to knee joint stability and provides shock absorption for the knee during ambulation. Clinically, weakness of the quadriceps muscle is consistently found in patients with knee OA. Research has shown that higher quadriceps muscle strength is associated with a reduced risk for incident symptomatic knee OA. However, there is limited evidence to suggest that quadriceps muscle plays a significant role in the incidence of radiographic knee OA. I
Viscosupplementation: managed care issues for osteoarthritis of the knee. - PubMed - NCBI
Viscosupplementation with an elastoviscous fluid containing polymers of hylan derivatives of the natural glycosaminoglycan hyaluronan is indicated for treating pain of OA of the knee that has not responded to or is contraindicated for conservative nonpharmacologic therapy and traditional analgesics.
Avocado/soybean unsaponifiables increase aggrecan synthesis and reduce catabolic and proinflammatory mediator production by human osteoarthritic ch... - PubMed - NCBI
A1S2 decreased MMP-3 production and stimulated TIMP-1 production. These results suggest A1S2 could have structure-modifying effects in OA by inhibiting cartilage degradation and promoting cartilage repair.
ω-3 PUFAs and Resveratrol Differently Modulate Acute and Chronic Inflammatory Processes. - PubMed - NCBI
EPA and DHA similarly affected the pattern of inflammatory mediators. Combination of RV and ω-3 PUFAs exerted synergistic effects on CCL5/RANTES and had additive effects on IL-6 or CXCL8/IL-8. Both ω-3 PUFAs and RV reduced catabolic gene expression (e.g., MMPs, ADAMTS-4, IL-1β, and IL-6) in activated chondrocytes. The data suggest that ω-3 PUFAs and RV differ in the regulation of acute inflammation of peripheral blood leukocytes but have common properties in modulating features related to chronic inflammation of chondrocytes.
Vitamin E slows down the progression of osteoarthritis
Vitamin E is safe to use and may delay the progression of osteoarthritis by acting on several aspects of the disease. In this review, how vitamin E may promote the maintenance of skeletal muscle and the regulation of nucleic acid metabolism to delay osteoarthritis progression is explored. In addition, how vitamin E may maintain the function of sex organs and the stability of mast cells, thus conferring a greater resistance to the underlying disease process is also discussed. Finally, the protective effect of vitamin E on the subchondral vascular system, which decreases the reactive remodeling in osteoarthritis, is reviewed.