In the policy arena, the revision

of SHC after its first

In the policy arena, the revision

of SHC after its first five-year period was made in 2012, in which the continuation of current policy was chosen. And our study is in accord with keeping dipstick test in the mandatory test list. Further economic evaluation incorporating medical advancement or health system development is necessary for the future development of SHC and the next revision of CKD mass screening. Acknowledgments This work was supported by Health and Labour Sciences Research Grants for ‘‘Research on the positioning of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Specific Health Check and Guidance in Japan’’ (H20-circulatory(lifestyle)-ippan-008), “Design of the comprehensive health care system KU-57788 cost for chronic kidney disease (CKD)

based on the individual risk assessment by specific health checkup” (H24-intractible(renal)-ippan-006), and a grant for strategic outcome study project for renal disease (H19-renal disease-senryaku-001), the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan. Conflict of interest The authors have declared that no conflict of interest exists. Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which SB203580 cell line permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited. References 1. El Nahas AM, Bello AK. Chronic kidney disease: the global challenge. Lancet. 2005;365:331–440.CrossRef

2. Levey AS, Schoolwerth AC, Burrows NR, Williams DE, Stith KR, McClellan W, et al. Comprehensive public health strategies for preventing the development, progression, and complications of CKD: report of an expert panel convened by the centers for disease control and prevention. Am J Kidney Dis. 2009;53:522–35.PubMedCrossRef 3. Levey AS, de Jong PE, SDHB Coresh J, El Nahas M, Astor BC, Matsushita K, et al. The definition, classification and prognosis of chronic kidney disease: a KDIGO controversies conference report. Kidney Int. 2010;80:17–28.PubMedCrossRef 4. Kiberd B. Screening for chronic kidney disease. BMJ. 2010;341:c5734.PubMedCrossRef 5. de Jong PE, van der Velde M, Gansevoort RT, Zoccali C. Screening for chronic kidney disease: where does Europe go? Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2008;3:616–23.PubMedCrossRef 6. Collins AJ, Vassalotti JA, Wang C, Li S, Gilbertson DT, Liu J, et al. Who should be targeted for CKD screening? Impact of diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Am J Kidney Dis. 2009;53:S71–7.PubMedCrossRef 7. Chen N, Hsu CC, Yamagata K, Langham R. Challenging chronic kidney disease: experience from chronic kidney disease prevention programs in Shanghai, Japan, Taiwan and Australia. Nephrology (Carlton). 2010;15:31–6.PubMedCrossRef 8. Imai E, Yamagata K, Iseki K, Iso H, Horio M, Mkino H, et al.

From the figure, we estimate that the diameter of the ZnO microro

From the figure, we estimate that the diameter of the ZnO microrod is about 10 μm. We can also see from this figure that the sizes of the microrods are quite uniform. Figure 2a shows the results of the XPS measurement of the Sb-doped ZnO microrod array indicated by the black curve. The peaks centered at 531.80 eV (indicated by the blue curve fit) and 540.44 eV (indicated by the red this website curve fit) are attributed to the binding energies of Sb3d5/2 and Sb3d3/2, which indicate the successful integration of Sb into the

ZnO microrod array. The peak at 532.15 eV (indicated by the green curve fit) is attributed to O 1s, which mainly comes from oxygen absorption such as H2O, C-O, or HO- [16]. To further study the doping concentration of Sb atoms of our device,

we have performed energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. The measurement result presented in Figure 2b shows that the Sb concentration in ��-catenin signaling the p-type ZnO is approximately 0.35%. The EDS and XPS measurements indicate clearly that antimony is incorporated into the ZnO microrods with our growth method. Figure 1 SEM image of the Sb-doped ZnO microrod array. The length of the scale bar is 50 μm. Figure 2 XPS (a) and EDS (b) spectra of the Sb-doped ZnO microrod array (in bold). The black curve shows the XPS spectrum in (a) while color curves display the contributions from Sb and O. In order to provide further studies of the Sb-doped ZnO microrod array, we have performed XRD measurements on intrinsic ZnO and Sb-doped ZnO which are shown in Figure 3. We can see in this figure that the peak of intrinsic ZnO is at 34.98° and the peak of Sb-doped ZnO is at 34.70°, which is shifted 0.28° to the left of the intrinsic peak. This peak shift can be attributed to the replacement of a Zn atom by the antimony atom introduced into the ZnO microrod array during

electrodeposition and thus changes the average lattice constant [17]. Figure 3 XRD data of Sb-doped ZnO and intrinsic ZnO microrod arrays. We now turn our attention to the main finding of this paper. Figure 4 shows the PL spectra of the intrinsic ZnO and Sb-doped ZnO microrod arrays at room temperature. The intrinsic Dapagliflozin ZnO microrod array has a peak at 380 nm, corresponding to the near-band-edge peak and can be attributed to the exciton-related emission in ZnO. For the Sb-doped ZnO, we found that the PL peak shifts from the ultraviolet (380 nm) to the violet (395 nm) region of the light spectrum [18]. It is worth noting here that the yellow band that is associated with the oxygen-related defect band which shows up in the PL spectrum in the intrinsic ZnO is absent in the Sb-doped ZnO microrod array. These results suggest that the Sb-doped ZnO microrod array has a better crystalline quality. It has lower oxygen deficiencies or part of oxygen vacancies were substituted by antimony atoms; therefore, the defect band emission was reduced.

Likewise, the higher solubilization and higher production of orga

Likewise, the higher solubilization and higher production of organic acids in the presence of TCP could be attributed to its amorphous nature with simple structure and absence of any free carbonates as compared to the crystalline lattice structure Alectinib price of the rock phosphates [25]. Cluster analysis of organic acid profiles generated different groups

revealing inter and intra-specific variation in the production of organic acids by Pseudomonas strains (Fig. 2). The strains clustered together and those standing outside the clusters or sub-clusters belonged to different Pseudomonas species characterized previously by 16S rRNA gene sequencing [8, 9]. The strains standing outside the clusters differed qualitatively and/or quantitatively from other strains in the production of organic acids (Tables 2, 3, 4, 5). The results implied that Pseudomonas strains are independent of their genetic relatedness in their phosphate-solubilizing ability and organic acid production even under similar set of culture conditions. Phosphate solubilization is a complex phenomenon which depends on the nutritional, physiological and growth Birinapant research buy conditions of the culture [26]. The enhanced growth and higher N, P and K contents in maize with PSB treatments underlined the

advantage of phosphate-solubilizing activity of microorganisms for plant growth promotion (Table 6 and 7). The increased growth and P uptake have been reported

on PSB inoculations with Pseudomonas sp. and Serratia marcescens in maize [17], Pseudomonas fluorescens in peanut [27], Bacillus circulans in mungbean [28] and Pseudomonas sp. in wheat [29]. The TCP solubilization in soil by fluorescent Pseudomonas strains as evidenced by in vitro TCP solubilization, increased soil P availability and higher plant P content would be useful particularly in the cold deserts of Lahaul and Spiti where soil P deficiency is attributed mainly to the reaction Bay 11-7085 of P with calcium carbonate and calcium sulphate forming insoluble di- and tricalcium phosphates. The rock phosphates recommended for acid soils are reportedly not effective in alkaline soils as P source for the crops [30]. The significantly higher plant growth and N, P, and K content in plant tissues and soil with some PSB treatments over NPSSPK might be due to the immobilization of applied P by native soil microbiota and physico-chemical reactions in the soil. The increased and continuous P availability in the soil promotes biological nitrogen fixation [27]. No correlation among TCP solubilization, production of organic acids and plant growth promotion could be established as the highest solubilization and plant growth promoting activity was observed for P. trivialis BIHB 745 not showing the highest organic acid production. However, the lowest organic acid production and plant growth promotion by Pseudomonas sp.

12, m = 0 15, TD50 = 80 Gy and α/β = 3 Gy An average probability

An average probability of 9.6% ± 3.3% and 5.6% ± 1.8% were obtained for the conventional and the hypo-fractionated arm, respectively. These NTCP calculations did not result in good agreement with the clinical outcome for both arms, indicating the necessity to optimize the model parameters. Before the modeling, a plot of NTCP with its standard deviation versus α/β was generated for the arms A and B to better evaluate

the influence of α/β on the toxicity prediction (Fig. 4). The plotted NTCP values were obtained by averaging on the entire patients population of arm A and B, separately, the NTCP data calculated varying α/β between 0.5 and 10 Gy, at 0.1 Gy intervals. The other three parameters RAD001 ic50 were kept fix (n = 0.12, m = 0.15, TD50 = 80 Gy). Figure 4 Plot of the average Normal Tissue Complication Carfilzomib research buy Probability (NTCP) with its standard deviation (dashed lines) versus the α/β parameter, for the arm A (black line) and B (gray

line). The other parameters were n = 0.12, m = 0.15 and TD50 = 80 Gy. The width of the box indicates the range of probable α/β values. As expected, it resulted that higher values of α/β lead to an increase of NTCP in arm A, because the effect of fractionation (or the dose per fraction) weights less that the effect of the total dose. For the same reason, the NTCP in arm B rapidly decreases at increasing values of α/β, because the total dose of the hypofractionated arm (62 Gy) is expected to induce a significantly lower complication than the total dose of the conventional arm (80 Gy). Due to the comparable toxicities reported among the two arms, it is meaningful to observe the plots in the region where the two NTCP curves overlap. Also taking into account the NTCP standard deviations, the plots suggest approximately an α/β value between 1 and 3.5 Gy (given by the width of the box), with a most probable value close to 2 Gy (where the average NTCP values are coincident). Together Protein tyrosine phosphatase with α/β, the parameter TD50 was also optimized because, as previously observed,

the complication incidence predicted by the model using TD50 = 80 Gy was lower than the clinical outcome for both arms (9.6% and 5.6% against 13.0% and 13.5%, for arm A and B respectively). The m and n parameters were kept fix during the modeling, choosing the values: n = 0.12 and m = 0.15 (10), as mentioned in the Methods and materials. The value of TD50 was decreased by the fitting process, resulting equal to 76.0 Gy [95% CI: 72.2-80.5 Gy]. The best estimate for α/β was instead 2.3 Gy [95% CI: 1.1-5.6 Gy]. To evaluate the goodness of fit, the observed and expected numbers of complications (or events) were compared for six NTCP groups (Table 2). Table 2 Observed and expected numbers of complications in six NTCP groups NTCP range No. of patients Observed Complications Expected Complications 0.05-0.075 11 2 1 0.075-0.10 19 3 2 0.10-0.125 18 3 2 0.125-0.15 25 2 4 0.15-0.175 27 4 4 0.175-0.

At this position, only \( A_1^ \bullet – \) contributes signific

At this position, only \( A_1^ \bullet – \) contributes significantly to the signal intensity. Because of substantial g-anisotropy good orientation GSI-IX selection is achieved. The \( A_1^ \bullet – \) molecules with their molecular x-axis oriented along the B 0 direction

give the main contribution to the ESE and ENDOR signals and a single-crystal-like spectrum is obtained in Davies ENDOR experiment (bottom panel of Fig. 7). About 10 line pairs can be distinguished in this ENDOR spectrum, which is nearly symmetrical with respect to the 1H Larmor frequency. Note that this spectrum is very similar to the usual 1H ENDOR spectrum of the chemically generated stationary radical \( A_1^ \bullet – \), which supports the assignment of the ENDOR spectrum of the spin-polarized RP \( P_700^ \bullet + A_1^ \bullet – \) (Niklas et al. 2009). Fig. 7 A: Transient EPR spectrum at Q-band of the in situ light-induced spin-polarized radical pair (RP) state \( P_700^ \bullet + A_1^ \bullet – \) in Photosystem I of Thermosynechococcus elongatus (a) together with its simulation (b); simulations of the individual radicals (\( P_700^CHEM1 \) = Chl a/Chl a′dimer; A1 = vitamin K1, electron acceptor)

are also shown (c). B: Comparison of 1H ENDOR spectra of the stationary radical \( A_1^ \bullet – \) (photo chemical reduction of PSI) and the short-lived RP state \( P_700^ \bullet + A_1^ \bullet – \)obtained near g x (\( A_1^ \bullet – \)) where the \( P_700^ \bullet + \) contribution is very small. For details see Niklas et al. (2009), Epel et al. (2006) The variation of the interpulse delay in the Davies ENDOR pulse sequence leads to a change of the population of the energy levels of the RP. This is reflected in changes of the intensity of the ENDOR lines. In such an experiment, called variable mixing time (VMT) ENDOR (Epel et

al. 2006) the ENDOR pattern becomes asymmetric, Dapagliflozin and some lines even change the sign of the polarization. From this asymmetry, the absolute signs of the HFI constants can be obtained. For \( A_1^ \bullet – , \) a negative sign of the HFI was derived for the ring α-protons and positive signs for methyl and methylene β-protons, in accordance with theoretical predictions. The carotenoid triplet state in the peridinin–chlorophyll–protein antenna complex Photogenerated triplet states can often be observed in bacterial photosynthetic RCs, plant photosystems or the antenna complexes under intense light. In the peridinin–chlorophyll–protein (PCP) antenna complex from Amphidinium carterae, illumination by red light generates the triplet excited state of the chlorophyll 3Chl a. Within a few nanoseconds, the triplet excitation migrates to the carotenoid peridinin, which is in optimal contact with the Chl a π-system.


“Background Oxidative stress occurs when there is an imbal


“Background Oxidative stress occurs when there is an imbalance between production and scavenging of free radicals, thus compromising the cellular function and antioxidant status of the body. Athletes, who train competitively, experience more oxidative stress than other average individuals click here which not only causes damage to cells and DNA, but may also limit aerobic capacity. The present study was conducted to test the effect of tomato juice (lycopene) on the oxidative stress of athletes.

Methods Fifty male athletes involved in track events aged 20 – 25 years were selected for the study and divided into control (Group I) and experimental (Group II) of 25 each. A supplement containing 75ml of tomato juice (containing 10μg of lycopene), was consumed by the athletes of Group II after their morning training session for a period of 60 days. Venous blood samples were drawn immediately after training before supplementation and CDK inhibitor selected

biochemical parameters were estimated. Again the samples were drawn after 60 days of supplementation to assess the changes in blood/serum indices and the results were compared with Group I. Twelve minute run test and step test were also conducted. The results were analysed using ANOVA and t test between control and experimental groups (p≤0.05). Results The mean value of glutathione concentration (GSH) of Group II had increased significantly from 101.21 ± 46.41 mg/dl to 196.89 ± 35.11 mg/dl (t = 1.943, p ≤ 0.05) while that of Group I had decreased from 86.16 to 81.94 mg/dl (p > 0.05). The mean levels of glutathione peroxidase of Group II had increased significantly from 23.75 ± 9.01 μ/gHb to 41.03 ± 5.58 μ/gHb (t = 5.857, p ≤ 0.05) while the same had decreased significantly in Group I from 18.37 to 15.11 μ/gHb. The levels of TBARS (which is a measure of lipid peroxidation) had decreased significantly in Group II from 0.367 ± 0.111 to 0.197 ± 0.227 nmol/ml (t = 2.015, p ≤ 0.05) and in Group oxyclozanide I from 0.446 ± 0.14 to 0.38 ± 0.152 nmol/ml (t = 1.139, p > 0.05). The distance covered in 12 minutes by the athletes of Group II increased significantly from 2305 ± 365.2m to 2734 ±

602.7m (t = 2.163, p ≤ 0.05), whereas the same had decreased in Group I from 2150.4 ± 471.5m to 2106.4 ± 365.2 m (p > 0.05) after the study period. The number of steps taken by Group II increased significantly from 31.91 ± 4.69 to 33.92 ± 4.57 (t = 5.057, p ≤ 0.05) while it had decreased in Group I. This indicates the efficiency of antioxidant defense system provided by the intake of tomato juice containing lycopene. Conclusion It is concluded that lycopene in tomato juice has a beneficial effect on the oxidative stress on athletes and will improve their performance level when used as a supplement.”
“Background Nutritional supplements intended for consumption in proximity to resistance exercise are extremely popular among young males and athletes.

Plant Cell Environ 28:375–388 Lakowicz

Plant Cell Environ 28:375–388 Lakowicz selleck JR (2009) Principles of fluorescence spectroscopy, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin Landi M, Pardossi A, Remorini D, Guidi L (2013) Antioxidant and photosynthetic response of a purple-leaved and a green-leaved cultivar of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum)

to boron excess. Environ Exp Bot 85:64–75 Lavergne J (1982a) Two types of primary acceptor in chloroplast photosystem II. I. Different recombination properties. Photobiochem Photobiophys 3:257–271 Lavergne J (1982b) Mode of action of 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea. Evidence that the inhibitor competes with plastoquinone for binding to a common site on the acceptor side of photosystem II. Biochim Biophys Acta 682:345–353 Lavergne J, Leci E (1993) Properties of inactive photosystem II centers. Photosynth Res 35:323–343PubMed Lazár D (2003) Chlorophyll DMXAA ic50 a fluorescence rise induced by high light illumination of dark-adapted plant tissue studied by means of a model of photosystem II and considering photosystem II heterogeneity. J Theor Biol 220:469–503PubMed Lazár D, Schansker

G (2009) Models of chlorophyll a fluorescence transients. In: Laisk A, Nedbal L, Govindjee (eds) Photosynthesis in silico: understanding complexity from molecules to ecosystems, advances in photosynthesis and respiration, vol 29. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 85–123 Lazár D, Ilík P, Nauš J (1997) An appearance of K-peak in fluorescence induction depends on the acclimation of barley leaves to higher temperatures. J Lum 72–74:595–596 Lee W-J, Whitmarsh J (1989) Photosynthetic

apparatus of pea thylakoid membranes. Plant Physiol 89:932–940PubMedCentralPubMed Lenk (-)-p-Bromotetramisole Oxalate S, Chaerle L, Pfündel EE, Langsdorf G, Hagenbeek D, Lichtenthaler HK, van der Straeten D, Buschmann C (2007) Multispectral fluorescence and reflectance imaging at the leaf level and its possible application. J Exp Bot 58:807–814PubMed Leong T-Y, Anderson JM (1984a) Adaptation of the thylakoid membranes of pea chloroplasts to light intensities. I. Study on the distribution of chlorophyll-protein complexes. Photosynth Res 5:105–115PubMed Leong T-Y, Anderson JM (1984b) Adaptation of the thylakoid membranes of pea chloroplasts to light intensities. II. Regulation of electron transport capacities, electron carriers, coupling factor (CF1) activity and rates of photosynthesis. Photosynth Res 5:117–128PubMed Lichtenthaler HK, Lang M, Sowinska M, Summ P, Heisel F, Miehe JA (1997) Uptake of the herbicide diuron as visualized by the fluorescence imaging technique. Bot Acta 110:158–163 Lichtenthaler HK, Buschmann C, Knapp M (2005) How to correctly determine the different chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and the chlorophyll fluorescence decrease ratio RFd of leaves with the PAM fluorometer.

PubMedCrossRef 10 Gilleland HE Jr, Parker MG, Matthews JM, Berg

PubMedCrossRef 10. Gilleland HE Jr, Parker MG, Matthews JM, Berg RD: Use of a purified outer membrane protein F (porin) preparation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a NVP-BKM120 order protective vaccine in mice. Infect Immun 1984, 44:49–54.PubMed 11. Gilleland HE Jr, Gilleland LB, Matthews-Greer JM: Outer membrane protein F preparation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a vaccine against chronic pulmonary infection with heterologous immunotype strains in a rat model. Infect Immun 1988, 56:1017–1022.PubMed 12. von Specht BU, Lucking HC, Blum B, Schmitt A, Hungerer KD, Domdey H: Safety and

immunogenicity of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa outer membrane protein I vaccine in human volunteers. Vaccine 1996, 14:1111–1117.PubMedCrossRef 13. Gilleland HE, Gilleland LB, Staczek J, Harty RN, Garcia-Sastre A, Palese P, Brennan FR, Hamilton WD, Bendahmane Sotrastaurin cost M, Beachy RN: Chimeric animal and plant viruses expressing epitopes of outer membrane protein F as a combined vaccine against Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection. FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol 2000, 27:291–297.PubMedCrossRef 14. Battershill JL, Speert DP, Hancock RE: Use of monoclonal antibodies to protein F of Pseudomonas aeruginosa as opsonins for phagocytosis by macrophages. Infect Immun 1987, 55:2531–2533.PubMed 15. Lee NG, Ahn BY, Jung SB, Kim YG, Lee Y, Kim HS, Park WJ: Human anti- Pseudomonas aeruginosa

outer membrane proteins IgG cross-protective against infection with heterologous immunotype strains of P. aeruginosa . FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol 1999, 25:339–347.PubMed 16. Baumann U, Mansouri E, von Specht BU: Recombinant OprF-OprI as a vaccine against Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. Vaccine 2004, 22:840–847.PubMedCrossRef 17. not Hughes EE, Gilleland HE Jr: Ability of synthetic peptides representing epitopes of outer membrane protein F of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to afford protection against P. aeruginosa infection in a murine acute pneumonia model. Vaccine 1995, 13:1750–1753.PubMedCrossRef 18. Worgall S, Kikuchi T, Singh R, Martushova K, Lande L, Crystal RG: Protection against pulmonary infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa

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In contrast, examination of data sets separated for host habitat

In contrast, examination of data sets separated for host habitat revealed that M. bolleyi co-occurred with Ms7Mb4 and Ms43Mb21 more frequently at the dry habitat than expected by chance. Under the same conditions, M. bolleyi co-occurred with Stagonospora sp. less frequently. None of the 80 pair-wise species comparisons that examined data

sets divided by the combination of organ plus habitat showed significantly increased or decreased co-occurrences (Additional selleck file 5). Finally, CCA was used to estimate which of the analyzed factors most influenced the occurrences of five species in all samples analyzed. Space at the level of organ explained 32.9% of the observed total variation, whereas space at the level of habitat and time at the level of months did so for 5.5% and 0.1%, respectively. A plot including the two main axes indicated that all five species were well separated for at least one factor (Figure 6). It underlined

that Stagonospora sp. was distinguished from the other species mainly because of its distinct organ preferences. The CCA plot confirmed that habitat type was most important for separation of the two Microdochium species. For the remaining species, both organ and habitat determined their separation. Figure 6 Canonical correspondence analysis. CCA biplot ordination for the effects of space defined by plant organ and habitat type assessing five fungal species on reeds selleck kinase inhibitor at Lake Constance. Axes 1 and 2 explain 32.9% and 5.5% of the variation, respectively. Monte Carlo permutation test on axis 1: P = 0.0010. Discussion Previous studies have indicated that fungal endophytes may

coexist at very small scales. In this study, niche partitioning between two endophytic species of Microdochium sympatrically colonizing Phragmitis australis was assessed. M. bolleyi and M. phragmitis were found to be significantly segregated for host habitat, but not for host organ and season. Digestive enzyme However, when additional, unrelated fungi that colonize the same host were also included in the analyses, the latter two factors were also found to contribute to niche partitioning. Several factors can cause niche differentiation between endophytes, which may attenuate competition and thus allow for a high fungal diversity on the same host species. One factor is space, which is with respect to endophytes hierarchically structured from continent to region, to habitat, to host individual, to host organ, and further down to the level of host cells. Two of these levels, i.e. the habitat type and the host organ, were analyzed. Both, M. bolleyi and M. phragmitis, preferentially colonize the same organ, i.e. roots, confirming an earlier result [16]. Within the limits of detection, nested-PCR assays in this study indicated that M. bolleyi occurs more frequently on roots at dry sites, whereas M.

Molecular consequences include a ‘blockage’ in development involv

Molecular consequences include a ‘blockage’ in development involving down-regulation of late gene products in persistent infections [13]. The in vitro persistence systems often share altered chlamydial growth characteristics, for example,

many studies www.selleckchem.com/products/Aloxistatin.html have described enlarged, and pleomorphic RBs that neither undergo binary fission, nor differentiate back to EBs, but nevertheless continue to replicate their chromosomes. Persistent in vitro infections have been induced by penicillin treatment, amino acid starvation, iron deficiency, Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) exposure, monocyte infection, phage infection and continuous culture [12–14]. However, a persistence phenotype has not previously been reported to occur in response to altered levels of sex hormones. Previous data have demonstrated that the metabolic characteristics of persistent chlamydiae were not the same as those of actively growing organisms [12, 15–17]. The results reported from Gerard et al. [18] indicated that during the primary phase of active infection, C. trachomatis obtain the

energy essential for EB to RB transformation, and also for metabolism, from host cells via ATP/ADP exchange. Through active growth of the RB, the organisms acquire ATP not only from the host, but also via their MLN0128 chemical structure own glycolytic and pentose phosphate pathways. Gerard et al. (2002) determined that throughout the initial phase of monocyte infection, prior to the complete establishment of persistence, Farnesyltransferase C. trachomatis cells utilized both ATP/ADP exchange and their own pathways to support metabolic needs, even though the overall metabolic rate in the organisms was relatively low. However, when persistence has been established the only source of ATP appears to be the host [18]. This was supported by the finding that, mRNA for glycolytic and pentose phosphate pathway enzymes were absent or severely reduced, suggesting that these systems were partially, if not completely, shut down through persistence. Therefore, C. trachomatis seemed to be merely partial energy parasites on their hosts during active

growth, however during persistent infection the organisms appeared to be completely dependent on the host for ATP. In the current study, we utilised a whole genome microarray to study the changes in chlamydial transcriptional response in in vitro cultured C. trachomatis exposed to either progesterone or estradiol. We found a potentially counter-balancing effect of the two hormones on the chlamydial response. Methods Hormone supplementation of Chlamydia-infected cells ECC-1: The ECC-1 is a well-differentiated, steroid responsive human endometrial cell line, which was maintained in phenol red-free 1× Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium/Ham’s F12 nutrient mix (DMEM/F12 – 1:1) (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA). HEp-2: The HEp-2 cell line is a human epithelial cell line, which was maintained in 1× DMEM containing phenol red, 4.