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Copyleft AI with Trusted Enforcement (CAITE) can support an adaptable so ft law approach for ethics in AI.

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Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-intoxicating phytocannabinoid whose purported therapeutic benefits and impression of a high safety profile has promoted its increasing popularity. CBD's popularity is also increasing among children and adolescents who are being administered CBD, off label, for the treatment of numerous symptoms associated with autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and depression. The relative recency of its use in the adolescent population has precluded investigation of its impact on the developing brain and the potential consequences that may present in adulthood. Therefore, there's an urgency to identify whether prolonged adolescent CBD exposure has substantive impacts on the developing brain that impact behavioral and cognitive processes in adulthood. Here, we tested the effect of twice-daily intraperitoneal administrations of CBD (20 mg/kg) in male and female C57BL/6J mice during the adolescent period of 25-45 days on weight gain, and assays for locomotor behavior, anxiety, and spatial memory. Prolonged adolescent CBD exposure had no detrimental effects on locomotor activity in the open field, anxiety behavior on the elevated plus maze, or spatial memory in the Barnes Maze compared to vehicle-treated mice. Interestingly, CBD-treated mice had a faster rate of learning in the Barnes Maze. However, CBD-treated females had reduced weight gain during the exposure period. We conclude that prolonged adolescent CBD exposure in mice does not have substantive negative impacts on a range of behaviors in adulthood, may improve the rate of learning under certain conditions, and impacts weight gain in a sex-specific manner.

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Human GH is encoded by the GH-1 gene which belongs to the GH gene cluster encompassing a distance of about 65 kb on the long arm of chromosome 17. Familial isolated growth hormone deficiency (IGHD) is associated with at least four Mendelian disorders. These include two forms that have autosomal recessive inheritance (IGHD types IA and IB) as well as autosomal dominant (IGHD type II) and X-linked (IGHD III) forms. The aim of our study was to evaluate the prevalence of all GH-1 gene alterations by sequencing the whole GH-1 gene after PCR amplification among 151 affected subjects from 83 families with severe IGHD (height: <-4.5 SD score). A high frequency of GH-1 gene alterations was found in families with IGHD type IA (8/12, 66.7%), whereas only a low frequency of GH-1 gene defects was present in all the other GH-deficient families (7/71, 9.9%). The absolute frequency of GH-1 gene deletions was 8.7% (6/69), 11.8% (4/34), and 18.7% (9/48) in Northern Europeans, Mediterraneans, and Asians, respectively, giving an overall frequency of 12.5% (19/151). The sizes of the deletions were heterogeneous with the most frequent (78%) being 6.7 kb. In addition, 6% (9/151) of the patients presented GH-1 gene mutations such as frameshift, stop codon and splicing error. Furthermore, total GH-1 gene abnormalities varied among different populations from 11.6% in Northern Europe, 14.7% in Mediterranean countries and 31.2% in Asia. Most striking, however, was the low frequency rate of 1.7% (2/119) of GH-1 gene mutations responsible for the most common phenotype of IGHD, namely type IB, among the subjects characterized by the production of deficient but detectable amounts of GH after provocative stimuli. This finding underlines the necessity to focus rather on the promoter region of the GH-1 gene (cis-acting elements and trans-acting factors), and on other candidate genes specific for the GH axis than the GH-1 gene itself to define genetically the IGHD type IB phenotype in more detail.

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OBJECTIVE: Isolated growth hormone deficiency (IGHD) type IB is suggested to be more probably due to alterations in the genes directly involved in the hypothalamo-pituitary axis and/or in the specific transcriptional regulation (cis-trans coupling) of the hGH-1 gene than to alterations in the gene itself. In this study we analyzed the hGH-1 gene promoter region for structural alterations and allelic variations. METHODS: The hGH-1 gene promoter region was analyzed by PCR, cycle sequencing and direct-blotting electrophoresis in a total of 212 individuals including 113 patients with IGHD type IB, 21 unaffected family members and 78 normal controls. RESULTS: Twenty-two sequence variation sites were identified. Of these, 14% were located around the region of -1075bp, 77% between -550bp and the translational start site (+1bp) and 9% within the first intron. Only one variation site affected a characterized cis-acting element, namely that of NF-1. Importantly, all the variations found in patients were also observed in non-affected family members as well as in normal unrelated controls. CONCLUSIONS: These findings imply that it is not a single variation within the GH-1 gene promoter, and therefore in the cis-acting elements, which causes IGHD. However, we can not exclude the possibility that combinations of variations might perturb expression. Furthermore, these data illustrate the normal heterogeneity of the GH-1 gene promoter region, a fact that has to be borne in mind whenever transcriptional studies are performed.

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The hypothesis that growth hormone binding protein (GHBP) has an effect on its own on the regulation of the GH-receptor/GHBP transcription was tested. Three different forms of human GHBP (recombinant non-glycosylated GHBP, recombinant glycosylated GHBP and GHBP purified and extracted from serum) were added in different concentrations determined by LIFA [0 pmol/l; 50 pmol/l (low level), 200 pmol/l (average level) and 500 pmol/l (high level in circulation)] to a human hepatoma cell line (HuH7 cells) cultured in a serum free hormonally-defined medium. Following the incubation with GHBP for 0, 1 and 2 h, GH-receptor expression was quantitatively assessed by using polymerase chain reaction amplification. Treatment with a GHBP concentration of 50 pmol/l resulted in a significant increase of GH-receptor mRNA molecules given as number of molecules x 10(6)/microg total RNA. In contrast, the concentration of 500 pmol/l presented a significant decrease of GH-receptor mRNA molecules, whereas 200 pmol/l GHBP produced a GH-receptor gene expression which was in between the values of the experiments with 50 and 500 pmol/l of GHBP added. Furthermore, the three different forms of human GHBP used provided similar data and, therefore, did not effect in any variation of GH-receptor expression. In addition, nuclear run-on experiments confirmed the changes in GH-receptor expression; and cycloheximide (10 microg/ml) did not alter the transcription indicating that the up and down regulating effects of GHBP on the GH-receptor/GHBP gene transcription was dependent, at least partly, on pre-existing factors and does not require protein synthesis. In conclusion, we present data showing that GHBP on its own has an effect on GH-receptor gene expression.

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Microdialysis probe insertion into rat cerebral cortex significantly affects the levels of redox-active substances in brain extracellular fluid. Ascorbic acid levels are high immediately after probe insertion, decline rapidly, and then rise as the rat recovers from anesthesia 5-8 hours after surgery. Uric acid is at a low level for 5 hours and then rapidly increases in parallel with ascorbic acid. High ascorbic acid levels immediately after probe insertion are likely due to a shift from intracellular to extracellular fluids, whereas the delayed increase in uric acid may be due to increased enzymatic formation. After removal from the brain, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in microdialysis samples produces catalase-sensitive oxidative chemiluminescence. Microdialysis samples also produce high level catalase-resistant chemiluminescence associated with ascorbic acid levels after penetration injury. Although ascorbic acid is likely an antioxidant at concentrations estimated to be in brain extracellular fluid, it may have prooxidant effects when complexed with transition metals released into the neuronal microenvironment during traumatic brain injury.

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Although high-affinity growth hormone (GH)-binding protein (GHBP) seems to mirror tissue GH receptor (GH-R) status and effects GH kinetics, the physiological importance and ultimate biological role of GHBP remain largely unknown and obscure. Therefore, the aims of this study were, first, to test the hypothesis that different serum concentrations of GHBP may regulate GH-R/GHBP gene transcription and, second, to define a new nonradioactive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method to quantify GH-R/GHBP mRNA levels which was to compare with the RNase protection assay. Sera from patients with Laron-type dwarfism (n = 10) and adult obese patients (n = 7) containing distinct GH and GHBP concentrations were added to human hepatoma cells (HuH 7) cultured in a hormonally-adapted medium. GH-R/GHBP gene expression was studied 3 h after the addition of the sera. The results of the regulated GH-R/GHBP mRNA levels imply a direct impact of GHBP on GH-R/GHBP gene transcription under these circumstances. In conclusion, we set up a nonradioactive quantitative PCR method which enables the measurement and quantification of GH-R/GHBP mRNA. The results were identical with the data obtained using RNase protection assay. In addition, these results provide evidence that GHBP may have some effect on the regulation of the GH-R/GHBP transcription and that it is more than simply a shed or secreted product with extracellular destinations and functions. Our personal view, therefore, is that GHBP is rather an active player than an erratic extracellular domain of a receptor.

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The phenotypic characteristics of isolated growth hormone deficiency (IGHD) type IB in humans, such as autosomal recessive inheritance, time of onset of growth retardation, diminished secretion of growth hormone (GH) and IGF-I, proportional reduction in weight and size, and delay in sexual maturation, has much in common with the phenotype of the homozygous little/little (lit/lit) mouse. Sequencing of the GH releasing hormone (GHRH) receptor in lit/lit mice has shown a single nucleotide substitution within the extracellular peptide binding domain at codon 60 that changed aspartic acid to glycine. Therefore, the GHRH receptor is a reasonable candidate gene for causing IGHD in humans. DNA from 65 unrelated healthy Caucasians of normal stature and 65 children with IGHD type IB of whom 12 did not respond to exogenous treatment with GHRH were studied. Restriction endonuclease analysis, linkage studies, and polymerase chain reaction amplification and sequencing of the whole extracellular domain including the first three membrane spanning domains of the GHRH receptor gene were performed. None of the analyses revealed any structural abnormalities in these patients with IGHD. This suggests that a lit/lit mouse equivalent is an unlikely explanation for the majority of children with IGHD. Although gross structural abnormalities in the whole gene have been ruled out in this study, mutations in the carboxyl terminus are still possible, and, therefore, the remaining part of the gene needs to be sequenced.

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Recent advances in molecular biology and genetics have paved the way to a greater understanding of molecular mechanisms of human disease and, in particular, endocrine disorders. For example, new information concerning the structure and function of different receptors and intracellular signalling has allowed precise definition of the molecular defects involved in various disorders such as McCune-Albright syndrome, growth hormone insensitivity syndromes. Although these conditions might be rare, their susceptibility to analysis was due largely to availability and progress of the molecular biological methods. The aim of this review article is to introduce the language of molecular biology by means of a selected group of endocrine disorders.

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The present study explored differences between women who are currently housed but are at risk for homelessness versus homeless women in a middle-sized city in the southeast. The research focused on experiences in the women's history which might explain some differences between homeless women and women who are at risk for homelessness but are currently housed through public-assistance programs. 98 women from a community emergency shelter and public-assistance programs were either interviewed or completed questionnaires. The questionnaires assessed the women's history of mental illness, employment and housing problems, physical and sexual abuse, drug and alcohol problems, and skills for building and maintaining relationships. The women were young (18-35 years), about 80% were single mothers and about 50% had children living with them. t tests for independent samples indicated that compared to 48 at-risk housed women, the 50 homeless women reported a history of more symptoms of mental illness, more instability of employment and housing, more physical and sexual abuse, more drug and alcohol problems, and fewer skills for interacting with others. When all variables were entered simultaneously into a multiple regression equation, only skills for interacting accounted for a significant proportion of the variability between the two groups of women.

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