Breaking the Ivory Tower: Academic Entrepreneurship in the Life Sciences in UK and Germany

We examine engagement in commercial activities (consulting, patenting, and founding) among more than 2200 German and UK life scientists. We test hypotheses that include attributes of individuals, their material and social resources, and perceptions about values and reputation. We find that characteristics reflecting professional security, advantage and productivity are strong predictors for a greater breadth of participation in academic entrepreneurship, but not for all forms of technology transfer that we are able to test. For such academics, science and commerce go hand in hand, as they are best poised to straddle the boundary between industry and academy. We find strong support, however, that scientists perceive the value of patenting differently, and the level of reputational importance placed on scientific compared to commercial achievements matters in shaping commercial involvement.     

Biomarkers of inflammation and cardiac remodeling: the quest of relevant companions for the risk stratification of heart failure patients is still ongoing

Heart failure (HF) is a frequent chronic disease in elderly people and represents a major health and economic burden. The accurate diagnosis of HF and the identification of high risk patients is mandatory to select the appropriate therapy and care. HF is associated to cardiac remodeling and inflammation and to the release of neurohormones. If natriuretic peptides remain the biomarkers of choice for the diagnosis and the prognosis of HF, several biomarkers related to cardiac remodeling and inflammation are available for testing and may add valuable information for the risk estimation of HF patients and for the selection of the most appropriated therapy. Furthermore, the quest for new efficient biomarkers of cardiac remodeling and inflammation is still ongoing and new candidates have been identified for a potential use in daily clinical practices. However, before their potential translation to routine parameters several challenges ranging form the analytical validation to the cost-effectiveness estimation should be considered.     

Acrosin activity in spermatozoa of infertile Nigerian males

The objective of this study was to evaluate acrosin activity in spermatozoa of infertile Nigerian men and to compare with those of the fertile men. The acrosin activity was evaluated using the Acroscreen reagent kit. The acrosin activity of the fertile men was 40.7±5.2 mIU/10⁶ sperm (range 30.1–51.3) and those of the infertile men was 22.4±8.33 mIU/10⁶ sperm (range 5.7–39.1). The difference in the mean was statistically significant (P<0.001). There was a subpopulation of the infertile men who had their acrosin activity within normal range of the fertile men, 32.9±1.57 mIU/10⁶ sperm. But the difference in the mean was statistically significant (P<0.001). Acrosin activity decreased with increased morphological changes in the spermatozoa. It is concluded that acrosin activity in the infertile Nigerian men is significantly lower than that in the fertile men. Acrosin activity may also be affected by morphological changes in the spermatozoa.     

Place of salivary β glucuronidase activity in head & neck cancers

Salivary β-glucuronidase activity was studied in 20 healthy subjects without habits and 10 with habits, 38 untreated patients of advanced head and neck cancer and 21 patients after treatment either after surgery or radiation. Salivary β-glucuronidase activity was elevated in untreated cases of head and neck cancer (p<0.001), with a fall in the activity after treatment. The post operative fall in the activity of salivary β-glucuronidase activity was highly significant (p<0.001) as compared to post radiation. This test can be utilized in the diagnosis and also for monitoring the course of the disease.     

Hepatoprotective and Nephroprotective Effect of Curcumin Against Copper Toxicity in Rats

Curcumin is a natural anti-inflammatory and antioxidant with several potential health benefits. Although it has been examined in several metals toxicity studies, but its role in the protection against copper toxicity has not been investigated. In this study; the detoxification and antioxidant effect of curcumin were examined to determine its prophylactic/therapeutic role experimentally in rats. Forty albino rats were divided into five groups; control, CuSO₄ (4 mg/kg body weight), curcumin (80 mg/kg body weight), curcumin post-treatment (CuSO₄ for 15 days followed by curcumin for the next 15 days) and curcumin co-treatment (CuSO₄ plus curcumin for 30 days). All rats were treated orally by stomach tube for 30 days/once a day. Changes were observed in hepatic marker enzymes such as: aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transaminase-(ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), besides the serum total protein, urea and creatinine. Concentration of liver and kidney antioxidants such as: catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione-(GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured. An increased in the activities of liver marker enzymes, urea, creatinine and the MDA contents were detected after exposure to CuSO₄. Meanwhile, the activities of serum total protein, hepatic and renal antioxidants were decreased. Changes in all biochemical parameters were alleviated by the post-treatment and co-treatment of curcumin. Our finding suggests that the curcumin showed protective effects on CuSO₄-induced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity.     

Study of Common Genetic Variant S447X in Lipoprotein Lipase and Its Association with Lipids and Lipoproteins in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Elevated plasma triglyceride and non-esterified fatty acid concentrations may cause insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) is a rate-determining enzyme in lipid metabolism. A variant in the LPL gene has been identified which alters the penultimate amino acid Serine at 447 to a stop codon (S447X), and results in a truncated LPL molecule lacking the C-terminal dipeptide Ser–Gly. The present study was designed to evaluate the frequency of S447X variant in the LPL gene and its effect on the lipid and lipoprotein levels in type 2 diabetic subjects. The genotype frequency distributions of type 2 diabetes patients and controls were in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. Comparison of the genotype and allelic frequencies of S447X in subjects with type 2 diabetics compared to controls demonstrated no significant difference. In subjects with type 2 diabetics having hypertriglyceridemia (TG ≥ 150 mg/dl) compared to diabetics with TG level <150 mg/dl, significant difference in genotype frequency was found among these groups, while allelic frequency of X was significantly differed. Logistic regression analysis showed the negative association of LPL S447X variant with TG and VLDL cholesterol, while no association with total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol was found. The lipid levels except for HDL cholesterol were found to be significantly lower in carriers for S447X than wild type in diabetes group. The decreased level of TG and TG rich lipoprotein in subjects with SNP S447X in LPL, predicts anti-atherogenic activity of carriers for S447X variant in general population as well as type 2 diabetic patients.     

Circulating Thrombotic Risk Factors in Young Patients with Coronary Artery Disease Who Are on Statins and Anti-platelet Drugs

Thrombotic risk factors may contribute to premature coronary artery disease (CAD), in addition to the conventional risk factors. There is paucity of data on studies evaluating the role of thrombotic factors in premature CAD in Indian patients. Thus a case–control study was performed to evaluate the role of thrombotic and atherogenic factors in young patients with angiographically proven CAD who are on treatment with statins and anti-platelet drugs. 152 patients (≤55 years) with angiographically proven CAD and 102 asymptomatic controls were recruited. Clinical and biochemical data were obtained in both groups. Blood levels of thrombotic factors-fibrinogen, antithrombin-III, tissue-plasminogen activator (t-PA), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), von-Willebrand factor (v-WF), lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] and homocysteine were analyzed. Patients had high levels of conventional CAD risk factors (diabetes mellitus, smoking, hypertension, dyslipidemia and positive family history) compared to controls. Logistic regression analysis revealed that low antithrombin-III (odds ratio/OR 11.2; 95 % confidence interval/CI 2.29–54.01), high fibrinogen (OR 6.04; 95 % CI 1.09–33.21) and high Lp(a) (OR 4.54; 95 % CI 0.92–22.56), as important, independent risk factors in patients. PAI-1(OR 0.15; 95 % CI 0.03–0.69) levels were significantly lower in patients. But other thrombotic risk factors studied (t-PA, v-WF and homocysteine) were comparable among patients and controls. The treatment using statins and anti-platelet drugs might be contributing to the control of some of the thrombotic risk factors. The strategies aiming at lowering the levels of thrombotic risk factors along with conventional risk factors may be useful in primary and secondary prevention of CAD.     

Isolation and enrichment of low abundant particles with insulator-based dielectrophoresis

Isolation and enrichment of low-abundant particles are essential steps in many bio-analytical and clinical applications. In this work, the capability of an insulator-based dielectrophoresis (iDEP) device for the detection and stable capture of low abundant polystyrene particles and yeast cells was evaluated. Binary and tertiary mixtures of particles and cells were tested, where the low-abundant particles had concentration ratios on the order of 1:10 000 000 compared to the other particles present in the mixture. The results demonstrated successful and stable capture and enrichment of rare particles and cells (trapping efficiencies over 99%), where particles remained trapped in a stable manner for up to 4 min. A device with four reservoirs was employed for the separation and enrichment of rare particles, where the particles of interest were first selectively concentrated and then effectively directed to a side port for future collection and analysis. The present study demonstrates that simple iDEP devices have appropriate screening capacity and can be used for handling samples containing rare particles; achieving both enrichment and isolation of low-abundant particles and cells.