Allison B. Trainor

Bio: Allison B. Trainor is an academic researcher from University of Florida. The author has contributed to research in topics: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor & Population. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 98 citations.

Beyond the Brain: The Role of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Viroimmune Responses to Antiretroviral Therapy among People Living with HIV with and without Alcohol Use.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE Given the emerging data suggesting the key role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the immune system, we assessed longitudinally whether BDNF depletions induced by hazardous alcohol use (HAU) would impact a response to antiretroviral therapy (ART). METHODS In a prospective single-site cohort, virological and immunological responses to ART in 200 hazardous and 200 nonhazardous users were obtained, along with plasma BDNF levels. RESULTS Hazardous drinkers were more likely to have BDNF levels <4000 pg/mL (odds ratio [OR] = 1.6, P = .01). Participants with BDNF <4000 pg/mL were less likely to have CD4 counts of more than 500 cells/mm(3) (P = .02) and to achieve viral suppression over the follow-up period (OR = 1.5, P = .03). Multivariate analysis confirmed the significant role of HAU and low BDNF in predicting viroimmune responses. CONCLUSION Hazardous alcohol use was associated with BDNF alterations, which in turn were linked to a limited response to ART in terms of viral suppression and CD4 count improvements.

Gender differences in the association of hazardous alcohol use with hypertension in an urban cohort of people living with HIV in South Florida.

Abstract: Objective Industrialized countries are currently experiencing an epidemic of high blood pressure (HBP) extending to people living with HIV (PLWH). Given the prevalence of hazardous alcohol use (HAU), this study examines the relationship between alcohol consumption and hypertension in PLWH. Including a gender analysis is critical, given the high rates of HAU and HIV among females. Method We followed PLWH including both HAU and non-HAU (200 each). Participants were assessed twice for body weight, blood pressure, alcohol consumption, and other BP-associated lifestyle factors. High blood pressure (defined as systolic/diastolic blood pressure above 140/90 mmHg and/or treatment of HBP) was the primary outcome. Results Overall prevalence of hypertension was 38% and higher among HAU compared to non-HAU (42% vs. 34%, p = 0.02). Less than half with HBP (42%) were receiving treatment for hypertension. Overall, males had a 50% higher risk of HBP than women (odds ratio: 1.5, 95% CI: 1–2.6, p = 0.05). However among HAU, females were twice as likely to suffer HBP as their male counterparts (95% CI: 1–3.9, p = 0.02). Those HAU who preferred liquor, versus wine, had higher adjusted mean BP (132.6±18 vs. 122.3±14 mm Hg, p = 0.05). Additional analyses indicated that consumption of >1 standard drink of liquor or beer/day was associated with HBP. Risk of hypertension was noted in those with daily consumption of >3 glasses of wine. For those reporting <1 drink per day, the odds ratio of having HBP was 0.97 (CI: 0.6–0.99, p = 0.05). Factors associated with hypertension in the multivariate model included increased age, gender, BMI, HAU particularly of liquor, and smoking. Conclusions Excessive hypertension burden in this population and its association with HAU and sub-optimal care indicate the need for preventive and educational intervention in PLWH. Analyses highlight the necessity of gender and type-of-beverage specific approaches.

Extracellular matrix assembly: a multiscale deconstruction

Abstract: The biochemical and biophysical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) dictate tissue-specific cell behaviour. The molecules that are associated with the ECM of each tissue, including collagens, proteoglycans, laminins and fibronectin, and the manner in which they are assembled determine the structure and the organization of the resultant ECM. The product is a specific ECM signature that is comprised of unique compositional and topographical features that both reflect and facilitate the functional requirements of the tissue.

Netrin-1 promotes adipose tissue macrophage retention and insulin resistance in obesity

Abstract: During obesity, macrophage accumulation in adipose tissue propagates the chronic inflammation and insulin resistance associated with type 2 diabetes. The factors, however, that regulate the accrual of macrophages in adipose tissue are not well understood. Here we show that the neuroimmune guidance cue netrin-1 is highly expressed in obese but not lean adipose tissue of humans and mice, where it directs the retention of macrophages. Netrin-1, whose expression is induced in macrophages by the saturated fatty acid palmitate, acts via its receptor Unc5b to block their migration. In a mouse model of diet-induced obesity, we show that adipose tissue macrophages exhibit reduced migratory capacity, which can be restored by blocking netrin-1. Furthermore, hematopoietic deletion of Ntn1 facilitates adipose tissue macrophage emigration, reduces inflammation and improves insulin sensitivity. Collectively, these findings identify netrin-1 as a macrophage retention signal in adipose tissue during obesity that promotes chronic inflammation and insulin resistance.

Psychology of the Future: Lessons from Modern Consciousness Research

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to summarize my experiences and observations concerning the nature of the human psyche in health and disease that I have amassed during more than fifty years of research of nonordinary states of consciousness. I will focus specifically on those findings that represent a serious theoretical challenge for academic psychology and psychiatry and suggest the revisions of our current understanding of consciousness and the human psyche that would be necessary to come to terms with the new data, understand them, and explain them.

Skeletal muscle pathology in Huntington's disease

Abstract: Huntington's disease (HD) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of a polyglutamine stretch within the huntingtin protein (HTT). The neurological symptoms, that involve motor, cognitive and psychiatric disturbances, are caused by neurodegeneration that is particularly widespread in the basal ganglia and cereberal cortex. HTT is ubiquitously expressed and in recent years it has become apparent that HD patients experience a wide array of peripheral organ dysfunction including severe metabolic phenotype, weight loss, HD-related cardiomyopathy and skeletal muscle wasting. Although skeletal muscles pathology became a hallmark of HD, the mechanisms underlying muscular atrophy in this disorder are unknown. Skeletal muscles account for approximately 40% of body mass and are highly adaptive to physiological and pathological conditions that may result in muscle hypertrophy (due to increased mechanical load) or atrophy (inactivity, chronic disease states). The atrophy is caused by degeneration of myofibers and their replacement by fibrotic tissue is the major pathological feature in many genetic muscle disorders. Under normal physiological conditions the muscle function is orchestrated by a network of intrinsic hypertrophic and atrophic signals linked to the functional properties of the motor units that are likely to be imbalanced in HD. In this article, we highlight the emerging field of research with particular focus on the recent studies of the skeletal muscle pathology and the identification of new disease-modifying treatments.

The Cultural Kindling of Spiritual Experiences

Abstract: In this paper we suggest that it is important for the anthropology of Christianity and the anthropology of religion more generally to develop a comparative phenomenology of spiritual experience. Our method is to distinguish between a named phenomenon without fixed mental or bodily events (phenomena that have specific local terms but are recognized by individuals by a broad and almost indiscriminate range of physical events); bodily affordances (events of the body that happen in social settings but are only identified as religious in those social settings when they afford, or make available, an interpretation that makes sense in that setting); and striking anomalous events. We demonstrate that local cultural practices shift the pattern of spiritual experiences, even those such as sleep paralysis and out-of-body experiences that might be imagined in some ways as culture free, but that the more the spiritual experience is constrained by a specific physiology, the more the frequency of the event will be const...