University of Aberdeen

About: University of Aberdeen is a education organization based out in Aberdeen, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Randomized controlled trial. The organization has 21174 authors who have published 49962 publications receiving 2105479 citations. The organization is also known as: Aberdeen University.

The role of microbes in rumen lipolysis and biohydrogenation and their manipulation

Abstract: Despite the fact that the ruminant diet is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), ruminant products - meat, milk and dairy - contain mainly saturated fatty acids (SFA) because of bacterial lipolysis and subsequent biohydrogenation of ingested PUFA in the rumen. The link between SFA consumption by man and coronary heart disease is well established. In contrast, ruminant products also contain fatty acids that are known to be beneficial to human health, namely conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs). The aims of research in this field have been to understand the microbial ecology of lipolysis and biohydrogenation and to find ways of manipulating ruminal microbes to increase the flow of PUFA and CLA from the rumen into meat and milk. This review describes our present understanding of the microbial ecology of ruminal lipid metabolism, including some apparently anomalous and paradoxical observations, and the status of how the metabolism may be manipulated and the possible consequential effects on other aspects of ruminal digestion. Intuitively, it may appear that inhibiting the ruminal lipase would cause more dietary PUFA to reach the mammary gland. However, lipolysis releases the non-esterified fatty acids that form the substrates for biohydrogenation, but which can, if they accumulate, inhibit the whole process. Thus, increasing lipase activity could be beneficial if the increased release of non-esterified PUFA inhibited the metabolism of CLA. Rumen ciliate protozoa do not carry out biohydrogenation, yet protozoal lipids are much more highly enriched in CLA than bacterial lipids. How could this happen if protozoa do not metabolise PUFA? The answer seems to lie in the ingestion of plant organelles, particularly chloroplasts, and the partial metabolism of the fatty acids by contaminating bacteria. Bacteria related to Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens are by far the most active and numerous biohydrogenating bacteria isolated from the rumen. But do we misunderstand the role of different bacterial species in biohydrogenation because there are uncultivated species that we need to understand and include in the analysis? Manipulation methods include dietary vegetable and fish oils and plant-derived chemicals. Their usefulness, efficacy and possible effects on fatty acid metabolism and on ruminal microorganisms and other areas of their metabolism are described, and areas of opportunity identified.

The Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder: Results from the Borderline Personality Disorder Study of Cognitive Therapy (BOSCOT) Trial

Abstract: The outcome of a randomized controlled trial of cognitive behavior therapy in addition to treatment as usual (CBT plus TAU) compared with TAU alone (TAU) in one hundred and six participants meeting diagnostic criteria for borderline personality disorder is described. We anticipated that CBT plus TAU would decrease the number of participants with in-patient psychiatric hospitalizations or accident and emergency room contact or suicidal acts over twelve months treatment and twelve months follow-up, compared with TAU. We also anticipated that CBT plus TAU would lead to improvement in a range of secondary outcomes of mental health and social functioning compared to TAU. Of the 106 participants randomized, follow-up data on 102 (96%) was obtained at two years. Those randomized to CBT were offered an average of 27 sessions over 12 months and attended on average 16 (range 0 to 35). We found that the global odds ratio of a participant in the CBT plus TAU group compared with the TAU alone group having any of the outcomes of a suicidal act, in-patient hospitalization, or accident and emergency contact in the 24 months following randomization was 0.86 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.45 to 1.66, p = 0.66). The corresponding global odds ratio, excluding accident and emergency room contact, was 0.75 (95% CI 0.37 to 1.54, p = 0.44). In terms of the number of suicidal acts, there was a significant reduction over the two years in favor of CBT plus TAU over TAU, with a mean difference of -0.91 (95% CI -1.67 to -0.15, p = 0.020). Across both treatment arms there was gradual and sustained improvement in both primary and secondary outcomes, with evidence of benefit for the addition of CBT on the positive symptom distress index at one year, and on state anxiety, dysfunctional beliefs and the quantity of suicidal acts at two year follow-up. CBT can deliver clinically important changes in relatively few clinical sessions in real clinical settings.