Deep inspirations modulate airway caliber and airway closure and their effects are impaired in asthma. The association between asthma and obesity raises the question whether the deep inspiration (DI) effect is also impaired in the latter condition. We assessed the DI effects in obese and nonobese nonasthmatics. Thirty-six subjects (17 obese, 19 nonobese) underwent routine methacholine (Mch) cha...

Using a genomics-based approach for screening orphan G-protein-coupled receptors, we have identified and cloned a novel high-affinity, melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) receptor. This receptor, named S643b, displays the greatest overall identity (32%) with the previously reported human SLC-1 receptor (MCH1) and to a lesser extent with the somatostatin receptor subtypes. The gene encoding the ...

BACKGROUND It has recently been reported that acetaldehyde induces bronchoconstriction indirectly via histamine release. However, no study has been performed to assess whether acetaldehyde worsens bronchial responsiveness in asthmatic subjects so this hypothesis was tested. METHODS Methacholine provocation was performed on three occasions: (1) after pretreatment with oral placebo and inhaled ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate cutaneous vasodilation and sweating responses to exogenous administration of acetylcholine (ACh) and methacholine (MCh), which have different sensitivities to endogenous cholinesterase. Four intradermal microdialysis probes were placed in dorsal forearm skin: two sites were perfused with ACh (1 x 10(-7)-1 M) and the other two with the same molar concentrati...

1777 Critical Topics Forum—Blouin and Siegel We thank the editor1 and commentators2-5 for their kind remarks on our human microdialysis paper6 and for integrating the results of all three papers.6-8 Our findings in the human are quite compatible with Konadhode et al.7 They found that optogenetic activation of MCH neurons decreased sleep onset latency and increased total sleep time. We see a gre...

Obesity is a chronic disorder in which there is an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure. According to a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report, more than one billion of adults in world population are overweight, and 200 million of these individuals are clinically obese. Moreover, obesity has emerged as a major risk factor for several associated diseases including type 2 diabet...

BACKGROUND Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), an evolutionarily conserved appetite-regulating neuropeptide, has been recently implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Expression of MCH is upregulated in inflamed intestinal mucosa in humans with colitis and MCH-deficient mice treated with trinitrobenzene-sulfonic acid (TNBS) develop an attenuated form of colitis comp...

Airway smooth muscle constriction induced by cholinergic agonists such as methacholine (MCh), which is typically increased in asthmatic patients, is regulated mainly by muscle muscarinic M3 receptors and negatively by vagal muscarinic M2 receptors. Here we evaluated basal (intrinsic) and allergen-induced (extrinsic) airway responses to MCh. We used two mouse lines selected to respond maximally ...

Mice lacking either bombesin receptor subtype (BRS)-3 or gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRP-R) exhibit feeding abnormalities. However, it is unclear how these receptors are associated with feeding regulation. In BRS-3-deficient mice, we found hyperphagia, subsequent hyperleptinemia, and brain leptin resistance that occurred after the onset of obesity. To explore the cause of this phenomeno...

This article reports on survey research (N = 1,418) aimed at examining whether parental expectations of maternal and child health (MCH) services are influenced by group characteristics (e.g., socioeconomic status [SES], ethnicity, at risk of poverty) and/or individual parenting context variables (e.g., received social support) in a context where these services are available to all. The findings...