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Depressed pregnant women at higher risk for severe flu

November 4, 2009

By Emily Caldwell, Research Communications

Pregnant women with significant symptoms of depression tend to have a stronger biological reaction to the seasonal flu vaccine than do women with lower depression levels, according to a new study.

The finding provides an argument in favor of flu vaccination during pregnancy, researchers say, because it suggests that the immune systems in depressed pregnant women are not functioning typically. That could affect symptom severity among women who become infected with influenza.

Previous studies have established a link between some preterm births and gestational high blood pressure cases and infection or inflammation. Avoiding the flu with a safe vaccine might be one way to lower the chances of complications, according to researchers.
An internal inflammatory response to vaccination is not uncommon — it’s an essential part of the process the immune system initiates to prepare for a successful fight against an actual infection. But it’s also expected to be a weak and brief response.

“Inflammatory responses to vaccination do no harm, are mild and typically go away within a few days. But an extended inflammatory response to vaccination, such as the one seen in women with the most depressive symptoms, isn’t expected and it serves as a way to estimate how somebody might respond to an actual infection or illness,” said Lisa Christian, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Ohio State University and lead author of the research.

Despite public health recommendations that pregnant women get seasonal flu shots, only an estimated 12 percent to 13 percent of pregnant women in the United States have done so in recent years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“It will be interesting to see how that might change this year,” said Christian, in light of CDC recommendations that pregnant women receive both seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccinations.

Christian’s study appears online and is scheduled for print publication later in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity.

She and colleagues also recently published a study in the same journal indicating that pregnant women experiencing depressive symptoms and certain stressors had higher levels of inflammatory markers in their blood than did pregnant women with lower depression and stress levels.

Though this mind-body connection is well established in people with chronic stress, Christian said few studies have examined the effects of depression and stress during pregnancy. Research has shown that pregnancy suppresses certain functions of the immune system to prevent rejection of the fetus and to protect the fetus from inflammation that accompanies fevers and other illnesses.

“Our basic starting question was, do those same relationships between depression and immune function hold during pregnancy?” said Christian, also an investigator in Ohio State’s Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research. “And these studies suggest that they do. We see immune dysregulation during pregnancy due to stress and depression.”

In the flu vaccine study, 22 pregnant women completed questionnaires about their depressive symptoms and gave blood samples before they received a seasonal influenza shot. Between six and nine days later, a second round of blood samples was collected.

Researchers assessed the women’s depressive symptoms using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, a series of 20 questions about physical, emotional and cognitive symptoms. The women were classified in three groups: Having either no or minimal depression; mild or moderate depressive symptoms; and significant depressive symptoms. A diagnosis of depression can be made only after an interview with a doctor.

The scientists analyzed the post-vaccination blood samples for the presence of macrophage migration inhibitory factor, or MIF, a protein that promotes inflammation by suppressing other substances in the blood that fight inflammation.

A week after receiving the flu shots, the women with the highest scores on the depression scale had about twice as much MIF in their blood as did women reporting minimal symptoms.

“The more depressive symptoms the women had, the more MIF they had after vaccination,” Christian said. “In the context of an actual illness, the response would be expected to be much more robust and more extended. And then we might have concerns about whether women who show an exaggerated inflammatory response would be more susceptible to complications.”

The next step will be to follow more women, for longer, to see if psychological factors during pregnancy can be linked directly to birth outcomes.

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, American Psychological Association awards, the American Psychological Foundation/Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology Scholarship Program, Ohio State’s Department of Women Studies, the Coca-Cola Critical Difference for Women Grant Program, an OSU Alumni Grant for Graduate Research and Scholarship, and Ohio State’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science (formerly the General Clinical Research Center).

Faculty, staff encouraged to register for H1N1 vaccine

The H1N1 vaccine is being dispensed to the university on a weekly basis. It is anticipated that there will be enough vaccine for all who wish to receive it, but registration is required.

A telephone-based registration system has been established, and those interested in the vaccine should call 514-H1N1 (514-4161). If using an Ohio State campus telephone, use the five-digit dialing by calling 4-4161. A BuckID or Employee ID is needed to register for the vaccine, which will be free at campus-area clinic locations. As a part of the registration process, employees will receive an e-mail notification when it is their turn to receive the vaccine.

The registration system also identifies high-risk populations who will receive first priority when initial shipments of the H1N1 vaccine arrive. The following categories have been identified as high-risk and will be inoculated first:

• Pregnant, live with or care for a child under 6 months of age.
• A healthcare worker, including health professional students.
• 17 or younger and have an underlying long-term health problem.
• 24 or younger.
• Between the ages of 25 and 64 and have an underlying long-term health problem.

The university is working to secure the H1N1 vaccine but cannot predict when it will have a sufficient supply to vaccinate anyone who wishes to receive it. H1N1 vaccines also are being distributed through public health departments, and high-risk employees may be able to receive the vaccine sooner by contacting these departments.

Visit columbuspandemicflu.org or call 211 for information about local clinics in the Columbus area. In other counties, contact the local city or county board of health (healthguideusa.org/ohio_county_health_departments.htm).

Inflammatory response could hinder spinal cord repair

November 4, 2009

By Emily Caldwell, Research Communications

The inflammatory response following a spinal cord injury appears to be set up to cause extra tissue damage instead of promoting healing, new research suggests.

Scientists analyzing this response in mice discovered that the types of cells recruited to the site of the injury are dominated within a week by those that promote inflammation. When chronic, inflammation can prevent healing, and these inflammatory cells are believed to remain at the injury site indefinitely.

Meanwhile, similar cells that are typically involved in a later phase of injury repair and that are anti-inflammatory were found to promote effective growth of axons that connect nerve cells. However, these cells disappear shortly after an injury, making it unlikely that they get a chance to complete their work under naturally occurring circumstances.

All of the responding cells in question are macrophages, but the study revealed that they have slightly different characteristics that define their functions. The research suggests that changing the balance of how these cells are activated in favor of the anti-inflammatory macrophages could be a potential treatment strategy for spinal cord injury.

Scientists have not yet discovered a way to repair nerve cells that are damaged or killed when the spinal cord is injured. An estimated 1.3 million people in the United States are living with a spinal cord injury.

“If these pro-inflammatory macrophages are a big part of the reason cells are dying, and we can figure out how to shut off that death cascade that they start, we might be able to minimize the amount of tissue damage,” said senior study author Phillip Popovich, a professor of neuroscience and molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics at Ohio State.

“If that could be achieved by injecting a drug or giving a patient a pill for a set number of days after injury, that could improve a lot of function and quality of life for people who suffer a spinal cord injury.”

The research appears in the Oct. 28 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

Popovich, also director of Ohio State’s Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Repair, has known about the presence of macrophages after spinal cord injury for a long time. What he didn’t know was exactly what they did, how they did it or whether there could be more than one function among these cells.

In this study, he and colleagues compared the spinal cords of mice with injury to the spinal cords of uninjured mice. The mouse injuries resembled the most common contusion/compression spinal cord damage in humans that occurs when a vertebral bone or a disc bumps into the cord, causing a lesion and bleeding.

The researchers used chemicals to stain the spinal cords with markers that would indicate what types of cells were active at the injury site. They named the pro-inflammatory macrophages M1 cells and anti-inflammatory macrophages M2 cells.

Immediately after the injury, the researchers observed an intermingling of M1 and M2 cells at the site of the spinal cord injury. In just a few days, all of the anti-inflammatory M2 cells had disappeared. The pro-inflammatory M1 population persisted for a month after injury — the longest period scientists have ever observed.

Once they knew how these cells were distributed at an injury site, the researchers created in vitro models in which they examined the effects of M1 and M2 macrophages on neurons, the cells that make up most of the spinal cord and brain.

The M1 macrophages killed neurons or stimulated a sprouting type of growth among their axons, which function as arms on neurons that reach out to connect with other cells or to send and receive signals. This type of sprouting of axons is associated with misguided circuits and can actually cause chronic pain.

The M2 cells, on the other hand, promoted long-distance axon growth without causing toxicity. This is the kind of axon growth required to regenerate spinal cord tissue and is the type of axon growth that is normally inhibited by proteins and cells that accumulate in the spinal cord after injury.

Researchers still must determine whether changing the balance of macrophages in an injured spinal cord to favor the activation of M2 cells would be beneficial in a human body.

Popovich conducted the work with Kristina Kigerl, John Gensel, Daniel Ankeny, Jessica Alexander and Dustin Donnelly, investigators in the Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Repair. The National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke supported this research.

Silver nanoparticles give polymer solar cells a boost

October 21, 2009

By Pam Frost Gorder

Small bits of metal may play a new role in solar power.

Researchers at Ohio State are experimenting with polymer semiconductors that absorb the sun’s energy and generate electricity. The goal: Lighter, cheaper and more-flexible solar cells. Continue reading ‘Silver nanoparticles give polymer solar cells a boost’

Expo kicks off Research Awareness Month

October 21, 2009

Over its 15-year history, the Research Expo has evolved from a small reception for new faculty held in a single conference room to what has now become an all-day event.

This year’s Expo on Nov. 3 in the Thompson Library will include exhibits and booths showcasing research support services, as well as research centers and institutes, from across the university.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of the Research Expo is the opportunity for networking. New as well as seasoned investigators may find support for their ideas and potential collaborators for projects. Robert McKenney, research assistant professor and director of Biomedical Informatics, said the Expo is an excellent tool.

“It allows both researchers and providers of research support services to interact and enhance perhaps already existing relationships,” he said. “This interaction facilitates an even stronger foundation as we at Ohio State compete for funding and work toward greater innovations. Indeed this allows us to be at the forefront of research.”

Open to the entire campus research community (faculty, staff, postdocs and students), this year’s event is expected to draw the largest and most diverse crowd to date.

To learn more about the Research Expo and other events celebrating Ohio State research, visit the Research Awareness Month Web site (research.osu.edu/ram/).

What’s happening

Research Expo Schedule
8:30 a.m.: Exhibits open.

9:30-10:30 a.m.: New Faculty meet and greet.

10-11 a.m.: Panel Discussion: New Discoveries at the Intersection of Disciplines: How to Forge Strategic Multidisciplinary Collaborations.

10-11 a.m.: Research Funding Opportunities.

11:15-11:30 a.m.: Remarks from President Gordon Gee.

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: If a Tree Falls in the Forest…The Conundrum of Science Communications, Earle Holland, assistant vice president for research communications.

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Electronic Research Tools Demonstration.

12:30-1:30 p.m.: Inventions, IP, and Industry: The Ins and Outs of Industry Collaboration and Commercialization, Jean Schelhorn, associate vice president, Technology Licensing and Commercialization, and Sharell Mikesell, associate vice president, Industry Liaison Office.

12:30-1:30 p.m.: Research Funding Opportunities.

1:30-2:30 p.m.: Electronic Research Tools Demonstration.

2-3 p.m.: Panel Discussion Tips from the Pros: Strategies for Successful Grantsmanship.

CCAPP symposium sets cosmological agenda

October 21, 2009

By Pam Frost Gorder

Researchers are trekking to the ends of the Earth to probe the furthest reaches of space.

The inaugural conference of Ohio State’s Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics (CCAPP) earlier this month hosted a reunion for some of these unique Antarctic explorers.

CCAPP Postdoctoral Fellow Michael Stamatikos — a South Pole veteran — organized the conference, called “Towards Fundamental Breakthroughs in Astrophysics and Cosmology within the Next Decade.”

Today’s top minds in astrophysics and cosmology gathered to build a consensus on such topics as what the universe is made of and how the galaxies formed.

“As we explore the cosmos throughout the next decade, we’re poised to answer some of nature’s most enigmatic questions via an unprecedented scientific synergy of ground-based and satellite detectors such as Swift, Fermi and IceCube,” Stamatikos said.

Since the participants came from many different research fields, each using different methods for studying the universe, the conference let them build common ground. It also pointed to fundamental questions that still remain.

One major question is the source of high-energy cosmic ray particles that stream through the universe.

Neutrinos may hold the key. These tiny invisible particles are traveling so fast and with such high energy that every second, untold billions of them pass right through our planet as if it wasn’t here. Do they come from exploding stars? Black holes? Collisions in the early universe? All of the above?

Researchers aim to find out. Their most advanced telescope is taking shape at the South Pole right now.

University of Wisconsin-Madison physicist Francis Halzen, principal investigator of the project, reported in his public lecture Oct. 12 that the IceCube Neutrino Observatory is more than half finished.

Since 2005, scientists including Stamatikos have traveled to the pole to plant strands of light detectors, each a kilometer long, under the ice.

When they’re done, 80 strands will dangle like branches of a giant chandelier forever frozen in place.

Over a dozen times a day, a neutrino collides with an atom of ice, creating a flash of blue light that the IceCube will detect. In fact, the detectors that are in place have already seen thousands of neutrino events, which have been consistent with an atmospheric origin thus far.

Halzen expects that IceCube will reveal astrophysical neutrinos within a few years. That is, unless a nearby star were to explode in a supernova. In that case, scientists could be sure that the flood of new particles came from a specific source.

“We would get 10 years’ worth of physics in 10 seconds,” Halzen said.

Ethan Dicks, Ohio State alumnus and information technology consultant, was on hand at the lecture. Two of his six trips to Antarctica found him assembling the IceCube detector strands and lowering them into the ice.

Deadlines for building the telescope have to be flexible, as all activity on the continent is at the mercy of the weather, Dicks explained. Stations can be shut down, with no travel in and out for days or weeks at a time.

“On Antarctica, things happen… when they happen,” Dicks said. “You get used to it.”

Know thy CEO

October 7, 2009

CEO’s home mortgage explains firm’s use of debt

By Jeff Grabmeier

If you want to know how much debt a corporation is willing to take on, take a look at the CEO’s personal finances.

A new study finds that corporations with higher levels of debt tend to have CEOs who also owe more on their own homes.

Firms whose CEOs have home mortgages have about 4 percentage points more debt than do firms whose CEOs do not take out a mortgage to finance their primary personal residences.

The results suggest that the personal attitudes of CEOs toward debt have a strong effect on their firms’ financial decisions.

“It’s not just the characteristics of the firm or the industry that determine a company’s debt choices. Our findings suggest that you have to also look at the personal characteristics of the CEO to fully explain these financial decisions,” said Anil Makhija, co-author of the study and Rismiller Professor of Finance at Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business.

While other studies have shown how a CEO’s personal characteristics shape management styles and some financial policies at a firm, Makhija said this is the first research to show how CEOs’ personal preferences can impact debt use — one of the most important financial decisions made by a firm. Past studies have ignored the personal debt preferences of CEOs in explaining the use of debt by firms.

Makhija conducted the study with Henrik Cronqvist, professor of economics and finance at Claremont McKenna College, and Scott Yonker, a graduate student at the Fisher College.

The study is available as a working paper at the Social Science Research Network, the Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics Web site, and other places.

The researchers started by looking at the CEOs of the largest U.S. firms — those leading the S&P 1,500. They then used several public data sources to collect information on the CEOs’ primary residences and mortgages.

They ended up with a sample of 1,351 CEOs. This data provided an interesting snapshot of the lifestyles of the country’s top CEOs. Results showed that the average CEO bought his or her home for $1.65 million in 2005 home price dollars. The average house was 5,180 square feet, had four bedrooms, and about 11 rooms in total.

Results showed that 67 percent of the corporate leaders used a mortgage when they purchased their home, and that they borrowed an average of 66 percent of the purchase price — only somewhat lower than the US average of 75 percent. How the CEOs financed their homes is an indicator of their tolerance for debt, a trait that is difficult to measure otherwise, Makhija said.

The researchers then compared how much debt the CEOs had on their homes with how much debt the firms they led had compiled.

They found a strong positive relationship between personal and corporate debt, even after they took into account a wide variety of factors that could affect either kind of leverage, personal or corporate.

Of course, that fact isn’t necessarily bad if corporate boards of directors are choosing CEOs because of their personal views on debt, and with the expectation that they will follow those preferences at the company.

To test that theory, the researchers also looked at what happened when firms changed CEOs. They found that firms generally hired new CEOs that were similar to their previous leaders in terms of personal preferences for debt on their homes.

But when boards did select new CEOs that had different personal views on debt than did their predecessors, the firm tended to change its own debt structure in ways consistent with the new CEO.

However, the researchers also found evidence of another explanation: CEOs were more likely to imprint their own personal views on debt of the corporations they led when the firms had weak governance, meaning that the boards did not adequately control the actions of their leader.

“When boards provide strong leadership, CEOs don’t have as much opportunity to let their personal views on debt — instead of only business reasons — impact their management of the firm,” he said. “But when the boards are weak, CEOs can push the firm in the direction of their own traits and preferences.”

Diesel exhaust linked to cancer via blood vessel growth

September 23, 2009

By Emily Caldwell, Research Communications

Scientists here are the first to demonstrate that the link between diesel fume exposure and cancer lies in the ability of diesel exhaust to induce the growth of new blood vessels that serve as a food supply for solid tumors.

The researchers found that in both healthy and diseased animals, more new blood vessels sprouted in mice exposed to diesel exhaust than did in mice exposed to clean, filtered air.

This suggests that previous illness isn’t required to make humans susceptible to the damaging effects of the exhaust.

The tiny size of diesel particles, most less than 0.1 microns in diameter, potentially enables them to penetrate the circulatory system, organs and tissues, meaning they can do damage just about anywhere in the body.

Diesel exhaust levels in the study were designed to mimic the exposure people might experience while living in urban areas and commuting in heavy traffic. The levels were lower than or similar to those typically experienced by workers who use diesel-powered equipment, who tend to work in mines, on bridges and tunnels, along railroads, at loading docks, on farms and in vehicle maintenance garages, according to the US Department of Labor.

“The message from our study is that exposure to diesel exhaust for just a short time period of two months could give even normal tissue the potential to develop a tumor,” said Qinghua Sun, senior author of the study and an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Ohio State.

“We need to raise public awareness so people give more thought to how they drive and how they live so they can pursue ways to protect themselves and improve their health. And we still have a lot of work to do to improve diesel engines so they generate fewer particles and exhaust that can be released into the ambient air.”

The research appears online and is scheduled for later print publication in the journal Toxicology Letters.

The researchers experimented with mice that resembled two conditions that could be present in a human body. In one, the scientists implanted a small platform seeded with normal endothelial cells, the cells that line blood vessels, under the skin of the mice. This was designed to mimic relatively normal conditions in human bodies for cell growth.

In the other, the researchers created an environment that would follow a significant loss of blood flow to a section of a vessel, called ischemia, in the hind limbs of the mice. This generated severe hypoxia, an area with low or no oxygen, a condition that is present in certain diseases.

Both types of mice were then exposed to either whole diesel exhaust containing particles at a concentration of about 1 milligram per cubic meter, or to filtered outdoor air, for six hours per day five days a week. The rest of the time they breathed filtered air in their cages. Effects of the exposure were measured after two weeks, five weeks and eight weeks.

Some blood vessel growth and chemical changes could be seen in the mice after two weeks of exposure, but “generally, the longer the exposure, the more effects we could see,” said Sun, also an investigator in the Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute. “It’s difficult to translate outcomes from an animal study directly to the human experience, but the bottom line is, the shorter the exposure to diesel exhaust, the better.”

The exposure to diesel exhaust caused a six-fold increase in new blood vessel formation in the ischemic hind limbs after eight weeks and a four-fold increase in vessel sprouting in the normal hind limbs of the mice in the same amount of time, compared to mice breathing filtered air.

The researchers also saw significantly more blood vessel growth in the implanted cells and in rings of tissue taken from the aortas of mice exposed to the exhaust compared to the control mice exposed to clean air.

They also observed that diesel exhaust exposure activated a chemical signal that has long been associated with new blood vessel development. The exposure also increased levels of a protein that is essential to blood vessel development when oxygen levels are low. At the same time, the presence of the exhaust lowered the activity of an enzyme that has a role in producing substances that can suppress tumor growth.

Attack ads damage support for Supreme Court

July 15, 2009

By Jeff Grabmeier

Nasty, politicized Supreme  Court nomination battles may erode public support of the high court, according to a study of public reactions to the Samuel Alito nomination process.

In a new book, researchers reveal how television advertisements during Alito’s 2005 nomination battle had a disturbing side effect: Many people who viewed those highly political ads became less supportive of the Supreme Court as an institution. Continue reading ‘Attack ads damage support for Supreme Court’

Scientists use bed bugs’ own chemistry against them

June 18, 2009

By Emily Caldwell

Scientists here have determined that combining bed bugs’ own chemical signals with a common insect control agent makes that treatment more effective at killing the bugs. Continue reading ‘Scientists use bed bugs’ own chemistry against them’

Smoking bans don’t cause job losses in bars, restaurants

June 3, 2009

by Emily Caldwell

New research suggests that exempting bars from community smoking bans makes no economic difference in terms of preserving bar employment, and that even the most comprehensive clean indoor air policies do not lead to a reduction in hospitality jobs.

Continue reading ‘Smoking bans don’t cause job losses in bars, restaurants’

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