Behavioral effects of a low molecular weight peptide fraction from Phaseolus vulgaris in rats

Seminal studies stated that bean proteins are efficient neuronal tracers with affinity for brain tissue. A low molecular weight peptide fraction (<3kDa) from Phaseolus vulgaris (PV3) was previously reported to be antioxidant, non-cytotoxic, and capable of reducing reactive oxygen species and increasing nitric oxide in cells. We evaluated the effects of PV3 (5, 50, 100, 500, and 5000 µg/kg) on behavior and the molecular routes potentially involved. Acute and chronic PV3 treatments were performed before testing Wistar rats: i) in the elevated plus-maze (EPM) to assess the anxiolytic-like effect; ii) in the open field (OF) to evaluate locomotion and exploration; and iii) for depression-like behavior in forced swimming (FS). Catecholaminergic involvement was tested using the tyrosine hydroxylases (TH) enzyme inhibitor, α-methyl-DL-tyrosine (AMPT). Brain areas of chronically treated groups were dissected to assess: i) lipid peroxidation (LPO); ii) carbonylated proteins (CP); iii) superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) enzymatic activities. Neuronal nitric oxide synthases (nNOS) and argininosuccinate synthase (ASS) protein expression was evaluated by western blotting. Acute treatment with PV3 increased the frequency and time spent in the EPM open arms, suggesting anxiolysis. PV3 increased crossing episodes in the OF. These PV3 effects on anxiety and locomotion were absent in the chronically treated group. Acute and chronic PV3 treatments reduced the immobility time in the FS test, suggesting an antidepressant effect. TH inhibition by AMPT reverted acute PV3 effects. PV3 decreased LPO and CP levels and SOD and CAT activities, whereas nNOS and ASS were reduced in few brain areas. In conclusion, PV3 displayed central antioxidant actions that are concomitant to catecholaminergic-dependent anxiolytic and antidepressant effects.

A modelling study of glycolytic oscillations and electrical activity in pancreatic alpha cells / Un estudio de las oscilaciones glicolíticas y la actividad eléctrica en un modelo de célula alfa de páncreas

Abstract Pancreatic alpha and beta cells release the main hormones involved in blood glucose regulation: glucagon and insulin, respectively. Based on the observation that metabolic oscillations are related to electrical activity and, in turn, to insulin secretion in beta cells, in the present work we use a mathematical modelling approach to explore the contribution of glycolytic oscillations to electrical activity in alpha cells. Due to lack of data about metabolism in alpha cells and taking into account that pancreatic cells comes from a common progenitor, we used a previous model of pancreatic beta cells and focus on the main differences between both cell types. The main finding contrasts with beta cells since electrical activity in alpha cells could be triggered independently of glycolic oscillations. It suggests that alpha cells are stimulated by blood glucose through a different pathway, which is in agreement with the role of alpha cells during hypoglycemia.

Resumen Las células alfa y beta de páncreas secretan las dos hormonas más importantes para la regulación de la glucosa en sangre: el glucagón y la insulina, respectivamente. Dado que en células beta se ha observado la presencia de oscilaciones metabólicas relacionadas con su actividad eléctrica y, por tanto, con la secreción de insulina, en este trabajo se presenta un estudio de la posible relación entre las oscilaciones glicolíticas y la actividad eléctrica en células alfa mediante un enfoque de modelación matemática. Debido a la falta de información sobre el metabolismo en las células alfa y tomando en cuenta que las células pancreáticas provienen de un progenitor común, se utilizó un modelo previamente propuesto de células beta y se tomaron en cuenta las principales diferencias entre ambos tipos celulares para el análisis. Nuestros resultados muestran que, a diferencia de las células beta, la actividad eléctrica en células alfa puede dispararse independientemente de la presencia de oscilaciones glicolíticas, lo cual sugiere que estas células son estimuladas por la glucosa a través de una ruta metabólica diferente a la propuesta para células beta, lo cual es congruente con su papel regulador durante periodos de baja glucosa.

Classical and recent advances in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases

Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are intestinal disorders that comprise the inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). These disorders have a significant effect on the quality of life of affected patients and the increasing number of IBD cases worldwide is a growing concern. Because of the overall burden of IBD and its multifactorial etiology, efforts have been made to improve the medical management of these inflammatory conditions. The classical therapeutic strategies aim to control the exacerbated host immune response with aminosalicylates, antibiotics, corticosteroids, thiopurines, methotrexate and anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) biological agents. Although successful in the treatment of several CD or UC conditions, these drugs have limited effectiveness, and variable responses may culminate in unpredictable outcomes. The ideal therapy should reduce inflammation without inducing immunosuppression, and remains a challenge to health care personnel. Recently, a number of additional approaches to IBD therapy, such as new target molecules for biological agents and cellular therapy, have shown promising results. A deeper understanding of IBD pathogenesis and the availability of novel therapies are needed to improve therapeutic success. This review describes the overall key features of therapies currently employed in clinical practice as well as novel and future alternative IBD treatment methods.

Association among genetic predisposition, gut microbiota, and host immune response in the etiopathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is a chronic disorder that affects thousands of people around the world. These diseases are characterized by exacerbated uncontrolled intestinal inflammation that leads to poor quality of life in affected patients. Although the exact cause of IBD still remains unknown, compelling evidence suggests that the interplay among immune deregulation, environmental factors, and genetic polymorphisms contributes to the multifactorial nature of the disease. Therefore, in this review we present classical and novel findings regarding IBD etiopathogenesis. Considering the genetic causes of the diseases, alterations in about 100 genes or allelic variants, most of them in components of the immune system, have been related to IBD susceptibility. Dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota also plays a role in the initiation or perpetuation of gut inflammation, which develops under altered or impaired immune responses. In this context, unbalanced innate and especially adaptive immunity has been considered one of the major contributing factors to IBD development, with the involvement of the Th1, Th2, and Th17 effector population in addition to impaired regulatory responses in CD or UC. Finally, an understanding of the interplay among pathogenic triggers of IBD will improve knowledge about the immunological mechanisms of gut inflammation, thus providing novel tools for IBD control.

Aceitação sensorial do doce de soja

O Brasil é o segundo produtor mundial de soja e a produção em 2010 foi de 75,0 milhões de toneladas. A soja é um dos alimentos mais completos e versáteis que o homem conhece, hoje legalmente reconhecida como um alimento funcional por trazer benefícios para a saúde, além de fornecer nutrientes ao organismo.

Autopercepción de la imagen corporal en estudiantes universitarios de Chile y Panamá / Body image perception in university students from Chile and Panama

Objetivo: Determinar la concordancia entre el estado nutricional y la percepción de la imagen corporal en universitarios chilenos y panameños. Métodos: Estudio observacional transversal en 792 estudiantes de ambos sexos, de 18 a 30 años de edad de la Universidad Santo Tomás de Vina del Mar en Chile, la Universidad Autónoma de Chile y la Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnología (ULACIT) de Panamá. Se determinó el IMC real y el IMC percibido y luego éstos fueron comparados. Resultados: De 792 estudiantes evaluados, 480 eran de Chile (51,4% mujeres) y 312 de Panamá (56,7% mujeres). El IMC percibido por los chilenos fue mayor al real, en hombres y mujeres (60%); en cambio, los panameños presentan una sobreestimación menor al 50% en ambos sexos. En ambos países y para ambos sexos el porcentaje de estudiantes que se perciben igual es similar (20%). Hay concordancia diagnóstica entre el IMC y la imagen corporal en la mitad de los alumnos chilenos y en un tercio de las alumnas, pero la mejor concordancia se observó en personas con sobrepeso (69% y 90,5% respectivamente). En los panameños se observó concordancia diagnóstica de 40% en varones y 19,2% en mujeres; la mejor concordancia se observó en hombres con sobrepeso (83%). Conclusión: En los estudiantes con normopeso de ambos países existe una tendencia a sobreestimar el peso, mientras que por el contrario los obesos tienden a subestimarlo.

Objective: To determine the association between nutritional status and body image perception among university students from Chile and Panamá. Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted among 792 students of both sexes, ages 18 to 30 years, from University Santo Tomás of Viña del Mar, Chile, University Autónoma of Chile and University Latinoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnología (ULACIT) of Panama. We determined the real BMI and the perceived BMI. Afterward, the two were compared to each other. Results: In a sample of 792 students, 480 from Chile (51,4% females) and 312 from Panamá (56,7% females), the perceived BMI is higher than the real one in the Chileans, men and women (60%). Instead, in Panamá the over-estimation is less than 50% in both sexes. The percentage is the same in both countries and both sexes that perceive themselves as they really are (20%). There is concordance between BMI and body image in half of Chilean men and a third of Chilean women. However, a better concordance is observed in overweight students (69% in men, 90,5% in women). In Panamanians, there is a concordance observed of40% in men and 19,9% in women. Conclusion: There is a tendency for overestimation in normal weight students of both countries. However the obese students tended to underestimate their weight.

Tamiz de los errores innatos del metabolismo por espectrometría de masas en tándem: principales biomarcadores / Tandem mass spectrometry as screening for inborn errors of metabolism

The use of tandem mass spectrometry for the diagnosis of inborn errors of metabolism has the potential to expand the newborn screening panel to include a vast number of diseases. This technology allows the detection, in the same spot of dried blood on filter paper and during one single analytical run, of different metabolic diseases. Tandem mass spectrometry is rapidly replacing the classical screening techniques approach of one-metabolite detected per analysis per disease by its ability of simultaneous quantification of several metabolites as markers of many diseases, such as acylcarnitines and amino acids. It is clear that a single metabolite can be a biomarker for several diseases, so the multiplex approach of using tandem mass spectrometry enhances, on average, the sensitivity and specificity of the screening. However, there are differences for particular metabolites and the diseases they detect within the same method. Disorders such as the tyrosinemias and among the organic acidemias, the methylmalonic acidemias, have a substantially higher false-positive rate than other more common metabolic diseases such as medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency and phenylketonuria. Before introducing this technology into routine newborn screening programs it is necessary to consider the frequency of each disease, as well as the response to early treatment or variables related to the collection of the sample.

Protective effects of phosphodiesterase inhibitors on lung function and remodeling in a murine model of chronic asthma

The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of a novel phosphodiesterase 4 and 5 inhibitor, LASSBio596, with that of dexamethasone in a murine model of chronic asthma. Lung mechanics (airway resistance, viscoelastic pressure, and static elastance), histology, and airway and lung parenchyma remodeling (quantitative analysis of collagen and elastic fiber) were analyzed. Thirty-three BALB/c mice were randomly assigned to four groups. In the asthma group (N = 9), mice were immunized with 10 æg ovalbumin (OVA, ip) on 7 alternate days, and after day 40 they were challenged with three intratracheal instillations of 20 æg OVA at 3-day intervals. Control mice (N = 8) received saline under the same protocol. In the dexamethasone (N = 8) and LASSBio596 (N = 8) groups, the animals of the asthma group were treated with 1 mg/kg dexamethasone disodium phosphate (0.1 mL, ip) or 10 mg/kg LASSBio596 dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (0.2 mL, ip) 24 h before the first intratracheal instillation of OVA, for 8 days. Airway resistance, viscoelastic pressure and static elastance increased significantly in the asthma group (77, 56, and 76 percent, respectively) compared to the control group. The asthma group presented more intense alveolar collapse, bronchoconstriction, and eosinophil and neutrophil infiltration than the control group. Both LASSBio596 and dexamethasone inhibited the changes in lung mechanics, tissue cellularity, bronchoconstriction, as well as airway and lung parenchyma remodeling. In conclusion, LASSBio596 at a dose of 10 mg/kg effectively prevented lung mechanical and morphometrical changes and had the potential to block fibroproliferation in a BALB/c mouse model of asthma.

Reacción inflamatoria abdominal postquirúrgica: experimento aleatorio, ciego y controlado en modelo animal,Departamento de cirugia y Patología Hospital Roosevelt, Laboratorio de Cirugía Experimental Facultad de Medicina Universidad Francisco Marroquín, Guatemala / Post-surgical abdominal inflammatory reaction Randomized, blind controlled experiment in an animal model Surgical Departament and Pathology Section, Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City, Experimental Surgery Laboratory of the Medical School of Francisco Marroquín University

Introducción: la reacción inflamatoria (RI) es una secuencia compleja de acontecimientos que ocurren en los tejidos de los seres vivos luego de lesión celular. Se puede manifestar objetivamente para el cirujano mediante la presencia de hallazgos macroscópicos abdominales observados durante la cirugía (1,2,3). El objetivo del presente estudio fue evidenciar la reacción inflamatoria en el abdomen de la rata expuesta a: bilis, clips de titanio y fragmentos de gasa. Material y métodos: se realizó un modelo experimental en el Laboratorio de Cirugía de la Universidad Francisco Marroquín. Se utilizaron 100 ratas de la especie Wistar a las cuales les fueron asignadas en forma aleatoria cifras numéricas para clacificarlas así...

¿Participa la histamia mastocitaria en el reflejo periférico que modula la actividad simpática en la rata? / It participates the histamine mast cell in the outlying reflection that it modulates the nice activity in the rat?

Estudios previos realizados por Campos y colaboradores han demostrado la presencia de un reflejo periférico que modula inhibitoriamente la actividad simpática en el conducto deferente de la rata. Una modulación inhibitoria similar fue encontrada en el corazón del perro. En este reflejo periférico de asa corta parece estar involucrada una interacción entre neuronas noradrenérgicas y neuronas que contienen histamina, en el cual la histamina neural parece estar modulando la actividad simpática y la presión arterial de una manera inhibitoria. En este sentido, intervenciones quirúrgicas de la vía neuronal que contiene histamina, la cual es adyacente a los niveles simpáticos del conducto deferente de la rata, causan una facilitación local de la actividad simpática. Además, Campos y colaboradores demostraron también un incremento de la actividad de la L-histidina descarboxilasa, marcador de la neurona que contiene histamina, por estimulación de la vía simpática, e inhibición de la enzima causó una facilitación de la actividad simpática e hipertensión arterial en la rata, sugiriendo la existencia de un mecanismo generalizado modulador de la actividad simpática. Condiciones estresantes que aumentan la actividad simpática incrementan los niveles sanguíneos de histamina en la rata y en humanos, por lo que se piensa que concomitantemente con la descarga simpática hay una liberación de histamina neuronal periférica como fenómeno reflejo compensador. Teniendo en cuenta estos hallazgos, en este trabajo se procedió explorar si hay participación de la histamina mastocitaria en el reflejo periférico de autorregulación de la actividad simpática. Para ello, ratas machos Srague-dawley recibieron 0.75 mg/kg, i.p. del compuesto 48/80, diariamente por 12 días; tratamiento que produce una marcada desgranulación mastocitaria. Se determinó la presión arterial media y la frecuencia cardíaca usando un plestimógrafo de cola, encontrándose que los parámetros cardiovasculares no cambiaron ni en el curso ni al final de la desgranulación con el compuesto 48/80. De estos estudios se desprende que la histamina mastocitaria tiene un papel secundario en la regulación funcional de la actividad simpática

Melanocitoma de la papila óptica: presentación de dos casos / Melanocytoma of the optic disc: presentation of two cases

Se presentan dos casos de Melanocitoma del nervio óptico, los cuales han permanecido estacionarios en el tiempo, a pesar que en uno de ellos se practicó intervención quirúrgica

Efecto del agotamiento de la noradrenalina y la dopamina cerebrales de la rata sobre la actividad locomotriz espontánea y la estimulada por anfetamina / Effect of rat brain noradrenaline and dopamine depletion spontaneous and amphetamine induced stimulation

La destrucción de las fibras noradrenérgicas y dopaminérgicas por 6-hidroxidopamina, inyectada en la cisterna magna disminuye la actividad motora nocturna de las ratas en un 40% y bloquea en un 90%el efecto excitatorio de la anfetamina. El agotamiento selectivo de noradrenalina cerebral en más de un 70%, producido por inhibidores de la dopamina-beta-hidroxilasa (disulfiram, FLA-63), anula el efecto excitatorio de la anfetamina y además reduce la actividad motriz espontánea de las ratas, encontrándose en estos animales un contenido normal de dopamina en la corteza cerebral y el cuerpo extraído. En conclusión, estos resultados refuerzan la hipótesis que asigna a la noradrenalina el papel principal en el control de la actividad motriz de los roedores

Avaliacao do cateter de subclavia como acesso vascular para hemodialise. / Evaluation of the subclavian catheter as a vascular access for hemodialysis

Os autores relatam a experiencia de 7 meses com o uso do cateter de subclavia como acesso vascular para hemodialise. Foram realizadas 81 sessoes em 11 pacientes, utilizando-se 15 cateteres colocados segundo tecnica de Seldinger pela via subclavicular. O tempo de permanencia variou de 3 a 44 dias (media 15,4). A recirculacao media, calculada em 3 pacientes, foi 11,2% e nao houve divergencia entre as diferencas pre e pos-dialise de ureia, creatinina e acido urico, quando comparados aos valores obtidos em 3 pacientes em dialise com dupla puncao de fistula de Cimino. Nao foram observadas complicacoes na puncao, sendo a dobra do cateter responsavel pelo baixo fluxo e coagulacao em 2 casos. Registrou-se apenas 1 episodio de infeccao com hemocultura e cultura da ponta do cateter positivas