Association between poor tolerability of antidepressant treatment and brain functional activation in youth at risk for bipolar disorder

Objective: To investigate whether poor antidepressant tolerability is associated with functional brain changes in children and adolescents of parents with bipolar I disorder (at-risk youth). Methods: Seventy-three at-risk youth (ages 9-20 years old) who participated in a prospective study and had an available baseline functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan were included. Research records were reviewed for the incidence of adverse reactions related to antidepressant exposure during follow-up. The sample was divided among at-risk youth without antidepressant exposure (n=21), at-risk youth with antidepressant exposure and no adverse reaction (n=12), at-risk youth with antidepressant-related adverse reaction (n=21), and healthy controls (n=20). The fMRI task was a continuous performance test with emotional distracters. Region-of-interest mean activation in brain areas of the fronto-limbic emotional circuit was compared among groups. Results: Right amygdala activation in response to emotional distracters significantly differed among groups (F3,66 = 3.1, p = 0.03). At-risk youth with an antidepressant-related adverse reaction had the lowest amygdala activation, while at-risk youth without antidepressant exposure had the highest activation (p = 0.004). Conclusions: Decreased right amygdala activation in response to emotional distracters is associated with experiencing an antidepressant-related adverse reaction in at-risk youth. Further studies to determine whether amygdala activation is a useful biomarker for antidepressant-related adverse events are needed.

Amplification of the CHD1 Gene for Molecular Sexing of Birds using Touchdown-PCR

Birds are a vertebrated group with great ecological importance, it is estimated that 13% of species in the world are at risk of survival. Molecular monitory is an indispensable tool for wild populations conservation. CHD1 gene amplification through PCR has been commonly used for such purpose, however, it is essential to evaluate the primer set CHD1F/CHD1R applicability in a great diversity of species. Individuals from 11 different species of the Galliformes order were sexed, with the use of a touchdown PCR, the amplification products were observed in a 3% agarose gel, male specimens presented a single band corresponding to the CHD1-Z gene, while female specimens presented two bands corresponding to CHD1-Z and CHD1-W genes. The CHD1F/CHD1R primer set, with the use of a touchdown PCR, allowed the differentiation between two highly homologous genes and was efficient in sexing 11 selected species from the Galliformes order belonging to “El Nido” aviary.