Embriopatía por isotretinoína: Un daño evitable / Isotretinoin embryophaty: Report of one case

Retinoic acid is a widely used drug in the treatment of cystic acné. It has teratogenic effects that depend on the gestational period in which it is used. We report a seven months of female whose mother was exposed to retinoic acid in both pregestational and gestational periods. She had a retardation of psychomotor development and a brain MRI showed frontal atrophy and a malformation of the posterior fossa. We discuss the mechanisms ofthe teratogenic effeets of retinoic acid.

Neuropsychological dysfunction related to earlier occupational exposure to mercury vapor

We assessed the neuropsychological test performances of 26 patients (mean age = 41.5 ± 6.1 years; mean years of education = 9.8 ± 1.8; 20 males) diagnosed with chronic occupational mercurialism who were former workers at a fluorescent lamp factory. They had been exposed to elemental mercury for an average of 10.2 ± 3.8 years and had been away from this work for 6 ± 4.7 years. Mean urinary mercury concentrations 1 year after cessation of work were 1.8 ± 0.9 æg/g creatinine. Twenty control subjects matched for age, gender, and education (18 males) were used for comparison. Neuropsychological assessment included attention, inhibitory control, verbal and visual memory, verbal fluency, manual dexterity, visual-spatial function, executive function, and semantic knowledge tests. The Beck Depression Inventory and the State and Trait Inventory were used to assess depression and anxiety symptoms, respectively. The raw score for the group exposed to mercury indicated slower information processing speed, inferior performance in psychomotor speed, verbal spontaneous recall memory, and manual dexterity of the dominant hand and non-dominant hand (P < 0.05). In addition, the patients showed increased depression and anxiety symptoms (P < 0.001). A statistically significant correlation (Pearson) was demonstrable between mean urinary mercury and anxiety trait (r = 0.75, P = 0.03). The neuropsychological performances of the former workers suggest that occupational exposure to elemental mercury has long-term effects on information processing and psychomotor function, with increased depression and anxiety also possibly reflecting the psychosocial context.

Estudo das alteraçöes psicomotoras produzidas pela Scutia buxifolia (Reiss) em camundongos / Psychomotor changes induced by scutia buxifolia (Reiss) in mice

O estudo, a seguir, tem a finalidade de verificar possíveis alteraçöes psicomotoras de camundongos, mediante aplicaçäo do extrato bruto da Scutia buxifolia (Reiss). Foram utilizados 78 camundongos, colocados sempre em grupos de 3 animais no actógrafo, para registro da atividade motora. Os registros obtidos foram relacionados às atividades normais e após as administraçöes oral e intraperitoneal do extrato aquoso bruto da Scutia buxifolia (Reiss). Observou-se que as alteraçöes depressivas mais significantes ocorreram a partir da administraçäo intraperitoneal da droga

Evaluación de funciones psicomotoras en trabajadores expuestos habitualmente a plaguicidas / Evaluation of psychomotor functions in workers currently exposed to pesticides

La psicotoxicidad estudia las alteraciones, inclusive precoces, en los sujetos expuestos a sustancias tóxicas, como el caso de los plaguicidas organofosforados y carbamatos, de marcado efecto neurótico. En la siguiente experiencia a 36 sujetos expuestos a plaguicidas, seleccionados por tener normales los niveles de colinesterasa en sangre y no presentar alteraciones neurológicas ni psiquiátricas, y por otras variables propias de la individualidad, se les aplicó las pruebas de Bender y de destreza, así como una encuesta sobre la sintomatología subjetiva señalada por diferentes autores como el inicio de una intoxicación crónica por agentes neurotóxicos. Los resultados obtenidos se compararon con los de un grupo de características similares, pero no expuestos. Las pruebas psicológicas utilizadas se mostraron eficaces para detectar alteraciones psicomotoras en los sujetos expuestos, aun teniendo éstos niveles niveles normales de colinesterasa en sangre, con exámenes cliniconeurológicos negativos. Se demostró además que existe una relación entre estas alteraciones psicomotoras y el tiempo de exposición