Early introduction of exercise prevents insulin resistance in postnatal overfed rats.

Early childhood obesity increases the risk of developing metabolic diseases. We examined the early introduction of exercise in small-litter obese-induced rats (SL) on glucose metabolism in the epididymal adipose tissue (AT) and soleus muscle (SM). On day 3 post-birth, pups were divided into groups of ten or three (SL). On day 22, rats were split into sedentary (S and SLS) and exercise (E and SLE) groups. The rats swam three times/week carrying a load for 30 min. In the first week, they swam without a load; in the 2nd week, they carried a load equivalent to 2% of their body weight; from the 3rd week to the final week, they carried a 5% body load. At 85 days of age, an insulin tolerance test was performed in some rats. At 90 days of age, rats were killed, and blood was harvested for plasma glucose, cholesterol, and triacylglycerol measurements. Mesenteric, epididymal, retroperitoneal, and brown adipose tissues were removed and weighed. SM and AT were incubated in the Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer, 5.5 mM glucose for 1 h with or without 10 mU/mL insulin. Comparison between the groups was performed by 3-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey post-hoc test. Sedentary, overfed rats had greater body mass, more visceral fat, lower lactate production, and insulin resistance. Early introduction of exercise reduced plasma cholesterol and contained the deposition of white adipose tissue and insulin resistance. In conclusion, the early introduction of exercise prevents the effects of obesity on glucose metabolism in adulthood in this rat model.

Early introduction of exercise prevents insulin resistance in postnatal overfed rats

Early childhood obesity increases the risk of developing metabolic diseases. We examined the early introduction of exercise in small-litter obese-induced rats (SL) on glucose metabolism in the epididymal adipose tissue (AT) and soleus muscle (SM). On day 3 post-birth, pups were divided into groups of ten or three (SL). On day 22, rats were split into sedentary (S and SLS) and exercise (E and SLE) groups. The rats swam three times/week carrying a load for 30 min. In the first week, they swam without a load; in the 2nd week, they carried a load equivalent to 2% of their body weight; from the 3rd week to the final week, they carried a 5% body load. At 85 days of age, an insulin tolerance test was performed in some rats. At 90 days of age, rats were killed, and blood was harvested for plasma glucose, cholesterol, and triacylglycerol measurements. Mesenteric, epididymal, retroperitoneal, and brown adipose tissues were removed and weighed. SM and AT were incubated in the Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer, 5.5 mM glucose for 1 h with or without 10 mU/mL insulin. Comparison between the groups was performed by 3-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey post-hoc test. Sedentary, overfed rats had greater body mass, more visceral fat, lower lactate production, and insulin resistance. Early introduction of exercise reduced plasma cholesterol and contained the deposition of white adipose tissue and insulin resistance. In conclusion, the early introduction of exercise prevents the effects of obesity on glucose metabolism in adulthood in this rat model.

TCTP as a therapeutic target in melanoma treatment.

BACKGROUND: Translationally controlled tumour protein (TCTP) is an antiapoptotic protein highly conserved through phylogeny. Translationally controlled tumour protein overexpression was detected in several tumour types. Silencing TCTP was shown to induce tumour reversion. There is a reciprocal repression between TCTP and P53. Sertraline interacts with TCTP and decreases its cellular levels. METHODS: We evaluate the role of TCTP in melanoma using sertraline and siRNA. Cell viability, migration, and clonogenicity were assessed in human and murine melanoma cells in vitro. Sertraline was evaluated in a murine melanoma model and was compared with dacarbazine, a major chemotherapeutic agent used in melanoma treatment. RESULTS: Inhibition of TCTP levels decreases melanoma cell viability, migration, clonogenicity, and in vivo tumour growth. Human melanoma cells treated with sertraline show diminished migration properties and capacity to form colonies. Sertraline was effective in inhibiting tumour growth in a murine melanoma model; its effect was stronger when compared with dacarbazine. CONCLUSIONS: Altogether, these results indicate that sertraline could be effective against melanoma and TCTP can be a target for melanoma therapy.

[Characteristics of patients with refractory epilepsy attended in a tertiary referral center in Costa Rica]. / Caracterizacion de los pacientes con epilepsia refractaria de un hospital de tercer nivel en Costa Rica.

INTRODUCTION: Thirty percent of patients with epilepsy have recurrent seizures, representing fifteen million people in the world. This population has been scarcely described. AIM: To characterize sociodemographic and clinically the patients diagnosed with refractory epilepsy in a tertiary referral hospital of the Costa Rican social security. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study presents an analysis of all cases of refractory epilepsy evaluated at the epilepsy unit of San Juan de Dios Hospital from August, 2012 to October, 2014. RESULTS: Clinical records of 91 patients were studied; patients with psychogenic seizures were analyzed separately. The mean age of onset was 13.1 ± 11.1 years, secondary generalized seizures were the predominant type (81.3%), the most frequent etiology was mesial temporal sclerosis (48.3%) and the majority had normal neurological exams and normal or low neuropsychological assessments. Around half (48.8%) of the patients had been medicated with a range of 4-6 antiepileptic drugs, being lamotrigine, carbamazepine, valproic acid and phenytoin the most prescribed. Treatment optimization, neurosurgery, and further analysis were standard recommendations. Sociodemographic characteristics, patient management, and antiepileptic drugs used are similar to the described in other latitudes. Differences between the age of onset and gender; seizure frequency and gender; age of onset and failed treatments and time of evolution of the disease and employment were observed. The percentage and characteristics of recurrent seizures of psychogenic nature found are comparable to other refractory epilepsy studies. CONCLUSION: Sociodemographic characteristics, management of patients, antiepileptic drugs used and the differences observed are similar to those previously described.

TITLE: Caracterizacion de los pacientes con epilepsia refractaria de un hospital de tercer nivel en Costa Rica.Introduccion. El 30% de los pacientes con epilepsia presenta convulsiones recurrentes, porcentaje que representa aproximadamente a 15 millones de personas en el mundo y constituye una poblacion escasamente descrita. Objetivo. Caracterizar sociodemografica y clinicamente la poblacion de pacientes diagnosticados con epilepsia refractaria en un hospital terciario de Costa Rica. Pacientes y metodos. Se analizan los registros medicos de los pacientes con epilepsia refractaria valorados en la unidad de epilepsia del Hospital San Juan de Dios de la Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social desde agosto de 2012 a octubre de 2014. Resultados. Se incluyen los expedientes clinicos de 91 pacientes. La edad media de inicio fue de 13,1 ± 11,1 años. Las crisis secundariamente generalizadas constituyen el tipo predominante (81,3%), la etiologia mas frecuente es la esclerosis mesial temporal (48,3%) y la mayoria de los pacientes presentaba examenes neurologicos normales y valoraciones neuro­psicologicas normales o bajas. Alrededor de la mitad (48,8%) de los pacientes habia sido medicada con un rango de 4-6 farmacos antiepilepticos, y los mas prescritos fueron lamotrigina, carbamacepina, acido valproico y fenitoina. Las principales recomendaciones en estos pacientes fueron: optimizacion de tratamiento, neurocirugia y reingreso. Se observan diferencias entre la edad de inicio y el sexo, la frecuencia de las crisis y el sexo, el tiempo de evolucion de la patologia y la cantidad de tratamientos fallidos, y el tiempo de evolucion de la enfermedad y la ocupacion. Conclusiones. Las caracteristicas sociodemograficas, el manejo de los pacientes, los farmacos antiepilepticos utilizados y las diferencias encontradas son similares a las descritas en otras latitudes.

Liver abscess as a first manifestation of colonic tumor.

INTRODUCTION: Male, 72-year-old, morbidly obese, diabetic, admitted for abdominal pain, prostration and fever that started last 3 days. Abdominal ultrasound and abdominal computed tomography scan showed liver injury in the transition of V and VI segments measuring 8.4 cm. Due to the possibility of liver abscess, initiate empirical antibiotic therapy with ampicillin and sulbactam and metronidazole and performed ultrasound-guided percutaneous drainage of liver injury. Negative for malignant cells, with the presence of leukocytes and negative culture. After 2 weeks of treatment, take control image without changing the lesion dimension. New percutaneous drainage with the same results. We opted for performing endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) with fine-needle aspiration (FNA). FNA pathology: Moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemistry suggestive of metastasis of the lower gastrointestinal tract. Due this finding, realized colonoscopy, which revealed a vegetating lesion with central ulceration, bleeding, filling almost the entire cecum. Patient was referred for surgical resection of the bowel tumor, which showed moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma infiltrating vegetative and possibly originated from villous adenoma with high-grade dysplasia. DISCUSSION: The finding of metastatic liver abscess of colonic neoplasia is not common. In most cases, the material from the abscess drainage allows the diagnosis, but in this case, even after two ultrasound-guided percutaneous drainage was not obtained conclusive bacteriological or histopathological. Opted for new puncture through EUS, which allowed definitive diagnosis of the condition. CONCLUSION: Metastatic colon neoplasm should be considered in cases of differential diagnosis of liver abscess.

Fast measurements of average flow velocity by Low-Field ¹H NMR.

In this paper, we describe a method for measuring the average flow velocity of a sample by means of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. This method is based on the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) sequence and does not require the application of any additional static or pulsed magnetic field gradients to the background magnetic field. The technique is based on analyzing the early-time behavior of the echo amplitudes of the CPMG sequence. Measurements of average flow velocity of water are presented. The experimental results show a linear relationship between the slope/y-intercept ratio of a linear fit of the first echoes in the CPMG sequence, and the average flow velocity of the flowing fluid. The proposed method can be implemented in low-cost Low-Field NMR spectrometers allowing a continuous monitoring of the average velocity of a fluid in almost real-time, even if the flow velocity changes rapidly.

Canine parvovirus infection in South American canids.

Canine parvovirus (CPV) infections occurred in 5 of 35 South American canids at the Department of Conservation (DC), a breeding facility of the National Zoological Park in Front Royal, Va. The clinical signs were anorexia, lethargy, diarrhea, and vomiting. Three of the affected canids survived and had high hemagglutination-inhibition titers to CPV in the recovery period. Necropsy of the 2 that died revealed extensive necrosis of the intestinal mucosa; CPV particles were observed by electron microscopy in the intestinal contents of both animals. Six of the 30 canids that remained healthy had high hemagglutination-inhibition titers to CPV prior to the episode of illness, indicating earlier subclinical exposure. Pet dogs belonging to DC personnel that were screened as a possible source of the infection had no evidence of disease. All canids (including pet dogs) on the DC grounds were vaccinated repeatedly with a killed feline panleukopenia virus product after the episode, with little or no effect on existing titers.