Caracterización del acto suicida en el servicio médico legal de Concepción, Chile entre 2011-2015 / Characterization of the suicide act according to the autopsy reports released by the legal medical service of Concepción, Chile 2011-2015

INTRODUCCIÓN: El suicidio se define como el acto donde la propia persona se quita la vida intencionalmente. Actualmente es una problemática mundial y en aumento. El objetivo es caracterizar el acto suicida según los reportes de autopsias realizados por el Servicio Médico Legal (SML) Concepción, durante el periodo 2011-2015. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Se realizó un estudio retrospectivo, descriptivo y trasversal de los informes de autopsia con causa suicidio realizadas por el SML Concepción, periodo 2011-2015 utilizándose las variables: genero, edad, procedencia, lugar de ocurrencia, estado civil, ocupación, patologías asociadas, causa de muerte, alcoholemia, examen toxicológico, llegada al centro asistencial, intentos previos y carta de aviso. Los datos se analizaron y tabularon mediante Microsoft Excel. El trabajo fue aprobado por comité de ética. RESULTADOS: Del total de autopsias 511 fueron suicidios, 83,3% eran hombres, edad promedio 44,8 años, 49,9% casados, 83,6% correspondían a la provincia de Concepción, 75% ocurrió en su domicilio, 88,8% causado por asfixia por ahorcamiento, 57,3% poseían alcoholemia negativa y 67,7% examen toxicológico negativo y solo un 5,1% llego a un centro asistencial. DISCUSIÓN: Las variables más prevalentes de nuestro estudio fueron edad de 20-29 años, género masculino, estado civil soltero y ocupación en empleo técnico. El método y lugar más frecuentes fueron el ahorcamiento y el domicilio respectivamente. Se observa una prevalencia mayor de intoxicación alcohólica que en cifras internacionales. La sustancia más prevalente en los análisis toxicológicos fue la cocaína. Se necesita ampliar la investigación en nuestro medio analizando factores de riesgo y diseñando nuevas estrategias de prevención

INTRODUCTION: Suicide can be defined as the act where the person finish their life intentionally. It is currently an increasing worldwide problematic. The objective is to characterize the suicide act according to the autopsies reports performed by the Legal Medical Service (SML) Concepción, during the period 2011-2015 MATERIAL AND METHOD: We released a retrospective, descriptive and transversal study with the autopsies reports performed by the SML Concepción described as suicide, between 2011­2015. We used variables such as: gender, age, procedence, place of ocurrence, marital state, occupation, comorbidities, death cause, blood alcohol concentration, toxicological results, arrival at a care center, previus attempts and warning letter. Data was analized and tabulated using Microsoft Excel. The study was previusly approved by an ethic committee. RESULTS: From the total autopsies released, 12.6% were suicides (511), from which 83.3% were men, 49.9% were married, 83.6% were from Concepcion, 75% of the suicides occurred at home, 88.8% were asphyxiation by hanging, 57.3% had a negative result of alcohol in blood and 67.7% had a negative toxicological test, 5.1% arrived at a care center. DISCUSSION: The most prevalent variables of our study were age 20-29, male gender, single marital status and occupation in technical employment. The most frequent method and place were hanging and domicile respectively. We observed a higher prevalence of alcohol intoxication than international studies. The most prevalent substance in the toxicological analyzes was cocaine. It is necessary to expand the research in our environment by analyzing risk factors and designing new prevention strategies.

Changes in the sympathetic innervation of the gut in rotenone treated mice as possible early biomarker for Parkinson's disease.

INTRODUCTION: Involvement of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) is relatively common in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. PNS alterations appear early in the course of the disease and are responsible for some of the non-motor symptoms observed in PD patients. In previous studies, we have shown that environmental toxins can trigger the disease by acting on the enteric nervous system. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Here, we analyzed the effect of mitochondrial Complex I inhibition on sympathetic neuritis in vivo and sympathetic neurons in vitro. Combining in vivo imaging and protein expression profiling. RESULTS: we found that rotenone, a widely used mitochondrial Complex I inhibitor decreases the density of sympathetic neurites innervating the gut in vivo, while in vitro, it induces the redistribution of intracellular alpha-synuclein and neurite degeneration. Interestingly, sympathetic neurons are much more resistant to rotenone exposure than mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons. CONCLUSION: Altogether, these results suggest that enteric sympathetic denervation could be an initial pre-motor alteration in PD progression that could be used as an early biomarker of the disease.