Contraceptive use and sexual function: a comparison of Italian female medical students and women attending family planning services.

Objectives: The aims of the study were to understand how education relates to contraceptive choice and how sexual function can vary in relation to the use of a contraceptive method.Methods: We surveyed female medical students and women attending a family planning service (FPS) in Italy. Participants completed an online questionnaire which asked for information on sociodemographics, lifestyle, sexuality and contraceptive use and also included items of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI).Results: The questionnaire was completed by 413 women (362 students and 51 women attending the FPS) between the ages of 18 and 30 years. FSFI scores revealed a lower risk of sexual dysfunction among women in the control group who did not use oral hormonal contraception. The differences in FSFI total scores between the two study groups, when subdivided by the primary contraceptive method used, was statistically significant (p < 0.005). Women using the vaginal ring had the lowest risk of sexual dysfunction, compared with all other women, and had a positive sexual function profile. In particular, the highest FSFI domain scores were lubrication, orgasm and satisfaction, also among the control group. Expensive contraception, such as long-acting reversible contraception, was not preferred by this young population, even though such methods are more contemporary and manageable. Compared with controls, students had lower compliance with contraception and a negative attitude towards voluntary termination of pregnancy.Conclusion: Despite their scientific knowledge, Italian female medical students were found to need sexual and contraceptive assistance. A woman's sexual function responds to her awareness of her body and varies in relation to how she is guided in her contraceptive choice. Contraceptive counselling is an excellent means to improve female sexuality.

Modeling socially anhedonic syndromes: genetic and pharmacological manipulation of opioid neurotransmission in mice.

Social anhedonia, or the diminished capacity to experience pleasure and reward from social affiliation, is a major symptom of different psychiatric disorders, including some forms of infantile autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The brain opioid hypothesis of social attachment is a promising model for achieving insights into how neurobiological and developmental factors contribute to the regulation of social reward. In this study, genetic knocking-out and naltrexone (NTRX) treatment during the first 4 days of life were used to disrupt opioid neurotransmission in mouse pups and their attachment relationships with the mother. Both permanent (genetic) and transient (pharmacological) manipulations of opioid neurotransmission exerted long-term effects on social affiliation. When juveniles, both µ-opioid receptor knockout mice and NTRX-treated pups showed reduced interest in peers and no preference for socially rewarding environment. These results demonstrate that sociability in juvenile mice is highly dependent on the establishment during infancy of a positive affective relationship with their mothers and that opioid neurotransmission has a major role in the regulation of social hedonic capacity. If the validity of this animal model will be confirmed by future research, translational studies focusing on the interaction between early experience and opioid neurotransmission could provide useful insights for identifying endophenotypes of human psychiatric disorders associated with social anhedonia.

Sub-neurotoxic neonatal anoxia induces subtle behavioural changes and specific abnormalities in brain group-I metabotropic glutamate receptors in rats.

Anoxia in the first week of life can induce neuronal death in vulnerable brain regions usually associated with an impairment of cognitive function that can be detected later in life. We set-up a model of subneurotoxic anoxia based on repeated exposures to 100% nitrogen during the first 7 days of post-natal life. This mild post-natal exposure to anoxia specifically modified the behaviour of the male adult rats, which showed an attention deficit and an increase in anxiety, without any impairment in spatial learning and any detectable brain damage (magnetic resonance imaging and histological analysis). Post-anoxic rats showed a reduction in the expression of group-I metabotropic glutamate receptors (i.e. mGlu1 and mGlu5 receptors) in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex, whereas expression of the mGlu 2/3 receptors, the NR1 subunit of NMDA receptors, and the GluR1 subunit of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionate (AMPA) receptors was unchanged. mGlu1 and mGlu5 receptor signalling was also impaired in postanoxic rats, as revealed by a reduced efficacy of the agonist (1S,3R)-1-Aminocyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylic acid (1S,3R-ACPD) to stimulate polyphosphoinositide hydrolysis in hippocampal slices. We conclude that rats subjected to subneurotoxic doses of anoxia during the early post-natal life develop behavioural symptoms that are frequently encountered in the inattentive subtype of the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and that group-I mGlu receptors may be involved in the pathophysiology of these symptoms.

Eficiencia de tres fluoruros concentrados para la estabilización de caries de esmalte / Efficiency of three concentrated fluorides for the stabilization of enamel caries

El principal objetivo social de la OMS y de los gobiernos ha sido que las poblaciones estén suficientemente sanas para llevar una vida social y económicamente útil. El objetivo de esta investigación fue comparar la eficiencia para estabilizar el proceso de caries determinado por tres tipos de fluoruros tópicos concentrados: el barniz de bifluoruro de amonio (Topic Bi(R) 2,26 por ciento F- y pH 3,5), el fluoruro diamínico de plata (Fluorplat(R) 25,4 por ciento de Ag- 4,48 por ciento de F- y pH 8,6) y fluoruro de sodio (Duraphat(R) 2,26 por ciento de F- y pH 7), a fin de controlar el avance de las lesiones. Fueron incluidos en el estudio treinta y seis niñas entre 6 y 9 años de edad con alto riesgo social y caries de esmalte en dos o más cuadrantes, previa autorización parental. La eficacia del programa fue evaluada clínica y radiográficamente sesenta días y un año después de realizados los tratamientos y se determinó la significación estadística de los resultados (intervalos de confianza). Los estudios de costo-eficiencia incluyeron los costos directos e indirectos. Los resultados revelaron: (a) no existió diferencias significativas en la eficacia alcanzada por los tres tipos de tratamientos; (b) sesenta días postratamiento el fluoruro diamínico de plata alcanzó el mayor porcentaje de superficies estabilizadas (97,1 por ciento), seguido del fluoruro de sodio (88,5 por ciento) y del bifluoruro de amonio (83,3 por ciento); (c) un año después del tratamiento los resultados revelaron que el fluoruro diamínico de plata mantuvo el más alto porcentaje de estabilización de las lesiones (57,14 por ciento), seguido por el bifluoruro de amonio (55,5 por cento) y por el fluoruro de sodio (47,06 por ciento); (d) 60 días después del tratamiento la relación costo-eficacia alcanzada fue de U$S 1,08/ por lesión estabilizada para el fluoruro diamínico de plata; seguido por el bifluoruro de amonio con una relación de U$S 1,34/SE y por el fluoruro de sodio son U$S 1,74 /SE; (e) un año después del tratamiento las relaciones costo-eficacia fueron de U$S 1,77/ por lesión estabilizada para el fluoruro diamínico de plata, seguido por el bifluoruro de amonio con una relación de U$S 1,92 /SE y por el fluoruro de sodio con U$S 2,74 /SE. La relación costo-eficacia de la aplicación de fluoruros concentrados reveló que esta modalidad de tratamiento no invasivo podría ser incluida en programas de salud bucal para determinar la estabilización de caries tempranas en niños (AU)

Eficiencia de tres fluoruros concentrados para la estabilización de caries de esmalte / Efficiency of three concentrated fluorides for the stabilization of enamel caries

El principal objetivo social de la OMS y de los gobiernos ha sido que las poblaciones estén suficientemente sanas para llevar una vida social y económicamente útil. El objetivo de esta investigación fue comparar la eficiencia para estabilizar el proceso de caries determinado por tres tipos de fluoruros tópicos concentrados: el barniz de bifluoruro de amonio (Topic Bi(R) 2,26 por ciento F- y pH 3,5), el fluoruro diamínico de plata (Fluorplat(R) 25,4 por ciento de Ag- 4,48 por ciento de F- y pH 8,6) y fluoruro de sodio (Duraphat(R) 2,26 por ciento de F- y pH 7), a fin de controlar el avance de las lesiones. Fueron incluidos en el estudio treinta y seis niñas entre 6 y 9 años de edad con alto riesgo social y caries de esmalte en dos o más cuadrantes, previa autorización parental. La eficacia del programa fue evaluada clínica y radiográficamente sesenta días y un año después de realizados los tratamientos y se determinó la significación estadística de los resultados (intervalos de confianza). Los estudios de costo-eficiencia incluyeron los costos directos e indirectos. Los resultados revelaron: (a) no existió diferencias significativas en la eficacia alcanzada por los tres tipos de tratamientos; (b) sesenta días postratamiento el fluoruro diamínico de plata alcanzó el mayor porcentaje de superficies estabilizadas (97,1 por ciento), seguido del fluoruro de sodio (88,5 por ciento) y del bifluoruro de amonio (83,3 por ciento); (c) un año después del tratamiento los resultados revelaron que el fluoruro diamínico de plata mantuvo el más alto porcentaje de estabilización de las lesiones (57,14 por ciento), seguido por el bifluoruro de amonio (55,5 por cento) y por el fluoruro de sodio (47,06 por ciento); (d) 60 días después del tratamiento la relación costo-eficacia alcanzada fue de U$S 1,08/ por lesión estabilizada para el fluoruro diamínico de plata; seguido por el bifluoruro de amonio con una relación de U$S 1,34/SE y por el fluoruro de sodio son U$S 1,74 /SE; (e) un año después del tratamiento las relaciones costo-eficacia fueron de U$S 1,77/ por lesión estabilizada para el fluoruro diamínico de plata, seguido por el bifluoruro de amonio con una relación de U$S 1,92 /SE y por el fluoruro de sodio con U$S 2,74 /SE. La relación costo-eficacia de la aplicación de fluoruros concentrados reveló que esta modalidad de tratamiento no invasivo podría ser incluida en programas de salud bucal para determinar la estabilización de caries tempranas en niños

Reduced activity of hippocampal group-I metabotropic glutamate receptors in learning-prone rats.

Following the hypothesis of the "signal-to-noise" ratio we examined whether changes in the activity of group-I metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors in the hippocampus are associated with a condition that specifically enhances the learning capacity in rats. As a model, we used rats that had been nursed by mothers drinking a solution of corticosterone (13.5 mg of daily intake of corticosterone hemisuccinate) during the lactation period. These rats were prone to learn, as indicated by a better performance in a passive avoidance test. Stimulation of polyphosphoinositide (PI) hydrolysis by the mGlu receptor agonist, 1S,3R-1-amino-cyclopentan-1,3-dicarboxylic acid (1S,3R-ACPD), was attenuated in hippocampal slices prepared from corticosterone-nursed male and female rats at 30 or 60 days of postnatal life, an age at which an increased learning capacity could be demonstrated. This effect was specific because the PI response to carbamylcholine was unchanged. A reduced PI hydrolysis in corticosterone-nursed rats was also observed when group-I mGlu receptors (i.e. mGlu1 and -5 receptors) were selectively activated using 3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine or 1S,3R-APCD combined with the selective group-II mGlu receptor antagonist, 2S-2-amino-2-(1S,2S-2-carboxycyclopropan-1-yl)-3-(xanth-9-yl)propionate. Western blot analysis showed a selective reduction in the expression of mGlu1a receptor protein in the hippocampus of corticosterone-nursed rats, whereas expression of mGlu5 and mGlu2/3 receptors was unchanged. The reduction in mGlu-receptor mediated PI hydrolysis in the hippocampus may contribute to the greater learning capacity of corticosterone-nursed rats by reducing the background noise over which a specific signal must be superimposed during learning. This hypothesis was supported by the evidence that mGlu-receptor stimulated PI hydrolysis was amplified in hippocampal slices from rats subjected to a passive avoidance learning paradigm, and that this amplification was greater in slices from corticosterone-nursed rats of both sexes.

Prenatal stress and long-term consequences: implications of glucocorticoid hormones.

We have shown that prenatal restraint stress (PNRS) induces higher levels of anxiety, greater vulnerability to drugs, a phase advance in the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity and an increase in the paradoxical sleep in adult rats. These behavioral effects result from permanent modifications to the functioning of the brain, particularly in the feedback mechanisms of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis: the secretion of corticosterone is prolonged after stress and the number of the central glucocorticoid receptors is reduced. These abnormalities are associated with modifications in the synthesis and/or release of certain neurotransmitters. Dysfunction of the HPA axis is due, in part, to stress-induced maternal increase of glucocorticoids, which influences fetal brain development. Some biological abnormalities in depression can be related to those found in PNRS rats reinforcing the idea of the usefulness of PNRS rats as an appropriate animal model to study new pharmacological approaches.

Maternal corticosterone influences behavior, stress response and corticosteroid receptors in the female rat.

In infancy, glucocorticoids have been shown to affect hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity and behavior. Both the activity of the HPA axis and many aspects of behavior exhibit important gender-dependent differences physiologically. In our previous studies, male offspring of hypercorticosteronemic mothers show long-lasting changes of learning as well as adrenocortical activity. In the light of these findings, this study aims to determine the long-term effects of glucocorticoids in the early stages of life in female rats. Corticosterone (200 microg/ml) was added to the drinking water of the dams. Female offspring exhibited lower adrenocortical secretory response to stress, improvement in learning (water maze at 21, 30 and 90 days; active avoidance at 15 months) and reduced fearfulness in anxiogenic situations (dark-light test at 1 and 15 months; conditioned suppression of drinking at 3 months; plus maze at 15 months) after weaning, from 21 days up to 15 months of age, but not before. No difference in hippocampal adrenocorticoid receptors was observed. These results, together with previous data on male offspring, show that the outcomes of maternal hypercorticosteronemia on hormonal stress response and behavior are similar in males and females, but the effects on some aspects of the HPA axis activity are gender-dependent. Possible explanations for these differences are discussed.

[Cardiac involvement in food allergy. Study of cardiac activity by Holter monitoring in 12 allergic children during food challenge]. / Coinvolgimento cardiaco nell'allergia alimentare. Studio dell'attività cardiaca mediante Holter in 12 ragazzi allergici durante challenge alimentare.

The authors have based their study on recent research of cardiac anaphylaxis in vitro and studied the cardiac involvement in vivo, by Holter trace in a group of 12 children with food allergy in basal period (food allergens exclusion) and during food allergens reintroduction. In the same time the involvement of respiratory apparatus was followed by RAW's insp.esp. study. The results showed contemporaneously at the RAW's rise a mean increase of cardiac frequency of slight moment when the frequency was computed during 24 h, but evident in challenge phase. The cardiac frequency study in "late" phase of reply at the food allergens challenge showed a heavy and significant increase of cardiac frequency and extrasystole.

Women's Strength Training.

Strength training has long been considered an activity for men. But now more physicians are recommending it to women who want to keep their musculoskeletal system strong and flexible as they age.

Sunlight and Cataracts: Are Athletes at Risk?

People who spend a lot of time outdoors face an increased risk of developing cataracts, a recent study suggests. Authorities say the evidence is strong enough to warrant recommending protective lenses for outdoor athletes, especially those involved in winter sports.

Fibromyalgia: Is Exercise the Cause or the Cure?

The enigmatic condition we now call fibromyalgia has no known cause, diagnostic test, or cure. And though it never goes away completely, exercise may make it easier to live with.

Back Pain Prescription: Out of Bed and Into the Gym.

Bed rest and pain pills, the traditional remedies for back strains and sprains, don't always work. Physicians are looking at alternatives like exercise to get patients out of bed and moving again.

Tennis Shoe Dermatitis: Making a Surefire Diagnosis.

Foot rashes in athletes are often assumed to be fungal infections. But contact dermatitis caused by chemicals in tennis shoes may be the real culprit-and it's important to know how to find the real cause.

Bicycle Safety: A Balancing Act.

In an effort to reduce deaths and serious injuries among bicyclists, physicians and bicycling organizations are promoting safety skill classes. Helmets and other protective gear are considered crucial equipment.

Mickey Mantle: Still Grappling With Old Knee Injuries.

Mickey Mantle continued to play baseball for the New York Yankees despite multiple knee injuries and great pain. This article looks at the medical care he received during his playing days and his life after baseball.

Massage for Cyclists: The Winning Touch?

Although massage has been a tradition among cyclists for more than 100 years, researchers are just beginning to conduct controlled studies of its effects on performance.

Mountain Biking: Does Rough Terrain Make Rugged Riders?

All-terrain bikes are gaining ground on their streamlined counterparts, the enormously popular road bikes. But does the fact that they can handle rougher countryside increase their riders' fitness benefits or their injury risks?