Evaluation of the antibacterial activity of trans-anethole against Enterococcus cloacae and Enterococcus faecalis strains of food origin.

The present study sought to evaluate the antibacterial activity of trans-anethole against food-borne strains of Enterobacter cloacae and Enterococcus faecalis. The study was performed using Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC), and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) methods, in addition, disc diffusion technique was used to evaluate the association of trans-anethole with synthetic antimicrobials. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration for Adherence (MICA) testing was also performed. The results revealed that trans-anethole presents no antibacterial activity at any of the concentrations used against the E. cloacae strains tested. However, trans-anethole presented antibacterial effect against five of the six E. faecalis bacterial strains tested, with MIC values ranging from 500 µg/mL to 1000 µg/mL. Further, when analyzing the MBC results against E. faecalis, it was observed that the compound presented values ranging from 500 µg/mL to 1000 µg/mL. As for the associations, it was observed that trans-anethole when combined with the antimicrobials ampicillin, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, and ceftriaxone presented synergistic effect against most strains of E. faecalis. However, both trans-anethole and the control chlorhexidine (0.12%) presented no antibiofilm effects against strains of E. faecalis. In short, trans-anethole presented potential antibacterial against E. faecalis strains of food origin, and may upon further study, it may be used alone or in association with synthetic antimicrobials to combat infections caused by this bacterium.

Immobility reactions under threat: A contribution to human defensive cascade and PTSD.

Violence exacts a burden on public health. Gun violence is a major trigger for motor defensive reactions in humans and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is its main psychiatric sequela. However, studies of the human defensive cascade, especially the motor reactions, are at an early stage. This review focuses on studies that employ stabilometry, a methodology that assesses whole body motor reactions, to address defensive behaviors to violence-related threats. Special attention is given to three reactions: "attentive immobility", "immobility under attack" and "tonic immobility", with emphasis on the latter - a peritraumatic reaction which has been strongly associated with the severity of PTSD. These reactions are characterized by reduced body sway and bradycardia, except tonic immobility that presents robust tachycardia. The advances made by investigations into the immobility reactions of the human defensive cascade contribute to helping to bridge the gap between human and non-human species. Furthermore, progresses in basic research to objectively monitor motor defensive reactions under threat can help to develop a dimensional, trans-diagnostic approach to PTSD.

Examination of the predictive value of structural magnetic resonance scans in bipolar disorder: a pattern classification approach.

BACKGROUND: Bipolar disorder (BD) is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Patients are further disadvantaged by delays in accurate diagnosis ranging between 5 and 10 years. We applied Gaussian process classifiers (GPCs) to structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) data to evaluate the feasibility of using pattern recognition techniques for the diagnostic classification of patients with BD. METHOD: GPCs were applied to gray (GM) and white matter (WM) sMRI data derived from two independent samples of patients with BD (cohort 1: n = 26; cohort 2: n = 14). Within each cohort patients were matched on age, sex and IQ to an equal number of healthy controls. RESULTS: The diagnostic accuracy of the GPC for GM was 73% in cohort 1 and 72% in cohort 2; the sensitivity and specificity of the GM classification were respectively 69% and 77% in cohort 1 and 64% and 99% in cohort 2. The diagnostic accuracy of the GPC for WM was 69% in cohort 1 and 78% in cohort 2; the sensitivity and specificity of the WM classification were both 69% in cohort 1 and 71% and 86% respectively in cohort 2. In both samples, GM and WM clusters discriminating between patients and controls were localized within cortical and subcortical structures implicated in BD. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate the predictive value of neuroanatomical data in discriminating patients with BD from healthy individuals. The overlap between discriminative networks and regions implicated in the pathophysiology of BD supports the biological plausibility of the classifiers.

Preventing melasma recurrence: prescribing a maintenance regimen with an effective triple combination cream based on long-standing clinical severity.

BACKGROUND: The relapsing nature of melasma emphasizes the need to maintain efficacy achieved after acute treatment. OBJECTIVE: To compare clinical efficacy and safety of two 6-month Triple Combination (TC; containing fluocinolone acetonide, hydroquinone and tretinoin) maintenance regimens in subjects with moderate to severe melasma, after daily treatment up to 8 weeks. METHODS: This randomized, investigator-blinded, controlled study had a maintenance phase of 6 months. Sixteen centres in Brazil and Mexico enrolled 242 subjects 18 years or older attaining no or mild melasma after 8 weeks of daily TC applications. Subjects were randomized to receive TC in a twice weekly or tapering regimen [3/week (1st month), 2/week (2nd month), 1/week (4th month)]. Efficacy and safety measurements included median time to relapse and relapse-free rate, Global Severity Score, Melasma Area and Severity Index score (MASI), subject's assessment, quality of life questionnaire (MelasQol), and adverse events. RESULTS: The majority (78.8%) had no or mild melasma (GSS ≤ 1) at week 8 and entered maintenance phase. After 6 months, 53% of patients remained relapse-free with improved quality of life, and time to relapse was similar between groups (about 190 days). Melasma severity at study entry, not maintenance baseline, influenced relapse rate. The twice weekly regimen tended to show better effectiveness in postponing relapse in severe melasma. Both regimens were safe. CONCLUSIONS: After resolution of melasma with TC, maintenance therapy over 6 months was successful in preventing relapse in over half of the patients who entered maintenance phase. Prescribing medicines should be adapted to patients based on melasma severity.

Individualized prediction of illness course at the first psychotic episode: a support vector machine MRI study.

BACKGROUND: To date, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has made little impact on the diagnosis and monitoring of psychoses in individual patients. In this study, we used a support vector machine (SVM) whole-brain classification approach to predict future illness course at the individual level from MRI data obtained at the first psychotic episode. METHOD: One hundred patients at their first psychotic episode and 91 healthy controls had an MRI scan. Patients were re-evaluated 6.2 years (s.d.=2.3) later, and were classified as having a continuous, episodic or intermediate illness course. Twenty-eight subjects with a continuous course were compared with 28 patients with an episodic course and with 28 healthy controls. We trained each SVM classifier independently for the following contrasts: continuous versus episodic, continuous versus healthy controls, and episodic versus healthy controls. RESULTS: At baseline, patients with a continuous course were already distinguishable, with significance above chance level, from both patients with an episodic course (p=0.004, sensitivity=71, specificity=68) and healthy individuals (p=0.01, sensitivity=71, specificity=61). Patients with an episodic course could not be distinguished from healthy individuals. When patients with an intermediate outcome were classified according to the discriminating pattern episodic versus continuous, 74% of those who did not develop other episodes were classified as episodic, and 65% of those who did develop further episodes were classified as continuous (p=0.035). CONCLUSIONS: We provide preliminary evidence of MRI application in the individualized prediction of future illness course, using a simple and automated SVM pipeline. When replicated and validated in larger groups, this could enable targeted clinical decisions based on imaging data.

Architectonic subdivisions of the amygdalar complex of a primitive marsupial (Didelphis aurita).

The architecture of the amygdaloid complex of a marsupial, the opossum Didelphis aurita, was analyzed using classical stains like Nissl staining and myelin (Gallyas) staining, and enzyme histochemistry for acetylcholinesterase and NADPH-diaphorase. Most of the subdivisions of the amygdaloid complex described in eutherian mammals were identified in the opossum brain. NADPH-diaphorase revealed reactivity in the neuropil of nearly all amygdaloid subdivisions with different intensities, allowing the identification of the medial and lateral subdivisions of the cortical posterior nucleus and the lateral subdivision of the lateral nucleus. The lateral, central, basolateral and basomedial nuclei exhibited acetylcholinesterase positivity, which provided a useful chemoarchitectural criterion for the identification of the anterior basolateral nucleus. Myelin stain allowed the identification of the medial subdivision of the lateral nucleus, and resulted in intense staining of the medial subdivisions of the central nucleus. The medial, posterior, and cortical nuclei, as well as the amygdalopiriform area did not exhibit positivity for myelin staining. On the basis of cyto- and chemoarchitectural criteria, the present study highlights that the opossum amygdaloid complex shares similarities with that of other species, thus supporting the idea that the organization of the amygdala is part of a basic plan conserved through mammalian evolution.

Validation of a melasma quality of life questionnaire for Brazilian Portuguese language: the MelasQoL-BP study and improvement of QoL of melasma patients after triple combination therapy.

BACKGROUND: Pigmentation disorders, such as melasma, greatly influence the quality of life (QoL) of affected individuals who usually consider the disorder to be more severe than the objective clinical scores. Several instruments have been successfully developed to evaluate QoL. However, they must be adapted to the target population in terms of language and cultural diversity. The first, specific QoL questionnaire for melasma (MelasQoL) was developed for English speaking patients. OBJECTIVES: To validate the Brazilian Portuguese version of the MelasQoL evaluation questionnaire for patients with melasma (MelasQoL-BP) and to assess the impact of treatment with a triple combination cream (hydroquinone, fluocinolone acetonide and tretinoin) on the QoL of patients with moderate-to-severe melasma. METHODS AND RESULTS: Three hundred individuals from the five Brazilian geographic regions took part in this multicentre study. Their mean age was 42 years and skin phototype distribution was: type II 7.0% of patients, III 23.7%, IV 42.7% and V 22.7%. Melasma Area and Severity Index (MASI), MelasQoL-BP and the short version of the QoL assessment instrument from the World Health Organization (WHOQOL-BREF) were used to assess melasma severity and QoL at baseline. MelasQoL-BP was previously translated and culturally adapted from the English version, with participation of the authors and according to the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO). From the original sample, we randomized150 volunteers to treat melasma and repeated the evaluation after 8 weeks. The analysis of the MelasQoL-BP baseline answers demonstrated an important impact of the disease on skin appearance (65% of patients were bothered all the time or most of the time), frustration (55%), embarrassment (57%) and influence of the disease on interpersonal relationships (42%). Forty-three per cent of patients felt not attractive or even dirty due to their skin condition. MelasQoL-BP results showed significant internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient 0.919; P < 0.001) and good correlation with MASI scores. After treatment, the global assessment showed good or excellent results in 91.4% of the patients. The clinical outcome was not associated with the initial MASI score (P = 0.814; chi-square), skin colour (P = 0.449; probability ratio) or skin pigmentation (P = 0.814; chi-square). There was also a significant reduction on MelasQoL-BP scores (Wilcoxon test; P < 0.001) after treatment, with the mean +/- SD results shifting from 44.4 +/- 14.9 at baseline to 24.3 +/- 15.5 after treatment. The analysis of the MelasQoL-BP before and after treatment showed an important effect of the impact of treatment on a number of QoL measures. Of note, skin appearance (69.8 vs. 10.1% of patients were bothered all the time or most of the time, respectively), frustration (59.7% vs. 12.2%, respectively), embarrassment (56% vs. 9.3%, respectively) and influence of the disease on interpersonal relationships (35.3% vs. 5.8%, respectively) were greatly improved. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that MelasQoL-BP is a valid instrument and can be used to evaluate the quality of life and response to melasma treatment in Brazilian patients. The triple combination treatment produced significant results, regarding both clinical severity and quality of life.

[Prevalence of schistosomiasis mansoni and parasitic intestinal diseases among students of the rural area of the Municipality of Jaboticatubas, MG, 1992-1993]. / Prevalência da esquistossomose mansoni e de parasitoses intestinais em escolares da área rural do Município de Jaboticatubas, MG, 1992-1993.

Students from a Rural Boarding house of UFMG School of Medicine performed a survey of prevalence of schistosomiasis mansoni and other intestinal parasites in 20 rural schools in Jaboticatubas, MG. An evaluation of house and sanitation conditions was made and stool parasitological examinations were realised in all school children. It was noticed that 15.43% of the children presented S. mansoni's ova in stool--that was the most prevalent parasite. From the examinations we verify 13.76% positive cases for G. lamblia; 12.89% for S. stercoralis; 11.13% for A. lumbricoides; 9.96% for hookworms; 9.57% for E. histolytica. The other parasites appeared with lower prevalence. All the children that presented parasite's ova in stool received treatment. The result that was found shows that schistosomiasis mansoni is a very serious problem of public health and basic sanitation actions are necessary to the endemic control.