Recognizing, normalizing and articulating: An approach to highlight plural values of water ecosystem services in Colombia.

The dialectical relationship between ecosystems and society is complex; therefore, holistic approaches are required to address this complexity. This view also stands out in the ecosystem services valuation field, where different scholars and global platforms have drawn attention to the need to incorporate plural valuation initiatives at decision-making. In this sense, through a comprehensive design, we conducted a multi-layered valuation of ecosystem services, and we highlighted multiple values in two areas of the province of Caldas, Colombia. We proposed a three-phase valuation process called Recognizing, Normalizing and Articulating values. Then, in cooperation with the regional environmental authority, we obtained different water-related ecosystem services values. Our results showed some warnings: first, we found mismatches between ecosystem services values; second, people assigned high values to ecosystems but the actual capacity of ecosystems to support ES is low. Finally, monetary values were marginal compared to social and ecological values. We conclude by saying that the more strata are assessed, the more values appear in the valuation scenarios, and those values could be conflicting. Our results have political implications, since they highlight the need to incorporate plural values as a fundamental tool for planning and land use in real scenarios where conflicts of interest and values are evident.

TPEN exerts selective anti-leukemic efficacy in ex vivo drug-resistant childhood acute leukemia.

Despite some advances in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic (ALL) and myeloid leukemia (AML) in recent years, there is still a prominent percentage of pediatric patients with a reduced overall prognosis. Therefore, other therapeutic approaches are needed to treat those patients. In the present study, we report that the metal chelator TPEN affected ΔΨm and DNA content in isolated CD34+ refractory cells from bone marrow ALL (n = 7; B-cell, n = 4; T-cell, n = 3) and AML (n = 3) pediatric patients. Furthermore, TPEN induced oxidation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) sensor protein DJ-1, induced up-regulation of BH3-only pro-apoptotic protein PUMA, transcription factor p53 and activated the executor protease CASPASE-3 as apoptosis markers, and reduced the reactivity of the cellular proliferating marker Ki-67 in all acute leukemic groups, and reduced the phosphorylation of c-ABL protein signal in an AML case. Remarkably, bone marrow cells from non-leukemic patients' cells (n = 2) displayed neither loss of ΔΨm nor loss of DNA content when exposed to TPEN. We conclude that TPEN selectively induces apoptosis in acute leukemic cells via reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling mechanism. Understanding the pathways of TPEN-induced cell death may provide insight into more effective therapeutic ROS-inducing anticancer agents.

Análisis de la utilización de estrategias de producción más limpia y adaptación de un sistema de indicadores de manejo ambiental en las empresas del clúster textil confecciones del Tolima / Analysis of the use of cleaner production strategies and adaptation of an environmental management indicators system in the enterprises of the textile dressmaking cluster of Tolima

La investigación tuvo como objetivo principal analizar la utilización de estrategias de producción más limpia así como realizar una adaptación de un sistema de indicadores ambientales en las empresas del Clúster Textil Confecciones del Tolima Colombia. La metodología utilizada fue de tipo descriptivo cuantitativo, la población total de objeto de estudio fue de 135 empresas más cuatro que se dedican a la tintorería y estampado y, después del análisis estadístico, se trabajó con una muestra de 91 empresas, en el procedimiento se realizaron encuestas para conocer cómo se ha abordado la producción más limpia en cada empresa y se adaptó un sistema de indicadores a través de una escala de valoración que permitiera a través de redegramas conocer el estado de la empresa frente al conocimiento de la producción más limpia, manejo de residuos sólidos, manejo de recurso agua, manejo del aire y nivel de integración del sistema. Como principales conclusiones se tuvo que se desconoce por parte de las empresas que hicieron parte del estudio, los conceptos y la importancia de la producción limpia en sus lugares de trabajo y por otro lado el porcentaje de utilización de agua es muy baja en los procesos industriales encontrados dentro de las empresas analizadas.

The main objective of the research was to analyze the use of cleaner production strategies as well as the adaptation of an environmental management indicators system in enterprises of the Textile Dressmaking Cluster of Tolima, Colombia. The methodology used was quantitative descriptive and the total target population was 135 enterprises plus four businesses engaged in dry cleaning and printing and, after the statistical analysis, a sample of 91 companies was worked with. In the process, surveys were conducted to know how the cleaner production has been addressed in each company and a system of indicators was adapted through a rating scale that allowed, through a network type pictogram, knowing the status of the company against the knowledge of cleaner production, solid waste management, management of water resources, air management and level of the integration system. The main conclusions were that the concepts and the importance of clean production in their workplaces are unknown by the companies that were part of the study, and, on the other hand, the percentage of water use is very low in industrial processes found within the companies analyzed.

ESTUDIO DE LOS INSTRUMENTOS NORMATIVOS DE ORDENAMIENTO AMBIENTAL DEL MUNICIPIO DE TURBO (ANTIOQUIA), EN EL MARCO DE LAS POLÍTICAS DE ORDENAMIENTO AMBIENTAL DE COLOMBIA / STUDY OF REGULATORY INSTRUMENTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF Turbo (Antioquia), UNDER THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT POLICIES OF COLOMBIA

El municipio de Turbo (Antioquia, Colombia) cuenta con una gran riqueza ecosistémica, y asociado a esto y a las políticas y normativas nacionales, las autoridades ambientales han construido diferentes instrumentos de ordenamiento ambiental, formulados con distintos marcos de política de ordenamiento con disímiles metodologías (escalas cartográficas, normatividad y enfoques metodológicos), lo que ha causado incertidumbre sobre la articulación, complementariedad, armonización e integralidad de los instrumentos, en los ámbitos territorial, de la protección de los ecosistemas y de la promoción del desarrollo sostenible. Este artículo hace parte de uno de los resultados de investigación de un trabajo de grado de Maestría, cuyo objetivo fue analizar cómo los instrumentos de ordenamiento ambiental en el contexto territorial (físico-espacial), se cruzan y se afectan positiva o negativamente a partir de las políticas y normativas de ordenamiento ambiental y cómo dichas políticas inciden sobre el ordenamiento de los ecosistemas del municipio de Turbo. Metodológicamente el proyecto se desarrolla bajo un enfoque mixto, abordando ocho instrumentos de ordenamiento ambiental, utilizando técnicas como fichas resumen, reuniones con expertos utilizando la técnica de Delphi y la escala de Likert para la aplicación de la encuesta, igualmente se utilizaron los sistemas de información geográfica con el fin de realizar los análisis espaciales, y se elaboró un instrumento comparativo que permitiera generar el análisis. El resultado principal que se muestra en este artículo es un análisis del papel que han jugado las autoridades ambientales nacionales y regionales en la articulación de los instrumentos de ordenamiento ambiental municipal; y como principal conclusión se obtuvo que las principales falencias de los instrumentos de ordenamiento ambiental del municipio de Turbo, tienen su génesis en la forma de abordaje de la planificación y formulación de política pública ambiental desde las autoridades ambientales, así como de dictar regulaciones, donde a nivel del SINA no existe unidad conceptual, de escala ni de enfoque en el diseño y orientación de la política pública ambiental en su relación con el territorio, lo que evidencia grietas conceptuales y formas diversas desarticuladas de planificación del desarrollo y del quehacer de lo ambiental.

The municipality of Turbo (Antioquia, Colombia) has a great ecosystemic richness and associated with this, and the national policies and regulations, environmental authorities have built various instruments for environmental management, formulated with different policy framework systems with dissimilar methodologies (map scales, normative and methodological approaches), which has caused uncertainty about the articulation, complementarity, harmonization and comprehensiveness of the instruments in the territorial, protection of ecosystems and sustainable development promotion fields. This article is part of one of the results of a Master's degree requirement research project aimed at analyzing how the environmental management instruments in the territorial context (physical-spatial) intersect and affect each other positively or negatively from the environmental management policies and regulations and how these policies have an impact on the ecosystems in the Municipality of Turbo, Antioquia. Methodologically the project was developed under a mixed approach, addressing eight instruments for environmental management and using techniques such as summary cards, meetings with experts using the Delphi technique and Likert's scale for the application of the survey. Also the geographic information systems were used to perform spatial analysis and a comparative instrument to generate the analysis was developed. The main result shown in this article is an analysis of the role played by national and regional environmental authorities in articulating municipal environmental management instruments. The main conclusion obtained was that the focal shortcomings of the instruments of environmental management in the municipality of Turbo, have their origin in the way planning and formulation of environmental public policy is approached from environmental authorities, as well as in issuing regulations since at SINA level there is no conceptual unity of the scale or approach on the design and orientation of public environmental policy in relation to the territory, which shows conceptual cracks and various disjointed forms for development planning and of the environmental scope.

VALORACIÓN Y ANÁLISIS DE INDICADORES DE SOSTENIBILIDAD EN SEIS UNIDADES DE PRODUCCIÓN AGROPECUARIA DE LA CUENCA MEDIA DEL RÍO CHINCHINÁ / ASSESSMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS ANALYSIS OF SIX AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION UNITS IN THE MIDDLE BASIN OF THE CHINCHINÁ RIVER

En la cuenca media del río Chinchiná se seleccionaron seis unidades de producción agropecuaria con aplicación de estrategias de producción más limpia, con el fin de conocer el nivel de sostenibilidad para cada una, adaptando la metodología de indicadores de sostenibilidad propuesta por ASPROINCA (Arango, 2003). Las variables medidas fueron: seguridad alimentaria, mercado, dependencia de insumos externos, mano de obra, conservación de agua, de suelo y de bosque, nivel de complejidad del sistema, nivel de reciclaje, nivel de integración de subsistemas, compromiso familiar, formas organizativas de trabajo y valores ambientales. El gráfico tipo redegrama generado por el ejercicio de valoración y análisis de dichos indicadores, le permite al propietario del predio reconocer las debilidades y fortalezas de su unidad productiva respecto a temas económicos, ecológicos y socioculturales, identificando puntos críticos para la priorización de actividades de sostenibilidad. Los resultados demuestran que cada unidad productiva tiene aspectos particulares respecto al uso de recursos. Los aspectos que afectan actualmente la sostenibilidad de los predios estudiados fueron la alta dependencia de insumos externos y la baja competitividad en los mercados. Los valores ambientales y la conservación de recursos naturales, agua, suelo y bosque, son factores positivos característicos de las unidades productivas que participaron en el proyecto.

Six agricultural production units applying cleaner production strategies were selected in the middle basin of the Chinchina river (Caldas, Colombia), in order to establish each unit sustainability level, adapting the sustainability indicators methodology proposed by ASPROINCA (Arango, 2003). The measured variables were: food security, markets, dependence on external supplies, labor, conservation of water, soil and forest, level of the system complexity, level of recycling, level of subsystems integration, family commitment, organizational forms of work and environmental values. The network type pictogram generated through the assessment and analysis exercise of such indicators allows the farmland owner to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of his production unit regarding economic, ecologic and socio-cultural issues, and to identify critical points for prioritization of sustainability activities. The obtained results show that each production unit has distinctive features about resources usage..The main aspects with mayor impact on sustainability of the studied farmlands were the high dependency of external supplies and the low competitiveness in the markets. The environmental values and the conservation of natural resources -water, soil and forest- are characteristic positive factors of the production units considered in this study.

Participación comunitaria para la construcción e lineamientos de uso y conservación de humedales altoandinos. experiencia piloto en el sector el ocho y páramo de letras / Communty particiipation in the construction of guidelies for the use and conservation of the high andean wetlands, a pilot experience in the ocho and páramo de letras arass

La participación comunitaria es un aspecto relevante en la toma de decisiones para la implementación de acciones relacionadas con la protección del patrimonio natural. Objetivo: En el presente trabajo el principal objetivo es la construcción participativa de los lineamientos de uso y conservación de humedales en el sector El Ocho y Páramo de Letras. Método: La metodología comprende los siguientes pasos: 1) revisión de información secundaria; 2) una zonificación ambiental participativa de los sistemas productivos mediante la técnica de mapas parlantes, con la ayuda de la herramienta de AutoCAD; y 3) análisis del potencial turístico y florístico con base en los saberes tradicionales, y utilizando entrevistas con la comunidad, potenciales turistas y charlas informales. Resultado principal: La comunidad tiene conocimiento tradicional de los beneficios que ofrecen los recursos del ecosistema, pero no tiene las herramientas para lograr un sistema productivo sostenible; la zona de estudio tiene un gran potencial turístico, debido a las ventajas de paisaje e infraestructura; el uso actual del suelo es inadecuado con respecto a la normatividad ambiental. Conclusión principal: Es necesario formular e implementar estrategias de uso y conservación de humedales altoandinos que sean adecuados a las particularidades del ecosistema bajo estudio, puesto que las estrategias existentes a nivel nacional e internacional son muy generales.

Community participation is a relevant aspect in decisions making concerning the implementation of actions related to protection of natural heritage. In the present work, the main purpose is the participative construction of the guidelines for the use and conservation of wetlands in El Ocho and Páramo de Letras. The methodology includes the following steps: 1) review of secondary information; 2) a participatory environmental zoning of the productive systems using the talking maps technique and the AutoCAD tool; and 3) floral and touristic potential analysis, on the basis of traditional knowledge, by means of interviews to the community, potential tourists and informal talks. The main result of this research indicates that the community has traditional knowledge of the benefits offered by the ecosystem resources, but they do not have the necessary tools to achieve a sustainable productive system. The study area has a great touristic potential, due to its advantages of landscape and infrastructure but the current use of the land is inadequate according to the environmental law. The main conclusion of the work is that it is necessary to formulate and implement strategies for use and conservation of High Andean Wetlands which are adequate for the ecosystem under study, as the current national and international strategies are too general.

3D analysis of the TCR/pMHCII complex formation in monkeys vaccinated with the first peptide inducing sterilizing immunity against human malaria.

T-cell receptor gene rearrangements were studied in Aotus monkeys developing high antibody titers and sterilizing immunity against the Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite upon vaccination with the modified synthetic peptide 24112, which was identified in the Merozoite Surface Protein 2 (MSP-2) and is known to bind to HLA-DRbeta1*0403 molecules with high capacity. Spectratyping analysis showed a preferential usage of Vbeta12 and Vbeta6 TCR gene families in 67% of HLA-DRbeta1*0403-like genotyped monkeys. Docking of peptide 24112 into the HLA-DRbeta1*0401-HA peptide-HA1.7TCR complex containing the VDJ rearrangements identified in fully protected monkeys showed a different structural signature compared to nonprotected monkeys. These striking results show the exquisite specificity of the TCR/pMHCII complex formation needed for inducing sterilizing immunity and provide important hints for a logical and rational methodology to develop multiepitopic, minimal subunit-based synthetic vaccines against infectious diseases, among them malaria.

Alteraciones de la morfología dendrítica neuronal en la corteza cerebral de ratones infectados con rabia: un estudio con la técnica de Golgi / Neuronal dentritic morphology alterations in the cerebral cortex of rabies-infected mice: a Golgi study

Introducción. Los signos neurológicos de la rabia son impresionantes; no obstante, el cerebro infectado sufre apenas cambios histológicos muy sutiles. Objetivo. Estudiar la morfología neuronal mediante la técnica de Golgi, en la corteza cerebral de ratones infectados con el virus de la rabia. Materiales y métodos. Se inocularon ratones con virus silvestre de la rabia (virus ‘calle’) de origen canino o con virus adaptado (virus ‘fijo’) de la cepa CVS (challenge virus standard). Los animales se sacrificaron en la fase terminal de la enfermedad y se fijaron por perfusión con paraformaldehído. Los cerebros se procesaron con la técnica de Golgi, se obtuvieron cortes coronales de la corteza, se contaron las neuronas impregnadas en un área de 1 mm2, se midió el tamaño de sus cuerpos celulares y se tomaron fotografías en diferentes planos de profundidad. Resultados. Se observaron alteraciones morfológicas notables en el soma y las dendritas de neuronas piramidales, con pérdida acentuada de espinas, en 12,9 por ciento de neuronas corticales de animales infectados con virus ‘calle’ por vía intracerebral; en 8,2 por ciento de neuronas de ratones inoculados con este mismo virus por la ruta intramuscular y en 31,8 por ciento de neuronas en los animales inoculados con virus ‘fijo’ por vía intramuscular. Además, en las muestras de material infectado el número de neuronas impregnadas por la técnica de Golgi fue considerablemente menor al observado en las muestras no infectadas. Conclusiones. Estos resultados son evidencia de que el virus de la rabia sí puede inducir daño neuronal estructural. Además, esta infección aparentemente interfiere con los mecanismos de impregnación argéntica del método de Golgi.

Introduction. The neurological signs of rabies are very dramatic. Nevertheless, the infected brain manifests only very subtle histological changes. Objective. The neuronal morphology in the cerebral cortex of rabies-infected mice was examined by means the Golgi technique for detection of neuropathy. Materials and methods. Two groups of mice were inoculated with rabies—one with street virus isolated from an infected dog and the second with fixed CVS (challenge virus standard) virus. At the terminal phase of illness, the animals were sacrificed and fixed for histological staining by perfusion with paraformaldehyde. Next, the brains were treated by the Golgi technique and coronal sections were obtained. Neurons enclosed within 1 mm2 frames of the frontal cortex sections were counted and the sizes of the cellular bodies were measured. Photographs of several depth levels from the sections were obtained. Results. Cortical pyramidal neurons showed distinctive morphological alterations in the soma and dendrites (including loss of dendritic spines) in 12.9% of cells from intracerebral infectedmice with street virus; in 8.2% of neurons from intramuscular infected-mice with street virus, and in 31.8% of neurons from mice injected intramusculary with fixed virus. In addition, the number of neurons impregnated by the Golgi technique in infected brains was considerably lower than in the non-infected samples. Conclusions. Rabies virus can induce structural neuron damage. The infection also appears to induce tissue changes that interfere with the chemical mechanisms of the Golgi silver impregnation method.

[Neuronal dentritic morphology alterations in the cerebral cortex of rabies-infected mice: a Golgi study]. / Alteraciones de la morfología dendrítica neuronal en la corteza cerebral de ratones infectados con rabia: un estudio con la técnica de Golgi.

INTRODUCTION: The neurological signs of rabies are very dramatic. Nevertheless, the infected brain manifests only very subtle histological changes. OBJECTIVE: The neuronal morphology in the cerebral cortex of rabies-infected mice was examined by means the Golgi technique for detection of neuropathy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two groups of mice were inoculated with rabies-one with street virus isolated from an infected dog and the second with fixed CVS (challenge virus standard) virus. At the terminal phase of illness, the animals were sacrificed and fixed for histological staining by perfusion with paraformaldehyde. Next, the brains were treated by the Golgi technique and coronal sections were obtained. Neurons enclosed within 1 mm2 frames of the frontal cortex sections were counted and the sizes of the cellular bodies were measured. Photographs of several depth levels from the sections were obtained. RESULTS: Cortical pyramidal neurons showed distinctive morphological alterations in the soma and dendrites (including loss of dendritic spines) in 12.9% of cells from intracerebral infected-mice with street virus; in 8.2% of neurons from intramuscular infected-mice with street virus, and in 31.8% of neurons from mice injected intramusculary with fixed virus. In addition, the number of neurons impregnated by the Golgi technique in infected brains was considerably lower than in the non-infected samples. CONCLUSIONS: Rabies virus can induce structural neuron damage. The infection also appears to induce tissue changes that interfere with the chemical mechanisms of the Golgi silver impregnation method.

The Plasmodium vivax rhoptry-associated protein 1.

Rhoptries are cellular organelles localized at the apical pole of apicomplexan parasites. Their content is rich in lipids and proteins that are released during target cell invasion. Plasmodium falciparum rhoptry-associated protein 1 (RAP1) has been the most widely studied among this parasite species' rhoptry proteins and is considered to be a good anti-malarial vaccine candidate since it displays little polymorphism and induces antibodies in infected humans. Monoclonal antibodies directed against RAP1 are also able to inhibit target cell invasion in vitro and protection against P. falciparum experimental challenge is induced when non-human primates are immunized with this protein expressed in its recombinant form. This study describes identifying and characterizing RAP1 in Plasmodium vivax, the most widespread parasite species causing malaria in humans, producing more than 80 million infections yearly, mainly in Asia and Latin America. This new protein is encoded by a two-exon gene, is proteolytically processed in a similar manner to its falciparum homologue and, as observed by microscopy, the immunofluorescence pattern displayed is suggestive of its rhoptry localization. Further studies evaluating P. vivax RAP1 protective efficacy in non-human primates should be carried out taking into account the relevance that its P. falciparum homologue has as an anti-malarial vaccine candidate.

Calbindin distribution in cortical and subcortical brain structures of normal and rabies-infected mice.

Rabies has been an enigmatic disease of the nervous system because microscopic findings in the brain tissue are not paralleled by the severity of the clinical illness. The calcium binding protein calbindin (CB) is a neuronal marker of great interest in neuroanatomy and neuropathology. CB-ir neurons in the striatum and cerebral cortex are gabaergic cells. In the present work CB-immunoreactivity was evaluated in brains of normal and rabies-infected mice. Rabies infection caused loss of CB-immunostaining in the cortical supragranular layers as well as in the striatum. Loss of CB in the brains of mice infected with rabies virus can produce impairment in Ca++ homeostasis and in the gabaergic neurotransmission.

[Effect of rabies virus infection on the expression of parvalbumin, calbindin and calretinin in mouse cerebral cortex]. / Efecto de la infección por el virus de la rabia sobre la expresión de parvoalbúmina, calbindina y calretinina en la corteza cerebral de ratones.

Some clinical features of rabies and experimental evidence from cell culture and laboratory animals suggest impairment of gabaergic neurotransmission. Several types of gabaergic neurons occur in the cerebral cortex. They can be identified by three neuronal markers: the calcium binding proteins (CaBPs) parvalbumin (PV), calbindin (CB) and calretinin (CR). Rabies virus spreads throughout the cerebral cortex; however, rabies cytopathic effects on gabaergic neurons are unknown. The expression of calcium-binding proteins (CaBPs) parvalbumin (PV), calbindin (CB) and calretinin (CR) was studied in the frontal cortex of mice. The effect of gabaergic neurons was evaluated immunohistochemically. The distribution patterns of CaBPs in normal mice and in mice infected with 'fixed' or 'street' rabies virus were compared. PV was found in multipolar neurons located in all cortical layers except layer I, and in pericellular clusters of terminal knobs surrounding the soma of pyramidal neurons. CB-immunoreactivity was distributed in two cortical bands. One was composed of round neurons enclosed by a heavily labeled neuropil; this band corresponds to supragranular layers II and III. The other was a weakly stained band of neuropil which contained scattered multipolar CB-ir neurons; this corresponds to infragranular layers V and VI. The CR-ir neurons were bipolar fusiform cells located in all layers of cortex, but concentrated in layers II and III. A feature common to samples infected with both types of viruses was a more intense immunoreactivity to PV in contrast to normal samples. The infection with 'street' virus did not cause additional changes in the expression of CaBPs. However, the infection with 'fixed' virus produced a remarkable reduction of CB-immunoreactivity demonstrated by the loss of CB-ir neurons and low neuropil stain in the frontal cortex. In addition, the size of CR-ir neurons in the cingulate cortex was decreased.

Efecto de la infección por el virus de la rabia sobre la expresión de parvoalbúmina, calbindina y calretinina en la corteza cerebral de ratones / Effect of rabies virus infection on the expression of parvalbumin, calbindin and calretinin in mouse cerebral cortex

Algunas manifestaciones clínicas de la rabia, así como los resultados de experimentos con cultivos celulares y animales de laboratorio han llevado a sugerir que el virus de la rabia afecta la neurotransmisión gabaérgica. En la corteza cerebral existen diferentes tipos de neuronas que sintetizan el neurotransmisor GABA. Éstas se pueden identificar con marcadores neuronales, entre los que se destacan tres proteínas ligadoras de calcio: la parvoalbúmina (PV), la calbindina (CB) y la calretinina (CR). El virus de la rabia se disemina a través de la corteza cerebral pero se desconocen sus posibles efectos citopáticos sobre las neuronas gabaérgicas. Para evaluar el efecto de la rabia sobre estas neuronas, se estudió mediante inmunohistoquímica la expresión de PV, CB y CR en la corteza frontal de ratones normales y ratones infectados con virus 'calle' o virus 'fijo' de la rabia. La PV se expresó en neuronas multipolares dispersas regularmente entre las capas II y VI, y en botones sinápticos que bordeaban el soma de las neuronas piramidales. La inmunorreactividad a CB se manifestó en dos franjas corticales: la primera, en las capas supragranulares II y III en neuronas con somas redondeados e inmersos en un neuropilo intensamente marcado; la segunda, en las capas infragranulares V y VI en neuronas multipolares dispersas y rodeadas por un neuropilo menos reactivo. La CR se expresó en neuronas bipolares con somas fusiformes distribuidas en las seis capas corticales, pero concentradas principalmente en las capas II y III. Hubo una característica común en las muestras infectadas con los dos tipos de virus: la inmunotinción a PV fue más intensa que en las muestras normales. La infección derivada del virus 'calle' no causó alteraciones adicionales en la expresión de las tres proteínas. En contraste, la infección con virus 'fijo' produjo una reducción notable del número de neuronas CB+, así como de la inmunorreactividad a CB en el neuropilo de la corteza frontal. Además, provocó una disminución significativa del tamaño de las neuronas CR+ en la corteza del cíngulo. Estos resultados aportan evidencia histológica en apoyo de la hipótesis según la cual las neuronas gabaérgicas son afectadas por el virus de la rabia.

Some clinical features of rabies and experimental evidence from cell culture and laboratory animals suggest impairment of gabaergic neurotransmission. Several types of gabaergic neurons occur in the cerebral cortex. They can be identified by three neuronal markers: the calcium binding proteins (CaBPs) parvalbumin (PV), calbindin (CB) and calretinin (CR). Rabies virus spreads throughout the cerebral cortex; however, rabies cytopathic effects on gabaergic neurons are unknown. The expression of calcium-binding proteins (CaBPs) parvalbumin (PV), calbindin (CB) and calretinin (CR) was studied in the frontal cortex of mice. The effect of gabaergic neurons was evaluated immunohistochemically. The distribution patterns of CaBPs in normal mice and in mice infected with 'fixed' or 'street' rabies virus were compared. PV was found in multipolar neurons located in all cortical layers except layer I, and in pericellular clusters of terminal knobs surrounding the soma of pyramidal neurons. CB-immunoreactivity was distributed in two cortical bands. One was composed of round neurons enclosed by a heavily labeled neuropil; this band corresponds to supragranular layers II and III. The other was a weakly stained band of neuropil which contained scattered multipolar CB-ir neurons; this corresponds to infragranular layers V and VI. The CR-ir neurons were bipolar fusiform cells located in all layers of cortex, but concentrated in layers II and III. A feature common to samples infected with both types of viruses was a more intense immunoreactivity to PV in contrast to normal samples. The infection with 'street' virus did not cause additional changes in the expression of CaBPs. However, the infection with 'fixed' virus produced a remarkable reduction of CB-immunoreactivity demonstrated by the loss of CB-ir neurons and low neuropil stain in the frontal cortex. In addition, the size of CR-ir neurons in the cingulate cortex was decreased.