Lipopolysaccharide from Escherichia coli prevents indomethacin-induced gastric damage in rats: role of non-protein sulfhydryl groups and leukocyte adherence

To investigate the role of non-protein sulfhydryl groups (NP-SH) and leukocyte adhesion in the protective effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Escherichia coli against indomethacin-induced gastropathy. Male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: saline, LPS, saline + indomethacin and LPS + indomethacin, with six rats in each group. Rats were pretreated with LPS (300 mu g/kg, by intravenous) or saline. After 6 h, indomethacin was administered (20 mg/kg, by gavage). Three hours after treatments, rats were killed. Macroscopic gastric damage, gastric NP-SH concentration, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity and mesenteric leukocyte adhesion (intravital microscopy) were assessed. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance followed by the Newman-Keuls test. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. LPS reduced the gastric damage, gastric MPO activity and increased gastric NP-SH concentration in indomethacin-induced gastropathy. LPS alone increased gastric NP-SH when compared to saline. Indomethacin increased leukocyte adhesion when compared to the saline, and LPS reduced indomethacin-induced leukocyte adhesion. In addition, LPS alone did not change leukocyte adhesion, when compared to the saline. LPS protective effect against indomethacin-induced gastropathy is mediated by an increase in the NP-SH and a decrease in leukocyte-endothelial adhesion.

Activation of lateral parabrachial afferent pathways and endocrine responses during sodium appetite regulation

Modulation of salt appetite involves interactions between the circumventricular organs (CVOs) receptive areas and inhibitory hindbrain serotonergic circuits. Recent studies provide support to the idea that the serotonin action in the lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPBN) plays an important inhibitory role in the modulation of sodium appetite. The aim of the present work was to identify the specific groups of neurons projecting to the LPBN that are activated in the course of sodium appetite regulation, and to analyze the associated endocrine response, specifically oxytocin (OT) and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) plasma release, since both hormones have been implicated in the regulatory response to fluid reestablishment. For this purpose we combined the detection of a retrograde transported dye, Fluorogold (FG) injected into the LPBN with the analysis of the Fos immunocytochemistry brain pattern after sodium intake induced by sodium depletion. We analyzed the Fos-FG immunoreactivity after sodium ingestion induced by peritoneal dialysis (PD). We also determined OT and ANP plasma concentration by radioimmunoassay (RIE) before and after sodium intake stimulated by PD. The present study identifies specific groups of neurons along the paraventricular nucleus, central extended amygdala, insular cortex, dorsal raphe nucleus, nucleus of the solitary tract and the CVOs that are activated during the modulation of sodium appetite and have direct connections with the LPBN. It also shows that OT and ANP are released during the course of sodium satiety and fluid reestablishment. The result of this brain network activity may enable appropriate responses that re-establish the body fluid balance after induced sodium consumption. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Postural adjustment as a sign of attention in 7-month-old infants

Adjustments during postural control have been recognized in the process of the integration of movement and cognition. The objective of the present work was to describe postural changes and to verify if there is a correlation between postural adjustment and attention span in 7-month-old infants during 1 min of viewing an animated puppet. Method: Twenty-nine healthy infants (14 males) born from 31 to 39 weeks (median 36) were placed in a prone position and filmed watching a puppet during I min. The analysis of the images allowed us to catalogue the changes in position, the frequency of these changes, and the attention span. The following items were quantified: total number of infant positions, positions with weight transfer, changes in support, axis, decubitus, trunk and cervical movements, timing and pauses in visual attention. Results: Twenty-one infants stayed in the prone position during most of the recording, and eight chose sitting position before starting the session. Two groups were studied according to the main position throughout the filming, one in prone and the other in sitting positions, although they could rolling or crawling. For prone group the attention span was positively correlated with the number of positions with weight transfer (r = 0.53, p = 0.04), negatively correlated with trunk movements (r = -0.63, p = 0.01), and not correlated with birth or current weight. This work suggests that changes in the trunk movements and weight transfer are different traits related to the attention in 7-month-old infants. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V.. All rights reserved.

Rasmussen encephalitis: long-term outcome after surgery

Rasmussen encephalitis (RE) is characterized by intractable epilepsy, progressive hemiparesis, and unilateral hemispheric atrophy. The progression of the symptoms to significant neurological impairment usually occurs within months to a few years. RE causes are unknown, although evidence of an autoimmune process has been extensively described in the literature. Antiepileptic drugs are usually not effective to control seizures or cerebral atrophy; despite data supporting a beneficial effect of early immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory interventions, for intractable seizures in RE patients with advanced disease, epilepsy surgery in the form of hemispheric disconnection has been considered the treatment of choice. This work describes the clinical and electrographic analyses, as well as the post-operative evolution of patients with RE. This work includes all the patients with RE evaluated from January 1995 to January 2008 by the RibeirA o pound Preto Epilepsy Surgery Program (CIREP), taking variables such as gender; age at epilepsy onset; seizure semiology; seizure frequency; interictal and ictal electroencephalographic (EEG) findings; age at surgery, when done; duration of epilepsy; surgery complications; follow-up duration; anatomo-pathological findings; post-surgery seizure; language and cognitive outcome; and anti-epileptic drug treatment after surgery into account. Twenty-five patients were evaluated; thirteen were female. Mean age of epilepsy onset was 4.4 +/- 2.0 years. There were no differences between patients with slow and fast evolution with respect to age of epilepsy onset (p = 0.79), age at surgery (p = 0.24), duration of epilepsy (0.06), and follow-up (p = 0.40). There were no correlations between the presence of bilateral EEG abnormalities or the absence of spikes and post-operative seizure outcome (p = 0.06). Immunomodulatory therapy was tried in 12 patients (48%). Twenty-three patients underwent surgery. The mean follow-up was 63.3 months. Eleven patients had total seizure control. Twelve individuals persisted with seizures consisting of mild facial jerks (six patients), occasional hemigeneralized tonic-clonic seizures (three patients), and frequent tonic-clonic seizures (three patients). Mental and language impairment was observed in 15 and 12 patients, after surgery, respectively. Eight patients presented post-operative cognitive decline, while only two patients had cognitive improvement. Comparing pre- and post-operative language deficits, 66.7% of the 12 patients with language disturbance did not improve after surgery. This retrospective study reported the clinical and electrographic analysis, as well as the evolution of 23 patients with RE. Patients were divided into two groups: fast evolution and slow evolution to hemiparesis and epilepsia partialis continua. These groups may represent different RE substrates. Fourteen patients achieved satisfactory seizure control, three patients had partial response to surgery, and five patients had maintenance of the pre-operative condition. All patients with left-side involvement presented with some language disturbance, which did not improve after surgery in 66.6% of patients. Cognitive evaluation showed that the majority of the patients did not have any significant improvement, and 38.1% had cognitive deterioration after surgery.