Neonatal inhalatory anesthetic exposure: Reproductive changes in male rats

We investigated the effects of an inhalatory anesthetic (ethyl ether) during the neonatal period of brain sexual differentiation on the later fertility and sexual behavior of male rats. Animals were exposed to ethyl ether immediately after birth. At adulthood, body weight, testes wet weight, and plasma testosterone levels were not affected; however, neonatal exposure to ether showed alterations on male fertility: a decrease in the number of spermatids and spermatozoa, an increase in the transit time of cauda epididymal spermatozoa and a decrease in daily sperm production. An alteration of sexual behavior was also observed: decreased male sexual behavior and appearance of homosexual behavior when the male rats were castrated and pretreated with exogenous estrogen. Probably, the ether delayed or reduced the testosterone peak of the sexual differentiation period, altering the processes of masculinization and defeminization of the hypothalamus. Our results indicate that perinatal exposure to ethyl ether during the critical period of male brain sexual differentiation, acting as endocrine disruptors, has a long-term effect on the fertility and sexual behavior of male rats, suggesting endocrine disruption through incomplete masculinization and defeminization of the central nervous system. © 2002 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Performance and physiological parameters of broiler chickens subjected to fasting on the neonatal period

Broiler chicks aged 12 h after hatching were allotted according to a block design in a 7 x 2 factorial schedule of 14 treatments and four replications of 50 chicks each one. The main experimental factors were fasting for 0, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 h after chick placement and sex. Independent of sex, fasting had a negative linear effect on weight and productivity of broilers at market age (42 d) without affecting feed conversion or mortality index. Groups subjected to 18 and 36 h of fasting after placement, corresponding to 30 and 48 h posthatching fasting, had lower biometrical values for small intestine (length, weight, and size; villus height; and crypt depth) than chicks fed immediately after placement. According to the Pearson test, BW of birds at 21 and 42 d were significantly correlated to BW at 7 d (r = 0.77) and 21 d (r = 0.45), respectively. Males performed better than females but had higher mortality rates. Fasting did not influence serum concentrations of corticosterone or sexual steroid hormones. Nevertheless, early signs of sexual dimorphism arose from the high estradiol (E2) concentration on female serum. Heterophil:lymphocyte ratio was not different among treatments, indicating that early fasting did not seem to be a stress factor 21 or 42 d after fasting. The results suggested a maximum fasting of 24 h after hatching in order to preserve broiler productivity at market age.

Neonatal rat exposure to pyrethroid and organophosphate insecticides: A physiological and biochemical trial of progeny

A manufactured product (Ectoplus®) composed by a cypermethrin (44.7%) and dichlorvos (4.2%) mixture was administered (10mg/kg/day, orally, by gavage) to pregnant rats, during the periods of gestation+lactation, gestation, and lactation. Control mothers received vehicle aqueous solution during the gestation+lactation period. With the progeny, in the 1-15 post-natal days (PNDI-15) there were observed alterations in the periods of occurrence of teeth, hair, unfolding of ears, and in the developmental period for following reflexes: postural, palmar grasp, negative geotaxis, and acoustic startle reflex. After weaning (PND21), there were observed the presence of cypermethrin and dichlorvos in the blood brain and liver; decrease in weight of liver, of cholinesterase activity in the plasma, liver, and brain, and hepatic metabolizing activity of drugs; alterations of levels of gamma glutamyl transferase enzymes, of creatinine, and of potassium in the serum of the animals. In conclusion, neonatal exposure to a formulated mixture of cypermethrin and dichlorvos is inductive to alterations in characteristics that indicate somatic and neuromuscular development of the progeny, and in certain biochemical parameters. The results suggest that enzymatic assessment associated with somatic and neuromotor assessment can be important markers of developmental characteristics in neonatal toxicity by pesticide formulations based on mixtures of insecticides.

Aspectos legais da morte

The present work intends to clarify and to enhance the legal aspects of the death for the physician. Physicians, as a result of normative attribution, and of the practical circumstances, normally, certify the death in proper document. The legal consequences of the death are focused, with its importance and correlation with the medical declaration of the death. The physician must be more conscientious of his professional act, and, therefore, be more diligent and always zealous with his practices, because of its effects.

The frequency of pharmacological pain relief in university neonatal intensive care units

Objective: To evaluate the use of drugs to relieve the pain of invasive procedures newborn infants cared for at a university hospital NICU. Methods: A prospective cohort study of all newborn infants hospitalized in four NICU during October 2001. The following data were collected: demographic data of the hospitalized newborn infants; clinical morbidity; number of potentially painful procedures and frequency of analgesic administration. Factors associated with the use of analgesia in this cohort of patients were studied by multiple linear regression using SPSS 8.0. Results: Ninety-one newborn infants were admitted to the NICU during the study period (1,025 patient-days). Only 25% of the 1,025 patient-days received systemic analgesia. No specific drugs were administered to relieve acute pain during any of the following painful events: arterial punctures, venous, capillary and lumbar punctures or intubations. For chest tube insertion, 100% of newborn infants received specific analgesia. For the insertion of central catheters 8% of the newborn infants received painkillers. Only nine of the 17 newborn infants that underwent surgical procedures received any analgesic dosage during the postoperative period. For 93% of patients under analgesia the drug of choice was fentanyl. The presence of mechanical ventilation increased the chance of newborn infants receiving painkillers by 6.9 times and the presence of chest tube increased this chance by five times. Conclusion: It is necessary to train health professionals in order to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge regarding newborn infant pain and clinical practice. Copyright © 2005 by Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria.

Análise das prevalências de doenças detectadas pelo programa nacional de triagem neonatal no município de Araraquara no ano de 2009

The National Neonatal Screening Program (NNSP) set up in all Brazil, aims, through planned phases of local implementation, to detect diseases such as phenylketonuria, congenital hypothyroidism, hemoglobinopathies and cystic fibrosis. The aim of this study was to assess, through a cross-sectional observational study, the prevalence of the diseases detected by the NNSP in the city of Araraquara, in records issued by the São Paulo APAE laboratory in the period between April and December 2009.The results show that Araraquara had a prevalence of phenylketonuria and congenital hypothyroidism 0.06% above the national averages of 0.01% and 0.03% respectively. With respect to hemoglobinopathies, the prevalence of sickle cell trait was 2.15% below the national average of 2.6%. The prevalence of Hb C in the city was 0.57%, similar to national values reported in the literature. Confirmed Hb Bart's had a prevalence of 0.13% in Araraquara, below the average of 0.38% for the surrounding region. The neonatal screening by heel-prick test and counseling for caregivers are important factors in reducing morbidity related to the evolution of these diseases.

Preeclampsia: Early and late neonatal outcomes

Newborn infants exposed to preeclampsia (PE) present increased short-term morbidity, mainly respiratory diseases such as respiratory distress syndrome and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Gastrointestinal problems are also frequent, although a higher risk of necrotizing enterocolitis has not been confirmed. These problems could be related not just to PE itself but also to prematurity or intrauterine growth restriction, which frequently occur in this maternal disease. Other findings, however, seem to be due to the direct effect of the maternal disease; these findings include an increased frequency of neutropenia and thrombocytopenia and a lower incidence of cerebral disorders, such as periventricularintraventricular hemorrhage and cerebral palsy. The evaluation of long-term outcome shows increasing evidence that PE has important implications for the future health of the mother and her child, suggesting that PE is not a simple gestational disorder but a clinical syndrome with an unclear etiology, a genetic component, and a complex pathophysiology. This syndrome involves important maternal and fetal vascular alterations that can persist and cause diseases in later life. The divergence in results on outcomes for children exposed to PE could, in part, be due to methodological differences in the studies, most of which are retrospective case-control studies. Better evidence on prognosis is obtained from cohort studies. Even in the cohort studies, differences in patient characteristics and severity of maternal disease, as well as sample size, follow-up time, and main outcome measures certainly contribute to the variability in results reported in the literature. © 2012 by the American Academy of Pediatrics. All rights reserved.

Representação da morte feminina em L'Orfeo e Il combattimento di tancredi et Clorinda de Claudio Monteverdi

This paper refers to issues related to the harmonic language of Claudio Monteverdi, its harmonic procedures and resulting melodic movements, its use as a dramaturgical resource and its potential allegorical meanings, based on theories and classifications of modes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. At first, it approaches the matter of the multiple names and meanings of the modes and their potential allegorical references according to different authors. Secondly, it presents the analysis of two examples from his operas that deal with the representation of the death of Euridice and Clorinda (Orfeo & Il combattimento de Tancredi e Clorinda, respectively), correlating their harmonic procedures to the corresponding dramaturgical situations.

Mortalidad infantil, neonatal y postneonatal en algunos países de América Latina

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Outbreak of fungemia caused by Candida parapsilosis in a neonatal intensive care unit: Molecular investigation through microsatellite analysis

Background: Opportunistic infections are an increasingly common problem in hospitals, and the yeast Candida parapsilosis has emerged as an important nosocomial pathogen, especially in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) where it has been responsible for outbreak cases. Risk factors for C. parapsilosis infection in neonates include prematurity, very low birth weight, prolonged hospitalization, indwelling central venous catheters, hyperalimentation, intravenous fatty emulsions and broad spectrum antibiotic therapy. Molecular methods are widely used to elucidate these hospital outbreaks, establishing genetic variations among strains of yeast. Aims: The aim of this study was to detect an outbreak of C. parapsilosis in an NICU at the Hospital das Clinicas , Faculty of Medicine of Botucatu, a tertiary hospital located in São Paulo, Brazil, using the molecular genotyping by the microsatellite markers analysis. Methods: A total of 11 cases of fungemia caused by C. parapsilosis were identified during a period of 43 days in the NICU. To confirm the outbreak all strains were molecularly typed using the technique of microsatellites. Results: Out of the 11 yeast samples studied, nine showed the same genotypic profile using the technique of microsatellites. Conclusions: Our study shows that the technique of microsatellites can be useful for these purposes. In conclusion, we detected the presence of an outbreak of C. parapsilosis in the NICU of the hospital analyzed, emphasizing the importance of using molecular tools, for the early detection of hospital outbreaks, and for the introduction of effective preventive measures, especially in NICUs. © 2012 Revista Iberoamericana de Micología.

Impacto da desnutrição fetal/neonatal e do exercício durante a recuperação nutricional sobre lipídios teciduais e homeostase glicêmica de ratos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Tratamento neonatal com aloxana em ratos: efeitos do exercício

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Mortalidad infantil, neonatal y postneonatal en países seleccionados de América Latina, ¿nuevas tendencias?: algunas cifras y comentarios

Incluye Bibliografía

Efeito da cafeína e do cádmio na próstata do rato wistar púbere: proliferação e morte de células epiteliais e alterações estromais

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Morfometria do cerebelo de ratos machos UChA e UChB submetidos a separação materna neonatal (consumidores voluntários de etano)

Pós-graduação em Biologia Geral e Aplicada - IBB