A meta-analytic study of the effects of early maternal separation on cognitive flexibility in rodent offspring

Adverse early life experiences, such as maternal separation, are associated with an increased risk for several mental health problems. Symptoms induced by maternal separation that mirror clinically relevant aspects of mental problems, such as cognitive inflexibility, open the possibility of testing putative therapeutics prior to clinical development. Although several animal (e.g., rodent) studies have evaluated the effects of early maternal separation on cognitive flexibility, no consistent conclusions have been drawn. To clarify this issue, in this study, a meta-analysis method was used to systematically explore the relationship between early maternal separation and cognitive flexibility in rodent offspring. Results indicate that early maternal separation could significantly impair cognitive flexibility in rodent offspring. Moderator analyses further showed that the relationship between early maternal separation and cognitive flexibility was not consistent in any case, but was moderated by variations in the experimental procedures, such as the deprivation levels, task characteristics, and rodent strains. These clarify the inconsistent effects of maternal separation on cognitive flexibility in rodents and help us better understand the association between early life adversity and cognitive development.     

Fetal bisphenol A and ethinylestradiol exposure alters male rat urogenital tract morphology at birth: Confirmation of prior low-dose findings in CLARITY-BPA

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a contaminant in virtually all Americans. To examine BPA’s adverse effects, the FDA-NCTR, NIEHS, and 14 groups of academic scientists formed a consortium: CLARITY-BPA. The purpose of our study was to investigate the effects of a wide range of doses of BPA on fetal development of the NCTR CD-SD male rat urogenital sinus (UGS). Pregnant rats were administered BPA or positive control ethinylestradiol (EE2) daily, via oral gavage, from gestational day 6 through parturition. Tissues were collected on postnatal day 1 and the UGS was analyzed using computer-assisted 3-D reconstruction. Importantly, only low doses of BPA, as well as EE2, significantly changed birth weight and UGS morphology, including an increased size of the colliculus and decreased size of the urethra, consistent with prior reported BPA and EE2 effects. Our findings provide further evidence that BPA mediates nonmonotonic developmental effects on the fetal urogenital sinus.     

广西边境口岸鼠类本底调查及探讨

目的 全面掌握中越边境口岸鼠类的种类和组成,为口岸鼠类科学管理提供基础资料.方法 采用夹夜法和笼夜法捕获鼠类.结果 东兴口岸捕获鼠类4种498只,凭祥口岸捕获14种756只,水口口岸捕获6种75只,龙邦口岸捕获8种173只,褐家鼠为各口岸的优势鼠种.结论 褐家鼠是各口岸重点监测和控制的对象.     

黑龙江省逊克县火山熔岩地区啮齿动物携带病原体调查

目的 调查黑龙江省逊克县火山熔岩地区啮齿动物携带病原体状况.方法 2014年4-9月,采集啮齿动物样本107只,解剖取脏器肺、肾、肝、肾和膀胱样本,采用PCR方法分别扩增10种鼠传病原体的特异性核酸片段,通过基因测序进一步鉴定.结果 在107份鼠肺中共检出汉城型汉坦病毒RNA核酸阳性样本5份,感染率为4.67％;107份鼠肾中共检出钩端螺旋体DNA核酸阳性样本6份,感染率为5.61％;107份鼠脾中共检出巴尔通体DNA核酸阳性样本7份,感染率为6.54％,嗜吞噬细胞无形体4份,感染率为3.74％;107份鼠肝、鼠脾中鼠疫菌、巴贝西原虫、斑点热群立克次体、恙虫病立克次体、莫氏立克次体的DNA核酸检测结果均为阴性;107份鼠膀胱中伯氏疏螺旋体的DNA核酸检测结果为阴性;在鼠体内还存在复合感染情况,感染率为2.80％.结论 黑龙江省逊克县火山熔岩地区啮齿动物中存在汉坦病毒、钩端螺旋体、巴尔通体和嗜吞噬细胞无形体的感染.     

Animal models in neonatal resuscitation research: What can they teach us?

Animal models have made and continue to make important contributions to neonatal medicine. For example, studies in fetal sheep have taught us much about the physiology of the fetal-to-neonatal transition. However, whereas animal models allow multiple factors to be investigated in a logical and systematic manner, no animal model is perfect for humans and so we need to understand the fundamental differences in physiology between the species in question and humans. Although most physiological systems are well conserved between species, some small differences exist and so wherever possible the knowledge generated from preclinical studies in animals should be tested in clinical trials. However, with the rise of evidence-based medicine the distinction between scientific knowledge generation and evidence gathering has been confused and the two have been lumped together. This misunderstands the contribution that scientific knowledge can provide. Science should be used to guide the gathering of evidence by informing the design of clinical trials, thereby increasing their likelihood of success. While scientific knowledge is not evidence, in the absence of evidence it is likely to be the best option for guiding clinical practice.     

福州口岸及出入境船舶鼠形动物及携带病原的研究

目的掌握福州口岸鼠形动物的种群分布及季节消长变化，以及入出境船舶截获鼠形动物携带病原微生物的差别，对相关疾病的流行风险进行评估。方法在2011年1月到2012年12月之间，实施13岸鼠形动物调查及船舶鼠形动物笼日法监测，并对截获的鼠形动物携带鼠疫菌采用国标法检测抗原、抗体，用RT—PCR方法检测肾综合征出血热病毒（HFRS）RNA，用PCR方法检测钩端螺旋体DNA。结果口岸共捕获鼠形动物373只，年平均密度0．0326只／笼·d，经鉴定隶属2目2科3属5种，褐家鼠为优势种群。7—11月份鼠密度较高，其中9月份达到高峰，12月份最低，鼠形动物活动为单峰型。鼠疫菌抗原、抗体均为阴性，肾综合征出血热RNA阳性55份，阳性率15．90％，钩端螺旋体DNA阳性14份，阳性率3．70％。结论福州口岸鼠体肾综合征出血热、钩端螺旋体阳性率高，有传播相关传染病的风险，有必要对口岸采取灭鼠措施，并对鼠间、人间相应传染病感染情况实施监测。     

Vasopressin and oxytocin receptor systems in the brain: Sex differences and sex-specific regulation of social behavior

The neuropeptides vasopressin (VP) and oxytocin (OT) and their receptors in the brain are involved in the regulation of various social behaviors and have emerged as drug targets for the treatment of social dysfunction in several sex-biased neuropsychiatric disorders. Sex differences in the VP and OT systems may therefore be implicated in sex-specific regulation of healthy as well as impaired social behaviors. We begin this review by highlighting the sex differences, or lack of sex differences, in VP and OT synthesis in the brain. We then discuss the evidence showing the presence or absence of sex differences in VP and OT receptors in rodents and humans, as well as showing new data of sexually dimorphic V1a receptor binding in the rat brain. Importantly, we find that there is lack of comprehensive analysis of sex differences in these systems in common laboratory species, and we find that, when sex differences are present, they are highly brain region- and species-specific. Interestingly, VP system parameters (VP and V1aR) are typically higher in males, while sex differences in the OT system are not always in the same direction, often showing higher OT expression in females, but higher OT receptor expression in males. Furthermore, VP and OT receptor systems show distinct and largely non-overlapping expression in the rodent brain, which may cause these receptors to have either complementary or opposing functional roles in the sex-specific regulation of social behavior. Though still in need of further research, we close by discussing how manipulations of the VP and OT systems have given important insights into the involvement of these neuropeptide systems in the sex-specific regulation of social behavior in rodents and humans.     

Structured Sequence Learning: Animal Abilities,Cognitive Operations,and Language Evolution

Human language is a salient example of a neurocognitive system that is specialized to process complex dependencies between sensory events distributed in time, yet how this system evolved and specialized remains unclear. Artificial Grammar Learning (AGL) studies have generated a wealth of insights into how human adults and infants process different types of sequencing dependencies of varying complexity. The AGL paradigm has also been adopted to examine the sequence processing abilities of nonhuman animals. We critically evaluate this growing literature in species ranging from mammals (primates and rats) to birds (pigeons, songbirds, and parrots) considering also cross‐species comparisons. The findings are contrasted with seminal studies in human infants that motivated the work in nonhuman animals. This synopsis identifies advances in knowledge and where uncertainty remains regarding the various strategies that nonhuman animals can adopt for processing sequencing dependencies. The paucity of evidence in the few species studied to date and the need for follow‐up experiments indicate that we do not yet understand the limits of animal sequence processing capacities and thereby the evolutionary pattern. This vibrant, yet still budding, field of research carries substantial promise for advancing knowledge on animal abilities, cognitive substrates, and language evolution.     

Preclinical safety evaluation of IQG-607 in rats: Acute and repeated dose toxicity studies

In the present study, we evaluated the safety and the possible toxic effects of IQG-607 after acute and 90-day repeated administrations in rats. Single oral administration of IQG-607 (300 or 2000 mg/kg) on female rats did not result in any mortality. No gross lesions were observed in the animals at necropsy. Ninety-day administration test resulted in 20% of deaths, in both male and female rats administered with the highest dose of IQG-607, 300 mg/kg. Repeated administration of the IQG 607 (25, 100 and 300 mg/kg) did not result in any significant body mass alteration, or changes in food and water consumption. The most important clinical sign observed was salivation in both sexes. Importantly, long-term treatment with IQG-607 did not induce alterations in any hematological (for both sex) and serum biochemical (for female) parameters evaluated, even at the highest dose tested. Treatment of male rats with 100 or 300 mg/kg of IQG-607 decreased total cholesterol levels, while animals treated with 100 mg/kg also presented reduction on triglyceride levels. Of note, no treatment induced significant histopathological alterations in tissues of all organs and glands analyzed, even in that group that received the highest dose of IQG-607.     

Adolescent vulnerability to cardiovascular consequences of chronic emotional stress: Review and perspectives for future research

Emotional stress has been recognized as a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Adolescence has been proposed as a developmental period of vulnerability to stress. This idea has been mainly supported by experimental research in animals demonstrating a higher impact of chronic emotional stress in adolescents compared with adults. Adolescent vulnerability is also based on evidence that stress during this developmental period affects development, so that enduring changes are found in adult animals that experienced stress during adolescence. The purpose of the present review is to discuss experimental research in rodent models that investigated the impact of long-term exposure to stressful events during adolescence on cardiovascular function. The development of cardiovascular function and autonomic activity in rodents is initially reviewed. Then, a discussion of an adolescent vulnerability to cardiovascular effects of chronic stress is presented. From the reviewed literature, perspective for future research is proposed to better elucidate adolescent vulnerability to cardiovascular complications evoked by chronic emotional stress.