Ecotoxicological responses of Daphnia magna and Eisenia andrei in landfill leachate

Ecotoxicology - Leachate toxicity using bioindicators such as microcrustaceans and earthworms has not been fully elucidated. These bioindicators are traditionally determined through physicochemical...     

Psoriasis and uveitis: a literature review

Psoriasis is a systemic, chronic, immunologically mediated disease, with significant genetic and environmental influences. It affects from 1 to 3% of the world population. Recently, the relation between psoriasis and different comorbidities, particularly metabolic syndrome, has become extremely relevant. Uveitis is characterized by a process of intraocular inflammation resulting from various causes. Considering psoriasis and uveitis as immune-mediated diseases, this study aims to evaluate the possible association of psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis with uveitis and its subtypes. Few studies have evaluated the association of uveitis and psoriasis without joint involvement. It seems that psoriasis without arthropathy is not a risk factor for the development of uveitis. Uveitis tends to develop more frequently in patients with arthropathy or pustular psoriasis than in patients with other forms of psoriasis. Ophthalmic examination should be performed periodically in patients with psoriasis and uveitis. If ophthalmopathy is diagnosed, the patient should receive adequate treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs or immunomodulators to prevent vision loss.     

The RNA-binding protein human antigen R controls global changes in gene expression during Schwann cell development

An important prerequisite to myelination in peripheral nerves is the establishment of one-to-one relationships between axons and Schwann cells. This patterning event depends on immature Schwann cell proliferation, apoptosis, and morphogenesis, which are governed by coordinated changes in gene expression. Here, we found that the RNA-binding protein human antigen R (HuR) was highly expressed in immature Schwann cells, where genome-wide identification of its target mRNAs in vivo in mouse sciatic nerves using ribonomics showed an enrichment of functionally related genes regulating these processes. HuR coordinately regulated expression of several genes to promote proliferation, apoptosis, and morphogenesis in rat Schwann cells, in response to NRG1, TGFβ, and laminins, three major signals implicated in this patterning event. Strikingly, HuR also binds to several mRNAs encoding myelination-related proteins but, contrary to its typical function, negatively regulated their expression, likely to prevent ectopic myelination during development. These functions of HuR correlated with its abundance and subcellular localization, which were regulated by different signals in Schwann cells.     

Outpatient laparoscopic adrenalectomy: a new step ahead

Background  

The feasibility of performing laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA) as an outpatient procedure in selected patients in the context of a specialized unit has been assessed in this study.     

Evaluation of the role of nuclear factor-kappaB signaling in liver injury using genetic animal models

Most chronic liver diseases are not sufficiently treatable at present and very often progress to liver fibrosis and liver cirrhosis. Several recent studies have suggested that cytokines and cytokine-activated inflammatory signaling pathways might play an important role in the mediation of liver injury. Although pro-inflammatory signaling pathways such as nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB have evolved primarily for host defense to infections, they appear to be involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases and may mediate liver injury in response to a variety of agents and pathogens. Herein is summarized briefly some recent findings concerning the role of NF-kappaB in different models of liver injury based on transgenic and knockout animal technology.     

Opposing effects of cannabinoids and vanilloids on evoked quantal release at the frog neuromuscular junction

Cannabinoids and vanilloids are two distinct groups of substances that share some pharmacological targets. Here we report that two cannabinoid type 1 receptor (CB1) agonists, WIN 55212-2 (WIN) and arachidonyl-2′-chloroethylamide (ACEA) have opposing effects on evoked quantal acetylcholine release – WIN decreased quantal content while ACEA increased quantal content. The decrease in quantal content by WIN was blocked by the CB1 antagonist AM 251. The increase in quantal content by ACEA was not blocked by AM 251, indicating it acts through a receptor other than CB1. As ACEA is also an agonist for the vanilloid receptor (TRPV1) we tested the effect of vanilloids on quantal content. Similar to ACEA, the vanilloid agonist capsaicin increased quantal content, and this effect was blocked by capsazepine, a TRPV1 antagonist. Capsazepine also blocked the increase in quantal content by ACEA. Together these data show an inhibitory effect of CB1 activation on evoked acetylcholine release and the first evidence for the presence of a vanilloid receptor at the neuromuscular junction.     

Earwax as an alternative specimen for forensic analysis

In this work, we presented, for the first time, earwax as an alternative forensic specimen for detecting 12 neuropsychotic drugs employing liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry in positive and negative ion modes after straightforward extraction with methanol. The method was validated and standard curves were established by external calibration with correlation coefficients >0.99. All precision, accuracy, matrix effects, extraction recoveries, and carryover were within acceptable limits; limits of quantification were sufficiently low to quantify almost all the samples tested. To confirm the feasibility of the study, earwax specimens were collected from actual patients treated with different combinations of the 12 drugs and analyzed by our method; the 12 drugs could be quantified from the earwax specimens of the users successfully, showing usefulness of earwax specimens, because of its noninvasive sampling and the storage of drug(s) for relatively long time together with its being relatively less contaminated by environmental impurities. This study is pioneering; many detailed studies on earwax as an alternative specimen remain to be explored.