Modulation of murine pluripotential stem cell proliferation in vivo by lithium carbonate

The effect of administering lithium in vivo on murine pluripotential stem cell proliferation was studied. Lithium was injected i.p. at various meq/liter concentrations (0.5-5.0 meq/liter). Data was obtained establishing that lithium increased the pluripotential stem cell population from normal mice as measured by the Till and McCulloch CFUs assay. Significant increases were demonstrated in: (1) bone marrow CFUs; (2) bone marrow organ cellularity, and (3) peripheral blood WBC. Marrow CFUs increase was maximum at 4 days post-lithium injection and greatest in the 1 meq/liter group (p < 0.001). Further increases in lithium concentration, i.e., 5 meq/liter, effectively reduced CFUs levels below normal, suggesting toxicity of the drug was apparent at this dose level. We conclude lithium may modulate granulopoiesis by increasing the CFUs stem cell compartment, thereby directly channeling differentiation into the granulopoietic pathway. This increases the committed progenitor stem cell (CFUc) population and ultimately peripheral blood end-stage cells.     

Cervical Cancer Prevention on Instagram: Content and Social Interaction Analysis of Brazilian Accounts

Abstract: Objective: The aim of the present study was to analyse the content of posts on Instagram about cervical cancer. Methods: It was conducted a qualitative analysis using the 50 most popular publicly available Portuguese-language Instagram posts, containing the hashtags #cervicalcancer, #papsmear, #hpv, #papillomavirus, and #hpvvac-cine, during the Brazilian national cervical cancer prevention campaign in March 2018. Results: Posts recruited using #cervicalcancer provided 60% of posts with contents related to secondary prevention; the #papsmear provided 46% of posts with irrelevant contents; the #hpv and #papillomavirus provided 50% and 64% of posts with informative content, respectively; and the #hpvvaccine provided 58% of posts with content related to primary prevention. The posts that received the highest number of likes were those from the hashtags #hpv and #papillomavirus with 151.33 and 78.00 likes/post, respectively. The majority of posts presented less than 05 comments/post, except for the #hpv, which had 64.76 comments/post. According to the users’ profiles, the majority of the posts, regardless of the hashtag used, were made by health professionals. Conclusion: The focus of Instagram posts about cervical cancer is on secondary prevention, which can contribute to the promotion of health behaviours not directed to aspects of primary prevention of the disease.     

银杏叶提取物对体外循环细胞因子的干预作用

目的：探讨体外循环脑损伤的发生机制及银杏叶提取物的干预作用．方法：选择44例心脏病需体外循环手术的风湿性心脏瓣膜病患者,随机分为观察组和对照组,每组22例．观察组在体外循环予充液中加入银杏叶提取物2mg／kg体质量,对照组应用常规予充液．分别在术前、主动脉阻断后1h,术后6,12,24和48h抽取静脉血标本,检测血清IL-1β,IL-18和S100蛋白水平．结果：对照组自CPB结束即刻开始,血清IL-1β显著升高,观察组血清IL-1β自主动脉阻断1h开始升高,持续至术后48h,自主动脉阻断1h开始,对照组显著低于观察组．对照组自术后6h开始,血清IL-18持续升高至术后48h,观察组血清IL-18主动脉阻断1h开始,血清IL-18持续升高至术后48h,主动脉阻断1h,对照组血清IL-18低于观察组,但术后6,12,24,48h显著高于观察组．对照组S100蛋白自CPB结束开始升高,持续至实验结束,自主动脉阻断1h开始至术后48h血清S100蛋白水平对照组均显著高于观察组．结论：体外循环心脏直视手术细胞因子IL-18参与脑组织损伤过程,GBE可调节细胞因子,使血清S100蛋白显著降低．