Practices and ethical concerns regarding preimplantation diagnosis. Who regulates preimplantation genetic diagnosis in Brazil?

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) was originally developed to diagnose embryo-related genetic abnormalities for couples who present a high risk of a specific inherited disorder. Because this technology involves embryo selection, the medical, bioethical, and legal implications of the technique have been debated, particularly when it is used to select features that are not related to serious diseases. Although several initiatives have attempted to achieve regulatory harmonization, the diversity of healthcare services available and the presence of cultural differences have hampered attempts to achieve this goal. Thus, in different countries, the provision of PGD and regulatory frameworks reflect the perceptions of scientific groups, legislators, and society regarding this technology. In Brazil, several texts have been analyzed by the National Congress to regulate the use of assisted reproduction technologies. Legislative debates, however, are not conclusive, and limited information has been published on how PGD is specifically regulated. The country requires the development of new regulatory standards to ensure adequate access to this technology and to guarantee its safe practice. This study examined official documents published on PGD regulation in Brazil and demonstrated how little direct oversight of PGD currently exists. It provides relevant information to encourage reflection on a particular regulation model in a Brazilian context, and should serve as part of the basis to enable further reform of the clinical practice of PGD in the country.     

Intracardiac transplantation of a mixed population of bone marrow cells improves both regional systolic contractility and diastolic relaxation.

BACKGROUND: Pre-clinical and clinical studies suggest that transplantation of bone marrow-derived stem cells can improve global cardiac function. However, no quantitative assessment of regional systolic contraction and correlation with phenotype has been made. Therefore, we used our model of cryoinfarcted rabbit myocardium for intracardiac transplantation of a mixed population of bone marrow-derived cells and assessed both regional function and myogenic conversion of the cells. METHODS: Nineteen New Zealand white rabbits underwent cryoinjury of the left ventricle. Autologous bone marrow (BM) cells were expanded in vitro. After 2 weeks, either 1 x 10(8) mixed BM-derived progenitor cells (BM group, n = 11) or vehicle (control group, n = 8) were injected into the cryoinjured region. Regional systolic function was measured using micromanometry and sonomicrometry before and 4 weeks after cell injection; cell phenotype was evaluated histologically. RESULTS: All animals in the BM group significantly improved both systolic shortening (0.11 +/- 0.7 vs -0.05 +/- 0.05 mm in the control group, p < 0.05) and regional stroke work when compared with control (9.6 +/- 2.4 vs -1.2 +/- 1.2 mm . mm Hg, p < 0.003). In addition, the BM group had improved global diastolic function, as measured by minimum dP/dt and end-diastolic pressure. On histologic assessment, BM cells differentiated toward a myogenic phenotype. CONCLUSIONS: Transplanting a mixed population of marrow-derived cells that can adopt a myogenic phenotype improves regional contractility and diastolic relaxation after myocardial infarction.     

Loss of endogenous androgen receptor protein accelerates motor neuron degeneration and accentuates androgen insensitivity in a mouse model of X-linked spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy

Human Molecular     

Quantitative neuropathology by high resolution magic angle spinning proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy

We describe a method that directly relates tissue neuropathological analysis to medical imaging. Presently, only indirect and often tenuous relationships are made between imaging (such as MRI or x-ray computed tomography) and neuropathology. We present a biochemistry-based, quantitative neuropathological method that can help to precisely quantify information provided by in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹HMRS), an emerging medical imaging technique. This method, high resolution magic angle spinning (HRMAS) ¹HMRS, is rapid and requires only small amounts of unprocessed samples. Unlike chemical extraction or other forms of tissue processing, this method analyzes tissue directly, thus minimizing artifacts. We demonstrate the utility of this method by assessing neuronal damage using multiple tissue samples from differently affected brain regions in a case of Pick disease, a human neurodegenerative disorder. Among different regions, we found an excellent correlation between neuronal loss shown by traditional neurohistopathology and decrease of the neuronal marker N-acetylaspartate measured by HRMAS ¹HMRS. This result demonstrates for the first time, to our knowledge, a direct, quantitative link between a decrease in N-acetylaspartate and neuronal loss in a human neurodegenerative disease. As a quantitative method, HRMAS ¹HMRS has potential applications in experimental and clinical neuropathologic investigations. It should also provide a rational basis for the interpretation of in vivo ¹HMRS studies of human neurological disorders.     

Striatal homogenates from animals chronically treated with haloperidol stimulate dopamine and GABA uptake in cultures of rostral mesencephalic tegmentum

The effect of pharmacologic denervation of striatal tissue on the production of growth promoting factors was examined in a cell culture system. Relative to saline-treated controls, rats were rendered behaviorally hypersensitive to a subsequent apomorphine challenge by 2 months of chronic treatment with haloperidol. Four days following chronic treatment, the animals were killed and the striata and cerebella were homogenized in Hank's Balanced Salt solution. The supernatants of these crude homogenates were then added to E-13 rostral mesencephalic tegmentum cultures for 6 days. Within 24 h, the haloperidol-treated striatal supernatants induced an overt increase in culture growth relative to all other supernatants. After 6 days, cultures incubated with haloperidol-treated striatal supernatants exhibited a significant increase in dopamine and GABA uptake relative to cultures incubated with all other supernatants. This effect was observed in the presence and absence of glia. The relative degree of this increased uptake was dependent upon the amount of haloperidol-treated striatal supernatant added. Boiling the supernatant removed the growth promoting effect. These results suggest that pharmacologic denervation of striatal tissue leads to a "target-specific" increase in growth promoting activity that may play a role in the pharmacologic and behavioral effects of haloperidol.