Ascaris–Trichuris association and malnutrition in Brazilian children

This work was designed to evaluate the role of intestinal parasites on nutritional status in three rural areas of Brazil. A total of 520 children aged 1–12 years were studied through a questionnaire concerning housing, socio-economic conditions and a 24-h food intake recall. Measurements of weight and height were also performed, and three stool samples were collected on consecutive days for parasitological analysis. Scores of the standard deviation (z-scores) for the weight-for-height and height-for-age were used to characterise the growth profile. A high prevalence of intestinal parasites was detected, with Giardia lamblia (44%), Endolimax nana (43%), Ascaris lumbricoides (41%) and Trichuris trichiura (40%) being the most prevalent. Eleven per cent of the children were classified as showing stunting. Inadequate daily caloric intake was observed in 78% of the population and the proportion of those with inadequate protein intake was 34%. Logistic regression analysis was employed for the multivariate study. Stunting was significantly associated with estimators of low economic income, inadequate protein intake and polyparasitism, especially the association between Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura .     

Seizure's outcome after cortical resections including the face and tongue rolandic areas in patients with refractory epilepsy and normal MRI submitted to subdural grids' implantation

PURPOSE: To study the seizure's outcome in patients with refractory epilepsy and normal MRI submitted to resections including the rolandic cortex. METHODS: Four adult patients were studied. All patients had motor or somatosensory simple partial seizures and normal MRI and were submitted to subdural grids' implantation with extensive coverage of the cortical convexity (1 in the non-dominant and 3 in the dominant hemisphere). RESULTS: ECoG was able to define focal areas of seizures' onset in every patient. All patients were submitted to resection of the face and tongue motor and sensitive cortex; two patients had resections including the perirolandic cortex and 2 had additional cortical removals. Three patients are seizures' free and one had a greater then 90% reduction in seizure frequency. CONCLUSION: Resections including the face and tongue rolandic cortex can be safely performed even within the dominant hemisphere.     

hCG-secreting pineal teratoma causing precocious puberty: report of two patients and review of the literature

Two boys are described with precocious puberty (PP) due to pineal immature teratoma associated with choriocarcinoma. Patient 1 was a 7 year-old boy with a 2-year history of PP. He had elevated CSF and plasma beta-hCG levels. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a 3.0 cm pineal mass. He was initially submitted to a trial with radiotherapy, followed by radical surgical resection, stereotactic radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Long-term follow up included the appearance of acute hydrocephalus requiring CSF shunting, local hemorrhage and extensive radionecrosis. Death occurred 1.5 years after diagnosis. Patient 2 was a 7 year-old boy with an 8-month history of PP. He had elevated CSF and plasma beta-hCG and alpha-fetoprotein levels. MRI showed a 1.0 cm pineal mass. He was submitted to radical surgical resection (which caused normalization of levels of markers) and prophylactic chemotherapy. The boy is doing well 1.5 years after diagnosis. An extensive review of the literature corroborates the idea that this last treatment paradigm (surgery and chemotherapy) probably represents the best treatment regimen for these patients.     

Neurotoxicity of two Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (cyanobacteria) strains to mice, Daphnia, and fish

In recent decades, toxic cyanobacterial blooms have become frequent in the drinking water supply and have caused serious deleterious effects to domestic and wild animals, as well as to humans. Two strains of the cyanobacterium species Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (T2 and T3) were isolated from the Billings Reservoir (S?o Paulo, Brazil) and cultured in the laboratory for use in acute toxicity tests with mice, micro crustaceans, and fish. The results showed high toxicity of both strains in mouse bioassays (median lethal dose [LD50]; 24 h?=?9.6 and 27 mg/kg; intraperitoneal injections). The symptomatology presented by mice was typical of neurotoxicosis, such as trembling, ataxia, convulsions and death by respiratory arrest. Acute and chronic effects were observed in Daphnia similis and Ceriodaphnia dubia, such as immobilization and reduced fitness, respectively. Although acute effects were not detected on the adult fish Danio rerio, chronic toxicity was observed for its larval stage. Although both strains showed high toxicity to all organisms, no consistent pattern was seen between the different bioassays and strains. The results also showed that C. raciborskii toxins are stable to heat and to extreme pH variations. Because of high toxicity of these strains and the potential risk to human health, the authors propose a revision of the legislation regarding safety factors for drinking water supply.     

Maternal age affects the relationship of basal FSH and anti-Müllerian hormone concentrations with post-ICSI/IVF live birth

Research questionDoes the association of basal FSH and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentrations with post-IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) live birth change with maternal age?DesignA total of 2003 IVF/ICSI patients were stratified according to basal FSH/AMH in concordant favourable (CF; AMH >1 ng/ml and FSH ≤10 IU/l), concordant unfavourable (CU; AMH ≤1 ng/ml and FSH >10 IU/l), discordant with favourable AMH (DFA) and discordant with favourable FSH (DFF) groups, as well as according to age in pre-advanced maternal age (pre-AMA; <35), AMA-1 (≥35, ≤37), AMA-2 (>37, ≤40) and AMA-3 (>40). IVF/ICSI outcomes were compared among CF, CU, DFA and DFF groups, and the association of basal FSH and AMH concentrations with live birth was tested by univariate and multivariate analysis in total, pre-AMA and AMA groups, separately.ResultsDifferent outcome patterns were observed in discordant AMH/FSH groups from different age categories; favourable basal FSH concentrations were associated with higher delivery rates in pre-AMA patients, but with lower delivery rates in AMA groups. Within pre-AMA patients, DFF patients presented higher delivery rates but lower oocyte yield compared with DFA patients. In the univariate analysis, favourable AMH (P < 0.02) and oocyte yield (P < 0.002) were positively associated with live birth in all AMA groups. The multivariate analysis revealed that favourable basal FSH, but not AMH or oocyte yield, is associated with live birth in pre-AMA patients independently of other variables (P = 0.012).ConclusionsThe relationship of basal FSH and AMH with IVF/ICSI success changes with maternal age; basal FSH better reflects clinical outcomes probably determined by oocyte quality in pre-AMA patients, while AMH better suits AMA patients.     

The fibroblast growth factor family: involvement in the regulation of folliculogenesis

Several growth factors have been identified as local regulators of follicle development and ovulation. Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family members are potent mitogens and are involved in cell differentiation, cell migration and angiogenesis in many tissues and organs. In addition to FGF-2, which is the most-studied FGF, other important members are FGF-1, -5, -7, -8, -9 and -10. A number of studies have indicated that FGFs play important roles in regulating the initiation of primordial follicle growth, oocyte and follicle survival, granulosa and theca cell proliferation and differentiation, corpus luteum formation, steroidogenesis and angiogenesis. The purpose of this review is to highlight the importance of the FGFs on mammalian female reproduction, providing a better understanding of the roles of this family in ovarian physiology and female fertility.     

Regulation of angiotensin type 2 receptor in bovine granulosa cells

Angiotensin II (AngII) is best known for its role in blood pressure regulation, but it also has documented actions in the reproductive system. There are two AngII receptors, type 1 (AGTR1) and type 2 (AGTR2). AGTR2 mediates the noncardiovascular effects of AngII and is expressed in the granulosa cell layer in rodents and is associated with follicle atresia. In contrast, expression of AGTR2 is reported to occur only in theca cells in cattle. The objective of the present study was to determine whether AngII also plays a role in follicle atresia in cattle. RT-PCR demonstrated AGTR2 mRNA in both granulosa and theca cells of bovine follicles. The presence of AGTR2 protein was confirmed by immunofluorescence. Abundance of AGTR2 mRNA in granulosa cells was higher in healthy compared with atretic follicles, whereas in theca cells, it did not change. Granulosa cells were cultured in serum-free medium, and treatment with hormones that increase estradiol secretion (FSH, IGF-I, and bone morphogenetic protein-7) increased AGTR2 mRNA and protein levels, whereas fibroblast growth factors inhibited estradiol secretion and AGTR2 protein levels. The addition of AngII or an AGTR2-specific agonist to granulosa cells in culture did not affect estradiol secretion or cell proliferation but inhibited abundance of mRNA encoding serine protease inhibitor E2, a protein involved in tissue remodeling. Because estradiol secretion is a major marker of nonatretic granulosa cells, these data suggest that AngII is not associated with follicle atresia in cattle but may have other specific roles during follicle growth.     

Quality of life of patients after epilepsy surgery]

Drug resistant epilepsy impairs patients' quality of life making social interaction more difficult. Surgical treatment is an option for seizure control in medically refractory patients. We evaluated pre-operative and post-operative quality of life using a standardized questionnaire based on the QOLIE-10. The questionnaire included ten questions dealing with psychosocial and drug's side effects and was applied before surgery and eight months post-operatively. The studied sample comprised twelve consecutive adult patients with epilepsy treated surgically who were seizure free. Differences were found between the pre-operative and post-operative periods in 70% of the questions, with a better post-operative profile. Successful epilepsy surgery has a great impact in the quality of life of these patients.