Activation of platelet-activating factor receptor exacerbates renal inflammation and promotes fibrosis.

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a lipid mediator with important pro-inflammatory effects, being synthesized by several cell types including kidney cells. Although there is evidence of its involvement in acute renal dysfunction, its role in progressive kidney injury is not completely known. In the present study, we investigated the role of PAF receptor (PAFR) in an experimental model of chronic renal disease.

14th International Congress on Antiphospholipid Antibodies: task force report on antiphospholipid syndrome treatment trends.

Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) is characterized by vascular thrombosis and/or pregnancy morbidity occurring in patients with persistent antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL). The primary objective of the APS Treatment Trends Task Force, created as part of the 14th International Congress on aPL, was to systematically review the potential future treatment strategies for aPL-positive patients. The task force chose as future clinical research directions: a) determining the necessity for controlled clinical trials in venous thromboembolism with the new oral direct thrombin or anti-factor Xa inhibitors pending the results of the ongoing rivaroxaban in APS (RAPS) trial, and designing controlled clinical trials in other forms of thrombotic APS; b) systematically analyzing the literature as well as aPL/APS registries, and creating specific registries for non-warfarin/heparin anticoagulants; c) increasing recruitment for an ongoing primary thrombosis prevention trial, and designing secondary thrombosis and pregnancy morbidity prevention trials with hydroxychloroquine; d) determining surrogate markers to select patients for statin trials; e) designing controlled studies with rituximab and other anti-B-cell agents; f) designing mechanistic and clinical studies with eculizumab and other complement inhibitors; and g) chemically modifying peptide therapy to improve the half-life and minimize immunogenicity.

Catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome: how to diagnose a rare but highly fatal disease.

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a multisystem autoimmune condition characterized by vascular thromboses and/or pregnancy loss associated with persistently positive antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL). Catastrophic APS (CAPS) is the most severe form of APS with multiple organ involvement developing over a short period of time, usually associated with microthrombosis. 'Definite' and 'probable' CAPS have been defined based on the preliminary classification criteria; however, in a real-world setting, aPL-positive patients with multiple organ thromboses and/or thrombotic microangiopathies exist who do not fulfill these criteria.

Cytokeratin-based CTC counting unrelated to clinical follow up.

Background: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been reported to be a relevant prognostic biomarker in metastatic patients. However, their clinical use and impact is still under debate. We have thus comparatively and kinetically assessed two CTC detection methods according to the patient's clinical follow up.

A rare case of persistent troponin elevation in a patient with chronic heart failure.

We present the case of a woman diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy who suffered a myocardial infarction when she was 28 years old, without coronary artery disease on coronary angiography. Two years later, she presented signs of heart failure and left ventricular systolic dysfunction with persistent troponin I elevation, followed by progressive worsening of ventricular dysfunction.

Noma in an immunocompromised patient.

Noma (also known as cancrum oris) is classified by the World Health Organization as a necrotizing ulcerative stomatitis, an invasive acute infection which affects the orofacial tissues. Patients who are subject to such risk factors as severe malnutrition or alteration of the immune system are predominantly affected. This article presents a case of noma in a 62-year-old immunocompromised patient with pain and tooth mobility in the mandibular region, ulceration, bleeding, gingival inflammatory secretion, and oral malodor.

Synthetic organic compounds with potential for bacterial biofilm inhibition, a path for the identification of compounds interfering with quorum sensing.

New unconventional approaches to the development of antimicrobial drugs must target inhibition of infection stages leading to host colonisation or virulence itself, rather than bacterial viability. Amongst the most promising unconventional targets for the development of new antimicrobial drugs is bacterial adherence and biofilm formation as well as their control system, the quorum-sensing (QS) system, a mechanism of communication used to co-ordinate bacterial activities. Here we describe the evaluation of synthetic organic compounds as bacterial biofilm inhibitors against a panel of clinically relevant Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains.

Takayasu arteritis presenting in the context of active tuberculosis: a pediatric case.

Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a large-vessel vasculitis, most commonly presenting in young adults and more rarely in pediatric patients. An apparent association between TA and Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been noted previously, although this potential relationship is not yet understood. We present the case of a 16-year-old Haitian girl diagnosed with TA, originally presenting in the context of active tuberculosis.

[Acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock: what changed over a 10-year time span?].

Background: Despite improvements in treatment, mortality associated with cardiogenic shock (CS) following acute myocardial infarction remains high.

Aim: To compare two groups of patients admitted with CS over a 10-year time span.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of two patient populations presenting with CS admitted in the periods May 1998-May 2001 (group A) and May 2008-May 2011 (group B).

Effects of agomelatine on oxidative stress in the brain of mice after chemically induced seizures.

Agomelatine is a novel antidepressant drug with melatonin receptor agonist and 5-HT(2C) receptor antagonist properties. We analyzed whether agomelatine has antioxidant properties. Antioxidant activity of agomelatine (25, 50, or 75 mg/kg, i.

Spatial factors play a major role as determinants of endemic ground beetle beta diversity of Madeira Island Laurisilva.

The development in recent years of new beta diversity analytical approaches highlighted valuable information on the different processes structuring ecological communities. A crucial development for the understanding of beta diversity patterns was also its differentiation in two components: species turnover and richness differences. In this study, we evaluate beta diversity patterns of ground beetles from 26 sites in Madeira Island distributed throughout Laurisilva--a relict forest restricted to the Macaronesian archipelagos.

Comparison of the centring ability of the ProTaper™ and ProTaper Universal™ rotary systems for preparing curved root canals.

The aim of this in vitro study was to compare the centring ability of the ProTaper™ and ProTaper Universal™ rotary systems for preparing curved root canals, by means of preoperative and postoperative imaging of a cross-section of their coronal, middle and apical thirds. Twenty mesiobuccal root canals of human mandibular first molars with a degree of curvature ranging from 55° to 60° were randomly divided into two groups of 10 specimens each: Group 1, ProTaper™ rotary system; and Group 2, ProTaper Universal™ rotary system. The data were analysed statistically by Kruskal-Wallis and Student's t-test at the 5% significance level.

Mitochondrial DNA variability in populations of Centris aenea (Hymenoptera, Apidae), a crop-pollinating bee in Brazil.

Centris spp are oil-collecting solitary bees that are valuable pollinators of crops such as Brazil nut, cashew, and acerola. We investigated the genetic variability of populations of C. aenea in the northeastern region of Brazil.

Horizontal root fracture in a maxillary central incisor: a case report.

Horizontal root fractures usually are characterized by a fracture line that is perpendicular to the long axis of the tooth's root. Root fractures are diagnosed through clinical and radiographic examination. Treatment depends on the position of the fracture and the extent of root involvement.

Valuing the Endangered Species Antirrhinum lopesianum: Neuroprotective Activities and Strategies for in vitro Plant Propagation.

Plant phytochemicals are described as possessing considerable neuroprotective properties, due to radical scavenging capacity and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity, important bioactivities in neurodegeneration. Antirrhinum lopesianum is a rare endemism from the Iberian Peninsula, occurring at the northeastern border between Portugal and Spain. It is classified as Endangered, due to its highly fragmented geographical occupation, facing a high risk of extinction in the Portuguese territory, within 20 years.

Association between breastfeeding and the development of breathing patterns in children.

Unlabelled: The aims of the present study were to evaluate the association between breastfeeding and breathing development and to investigate associations between breastfeeding duration and the breathing patterns in children. A cross-sectional study was carried out at the Institute of Integrative Medicine Professor Fernando Figueira, Recife, Brazil, with a random sample of 732 children aged between 6 and 9 years. Breastfeeding and breathing patterns were identified using a questionnaire that was filled out by mothers or guardians, and a clinical examination of the children.

Monocrotaline: histological damage and oxidant activity in brain areas of mice.

This work was designed to study MCT effect in histopathological analysis of hippocampus (HC) and parahippocampal cortex (PHC) and in oxidative stress (OS) parameters in brain areas such as hippocampus (HC), prefrontal cortex (PFC), and striatum (ST). Swiss mice (25-30 g) were administered a single i.p.

Effectiveness of the ProTaper Universal Retreatment™ system for removing a 10-year-old filling material.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the ProTaper Universal Retreatment™ system and the manual technique for removing a 10-year-old filling material.

Methods: Twenty mesiobuccal canals of mandibular first molars with curvature degrees ranging from 20° to 35° were instrumented by the Double-Flared Instrumentation Technique with the NitiFlex files. The root canals were dried with sterile paper points and filled with gutta-percha and a zinc oxide-eugenol-based sealer using a cold lateral condensation technique.

Effect of dopamine and serotonin receptor antagonists on fencamfamine-induced abolition of latent inhibition.

The purpose of this investigation was to verify the role of dopamine and serotonin receptors in the effect of fencamfamine (FCF) on latent inhibition. FCF is a psychomotor stimulant with an indirect dopaminergic action. Latent inhibition is a model of attention.

[Diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cardiac allograft vasculopathy].

The major limitation of long-term survival after cardiac transplantation is allograft vasculopathy, which consists of concentric and diffuse intimal hyperplasia. The disease still has a significant incidence, estimated at 30% five years after cardiac transplantation. It is a clinically silent disease and so diagnosis is a challenge.

Impact of ESC/ACCF/AHA/WHF universal definition of myocardial infarction on mortality at 10 years.

Aims: Redefinition of myocardial infarction (MI) based on specific cardiac troponins (cTn) was universally accepted in 2007. The new definition has been widely discussed for including a large spectrum of quantitative myocardial necrosis and their clinical implications remain under debate. Our aim was to assess the impact of the universal definition of MI on mortality at 10 years.

Oxidative stress and epilepsy: literature review.

Backgrounds: The production of free radicals has a role in the regulation of biological function, cellular damage, and the pathogenesis of central nervous system conditions. Epilepsy is a highly prevalent serious brain disorder, and oxidative stress is regarded as a possible mechanism involved in epileptogenesis. Experimental studies suggest that oxidative stress is a contributing factor to the onset and evolution of epilepsy.

Nuclear inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate is a necessary and conserved signal for the induction of both pathological and physiological cardiomyocyte hypertrophy.

It is well established that inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) dependent Ca(2+) signaling plays a crucial role in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. However, it is not yet known whether nuclear IP3 represents a Ca(2+) mobilizing pathway involved in this process. The goal of the current work was to investigate the specific role of nuclear IP3 in cardiomyocyte hypertrophic response.

The combined dexamethasone/TSST paradigm--a new method for psychoneuroendocrinology.

The two main physiological systems involved in the regulation of the stress response are the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). However, the interaction of these systems on the stress response remains poorly understood. To better understand the cross-regulatory effects of the different systems involved in stress regulation, we developed a new stress paradigm that keeps the activity of the HPA constant when exposing subjects to psychosocial stress.