Treatment with Blackberry Extract and Metformin in Sporadic Alzheimer's Disease Model: Impact on Memory, Inflammation, Redox Status, Phosphorylated Tau Protein and Insulin Signaling.

Natural products offer promising potential for the development of new therapies for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Blackberry fruits are rich in phytochemical compounds capable of modulating pathways involved in neuroprotection. Additionally, drug repurposing and repositioning could also accelerate the development of news treatments for AD.

Spray-chilling system in the initial cooling process of swine half carcasses.

This research was carried out with the objective of evaluating the effects of using a chilling water sprinkler system during the cooling process of swine carcasses on the quantitative and qualitative parameters of carcass and meat. A total of 220 swine carcasses were divided in a completely randomized experiment and two treatments: (1) CONTROL, no water spraying; (2) SPRAY, with water spraying during cooling. Surface and internal temperature of carcasses throughout the cooling process, initial and final pH, and microbiological analyses of carcass surface were evaluated.

Validation and comparison of volume measurements using 1 multidetector computed tomography and 5 cone-beam computed tomography protocols: An in vitro study.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare volume measurements obtained using 2 image software packages on Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) images acquired from 1 multidetector computed tomography and 5 cone-beam computed tomography devices, using different protocols for physical volume measurements.

Materials And Methods: Four pieces of bovine leg were prepared. Marrow was removed from 3 pieces, leaving cortical bone exposed.

Thiazolidin-4-one prevents against memory deficits, increase in phosphorylated tau protein, oxidative damage and cholinergic dysfunction in Alzheimer disease model: Comparison with donepezil drug.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized mostly by memory decline. The current therapeutic arsenal for treating AD is limited, and the available drugs only produce symptomatic benefits, but do not stop disease progression. The search for effective therapeutic alternatives with multitarget actions is therefore imperative.

The BXD21/TyJ recombinant inbred strain as a model for innate inflammatory response in distinct brain regions.

Oxidative stress and inflammatory cytokines affect the human brain, increasing the risk for mood and cognitive disorders. Such risk might be selective to brain-specific regions. Here, we determined whether BXD recombinant inbred (RI) mice strains are more suitable than C57BL/6J mice for the understanding of the relationship between antioxidant response and inflammatory responses.

Post-translational modifications in MeHg-induced neurotoxicity.

Mercury (Hg) exposure remains a major public health concern due to its widespread distribution in the environment. Organic mercurials, such as MeHg, have been extensively investigated especially because of their congenital effects. In this context, studies on the molecular mechanism of MeHg-induced neurotoxicity are pivotal to the understanding of its toxic effects and the development of preventive measures.

The Impact of Purinergic System Enzymes on Noncommunicable, Neurological, and Degenerative Diseases.

Evidences show that purinergic signaling is involved in processes associated with health and disease, including noncommunicable, neurological, and degenerative diseases. These diseases strike from children to elderly and are generally characterized by progressive deterioration of cells, eventually leading to tissue or organ degeneration. These pathological conditions can be associated with disturbance in the signaling mediated by nucleotides and nucleosides of adenine, in expression or activity of extracellular ectonucleotidases and in activation of P2X and P2Y receptors.

Methylmercury Affects the Expression of Hypothalamic Neuropeptides That Control Body Weight in C57BL/6J Mice.

Methylmercury (MeHg) is an environmental pollutant that affects primarily the central nervous system (CNS), causing neurological alterations. An early symptom of MeHg poisoning is the loss of body weight and appetite. Moreover, the CNS has an important role in controlling energy homeostasis.

Oxidative stress, caspase-3 activation and cleavage of ROCK-1 play an essential role in MeHg-induced cell death in primary astroglial cells.

Methylmercury is a toxic environmental contaminant that elicits significant toxicity in humans. The central nervous system is the primary target of toxicity, and is particularly vulnerable during development. Rho-associated protein kinase 1 (ROCK-1) is a major downstream effector of the small GTPase RhoA and a direct substrate of caspase-3.

Cognitive Effects of Intentional Weight Loss in Elderly Obese Individuals With Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Context: Obesity in midlife is a risk factor for dementia, but it is unknown if caloric restriction-induced weight loss could prevent cognitive decline and therefore dementia in elderly patients with cognitive impairment.

Objective: To evaluate the cognitive effect of intentional weight loss in obese elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), considering the influence of age, apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype, physical activity, biochemical markers, and diet.

Design: Single-center, prospective controlled trial.

Atorvastatin Prevents Cognitive Deficits Induced by Intracerebroventricular Amyloid-β1-40 Administration in Mice: Involvement of Glutamatergic and Antioxidant Systems.

Deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides into specific encephalic structures has been pointed as an important event related to Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis and associated with activation of glial cells, neuroinflammation, oxidative responses, and cognitive deficits. Aβ-induced pro-oxidative damage may regulate the activity of glutamate transporters, leading to reduced glutamate uptake and, as a consequence, excitotoxic events. Herein, we evaluated the effects of the pretreatment of atorvastatin, a HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, on behavioral and biochemical alterations induced by a single intracerebroventricular (i.

Long-term and low-dose malathion exposure causes cognitive impairment in adult mice: evidence of hippocampal mitochondrial dysfunction, astrogliosis and apoptotic events.

The organophosphorus (OP) pesticide malathion is a neurotoxic compound whose acute toxicity is primarily caused by the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), leading to cholinergic syndrome-related symptoms. Some lines of evidence indicate that long-term exposure to low levels of OP may produce neuropsychiatric and/or neurobehavioral signs that do not necessarily involve the AChE inhibition. This study evaluated the effects of a repeated (15-day period) and low-dose malathion exposure on spatial memory and discrimination (object location task), as well as on biochemical parameters in the hippocampus of mice [AChE and mitochondrial chain complexes activities; levels of proapoptotic proteins (Bax and Bak) and cholinergic neuronal and astroglial markers (ChAT and GFAP, respectively)].

Methionine stimulates motor impairment and cerebellar mercury deposition in methylmercury-exposed mice.

Methylmercury (MeHg) is a highly toxic environmental contaminant that produces neurological and developmental impairments in animals and humans. Although its neurotoxic properties have been widely reported, the molecular mechanisms by which MeHg enters the cells and exerts toxicity are not yet completely understood. Taking into account that MeHg is found mostly bound to sulfhydryl-containing molecules such as cysteine in the environment and based on the fact that the MeHg-cysteine complex (MeHg-S-Cys) can be transported via the L-type neutral amino acid carrier transport (LAT) system, the potential beneficial effects of L-methionine (L-Met, a well known LAT substrate) against MeHg (administrated as MeHg-S-Cys)-induced neurotoxicity in mice were investigated.

In vivo osteogenesis and in vitro Streptococcus mutans adherence: porous-surfaced cylindrical implants vs rough-surfaced threaded implants.

Purpose: To analyze and compare bone apposition at the interface of commercially available rough-surfaced, threaded implants with porous-surfaced, cylindrical implants after several healing periods in a rabbit model. In addition, the study aimed to elucidate the influence of the implant surface configuration on Streptococcus mutans adherence.

Materials And Methods: Using a powder metallurgy technique, a new method was developed to produce titanium implants with a dense core and porous surface to increase bone-implant contact (BIC).

GABA-A receptor modulators alter emotionality and hippocampal theta rhythm in an animal model of long-lasting anxiety.

The cholinergic system is implicated in emotional regulation. The injection of non-convulsant doses of the muscarinic receptor agonist pilocarpine (PILO) induces long-lasting anxiogenic responses in rats evaluated at different time-points (24h to 3 months). To investigate the underlying mechanisms, rats treated with PILO (150mg/kg) were injected 24h or 1 month later with an anxiolytic (diazepam, 1mg/kg, DZP) or anxiogenic (pentylenetetrazole, 15mg/kg, PTZ) drug and evaluated in the elevated plus-maze (EPM).

Probucol increases striatal glutathione peroxidase activity and protects against 3-nitropropionic acid-induced pro-oxidative damage in rats.

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disease characterized by symptoms attributable to the death of striatal and cortical neurons. The molecular mechanisms mediating neuronal death in HD involve oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Administration of 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP), an irreversible inhibitor of the mitochondrial enzyme succinate dehydrogenase, in rodents has been proposed as a useful experimental model of HD.

[Hospitalization by court order: ethical dilemmas experienced by nurses].

A qualitative study aimed at describing the situations experienced and the ethical dilemmas of nurses in the process of referring and receiving hospitalized patients by court order who require admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). A partially structured interview was conducted with 10 nurses who worked in the ICU and 10 who worked in the Emergency Room (ER) in public and private hospitals in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre, Brazil. The data was analyzed following the Semantic Analysis.

Probucol affords neuroprotection in a 6-OHDA mouse model of Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the degeneration of dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons. Although the etiology of the majority of human PD cases is unknown, experimental evidence points to oxidative stress as an early and causal event. Probucol is a lipid-lowering phenolic compound with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that has been recently reported as protective in neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration models.

Folic acid prevents depressive-like behavior and hippocampal antioxidant imbalance induced by restraint stress in mice.

Experimental and epidemiological studies have shown the close relationship between stressful events, depression, and cognitive impairment. Folic acid has been reported to present antidepressant-like effects in both experimental and clinical approaches. However, the mechanisms mediating such effects are not understood.

A new species of Dorstenia (Moraceae) from southeastern Brazil.

Dorstenia stellaris is a new species from southeastern Brazil. This species is endemic to the region and differs from the others by its star shaped coenanthium and cordiform leaves. A description and illustration of this species is presented here.

Probucol, a lipid-lowering drug, prevents cognitive and hippocampal synaptic impairments induced by amyloid β peptide in mice.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by synaptic loss and cognitive impairments. The presence of extracellular senile plaques (mainly composed of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide) is an important molecular hallmark in AD and neuronal damage has been attributed, at least in part, to Aβ-mediated toxicity. Although the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of AD are not yet completely understood, several lines of evidence indicate that oxidative stress and cholesterol dyshomeostasis play crucial roles in mediating the synaptic loss and cognitive deficits observed in AD patients.

Effects of K074 and pralidoxime on antioxidant and acetylcholinesterase response in malathion-poisoned mice.

The organophosphorus (OP) pesticide malathion is a highly neurotoxic compound and its toxicity is primarily caused by the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), leading to cholinergic syndrome. Although oximes have been used as potential antidotal treatments in malathion poisoning because of their potential capability to reactivate the inhibited enzyme, the clinical experience with the clinically available oximes (e.g.

Effects of traumatic brain injury of different severities on emotional, cognitive, and oxidative stress-related parameters in mice.

Cognitive deficits and psychiatric disorders are significant sequelae of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Animal models have been widely employed in TBI research, but few studies have addressed the effects of experimental TBI of different severities on emotional and cognitive parameters. In this study, mice were subjected to weight-drop TBI to induce mild, intermediate, or severe TBI.