Drebrin expression patterns in patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy and hippocampal sclerosis.

Objective: Drebrins are crucial for synaptic function and dendritic spine development, remodeling, and maintenance. In temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients, a significant hippocampal synaptic reorganization occurs, and synaptic reorganization has been associated with hippocampal hyperexcitability. This study aimed to evaluate, in TLE patients, the hippocampal expression of drebrin using immunohistochemistry with DAS2 or M2F6 antibodies that recognize adult (drebrin A) or adult and embryonic (pan-drebrin) isoforms, respectively.

Effects of angiotensin (5-8) microinfusions into the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray on defensive behaviors in rats.

Peptides of the renin-angiotensin system modulate blood pressure and hydro-electrolyte composition. Angiotensin (Ang) receptors are localized in brain areas related to the regulation of autonomic and endocrine control and involved in sensory perception, memory process and behavioral responses. Among these areas, the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG) is one of the most important structures of the neuronal circuitry controlling the autonomic and behavioral components of emotional states.

Myosins and DYNLL1/LC8 in the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) brain.

Honey bees have brain structures with specialized and developed systems of communication that account for memory, learning capacity and behavioral organization with a set of genes homologous to vertebrate genes. Many microtubule- and actin-based molecular motors are involved in axonal/dendritic transport. Myosin-Va is present in the honey bee Apis mellifera nervous system of the larvae and adult castes and subcastes.

Immunolocalization of nitric oxide synthase isoforms in human archival and rat tissues, and cultured cells.

Nitric oxide (NO) exerts important physiological and pathological roles in humans. The study of NO requires the immunolocalization of its synthesizing enzymes, neuronal, endothelial and inducible NO synthases (NOS). NOS are labile to formalin-fixation and paraffin-embedding, which are used to prepare human archival tissues.

Comparative analysis of two immunohistochemical methods for antigen retrieval in the optical lobe of the honeybee Apis mellifera: myosin-V assay.

The present study compared two heating methods currently used for antigen retrieval (AR) immunostaining: the microwave oven and the steam cooker. Myosin-V, a molecular motor involved in vesicle transport, was used as a neuronal marker in honeybee Apis mellifera brains fixed in formalin. Overall, the steam cooker showed the most satisfactory AR results.

Assessment of vitamin A nutritional status in newborn preterm infants.

Objective: This study assessed the vitamin A nutritional status of preterm infants determined by the vitamin A relative dose-response test (RDR) compared with serum levels of vitamin A, retinol-binding protein (RBP), transthyretin (TTR), and retinol relations with carrier proteins.

Methods: Serum levels of retinol, RBP, and TTR and retinol/RBP, retinol/TTR, and RBP/TTR molar ratios were determined in 120 infants at 7 d and in 92 at 28 d. For the determination of the performance of the tests, the RDR was considered the reference method.

Histological composition and progression of carotid plaque.

Background: To analyse histological composition and progression of carotid plaque.

Methods: Thirty-one patients (22 males, mean age 68.03 +/- 7.

Ultrasonic tissue characterization of vulnerable carotid plaque: correlation between videodensitometric method and histological examination.

Background: To establish the correlation between quantitative analysis based on B-mode ultrasound images of vulnerable carotid plaque and histological examination of the surgically removed plaque, on the basis of a videodensitometric digital texture characterization.

Methods: Twenty-five patients (18 males, mean age 67 +/- 6.9 years) admitted for carotid endarterectomy for extracranial high-grade internal carotid artery stenosis (> or = 70% luminal narrowing) underwent to quantitative ultrasonic tissue characterization of carotid plaque before surgery.

Lectin KM+-induced neutrophil haptotaxis involves binding to laminin.

The lectin KM+ from Artocarpus integrifolia, also known as artocarpin, induces neutrophil migration by haptotaxis. The interactions of KM+ with both the extracellular matrix (ECM) and neutrophils depend on the lectin ability to recognize mannose-containing glycans. Here, we report the binding of KM+ to laminin and demonstrate that this interaction potentiates the KM+-induced neutrophil migration.

The novel lectin KM+ detects a specific subset of mannosyl-glycoconjugates in the rat cerebellum.

KM+ is a D(+)mannose-specific lectin with a carbohydrate structure-affinity relationship different from those of most mannose-binding lectins. KM+ elicits carbohydrate-dependent biological effects in several mammalian cell types, but it has not yet been employed as a probe for the detection of its specific ligands. We show here for the first time the screening and partial identification of cerebellar mannosyl-glycoconjugates recognized by KM+, by means of lectin-histochemistry and lectin-blotting.

Modulation of eosinophil migration from bone marrow to lungs of allergic rats by nitric oxide.

Chronic blockade of nitric oxide (NO) synthesis attenuates the eosinophil infiltration into airways of allergic rats. This study was designed to investigate whether the inhibition of eosinophil influx to the lung of allergic rats reflects modifications in the pattern of cell mobilization from the bone marrow to peripheral blood and/or to lung. Male Wistar rats were treated with N(omega)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME; 20mg/rat per day) for 4 weeks and sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA).

Microinjection of renin-angiotensin system peptides in discrete sites within the rat periaqueductal gray matter elicits antinociception.

The intracerebroventricular administration of renin substrate or angiotensin II evokes antinociception in rodents, but the brain sites where most of the renin-angiotensin system peptides act are not yet known. This study describes the antinociceptive effects of microinjecting porcine renin substrate tetradecapeptide (RS) or angiotensins I (AI), II (AII) or III (AIII) into different regions of the periaqueductal gray matter (PAG), using the rat tail flick test. All the above peptides were effective following administration into several PAG regions.

High-performance liquid chromatographic separation of renin-angiotensin system peptides and most of their metabolic fragments.

We describe here a gradient HPLC procedure for the separation, and quantification by UV absorption of renin tri- and tetradecapeptide substrates, angiotensins I, II, III, IV and V, angiotensin-derived peptides, and peptidase inhibitors including amastatin, bestatin, pepstatin, lisinopril, a renin peptide inhibitor, Z-Pro-prolinal, N-[1-(R,S)-carboxy-2-phenylethyl]-L-Ala-L-Ala-L-Phe-p-aminobenzoate, and phosphoramidon. Most peptides and peptidase inhibitors were baseline-resolved within 32 min. The overall intra- and inter-assay precisions ranged from 0.

Screening for prolactin isoforms in the follicular fluid of patients undergoing in vitro fertilization.

The purpose of this prospective and non-randomized study was to identify prolactin (PRL) isoforms in the follicular fluid (FF) of patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). The FF from 19 patients was obtained during oocyte retrieval at the University Hospital, Ribeirão Preto Medical School. The molecular weight of FF PRL was determined by column chromatography on Sephacryl S-200 HR combined with an immunometric assay.

Expression of nitric oxide synthases and in vitro migration of eosinophils from allergic rhinitis subjects.

The expression of nitric oxide (NO) synthases and the role of the NO cyclic GMP pathway on the migration of eosinophils from untreated patients with allergic rhinitis were investigated. Inducible NO synthase was strongly expressed in eosinophils from healthy individuals, but not in eosinophils from allergic rhinitis patients. The neuronal isoform was observed in eosinophils from each group studied, whereas no staining for the endothelial isoform was detected in either group.