Anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic, and antioxidant activity of fluoxetine.

Fluoxetine is a selective serotonin uptake inhibitor that has been widely used to determine the neurotransmission of serotonin in the central nervous system. This substance has emerged as the drug of choice for the treatment of depression due to is safer profile, fewer side effects, and greater tolerability. Studies have found the following important functions of fluoxetine related to the central nervous system: neuroprotection; anti-inflammatory properties similar to standard drugs for the treatment of inflammatory conditions; antioxidant properties, contributing to its therapeutic action and an important intracellular mechanism underlying the protective pharmacological effects seen in clinical practice in the treatment of different stress-related adverse health conditions; and antiapoptotic properties, with greater neuron survival and a reduction in apoptosis mediators as well as oxidative substances, such as superoxide dismutase and hydrogen peroxide.

Abdominal muscle electrical activity during labor expulsive stage: a cross-sectional study.

Background: During the second stage of labor, the progression of the fetal expulsion depends on many factors related to maternal and fetal parameters, including the voluntary abdominal pushing.

Objectives: This study aimed to correlate the maternal and fetal parameters that may influence the voluntary maternal pushes during the second stage of labor by using surface electromyography.

Methods: The electromyographic activity of the rectus abdominis and external oblique muscles were measured during the second stage of labor in 24 Brazilian pregnant women.