Distribution of intracellular Ca-ATPases in the mouse retina and their involvement in light-induced cone degeneration.

Calcium signalling is involved in many processes in mammalian retina, from development to mature functions and neurodegeneration. Although proteins involved in Ca entry in retinal cells have been well studied, less is known about Ca-clearance. Among the Ca pumps, plasma membrane Ca-ATPases (PMCAs) have been identified as key proteins extruding Ca across the plasma membrane with specific distribution in developing and adult retina.

[Prognostic value of granular pattern of growth hormone secreting tumors].

Background: Classification of growth hormone (GH) - secreting tumors by the granular pattern might predict their clinical behavior in acromegalic patients. There are several other prognostic factors.

Aim: To compare the features at presentation and cure rates of patients with GH secreting tumors according to the granular pattern, and to define independent prognostic factors for surgical treatment in these patients.

Depressive symptoms are associated with higher morning plasma cortisol in primary care subjects.

Background: Cortisol dysregulation has a potential role in depression.

Aim And Methods: We evaluated depressive symptoms using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression in 48 primary care subjects without history of previous or current depression and its association with cortisol dysregulation (morning plasma cortisol, 24-hour urinary free cortisol and cortisol metabolites). Presence of metabolic syndrome and inflammatory parameters were also assessed.

Thyroid Microcalcifications in the Absence of Identifiable Nodules and Their Association With Thyroid Cancer.

Objectives: To determine ultrasound (US) and clinical findings of thyroid microcalcifications in the absence of a nodule and their association with the risk of malignancy.

Methods: The Institutional Review Board approved a 5-year retrospective study. Twenty-one patients with clustered or scattered thyroid microcalcifications in the absence of nodules on US images who underwent fine-needle aspiration biopsies (FNABs) were included.

Bupropion induces social anxiety in adolescent mice: Influence of housing conditions.

Background: The antidepressant bupropion has received increasing attention as a pharmacological tool to treat addiction although little is known about its effects on social behaviour in adolescents. The present study aimed to evaluate if environmental housing conditions influence bupropion's actions on social behaviour of adolescent mice.

Methods: Mice were either group- or individually housed for 2-weeks and then randomly divided into 2 cohorts: half of the mice remained in the initial housing condition and the other half were changed to isolated conditions for further 2-weeks.

Adolescent and adult mice display differential sensitivity to the effects of bupropion on the acquisition of a water maze task.

Background: Adolescence is characterized by major neurobiological changes, and the effects of some psychoactive drugs seem to differ between adolescents and adults. Bupropion, an antidepressant that is also used to treat nicotine addiction, induces behavioral actions in both adolescent and adult rodents. However, the effects of this drug on spatial ability have not been compared in animals at different stages of their development.

Usefulness and Pitfalls in Sodium Intake Estimation: Comparison of Dietary Assessment and Urinary Excretion in Chilean Children and Adults.

Background: High sodium intake has been associated with various noncommunicable disease like hypertension, cardiovascular disease, or stroke. To estimate accurately sodium intake is challenging in clinical practice. We investigate the usefulness and limitations of assessing sodium intake simultaneously by dietary assessment and urinary samples in both children and adults.

[Selective use of glucocorticoids during the perioperative period of transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary tumors].

Background: There is consensus in promoting the selective use of glucocorticoids (GC) in the peri-operative period of transsphenoidal surgery (TE) for pituitary adenomas (PA).

Aim: To evaluate the safety of a selective glucocorticoid administration protocol and the usefulness of immediate postoperative cortisol levels as a predictor of final eucortisolism.

Patients And Methods: Clinical and biochemical data from 40 patients aged 27 to 78 years (65% males) were prospectively collected.

The Expression of RAC1 and Mineralocorticoid Pathway-Dependent Genes are Associated With Different Responses to Salt Intake.

Background: Rac1 upregulation has been implicated in salt-sensitive hypertension as a modulator of mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) activity. Rac1 could affect the expression of oxidative stress markers, such as hemoxigenase-1 (HO-1) or nuclear factor-B (NF-κB), and the expression of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), a cytokine upregulated upon MR activation.

Aim: We evaluated RAC1 expression in relation of high salt intake and association with MR, NGAL, HO-1, and NF-κB expression, mineralo- and glucocorticoids levels, and inflammatory parameters.

Aggressive tumors and difficult choices in acromegaly.

Purpose: The current article looks at some of the factors associated with pituitary adenomas displaying unusually aggressive biological and clinical behaviour in patients with acromegaly.

Methods: This was a retrospective, narrative review of previously published evidence chosen at the authors' discretion and presented from the perspective of a Latin American case study.

Findings And Conclusions: Although most pituitary tumors in acromegalic patients are benign and non-aggressive many can behave more aggressively, compromising local surrounding structures.

The role of primary pharmacological therapy in acromegaly.

Background And Objectives: Primary pharmacological therapy may be the only viable treatment option for many patients with acromegaly, especially those presenting with advanced disease with large inoperable tumors. Long-acting somatostatin analogs are currently the first-line treatment of choice in this setting, where they provide biochemical control and reduce tumor size in a significant proportion of patients. We herein present a brief overview of the role of primary pharmacological therapy in the treatment of acromegaly within the context of Latin America and support this with a representative case study.

Bupropion induced changes in exploratory and anxiety-like behaviour in NMRI male mice depends on the age.

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of the antidepressant bupropion on anxiety and novelty-seeking in adolescent mice of different ages and adults. Behavioural differences between early adolescent, late adolescent and adult NMRI mice were measured both in the elevated plus-maze and the hole-board tasks following acute administration of bupropion (5, 10, 15, 20mg/kg) or saline. In the plus maze test, early and late adolescent mice treated with bupropion (10, 15mg/kg, respectively) had lower percentages of entries in the open-arms compared to their vehicle controls.

Effects of Alcohol, Coffee, and Tobacco, Alone or in Combination, on Physiological Parameters and Anxiety in a Young Population.

Objective: The objective was to evaluate the effects of a single dose of alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine, alone or in combination, on physiological parameters (systolic and diastolic blood pressure [SBP and DBP] and heart rate [HR]) and state-trait anxiety in healthy young volunteers.

Method: The procedure reproduces the conditions under which the subjects (=76) usually ingest alcohol (through an alcoholic beverage), caffeine (through a cup of coffee), and nicotine (by smoking a cigarette), separately or in combination, according to their consumption habits of each individual. SBP and DBP, HR, and state anxiety (SA) were registered before (phase 1) and after (phase 2) treatment.

Sequential hormonal changes in 21 patients with recurrent Cushing's disease after successful pituitary surgery.

Objective: To describe the sequence of hormonal changes during recurrence of Cushing's disease (CD) after successful transsphenoidal surgery (TSS).

Design: Retrospective study in a single center.

Patients And Methods: We studied 101 of the 127 patients treated by TSS for CD between 1996 and 2009, who had hypocortisolism or eucortisolism for at least 3 months post-TSS.

Simultaneous cell death and upregulation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 expression in early postnatal mouse retina.

Purpose: Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-1 is a nuclear enzyme that transfers ADP-ribose units (PAR polymer) to nuclear proteins and has been implicated in caspase-independent cell death in different models of retinal degeneration. The involvement of PARP-1 in cell death occurring during normal postnatal development of the mouse retina was investigated. In addition, the expression of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF), a caspase-independent cell death mediator, was explored because PARP-1 activation has been related to the translocation of a 57-kDa form of AIF into the cell nucleus.

Individual differences in novelty-seeking and behavioral responses to nicotine: a review of animal studies.

Individual differences in the behavioral responses to a novel environment have been proposed as a research tool to predict responsiveness to other behavioral tasks, response to certain events and individual vulnerability to nicotine addiction. In rats and mice, novelty seeking (defined as enhanced specific exploration of novel situations) is a complex behavior confirmed by a large body of neurochemical, endocrinological and behavioral data. We review the main standardized procedures employed to measure the novelty seeking trait in rodents and the ontogeny of this behavior throughout the life-span taking into account that novelty seeking can be permanently modified as a consequence of particular early experiences, maternal care, and environmental enrichment.

Primary pituitary lymphoma in immunocompetent patient: diagnostic problems and prolonged follow-up.

Primary pituitary lymphoma in immunocompetent patients is a rare disease and has been described in less than 20 cases. Moreover, low-grade lymphomas constitute only 3% of all primary central nervous system lymphoma. The objective of this report is to report a low-grade primary pituitary lymphoma, diagnostic problems and to give more evidence about the evolution of this rare disease.

Midnight salivary cortisol determination for assessing the outcome of transsphenoidal surgery in Cushing's disease.

Context: Midnight salivary cortisol (MSC) is now recognized as a reliable index for Cushing's syndrome diagnosis but has to be validated for the follow-up of treated patients.

Objective: Our objective was to evaluate MSC for assessing the outcome of transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) in patients with Cushing's disease (CD).

Design: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in a single center.

Latissimus dorsi transfer for the treatment of massive tears of the rotator cuff.

The objective of this paper was to determine the outcome of the transfer of the latissimus dorsi tendon in patients with massive irreparable rotator cuff tears. Eighteen patients of mean age 54 years (range 37-72 years) with massive irreparable rotator cuff tears were studied. The mean follow-up was 28 months (range 12-58 months).

Effects of bupropion, alone or coadministered with nicotine, on social behavior in mice.

Bupropion, administered alone or combined with nicotine, is presently used to treat nicotine dependence. Despite experimental evidence of the complex behavioral actions of this drug, there have been little data reported about its effects on social behavior. Our main aim was to investigate the effects of acute administration of bupropion, alone or plus nicotine, on social interaction in mice.

Impact of preoperative ultrasonographic staging of the neck in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Objective: To determine the frequency of occult macroscopic metastasis detected by preoperative US evaluation of the neck in patients with PTC. Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is a malignancy with a high rate of lymph node metastasis. The findings of routine thyroid ultrasonography (US) and physical examination may underestimate metastatic disease.

Melanotic nonpsammomatous trigeminal schwannoma as the first manifestation of Carney complex: case report.

Objective: Melanotic schwannoma is a rare neoplasm, classifiable as a peripheral nerve sheath tumor, and differentiated from a typical schwannoma by heavy pigmentation. Psammoma bodies can be visualized in more than 50% of melanotic schwannomas. Half of patients with such "psammomatous melanotic schwannomas" have Carney complex, a dominantly transmitted autosomal disorder.

[Results of treatment for acromegaly in 53 patients: it is time of intervention].

Background: The treatment of choice for acromegaly is surgery that, according to the literature, is curative in 91% of pituitary microadenomas and 73% of macroadenomas.

Aim: To report the results of surgical treatment in 53 patients with acromegaly.

Material And Methods: Retrospective review of medical records of all patients with acromegaly, operated between 1984 and 2004.

Neuroprotective effects of behavioural training and nicotine on age-related deficits in spatial learning.

Studies in humans and animals show a clear decline in spatial memory with age and several approaches have been adopted to alleviate this impairment. The purpose of our review is to assess the studies that have suggested the possible neuroprotective actions of behavioural training and nicotine-applied both independently and in conjunction-on age-related deficits in spatial learning. Both spatial pretraining and nonspatial experiences influence an animal's performance in spatial tasks.