Follow-up of cognitive impairment and inflammatory profile in individuals with mild COVID-19.

Individuals who experience mild COVID-19 can suffer from long-lasting cognitive symptoms. Notably, 26% of these individuals experience difficulties with visuospatial abilities six months after infection. However, among those who initially exhibited visuoconstructive impairments, 66% showed improvement or complete reversal over time.

Selective visuoconstructional impairment following mild COVID-19 with inflammatory and neuroimaging correlation findings.

People recovered from COVID-19 may still present complications including respiratory and neurological sequelae. In other viral infections, cognitive impairment occurs due to brain damage or dysfunction caused by vascular lesions and inflammatory processes. Persistent cognitive impairment compromises daily activities and psychosocial adaptation.

HLA-DRB1 GENE POLYMORPHISMS IN PEDIATRIC PATIENTS WITH TYPE 1 AUTOIMMUNE HEPATITIS AND TYPE 1 AUTOIMMUNE HEPATITIS OVERLAP SYNDROME WITH AUTOIMMUNE CHOLANGITIS.

Background: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a rare chronic inflammatory liver disease associated with a loss of immunological tolerance to self-antigens. Susceptibility to AIH is partially determined by the presence of genes related to human leukocyte antigen (HLA), mainly allelic variants of DRB1.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequencies of the polymorphisms in HLA-DRB1 gene in children and adolescents with type 1 AIH and type 1 AIH overlap syndrome with autoimmune cholangitis (overlap syndrome, OS) in comparison to healthy sex and age-matched individuals (control group).

Circulating CD4 and CD8 T cells expressing pro-inflammatory cytokines in a cohort of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients with hippocampal sclerosis.

Objective: To compare the proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine expression profile of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T lymphocytes between drug resistant mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (mTLE) patients and healthy subjects.

Methods: mTLE patients were enrolled at the Neurology Center of Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Belo Horizonte (SCM-BH) and healthy volunteers were selected at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Individuals from both groups accepted to participate in this study and signed an informed consent.

Analysis of telomere attrition in bipolar disorder.

Background: Telomeres can be considered a marker of biological aging. Studies have suggested that telomere shortening may be associated with aging related diseases and also psychiatric disorders.

Objectives: Investigate whether bipolar disorder (BD) and its clinical specificities are associated with telomere shortening.

Glycine transporters type 1 inhibitor promotes brain preconditioning against NMDA-induced excitotoxicity.

Brain preconditioning is a protective mechanism, which can be activated by sub-lethal stimulation of the NMDA receptors (NMDAR) and be used to achieve neuroprotection against stroke and neurodegenerative diseases models. Inhibitors of glycine transporters type 1 modulate glutamatergic neurotransmission through NMDAR, suggesting an alternative therapeutic strategy of brain preconditioning. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of brain preconditioning induced by NFPS, a GlyT1 inhibitor, against NMDA-induced excitotoxicity in mice hippocampus, as well as to study its neurochemical mechanisms.

Association of angiotensin type 2 receptor gene polymorphisms with ureteropelvic junction obstruction in Brazilian patients.

Aim: The angiotensin type 2 (AT2 ) receptor takes part in the process of ureteric bud during kidney development. Therefore, the gene encoding AT2 receptor, the AGTR2 gene located in the X chromosome, is a potential candidate for genetic association with Congenital Anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract (CAKUT). This study aimed to investigate whether AGTR2 gene polymorphisms are associated with CAKUT in general or even with common phenotypes of CAKUT in a Brazilian sample of paediatric patients.

NCS-1 deficiency causes anxiety and depressive-like behavior with impaired non-aversive memory in mice.

Sensing and regulating intracellular levels of calcium are essential for proper cellular function. In neurons, calcium sensing plays important roles in neuronal plasticity, neurotransmitter release, long-term synapse modification and ion channel activity. Neuronal calcium sensor-1 (NCS-1) is a member of the highly conserved neuronal calcium sensor family.

Sociodemographic characteristics, clinical factors, and genetic polymorphisms associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: Alzheimer's disease (AD) has a multifactorial etiology involving an interaction of genetic and environmental factors. The Apolipoprotein E ε4 (ApoE ε4) is the single most important genetic risk factor for sporadic AD. Our aim was to study the association between sociodemographic, clinical data and gene polymorphisms in patients with sporadic AD in a heterogeneous genomic Brazilian population with low educational levels.

Molecular medicine: a path towards a personalized medicine.

Psychiatric disorders are among the most common human illnesses; still, the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying their complex pathophysiology remain to be fully elucidated. Over the past 10 years, our group has been investigating the molecular abnormalities in major signaling pathways involved in psychiatric disorders. Recent evidences obtained by the Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Medicina Molecular (National Institute of Science and Technology - Molecular Medicine, INCT-MM) and others using behavioral analysis of animal models provided valuable insights into the underlying molecular alterations responsible for many complex neuropsychiatric disorders, suggesting that "defects" in critical intracellular signaling pathways have an important role in regulating neurodevelopment, as well as in pathophysiology and treatment efficacy.