Chronic stress and lithium treatments alter hippocampal glutamate uptake and release in the rat and potentiate necrotic cellular death after oxygen and glucose deprivation.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of chronic variate stress and lithium treatment on glutamatergic activity and neuronal vulnerability of rat hippocampus. Male Wistar rats were simultaneously treated with lithium and submitted to a chronic variate stress protocol during 40 days, and afterwards the hippocampal glutamatergic uptake and release, measured in slices and synaptosomes, were evaluated. We observed an increased synaptosomal [(3)H]glutamate uptake and an increase in [(3)H]glutamate stimulated release in hippocampus of lithium-treated rats.

[Bed-sharing in the first semester of life: prevalence and associated factors].

The aim of this study was to verify the prevalence of bed-sharing and factors associated with this sleeping environment in an urban population in Southern Brazil. This was a cross-sectional nested cohort study with 233 mother-infant pairs selected at the maternity ward of the University Hospital in Porto Alegre. When the infant was 3 and 6 months old, home visits were performed to collect data on bed-sharing and associated variables.

Chronic lithium treatment has antioxidant properties but does not prevent oxidative damage induced by chronic variate stress.

This study evaluated the effects of chronic stress and lithium treatments on oxidative stress parameters in hippocampus, hypothalamus, and frontal cortex. Adult male Wistar rats were divided into two groups: control and submitted to chronic variate stress, and subdivided into treated or not with LiCl. After 40 days, rats were killed, and lipoperoxidation, production free radicals, total antioxidant reactivity (TAR) levels, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities were evaluated.

The nociceptive response of stressed and lithium-treated rats is differently modulated by different flavors.

Pleasant and unpleasant flavors and odors can modulate pain perception, and the efficacy of sweet flavors in reducing pain seems to be related to its hedonic value. Chronic variate stress paradigm is a model of depression, and is suggested to induce anhedonia. We observed previously that lithium may prevent behavioral and neurochemical alterations induced by chronic stress; so we hypothesized that chronically stressed animals may present different nociceptive response to pleasant and unpleasant tastes that could be prevented by lithium treatment.

T- and B-cell ontogeny: an alternative teaching method: T- and B-cell ontogeny game.

Background And Purposes: The game proposed herein stimulates logical thinking and the memorization of complex subject matters in the biomedical field, especially in excessively theoretical disciplines.

Methods: The game consists of an illustrated board with numbered squares, pawns, dice, and a sheet containing questions about the topic. It is played by groups of 6 students and 1 previously trained monitor.