Role of tactile stimulation during the preweaning period on the development of the peripheral sensory sural (SU) nerve in adult artificially reared female rat.

Maternal deprivation, as a result of the artificial rearing (AR) paradigm, disturbs electrophysiological and histological characteristics of the peripheral sensory sural (SU) nerve of infant and adult male rats. Such changes are prevented by providing tactile or social stimulation during isolation. AR also affects the female rat's brain and behavior; however, it is unknown whether this early adverse experience also alters their SU nerve development or if tactile stimulation might prevent these possible developmental effects.

Metal ion content of internal organs in the calorically restricted Wistar rat.

Background: Despite the agreed principle that access to food is a human right, undernourishment and metal ion deficiencies are public health problems worldwide, exacerbated in impoverished or war-affected areas. It is known that maternal malnutrition causes growth retardation and affects behavioral and cognitive development of the newborn. Here we ask whether severe caloric restriction leads per se to disrupted metal accumulation in different organs of the Wistar rat.

Locomotion Outcome Improvement in Mice with Glioblastoma Multiforme after Treatment with Anastrozole.

Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is a tumor that infiltrates several brain structures. GBM is associated with abnormal motor activities resulting in impaired mobility, producing a loss of functional motor independence. We used a GBM xenograft implanted in the striatum to analyze the changes in Y (vertical) and X (horizontal) axis displacement of the metatarsus, ankle, and knee.

Mother and sibling interactions during the preweaning period influence myelination and impulse propagation of the sensory sural nerve in the adult rat.

To investigate whether mother and sibling interactions during the preweaning period influence the histological and electrophysiological characteristics of the sensory sural nerve (SUn) in the adult rat, litters composed of 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 male pups (P) were formed and the pups routinely weighed until postnatal day 60 (PND60). At PND9, 3P and 6P litters showed greater body weight than pups without siblings or from 9P or 12P litters, and such differences in weight were maintained until adulthood. Analysis of maternal licking at PND8 and 9 showed that pups from large litters received fewer licks than pups from small size litters.

Hypothalamic A11 Nuclei Regulate the Circadian Rhythm of Spinal Mechanonociception through Dopamine Receptors and Clock Gene Expression.

Several types of sensory perception have circadian rhythms. The spinal cord can be considered a center for controlling circadian rhythms by changing clock gene expression. However, to date, it is not known if mechanonociception itself has a circadian rhythm.

Heart Rate Variability and Psychometric Analysis in Patients with Hyperactive Heart Fire Syndrome.

Background: Hyperactive heart fire syndrome is characterized by anxiety, insomnia, dream-disturbed sleep, tongue ulcers, heat in the hands, and palpitations. However, syndrome differentiation is often subjective due to a lack of objective, quantifiable variables. Objectives: To identify changes in heart rate variability (HRV) and psychometric analysis in patients with hyperactive heart fire syndrome.

Effects of Ferulic Acid Supplementation on Growth Performance, Carcass Traits and Histochemical Characteristics of Muscle Fibers in Finishing Pigs.

FA dietary supplementation on the growth performance, carcass traits and histochemical characteristics of the muscle from finishing pigs was investigated. Four hundred and twenty pigs were used in this study, and 105 animals (with five replicate pens and 21 pigs per pen) were assigned to one of four treatments: basal diet (BD) without additives (C-); BD + 10 ppm ractopamine hydrochloride + 0.97% lysine (C+); BD + 25 ppm of FA (FA); and BD + 25 ppm of FA + 0.

Day-Night Variations in the Concentration of Neurotransmitters in the Rat Lumbar Spinal Cord.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the light-dark variations in the concentrations of several neurotransmitters in the lumbar spinal cord of rats. Six groups of male Wistar rats were exposed to a 12 h light-12 h dark cycle for 70 days. At different time points of the experimental day (8, 12, 16, 20, 24 and 4 h), one of the groups of rats was randomly selected to be sacrificed, and the spinal cords were removed.

Epicatechin treatment generates resilience to chronic mild stress-induced depression in a murine model.

Several studies have proposed that cocoa products-enriched in flavonoids reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms. (-)-Epicatechin (Epi), a flavonoid present in high concentration in cocoa, has been associated with many dark chocolate effects and has been postulated as an exercise mimetic. Physical exercise is used as an adjuvant treatment for many depressive patients.

Chronic Undernutrition Differentially Changes Muscle Fiber Types Organization and Distribution in the EDL Muscle Fascicles.

Fiber type composition, organization, and distribution are key elements in muscle functioning. These properties can be modified by intrinsic and/or extrinsic factors, such as undernutrition and injuries. Currently, there is no methodology to quantitatively analyze such modifications.

Single vs. Combined Therapeutic Approaches in Rats With Chronic Spinal Cord Injury.

The regenerative capability of the central nervous system is limited after traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) due to intrinsic and extrinsic factors that inhibit spinal cord regeneration, resulting in deficient functional recovery. It has been shown that strategies, such as pre-degenerated peripheral nerve (PPN) grafts or the use of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) or exogenous molecules, such as chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) promote axonal growth and remyelination, resulting in an improvement in locomotor function. These treatments have been primarily assessed in acute injury models.

Physiological changes of growth hormone during lactation in pup rats artificially reared.

During the lactation period, rat pups are fed by the dam, and the patterns of mother-pup interaction change during this period. Additionally, there are changes in feeding; first, mother´s milk is the only food needed for sustenance, and later, it is combined with solid food and water. GH serum concentrations depend on both maternal-pup interaction and energy metabolism.

Changes in Heart Rate Variability in Patients with Spleen-Qi Deficiency Syndrome.

Many functional diseases are related to dysautonomia, and heart rate variability has been used to assess dysautonomia. However, heart rate variability has not been studied in Spleen-Qi deficiency syndrome (SQDS). Healthy volunteers (n = 37) and patients with SQDS (n = 67), recruited from the Clinic of the State University of Ecatepec Valley were included in the study.

Multiparity affects conduction properties of pelvic floor nerves in rabbits.

Introduction: Women often develop pelvic floor dysfunction due to damage to the pelvic musculature during childbirth; however, the effect on pelvic floor nerves function is less understood. This study used adult rabbits to evaluate the electrophysiological and histological characteristics of the bulbospongiosus (Bsn) and pubococcygeus nerves (Pcn) in multiparity.

Methods: Compound nerve action potentials (CNAP) were compared between age-matched nulliparous and multiparous animals and associated to the histological characteristics of myelinated axons from the Bsn and Pcn nerves.

Early postnatal development of electrophysiological and histological properties of sensory sural nerves in male rats that were maternally deprived and artificially reared: Role of tactile stimulation.

Early adverse experiences disrupt brain development and behavior, but little is known about how such experiences impact on the development of the peripheral nervous system. Recently, we found alterations in the electrophysiological and histological characteristics of the sensory sural (SU) nerve in maternally deprived, artificially reared (AR) adult male rats, as compared with maternally reared (MR) control rats. In the present study, our aim was to characterize the ontogeny of these alterations.

Disruption of behavior and brain metabolism in artificially reared rats.

Early adverse life stress has been associated to behavioral disorders that can manifest as inappropriate or aggressive responses to social challenges. In this study, we analyzed the effects of artificial rearing on the open field and burial behavioral tests and on GFAP, c-Fos immunoreactivity, and glucose metabolism measured in anxiety-related brain areas. Artificial rearing of male rats was performed by supplying artificial milk through a cheek cannula and tactile stimulation, mimicking the mother's licking to rat pups from the fourth postnatal day until weaning.

Effects of primary and recurrent sacral chordoma on the motor and nociceptive function of hindlimbs in rats: an orthotopic spine model.

OBJECTIVE Chordoma is a slow-growing, locally aggressive cancer that is minimally responsive to conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy and has high local recurrence rates after resection. Currently, there are no rodent models of spinal chordoma. In the present study, the authors sought to develop and characterize an orthotopic model of human chordoma in an immunocompromised rat.

Multiparity modifies contractile properties of pelvic muscles affecting the genesis of vaginal pressure in rabbits.

Aims: To characterize the contractile properties of the bulbospongiosus (Bsm), isquiocavernosus (Ism), and pubococcygeus muscles (Pcm), and their involvement in the genesis of vaginal pressure in nulliparous and multiparous rabbits.

Methods: Age-matched nulliparous and multiparous rabbits were used to record the isometric contractile responses of each muscle as well as the intravaginal pressure evoked by single square electrical pulses and stimulation trains of ascending frequency. To establish significant differences between groups, two-tail unpaired Student t tests were carried out.

Acupuncture Points and Their Relationship with Multireceptive Fields of Neurons.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture points (APs) have been emphasized as key elements that generate the therapeutic effects of acupuncture. At the spinal cord or supraspinal level, sensory neurons located in the dorsal horn receive an extensive supply of sensory information from skin and muscle receptors through peripheral afferent nerves. The stimulated skin area that influences the activity of a spinal sensory neuron is known as the peripheral receptive field (RF) of that neuron.

Metastatic human breast cancer to the spine produces mechanical hyperalgesia and gait deficits in rodents.

Background Context: Metastases to the spine are a common source of severe pain in cancer patients. The secondary effects of spinal metastases include pain, bone fractures, hypercalcemia, and neurological deficits. As the disease progresses, pain severity can increase until it becomes refractory to medical treatments and leads to a decreased quality of life for patients.

Differential effect of chronic undernutrition on the fiber type composition of fascicles in the extensor digitorum longus muscles of the rat.

Several studies have shown that chronic low food consumption alters the composition and metabolism of the extensor digitorum longus muscle (EDLm) fiber types. EDLm is constituted by four independent fascicles (F2-F5) of different sizes; their constitution and metabolism, however, as well as how chronic undernourishment affects these is virtually unknown. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the relative fiber type composition and metabolism of each independent fascicle in the EDLm, using control and chronically undernourished young male rats by using the alkaline ATPase and NADH-TR histochemical techniques.

Electroacupuncture improves gait locomotion, H-reflex and ventral root potentials of spinal compression injured rats.

This study explored the effect of electroacupuncture stimulation (EA) on alterations in the Hoffman reflex (H-reflex) response and gait locomotion provoked by spinal cord injury (SCI) in the rat. A compression lesion of the spinal cord was evoked by insufflating a Fogarty balloon located in the epidural space at the T8-9 spinal level of adult Wistar male rats (200-250 gr; n=60). In different groups of SCI rats, EA (frequencies: 2, 50 and 100Hz) was applied simultaneously to Huantiao (GB30), Yinmen (BL37), Jizhong (GV6) and Zhiyang (GV9) acupoints from the third post-injury day until the experimental session.

Oxytocin, a main breastfeeding hormone, prevents hypertension acquired in utero: A therapeutics preview.

Hypertension is a major risk factor for ischemic heart disease and stroke, leading causes of morbidity and death worldwide. Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), caused by an excess of glucocorticoid exposure to the fetus, produces an imbalance in oxidative stress altering many biochemical and epigenetic gene transcription processes exposing the fetus and neonate to the 'thrifty' phenotype and pervasive polymorphisms appearance damaging health, cognitive, and behavioral processes in later life. OT is a major regulator of oxidative stress radicals that plays a major role in neonatal maturation of the central nervous system and many peripheral tissues expressing oxytocin/oxytocin-receptor (OT/OTR) system in the early postnatal period.

Fiber type composition of pubococcygeus and bulbospongiosus striated muscles is modified by multiparity in the rabbit.

Aims: We analyzed the effect of multiparity on the fiber type composition of two skeletal muscles involved in the maintenance of the micturition process, the pelvic pubococcygeus (Pc) and perineal bulbospongiosus (Bs) muscles in nulliparous and multiparous rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

Methods: We used the basic ATPase and NADH-TR techniques to identify and characterize slow, intermediate, and fast fiber types and glycolitic and oxidative fibers in muscles, respectively.

Results: Pc muscles of multiparous rabbits present relatively high percentages of slow and intermediate fibers but a low percentage of fast fibers (P < 0.