Facial emotion recognition in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder and their unaffected first-degree relatives.

Background: Facial emotion recognition (FER) is an important task associated with social cognition because facial expression is a significant source of non-verbal information that guides interpersonal relationships. Increasing evidence suggests that bipolar disorder (BD) patients present deficits in FER and these deficits may be present in individuals at high genetic risk for BD. The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of FER deficits in euthymic BD patients, their first-degree relatives, and healthy controls (HC) and to consider if these deficits might be regarded as an endophenotype candidate for BD.

Serum BDNF levels in unaffected first-degree relatives of patients with bipolar disorder.

Objective: Unaffected relatives of bipolar disorder (BD) patients have been investigated for the identification of endophenotypes in an attempt to further elucidate the pathophysiology of the disease. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is considered to be implicated in the pathophysiology of BD, but its role as an endophenotype has been poorly studied. We investigated abnormal serum BDNF levels in BD patients, in their unaffected relatives, and in healthy controls.

Gray matter volumes in patients with bipolar disorder and their first-degree relatives.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is highly heritable. First-degree relatives of BD patient have an increased risk to develop the disease. We investigated abnormalities in gray matter (GM) volumes in healthy first-degree relatives of BD patients to identify possible brain structural endophenotypes for the disorder.

Oral infection with enteropathogenic Escherichia coli triggers immune response and intestinal histological alterations in mice selected for their minimal acute inflammatory responses.

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), a leading cause of infant diarrhea, is an important public health problem in Brazil and other developing countries. In vitro assays of bacterial adhesion to cultured cells are important tools for studying bacterial pathogenicity but do not reproduce all the events that occur in natural infections. In this study, the effects of oral infection with EPEC on mice selected for their minimal acute inflammatory response (AIR min) were evaluated.

Bipolar disorder and comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder is associated with higher rates of anxiety and impulse control disorders.

Unlabelled: Issler CK, Monkul ES, Amaral JAMS, Tamada RS, Shavitt RG, Miguel EC, Lafer B. Bipolar disorder and comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder is associated with higher rates of anxiety and impulse control disorders.

Objective: Although bipolar disorder (BD) with comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is highly prevalent, few controlled studies have assessed this comorbidity.

In vitro reactivity and growth inhibition of EPEC serotype O111 and STEC serotypes O111 and O157 by homologous and heterologous chicken egg yolk antibody.

IgY is a chicken egg yolk antibody which has been used for treatment and prophylaxis of gastrointestinal infections. Our aim was to verify if IgY obtained from chickens immunized with EPEC O111, STEC O111 and STEC O157 is able to show in vitro reactivity and biological activity towards the three bacteria. IgY was obtained from eggs laid before and after immunization with each bacterium.

[Total and specific IgA in colostrum and milk of mothers of Natal-Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil].

Purpose: To determine the concentration of total secretory IgA and evaluate the repertoire of IgA antibodies to enteropathogenic Escherichia coli and Shigella flexneri antigens in colostrums and milk from mothers in Natal, RN.

Methods: The sample was constituted by 22 healthy clinically women whose babies were born at public hospital in Natal, RN. To determine total secretory IgA a radial immunedifusion tecnique (Mancini et al, 1965), was employed and to detect specific antibodies, immuneenzimatic assays, ELISA was used.

Verbal fluency dysfunction in euthymic bipolar patients: a controlled study.

Objective: To study the executive functioning in euthymic bipolar patients in comparison to healthy controls and to examine the relationship between neuropsychological deficits and clinical variables.

Methods: Twenty-five euthymic bipolar patients and 31 controls underwent a battery of executive tasks including mental flexibility, inhibitory control and verbal fluency tests.

Results: There were no significant differences between bipolar patients and controls in relation to mental flexibility and inhibitory control.

Antidepressant treatment-emergent affective switch in bipolar disorder: a prospective case-control study of outcome.

Objective: Treatment-emergent affective switch has been associated to cycle acceleration and poorer outcome, but there are few studies addressing this issue. The aim of this study was to prospectively compare the outcome of patients presenting treatment-emergent affective switch with patients with spontaneous mania, regarding presence and polarity of a new episode and time to relapse.

Method: Twenty-four patients with bipolar disorder according to the DSM-IV were followed for 12 months.

A 1HMRS study of the anterior cingulate gyrus in euthymic bipolar patients.

Introduction: The anterior cingulate region has been implicated in the pathophysiology of mood disorders. Studies have reported anatomical and functional abnormalities in this region in bipolar disorder patients. Few neurochemical studies have evaluated this region, especially on medicated bipolar patients.

Clinical expression of obsessive-compulsive disorder in women with bipolar disorder.

Objective: To study clinical and psychopathological features of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in women with bipolar disorder (BD).

Methods: Fifteen outpatients with concurrent bipolar disorder I (80.0%) or II (20.

Colostrum from healthy Brazilian women inhibits adhesion and contains IgA antibodies reactive with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli.

Unlabelled: Although Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) has been isolated in Brazil, severe manifestations of the infection, such as haemorrhagic colitis and haemolytic-uraemic syndrome, are extremely rare in our population. Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is the main aetiological agent of acute infantile diarrhoea in Brazil. There are many similarities between STEC and EPEC, such as the ability to produce attaching and effacing (A/E) lesions and some virulence-associated factors.