The generation of plausible crystal structures is often the first step in predicting the structure and properties of a material from its chemical composition. However, most current methods for crystal structure prediction are computationally expensive, slowing the pace of innovation. Seeding structure prediction algorithms with quality generated candidates can overcome a major bottleneck.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/aim: Obesity currently affects the whole world, with greater incidence in high-income countries, with vast economic and social costs. Broccoli harvest generates many by-products equally rich in bioactive compounds with potential anti-obesity effects. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-obesity effects of broccoli by-products flour (BF) in obese mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrassica by-products are a source of natural bioactive molecules such as glucosinolates and isothiocyanates, with potential applications in the nutraceutical and functional food industries. However, the effects of oral sub-chronic exposure to broccoli by-product flour (BF) have not yet been evaluated. The objective of this pilot study was to analyse the effects of BF intake in the physiological parameters of FVB/N mice fed a 6.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci
January 2022
Precise oral dosing in rodents is usually achieved by intragastric gavage. If performed incorrectly due to technical difficulties, inexperience, or animal resistance, oral gavage may have animal welfare implications such as esophageal and gastric rupture and aspiration. The stress that is induced by this procedure can also lead to confounding results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComp Biochem Physiol C Toxicol Pharmacol
November 2020
MS-222, the most widely used anaesthetic in fish, has been shown to induce embryotoxic effects in zebrafish. However, the underlying molecular effects are still elusive. This study aimed to investigate the effects of MS-222 exposure during early developmental stages by evaluating biochemical and molecular changes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe number of fish used in research has increased in the last decades. Anaesthesia is required when fish must be held immobile and it is crucial to promote fish welfare, because these vertebrates can show signs of stress and/or pain during handling, transport, tagging, sampling and invasive procedures. The use of an inadequate anaesthetic protocol can compromise not only the welfare of the fish, but also the reliability of the research results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKetamine is a widely used pharmaceutical that has been detected in water sources worldwide. Zebrafish embryos were used in this study to investigate the oxidative stress and apoptotic signals following a 24h exposure to different ketamine concentrations (0, 50, 70 and 90 mg L). Early blastula embryos (∼2 h post fertilisation-hpf) were exposed for 24 h and analysed at 8 and 26 hpf.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObesity is linked to the onset of many diseases such as diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases and cancer, among others. The prevalence of obesity nearly doubled worldwide between 1980 and 2014. Simultaneously, in the last decade, the effects of sulforaphane as a potential treatment for obesity have been investigated, with promising results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIncreasing evidence supports that ketamine, a widely used anaesthetic, potentiates apoptosis during development through the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis. Defects in the apoptotic machinery can cause or contribute to the developmental abnormalities previously described in ketamine-exposed zebrafish. The involvement of the apoptotic machinery in ketamine-induced teratogenicity was addressed by assessing the apoptotic signals at 8 and 24 hpf following 20min exposure to ketamine at three stages of early zebrafish embryo development (256 cell, 50% epiboly and 1-4 somites stages).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe molecular mechanisms of hepatotoxicity after propofol anaesthesia have not been fully elucidated, although there is a relation with mitochondrial dysfunction. The action of propofol on mitochondrial hepatic functions in a rat model was evaluated by infusion for 4h with 25 and 62.5mg/kg/h propofol or 3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKetamine, one anesthetic used as an illicit drug, has been detected both in freshwater and marine ecosystems. However, knowledge of its impact on aquatic life is still limited. This study aimed to test its effects in zebrafish embryos by analyzing its time- and dose-dependent developmental toxicity and long-term behavioral changes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychopharmacology (Berl)
February 2017
Rationale: Ketamine has been associated with pediatric risks that include neurocognitive impairment and long-term behavioral disorders. However, the neurobehavioral effects of ketamine exposure in early development remain uncertain.
Objectives: This study aimed to test stage- and dose-dependent effects of ketamine exposure on certain brain functions by evaluating alterations in locomotion, anxiety-like and avoidance behaviors, as well as socialization.
Anaesthesia is used daily in fish experimental procedures; however, the use of an inadequate anaesthetic protocol can compromise not only the animal's welfare but also the reliability of results. The use of zebrafish (Danio rerio) in biomedical research has increased in the last decades, highlighting the importance of appropriate anaesthetic regimens for this species. This article reviews the main anaesthetic agents and protocols used in laboratory adult zebrafish, and some of the analgesic methods to be used in this species that still need more research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Propofol biotransformation occurs in the liver via hydroxylation by CYP450 enzymatic complex and by glucuronidation, however extra-hepatic metabolism has also been described.
Objectives: To better understand the metabolic pathways involved in propofol biotransformation, the expression of CYP1A1, CYP1A2, the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant activity and the amount of propofol and its non-conjugated metabolites were investigated.
Methods: Twenty-one NewZealand rabbits were allocated into three groups continuously treated for 20h.
Ketamine, a widely used anesthetic, has been shown to have NMDA receptor dependent and independent actions during zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryogenesis. Notwithstanding, the effects of developmental toxicity and the mechanisms of ketamine action on fish embryos are still not well understood, and its implications for early vertebrate development remains to be clarified. In this work, zebrafish embryos were exposed to ketamine (0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The increasing use of zebrafish model has not been accompanied by the evolution of proper anaesthesia for this species in research. The most used anaesthetic in fishes, MS222, may induce aversion, reduction of heart rate, and consequently high mortality, especially during long exposures. Therefore, we aim to explore new anaesthetic protocols to be used in zebrafish by studying the quality of anaesthesia and recovery induced by different concentrations of propofol alone and in combination with different concentrations of lidocaine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: α2-Adrenoceptor agonists are used frequently in human and veterinary anesthesia as sedative/analgesic drugs. However, they can impair cognition. Little is known about the concentration-dependent effects of α2-adrenoceptor agonists on synaptic plasticity, the neurophysiological basis of learning and memory.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKetamine is frequently used to induce analgesia or anesthesia in laboratory animals, but its effects on learning and memory are poorly characterized. Long-term potentiation (LTP) is considered a cellular mechanism for learning and memory. Ketamine administration immediately abolishes hippocampal LTP in vivo, but whether this effect persists is not known.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKetamine, an analgesic/anesthetic drug, is increasingly popular in clinical practice due to its analgesic properties and importance for emergency procedures. The impact of ketamine on basal excitatory synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity are not yet fully understood. Therefore we investigated the effects of different concentrations of ketamine on basal excitatory synaptic transmission and on two forms of synaptic plasticity: paired-pulse facilitation (PPF) and long-term potentiation (LTP).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurotoxicol Teratol
October 2014
Concerns have been raised that the effect of anaesthetic drugs on the central nervous system may result in long-term impairment, namely when ketamine is used during embryogenesis. In addition, the cell and molecular basis of anaesthetics teratology and toxicity are still uncertain and its implications in the development remain to be clarified. More recently, the potential risks for human, and animal, exposure through environmental contamination also became an important question.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Ketamine is an anaesthetic and analgesic drug used in research and clinical practice. Little is known about the effects of different doses of this drug on memory and brain cellular death.
Objective: To study the effects of different doses of ketamine on working and reference memory, and neurodegeneration in adult mice.
Anesthetics, such as the ketamine/midazolam combination, are used in research with animals and in human clinical practice; thus, it is essential to clarify the potential effects of these anesthetics on memory. This study aimed to evaluate how a low dose of the ketamine/midazolam combination affects the acquisition, consolidation, or recall of a spatial memory task. Thirty-three adult male C57BL/6 mice were divided into four treatment groups: unanesthetized control animals and three groups of animals treated with 40 mg/kg of ketamine and 10mg/kg of midazolam administered in a single intraperitoneal injection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To evaluate if the cerebral state index (CSI), measured by a Cerebral State Monitor (CSM), can predict depth of anaesthesia as assessed clinically or by estimated propofol plasma concentrations.
Study Design: Prospective clinical study.
Animals: Fourteen mixed breed dogs, weighing 24.
Propofol total intravenous anesthesia should provide stability of the cardiovascular system. In this study, mean arterial pressure and heart rate were evaluated in eight healthy dogs anesthetized with increasing rates of propofol. The cerebral state index (CSI) was studied as an additional parameter.
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