Scientific productivity in neurosciences in Latin America: a scientometrics perspective.

Neurosciences research has increased significantly in recent years around the world. It has led to the development of interdisciplinary work, moving from activities from isolated fields (such as biology, psychology or neurology) to research that involves different scientific perspectives. In developing regions, such as Latin America, it has additional challenges, related to available funding and infrastructure.

Two dopaminergic genes, DRD4 and SLC6A3, are associated with body mass index in a Colombian sample of young adults.

Obesity is becoming an epidemic in Latin American countries. Genetic analyses of endophenotypes for obesity, such as body mass index (BMI), are quite useful for research. In this study, we analysed two functional polymorphisms in the dopamine receptor 4 (DRD4) and dopamine transporter (SLC6A3) genes.

Regulation of the immune response during infectious myocarditis.

Infectious myocarditis (IM) is a commonly undiagnosed condition that may cause several heart diseases, including dilated cardiomyopathy and chronic heart failure. The understanding of the physiopathology of myocardial inflammation is crucial for a timely diagnosis and for the control of the tissue damage, which may occur in some cases of IM. Of note, some experimental studies suggest that dilated cardiomyopathy could be a consequence of untreated IM.