Influence of Chronic Exposure to Exercise on Heart Rate Variability in Children and Adolescents Affected by Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Sedentary lifestyles are increasingly common amongst children, and insufficient physical activity is a global epidemic estimated to contribute to future incapacities and potential deaths.

Objective: We aimed to increase the amount of evidence concerning the effect of chronic exposure to exercise on heart rate variability in children and adolescents affected by obesity.

Methods: A systematic review commenced following the PRISMA guidelines developed by Web of Science, Virtual Health Library, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Ovid, Medline Complete, and Scopus using keywords obtained from the Descriptors in Health Sciences and Medical Subject Headlines (MeSH) terms.

Autonomic cardiac modulation in postmenopausal women with dry eye syndrome: a cross-sectional analytical study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess cardiac autonomic modulation in postmenopausal women with and without dry eye syndrome (DES) and to identify associations between clinical and socioeconomic factors.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at the Institute of Ocular Surgery of the Northeast (ICONE), Brazil. Convenience sample of postmenopausal women, over 40 years old, who were divided into two groups: with and without DES.

New features on the survival of human-infective Trypanosoma rangeli in a murine model: Parasite accumulation is observed in lymphoid organs.

Trypanosoma rangeli is a non-pathogenic protozoan parasite that infects mammals, including humans, in Chagas disease-endemic areas of South and Central America. The parasite is transmitted to a mammalian host when an infected triatomine injects metacyclic trypomastigotes into the host's skin during a bloodmeal. Infected mammals behave as parasite reservoirs for several months and despite intensive research, some major aspects of T.

Human CD8+ T Cells Release Extracellular Traps Co-Localized With Cytotoxic Vesicles That Are Associated With Lesion Progression and Severity in Human Leishmaniasis.

Cell death plays a fundamental role in mounting protective and pathogenic immunity. Etosis is a cell death mechanism defined by the release of extracellular traps (ETs), which can foster inflammation and exert microbicidal activity. While etosis is often associated with innate cells, recent studies showed that B cells and CD4+ T cells can release ETs.

Correction: Heart rate variability helps to distinguish the intensity of menopausal symptoms: A prospective, observational and transversal study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Postnatal development of skeletal muscle in pigs with intrauterine growth restriction: morphofunctional phenotype and molecular mechanisms.

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is a serious condition which impairs the achievement of the fetus' full growth potential and occurs in a natural and severe manner in pigs as a result of placental insufficiency. Reduced skeletal muscle mass in the fetus with IUGR persists into adulthood and may contribute to increased metabolic disease risk. To investigate skeletal muscle postnatal development, histomorphometrical patterns of the semitendinosus muscle, myosin heavy chain (MyHC; embryonic I, IIA, IIB and IIX isoforms) fiber composition and the relative expression of genes related to myogenesis, adipogenesis and growth during three specific periods: postnatal myogenesis (newborn to 100 days old), hypertrophy (100-150 days old), and postnatal development (newborn to 150 days old) were evaluated in female pigs with IUGR and normal birth weight (NW) female littermates.

Heart rate variability helps to distinguish the intensity of menopausal symptoms: A prospective, observational and transversal study.

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) represents cardiac autonomic behavior and have been related to menopausal symptoms, mainly vasomotor symptoms and their imbalance to cardiovascular risk. It is not clear in the literature which index represents this imbalance and what is their involvement with the menopausal state. The aim of this study was to evaluate HRV in menopausal transition and post-menopausal symptoms with different intensities.

Renin angiotensin system molecules and nitric oxide local interactions in the adrenal gland of Trypanosoma cruzi infected rats.

Chagas disease (CD) is a tropical zoonosis caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. Severe autonomic dysfunction like reduced cardiac catecholamine-containing or acetylcholinesterase-positive innervation have been reported in CD. Renin-angiotensin system (RAS) seems to participate in the regulation of adrenal catecholamine secretion by adrenal medullary chromaffin cells, which might be dependent of nitric oxide (NO) pathways.

Interactions between local renin angiotensin system and nitric oxide in the brain of Trypanosoma cruzi infected rats.

Chagas' disease (CD) is a zoonosis caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. Besides being an important cause of cardiomyopathy, central nervous system (CNS) manifestations have also been reported in CD. Renin-Angiotensin System (RAS) plays a pathophysiological role in several brain disorders such as cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative diseases.

Effect of blockade of nitric oxide in heart tissue levels of Renin Angiotensin System components in acute experimental Chagas disease.

Chagas disease (CD) is an important cause of cardiomyopathy in South America. The pathophysiology of CD is still a matter of debate. Renin Angiotensin System (RAS) components are clearly involved in cardiovascular diseases.

Prognostic value of serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels in patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy.

Background: Serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels have been shown to be lower in patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy (ChC) than in patients with non-dilated chagasic cardiomyopathy. However, its prognostic value was not established in patients with ChC.

Methods: Forty-nine patients with ChC (50 ± 7 years, New York Heart Association "NYHA" I-III); were evaluated by echocardiography, exercise testing, and blood analysis.

Fast and slow-twitching muscles are differentially affected by reduced cholinergic transmission in mice deficient for VAChT: A mouse model for congenital myasthenia.

Congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMS) result from reduced cholinergic transmission at neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). While the etiology of CMS varies, the disease is characterized by muscle weakness. To date, it remains unknown if CMS causes long-term and irreversible changes to skeletal muscles.

Mast cell-nerve interaction in the colon of Trypanosoma cruzi-infected individuals with chagasic megacolon.

Chagas disease is an infection caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that affects millions of people worldwide and is endemic in Latin America. Megacolon is the most frequent complication of the digestive chronic form and happens due to lesions of the enteric nervous system. The neuronal lesions seem to initiate in the acute phase and persist during the chronic phase, albeit the mechanisms involved in this process are still debated.

Physicochemical Characterization and Skin Permeation of Cationic Transfersomes Containing the Synthetic Peptide PnPP-19.

Background: PnPP-19 is a 19-amino-acid synthetic peptide previously described as a novel drug for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.

Objective: The aim of this work was to evaluate the physicochemical properties of cationic transfersomes containing PnPP-19 and the skin permeation of free PnPP-19 and PnPP-19-loaded transfersomes.

Methods: Three different liposomal preparation methods were evaluated.

Cardiac autonomic denervation and expression of neurotrophins (NGF and BDNF) and their receptors during experimental Chagas disease.

Although cardiac dysautonomia is a distinctive feature of Chagas disease, its clinical and functional significance is still being speculated. Neurotrophic factors are potentially involved; however, studies of their effect in this infection are rare. Ultrastructural abnormalities in autonomic varicosities, levels of both nerve growth factor (NGF), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), as well as the expression of their receptors, were analysed in the heart of a rat model of Trypanosoma infection.

A single session of moderate intensity walking increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the chronic post-stroke patients.

Background Aerobic exercise, even for short durations, may promote an increase in serum concentrations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). However, it is necessary to determine the optimal exercise types and intensities to increase BDNF levels. Objectives This aim of this study was investigate the effects of mild and moderate intensity acute aerobic exercise on serum BDNF levels in patients in the chronic post-stroke phase.

Demyelination/remyelination and expression of interleukin-1β, substance P, nerve growth factor, and glial-derived neurotrophic factor during trigeminal neuropathic pain in rats.

The etiology of trigeminal neuropathic pain is not clear, but there is evidence that demyelination, expression of cytokines, neuropeptides, and neurotrophic factors are crucial contributors. In order to elucidate mechanisms underlying trigeminal neuropathic pain, we evaluated the time course of morphological changes in myelinated and unmyelinated trigeminal nerve fibers, expression of cytokine IL-1β, neuropeptide substance P (SP), nerve growth factor (NGF), and glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) in peripheral and ganglion tissues, using a rat model of trigeminal neuropathic pain. Chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the infraorbital nerve (IoN), or a sham surgery, was performed.

Amastin Knockdown in Leishmania braziliensis Affects Parasite-Macrophage Interaction and Results in Impaired Viability of Intracellular Amastigotes.

Leishmaniasis, a human parasitic disease with manifestations ranging from cutaneous ulcerations to fatal visceral infection, is caused by several Leishmania species. These protozoan parasites replicate as extracellular, flagellated promastigotes in the gut of a sandfly vector and as amastigotes inside the parasitophorous vacuole of vertebrate host macrophages. Amastins are surface glycoproteins encoded by large gene families present in the genomes of several trypanosomatids and highly expressed in the intracellular amastigote stages of Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp.

Mast cells in the colon of Trypanosoma cruzi-infected patients: are they involved in the recruitment, survival and/or activation of eosinophils?

Megacolon is frequently observed in patients who develop the digestive form of Chagas disease. It is characterized by dilation of the rectum-sigmoid portion and thickening of the colon wall. Microscopically, the affected organ presents denervation, which has been considered as consequence of an inflammatory process that begins at the acute phase and persists in the chronic phase of infection.

Smoking in adults in the municipality of Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil: a population-based study.

Objective: To analyze the associations between smoking and socioeconomic status, and to analyze the profile of smokers in the city of Rio Branco, Acre.

Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study conducted with 1,512 adults living in urban and rural areas. Information about demographic aspects, socioeconomic status and smoking habits were collected through home interviews.

Cholinergic signaling exerts protective effects in models of sympathetic hyperactivity-induced cardiac dysfunction.

Cholinergic control of the heart is exerted by two distinct branches; the autonomic component represented by the parasympathetic nervous system, and the recently described non-neuronal cardiomyocyte cholinergic machinery. Previous evidence has shown that reduced cholinergic function leads to deleterious effects on the myocardium. Yet, whether conditions of increased cholinergic signaling can offset the pathological remodeling induced by sympathetic hyperactivity, and its consequences for these two cholinergic axes are unknown.

Neuroimmunopathology of Trypanosoma cruzi-induced megaoesophagus: Is there a role for mast cell proteases?

Tryptase and chymase are mast cell (MC)-specific proteases, which influence in the activation of inflammatory cells. In this study, we quantified tryptase- or chymase-expressing MCs in the oesophaguses of Chagas patients, and searched for a correlation between those data with area of nerve fibres that expressed either PGP9.5 (pan-marker) or vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), which is a neuromediator that has anti-inflammatory activity.

Reduced expression of the vesicular acetylcholine transporter and neurotransmitter content affects synaptic vesicle distribution and shape in mouse neuromuscular junction.

In vertebrates, nerve muscle communication is mediated by the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine packed inside synaptic vesicles by a specific vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT). Here we used a mouse model (VAChT KD(HOM)) with 70% reduction in the expression of VAChT to investigate the morphological and functional consequences of a decreased acetylcholine uptake and release in neuromuscular synapses. Upon hypertonic stimulation, VAChT KD(HOM) mice presented a reduction in the amplitude and frequency of miniature endplate potentials, FM 1-43 staining intensity, total number of synaptic vesicles and altered distribution of vesicles within the synaptic terminal.

Identification and functional analysis of Trypanosoma cruzi genes that encode proteins of the glycosylphosphatidylinositol biosynthetic pathway.

Background: Trypanosoma cruzi is a protist parasite that causes Chagas disease. Several proteins that are essential for parasite virulence and involved in host immune responses are anchored to the membrane through glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) molecules. In addition, T.