Biomarkers of neuropsychiatric dysfunction in intensive care unit survivors: a prospective cohort study.

Objective: To assess factors associated with long-term neuropsychiatric outcomes, including biomarkers measured after discharge from the intensive care unit.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was performed with 65 intensive care unit survivors. The cognitive evaluation was performed through the Mini-Mental State Examination, the symptoms of anxiety and depression were evaluated using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and posttraumatic stress disorder was evaluated using the Impact of Event Scale-6.

Enriched environment causes epigenetic changes in hippocampus and improves long-term cognitive function in sepsis.

Sepsis is defined as a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by an inappropriate host response to infection. The presence of oxidative stress and inflammatory mediators in sepsis leads to dysregulated gene expression, leading to a hyperinflammatory response. Environmental conditions play an important role in various pathologies depending on the stimulus it presents.

Detailed Characterization of Brain Dysfunction in a Long-Term Rodent Model of Critical Illness.

Critical illness encompasses a wide spectrum of life-threatening clinical conditions requiring intensive care. Our objective was to evaluate cognitive, inflammatory and cellular metabolism alterations in the central nervous system in an animal model of critical illness induced by zymosan. For this Wistar rats that were divided into Sham and zymosan.

Ammonia exposition during gestation induces neonatal oxidative damage in the brain and long-term cognitive alteration in rats.

Ammonia is involved in the pathogenesis of neurological conditions associated with hyperammonemia, including hepatic encephalopathy. Few is known about the effects of gestational exposition to ammonia in the developing brain, and the possible long-term consequences of such exposure. We aimed to evaluate the effects of ammonia exposure during the gestation and the possible long-term cognitive alterations on pups.

PDIA1 acts as master organizer of NOX1/NOX4 balance and phenotype response in vascular smooth muscle.

Changes in vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) phenotype underlie disease pathophysiology and are strongly regulated by NOX NADPH oxidases, with NOX1 favoring synthetic proliferative phenotype and NOX4 supporting differentiation. Growth factor-triggered NOX1 expression/activity strictly depends on the chaperone oxidoreductase protein disulfide isomerase-A1 (PDIA1). Intracellular PDIA1 is required for VSMC migration and cytoskeleton organization, while extracellular PDIA1 fine-tunes cytoskeletal mechanoadaptation and vascular remodeling.

Potential benefits and risks of omega-3 fatty acids supplementation to patients with COVID-19.

Studies have shown that infection, excessive coagulation, cytokine storm, leukopenia, lymphopenia, hypoxemia and oxidative stress have also been observed in critically ill Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) patients in addition to the onset symptoms. There are still no approved drugs or vaccines. Dietary supplements could possibly improve the patient's recovery.

Stratification to predict the response to antioxidant.

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of stratification to identify and target antioxidant therapy for animal models of lethal sepsis and in patients who develop sustained hypotension.

Methods: Rats were subjected to sepsis induced by cecal ligation and puncture. Animals were divided into two groups: those with high and low plasma levels of interleukin-6.

Measurement of Superoxide Production and NADPH Oxidase Activity by HPLC Analysis of Dihydroethidium Oxidation.

The fluorogenic probe dihydroethidium (DHE) is widely used for detecting intracellular superoxide. DHE oxidation by superoxide generates specifically the compound 2-hydroxyethidium (2-EOH), so that 2-EOH detection confers specificity to superoxide assessment among many other reactive oxygen species. However, DHE oxidation in biological systems leads to formation of other fluorescent products, particularly ethidium, usually formed at higher quantities than 2-EOH.

Effects of primaquine and chloroquine on oxidative stress parameters in rats.

Primaquine and chloroquine are used for the treatment of malaria; evidence from the literature suggests that these drugs may induce oxidative stress. In this study we investigated the effects of primaquine and chloroquine on oxidative damage and DNA damage in brain, liver and kidney of rats after 7, 14 and 21 days of administration. Our results demonstrated that primaquine causes DNA damage in brain after 7, 14 and 21 days, and in liver after 7 and 14 days.

Regulation of lung oxidative damage by endogenous superoxide dismutase in sepsis.

Background: The purpose of this research is to study the relationship between superoxide dismutase (SOD) and lung redox state in an animal model of sepsis.

Methods: Sepsis was induced in rats by the cecal ligation and perforation model (CLP). After 3, 6, and 12 h, CLP protein content and expression of SOD1, SOD2, and SOD3 were evaluated, and SOD activity was assessed.

Ketamine ameliorates depressive-like behaviors and immune alterations in adult rats following maternal deprivation.

A growing body of evidence points toward an association between the glutamatergic system, as well as immune system dysregulation and major depression. So, the present study was aimed at evaluating the behavioral and molecular effects of the ketamine, an antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor of glutamate in maternally deprived adult rats. In deprived rats treated with saline, we observed an increase in the immobility time; however, ketamine treatment reversed this effect, decreasing immobility time.

Effect of acute administration of L-tyrosine on oxidative stress parameters in brain of young rats.

Tyrosinemia type II, also known as Richner-Hanhart syndrome, is an autosomal recessive inborn error of metabolism caused by a deficiency of hepatic cytosolic tyrosine aminotransferase, and is associated with neurologic and development difficulties in numerous patients. Considering that the mechanisms underlying the neurological dysfunction in hypertyrosinemic patients are poorly known and that studies demonstrated that high concentrations of tyrosine provoke oxidative stress in vitro and in vivo in the cerebral cortex of rats, in the present study we investigate the oxidative stress parameters (enzymatic antioxidant defenses, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and protein carbonyl content) in cerebellum, hippocampus and striatum of 30-old-day rats after acute administration of L-tyrosine. Our results demonstrated that the acute administration of L-tyrosine increased the thiobarbituric acid reactive species levels in hippocampus and the carbonyl levels in cerebellum, hippocampus and striatum.

The quality of life of disease-free Brazilian breast cancer survivors.

The objective of this study was to compare the quality of life of women who survived breast cancer and women who have not had the disease, and to identify associated factors. It is cross-sectional study in which the comparison group includes survivors of breast cancer aged between 40 and 69 years. One hundred and fifty-four women were included, 70 with breast cancer and 84 without the disease.

Characteristics of women with breast cancer seen at reference services in the North of Minas Gerais.

Objective: To describe the main characteristics, including stage of disease and local treatment of patients admitted to two reference services for the treatment of breast cancer in the North of Minas Gerais.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study. We evaluated medical records of 288 female patients with breast cancer admitted between January 2006 and December 2009, referred from a public hospital and a private clinic.