Treatment of postnatal depression in low-income mothers in primary-care clinics in Santiago, Chile: a randomised controlled trial.

Background: The optimum way to improve the recognition and treatment of postnatal depression in developing countries is uncertain. We compared the effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention with usual care to treat postnatal depression in low-income mothers in primary-care clinics in Santiago, Chile.

Methods: 230 mothers with major depression attending postnatal clinics were randomly allocated to either a multicomponent intervention (n=114) or usual care (n=116).

Effect of the knockdown of amyloid precursor protein on intracellular calcium increases in a neuronal cell line derived from the cerebral cortex of a trisomy 16 mouse.

Murine trisomy 16 (Ts16) is a useful model to study the deleterious effect of aneuploidy in neural pathophysiology. The CTb cell line derived from the cerebral cortex of a Ts16 mouse overexpresses the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and exhibits altered intracellular Ca(2+) homeostasis. In the present work, we induced knockdown of APP by transfecting specific mRNA antisense sequences into CTb cells.

[Seroprevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies and associated risk factors among the population under 18 years of age in Veracruz, Mexico].

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of Trypanasoma cruzi antibodies among the population under 18 years of age in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, and to identify risk factors associated with housing conditions and vector presence and distribution.

Methods: A cross-sectional, epidemiological study of the population under 18 years of age living in 10 of the 11 health districts of the state of Veracruz, Mexico, from 2000 to 2001. Presence of T.

Selection of phage-displayed human antibody fragments on Dengue virus particles captured by a monoclonal antibody: application to the four serotypes.

Antibody fragments to the four Dengue virus serotypes were isolated from a human universal naïve library using phage display technology. Phage-displayed antibody fragments were selected on Dengue virus particles directly captured from infected Vero cells supernatant by an anti-dengue monoclonal antibody, in order to avoid laborious virus concentration/purification procedures. A total of nine phage-displayed antibody fragments were obtained.

Treatment and prevention of mental disorders in low-income and middle-income countries.

We review the evidence on effectiveness of interventions for the treatment and prevention of selected mental disorders in low-income and middle-income countries. Depression can be treated effectively in such countries with low-cost antidepressants or with psychological interventions (such as cognitive-behaviour therapy and interpersonal therapies). Stepped-care and collaborative models provide a framework for integration of drug and psychological treatments and help to improve rates of adherence to treatment.

Smoking and common mental disorders: a population-based survey in Santiago, Chile.

Background: Smoking and common mental disorders (CMD), anxiety and depression, tend to co-exist and are important public health challenges for countries at all levels of development. We aimed to study the association between smoking and common mental disorders after adjusting for alcohol, illicit drug use and other confounders.

Methods: Cross-sectional household survey.

[Angiolymphoid hyperplasia of the lip with eosinophilia. Report of one case].

We report a 33 year-old female presenting with a 2 cm tumor of the upper lip lasting one year. The tumor was excised and the pathological examination showed multiple blood vessels with thickened walls, prominent endothelial cells, lymphoid follicles and an increased number of eosinophils. The final diagnosis was an angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia.

[A randomized trial of pharmacotherapy with telephone monitoring to improve treatment of depression in primary care in Santiago, Chile].

Background: Depression is a public health problem, due to its high prevalence and its associated disability.

Aim: To compare a pharmacological intervention for depression controlled by phone from a central level (TM) and the usual treatment (TH) in a randomized clinical trial.

Material And Methods: Three hundred and forty five women, aged 22 to 59 years were studied.

Early response to venlafaxine antidepressant correlates with lower ACTH levels prior to pharmacological treatment.

A link between stressful life events and development or exacerbation of depression has been established via a large body of evidence. An alteration in the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in depression has also been associated with an increase in cortisol secretion. As arginine-vasopressin (AVP) plays an important role in the activation of HPA axis during stress, the present study investigated ACTH and cortisol secretory response induced by an AVP-related peptide desmopressin (ddAVP) in patients with major depression.

Common mental disorders and the built environment in Santiago, Chile.

Background: There is growing research interest in the influence of the built environment on mental disorders.

Aims: To estimate the variation in the prevalence of common mental disorders attributable to individuals and the built environment of geographical sectors where they live.

Method: A sample of 3870 adults (response rate 90%) clustered in 248 geographical sectors participated in a household cross-sectional survey in Santiago, Chile.

Protective action of amlodipine on cardiac negative inotropism induced by lipopolysaccharide in rats.

Amlodipine has been shown to prevent decrease in vascular responsiveness induced by injection of Salmonella typhosa lipopolysaccharide (LPS); however, there is no study reporting if this protection by amlodipine extends to ventricular contractility. Therefore, we have investigated in rat isolated right ventricle strips contracted by electrical stimulation (1 and 3 Hz and subsequently 1 Hz) whether pre-treatment with amlodipine (15 mg/kg orally for 1 week) precludes the decrease in ventricular contractility related to the induction of nitric oxide synthase stimulated by LPS injection (4 mg/kg intraperitoneally). The induction of septic shock was confirmed in isolated aortic rings from LPS-injected rats by verifying that the contractile response to 1 microM noradrenaline had been (i) decreased after LPS injection and (ii) markedly potentiated by the addition of 10 microM l-arginine.

[Protective effect of melatonin and sodium thiosulphate on histopathology and ultrastructure of the kidney in rats with acute paraquat poisoning].

Paraquat (PQ) toxicity produces severe injures in many major organs systems, including kidney, developing renal failure with fatal evolution in most of the cases. Several antidotes have been used in the treatment of paraquat intoxication without satisfactory results. The antioxidative effect of melatonin (MLT) and sodium thiosulphate (STS) on kidney in rats with acute intoxication by PQ was studied.

Indorenate improves motor function in rats with chronic spinal cord injury.

The effect of indorenate (5-methoxytryptamine, beta-methyl carboxylate hydrochloride), a 5-HT1A agonist, was investigated on the motor performance of rats with chronic spinal cord injury. Four months after a ninth thoracic vertebrae spinal cord contusion, 29 rats were randomly allocated into two groups: saline solution and indorenate-treated animals with daily doses incremented at weekly intervals. The locomotor performance of all rats was measured by the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) rating scale.

A simple vector system to improve performance and utilisation of recombinant antibodies.

Background: Isolation of recombinant antibody fragments from antibody libraries is well established using technologies such as phage display. Phage display vectors are ideal for efficient display of antibody fragments on the surface of bacteriophage particles. However, they are often inefficient for expression of soluble antibody fragments, and sub-cloning of selected antibody populations into dedicated soluble antibody fragment expression vectors can enhance expression.

Image fusion in neuroradiology: three clinical examples including MRI of Parkinson disease.

Image data fusion has been developed over the last decade as an important additional visual diagnostic tool to integrate the growing amount of imaging data obtained from different medical imaging modalities. The overwhelming amount of digital information calls for data consolidation to improve clinical treatment strategies based upon anatomical and physiological imaging. Three different low level image data fusion techniques are described and their characteristics are illustrated with some rare yet key examples.

[Quality of life of women depressed in the post-partum period].

Background: Depression is common among women, specially during breeding.

Aim: To characterize post-partum depression in a group of women attending a primary health care clinic and its relationship to quality of life.

Material And Methods: The sample included women meeting criteria for Major Depression, with a child of up to 11 months old.

Effectiveness and tolerability of a standardized extract from Ageratina pichinchensis on patients with tinea pedis: an explorative pilot study controlled with ketoconazole.

Ageratina pichinchensis has been used for many years in Mexican traditional medicine for the treatment of superficial mycosis. Previous studies have demonstrated the antifungal effectiveness of a hexane extract from aerial parts of this plant on in vitro cultures of Candida albicans, Aspergillium niger, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, and Trichophyton rubrum. To compare the effectiveness and tolerability of A.

Cost-effectiveness of a primary care treatment program for depression in low-income women in Santiago, Chile.

Objective: The authors compared the incremental cost-effectiveness of a stepped-care, multicomponent program with usual care for the treatment of depressed women in primary care in Santiago, Chile.

Method: A cost-effectiveness study was conducted of a previous randomized controlled trial involving 240 eligible women with DSM-IV major depression who were selected from a consecutive sample of adult women attending primary care clinics. The patients were randomly allocated to usual care or a multicomponent stepped-care program led by a nonmedical health care worker.

Efficacy and safety of two whole IgG polyvalent antivenoms, refined by caprylic acid fractionation with or without beta-propiolactone, in the treatment of Bothrops asper bites in Colombia.

The efficacy and safety of two whole IgG polyvalent antivenoms (A and B) were compared in a randomised, blinded clinical trial in 67 patients systemically envenomed by Bothrops asper in Colombia. Both antivenoms were fractionated by caprylic acid precipitation and had similar neutralising potencies, protein concentrations and aggregate contents. Antivenom B was additionally treated with beta-propiolactone to lower its anticomplementary activity.

Inversion recovery MRI in idiopathic Parkinson disease is a very sensitive tool to assess neurodegeneration in the substantia nigra: preliminary investigation.

Rationale And Objectives: Segmented inversion recovery (IR) ratio imaging (SIRRIM) has been established as a sensitive tool to assess neurodegeneration of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SN(C)) in patients with idiopathic Parkinson disease (IPD). The obtained results suggest the possibility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a biological marker for IPD. The strength and a parsimonious analysis of the technique are discussed to assess the potential of using MRI as a biological marker for IPD and improve the differential diagnosis of sporadic Parkinson disease.

Biologically active vascular endothelial growth factor as a bacterial recombinant glutathione S-transferase fusion protein.

Human VEGF121 (vascular endothelial growth factor isoform 121) was produced as a recombinant fusion protein with GST (glutathione S-transferase) in Escherichia coli. After affinity purification with glutathione, the GST-VEGF121 fusion protein preparation was used to obtain antibodies in mice against commercial hrVEGF (human recombinant VEGF) through immunization. It was also employed successfully to select specific antihuman VEGF antibody fragments of human origin employing phage-display technology.

In vitro propagation of Galphimia glauca and content of the sedative compound galphimine-B in wild and micropropagated plants.

An in vitro micropropagation protocol is described for Galphimia glauca Cav. (Malpighighiaceae). Multiple shoots were formed in vitro from axillary bud explants inoculated on MS medium supplemented with indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and kinetin (KN) combinations.

Inequities in mental health care after health care system reform in Chile.

Objectives: We compared differences in mental health needs and provision of mental health services among residents of Santiago, Chile, with private and public health insurance coverage.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of a random sample of adults. Presence of mental disorders and use of health care services were assessed via structured interviews.

Efficient construction of a highly useful phage-displayed human antibody repertoire.

We have constructed a highly useful phage-displayed human antibody repertoire with limited cloning efforts. Our strategy was to maximize diversity during the first steps of library construction through the use of various lymphoid sources from several donors, inclusion of different immunoglobulin isotypes, and performance of multiple separate amplification reactions with all possible combinations within a complex primer set. The resulting variable region collections were cloned to form a moderate size library, composed by 4.