A resource for sustainable management:<i>De novo</i> assembly and annotation of the liver transcriptome of the Atlantic chub mackerel, <i>Scomber colias</i>

Mackerels represent a valuable fishery worldwide. Their ample geographic distribution and capture levels make them an insightful model to address stock management strategies in the context of global changes. Yet, and despite recent impressive genome and transcriptome sequencing efforts from teleost species, available resources from the Scombridae family are comparatively scarce. Here, we generated the first high-quality de novo assembly of the liver transcriptome of the Atlantic chub mackerel (Scomber colias). Through the use of RNA-Seq Illumina technology, 111,124,228 clean reads were obtained for the liver transcriptome. De novo assembly resulted in 93,731 transcripts with an N50 of 1462 bp. This dataset provides an important insight into the context of fisheries management. Keywords: RNA-Seq, Scombridae, Stock management, Atlantic chub mackerel, Live

Tremor cefálico em pacientes com distonia cervical: evolução diferente?

OBJECTIVE: The association of cervical dystonia (CD) with other movement disorders have been already described, but data on clinical outcome regarding these patients are scant. The aim of this paper was to investigate whether patients with CD and head tremor (HT) would have a different outcome regarding to botulinum toxin type-A (BTX-A) treatment response and clinical and demographic parameters. METHOD: We retrospectively evaluated 118 medical charts of patients with CD and divided them into two groups: with (HT+) and without (HT-) head tremor. We compared the following clinical and demographic parameters: age at onset, disease duration, progression of symptoms, etiology, familial history, presence of hand tremor. We also analyzed the response to BTX-A according to Tsui score in both groups. RESULTS: The occurrence of head tremor in our sample was of 38.2%. The occurrence of postural hand tremor in the patients from the HT+ group was higher than in the HT- one (p=0.015) and if we compare BTX-A response in each group, we observe that patients with HT present a better outcome in a setting of longer follow-up. In HT+ group, Tsui score pre treatment was 10 (6-12.5) and after follow-up was 8 (5.5-10.5); p<0.001. In HT- group there was no significant difference 9 (7-12) in pre treatment and after follow-up; p=0.07. CONCLUSION: According to our data it seems that head tremor may influence the clinical outcome or treatment response with BTX-A in patients with CD.OBJETIVO: A associação de distonia cervical (DC) com outros transtornos do movimento já foi descrita, mas há poucos dados quanto à evolução clínica destes pacientes. Avaliamos se os pacientes com DC e tremor cefálico (TC) apresentam características clínicas e demográficas, assim como a resposta ao tratamento com toxina botulínica tipo A, diferentes. MÉTODOS: Analisamos retrospectivamente 118 prontuários de pacientes com DC e os dividimos em dois grupos: com (TC+) e sem (TC-) tremor cefálico. Comparamos os seguintes parâmetros clínicos e demográficos entre os grupos: idade de início, duração da doença, progressão de sintomas, etiologia, história familiar, presença de tremor em mãos. Também analisamos a resposta ao tratamento com toxina botulínica de acordo com escore Tsui em ambos os grupos. RESULTADOS: A ocorrência de tremor cefálico em nosso grupo de pacientes foi 38,2%. A ocorrência de tremor postural nas mãos em pacientes TC+ foi maior (p=0,015) e se compararmos a resposta ao tratamento com toxina botulínica em cada grupo, observamos que os pacientes com TC têm melhor evolução em uma situação de seguimento mais prolongado. No grupo TC+, o escore Tsui pré-tratamento foi 10 (6-12,5) e após o período de follow-up foi 8 (5,5-10,5); p<0,001. No grupo TC-, não houve diferença significante: 9 (7-12) no pré-tratamento e após período de follow-up; p=0,07. CONCLUSÃO: Nossos dados apontam que o tremor cefálico pode influenciar a evolução clínica ou resposta ao tratamento com toxina botulínica em pacientes com DC.Federal University of São Paulo Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery Movement Disorders UnitUNIFESP, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery Movement Disorders UnitSciEL

Características clínicas e de neuroimagem molecular de pacientes brasileiros com doença de Parkinson e mutações nos genes PARK2 ou PARK8

OBJECTIVE: To describe clinical and neuroimaging (SPECT) characteristics of Brazilian patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and mutations in PARK2 or PARK8 genes. METHOD: A total of 119 patients meeting clinical criteria for PD were evaluated. RESULTS: Of all patients studied, 13 had mutations in either PARK2 (n=9) or PARK8 genes (n=4). No statistically significant differences in clinical characteristics in both groups were seen. SPECT with [99mTc] TRODAT-1 showed significant differences between patient and control and the most remarkable difference was between PARK2 and control. CONCLUSION: The study found a frequency of mutation of 10.1% and it was most commonly seen in women. These patients had long disease course and high rates of dyskinesia after L-DOPA use. PARK8 patients did not have a relevant family history of PD.OBJETIVO: Descrever as características clínicas e de neuroimagem (SPECT) de pacientes brasileiros com doença de Parkinson e mutações PARK2 e PARK8. MÉTODO: Foram avaliados 119 pacientes com critérios clínicos para a doença de Parkinson. RESULTADO: Entre os pacientes avaliados foram encontrados 13 pacientes com mutação nos genes PARK2 (n=9) ou PARK8 (n=4). Não houve diferença significativa na avaliação das características clínicas entre os dois grupos. Os resultados de SPECT mostraram diferenças significativas quanto ao potencial de ligação do [99mTc] TRODAT-1 SPECT entre pacientes vs. controle, sendo a diferença mais pronunciada entre PARK2 e controle. CONCLUSÃO: A freqüência de mutação encontrada foi 10,1%, sendo mais comum em mulheres. Estes pacientes apresentavam longo tempo de doença e alta prevalência de discinesias associadas ao uso da levodopa. Nossos pacientes com PARK8 não apresentaram uma história familiar relevante de doença de Parkinson.Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein Instituto Israelita de Ensino e PesquisaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Division of Movement DisordersUNIFESP-EPM Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Neurociências ClínicasUNIFESP, EPM, Division of Movement DisordersUNIFESP, EPM Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Neurociências ClínicasSciEL

THE ROLE OF THALIDOMIDE ON CACHEXIA DURING

We investigated the effect of thalidomide on cachexia and TNF-? serum levels during experimental skin carcinogenesis in mice. Female mice were divided into four groups: 1) DMBA (dissolved in acetone) induced tumorigenesis; 2) DMBA and Thalidomide (dissolved in DMSO); 3) DMBA and DMSO; and 4) Acetone. Body weight was measured once a week. Euthanasia was performed 14 weeks later, when blood was collected for the dosage of TNF-? serum levels. Mice with DMBA induced tumorigenesis had a significant loss of body weight when compared to acetone treated animals, starting at the third week and lasting the whole experiment. But there was no difference among Thalidomide treated and the others DMBA control animals, regarding body weight. High TNF-? serum levels were associated with the development of cachexia in mice during the process of experimental skin tumorigenesis. However, there was not a significant difference in the TNF-? serum levels when compared control mice and thalidomide treated mice. These results suggest that thalidomide does not interfere with skin tumorigenesis, cachexia and serum TNF-? levels in Balb/C mice. In addition, high TNF-? serum levels are associated to weight loss during experimental carcinogenesis

Presence or absence of cognitive complaints in Parkinson’s disease: mood disorder or anosognosia?

ABSTRACT We intended to evaluate whether non-demented Parkinsons’s disease (PD) patients, with or without subjective cognitive complaint, demonstrate differences between them and in comparison to controls concerning cognitive performance and mood. We evaluated 77 subjects between 30 and 70 years, divided as follows: PD without cognitive complaints (n = 31), PD with cognitive complaints (n = 21) and controls (n = 25). We applied the following tests: SCOPA-Cog, Trail Making Test-B, Phonemic Fluency, Clock Drawing Test, Boston Naming Test, Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Beck Depression Inventory. PD without complaints presented lower total score on Scales for outcome of Parkinson’s disease-cognition as compared to controls (p = 0.048). PD with complaints group showed higher scores on HADS (p = 0.011). PD without complaints group showed poorer cognitive performance compared to controls, but was similar to the PD with complaints group. Moreover, this group was different from the PD without complaints and control groups concerning mood