Regulation of Intestinal Immune Response by Selective Removal of the Anterior, Posterior, or Entire Pituitary Gland in Trichinella spiralis Infected Golden Hamsters

The influence of anterior pituitary hormones on the gastrointestinal tract of humans and animals has been previously reported. Hypophysectomy (HYPOX) in the rat causes atrophy of the intestinal mucosa, and reduction of gastric secretion and intestinal absorption, as well as increased susceptibility to bacterial and viral infections. However, to our knowledge, no findings have been published concerning the immune response following HYPOX during worm infection, particularly that which is caused by the nematode Trichinella spiralis. The aim of this work was to analyze the effects of total or partial HYPOX on colonization of T. spiralis in the intestinal lumen, together with duodenal and splenic cytokine expression. Our results indicate that 5 days post infection, only neurointermediate pituitary lobectomy (NIL) reduces the number of intestinally recovered T. spiralis larvae. Using semiquantitative inmunofluorescent laser confocal microscopy, we observed that the mean intensity of all tested Th1 cytokines was markedly diminished, even in the duodenum of infected controls. In contrast, a high level of expression of these cytokines was noted in the NIL infected hamsters. Likewise, a significant decrease in the fluorescence intensity of Th2 cytokines (with the exception of IL-4) was apparent in the duodenum of control and sham infected hamsters, compared to animals with NIL surgeries, which showed an increase in the expression of IL-5 and IL-13. Histology of duodenal mucosa from NIL hamsters showed an exacerbated inflammatory infiltrate located along the lamina propria, which was related to the presence of the parasite. We conclude that hormones from each pituitary lobe affect the gastrointestinal immune responses to T. spiralis through various mechanisms

ICAR: endoscopic skull‐base surgery

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Mean intrasellar pressure, visual field, headache intensity and quality of life of patients with pituitary adenoma Pressão intra-selar média, campo visual, intensidade de cefaléia e qualidade de vida em portadores de adenoma hipofisário

Intrasellar pressure (ISP) measurement technique has recently opened a new line of research in neuroendocrinology. The absolute and mean ISP values were investigated in 25 patients consecutively operated at the Brasilia University Hospital (DF). These data were correlated with serum prolactin levels, number of visual quadrant affected, tumor size, quality of life (measured through the SF-36 scale) and graded headache (measured through the HIT-6 scale). No correlation was observed. The p values were 0.887; 0.137; 0.892; 0.812 and 0.884; respectively. The HIT-6 values were inversely and moderately correlated with total RAND SF-36 and its mental and physical dimensions.<br>A técnica da medida da pressão intra-selar (PIS) abriu, recentemente, uma nova linha de pesquisa em neuroendocrinologia. O objetivo deste estudo foi aferir os valores absolutos da PIS e calcular a pressão intra-selar média (PIM) em uma população de 25 pacientes operados consecutivamente no Hospital Universitário de Brasília (DF). Não se observou correlação significativa entre a PIM e o número de quadrantes visuais comprometidos (p=0,137), área do tumor (p=0,892), nível de qualidade de vida mensurado pela escala SF-36 (p=0,812) e a presença e a intensidade da cefaléia mensurada pela escala HIT-6 (p=0,884). Contudo, o HIT-6 correlacionou-se de forma inversa e intensidade moderada com os valores de HIT-6 e suas dimensões mental e física