DESCRIÇÃO DO DESENVOLVIMENTO PSICOMOTOR EM LACTENTES COM ESTRABISMO: RELATO DE CASO

Introduction: Infant development is a combination of neuromotor, sensory and environmental conditions. The initial signs of psychomotor delay are nonspecific, and impairment in any of the sensory inputs can be expressed by atypical motor development. Vision is one of the main sensory inputs for sensory motor learning, and strabismus and ambioplasia stand out among the visual impairments associated with delay. The aims this study was to describe the initial psychomotor development of 4 full-term infants, with congenital strabismus. Case description: Four squint boys (4-18 months) were evaluated using the Denver II Test and Alberta Children's Motor Scale at three different times, with intervals of 86 ± 34 days between evaluations. All children showed delayed psychomotor development in at least two tests performed. Discussion: Children with congenital strabismus, without a diagnosis of neuromotor abnormalities, showed changes in development. Unfavorable developmental results in strabismus can result from the poor development of binocular vision that impairs spatial and depth perceptions, and can interfere with motor results. Performing instrumented developmental assessments in strabic infants can be an important tool in this monitoring, in order to favor the intervention and minimize future repercussions for the child.Introdução: O desenvolvimento do lactente, é uma combinação de suas condições neuromotoras,sensoriais e ambientais. Os sinais iniciais do atraso psicomotor são inespecíficos, e um prejuízo em quaisquer das entradas sensoriais pode ser expresso por um desenvolvimento motor atípico.  A visão, é um dos principais inputs sensoriais para o aprendizado sensório motor, e o estrabismo e a ambioplia se destacam entre os prejuízos visuais associados ao atraso.O trabalho objetiva descrever o desenvolvimento psicomotor inicial de 4 lactentes a termo, com estrabismo congênito. Descrição dos casos: Quatro meninos estrábicos, (4-18 meses), foram avaliados através do Teste Denver II e Escala Motora Infantil de Alberta em três momentos diferentes, com intervalos de 86 ± 34 dias entre as avaliações. Todas as crianças apresentaram desenvolvimento psicomotor atrasado em pelo menos dois exames realizados. Discussão:Crianças com estrabismo congênito, sem diagnostico de anormalidades neuromotoras, apresentaram alterações no desenvolvimento.Resultados desfavoráveis no desenvolvimento em estrábicos podem decorrer do mal desenvolvimento da visão binocular que prejudica as percepções espaciais e de profundidade, e pode interferir nos resultados motores. A realização de avaliações do desenvolvimento instrumentadas em lactentes estrábicos pode ser uma ferramenta importante nesse acompanhamento, a fim de favorecer a intervenção e minimizar repercussões futuras a criança

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field