Behavioral study of rats with spinal cord hemisection in the midthoracic level

Introduction: Various experimental models exist in order to induce a spinal cord lesion and to monitor the potential recovery of the animals, with or without any therapeutic means. From the behavioral point of view, the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) score is the most popular scale, used consistently to evaluate the effect of the traumatism onto the motor behavior of the animals. Although it is well established and it is regarded as the “gold standard” in the literature, in case of partial lesions, with high rate of spontaneous recovery, more elaborate tests may be indicated. Materials-methods: In this study we performed spinal cord hemisection at the midthoracic level in adult Wistar rats, which were evaluated postoperatively with BBB, as well as with a more extended behavioral protocol, comprising grid walking and footprint analysis. Results: Although BBB score improved, grid walking, stride length, step length and limb rotation did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: More sensitive motor behavior protocols are needed to corroborate the results of the BBB test and to detect subtle defects in sensorimotor coordination. This is especially true in cases of partial lesions, due to a high rate of spontaneous gross motor recovery

Inferior vena cava diameters and collapsibility index reveal early volume depletion in a blood donor model

BACKGROUND: Changes of volume status can be readily inferred from variations in diameter of the inferior vena cava (IVC) measured by ultrasound. However the effect of IVC changes following acute blood loss are not fully established. In this study, three different approaches to measuring IVC variables were compared in healthy blood donors, as a model of acute volume depletion, in order to establish their relative ability to detect acute blood loss. METHODS: Inspiratory and expiratory IVC diameters were measured before and after blood donation in hepatic long axis, hepatic short axis and renal short axis views using a 2–5 MHz curvilinear probe. All measurements were recorded and examined in real-time and post-processing sessions. RESULTS: All windows performed satisfactorily but the renal window approach was feasible in only 30 out of 47 subjects. After blood donation, IVC diameters decreased in hepatic long axis, hepatic short axis and renal short axis (expiratory: −19.9, −18.0, −26.5 %; CI 95 %: 14.5–24.1; 13.1–22.9; 16.0–35.9, respectively) (inspiratory: −31.1, −31.6, −36.5 %; CI 95 %: 21.3–40.1; 18.8–45.2; 23.4–46.0, respectively), whereas the IVC collapsibility index increased by 21.6, 22.6 and 19.3 % (CI 95 %: 11.6–42.9; 18.5–39.5; 7.7–30.0). IVC diameters appeared to return to pre-donation values within 20 min but this was only detected by the hepatic long axis view. CONCLUSIONS: IVC diameter and collapsibility index variations, as measured in M mode, consistently detect volume changes after blood donation. The longitudinal mid-hepatic approach performed better by allowing a panoramic view, avoiding anatomical aberrancies at fixed points and permitting to identify the best possible perpendicular plane to the IVC. In addition, it was able to detect time-dependent physiological volume replacement. In contrast, in our hands, the renal window could not be visualized consistently well

High sperm DNA fragmentation: do we have robust evidence to support antioxidants and testicular sperm extraction to improve fertility outcomes? a narrative review

To date, infertility affects 10% to 15% of couples worldwide. A male factor is estimated to account for up to 50% of cases. Oral supplementation with antioxidants could be helpful to improve sperm quality by reducing oxidative damage. At the same time, there is a growing interest in the literature on the use of testicular sperm in patients with high DNA fragmentation index (DFI). This narrative review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of supplementation of oral antioxidants in infertile men with high DFI compared to testicular sperm retrieval. The current evidence is non-conclusive because of serious risk of bias due to small sample sizes and statistical methods. Further large well-designed randomised placebo-controlled trials are still required to clarify the exact role of these to different therapeutic approaches

Flow Index accurately identifies breaths with low or high inspiratory effort during pressure support ventilation

Background Flow Index, a numerical expression of the shape of the inspiratory flow-time waveform recorded during pressure support ventilation, is associated with patient inspiratory effort. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of Flow Index in detecting high or low inspiratory effort during pressure support ventilation and to establish cutoff values for the Flow index to identify these conditions. The secondary aim was to compare the performance of Flow index,of breathing pattern parameters and of airway occlusion pressure (P0.1) in detecting high or low inspiratory effort during pressure support ventilation. Methods Data from 24 subjects was included in the analysis, accounting for a total of 702 breaths. Breaths with high inspiratory effort were defined by a pressure developed by inspiratory muscles (Pmusc) greater than 10 cmH2O while breaths with low inspiratory effort were defined by a Pmusc lower than 5 cmH2O. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of Flow Index and respiratory rate, tidal volume,respiratory rate over tidal volume and P0.1 were analyzed and compared to identify breaths with low or high inspiratory effort. Results Pmusc, P0.1, Pressure Time Product and Flow Index differed between breaths with high, low and intermediate inspiratory effort, while RR, RR/VT and VT/kg of IBW did not differ in a statistically significant way. A Flow index higher than 4.5 identified breaths with high inspiratory effort [AUC 0.89 (CI 95% 0.85–0.93)], a Flow Index lower than 2.6 identified breaths with low inspiratory effort [AUC 0.80 (CI 95% 0.76–0.83)]. Conclusions Flow Index is accurate in detecting high and low spontaneous inspiratory effort during pressure support ventilation

Definition of miRNAs expression profile in glioblastoma samples: the relevance of non-neoplastic brain reference.

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive brain tumor that may occur in adults. Regardless of the huge improvements in surgery and molecular therapy, the outcome of neoplasia remains poor. MicroRNAs are small molecules involved in several cellular processes, and their expression is altered in the vast majority of tumors. Several studies reported the expression of different miRNAs in glioblastoma, but one of the most critical point in understanding glioblastoma miRNAs profile is the comparison of these studies. In this paper, we focused our attention on the non-neoplastic references used for determining miRNAs expression. The aim of this study was to investigate if using three different non-neoplastic brain references (normal adjacent the tumor, commercial total RNA, and epileptic specimens) could provide discrepant results. The analysis of 19 miRNAs was performed using Real-Time PCR, starting from the set of samples described above and the expression values compared. Moreover, the three different normal RNAs were used to determine the miRNAs profile in 30 glioblastomas. The data showed that different non-neoplastic controls could lead to different results and emphasize the importance of comparing miRNAs profiles obtained using the same experimental condition

miRNAs expression analysis in paired fresh/frozen and dissected formalin fixed and paraffin embedded glioblastoma using real-time pCR.

miRNAs are small molecules involved in gene regulation. Each tissue shows a characteristic miRNAs epression profile that could be altered during neoplastic transformation. Glioblastoma is the most aggressive brain tumour of the adult with a high rate of mortality. Recognizing a specific pattern of miRNAs for GBM could provide further boost for target therapy. The availability of fresh tissue for brain specimens is often limited and for this reason the possibility of starting from formalin fixed and paraffin embedded tissue (FFPE) could very helpful even in miRNAs expression analysis. We analysed a panel of 19 miRNAs in 30 paired samples starting both from FFPE and Fresh/Frozen material. Our data revealed that there is a good correlation in results obtained from FFPE in comparison with those obtained analysing miRNAs extracted from Fresh/Frozen specimen. In the few cases with a not good correlation value we noticed that the discrepancy could be due to dissection performed in FFPE samples. To the best of our knowledge this is the first paper demonstrating that the results obtained in miRNAs analysis using Real-Time PCR starting from FFPE specimens of glioblastoma are comparable with those obtained in Fresh/Frozen samples

Phthalates and Bisphenol A: presence in blood serum and follicular fluid of italian women undergoing assisted reproduction techniques

Background: folliculogenesis is a strictly regulated process that may be affected by endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) through sometimes not so clear molecular mechanisms. Methods: we conducted a multicentric observational study involving six fertility centers across Italy, prospectively recruiting 122 women attending a fertility treatment. Recruited women had age ≤42 years, and normal ovarian reserve. Blood and follicular fluid samples were taken for EDCs measurement using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and each woman completed an epidemiological questionnaire. Results: The main EDCs found were monobutyl phthalate (MBP) (median blood: 8.96 ng/mL, follicular fluid 6.43 ng/mL), monoethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP) (median blood: 9.16 ng/mL, follicular fluid 7.68 ng/mL) and bisphenol A (BPA) (median blood: 1.89 ng/mL, follicular fluid 1.86 ng/mL). We found that serum MBP concentration was significantly associated with the considered area (p < 0.001, adj. mean: 7.61 ng/mL, 14.40 ng/mL, 13.56 ng/mL; Area 1: Milan–Turin, Area 2: Rome–Naples; Area 3: Catania–Bari, respectively) but negatively with home plastic food packaging (p = 0.004). Follicular MBP was associated with irregular cycles (p = 0.019). No association was detected between EDCs and eating habits and other clinical and epidemiological features. Conclusions: This study represents the first Italian biomonitoring of plastic EDCs in follicular fluid, laying the basis for future prospective evaluation on oocyte quality before assisted reproduction techniques (ART