Anthropometric evaluation and micronutrients intake in patients submitted to laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass with a postoperative period of ≥1 year

Backgroung - Bariatric surgery is indicated as the most effective treatment for morbid obesity; the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is considered the procedure of choice. However, nutritional deficiency may occur in the postoperative period as a result of reduced gastric capacity and change in nutrients absorption in the gastrointestinal tract. The prescription of vitamin and mineral supplementation is a common practice after RYGB; however, it may not be sufficient to prevent micronutrient deficiencies. The aim of this study was to quantify the micronutrient intake in patients undergoing RYGB and verify if the intake of supplementation would be enough to prevent nutritional deficiencies. Methods - The study was conducted on 60 patients submitted to RYGB. Anthropometric, analytical, and nutritional intake data were assessed preoperatively and 1 and 2 years postoperatively. The dietary intake was assessed using 24-h food recall; the values of micronutrients evaluated (vitamin B12, folic acid, iron, and calcium) were compared to the dietary reference intakes (DRI). Results - There were significant differences (p < 0.05) between excess weight loss at the first and second year (69.9 ± 15.3 vs 9.6 ± 62.9 %). In the first and second year after surgery, 93.3 and 94.1 % of the patients, respectively, took the supplements as prescribed. Micronutrient deficiencies were detected in the three evaluation periods. At the first year, there was a significant reduction (p < 0.05) of B12, folic acid, and iron intake. Conclusions - Despite taking vitamin and mineral supplementation, micronutrient deficiencies are common after RYGB. In the second year after surgery, micronutrient intake remains below the DRI

Socioeconomic inequalities in low birth weight risk before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina: A cross-sectional study

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have exacerbated existing socioe- conomic inequalities in health. In Argentina, public hospitals serve the poorest uninsured segment of the population, while private hospitals serve patients with health insurance. This study aimed to assess whether socioeconomic inequalities in low birth weight (LBW) risk changed during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This multicenter cross-sectional study included 15929 infants. A difference-in-difference (DID) analysis of socioeconomic inequalities between public and private hospitals in LBW risk in a pandemic cohort (March 20 to July 19, 2020) was compared with a prepandemic cohort (March 20 to July 19, 2019) by using medical records obtained from ten hospitals. Infants were categorized by weight as LBW < 2500 g, very low birth weight (VLBW) < 1500 g and extremely low birth weight (ELBW) < 1000 g. Log binomial regression was performed to estimate risk differences with an interaction term representing the DID estimator. Covariate-adjusted models included potential perinatal confounders. Findings: Of the 8437 infants in the prepandemic cohort, 4887 (57 ? 9%) were born in public hospitals. The pandemic cohort comprised 7492 infants, 4402 (58 ? 7%) of whom were born in public hospitals. The DID estimators indicated no differences between public versus private hospitals for LBW risk ( −1 ? 8% [95% CI −3 ? 6, 0 ? 0]) and for ELBW risk ( −0 ? 1% [95% CI −0 ? 6, 0 ? 3]). Significant differences were found between public versus private hospitals in the DID estimators ( −1 ? 2% [95% CI, −2 ? 1, −0 ? 3]) for VLBW risk. The results were comparable in covariate-adjusted models. Interpretation: In this study, we found evidence of decreased disparities between public and private hos- pitals in VLBW risk. Our findings suggest that measures that prioritize social spending to protect the most vulnerable pregnant women during the pandemic contributed to better birth outcomes. Funding: No funding was secured for this study.Fil: Cuestas, Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Gómez Flores, Martha E.. Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Hospital Doctor Ramón Carrillo; ArgentinaFil: Charras, María D.. Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Hospital Doctor Ramón Carrillo; ArgentinaFil: Peyrano, Alberto J.. Hospital Materno Provincial Dr. Raúl Felipe Lucini; ArgentinaFil: Montenegro, Clara. Hospital Materno Provincial Dr. Raúl Felipe Lucini; ArgentinaFil: Sosa Boye, Ignacio. No especifíca;Fil: Burgos, Verónica. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina. Clínica Universitaria Reina Fabiola; ArgentinaFil: Giusti, Graciela. Clínica y Maternidad del Sol; ArgentinaFil: Espósito, Mario. Clínica y Maternidad del Sol; ArgentinaFil: Blanco Pool, Silvyana S.. Hospital Misericordia Nuevo Siglo ; Gobierno de la Provincia de Cordoba; ArgentinaFil: Gurevich, Debora P.. Hospital Misericordia Nuevo Siglo ; Gobierno de la Provincia de Cordoba; ArgentinaFil: Ahumada, Luis A.. Hospital Misericordia Nuevo Siglo ; Gobierno de la Provincia de Cordoba; ArgentinaFil: Pontoriero, Ricardo D.. Hospital Misericordia Nuevo Siglo ; Gobierno de la Provincia de Cordoba; ArgentinaFil: Rizzotti, Alina. Hospital Privado Universitario de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Bas, José I.. Hospital Privado Universitario de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Vaca, María B.. Hospital Universitario de Maternidad y Neonatología; ArgentinaFil: Miranda, María J.. Hospital Universitario de Maternidad y Neonatología; ArgentinaFil: Ferreyra, Mirta E.. Hospital Misericordia Nuevo Siglo ; Gobierno de la Provincia de Cordoba; ArgentinaFil: Moreno, Gabriela C.. Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Hospital Doctor Ramón Carrillo; ArgentinaFil: Pedicino, Héctor. Hospital Italiano; ArgentinaFil: Rojas Rios, Melvy. Hospital Italiano; Argentin

Association between COVID-19 mandatory lockdown and decreased incidence of preterm births and neonatal mortality

Previous studies suggest a decrease in preterm births (PTB) during de coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), possibly due to the effect of the mandatory lockdown. Nevertheless, other reports have been unable to confirm this finding. Most of these studies originated in high-income countries and evaluated a limited number of potential confounders, and all of them assessed a short lockdown period. In addition, an important question remains unanswered: How can we be sure that the observed changes are due to lockdown, when most of the pregnancies delivered in the lockdown period were conceived prior to it?To date there is insufficient evidence to support the notion that public health interventions during the lockdown prevent PTB . The aim of this study was to compare the incidence of PTB, neonatal mortality (NM) and stillbirths adjusted by potential confounders during the lockdown period assessing a time window of nine and a half months during which all the pregnancies analyzed in the exposed group were conceived after the lockdown, with the corresponding incidence in the previous year where all the unexposed pregnancies analyzed were conceived before the lockdown.publishedVersionFil: Cuestas, Eduardo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentina.Fil: Cuestas, Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud; Argentina.Fil: Gómez Flores, Martha E. Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Hospital Doctor Ramon Carrillo; Argentina.Fil: Charras, María D. Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Hospital Doctor Ramon Carrillo; Argentina.Fil: Peyrano, Alberto J. Hospital Materno Provincial Dr. Raúl Felipe Lucini; Argentina.Fil: Montenegro, Clara. Hospital Materno Provincial Dr. Raúl Felipe Lucini; Argentina.Fil: Sosa-Boye, Ignacio. Clínica Universitaria Reina Fabiola; Argentina.Fil: Burgos, Verónica. Clínica Universitaria Reina Fabiola; Argentina.Fil: Giusti, Graciela. Clínica y Maternidad del Sol; Argentina.Fil: Espósito, Mario. Clínica y Maternidad del Sol; Argentina.Fil: Blanco Pool, Silvyana S. Hospital Misericordia Nuevo Siglo; Argentina.Fil: Blanco Pool, Silvyana S. Sanatorio Allende; Argentina.Fil: Gurevich, Debora P. Sanatorio Allende; Argentina.Fil: Gurevich, Debora P. Hospital Misericordia Nuevo Siglo; Argentina.Fil: Ahumada, Luis A. Sanatorio Allende; Argentina.Fil: Ahumada, Luis A. Hospital Misericordia Nuevo Siglo; Argentina.Fil: Pontoriero, Ricardo D. Hospital Misericordia Nuevo Siglo; Argentina.Fil: Rizzotti, Alina. Hospital Privado Universitario de Córdoba; Argentina.Fil: Bas, José I. Hospital Privado Universitario de Córdoba; Argentina.Fil: Vaca, María B. Hospital Universitario de Maternidad y Neonatología; Argentina.Fil: Miranda, María J. Hospital Universitario de Maternidad y Neonatología; Argentina.Fil: Ferreyra, Mirta E. Sanatorio del Salvador; Argentina.Fil: Ferreyra, Mirta E. Hospital Misericordia Nuevo Siglo; Argentina.Fil: Moreno, Gabriela C. Sanatorio del Salvador; Argentina.Fil: Pedicino, Héctor. Instituto Universidad Escuela de Medicina del Hospital Italiano; Argentina.Fil: Rojas-Rios, Melvy. Instituto Universidad Escuela de Medicina del Hospital Italiano; Argentina

Reliable Activation of Immature Neurons in the Adult Hippocampus

Neurons born in the adult dentate gyrus develop, mature, and connect over a long interval that can last from six to eight weeks. It has been proposed that, during this period, developing neurons play a relevant role in hippocampal signal processing owing to their distinctive electrical properties. However, it has remained unknown whether immature neurons can be recruited into a network before synaptic and functional maturity have been achieved. To address this question, we used retroviral expression of green fluorescent protein to identify developing granule cells of the adult mouse hippocampus and investigate the balance of afferent excitation, intrinsic excitability, and firing behavior by patch clamp recordings in acute slices. We found that glutamatergic inputs onto young neurons are significantly weaker than those of mature cells, yet stimulation of cortical excitatory axons elicits a similar spiking probability in neurons at either developmental stage. Young neurons are highly efficient in transducing ionic currents into membrane depolarization due to their high input resistance, which decreases substantially in mature neurons as the inward rectifier potassium (Kir) conductance increases. Pharmacological blockade of Kir channels in mature neurons mimics the high excitability characteristic of young neurons. Conversely, Kir overexpression induces mature-like firing properties in young neurons. Therefore, the differences in excitatory drive of young and mature neurons are compensated by changes in membrane excitability that render an equalized firing activity. These observations demonstrate that the adult hippocampus continuously generates a population of highly excitable young neurons capable of information processing

Study of pallial neurogenesis in shark embryos and the evolutionary origin of the subventricular zone

The dorsal part of the developing telencephalon is one of the brain areas that has suffered most drastic changes throughout vertebrate evolution. Its evolutionary increase in complexity was thought to be partly achieved by the appearance of a new neurogenic niche in the embryonic subventricular zone (SVZ). Here, a new kind of amplifying progenitors (basal progenitors) expressing Tbr2, undergo a second round of divisions, which is believed to have contributed to the expansion of the neocortex. Accordingly, the existence of a pallial SVZ has been classically considered exclusive of mammals. However, the lack of studies in ancient vertebrates precludes any clear conclusion about the evolutionary origin of the SVZ and the neurogenic mechanisms that rule pallial development. In this work, we explore pallial neurogenesis in a basal vertebrate, the shark Scyliorhinus canicula, through the study of the expression patterns of several neurogenic markers. We found that apical progenitors and radial migration are present in sharks, and therefore, their presence must be highly conserved throughout evolution. Surprisingly, we detected a subventricular band of ScTbr2-expressing cells, some of which also expressed mitotic markers, indicating that the existence of basal progenitors should be considered an ancestral condition rather than a novelty of mammals or amniotes. Finally, we report that the transcriptional program for the specification of glutamatergic pallial cells (Pax6, Tbr2, NeuroD, Tbr1) is also present in sharks. However, the segregation of these markers into different cell types is not clear yet, which may be linked to the lack of layering in anamniotesThis work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad-FEDER (BFU2014-5863-1P)S

Effects of human serun albumin in some biological properties of rhodium(II) complexes

The affinities for human albumin (HSA) of five rhodium(II) complexes of general formula [Rh2(bridge)4] (bridge = acetate, propionate, butyrate, trifluoroacetate and trifluoroacetamidate) were determined by spectrophotometry. In the case of the alkylcarboxylates, an inverse correlation of affinity with their liposolubilities was observed. Diffusion of the free or protein-bound complexes into Ehrlich cells in vitro seems to be primarily governed by the hydrophobic character of the complex. The complex [Rh2(tfc)4] exhibited affinity towards the protein (K = 214.1) as well as cell partition both in the absence (32.1%) and presence (48.6%) of HSA. The compound HSA: [Rh2(tfc)4] has had its antitumoral action in tumor-bearing Balb-c mice investigated, showing that HSA can be a drug reservoir for the rhodium complex