Disruption of the sea bass skin-scale barrier by antidepressant fluoxetine and estradiol: in vivo and in vitro evidence

Trabajo presentado en la Joint 30th Conference of the European Society for Comparative Endocrinology and of the 9th International Society for Fish Endocrinology, celebrada en Faro (Portugal) del 04 al 08 de septiembre de 2022.Fluoxetine (FLX) is a highly prescribed selective inhibitor of serotonin-reuptake and an emerging pollutant affecting fish behaviour, stress and reproduction, but little is known about possible actions and mechanisms in barrier tissues. We combined in vivo and in vitro approaches to demonstrate multi-level impacts of FLX on the sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) skin-scale barrier and on the estrogenic system. Juvenile sea bass intraperitoneally injected with FLX had significantly increased levels of FLX and its metabolite nor-FLX. In contrast to the natural estrogen E2, FLX did not increase plasma calcium, phosphorus (P) or vitellogenin, although a slight decrease in scale P content was detected. Quantitative SWATH-MS proteomics of the scales identified 134 proteins that were affected by FLX. Modified proteins were mainly related to extracellular matrix and protein turnover and energy production, 31 of which were also affected by E2. Multiple estrogen receptors and genes related to serotonin activity, transport and degradation were expressed in sea bass scales and transcript abundance of some of them was modulated by E2 and/or FLX. Using a minimally invasive in vitro bioassay with cultured sea bass scales and adhering epithelia we showed direct effects of FLX exposure on enzymatic activity associated with mineral mobilization, while the expression of estrogen receptors was not significantly affected. In in vitro receptor-reporter assays, FLX alone did not activate any of the three sea bass nuclear estrogen receptors but had antiestrogenic effects on Esr1/2b when in co-treatment with E2, and directly activated both plasma membrane Gprotein-coupled estrogen receptors. The combination of in vitro and in vivo assays substantiated the notion that FLX disrupted scale physiology through several different processes, with probable consequences for fish health, and revealed that some of the mechanisms of disruption can result from direct interaction with multiple estrogen .Projects UIDB/04326/2020, PTDC/AAG-GLO/4003/2012 and DL57/2016/CP1361/CT0015 from FCT (Pt); EU Interreg FR-UK project RedPol; grant AGL2015-67477-C2-1- R (Sp)

Review of the methods of determination of directed connectivity from multichannel data

The methods applied for estimation of functional connectivity from multichannel data are described with special emphasis on the estimators of directedness such as directed transfer function (DTF) and partial directed coherence. These estimators based on multivariate autoregressive model are free of pitfalls connected with application of bivariate measures. The examples of applications illustrating the performance of the methods are given. Time-varying estimators of directedness: short-time DTF and adaptive methods are presented

Healthcare staff's experience in providing end-of-life care to children: A mixed-method review.

BACKGROUND: Staff who provide end-of-life care to children not only have to deal with their own sense of loss but also that of bereaved families. There is a dearth of knowledge on how they cope with these challenges. AIM: The aim of this review is to explore the experiences of healthcare professionals who provide end-of-life care to children in order to inform the development of interventions to support them, thereby improving the quality of paediatric care for both children and their families. DATA SOURCES: Searches included CINAHL, MEDLINE, Web of Science, EMBASE, PsychINFO and The Cochrane Library in June 2015, with no date restrictions. Additional literature was uncovered from searching reference lists of relevant studies, along with contacting experts in the field of paediatric palliative care. DESIGN: This was a systematic mixed studies review. Study selection, appraisal and data extraction were conducted by two independent researchers. Integrative thematic analysis was used to synthesise the data. RESULTS: The 16 qualitative, 6 quantitative and 8 mixed-method studies identified included healthcare professionals in a range of settings. Key themes identified rewards and challenges of providing end-of-life care to children, the impact on staff's personal and professional lives, coping strategies and key approaches to help support staff in their role. CONCLUSION: Education focusing on the unique challenges of providing end-of-life care to children and the importance of self-care, along with timely multidisciplinary debriefing, are key strategies for improving healthcare staff's experiences, and as such the quality of care they provide

Deficiency of Antinociception and Excessive Grooming Induced by Acute Immobilization Stress in Per1 Mutant Mice

Acute stressors induce changes in numerous behavioral parameters through activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Several important hormones in paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) play the roles in these stress-induced reactions. Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), arginine-vasopressin (AVP) and corticosterone are considered as molecular markers for stress-induced grooming behavior. Oxytocin in PVN is an essential modulator for stress-induced antinociception. The clock gene, Per1, has been identified as an effecter response to the acute stresses, but its function in neuroendocrine stress systems remains unclear. In the present study we observed the alterations in grooming and nociceptive behaviors induced by acute immobilization stress in Per1 mutant mice and other genotypes (wild types and Per2 mutant). The results displayed that stress elicited a more robust effect on grooming behavior in Per1 mutant mice than in other genotypes. Subsequently, the obvious stress-induced antinociception was observed in the wild-type and Per2 mutant mice, however, in Per1 mutant, this antinociceptive effects were partially-reversed (mechanical sensitivity), or over-reversed to hyperalgesia (thermal sensitivity). The real-time qPCR results showed that in PVN, there were stress-induced up-regulations of Crh, Avp and c-fos in all of genotypes; moreover, the expression change of Crh in Per1 mutant mice was much larger than in others. Another hormonal gene, Oxt, was up-regulated induced by stress in wild-type and Per2 mutant but not in Per1 mutant. In addition, the stress significantly elevated the serum corticosterone levels without genotype-dependent differences, and accordingly the glucocorticoid receptor gene, Nr3c1, expressed with a similar pattern in PVN of all strains. Taken together, the present study indicated that in acute stress treated Per1 mutant mice, there are abnormal hormonal responses in PVN, correlating with the aberrant performance of stress-induced behaviors. Therefore, our findings suggest a novel functional role of Per1 in neuroendocrine stress system, which further participates in analgesic regulation

Tuberculosis incidence in foreign-born people residing in European countries in 2020.

BackgroundEuropean-specific policies for tuberculosis (TB) elimination require identification of key populations that benefit from TB screening.AimWe aimed to identify groups of foreign-born individuals residing in European countries that benefit most from targeted TB prevention screening.MethodsThe Tuberculosis Network European Trials group collected, by cross-sectional survey, numbers of foreign-born TB patients residing in European Union (EU) countries, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020 from the 10 highest ranked countries of origin in terms of TB cases in each country of residence. Tuberculosis incidence rates (IRs) in countries of residence were compared with countries of origin.ResultsData on 9,116 foreign-born TB patients in 30 countries of residence were collected. Main countries of origin were Eritrea, India, Pakistan, Morocco, Romania and Somalia. Tuberculosis IRs were highest in patients of Eritrean and Somali origin in Greece and Malta (both > 1,000/100,000) and lowest among Ukrainian patients in Poland (3.6/100,000). They were mainly lower in countries of residence than countries of origin. However, IRs among Eritreans and Somalis in Greece and Malta were five times higher than in Eritrea and Somalia. Similarly, IRs among Eritreans in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK were four times higher than in Eritrea.ConclusionsCountry of origin TB IR is an insufficient indicator when targeting foreign-born populations for active case finding or TB prevention policies in the countries covered here. Elimination strategies should be informed by regularly collected country-specific data to address rapidly changing epidemiology and associated risks

Duration of unemployment and depression: a cross-sectional survey in Lithuania

BACKGROUND: In spite of a growing economy, unemployment is still a severe socio-economic problem in Lithuania. Nonetheless, no studies have been performed about the associations between unemployment and mental health in Lithuania. The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations between unemployment duration and depression in Lithuania. METHODS: The data was collected in a cross-sectional study in 2005. There were 429 filled-in questionnaires received (53.6% response rate) from unemployed persons registered with the Kaunas Labour Market Office. The severity of depression symptoms was evaluated using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Logistic regression was used to estimate the risk factors for occurrence of depression. Sex, age, place of residence, marital status, education, income and practiced religion were the independent variables. Long-term unemployment was defined as lasting a duration of 12 months or more. RESULTS: The findings showed that long-term unemployed persons had more episodes of a depressive mood in the past 12 months in comparison with the group of the short-term unemployed. In addition, the BDI score mean was higher among the long-term unemployed compared with the short-term unemployed (10.1 ± 8.8 and 14.2 ± 9.5 respectively, p < 0.001). It was estimated that the duration of unemployment and BDI score had a positive correlation (r = 0.1968, p < 0.001). Among the short-term unemployed, the risk of depression increased significantly when the person was female, had an older age and had experienced more episodes of unemployment. Among the long-term unemployed, an older age was the risk factor for development of depression. However, higher education and income were the factors that significantly decreased the risk of developing depression for-short term as well as for long-term unemployed. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that depression is a severe problem in the unemployed population. Depression is more elevated among the long-term unemployed. This leads to arguing for common efforts in providing needed social support and health care to reduce the effects of unemployment on mental health

High gamma oscillations in medial temporal lobe during overt production of speech and gestures

The study of the production of co-speech gestures (CSGs), i.e., meaningful hand movements that often accompany speech during everyday discourse, provides an important opportunity to investigate the integration of language, action, and memory because of the semantic overlap between gesture movements and speech content. Behavioral studies of CSGs and speech suggest that they have a common base in memory and predict that overt production of both speech and CSGs would be preceded by neural activity related to memory processes. However, to date the neural correlates and timing of CSG production are still largely unknown. In the current study, we addressed these questions with magnetoencephalography and a semantic association paradigm in which participants overtly produced speech or gesture responses that were either meaningfully related to a stimulus or not. Using spectral and beamforming analyses to investigate the neural activity preceding the responses, we found a desynchronization in the beta band (15-25 Hz), which originated 900 ms prior to the onset of speech and was localized to motor and somatosensory regions in the cortex and cerebellum, as well as right inferior frontal gyrus. Beta desynchronization is often seen as an indicator of motor processing and thus reflects motor activity related to the hand movements that gestures add to speech. Furthermore, our results show oscillations in the high gamma band (50-90 Hz), which originated 400 ms prior to speech onset and were localized to the left medial temporal lobe. High gamma oscillations have previously been found to be involved in memory processes and we thus interpret them to be related to contextual association of semantic information in memory. The results of our study show that high gamma oscillations in medial temporal cortex play an important role in the binding of information in human memory during speech and CSG production