Novel Endocrine Targets for GBM Therapy

Astrocytomas are brain tumors from glial cells, and they are classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as astrocytoma, grade I or benign; astrocytoma, grade II or malignant; anaplastic astrocytoma, grade III; and glioblastoma multiforme or grade IV. The high‐grade gliomas have an incidence of 6.03/100,000. The frequency of GBM is higher in men than in woman by a 50%. The survival of patients with GBM varied between 14 and 18 months, and less than 10% patients survive for 5 years. The main treatments for GBM consist of surgical tumor resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. These tumors present different endocrine characteristics, such as expression of aromatase enzyme, estrogen, progesterone, as well as testosterone receptors. In addition, patients with GBM produce estradiol in high concentrations when compared to those with low‐grade astrocytomas. The highest mRNA expression of ERα and aromatase in GBM patients had been postulated as prognostic biomarkers. The aromatase inhibitors had been used in the treatment of breast cancer in postmenopausal women with satisfactory results. At present time, several research groups are interested in testing these inhibitors for treating GBM

Walk Locomotion Kinematic Changes in a Model of Penetrating Hippocampal Injury in Male/Female Mice and Rats

Traumatic brain injury has been the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in human beings. One of the most susceptible structures to this damage is the hippocampus due to cellular and synaptic loss and impaired hippocampal connectivity to the brain, brain stem, and spinal cord. Thus, hippocampal damage in rodents using a stereotaxic device could be an adequate method to study a precise lesion from CA1 to the dentate gyrus structures. We studied male and female rats and mice, analyzing hindlimb locomotion kinematics changes to compare the locomotion kinematics using the same methodology in rodents. We measure (1) the vertical hindlimb metatarsus, ankle, and knee joint vertical displacements (VD) and (2) the factor of dissimilarity (DF). The VD in intact rats in metatarsus, ankle, and knee joints differs from that in intact mice in similar joints. In rats, the vertical displacement through the step cycle changed in the left and right metatarsus, ankle, and knee joints compared to the intact group versus the lesioned group. More subtle changes were also observed in mice. DF demonstrates contrasting results when studying locomotion kinematics of mice or rats and sex-dependent differences. Thus, a precise lesion in a rodent’s hippocampal structure discloses some hindlimb locomotion changes related to species and sex. Thus, we only have a qualitative comparison between murine species. In order to make a comparison with other species, we should standardize the model

THE ROLE OF HORMONES ON Toxoplasma gondii INFECTION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Background: Toxoplasma gondii is the causal agent of toxoplasmosis in which one third of the world’s population has been infected. In pregnant women, it may cause abortion and severe damage to the fetal central nervous system. During pregnancy, the prevalence of toxoplasmosis increases throughout the second and third quarter of gestation, simultaneously progesterone and 17β-estradiol also increase. Thus, it has been suggested that these hormones can aggravate or reduce parasite reproduction. The aim of this study was reviewing the relationship between hormones and infection caused by T. gondii in several experimental animal models and humans, focused mainly on: a) congenital transmission, b) parasite reproduction, c) strain virulence, d) levels of hormone in host induced by T. gondii infection and e) participation of hormone receptors in Toxoplasma gondii infection.Are the hormones specific modulators of T. gondii infection?A systematic review methodology was used to consult several databases (Pub Med, Lilacs, Medline, Science direct, Scielo, Ebsco, Sprinker, Wiley and Google Scholar) dated from September, 2013 to March, 2014. Results: 30 studies were included; eight studies in humans and 22 in animals and cell cultures. In the human studies, the most studied hormones were testosterone, progesterone, prolactin and 17-ß estradiol. Type I (RH and BK) and Type II (Prugniaud, SC, ME49,T45, P78 and T38) were the most frequent experimental strains. Conclusions: Thirty-five years have passed since the first studies regarding Toxoplasma gondii infection and its relationship with hormones. This systematic review suggests that hormones modulate Toxoplasma gondii infection in different animal models. However, given that data were not comparable, further studies are required to determine the mechanism of hormone action in the Toxoplasma gondii infectious process

Toxoplasmosis Is More Frequent in Schizophrenia Patients Than in the General Population in Mexico and Is Not Associated with More Severe Course of Schizophrenia Measured with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale

Toxoplasmosis is a disease, which was discovered in 1908, caused by the intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii. T. gondii infects neuronal, glial, and muscle cells, and chronic infections are characterized by the presence of cysts, in the brain and muscle cells, formed by bradyzoites. T. gondii is capable of synthesizing L-DOPA, a precursor of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is key in the etiology of neuropsychological disorders such as schizophrenia. Previous studies have shown high levels of IgG Toxoplasma antibodies in schizophrenia patients. Many published studies show that the prevalence of toxoplasmosis is higher in schizophrenia patients. In this study, we aimed to identify the prevalence of Toxoplasma infection in patients with schizophrenia and the relationships between, sociodemographic factors and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. A total of 27 schizophrenic patients were included and IgG anti-T. gondii was determined in serum samples by ELISA. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, sociodemographic factors were associated with seropositivity. We found that the prevalence of Toxoplasma antibodies was 51.7%. In the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, statistical significant association (p = 0.024) was found in Item 13 which is related to motor retardation, however, the association turned non-significant after of correction for multiple tests or after of analyzed with a logistic regression p = 0.059, odds ratio (OR) = 2.316 with a 95% confidence interval [0.970 to 5.532]. Other association was not found between toxoplasmosis and others factors. The prevalence of toxoplasmosis on our population under study was significantly higher than that reported by general population or other group of Mexican schizophrenia patients

Prospective cohort study of incidence and risk factors for catheter-associated urinary tract infections in 145 intensive care units of 9 Latin American countries: INICC findings

Purpose: Identify urinary catheter (UC)-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) incidence and risk factors (RF) in Latin American Countries. Methods: From 01/01/2014 to 02/10/2022, we conducted a prospective cohort study in 145 ICUs of 67 hospitals in 35 cities in nine Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, and Peru. To estimate CAUTI incidence, we used the number of UC-days as the denominator, and the number of CAUTIs as numerator. To estimate CAUTI RFs, we analyzed the following 10 variables using multiple logistic regression: gender, age, length of stay (LOS) before CAUTI acquisition, UC-days before CAUTI acquisition, UC-device utilization (DU) ratio, UC-type, hospitalizationtype, ICU type, facility ownership, and time period. Results: 31,631 patients, hospitalized for 214,669 patient-days, acquired 305 CAUTIs. The pooled CAUTI rate per 1000 UC-days was 2.58, for those using suprapubic catheters, it was 2.99, and for those with indwelling catheters, it was 2.21. The following variables were independently associated with CAUTI: age, rising risk 1% yearly (aOR = 1.01; 95% CI 1.01–1.02; p < 0.0001 female gender (aOR = 1.28; 95% CI 1.01–1.61; p = 0.04), LOS before CAUTI acquisition, rising risk 7% daily (aOR = 1.07; 95% CI 1.06–1.08; p < 0.0001, UC/DU ratio (aOR = 1.14; 95% CI 1.08–1.21; p < 0.0001, public facilities (aOR = 2.89; 95% CI 1.75–4.49; p < 0.0001. The periods 2014–2016 and 2017–2019 had significantly higher risks than the period 2020–2022. Suprapubic catheters showed similar risks as indwelling catheters. Conclusion: The following CAUTI RFs are unlikely to change: age, gender, hospitalization type, and facility ownership. Based on these findings, it is suggested to focus on reducing LOS, UC/DU ratio, and implementing evidence-based CAUTI prevention recommendations.Revisión por pare