Fetal Transplant-Induced Restoration of Spatial Memory in Rats with Lesions of the Nucleus Basalis of Meynert

Bilateral lesions of the nucleus basalis of Meynert (nbM) in rats produced mnemonic deficits when subjects were tested on tests of spatial memory over a period of 3 to 7.5 months postoperatively. The transplantation of cholinergic- rich, fetal ventral forebrain tissue to either two or four frontoparietal cortical sites normalized performance on the spatial memory tasks. However, which transplant condition yielded recovery depended upon the nature of the task and/or posttransplantation interval. When assessed 8 months following transplant surgery, cortical choline acetyltransferase and acetylcholinesterase activity levels in both transplant groups were comparable to those values found in sham-operated animals. These data indicate that fetal transplants can reverse the mnemonic deficits and restore cortical cholinergic neurochemical activity to near-normal levels in rats with nbM lesions

Characterization of VIP-sensitive adenylate cyclase in guinea pig brain

This paper demonstrates that VIP activates an adenylate cyclase from a synaptosomal fraction of guinea pig brain. This activation was not potentiated by guanyl triphosphate nucleotides, and was unaffected by α- and β-adrenergic blockers and by atropine. Furthermore, peptides related to VIP, like secretin, glucagon and somatostatin, were devoid of significant agonistic or antagonistic activity. EGTA was also without effect on basal and VIP stimulated activities while calcium at concentrations higher than 10-5 M inhibited both activities.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

A Multivariate Approach to a Meta-Analytic Review of the Effectiveness of the D.A.R.E. Program

The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program is a widespread but controversial school-based drug prevention program in the United States as well as in many other countries. The present multivariate meta-analysis reviewed 20 studies that assessed the effectiveness of the D.A.R.E. program in the United States. The results showed that the effects of the D.A.R.E. program on drug use did not vary across the studies with a less than small overall effect while the effects on psychosocial behavior varied with still a less than small overall effect. In addition, the characteristics of the studies significantly explained the variation of the heterogeneous effects on psychosocial behavior, which provides empirical evidence for improving the school-based drug prevention program

Infliximab in paediatric inflammatory bowel disease

AbstractInfliximab has been widely used in paediatric Crohn's disease, mainly in luminal and fistulous disease refractory to standard treatment and for extraintestinal manifestations. Moreover, there is growing experience with its use in refractory ulcerative colitis. Infliximab has shown similar efficacy and safety in children as in adult population. It is postulated that its early use in paediatric inflammatory bowel disease, as a bridging treatment until the onset of action of other immunomodulators, could reduce the use of steroids and change the natural history of the disease as well. The effect of infliximab on mucosal healing could also contribute to the normal growth and sexual maturation in these patients