MicroRNA Hsa-miR-134 is a circulating biomarker for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Epilepsy is misdiagnosed in up to 25% of patients, leading to serious and long-lasting consequences. Recently, circulating microRNAs have emerged as potential biomarkers in a number of clinical scenarios. The purpose of this study was to identify and to validate circulating microRNAs that could be used as biomarkers in the diagnosis of epilepsy. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure plasma levels of three candidate microRNAs in two phases of study: an initial discovery phase with 14 patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE), 13 with focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) and 16 controls; and a validation cohort constituted of an independent cohort of 65 patients with MTLE and 83 controls. We found hsa-miR-134 downregulated in patients with MTLE (p = 0.018) but not in patients with FCD, when compared to controls. Furthermore, hsa-miR-134 expression could be used to discriminate MTLE patients with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.75. To further assess the robustness of hsa-miR-134 as a biomarker for MTLE, we studied an independent cohort of 65 patients with MTLE, 27 of whom MTLE patients were responsive to pharmacotherapy, and 38 patients were pharmacoresistant and 83 controls. We confirmed that hsa-miR-134 was significantly downregulated in the plasma of patients with MTLE when compared with controls (p < 0.001). In addition, hsa-miR-134 identified patients with MTLE regardless of their response to pharmacotherapy or the presence of MRI signs of hippocampal sclerosis. We revealed that decreased expression of hsa-miR-134 could be a potential non-invasive biomarker to support the diagnosis of patients with MTLE.Epilepsy is misdiagnosed in up to 25% of patients, leading to serious and long-lasting consequences. Recently, circulating microRNAs have emerged as potential biomarkers in a number of clinical scenarios. The purpose of this study was to identify and to v124FAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCAPES - COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIORCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)2013/07559-3; 2013/00099-7sem informaçãosem informaçã

Attenuation of motor deficits by hydroethanolic extract of Poincianella pyramidalis in a Parkinson's disease model

The present study aimed to evaluate the possible neuroprotective effect of the hydroethanolic extract of Poincianella pyramidalis (EFIPp) (Tul.) L. P. Queiroz (Fabaceae), an endemic plant found in Northeastern Brazil, commonly used in folk medicine, on the motor deficits induced by repeated treatment with reserpine (RES) in rats. Adult male Wistar rats received 10 s.c. injections of 0.1 mg/kg RES or vehicle (VR), every 48 h, and daily i.p. injections daily of HEPp (25 mg/kg) or vehicle (VE). Throughout treatment, catalepsy behavior and oral movements were scored. After behavioral tests, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities were evaluated in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and striatum. RES treatment induced a progressive increase of catalepsy time in the treated group compared to control groups starting at day 15. RES also increased the number of vacuous chewing movements, tongue protrusions and duration of facial twitching. Treatment with HEPp attenuated the motor deficit in the catalepsy test and delayed the onset of oral movements induced by RES. No significant changes were observed in the antioxidant assay. Taken together, these results show a beneficial effect of HEPp on motor deficits induced by reserpine, suggesting a neuroprotective effect in a rat model of PD.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq)Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Apoio a Pesquisa e a Inovação Tecnologica do Estado de Sergipe (FAPITEC)Pro-reitoria de Pesquisa da Universidade Federal de Sergipe (POSGRAP/UFS)Univ Fed Sergipe, Dept Physiol, Sao Cristovao, SE, BrazilUniv Massachusetts, Neurosci & Behav Program, Amherst, MA 01003 USAMinist Educ, CAPES Fdn, BR-70040020 Brasilia, DF, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Biosci, Santos, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Pharmacol, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sergipe, Dept Biosci, Itabaiana, SE, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Biosci, Santos, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Pharmacol, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Toxicological and bioactivity evaluation of blackcurrant press cake, sea buckthorn leaves and bark from Scots pine and Norway spruce extracts under a green integrated approach

Aqueous extracts from blackcurrant press cake (BC), Norway spruce bark (NS), Scots pine bark (SP), and sea buckthorn leaves (SB) were obtained using maceration and pressurized hot water and tested for their bioactivities. Maceration provided the extraction of higher dry matter contents, including total phenolics (TPC), anthocyanins, and condensed tannins, which also impacted higher antioxidant activity. NS and SB extracts presented the highest mean values of TPC and antioxidant activity. Individually, NS extract presented high contents of proanthocyanidins, resveratrol, and some phenolic acids. In contrast, SB contained a high concentration of ellagitannins, ellagic acid, and quercetin, explaining the antioxidant activity and antibacterial effects. SP and BC extracts had the lowest TPC and antioxidant activity. However, BC had strong antiviral efficacy, whereas SP can be considered a potential ingredient to inhibit α-amylase. Except for BC, the other extracts decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in HCT8 and A549 cells. Extracts did not inhibit the production of TNF-alpha in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated THP-1 macrophages but inhibited the ROS generation during the THP-1 cell respiratory burst. The recovery of antioxidant compounds from these by-products is incentivized for high value-added applications.</p

Neotropical Freshwater Fishes: A dataset of occurrence and abundance of freshwater fishes in the Neotropics

The Neotropical region hosts 4225 freshwater fish species, ranking first among the world's most diverse regions for freshwater fishes. Our NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set is the first to produce a large-scale Neotropical freshwater fish inventory, covering the entire Neotropical region from Mexico and the Caribbean in the north to the southern limits in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. We compiled 185,787 distribution records, with unique georeferenced coordinates, for the 4225 species, represented by occurrence and abundance data. The number of species for the most numerous orders are as follows: Characiformes (1289), Siluriformes (1384), Cichliformes (354), Cyprinodontiformes (245), and Gymnotiformes (135). The most recorded species was the characid Astyanax fasciatus (4696 records). We registered 116,802 distribution records for native species, compared to 1802 distribution records for nonnative species. The main aim of the NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set was to make these occurrence and abundance data accessible for international researchers to develop ecological and macroecological studies, from local to regional scales, with focal fish species, families, or orders. We anticipate that the NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set will be valuable for studies on a wide range of ecological processes, such as trophic cascades, fishery pressure, the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation, and the impacts of species invasion and climate change. There are no copyright restrictions on the data, and please cite this data paper when using the data in publications.Fil: Tonella, Lívia Helena. Universidade Estadual de Maringá. Departamento de Engenharia Química. Laboratorio de Pesquisa.; BrasilFil: Ruaro, Renata. Universidade Estadual de Maringá. Departamento de Engenharia Química. Laboratorio de Pesquisa.; BrasilFil: Daga, Vanessa Salete. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Garcia, Diego Azevedo Zoccal. Universidade Estadual de Londrina; BrasilFil: Barroso Vitorino Júnior, Oscar. Instituto Natureza do Tocantins-Naturatins; BrasilFil: Lobato de Magalhães, Tatiana. Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro.; MéxicoFil: Reis, Roberto Esser. Museu de Ciências e Tecnologia; BrasilFil: Di Dario, Fabio. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Petry, Ana Cristina. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Mincarone, Michael Maia. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Assis Montag, Luciano Fogaça. Universidade Federal do Pará; BrasilFil: Pompeu, Paulo Santos. Universidade Federal de Lavras; BrasilFil: Teixeira, Adonias Aphoena Martins. Universidade Estadual da Paraiba; BrasilFil: Carmassi, Alberto Luciano. Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo; Brasil. Universidade Federal do São Carlos; BrasilFil: Sánchez, Alberto J.. Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco; MéxicoFil: Giraldo Pérez, Alejandro. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Bono, Alessandra. Universidad de Vale do Rio dos Sinos; BrasilFil: Datovo, Aléssio. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Flecker, Alexander S.. Cornell University; Estados UnidosFil: Sanches, Alexandra. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil. Universidade Federal do São Carlos; BrasilFil: Godinho, Alexandre Lima. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Matthiensen, Alexandre. Embrapa Suínos e Aves; BrasilFil: Peressin, Alexandre. Universidade Federal de Lavras; BrasilFil: Silva Hilsdorf, Alexandre Wagner. Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes; BrasilFil: Barufatti, Alexéia. Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados; BrasilFil: Hirschmann, Alice. Universidade Federal do Pampa; BrasilFil: Jung, Aline. Universidade Do Estado de Mato Grosso (unemat);Fil: Cruz Ramírez, Allan K.. Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco; MéxicoFil: Braga Silva, Alline. Instituto Federal de Goiás; BrasilFil: Cunico, Almir Manoel. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Tagliaferro, Marina Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentin

Broadened T-cell Repertoire Diversity in ivIg-treated SLE Patients is Also Related to the Individual Status of Regulatory T-cells

Intravenous IgG (ivIg) is a therapeutic alternative for lupus erythematosus, the mechanism of which remains to be fully understood. Here we investigated whether ivIg affects two established sub-phenotypes of SLE, namely relative oligoclonality of circulating T-cells and reduced activity of CD4 + Foxp3+ regulatory T-cells (Tregs) reflected by lower CD25 surface density.Octapharma research funding; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia postdoctoral fellowships: (SFRH/BPD/20806/2004, SFRH/BPD/34648/2007); FCT Programa Pessoa travel grant