SHORT-TERM SOCIAL ISOLATION DOES NOT REDUCE ELEVATED PLUS-MAZE EXPLORATION IN EARLY PROTEIN MALNOURISHED RATS

An increased number of visits and time spent in the open arms of the elevated plus-maze by malnourished rats has been used as indicative of lower anxiety or impulsiveness. In order to study how this behavior profile responds to an anxiogenic procedure (short-term social isolation), control (16% protein) and malnourished (6% protein) rats were socially isolated prior to the test in the maze. Litters (dam plus 6 male 2 female pups) were fed the diets from birth to 49 days of age. From 50 days on, all rats were fed a lab chow diet. Social isolation consists in removing the rats from the group and placing in individual cages for 2h before the test. During the test each rat was individually placed on the center of the maze and allowed to explore for 5 min. The results showed higher open arms exploration and lower attempts to enter open arms by the malnourished rats than by the controls. Social isolation decreased open arm exploration and increased time spent on the central platform in control animals, but had no effect on the malnourished rats. The results reinforce the lower anxiety or higher impulsiveness of malnourished rats, as well as the anxiogenic effect of social isolation in control rats. However, the malnourished rats were unresponsive to the anxiogenic effects of social isolation, indicating that protein deficiency early in life not only induces lower anxiety or higher impulsiveness in the maze, but also changes the behavior of these animals in response to another environmentally-induced procedure of anxiety (social isolation). Keywords: Early protein malnutrition, Social isolation, Anxiety, Impulsiveness, Stress, Rats.

Antimicrobial and plant growth-promoting properties of the cacao endophyte Bacillus subtilis ALB629.

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Adenomesenteritis following sars-cov-2 vaccination in children. a case report and review of the literature

At present, the vaccine authorized in children aged 5 years and older is the BNT162b2 messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccine. Unlike adults, there is limited data available in the pediatric age describing adverse events after vaccine. We report a case of adenomesenteritis in a young girl following the first dose of vaccine

Cross-sectional survey on BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine serious adverse events in children 5 to 11 years of age. A monocentric experience

Objective: Our aim was to evaluate the safety of COVID-19 vaccine in children resident in the Latina Local Health Authority. Methods: We conducted a telephone survey among children aged 5–11 years receiving BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine between December 15 and 21. The main outcomes included the presence of allergic reactions or anaphylaxis, adverse events after 24–48 h, 7 and 20 days of taking the first and second doses of medications, and documented SARS-CoV-2 infection after vaccination. The information obtained was automatically linked to a spreadsheet and analyzed. Results: 569 children were enrolled. The mean age was 114 ± 4.24 months; there were 251 males in the study. The vaccine showed a favorable safety profile; no anaphylaxis or serious adverse events were reported. The most common symptoms both after the first and second dose were injection site reactions, asthenia, and headache. Injection site reactions were more frequent after the first dose (p = 0.01), while systemic symptoms were more frequent after the second dose (p = 0.022). These symptoms were more frequent in patients with comorbidities (p = 0.0159). Conclusion: Our findings confirm the safety of COVID-19 vaccine in children younger 11 years and could be useful to promote its diffusion in pediatric ages in order to achieve “herd immunity” and prevent the virus’s circulation

The comprehensive clinic, laboratory, and instrumental evaluation of children with COVID-19: a 6-months prospective study

Objectives: To perform a comprehensive clinic, laboratory, and instrumental evaluation of children affected by coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Methods: Children with a positive result of nasopharyngeal swab for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) underwent laboratory tests, anal and conjunctival swab, electrocardiography, lung, abdomen, and cardiac ultrasound. Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was performed if abnormal basal blood pressure. Patients were followed-up for 6 months. Results: Three hundred and sixteen children were evaluated; 15 were finally included. Confirmed family member SARS-CoV-2 infection was present in all. Twenty-seven percent were asymptomatic. Anal and conjunctival swabs tests resulted negative in all. Patients with lower body mass index (BMI) presented significantly higher viral loads. Main laboratory abnormalities were: lactate dehydrogenase increasing (73%), low vitamin D levels (87%), hematuria (33%), proteinuria (26%), renal hyperfiltration (33%), and hypofiltration (13%). Two of the patients with hyperfiltration exhibited high blood pressure levels at diagnosis, and persistence of prehypertension at 6-month follow-up. No abnormalities were seen at ultrasound, excepting for one patient who exhibited B-lines at lung sonography. Immunoglobulin G seroconversion was observed in all at 1-month. Conclusions: Our study confirm that intra-family transmission is important. The significant higher viral loads recorded among patients with lower BMI, together with low vitamin D levels, support the impact of nutritional status on immune system. Renal involvement is frequent even among children with mild COVID-19, therefore prompt evaluation and identification of patients with reduced renal function reserve would allow a better stratification and management of patients. Seroconversion occurs also in asymptomatic children, with no differences in antibodies titer according to age, sex and clinical manifestations

Genome size, cytogenetic data and transferability of EST-SSRs markers in wild and cultivated species of the genus Theobroma L. (Byttnerioideae, Malvaceae).

The genus Theobroma comprises several trees species native to the Amazon. Theobroma cacao L. plays a key economic role mainly in the chocolate industry. Both cultivated and wild forms are described within the genus. Variations in genome size and chromosome number have been used for prediction purposes including the frequency of interspecific hybridization or inference about evolutionary relationships. In this study, the nuclear DNA content, karyotype and genetic diversity using functional microsatellites (EST-SSR) of seven Theobroma species were characterized. The nuclear content of DNA for all analyzed Theobroma species was 1C = ~ 0.46 pg. These species presented 2n = 20 with small chromosomes and only one pair of terminal heterochromatic bands positively stained (CMA+/DAPI− bands). The small size of Theobroma ssp. genomes was equivalent to other Byttnerioideae species, suggesting that the basal lineage of Malvaceae have smaller genomes and that there was an expansion of 2C values in the more specialized family clades. A set of 20 EST-SSR primers were characterized for related species of Theobroma, in which 12 loci were polymorphic. The polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.23 to 0.65, indicating a high level of information per locus. Combined results of flow cytometry, cytogenetic data and EST-SSRs markers will contribute to better describe the species and infer about the evolutionary relationships among Theobroma species. In addition, the importance of a core collection for conservation purposes is highlighted

Attempts to Image the Early Inflammatory Response during Infection with the Lymphatic Filarial Nematode Brugia pahangi in a Mouse Model

Helminth parasites remain a major constraint upon human health and well-being in many parts of the world. Treatment of these infections relies upon a very small number of therapeutics, most of which were originally developed for use in animal health. A lack of high throughput screening systems, together with limitations of available animal models, has restricted the development of novel chemotherapeutics. This is particularly so for filarial nematodes, which are long-lived parasites with a complex cycle of development. In this paper, we describe attempts to visualise the immune response elicited by filarial parasites in infected mice using a non-invasive bioluminescence imaging reagent, luminol, our aim being to determine whether such a model could be developed to discriminate between live and dead worms for in vivo compound screening. We show that while imaging can detect the immune response elicited by early stages of infection with L3, it was unable to detect the presence of adult worms or, indeed, later stages of infection with L3, despite the presence of worms within the lymphatic system of infected animals. In the future, more specific reagents that detect secreted products of adult worms may be required for developing screens based upon live imaging of infected animals