OS IMPACTOS DO CUIDADO MATERNO NO NEURODESENVOLVIMENTO E DESENVOLVIMENTO PSÍQUICO INFANTIL

Introduction: The scenario of child abuse in Brazil is a worrying reality. There is strong evidence from studies carried out over the last few decades that early childhood experiences are fundamental in building the integral health of individuals. Maternal care becomes the "environment" that can significantly interfere with the foundation that underpins child development. Objectives: This study sought to understand how the environment, in terms of maternal care, can impact on children's neurophysiological and psychological development, bringing together the theory of pediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald W. Winnicott (1896 - 1971) with the findings of neuroscience, especially epigenetics. Method: Narrative literature review based on PubMed, Scielo, Google Scholar, books and reports from international organizations. The keywords epigenetics, neurodevelopment and maternal care were used as descriptors. Results: People with a history of maltreatment, abuse or neglect in childhood showed structural alterations such as reduced volume of the hippocampus, corpus callosum and prefrontal cortex, and increased activity and volume of the amygdala. These factors can have a decisive influence on brain development, leading to significant changes in physiological regulatory systems, enabling the development of mental illnesses and disorders throughout life. Conclusions: The results of neuroscience research point to the possible impairment of the physical, mental and psychological health of individuals who suffer abuse and neglect during childhood. Therefore, this study considers the scientific basis of Donald W. Winnicott's theory, which emphasizes the importance of providing children with a caring, stimulating and welcoming environment in early childhood.Introducción: El escenario del maltrato infantil en Brasil es una realidad preocupante. Existen fuertes evidencias provenientes de estudios realizados en las últimas décadas de que las experiencias de la primera infancia son fundamentales en la construcción de la salud integral de los individuos. El cuidado materno se convierte en el "ambiente" que puede interferir significativamente en las bases que sustentan el desarrollo infantil. Objetivos: Este estudio buscó entender cómo el ambiente, en términos de cuidado materno, puede impactar en el desarrollo neurofisiológico y psicológico de los niños, uniendo la teoría del pediatra y psicoanalista Donald W. Winnicott (1896 - 1971) con los hallazgos de la neurociencia, especialmente la epigenética. Método: Revisión bibliográfica narrativa basada en PubMed, Scielo, Google Scholar, libros e informes de organizaciones internacionales. Se utilizaron como descriptores las palabras clave epigenética, neurodesarrollo y cuidados maternos. Resultados: Las personas con antecedentes de malos tratos, abuso o negligencia en la infancia mostraron alteraciones estructurales como la reducción del volumen del hipocampo, el cuerpo calloso y la corteza prefrontal y el aumento de la actividad y el volumen de la amígdala. Estos factores pueden influir decisivamente en el desarrollo del cerebro, provocando cambios significativos en los sistemas de regulación fisiológica, lo que posibilita el desarrollo de enfermedades y trastornos mentales a lo largo de la vida. Conclusiones: Los resultados de las investigaciones neurocientíficas apuntan a la posible alteración de la salud física, mental y psicológica de los individuos que sufren maltrato y abandono en la infancia. Por lo tanto, este estudio considera la base científica de la teoría de Donald W. Winnicott, que hace hincapié en la importancia de proporcionar a los niños un entorno afectuoso, estimulante y acogedor en la primera infancia.Introdução: O cenário de maus tratos infantis no Brasil é uma realidade preocupante. Há fortes evidências em estudos realizados nas últimas décadas sobre o quanto as experiências vivenciadas na primeira infância são fundamentais na construção da saúde integral dos indivíduos. Os cuidados maternos se convertem no “ambiente” que pode interferir de forma significativa no alicerce que embasa o desenvolvimento infantil. Objetivos: Este trabalho buscou compreender como o ambiente, em termos de cuidado materno, pode impactar o desenvolvimento neurofisiológico e psíquico infantil, reunindo-se a teoria do pediatra e psicanalista Donald W. Winnicott (1896 - 1971) aos achados da neurociência, em especial, da epigenética. Método: Revisão narrativa da literatura, tendo como bases PubMed, Scielo, Google Acadêmico, livros e relatórios de Organizações Internacionais. Utilizou-se como descritores as palavras-chave epigenética, neurodesenvolvimento e cuidado materno. Resultados: Pessoas com histórico de maus tratos, abuso ou negligência na infância apresentaram alterações estruturais como volume do hipocampo, corpo caloso e córtex pré-frontal reduzidos, atividade e volume da amígdala aumentados. Esses fatores podem influenciar de modo decisivo o desenvolvimento cerebral, levando a alterações significativas nos sistemas regulatórios fisiológicos, possibilitando o desenvolvimento de doenças e transtornos mentais ao longo da vida. Conclusões: Os resultados das pesquisas realizadas pelas neurociências apontam para o possível comprometimento da saúde física, mental e psíquica dos indivíduos que sofrem maus-tratos e negligência na infância. Portanto, este estudo considera a fundamentação científica da teoria de Donald W. Winnicott, que enfatiza a importância de se fornecer às crianças um ambiente de cuidados, estímulos e acolhimento na primeira infância

Supplementation of carotenoids from peach palm waste (Bactris gasipaes) obtained with an ionic liquid mediated process displays kidney anti-inflammatory and antioxidant outcomes

Sustainable extraction processes based on alternative solvents to recover bioactive compounds of different raw materials have been highlighted as excellent alternatives to supply the needs of society towards a bioeconomy strategy. Little is known about the safety and biological effect of compounds extracted by these processes. In this work, carotenoids from Bactris gasipaes wastes obtained by an IL-based process were investigated in terms of safety, anti-inflammatory and, antioxidant activity in a high-fat-diet animal model on the kidney. Wistar rats were supplemented or not by carotenoids extracted with IL or VOS. The animals supplemented with carotenoids had lower weight than control and high-fat diets. In the animals supplemented with carotenoids, the group IL improved anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity compared with carotenoids obtained by VOS. Also, the group HFD-VOS showed moderate-severe injuries on the kidney. Then, ILs could represent a novel tool for natural pigments safely applied to food industry.publishe

Cannabis sativa and Cannabidiol: A Therapeutic Strategy for the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Diseases?

This work is a literature review, presenting the current state of the use of cannabinoids on neurodegenerative diseases. The emphasis is on Parkinson’s (PD) and Alzheimer’s (AD) diseases, the two most prevalent neurological diseases. The review goes from Cannabis sativa and its hundreds of bioactive compounds to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and mainly cannabidiol (CBD) and their interactions with the endocannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2). CBD molecular targets were also focused on to explain its neuroprotective action mechanism on neurodegenerative diseases. Although THC is the main psychoactive component of C. sativa, and it may induce transient psychosis-like symptoms, growing evidence suggests that CBD may have protective effects against the psychotomimetic effects of THC and therapeutic properties. Furthermore, a great number of recent works on the neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory CBD effects and its molecular targets are also reviewed. We analyzed CBD actions in preclinical and in clinical trials, conducted with PD and AD patients. Although the data on preclinical assays are more convincing, the same is not true with the clinical data. Despite the consensus among researchers on the potential of CBD as a neuroprotective agent, larger and well-designed randomized clinical trials will be necessary to gather conclusive results concerning the use of CBD as a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of diseases such as PD and AD

Lipotoxicity: Effects of Dietary Saturated and Transfatty Acids

The ingestion of excessive amounts of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) and transfatty acids (TFAs) is considered to be a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and obesity. The focus of this paper was to elucidate the influence of dietary SFA and TFA intake on the promotion of lipotoxicity to the liver and cardiovascular, endothelial, and gut microbiota systems, as well as on insulin resistance and endoplasmic reticulum stress. The saturated and transfatty acids favor a proinflammatory state leading to insulin resistance. These fatty acids can be involved in several inflammatory pathways, contributing to disease progression in chronic inflammation, autoimmunity, allergy, cancer, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and heart hypertrophy as well as other metabolic and degenerative diseases. As a consequence, lipotoxicity may occur in several target organs by direct effects, represented by inflammation pathways, and through indirect effects, including an important alteration in the gut microbiota associated with endotoxemia. Interactions between these pathways may perpetuate a feedback process that exacerbates an inflammatory state. The importance of lifestyle modification, including an improved diet, is recommended as a strategy for treatment of these diseases

Jussara (Euterpe edulis Mart.) supplementation during pregnancy and lactation modulates UCP-1 and inflammation biomarkers induced by trans-fatty acids in the brown adipose tissue of offspring

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The brown adipose tissue (BAT) regulates energy expenditure via thermogenesis by uncoupling protein 1 (UPC-1). We investigated the effect of the maternal diet enriched with trans-fatty acids (TFAs) in combination or not with jussara fruit supplementation on the 21 day old offspring. Specifically, we looked at the proinflammatory state and the expression of UCP-1 in the offsprings' BAT. METHODS: We divided dams into four groups during pregnancy and lactation: control diet (C), C diet supplemented with 0.5% of jussara fruit rich in anthocyanins and monounsaturated fatty acids (CJ), a diet enriched with hydrogenated vegetable oil (T), rich in TFAs, or T diet supplemented with 0.5% of jussara fruit (TJ). RESULTS: We found that TFAs reduced growth and increased weight, total cholesterol, TNF-α and TNFRI in BAT of pups. Conversely, maternal supplementation with jussara preserved lean mass, decreased weight gain, carcass lipid, blood glucose and triacylglycerol in the offsprings, it also increased IL-10 levels in the BAT. Surprisingly, jussara supplementation in the TFAs group increased UCP-1 expression in the BAT. CONCLUSIONS: While TFAs are detrimental for the offsprings' health, jussara fruit improved body composition, and the metabolic and inflammatory parameters. Furthermore, the combination of both treatments (TFAs and jussara supplementation) seen in the TJ group raised UCP-1 expression. We believe that the bioactive compounds of jussara contributed to these effects. Our results showed that maintaining the caloric amount in the maternal diet but modifying its lipid composition with a low fat quality as well as adding a natural fruit could epigenetically program the BAT of 21 day old offspring

Exercise Training in Rats Impairs the Replenishment of White Adipose Tissue after Partial Lipectomy

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of exercise training on the metabolism of rats following the partial removal of fat pads. Three-month-old male Wistar rats were subjected to the partial removal (L) of retroperitoneal white adipose tissue (RET) and epididymal white adipose tissue (EPI), or a sham operation (Sh). Seven days after surgery, both sets of rats were subdivided into exercised (LE or ShE) (swimming 90 min/day, 5 days/week, 6 weeks) and sedentary (LS or ShS) groups. Partial removal of the fat pads increased the lipogenesis rates in both the RET and EPI and decreased the weight and lypolysis rate of the EPI, while the RET weight was not significantly affected by lipectomy. In both lipectomized and sham-operated groups, exercise training caused a reduction in carcass lipid content, food intake, RET and EPI weights, and RET lipogenesis rate. On the other hand, the exercise training increased the percentage of diet-derived lipid accumulation in both tissues, either in sham and lipectomized rats. These results confirmed that regrowth is not uniform and depends on the particular fat pad that is excised. They also demonstrated that exercise training following the partial removal of fat pads modified adipose tissue metabolism, impaired the replenishment of adipose tissue, and decrease body adiposity

White Adipose Tissue Re-growth after Partial Lipectomy in High Fat Diet Induced Obese Wistar Rats

The effects of partial removal of epididymal (EPI) and retroperitoneal (RET) adipose tissues (partial lipectomy) on the triacylglycerol deposition of high fat diet induced obese rats were analyzed, aiming to challenge the hypothesized body fat regulatory system. Male 28-day-old wistar rats received a diet enriched with peanuts, milk chocolate and sweet biscuits during the experimental period. At the 90th day of life, rats were submitted to either lipectomy (L) or sham surgery. After 7 or 30 days, RET, EPI, liver, brown adipose tissue (BAT), blood and carcass were obtained and analyzed. Seven days following surgery, liver lipogenesis rate and EPI relative weight were increased in L. After 30 days, L, RET and EPI presented increased lipogenesis, lipolysis and percentage of small area adipocytes. L rats also presented increased liver malic enzyme activity, BAT lipogenesis, and triacylglycerol and corticosterone serum levels. The partial removal of visceral fat pads affected the metabolism of high fat diet obese rats, which leads to excised tissue re-growth and possibly compensatory growth of non-excised depots at a later time