Aim
: Central serotoninergic activity may modulate glucose metabolism
via
neuroendocrine effectors. Group Care is a clinico-pedagogic intervention that improves metabolic control and quality of life ...in Type 2 diabetes through lifestyle modification and, possibly, central mechanisms. The hypothesis that central serotoninergic activity is modified in patients followed by Group Care was tested by measuring their hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal response to citalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.
Methods and subjects
: Ten healthy controls and 17 non-obese, non-insulin-treated patients with Type 2 diabetes received, in random order, iv infusions of either 20 mg citalopram or saline. Nine patients had been long-term on Group Care and 8 had always been on traditional one-to-one care. Circulating glucose, insulin, ACTH, cortisol, DHEA, GH and PRL were measured every 15 min for 240 min. Differences between areas under the curves after citalopram and saline (Δ-AUC) were calculated.
Results
: Citalopram stimulated ACTH and cortisol secretion in healthy subjects (
p
=0.026 and
p
=0.011, respectively) and patients on Group Care (
p
=0.056 and
p
=0.038) but not in patients on traditional care. In healthy subjects, basal glucose correlated with growth hormone Δ- AUC (r=0.820;
p
=0.004) and inversely with insulin Δ-AUC (r=−0.822;
p
=0.003). The former correlation was preserved in the patients (r=0.637;
p
=0.026).
Conclusions
: Diabetes may blunt the response of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis to citalopram, but this is preserved in patients followed by a long-term intervention model that improves clinical as well as cognitive and emotional variables.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii were assayed in sera of 266 humans from 71 farms located at Rondônia State, Western Amazon, Brazil, by the modified agglutination test (MAT) and the indirect ...immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT). Antibodies were found in 195 humans (73.3%), with MAT titers of 1:25 in 11, 1:50 in 11, 1:100 in 16, 1:200 in 27, 1:400 in 38, 1:800 in 37, 1:1,600 in 22, and 1:3,200 or higher in 33. From the 71 farms visited, 69 had seropositive humans. Prevalence of anti-T. gondii antibodies increased with age of the people (P < 0.05), and no difference was observed in the occurrence by gender (P > 0.05). A sanitary questionnaire was applied in each farm, and statistical association between the serologic status and several variables were analyzed. Home-grown vegetable consumption and origin of drinking water (well or river) were the independent variables that displayed significant association (P = 0.002 and 0.02, respectively). Higher values of occurrence were found in people with consumption of home-grown vegetables (76.1%) and people that drink well water (75.4%) compared with people that did not consume this type of food (61.9%) and drink river water (55.2%). By IFAT (≥1:16), 194 of 266 (73%) humans were seropositive and there was a good correlation between MAT and IFAT.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
The occurrence of antibodies to Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii was determined in 400 domestic cats (Siamese, Persian, and undetermined breeds) from the Municipality of Araçatuba, Sao Paulo, ...Brazil, through the indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT). Of the 400 cats, 100 were seropositive to T. gondii (25%, titer > or =64) and 98 to N. caninum (24.5%, titer > or =16). The rate of seropositive cats for T. gondii was correlated with age (chi(2)=35.7; p<0.001), with a higher number of infected animals at older ages. Of the 219 cats younger than 1-year-old, 13.2% were seropositive for T. gondii, while 39.2% were positive in the 181 older animals. The presence of N. caninum was also correlated with age (/(2)=8.8; p<0.01), with 18.7% (41/219) and 31.5% (57/181) of positive animals at ages below and above 12-month, respectively. An association between the occurrences of both protozoa in the felines was also observed (chi(2)=19.6; p<0.001).
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Six studies investigated the relationship between production and comprehension by examining how relative clause production mechanisms influence the probabilistic information used by comprehenders to ...understand these structures. Two production experiments show that accessibility-based mechanisms that are influenced by noun animacy and verb type shape relative clause production. Two corpus studies confirm these production mechanisms in naturally occurring productions. Two comprehension studies found that nouns and verb types occurring in structures that speakers do not produce are difficult to comprehend. Specifically, the probability of producing a passive structure for a verb type in a given animacy configuration, as measured in the production and corpus studies, predicts comprehension difficulty in active structures. Results suggest that the way in which the verb roles are typically mapped onto syntactic arguments in production plays a role in comprehension. Implications for the relationship between production, comprehension and language learning are discussed.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Natural tick infestations were assessed every 14 days on horses over a 2-year period.
Amblyomma cajennense adult ticks were counted individually, without detachment from the horses. Larvae and nymphs ...of
A. cajennense were collected using a rubber scraper that scratched engorged immature ticks from the host. Adult females of
Anocentor nitens larger than 4
mm length were counted on the horses. Blood samples were also obtained from the horses every 14 days and macroclimatic data were obtained for the study period. Infestations of
A. cajennense demonstrated distinct peaks of activity for each of the three parasitic stages over each 12-month period, showing a 1-year generation pattern. Larvae predominated from April to July and nymphs from June to October. Adults predominated from October to March with a greater number of adult males than females. Although other studies on seasonal dynamics in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais were performed with the free-living stages of
A. cajennense on pastures, the present study in the state of São Paulo, performed with the parasitic stages of
A. cajennense on horses, showed similar results to those observed in other states. Infestations by
A. nitens demonstrated distinct peaks of activity of adult females (>4
mm), suggesting different tick generations during the year. Infestation with
A. nitens was much higher in the first year than the second year which may have been related to horse nutritional status and stocking rate. Although several climatic variables showed statistical significant correlation (
r) with tick counts, the determination coefficients (
R
2) were always lower than 0.40, suggesting that any single significant variable (i.e. mean temperature) would not explain the tick distribution pattern over the year. The highest peaks of
A. nitens females (>4
mm) were significantly associated with decrease in horse packed cell volumes (
R
2=0.603). The ears and the perineum, tail and groin region accounted for around 70% of all
A. nitens females counted on the horses.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Capybara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris) is a large rodent distributed throughout tropical America. Antibodies to Neospora caninum in 213 feral capybaras from 11 counties of the State of São Paulo, ...Brazil, were assessed using the indirect immunofluorescent antibody test (titer ≥1:25) and found in 20 (9.4%), with titers of 1:25 in 4, 1:50 in 7, and 1:100 in 9 animals. This is the first report of occurrence of N. caninum antibodies in capybaras.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Neospora caninum is an important cause of abortion in dairy cattle worldwide. Dogs are important in the epidemiology of this parasite because they are the only hosts known to excrete
N. caninum ...oocysts. Antibodies to
N. caninum were assayed in serum samples from 157 dogs from Monte Negro, Rondônia, Amazon, Brazil using the indirect fluorescent antibody test. Antibodies to
N. caninum were found in 13 (8.3%) of dogs in titers of 1:50 in 1, 1:100 in 2, 1:200 in 5, 1:800 in 1, 1:1600 in 2, and 1:3200 in 2 dogs. These data indicate that
N. caninum infection is prevalent even in remote areas of the Amazon.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Sarcocystis neurona was isolated from sporocysts from two of eight South American opossums,
Didelphis albiventris, from Brazil. Interferon gamma gene knock out (KO) mice fed sporocysts from two ...opossums developed neurologic sarcocystosis.
S. neurona was demonstrated in the brains of infected KO mice by immunohistochemical staining with anti-
S. neurona antibody. The parasite was cultivated in cell culture and
S. neurona DNA was isolated from cultured merozoites. This is the first report of isolation of
S. neurona from Brazil and the first report from its new host,
D. albiventris.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
