RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Although ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is the most common seafood intoxication worldwide, its burden has been difficult to establish because there are no biomarkers to diagnose human exposure. OBJECTIVE: We explored the incidence of CFP, percentage of CFP case-patients with laboratory-confirmed ciguatoxic meal remnants, cost of CFP illness, and potential risk factors for CFP. METHODS: During 2005 and again during 2006, we conducted a census of all occupied households on the island of Culebra, Puerto Rico, where locally caught fish are a staple food. We defined CFP case-patients as persons with gastrointestinal symptoms (abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, or nausea) and neurological symptoms (extremity paresthesia, arthralgia, myalgia, malaise, pruritus, headache, dizziness, metallic taste, visual disturbance, circumoral paresthesia, temperature reversal, or toothache) or systemic symptoms (e.g., bradycardia) within 72 hr of eating fish during the previous year. Participants were asked to save fish remnants eaten by case-patients for ciguatoxin analysis at the Food and Drug Administration laboratory in Dauphin Island, Alabama (USA). RESULTS: We surveyed 340 households during 2005 and 335 households during 2006. The estimated annual incidence of possible CFP was 4.0 per 1,000 person-years, and that of probable CFP was 7.5 per 1,000 person-years. One of three fish samples submitted by probable case-patients was positive for ciguatoxins. None of the case-patients required respiratory support. Households that typically consumed barracuda were more likely to report CFP (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Our estimates, which are consistent with previous studies using similar case findings, contribute to the overall information available to support public health decision making about CFP prevention.
Assuntos
Ciguatera/epidemiologia , Perciformes/metabolismo , Alimentos Marinhos/intoxicação , Adulto , Animais , Ciguatera/diagnóstico , Ciguatera/economia , Feminino , Humanos , Incidência , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Porto Rico/epidemiologia , Fatores de Risco , Estações do Ano , Inquéritos e Questionários , Adulto JovemRESUMO
The current concept of Parkinsons disease comprises a group of non-motor symptoms: neuropsychiatric disorders, sleep disturbances and dysautonomia, among others. Orthostatic hypotension is a frequent problem that impairs the patients quality of life. We review the symptoms of this disorder, its pathogeny and the available diagnostic tools. We emphasize the early suspicion and show the treatment options, based on the available evidence and our experience.
Assuntos
Humanos , Masculino , Idoso , Doença de Parkinson/complicações , Hipotensão OrtostáticaRESUMO
In the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) nursing acts as a strong non-photic synchronizer of circadian rhythmicity in the newborn young. Rabbits only nurse for a few minutes once every 24 h and previous studies have shown that the pups, blind at birth, display endogenous circadian rhythms in behavior and physiology entrained by this regular daily event. As a further step toward understanding the neural organization of the rabbit's early circadian system, we investigated the expression of clock genes in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus (SCN; the principal circadian pacemaker in adult mammals) across the pups' 24-h day. We used 43 pups from seven litters maintained in constant darkness and entrained non-photically by nursing at the same time each day until P7. After nursing on day 7, pups were killed in the dark at 3-h intervals so as to obtain eight groups (n=5-6 pups/group) distributed evenly across the 24 h before the next scheduled nursing. Profiles in the expression of the clock genes Per1, Per2, Cry1 and Bmal1 were determined using in situ hybridization in brain sections through the hypothalamus at the level of the SCN. We report for the first time: 1) that Per1, Per2, Cry1 and Bmal1 are all expressed in the SCN of the newborn rabbit, 2) that the expression of Per1, Per2 and Bmal1 but not Cry1 shows diurnal rhythmicity similar to that in adult mammals, and 3) that the expression of Per1, Per2 and Bmal1 is consistent with the strong entraining effect of nursing found in previous studies. Unexpectedly, and contrasting somewhat to the pattern in the SCN, we also found diurnal rhythmicity in the expression of Cry1 and Bmal1 but not of Per1 in the anterior ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus. Overall, our findings suggest that the SCN is a functional part of the newborn rabbit's circadian system and that it can be entrained by non-photic cues associated with the mother's daily nursing visit.
Assuntos
Ritmo Circadiano/genética , Regulação da Expressão Gênica no Desenvolvimento/fisiologia , Expressão Gênica/fisiologia , Núcleo Supraquiasmático/metabolismo , Transativadores/metabolismo , Fatores Etários , Animais , Animais Recém-Nascidos , Proteínas CLOCK , Hibridização In Situ , Coelhos , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
Newborn rabbits, like other altricial mammals, demonstrate thermotaxis and when placed on a thermal gradient locate and come to rest at physiologically appropriate temperatures. Little is known, however, about the sensory-motor components contributing to the in energetic terms important decision of the young to cease locomotion and come to rest. We investigated the behavior of newborn rabbits on two thermal gradients; linear in which pups could use tactile cues from the arena wall, and concentric in which pups were unable to use such cues. On both gradients pups located the warm, thermal-neutral area within the 200-s test time, thereby demonstrating their ability to orient appropriately using thermal cues alone. Unexpectedly, however, pups on the concentric gradient failed, or took significantly longer, to come to rest than pups on the linear gradient. Since the speed of locomotion of pups on the linear gradient was significantly slowed when they were in contact with the arena wall, and in most cases they came to rest in contact with it, we suggest that not only thermal but also tactile cues may be important in bringing young mammals to rest in a thermally appropriate environment.
Assuntos
Regulação da Temperatura Corporal/fisiologia , Sinais (Psicologia) , Temperatura Alta , Tato/fisiologia , Animais , Animais Recém-Nascidos , Comportamento Animal , Locomoção , Privação Materna , Atividade Motora , CoelhosRESUMO
Dementia is the result of the dysfunction and death of cells in the central and peripheral nervous system. Of diverse etiology, these processes are insidious in their onset and are characterized by a progressive neural depletion resulting in a range of cognitive deficits, including a deterioration in the capacity to learn and a tendency to forget what has been learned. Neurodegenerative diseases resulting in dementia include: Alzheimer, Parkinson, Huntington, Pick, and Creutzfeld Jakob, as well as dementias with multiple etiologies. The population with the highest probability of suffering from one of these diseases are those over 50 years of age, because they have reduced circulating levels of gonadal hormones, one of several risk factors associated with the onset of dementia. Anatomical areas most commonly affected include the hippocampus, the primary motor and somatosensory areas, various limbic structures, and the parieto-temporal, frontal, and entorhinal corticies. Affliction of this last area has been suggested to account for the early olfactory dysfunction often shown by patients after the onset of Alzheimer and Parkinson, leading to the suggestion that olfactory testing could be useful in the early diagnosis of such neurodegenerative diseases.
Assuntos
Demência/classificação , Doença de Alzheimer/diagnóstico , Doença de Alzheimer/fisiopatologia , Doença de Alzheimer/terapia , Síndrome de Creutzfeldt-Jakob/complicações , Síndrome de Creutzfeldt-Jakob/diagnóstico , Síndrome de Creutzfeldt-Jakob/etiologia , Demência/fisiopatologia , Demência Vascular/diagnóstico , Demência Vascular/fisiopatologia , Humanos , Doença de Huntington/complicações , Doença de Huntington/patologia , Doença de Parkinson/genética , Doença de Parkinson/fisiopatologia , Doença de Parkinson/terapia , Doenças Priônicas/etiologiaRESUMO
Although the rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) continues to play an important role in the study of parturitional processes, a detailed behavioral description of birth in this species, necessary for accurately assessing the effects of experimental manipulation, is lacking. It is the aim of this report to provide such a description and to compare it with corresponding behavior in the better-studied rat. Ten pregnant chinchilla-breed rabbits and 10 pregnant Wistar rats were placed in glass-bottomed observation cages 2 days before term, and their behavior recorded on closed-circuit video, viewing the animals from below. All aspects of parturition were accomplished much faster in rabbits than rats; latency to birth of first pup, rate of delivery, duration of vaginal retention, time spent by mothers eating placentas, and in licking and nursing pups. In contrast to rat pups, rabbits were usually born separated from the placenta and already free from membranes. They were much more active, and well able to cast off any remaining membranes, suckle, and survive, whether directly attended to by the mother or not. We conclude that the tight temporal organization of events in the rabbit provides an unusually sensitive assay for investigating mechanisms underlying mammalian parturition.
Assuntos
Trabalho de Parto/fisiologia , Prenhez/fisiologia , Animais , Feminino , Comportamento Materno/fisiologia , Gravidez , Psicofisiologia , Coelhos , Ratos , Ratos Wistar , Especificidade da Espécie , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
In this study, 40 Japanese, 44 German and 39 Mexican women were presented with 18 everyday odorants. They were asked to rate them for intensity on a six-point scale from not detectable to very strong, for pleasantness on an 11-point scale from -5, to neutral at 0, to +5, and for familiarity on a six-point scale from completely unknown to extremely familiar. Consistent positive correlations were found between paired rating scores for the three measures, and although they were not particularly strong (r(s) range, 0.19-0.60), for most odorants all three correlations were significant. Similar results were obtained whether the data were analyzed on an individual or a national basis. Most notable were the consistent positive correlations between perceived intensity and ratings of familiarity and hedonic strength. It is suggested that the perceived intensity of the odorants depended not only on stimulus concentration but probably also on experience-dependent factors.
Assuntos
Memória , Odorantes , Olfato , Adulto , Etnicidade , Feminino , Alemanha , Humanos , Japão , México , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Estatística como AssuntoRESUMO
Despite the importance of chemosensation in the regulation of ingestive behavior, we still know surprisingly little about the development of the olfactory, trigeminal and gustatory systems. All three, however, are functional to some degree prenatally, and by birth infants are able to respond to a wide range of odors and can clearly distinguish between the tastes of sweet, sour and bitter. Based on findings from our work in the rabbit, we report that learning of odors associated with the mother's diet can occur very early in development, even prenatally, that it can have a long-term influence on later food choice, and may even lead to enhanced, stimulus-specific sensitivity of the basic sensory apparatus. Whether comparable phenomena exist in human infants is not known, although our recent findings that nationalities differ in judgements of the pleasantness of food odors depending on whether these are recognized as representing familiar, culture-typical foods, suggests that it might. A cross-cultural study is currently in progress examining the influence of culture-specific childhood eating experiences on adult preferences for food-associated odors.
Assuntos
Preferências Alimentares/psicologia , Odorantes , Olfato , Paladar , Adulto , Animais , Comparação Transcultural , Feminino , Humanos , Recém-Nascido , Masculino , Gravidez , Efeitos Tardios da Exposição Pré-Natal , CoelhosRESUMO
In the rat the pelvic nerve consists of a viscerocutaneous (sensory) branch which receives information from pelvic viscera and the midline perineal region, and a somatomotor (muscular) branch which innervates the ilio- and pubococcygeous muscles. To investigate the contribution of these branches to the parturition process, the length of gestation and course of delivery were closely monitored in 43 pregnant, Wistar-strain rats randomly assigned to five groups: untreated control animals, animals in which the somatomotor branch of the pelvic nerve was bilaterally sectioned on Day 14 of gestation, animals in which the viscerocutaneous branch of the pelvic nerve was bilaterally sectioned on Day 14 of gestation, animals treated similarly to the previous group but with young delivered by C-section at term, and sham-operated controls. Sectioning the viscerocutaneous branch seriously disrupted parturition and resulted in major dystocia and a high percentage of stillbirths in all females. In contrast, sectioning the somatomotor branch had no apparent effect on parturition and no significant differences were found between females of this group and sham or control dams on any of the measures recorded. It is concluded that the viscerocutaneous branch of the pelvic nerve is vital for the normal course of parturition in the rat but that the somatomotor branch plays little role, if any.