Ana Bento

Neuropeptide Y promotes neurogenesis and protection against methamphetamine-induced toxicity in mouse dentate gyrus-derived neurosphere cultures

Methamphetamine (METH) is a psychostimulant drug of abuse that causes severe brain damage. However, the mechanisms responsible for these effects are poorly understood, particularly regarding the impact of METH on hippocampal neurogenesis. Moreover, neuropeptide Y (NPY) is known to be neuroprotective under several pathological conditions. Here, we investigated the effect of METH on dentate gyrus (DG) neurogenesis, regarding cell death, proliferation and differentiation, as well as the role of NPY by itself and against METH-induced toxicity. DG-derived neurosphere cultures were used to evaluate the effect of METH or NPY on cell death, proliferation or neuronal differentiation. Moreover, the role of NPY and its receptors (Y(1), Y(2) and Y(5)) was investigated under conditions of METH-induced DG cell death. METH-induced cell death by both apoptosis and necrosis at concentrations above 10 nM, without affecting cell proliferation. Furthermore, at a non-toxic concentration (1 nM), METH decreased neuronal differentiation. NPYs protective effect was mainly due to the reduction of glutamate release, and it also increased DG cell proliferation and neuronal differentiation via Y(1) receptors. In addition, while the activation of Y(1) or Y(2) receptors was able to prevent METH-induced cell death, the Y(1) subtype alone was responsible for blocking the decrease in neuronal differentiation induced by the drug. Taken together, METH negatively affects DG cell viability and neurogenesis, and NPY is revealed to be a promising protective tool against the deleterious effects of METH on hippocampal neurogenesis.

Methamphetamine Exerts Toxic Effects on Subventricular Zone Stem/Progenitor Cells and Inhibits Neuronal Differentiation

Methamphetamine (METH) is a potent and widely consumed psychostimulant drug that causes brain functional and structural abnormalities. However, there is little information regarding METH impact on adult neurogenic niches and, indeed, nothing is known about its consequences on the subventricular zone (SVZ). Thus, this work aims to clarify the effect of METH on SVZ stem/progenitor cells dynamics and neurogenesis. For that purpose, SVZ neurospheres were obtained from early postnatal mice and treated with increasing concentrations of METH (1  μM to 500  μM). Exposure to 100, 250, or 500  μM METH for 24  h triggered cell death both by necrosis and apoptosis, as assessed by propidium iodide uptake, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining, and quantification of the proapoptotic caspase-3 activity. Furthermore, we showed that METH inhibited SVZ progenitor cells proliferation as it decreased BrdU incorporation. Interestingly, at non-toxic concentrations (1 and 10  μM), METH decreased neuronal differentiation and maturation, which were evaluated by quantification of the number of neuronal nuclei-positive neurons and measurements of phospho-c-Jun-NH(2)-terminal kinase signal in growing axons, respectively. Altogether, our data demonstrate that METH has a negative impact on SVZ stem/progenitor cells, inducing cell death and inhibiting neurogenesis, effects that in vivo may challenge the cell replacement capacities displayed by endogenous populations of brain stem/progenitor cells.

Congenital pancreas malformations: a clinical case report

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to review the congenital malformation known as agenesis of the dorsal pancreas (ADP) and other pancreatic birth defects, based on a rare and exemplary clinical case of pancreatic malformations. The intent was to review the latest information published in the national and international literature on pancreatic birth defects, and to investigate the diversity of clinical presentations of ADP and other congenital pancreas abnormalities. The purpose was to identify which situations have therapeutic indication, the most appropriate time to institute treatment, and the currently available medical or surgical treatment of pancreatic congenital malformations. RESULTS ADP is a very rare malformation that occurs during organogenesis. In the last decades, a large volume of embryological and genetic information has been obtained, helping to understand the causes of pancreatic malformations, which must be studied and understood as a whole. CONCLUSION Pancreatic malformations are infrequently studied causes of acute and chronic pancreatic in adults. The possibility of pancreatic malformations should always be considered in patients with acute or chronic pancreatitis with no evident cause.

Solitary Fibrous Tumor of the Abdominal Wall

Solitary fibrous tumor is a rare neoplasm of mesenchymal origin that usually arise within the pleura. Its origin in abdominal wall is extremely rare, with only 15 cases described in the English literature. We report the case of a 55-year-old woman presented with a mass located at the left lower quadrant of the abdominal wall. Microscopic studies revealed histologic and immunohistochemicalfeatures consistent with a SFT. Eighteen months after surgical excision of the mass followed by adjuvant radiotherapy, the patient is alive and disease-free. The authors discuss the clinicopathological features of SFTs, differential diagnosis and treatment options.

Malformações congênitas do pâncreas: um caso clínico

OBJETIVO: Este trabalho tem por objetivo fazer uma revisao da malformacao congenita denominada de agenesia dorsal do pâncreas (ADP) e de outras malformacoes congenitas pancreaticas, com base em um caso clinico raro e exemplar da problematica das malformacoes pancreaticas. Pretende-se rever a informacao mais recente publicada na literatura nacional e internacional acerca das malformacoes congenitas pancreaticas e investigar a diversidade de formas de apresentacao clinica da ADP e de outras malformacoes congenitas do pâncreas. Pretende-se saber em que situacoes ha indicacao terapeutica, qual a altura mais adequada de intervir, quais as modalidades disponiveis para o tratamento medico e ou cirurgico das malformacoes congenitas pancreaticas. RESULTADOS: A ADP e uma malformacao muito rara que surge durante a organogenese. Nas ultimas decadas, foi produzido um volume importante de informacao genetica e embriologica que ajuda a compreender as causas das malformacoes pancreaticas. As malformacoes pancreaticas tem de ser estudadas e compreendidas no seu conjunto. CONCLUSAO: A malformacao pancreatica e uma causa de pancreatite aguda e cronica no adulto, pouco estudada. A possibilidade da existencia de malformacoes pancreaticas deve estar sempre presente em doentes com pancreatite aguda ou cronica sem causa evidente.

Jejuno-jejunal invagination caused by epithelioid sarcoma: a case report

IntroductionJejuno-jejunal invagination is a rare condition and is usually caused by a benign lesion. We describe the case of a patient with a jejunal epithelioid sarcoma. Epithelioid sarcoma is a rare histologic subtype of sarcoma and few cases have been published.Case presentationA 70-year-old Caucasian man presented with vomiting and anemia. A jejuno-jejunal invagination was diagnosed and the patient underwent surgery. An epithelioid sarcoma of the wall of the jejunum was found on the invaginated ansa.ConclusionTo the best of our knowledge, an epithelioid sarcoma has never been reported to arise at the wall of the proximal jejunum or to present with jejuno-jejunal invagination.

CISUC-KIS: Tackling Message Polarity Classification with a Large and Diverse Set of Features

This paper presents the approach of the CISUC-KIS team to the SemEval 2014 task on Sentiment Analysis in Twitter, more precisely subtask B - Message Polarity Classification. We followed a machine learning approach where a SVM classifier was trained from a large and diverse set of features that included lexical, syntactic, sentiment and semantic-based aspects. This led to very interesting results which, in different datasets, put us always in the top-7 scores, including second position in the LiveJournal2014 dataset.

Endometriosis-induced intussusception of the caecal appendix.

Appendicular intussusception is an uncommon entity, with a reported incidence of 0.01%. The diagnosis is difficult and often only performed at the time of surgery. Intussusception has multiple causes including tumours, foreign bodies and polyps. The definitive treatment is surgical, and the extent of resection is determined by the underlying pathology and degree of invagination. Endometriosis is a rare cause of appendicular intussusception, with 194 cases described in the English literature. We report a case of a 42-year-old woman who presented with chronic abdominal pain in the lower right quadrant. A mass at the caecum was identified during investigations for renal stones by CT. Colonoscopy showed a polypoid lesion, with presumed origin in the appendix. Ileocaecal resection was performed because an appendicular tumour was suspected. Pathological examination identified endometriosis of the appendix and associated peritoneum with invagination of the caecum. The patient was discharged 7 days after surgery and is currently asymptomatic.

The effect of methamphetamine on subventricular zone neurogenesis: Cell death, proliferation and differentiation

Methamphetamine (METH) is a potent and widely consumed psychostimulant which causes brain functional and structural abnormalities. However, little is known about the effect of METH on adult neurogenic niches and its consequences on the subventricular zone (SVZ). Thus, this work aims to disclose the effects of METH on SVZ neurogenesis. SVZ neurospheres were cultured from early postnatal mice and subjected to increasing concentrations of METH (1 μM to 500 μM). After 24 hours of exposure to METH cell death was triggered by both necrosis and apoptosis. METH exerted toxic effects on stem/progenitor cells expressing SOX2, but not on doublecortin-labeled neuroblasts. METH decreased BrdU incorporation in SVZ cell cultures. Furthermore, METH decreased the number of NeuN-positive neurons, as well as P-JNK-positive growing axons. Altogether, our data demonstrate that METH is toxic to SVZ cells and reduces neuronal differentiation and maturation at non toxic concentrations.