Eliane Magalhães de Brito

Coumarin effects on amino acid levels in mice prefrontal cortex and hippocampus.

Coumarin is a compound known to be present in a wide variety of plants, microorganisms and animal species. Most of its effects were studied in organs and systems other than the central nervous system. The present work evaluated the effect of coumarin administration on the levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate (GLU), glycine (GLY) and taurine (TAU) in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of mice. Male Swiss mice were treated with distilled water (controls), coumarin (20 or 40 mg/kg, i.p.) or diazepam (1 mg/kg, i.p.). Results showed that in the prefrontal cortex, coumarin at the lowest dose increased the levels of GLU and TAU, while GABA increased with both doses studied and GLY had its levels increased only at the dose of 40 mg/kg. Diazepam (DZP) increased the levels of GABA and TAU and decreased the levels of GLU and GLY in this area. In the hippocampus, only glutamate had its levels decreased after coumarin treatment, while diazepam increased the levels of GABA and TAU and decreased the levels of GLU in this brain region. We concluded that coumarin stimulates the release of endogenous amino acids, increasing the levels of inhibitory and excitatory amino acids in the prefrontal cortex, and decreasing glutamate levels in the hippocampus. Together, these results are of interest, considering that some neurodegenerative diseases and seizures are related to the imbalance of the amino acid levels in the CNS suggesting a perspective of a therapeutic use of coumarins in these disorders.

PERCEPÇÃO DOS FAMILIARES DE PESSOAS COM ESQUIZOFRENIA ACERCA DA DOENÇA

Objetivo: Conhecer a percepcao dos familiares de pessoas com esquizofrenia acerca da doenca. Metodos: Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva, de natureza qualitativa, tendo como sujeitos da pesquisa dez familiares de pessoas com diagnostico medico de esquizofrenia, atendidos pelo Centro de Atencao Psicossocial (CAPS) de um municipio do Ceara, Brasil. Utilizou-se como estrategia para coleta de dados a entrevista semiestruturada. A analise dos dados baseou-se no metodo de analise de conteudo. Resultados: As categorias identificadas foram: identificacao da doenca; tratamento da esquizofrenia; dificuldades vivenciadas pelos familiares; a busca pela qualidade de vida da pessoa com esquizofrenia. Conclusao: No discurso dos familiares de pessoas com esquizofrenia percebeu-se que ha lacunas no conhecimento sobre o diagnostico da patologia, o que desperta para a necessidade deste aspecto ser esclarecido durante os encontros entre profissionais, usuarios e familiares. Porem, os outros aspectos da doenca, como alteracoes comportamentais e formas de tratamento, foram mencionados pelos participantes do estudo. Objective: To understand the perception of schizophrenics relatives about the disease. Methods: This is a descriptive, qualitative study performed with ten family members of people with medical diagnosis of schizophrenia treated by the Center for Psychosocial Care (CAPS) in a municipality of Ceara. Unstructured interview was used as a strategy to collect data. Data analysis was based on the method of content analysis proposed by Bardin (1997). Results: The identified categories were: identification of disease; treatment of schizophrenia; difficulties experienced by relatives; search for quality of life by people with schizophrenia. Conclusion: In the speech of schizophrenics relatives, gaps are perceived in knowledge concerning the diagnosis of the disease, which point at the importance of this aspect being clarified during the meetings between professionals, users and family members. However, other aspects of the disease, such as behavioral disorders and types of treatments, were mentioned by the study participants.

Conhecimento acerca da epilepsia pelos discentes e funcionários de uma escola em Fortaleza-CE - doi:10.5020/18061230.2009.p245

Objective: To assess the knowledge of teachers, students and employees of a school about epilepsy. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional, quantitative study held in a school in Fortaleza - CE. The universe consisted of all students and staff at the school who met the following inclusion criteria: to be a student or employee of the night shift, to be 18 years old or above. Data collection occurred in September 2007, by applying a structured questionnaire. From 69 questionnaires, 50 were completed by students, 11 by teachers and eight by other school employees. We divided the sample into two groups: staff (employees and teachers) and students. Results: The results show that 22% of staff believed that one of the forms of epilepsy transmission occurred through saliva. It was found that 98% of staff and 94% of students said that epilepsy is a neurological disorder. Concerning the control of the disease, 94% of students and 78% of staff believed that it occurs by taking the medication daily. Among the respondents, 29% of staff and 22% of students felt that people with epilepsy have difficulty in school learning. It was also observed that most participants scored appropriate procedures to be adopted in the seizure. Conclusion: The research determined gaps in the knowledge about epilepsy in the studied sample.

Análise da qualidade dos registros durante assistência pré-natal - doi:10.5020/18061230.2009.p137

Aim: To review the quality of prenatal care data registered by the professionals from the Family Health Strategy (ESF) in Jericoacoara city – Ceara State – Brazil. Methods: This was a quantitative and documental study, in which were analyzed 71 obstetric records of pregnant women who underwent prenatal care in 2006. The studied variables comprised those obtained by data quality review of standard obstetric records regarding to socioeconomic aspects, family history, personal and obstetric and the data related to current pregnancy. Results: Among the 71 obstetric records reviewed, in 70 of them (98.6%), the socioeconomic data were completed satisfactorily. The data concerning the history of familiar and personal morbidity, besides obstetric and gynecological history of the pregnant women were 100% (71) complete. Referring to the data of current pregnancy collected during the anamnesis of the first medical appointment, it was detected that 47 (66.2%) were filled in properly, while in 24 (33.8%) of them there were missing important data, such as height and weight of the pregnant women. From all obstetric records, in only 60 (84.5%) there were the registers of all laboratory tests compulsory for the first trimester of pregnancy and it’s highlighted that only 43 (60.6%) of the records were filled in properly regarding the lab tests of the third trimester. It was yet verified that in only 6 (8.5%) of the records there was information related to the curve of uterine height/gestational age. Conclusion: In this study, the adequate filling of obstetric records was observed, although we found a great number of lack or of incomplete registers in the topic related to the graphs of height/weight and the curve of uterine height/ gestational age.