Jairza Maria Barreto-Medeiros

Neonatal treatment with fluoxetine reduces depressive behavior induced by forced swim in adult rats

Serotonin plays a role at the pathophysiology of depression in humans and in experimental models. The present study investigated the depressive behavior and the weigh evolution in adult rats (60 days) treated from the 1st to the 21st postnatal day with fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (10 mg/kg, sc, daily). The depressive behavior was induced by the forced swim test (FST). The animals were submitted to two sessions of FST: 1st session for 15 min and the 2nd session 24h later, for 5 min. During the 2nd session the Latency of the Attempt of Escape (LAE) and Behavioral Immobility (BI) were appraised. The Fluoxetine group when compared to the Control group, showed an increase in LAE and a decrease in BI. The neonatal administration of fluoxetine reduced the depressive behavior in adult rats, possibly by increase in the brain serotonergic activity. This alteration can be associated to process of neuroadaptation.

Stress/Aggressiveness-Induced Immune Changes Are Altered in Adult Rats Submitted to Neonatal Malnutrition

Background/Aims: Neonatal malnutrition induces metabolic and endocrine changes that have beneficial effects on the neonatal in the short term but, in the longer term, these alterations lead to maladaptations. We investigated the effect of neonatal malnutrition on immune responses in adult rats submitted or not to an aggressiveness test. Methods: Male Wistar rats were distributed to one of two groups according to their mothers’ diet during lactation: the well-nourished group (group C, n = 42, receiving 23% of protein) and the malnourished group (group MN, n = 42, receiving 8% of protein). After weaning, all rats received normoproteic diet. Ninety days after birth, each group was subdivided into three subgroups: control rats (n = 14, respectively), aggressive rats (n = 14, respectively) and rats receiving foot shock (FS; n = 14, respectively). Plasma corticosterone concentration was measured after FS sessions. Leukocyte counts and humoral immunity were evaluated. Results: In neonatal malnourished animals, FS-induced stress reduced plasma corticosterone concentration. Intraspecific aggressiveness induced alterations in leukocyte counts and antibody titers 7 and 15 days after immunization. Neonatal malnourished animals showed no changes in the immune parameters evaluated. Conclusions: Expression of intraspecific aggressiveness activates the immune system. Neonatal malnutrition seems to have a long-lasting effect on components of both neuroendocrine and immune functions.

Maternal and post-weaning exposure to a high fat diet promotes visceral obesity and hepatic steatosis in adult rats

AIM considering the frequent consumption of fat-rich diets by women of reproductive age, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of maternal consumption of a high-fat diet during the perinatal and/ or post-weaning period on the liver parameters and lipid metabolism of young rats. METHODS Wistar female rats were fed a high-fat (H) or control (C) diet during pregnancy and lactation. The offspring were allocated to four groups: Control Control (CC, n = 11), offspring fed a control diet after weaning; Control High-fat (CH, n = 10), offspring fed a high-fat diet after weaning; High-fat High-fat (HH, n = 10), offspring of mothers H fed a high-fat diet after weaning; and High-fat Control (HC, n = 9), offspring of mothers H fed with control diet after weaning. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION the food intake did not differ among the groups, however, the relative weight of the adipose tissue was higher in animals from the HC, HH and CH groups (p ≤ 0.005). Liver steatosis was found in the CH and HH animals, which also exhibited hypercholesterolemia (p ≤ 0.05). The levels of the liver enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) were higher in the HH group, and the LDL level was higher in the CH group compared to the CC. The consumption of an obesogenic diet during critical periods of development may contribute to the occurrence of visceral obesity, liver steatosis and hypercholesterolemia in adult rats, even in the absence of changes in dietary intake.

Nutritional assessment in surgical oncology patients: a comparative analysis between methods.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The malnutrition found in oncology patients is the main responsible for the increase in morbimortality and worsening of their quality of life. Currently, the assessment of malnutrition is performed by subjective and objective methods, or the combination of them. Although these methods are routinely applied and their association is very common in clinical practice, there are few studies on the agreement between them. Thereby, this study aims to compare different methods for nutritional status assessment in surgical oncology patients. METHODS 173 oncology patients, admitted for surgery, were submitted to an anthropometric evaluation and answered a SGA, PG-SGA and NRS-2002. Kappa test was used to evaluated the level of concordance between the methods. RESULTS Poor concordance were observed between BMI and NRS-2002 (K=0,286), SGA (K=0,372) and PGSGA (K=0,173). Among the subjective methods, the best results were found for SGA and PG-SGA (K=0,690), and the lowest between NRS-2002 and both others (SGA: K=0,345; PG-SGA: K=0,322). CONCLUSIONS The poor concordance found between objective and subjective methods reinforces the importance of associating indicators in the nutritional assessment of this population Despite of the poor concordance found between the nutritional status assessment methods investigated in this study, patients who had greater depletion of body stores were also diagnosed with a higher degree of malnutrition by subjective methods.

Factors associated with sarcopenia in institutionalized elderly

INTRODUCTION The sarcopenia is a negative aspect for the health of the elderly, increased the risk for disease and mortality. Additionally can contributes greatly to functional reducing capacity and quality of life. OBJECTIVE To identify the prevalence and factors associated with sarcopenia in institutionalized elderly. METHODS This is a cross-sectional study, conducted with 216 elderly people, aged ≥ 60 years, of both sexes, residents in long-term care facilities in Salvador-Bahia, Brazil. To identify sarcopenia was used the skeletal muscle Index. Covariates were considered: gender, age, time of institutionalization, type of institution, body mass index and functional capacity. The Association between sarcopenia and covariates was evaluated using the Poisson regression model with robust variance. RESULTS The prevalence of sarcopenia in the elderly was 72.2% and this condition was associated with male sex (PR = 1,33; CI 95% = 1,081,65), thinness (PR = 1,29; CI 95% = 1,16-1,43) and obesity (PR = 0,37; CI 95% = 0,23-0,61). CONCLUSION The prevalence of sarcopenia was high among the elderly living in long-term institutions, especially among men. Elderly with thinness showed greater impairment of muscle reserves, while the state of obesity was protective.

Efeito do tratamento com triptofano sobre parâmetros do comportamento alimentar em ratos adultos submetidos à desnutrição neonatal

OBJETIVO: Investigou-se os efeitos do tratamento com triptofano sobre o consumo alimentar em ratos adultos, submetidos ou nao a desnutricao precoce. METODOS: Sessenta e quatro ratos Wistar machos foram divididos em nutridos (n=32, caseina=17%) e desnutridos (n=32, caseina=8%), de acordo com a dieta materna empregada no periodo de lactacao. Apos o desmame, todos os ratos receberam dieta com 23% de proteina. Pesos corporais foram avaliados no setimo, vigesimo primeiro e septuagesimo dias de vida. Aos setenta dias de idade, cada grupo nutricional foi dividido em subgrupos: Nutrido-Salina (n=16) e Nutrido-Triptofano (n=16), Desnutrido-Salina (n=16) e Desnutrido-Triptofano (n=16). Os grupos receberam diariamente 1,0mL/100g de triptofano, na dose de 50mg/kgP ou salina (0,9%NaCl), durante 14 dias. Neste periodo foram realizados os estudos dos parâmetros do comportamento alimentar. Posteriormente obteve-se a media do consumo alimentar relativo e a media do ganho de peso relativo. As analises estatisticas foram feitas utilizando os testes t Student e ANOVA seguido de Tukey, com p<0,05. RESULTADOS: As ninhadas de maes alimentadas com dieta hipoproteica mantiveram pesos inferiores comparados com as ninhadas nutridas (p<0,01) ate os setenta dias de vida. Os ratos nutridos tratados com triptofano (M=6,88, DP=0,05) reduziram a ingestao alimentar comparados aos nutridos salina (M=7,27, DP=0,08) (p<0,01). Contudo, nao houve efeito sobre o ganho de peso. Entre os desnutridos nenhuma diferenca foi encontrada. CONCLUSAO: Nesse estudo, a restricao proteica neonatal alterou a evolucao ponderal em ratos. Alem disso, a desnutricao precoce tornou os ratos adultos resistentes aos efeitos inibitorios do triptofano sobre a ingestao alimentar.

Influence of mother nutrition during pregnancy and/or lactation on offspring food preference in experimental models

INTRODUCTION Understanding associations between food preferences and maternal nutrition during pregnancy and lactation could inform efforts to understanding the obesity mechanisms and provide insight to prevent it. Objective: To identify studies that investigated the effects of nutritional interventions during the pregnancy and lactation on the food preferences of offspring. Method: The review was conducted with search for articles in the databases: Scopus, Pubmed, Medline, LILACS, Scielo and Science Direct. Exclusion criteria were used: reviews, human studies, studies with drugs or other substances not related to food. Results: At the end of the search in the databases, 176 references were found. After use the exclusion criteria, reading the titles, abstracts and full articles, were selected 11 articles to compose the review. Conclusion: The selected studies suggested that unbalanced nutrition in early life alters the food preference and neural components related to the consumption of fatty and sugary foods in offspring rodents.

Effects of maternal high fat intake during pregnancy and lactation on total cholesterol and adipose tissue in neonatal rats

AIM Obesity during pregnancy is one of the most established risk factors for negative long-term programming. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of maternal consumption of a high-fat diet during pregnancy and lactation on the weight gain, visceral adipose tissue and cholesterolemia in neonatal rats. METHODS Wistar rats were divided into two groups according to the mothers diet during pregnancy and lactation: Control group (CG, n = 12) were the offspring of rats fed a standard diet (4% lipid) and the Test group (TG, n = 12) were pups rats fed on a high fat diet (23% lipid). The weight of the animals was measured on alternate days until the 22nd day of life, when collected visceral adipose tissue and blood were collected for biochemical analysis. For statistical analysis the Student t test, Sidak´s teste and two way ANOVA was used, with p <0.05. RESULTS the test group showed differences in weight gain, visceral adipose tissue and higher cholesterol. CONCLUSION a maternal exposure to a high-fat diet during pregnancy and lactation can promote changes in weight gain, hypercholesterolemia and an increase in adipose tissue in neonatal rats.