Immune and hormonal modulation in the postprandial period of bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus)

Mammals show immune up-regulation and increased plasma and local (gastrointestinal tract) concentrations of some immunoregulatory hormones, such as corticosterone and melatonin, after feeding. However, little is known about the endocrine and immune modulation in the postprandial period of ectothermic animals. This study investigated the effects of feeding on endocrine and immune responses in the bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus). Frogs were fasted for 10 days and divided into two groups: fasted and fed with fish feed (5% of body mass). Blood and gastrointestinal tract tissues (stomach and intestine) were collected at 6, 24, 48, 96, and 168 h to measure neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, plasma bacterial killing ability, phagocytosis of blood leukocytes, plasma corticosterone and melatonin; and stomach and intestine melatonin. Feeding increased plasma corticosterone at 24 h and decreased at 168 h; and increased neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio at 6, 24, and 96 h. We also observed decreased bacterial killing ability 48 h after feeding. Stomach melatonin increased after 17-days fasting. We show that feeding activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-interrenal axis and promotes transient immunosuppression, without stimulating an inflammatory response. Increased CORT may mobilize energy to support the digestive processes and melatonin may protect the stomach during fasting. We conclude feeding modulate secretion of immunoregulatory hormones, increasing plasma CORT levels in the beginning followed by a decrease in the end of meal digestion; and systemic immune cell redistribution, increasing NL ratio during almost all meal digestion in bullfrogs. Also, fasting modulate secretion of melatonin in the stomach.

Male fertility: a review of the publications from January - March 2021

The article provides an overview of the most significant publications on the topic of male infertility. The main selection criteria were the practical significance of the article, as well as the impact factor of the journal in which it was published, according to the SCImago Journal Rank (SJR). As a result, a list of 10 works published in the first quarter (January - March) of 2021 was formed. The review included articles related to the following issues: sperm DNA fragmentation, the use of testicular spermatozoa in ART programs (assisted reproductive technologies), advanced paternal age, the role of the human papillomavirus for male fertility, hormonal modulation by clomiphene, the risk of birth defects in children in ART programs, andrological examination of patients with CFTR gene mutations. And also, an analysis of the new clinical guidelines of the American Urological Association (AUA) was carried out.

Gut Microbiota: The Missing Link Between Helicobacter pylori Infection and Metabolic Disorders?

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a gram-negative bacterium that infects approximately 4.4 billion individuals worldwide. Although the majority of infected individuals remain asymptomatic, this bacterium colonizes the gastric mucosa causing the development of various clinical conditions as peptic ulcers, chronic gastritis and gastric adenocarcinomas and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphomas, but complications are not limited to gastric ones. Extradigestive pathologies, including metabolic disturbances such as diabetes, obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, have also been associated with H. pylori infection. However, the underlying mechanisms connecting H. pylori with extragastric metabolic diseases needs to be clarified. Notably, the latest studies on the topic have confirmed that H. pylori infection modulates gut microbiota in humans. Damage in the gut bacterial community (dysbiosis) has been widely related to metabolic dysregulation by affecting adiposity, host energy balance, carbohydrate metabolism, and hormonal modulation, among others. Taking into account that Type 2 diabetic patients are more prone to be H. pylori positive, gut microbiota emerges as putative key factor responsible for this interaction. In this regard, the therapy of choice for H. pylori eradication, based on proton pump inhibitor combined with two or more antibiotics, also alters gut microbiota composition, but consequences on metabolic health of the patients has been scarcely explored. Recent studies from our group showed that, despite decreasing gut bacterial diversity, conventional H. pylori eradication therapy is related to positive changes in glucose and lipid profiles. The mechanistic insights explaining these effects should also be addressed in future research. This review will deal with the role of gut microbiota as the linking factor between H. pylori infection and metabolic diseases, and discussed the impact that gut bacterial modulation by H. pylori eradication treatment can also have in host’s metabolism. For this purpose, new evidence from the latest human studies published in more recent years will be analyzed.

Prepubertal ovariectomy alters dorsomedial striatum indirect pathway neuron excitability and explore/exploit balance in female mice

Decision-making circuits are modulated across life stages (e.g. juvenile, adolescent, or adult)—as well as on the shorter timescale of reproductive cycles in females—to meet changing environmental and physiological demands. Ovarian hormonal modulation of relevant neural circuits is a potential mechanism by which behavioral flexibility is regulated in females. Here we examined the influence of prepubertal ovariectomy (pOVX) versus sham surgery on performance in an odor-based multiple choice reversal task. We observed that pOVX females made different types of errors during reversal learning compared to sham surgery controls. Using reinforcement learning models fit to trial-by-trial behavior, we found that pOVX females exhibited lower inverse temperature parameter (β) compared to sham females. These findings suggest that OVX females solve the reversal task using a more exploratory choice policy, whereas sham females use a more exploitative policy prioritizing estimated high value options. To seek a neural correlate of this behavioral difference, we performed whole-cell patch clamp recordings within the dorsomedial striatum (DMS), a region implicated in regulating action selection and explore/exploit choice policy. We found that the intrinsic excitability of dopamine receptor type 2 (D2R) expressing indirect pathway spiny projection neurons (iSPNs) was significantly higher in pOVX females compared to both unmanipulated and sham surgery females. Finally, to test whether mimicking this increase in iSPN excitability could recapitulate the pattern of reversal task behavior observed in pOVX females, we chemogenetically activated DMS D2R(+) neurons within intact female mice. We found that chemogenetic activation increased exploratory choice during reversal, similar to the pattern we observed in pOVX females. Together, these data suggest that pubertal status may influence explore/exploit balance in females via the modulation of iSPN intrinsic excitability within the DMS.

“THE HEART KNOWS ALL ABOUT US”: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE FUNCTIONAL STATE OF PATIENTS BY THE INDICATORS OF A SHORT RECORDING OF THE HEART RATE VARIABILITY

This article highlights the issues of using a hardware technique for assessing the functional state of patients by indicators of a short recording of heart rate variability. The aim of the study is to assess the clinical and diagnostic capabilities of a short recording of heart rate variability in displaying systemic informational energy processes of the human body to increase the effectiveness of measures for the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases in Ukraine by introducing the latest science-based technologies into medical practice. An open-label, nonrandomized controlled trial was performed. We studied the wave characteristics of the heart rate in functionally healthy individuals (group 1, n=104) and patients with coronary heart disease including exertional angina, myocardial infarction (in the subacute period) and comorbid pathology (group 2, n=66) by the method of short recording of heart rate variability using spectral analysis and variational pulsometry. The study has demonstrated coronary heart disease is accompanied by a decrease in the overall activity of regulatory systems, inhibition of the energy level of the heart (TP=931.8±710.4 at a rate of 3466±1018 ms²), a low level of hormonal modulation of regulatory mechanisms (VLF=527.3±502.1 ms², which is <700 ms²), depletion of energy resources, a low level of recoverable (HF=205.7±261.8 ms², which is <300 ms²) and mobilization (LF=198.9±191.7 ms², which is <300 ms2) potentials, an imbalance of the mechanisms of neuro-humoral regulation of cardiac activity, a decrease in the resources of cardiac activity VLF=56% when normal values are within 30-50%; VLF>HF+LF), in a state of pronounced distress (SI=256.7±264.7; SI=325.2±297.7; PAPR=71.76±30.3). Using the method of short recording of heart rate variability can allow doctors to determine the current state of physiological circulatory mechanisms, adaptive responses, diagnose maladaptive disorders, stress, monitor the effectiveness of prevention of noncommunicable diseases in respondents.

Hormonal modulation of reproduction and fertility signaling in polistine wasps

In social insects, it has been suggested that reproduction and the production of particular fertility-linked cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC) may be under shared juvenile hormone (JH) control, and this could have been key in predisposing such cues to later evolve into full-fledged queen pheromone signals. However, to date, only few studies have experimentally tested this “hormonal pleiotropy” hypothesis. Here, we formally test this hypothesis using data from four species of Polistine wasps, Polistes dominula, Polistes satan, Mischocyttarus metathoracicus, and Mischocyttarus cassununga, and experimental treatments with JH using the JH analogue methoprene and the anti-JH precocene. In line with reproduction being under JH control, our results show that across these four species, precocene significantly decreased ovary development when compared with both the acetone solvent-only control and the methoprene treatment. Consistent with the hormonal pleiotropy hypothesis, these effects on reproduction were further matched by subtle shifts in the CHC profiles, with univariate analyses showing that in P. dominula and P. satan the abundance of particular linear alkanes and mono-methylated alkanes were affected by ovary development and our hormonal treatments. The results indicate that in primitively eusocial wasps, and particularly in Polistes, reproduction and the production of some CHC cues are under joint JH control. We suggest that pleiotropic links between reproduction and the production of such hydrocarbon cues have been key enablers for the origin of true fertility and queen signals in more derived, advanced eusocial insects.

The Use of Plants’ Natural Products in Breast Cancer: Have We Already Found the New Anticancer Drug?

The importance of a new anticancer drug for breast cancer is well established. Natural compounds that can prevent this disease or be used as an adjuvant treatment associated with conventional drugs could be the solution for this. This chapter is an overview of agents extracted from plants with outstand results in the last six years. Green tea, berberine, thymoquinone and cannabidiol are compounds isolated from medicinal plants. These agents showed action through induction of apoptosis, down regulation of inflammation, epigenetics, hormonal modulation, among other. In vitro effect against cancer cells, in vivo experiments mainly with murine model and clinical trials reassured their efficacy against breast cancer. A protective effect against recurrence cases and chemosensitization to standard drugs was also successful. The use of nanotechnology provided a optimize delivery of these therapeutical molecules. Taken together this information led us to acknowledgement that we do probably have the natural agents for a future adjuvant treatment against breast cancer.