Unraveling the potential of hypothalamic deep brain stimulation for obesity: Impacts on memory, neuroplasticity and brain metabolism in the Zucker rat.

The lateral hypothalamus (LH) plays a key role in regulating energy balance and appetite, making it a potential target for deep brain stimulation (DBS) in treatment-resistant obesity. In this study, we evaluated the short and long-term in vivo effects of continuous LH-DBS over 15 days in a genetic model of obesity: the Zucker rat. We examined changes in body weight, brain glucose metabolism (via positron emission tomography, PET), and memory performance, along with ex vivo neuroplasticity in different hippocampal layers one month post-treatment.

Development of a toxin-selective immunotracer for in vivo detection of Clostridioides difficile infection by immunoPET.

Background: Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a major healthcare challenge that is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Current diagnostic methods are limited in terms of specificity and invasiveness, necessitating novel, non-invasive imaging techniques. In this study, we develop and evaluate an immunoPET radiotracer targeting C.

Linking birth experience and perinatal depression symptoms to neuroanatomical changes in hippocampus and amygdala.

Childbirth is a life-changing event in a mother's life. While the transition to motherhood has recently been recognized as one of the most neuroplastic periods in adulthood, no study has yet explored whether the hippocampus and amygdala change during the peripartum in relation to childbirth experience and perinatal depression symptoms. In this longitudinal neuroimaging study, we assessed 88 first-time gestational mothers in late pregnancy and early postpartum and 30 nulliparous control women.

Tc-DTPA-Collagen Radiotracer for the Noninvasive Detection of Infective Endocarditis.

Infective endocarditis (IE) represents a significant concern among hospital-acquired infections, frequently caused by the Gram-positive bacterium . Nuclear imaging is emerging as a noninvasive and precise diagnostic tool. However, the gold standard radiotracer [F]-FDG cannot distinguish between infection and inflammation, resulting in false positives.

Hybrid Reconstruction Approach for Polychromatic Computed Tomography in Highly Limited-Data Scenarios.

Conventional strategies aimed at mitigating beam-hardening artifacts in computed tomography (CT) can be categorized into two main approaches: (1) postprocessing following conventional reconstruction and (2) iterative reconstruction incorporating a beam-hardening model. While the former fails in low-dose and/or limited-data cases, the latter substantially increases computational cost. Although deep learning-based methods have been proposed for several cases of limited-data CT, few works in the literature have dealt with beam-hardening artifacts, and none have addressed the problems caused by randomly selected projections and a highly limited span.

Design and validation of novel flow cytometry panels to analyze a comprehensive range of peripheral immune cells in mice.

The use of flow cytometry in mice is constrained by several factors, including the limited availability of mouse-specific antibodies and the need to work with small volumes of peripheral blood. This is particularly challenging for longitudinal studies, as serial blood samples should not exceed 10% of the total blood volume in mice. To address this, we have developed two novel flow cytometry panels designed to extensively analyze immune cell populations in mice during longitudinal studies, using only 50 µL of peripheral blood per panel.

Presence of fetal microchimerisms in the heart and effect on cardiac repair.

Multiple complex biological processes take place during pregnancy, including the migration of fetal cells to maternal circulation and their subsequent engraftment in maternal tissues, where they form microchimerisms. Fetal microchimerisms have been identified in several tissues; nevertheless, their functional role remains largely unknown. Different reports suggest these cells contribute to tissue repair and modulate the immune response, but they have also been associated with pre-eclampsia and tumor formation.

Statistical image reconstruction with beam-hardening compensation for X-ray CT by a calibration step (2DIterBH).

Background: The beam-hardening effect due to the polychromatic nature of the X-ray spectra results in two main artifacts in CT images: cupping in homogeneous areas and dark bands between dense parts in heterogeneous samples. Post-processing methods have been proposed in the literature to compensate for these artifacts, but these methods may introduce additional noise in low-dose acquisitions. Iterative methods are an alternative to compensate noise and beam-hardening artifacts simultaneously.

Multispectral imaging for characterizing autofluorescent tissues.

Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM) has become an emerging technology since its first application for 3D in-vivo imaging of the development of a living organism. An extensive number of works have been published, improving both the speed of acquisition and the resolution of the systems. Furthermore, multispectral imaging allows the effective separation of overlapping signals associated with different fluorophores from the spectrum over the whole field-of-view of the analyzed sample.

In Vivo Detection of Infections Using Radiolabeled Antibodies Specific for Bacterial Toxins.

Purpose: The Gram-positive bacterium is one of the leading causes of infection in humans. The lack of specific noninvasive techniques for diagnosis of staphylococcal infection together with the severity of its associated complications support the need for new specific and selective diagnostic tools. This work presents the successful synthesis of an immunotracer that targets the -toxin released by .

Development and testing of a sedation protocol for Neocaridina davidi.

Neocaridina davidi, a small freshwater shrimp native to Asia, specifically China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, possesses remarkable resistance to poor water quality and offers various advantages over other invertebrate species to examine crucial issues in neuroscience and other related areas. These advantages include robustness, ease of maintenance, and transparency, making them useful for in vivo studies with optical imaging techniques. Despite its suitability for research purposes, particularly in the fields of imaging and fluorescent techniques, the lack of attention given to this species has resulted in the absence of a robust and replicable sedation protocol for immobilization and safe manipulation.

Enriched mesoporous bioactive glass scaffolds as bone substitutes in critical diaphyseal bone defects in rabbits.

In the field of orthopedic surgery, there is an increasing need for the development of bone replacement materials for the treatment of bone defects. One of the main focuses of biomaterials engineering are advanced bioceramics like mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBG´s). The present study compared the new bone formation after 12 weeks of implantation of MBG scaffolds with composition 82,5SiO-10CaO-5PO-x 2.

Curcumin encapsulated in milk small extracellular vesicles as a nanotherapeutic alternative in experimental chronic liver disease.

Curcumin is a natural molecule widely tested in preclinical and clinical studies due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Nevertheless, its high hydrophobicity and low bioavailability limit in vivo applications. To overcome curcumin´s drawbacks, small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) have emerged as potential drug delivery systems due to their non-immunogenicity, nanometric size and amphiphilic composition.

In vivo behavior in rabbit radius bone defect of scaffolds based on nanocarbonate hydroxyapatite.

Bone defects treatment may require the use of biomaterials that behave as a support and promote bone regeneration. Limitations associated with the use of autografts and allografts make it necessary to design new synthetic bone substitutes. Some of the most promising biomaterials currently under investigation are based on nanocarbonate hydroxyapatite (nCHA).

N-acetylcysteine during critical neurodevelopmental periods prevents behavioral and neurochemical deficits in the Poly I:C rat model of schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a chronic neurodevelopmental disorder with an inflammatory/prooxidant component. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been evaluated in schizophrenia as an adjuvant to antipsychotics, but its role as a preventive strategy has not been sufficiently explored. We aimed to evaluate the potential of NAC administration in two-time windows before the onset of symptoms in a schizophrenia-like maternal immune stimulation (MIS) rat model.

THC improves behavioural schizophrenia-like deficits that CBD fails to overcome: a comprehensive multilevel approach using the Poly I:C maternal immune activation.

Prenatal infections and cannabis use during adolescence are well-recognized risk factors for schizophrenia. As inflammation and oxidative stress (OS) contribute to this disorder, anti-inflammatory drugs have been proposed as potential therapies. This study aimed to evaluate the association between delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and schizophrenia-like abnormalities in a maternal immune activation (MIA) model.

Previous pregnancies might mitigate cortical brain differences associated with surgical menopause.

Surgical menopause causes a sharp drop in estrogen levels in middle-aged women, thus preventing the gradual physiological adaptation that is characteristic of the perimenopause. Previous studies suggest that surgical menopause might increase the risk of dementia later in life. In addition, the transition to motherhood entails long-lasting endocrine and neuronal adaptations.

Isolation of goat milk small extracellular vesicles by novel combined bio-physical methodology.

Goat milk is notable as a cost-effective source of exosomes, also known as small extracellular vesicles (sEVs). These nanoparticle-like structures are naturally secreted by cells and have emerged as potential diagnostic agents and drug delivery systems, also supported by their proven therapeutic effects. However, the complexity of goat milk and the lack of standardized protocols make it difficult to isolate pure sEVs.

The long-term effects of adolescent Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol on brain structure and function assessed through neuroimaging techniques in male and female rats.

Several studies performed on human subjects have examined the effects of adolescent cannabis consumption on brain structure or function using brain imaging techniques. However, the evidence from these studies is usually heterogenous and affected by several confounding variables. Animal models of adolescent cannabinoid exposure may help to overcome these difficulties.

Maternal Supplementation with N-Acetylcysteine Modulates the Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis in Offspring of the Poly I:C Rat Model of Schizophrenia.

The microbiota-gut-brain axis is a complex interconnected system altered in schizophrenia. The antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been proposed as an adjunctive therapy to antipsychotics in clinical trials, but its role in the microbiota-gut-brain axis has not been sufficiently explored. We aimed to describe the effect of NAC administration during pregnancy on the gut-brain axis in the offspring from the maternal immune stimulation (MIS) animal model of schizophrenia.

Radioimmune Imaging of αβ Integrin and TNFα for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Applications in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Imaging using radiolabelled monoclonal antibodies can provide, non-invasively, molecular information which allows for the planning of the best treatment and for monitoring the therapeutic response in cancer, as well as in chronic inflammatory diseases. In the present study, our main goal was to evaluate if a pre-therapy scan with radiolabelled anti-αβ integrin or radiolabelled anti-TNFα mAb could predict therapeutic outcome with unlabelled anti-αβ integrin or anti-TNFα mAb. To this aim, we developed two radiopharmaceuticals to study the expression of therapeutic targets for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), to be used for therapy decision making.

Interaction between maternal immune activation and peripubertal stress in rats: impact on cocaine addiction-like behaviour, morphofunctional brain parameters and striatal transcriptome.

Substance use disorders are more prevalent in schizophrenia, but the causal links between both conditions remain unclear. Maternal immune activation (MIA) is associated with schizophrenia which may be triggered by stressful experiences during adolescence. Therefore, we used a double-hit rat model, combining MIA and peripubertal stress (PUS), to study cocaine addiction and the underlying neurobehavioural alterations.

The Poly I:C maternal immune stimulation model shows unique patterns of brain metabolism, morphometry, and plasticity in female rats.

Prenatal infections are associated with an increased risk of the onset of schizophrenia. Rodent models of maternal immune stimulation (MIS) have been extensively used in preclinical studies. However, many of these studies only include males, omitting pathophysiological features unique to females.

Opposing Actions of TLR2 and TLR4 in Adipocyte Differentiation and Mature-Onset Obesity.

Understanding the signaling cascades that govern adipocyte metabolism and differentiation is necessary for the development of therapies for obesity. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are key mediators in adipogenesis, but their specific role is not completely understood. In this study, siRNA knockdown of in 3T3-L1 cells allowed them to differentiate more efficiently into adipocytes, whereas the opposite was observed for the knockdown of .