Red Vetchling (Lathyrus cicera L.), a Promising Crop for the Sustainable Replacement of Soybean Meal and Reducing the Carbon Footprint of European Aquafeeds.

In fish diets, soybean meal (SBM) is still positioned as the most widely used alternative to replace fishmeal. Red vetchling (Lathyrus cicera), a crop locally produced in Europe, is here evaluated as a substitute for SBM. Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) juveniles (10.34 ± 0.04 g) were fed for 90 days. Six experimental diets replacing the SBM content at 0, 8, 16, 33, 66, and 100% (Named Control, T8, T16, T33, T66, and T100) were tested. Growth performance and fish fillet amino acid composition were only significantly reduced in fish fed the T100 diet. Histopathological analysis showed that no major alterations were observed in the intestine, while T100 fish had a higher density of pyknotic nuclei in the hepatocytes than the Control, but similar hepatocyte surface coverage. Finally, postprandial levels of glucose and triglycerides in blood plasma decreased when red vetchling content was increased, but was only not fully restored after 24 h in the case of glucose in T66 and T100 fish. According to these results, red vetchling meal can replace up to 66% of the SBM without a negative effect on fish growth or physiology, representing a good alternative raw material for reducing European aquaculture's dependency on SBM imports and the carbon footprint of aquafeeds.

Effects of Bihemispheric Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Combined With Repetitive Peripheral Nerve Stimulation in Acute Stroke Patients.

PURPOSE: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can change the excitability of the central nervous system and contribute to motor recovery of stroke patients. The aim of our study was to examine the short- and long-term effects of real versus sham bihemispheric tDCS combined with repetitive peripheral nerve stimulation in patients with acute stroke and a severe motor impairment. METHODS: The study was prospective, randomized, double blind, and placebo controlled. Nineteen acute stroke patients (ischemic and hemorrhagic) with upper limb Fugl-Meyer mean score of <19 were randomized in two groups: one group received five consecutive daily sessions of anodal tDCS over the affected hemisphere and cathodal over unaffected hemisphere combined with repetitive peripheral nerve stimulation and the other received sham tDCS associated to repetitive peripheral nerve stimulation. Clinical and neurophysiological assessment was applied before tDCS, 5 days after tDCS, and 3, 6, and 12 months after tDCS. RESULTS: There were significant time-related changes in both groups of patients in motor evoked potentials, somatosensory evoked potentials, Hmax:Mmax ratio, upper limb Fugl-Meyer scores, and Modified Ashworth scales scores ( P < 0.05). However, no significant differences between groups were present at any time ( P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Bihemispheric tDCS and repetitive peripheral nerve stimulation with the parameters of our study did not add significant short- or long-term clinical improvement or change in neurophysiological data in severe acute stroke patients in comparison to sham stimulation. The severity of motor impairment in stroke patients may influence a possible response to an interventional tDCS treatment.

Evaluation of afferent pain pathways in adrenomyeloneuropathic patients.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with adrenomyeloneuropathy may have dysfunctions of visual, auditory, motor and somatosensory pathways. We thought on examining the nociceptive pathways by means of laser evoked potentials (LEPs), to obtain additional information on the pathophysiology of this condition. METHODS: In 13 adrenomyeloneuropathic patients we examined LEPs to leg, arm and face stimulation. Normative data were obtained from 10 healthy subjects examined in the same experimental conditions. We also examined brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs), pattern reversal full-field visual evoked potentials (VEPs), motor evoked potentials (MEPs) and somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs). RESULTS: Upper and lower limb MEPs and SEPs, as well as BAEPs, were abnormal in all patients, while VEPs were abnormal in 3 of them (23.1%). LEPs revealed abnormalities to stimulation of the face in 4 patients (30.7%), the forearm in 4 patients (30.7%) and the leg in 10 patients (76.9%). CONCLUSIONS: The pathologic process of adrenomyeloneuropathy is characterized by a preferential involvement of auditory, motor and somatosensory tracts and less severely of the visual and nociceptive pathways. This non-inflammatory distal axonopathy preferably damages large myelinated spinal tracts but there is also partial involvement of small myelinated fibres. SIGNIFICANCE: LEPs studies can provide relevant information about afferent pain pathways involvement in adrenomyeloneuropathic patients.

Impaired Decision Making and Loss of Inhibitory-Control in a Rat Model of Huntington Disease.

Cognitive deficits associated with Huntington disease (HD) are generally dominated by executive function disorders often associated with disinhibition and impulsivity/compulsivity. Few studies have directly examined symptoms and consequences of behavioral disinhibition in HD and its relation with decision-making. To assess the different forms of impulsivity in a transgenic model of HD (tgHD rats), two tasks assessing cognitive/choice impulsivity were used: risky decision-making with a rat gambling task (RGT) and intertemporal choices with a delay discounting task (DD). To assess waiting or action impulsivity the differential reinforcement of low rate of responding task (DRL) was used. In parallel, the volume as well as cellular activity of the amygdala was analyzed. In contrast to WT rats, 15 months old tgHD rats exhibited a poor efficiency in the RGT task with difficulties to choose advantageous options, a steep DD curve as delays increased in the DD task and a high rate of premature and bursts responses in the DRL task. tgHD rats also demonstrated a concomitant and correlated presence of both action and cognitive/choice impulsivity in contrast to wild type (WT) animals. Moreover, a reduced volume associated with an increased basal cellular activity of the central nucleus of amygdala indicated a dysfunctional amygdala in tgHD rats, which could underlie inhibitory dyscontrol. In conclusion, tgHD rats are a good model for impulsivity disorder that could be used more widely to identify potential pharmacotherapies to treat these invasive symptoms in HD.

Reduced impact of emotion on choice behavior in presymptomatic BACHD rats, a transgenic rodent model for Huntington Disease.

Executive dysfunction and psychiatric symptoms are hallmarks of Huntington disease (HD), a neurodegenerative disorder genetically characterized by expanded CAG repeats in the HTT gene. Using the BACHD rat model of HD (97 CAG-CAA repeats), the present research seeks to characterize the progressive emergence of decision-making impairments in a rat version of the Iowa Gambling Task (RGT) and the impact of emotional modulation, whether positive or negative, on choice behavior. The choice efficiency shown both by WT rats (independent of their age) and the youngest BACHD rats (2 and 8months old) evidenced that they are able to integrate outcomes of past decisions to determine expected reward values for each option. However, 18months old BACHD rats made fewer choices during the RGT session and were less efficient in choosing advantageous options than younger animals. Presenting either chocolate pellets or electrical footshocks half-way through a second RGT session reduced exploratory activity (inefficient nose-poking) and choices with a weaker effect on BACHD animals than on WT. Choice efficiency was left intact in transgenic rats. Our results bring new knowledge on executive impairments and impact of emotional state on decision-making at different stages of the disease, increasing the face-validity of the BACHD rat model.