Mobilizing health equity through Computable Biomedical Knowledge (CBK): a call to action to the library, information sciences, and health informatics communities.

The twin pandemics of COVID-19 and structural racism brought into focus health disparities and disproportionate impacts of disease on communities of color. Health equity has subsequently emerged as a priority. Recognizing that the future of health care will be informed by advanced information technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and algorithmic applications, the authors argue that to advance towards states of improved health equity, health information professionals need to engage in and encourage the conduct of research at the intersections of health equity, health disparities, and computational biomedical knowledge (CBK) applications. Recommendations are provided with a means to engage in this mobilization effort.

Long-Acting Injectable Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Perceptions and Preferences Among Transgender and Nonbinary Young Adults in the United States.

Long-acting injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention (LAI-PrEP) was approved for use in the United States in 2021, yet little is known about perceptions of LAI-PrEP among transgender and nonbinary young adults, a group that faces substantial barriers to HIV prevention. We investigated US transgender and nonbinary young adults' perceptions of and attitudes toward LAI-PrEP and how perceived advantages and disadvantages of LAI-PrEP related to the PrEP continuum of care. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 31 transgender and nonbinary young adults who reported oral PrEP use or were PrEP-eligible. We analyzed responses using both a deductive RADaR approach, to identify LAI-PrEP perceptions relevant to the PrEP continuum of care, and an inductive thematic analysis to explore key themes. In this study, all PrEP-experienced and most PrEP-naïve participants indicated an interest in LAI-PrEP, citing advantages over daily oral medication (e.g., fewer adherence challenges). Three key themes emerged: (1) Some participants linked perceived advantages of LAI-PrEP to experiences with gender-affirming care (e.g., familiarity with needles via hormone use). (2) Participants weighed trade-offs and contextual factors that influenced their LAI-PrEP preferences (e.g., interest contingent on whether location for receiving injection was geographically accessible). (3) Participants envisaged alternative delivery methods that could enhance LAI-PrEP acceptability and uptake (e.g., home injection). HIV prevention programs should incorporate the insights of transgender and nonbinary young adults to ensure that emerging HIV prevention technologies are accessible and responsive to the needs and concerns of people of all gender modalities.

Early protein restriction in rats induces anhedonia in adult offspring: A key role of BDNF-TrkB signaling in the nucleus accumbens shell.

Clinical evidence suggests that early malnutrition promotes symptoms related to psychiatric disorders later in life. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms underpinning nutritional injury induce depression remains unknown. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether perinatal protein restriction increases vulnerability to developing depressive-like behavior in adulthood by focusing on anhedonia, a core symptom of depression. To this, male adult Wistar rats submitted to a protein restriction schedule at perinatal age (PR-rats), were subjected to the sucrose preference test (SPT), the novel object recognition test (NORT), the forced swim test (FST), and the elevated plus maze (EPM), and compared to animals fed with a normoprotein diet. To investigate neurobiological substrates linked to early protein undernutrition-facilitated depressive-like behavior, we assessed the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor TrkB in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), and evaluated the reversal of anhedonic-like behavior by infusing ANA-12. We found that early malnutrition decreased sucrose preference, impaired performance in the NORT and increased immobility time in the FST. Furthermore, perinatal protein-restriction-induced anhedonia correlated with increased BDNF and p-TrkB protein levels in the NAc, a core structure in the reward circuit linked with anhedonia. Finally, bilateral infusion of the TrkB antagonist ANA-12 into the NAc shell ameliorated a reduced sucrose preference in the PR-rats. Altogether, these findings revealed that protein restriction during pregnancy and lactation facilitates depressive-like behavior later in life and may increase the risk of developing anhedonia by altering BDNF-TrkB in the NAc shell.

Changes in neuroinflammatory biomarkers correlate with disease severity and neuroimaging alterations in patients with COVID-19 neurological complications.

COVID-19 induces acute and persistent neurological symptoms in mild and severe cases. Proposed concomitant mechanisms include direct viral infection and strain, coagulopathy, hypoxia, and neuroinflammation. However, underlying molecular alterations associated with multiple neurological outcomes in both mild and severe cases are majorly unexplored. To illuminate possible mechanisms leading to COVID-19 neurological disease, we retrospectively investigated in detail a cohort of 35 COVID-19 mild and severe hospitalized patients presenting neurological alterations subject to clinically indicated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sampling. Clinical and neurological investigation, brain imaging, viral sequencing, and cerebrospinal CSF analyses were carried out. We found that COVID-19 patients presented heterogeneous neurological symptoms dissociated from lung burden. Nasal swab viral sequencing revealed a dominant strain at the time of the study, and we could not detect traces of SARS-CoV-2's spike protein in patients' CSF by multiple reaction monitoring analysis. Patients presented ubiquitous systemic hyper-inflammation and broad alterations in CSF proteomics related to inflammation, innate immunity, and hemostasis, irrespective of COVID-19 severity or neuroimaging alterations. Elevated CSF interleukin-6 (IL6) correlated with disease severity (sex-, age-, and comorbidity-adjusted mean Severe 24.5 pg/ml, 95% confidence interval (CI) 9.62-62.23 vs. Mild 3.91 pg/mL CI 1.5-10.3 patients, p = 0.019). CSF tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) and IL6 levels were higher in patients presenting pronounced neuroimaging alterations compared to those who did not (sex-, age-, and comorbidity-adjusted mean TNFα Pronounced 3.4, CI 2.4-4.4 vs. Non-Pronounced 2.0, CI 1.4-2.5, p = 0.022; IL6 Pronounced 33.11, CI 8.89-123.31 vs Non-Pronounced 6.22, CI 2.9-13.34, p = 0.046). Collectively, our findings put neuroinflammation as a possible driver of COVID-19 acute neurological disease in mild and severe cases.

Smartphone-based evaluation of static balance and mobility in type 2 Diabetes.

It was compared smartphone-based measurements of static balance control and mobility of elderly population with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2). The present cross-sectional study investigated 73 participants grouped in a control group (n = 36) and a DM2 group (n = 37). Smartphone's built in inertial sensors were used to record inertial changes of the participants during static balance and mobility (Timed Up and Go test - TUG) tasks. The inertial variations as a function of the time were analyzed and compared between groups. Both groups were matched in age, body mass index, male-female proportion, but DM2 group had significant larger fasting glucose than control group. Additionally, DM2 group had worst static balance control with open and closed eyes than the controls (p < 0.05) as well as they also had longer duration to execute the different events of the mobility test than the controls (p < 0.05). DM2 patients had decline of motor functions compared to controls and the use of bult-in sensors of smartphones was feasible to identify these functional impairments. The easy access of smartphones could be improving the screening of functional impairments in DM2 patients.

Performance Assessment of Universal Machine Learning Interatomic Potentials: Challenges and Directions for Materials' Surfaces.

Machine learning interatomic potentials (MLIPs) are one of the main techniques in the materials science toolbox, able to bridge ab initio accuracy with the computational efficiency of classical force fields. This allows simulations ranging from atoms, molecules, and biosystems, to solid and bulk materials, surfaces, nanomaterials, and their interfaces and complex interactions. A recent class of advanced MLIPs, which use equivariant representations and deep graph neural networks, is known as universal models. These models are proposed as foundation models suitable for any system, covering most elements from the periodic table. Current universal MLIPs (UIPs) have been trained with the largest consistent data set available nowadays. However, these are composed mostly of bulk materials' DFT calculations. In this article, we assess the universality of all openly available UIPs, namely MACE, CHGNet, and M3GNet, in a representative task of generalization: calculation of surface energies. We find that the out-of-the-box foundation models have significant shortcomings in this task, with errors correlated to the total energy of surface simulations, having an out-of-domain distance from the training data set. Our results show that while UIPs are an efficient starting point for fine-tuning specialized models, we envision the potential of increasing the coverage of the materials space toward universal training data sets for MLIPs.

Feasibility of respirable crystalline silica exposure reduction in small-scale tanzanite mining in Tanzania.

INTRODUCTION: Respirable crystalline silica (RCS) exposures in tanzanite gem mining have been linked to tuberculosis and silicosis among miners. We conducted a plot study to assess RCS exposures and to introduce safer mining practices in one small-scale underground tanzanite mine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Personal and area air samples for RCS were collected during tanzanite mining operations before and after improved work practices employed to reduce exposures and analyzed using X-ray diffraction. Area samples were collected at the rest area, located approximately 300 m underground and 100 m from other work activities. Improved practices included the use of wet drilling methods and drilling with new bits. RESULTS: A total of 33 personal and 4 area air samples were collected. Pre-intervention, mean exposures for all operations, drilling operations, non-drilling activities, and area samples were 122 mg/m3, 247 mg/m3, 34.3 mg/m3, and 1.95 mg/m3, respectively which exceeded the U.S. OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) by 2,440 times for all operations, by 4,946 times for drilling operations, by 686 times for non-drilling activities and 39 times for area samples collected at an underground rest area. The post-intervention results showed a 99% reduction of RCS exposures for wet drilling operations, 98.5% reduction for non-drilling activities, and 36% reduction for area samples. Despite improvements, post-intervention RCS exposures during drilling had a mean of 2.08 mg/m3 or more than 41 times the OSHA PEL. CONCLUSIONS: We successfully piloted a program to work with small-scale tanzanite miners to reduce RCS exposures and raise awareness about the occupational health risks of RCS, though additional measures are recommended to further reduce RCS exposures. Similar programs should be taken to scale throughout underground mining sites in Tanzania and other countries.

Health Care Discrimination and Immigration Fears: Unpacking COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Latino Adults.

Objectives. To examine the relationship between health care discrimination and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy attributed to fears of immigration status complications among unvaccinated Latino adults and to determine whether the association differs among immigrants and US-born individuals. Methods. After universal adult eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine, a nationally representative sample of 12 887 adults was surveyed using online and mobile random digit dialing from May 7 to June 7, 2021. The analytic sample (n = 881) comprised unvaccinated Latino adults. We examined the association between individual and cumulative health care discrimination measures and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy assignable to immigration-related fears. Results. Using a cumulative measure of health care discrimination, each additional experience corresponded to a 28% higher odds of reporting vaccine hesitancy Because of immigration-related fears. Findings were consistent across US-born and immigrant Latino adults. Four of the 5 discriminatory experiences were positively associated with vaccine hesitancy, including the absence of optimal treatment options, denial or delayed access to necessary health care, physician communication barriers, and lack of specialist referrals. Conclusions. Findings confirm a positive association between health care discrimination and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy attributable to immigration-related fears among Latino adults, regardless of immigration status. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(S6):S505-S509. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307668) [Formula: see text].

Synthesis and cytotoxic evaluation of heterocyclic compounds by vinylic substitution of ketene dithioacetals.

N-heterocyclic compounds are important molecular scaffolds in the search for new drugs, since most drugs contain heterocyclic moieties in their molecular structure, and some of these classes of heterocycles are able to provide ligands for two or more biological targets. Ketene dithioacetals are important building blocks in organic synthesis and are widely used in the synthesis of N-heterocyclic compounds. In this work, we used double vinylic substitution reactions on ketene dithioacetals to synthesize a small library of heterocyclic derivatives and evaluated their cytotoxic activity in breast and ovarian cancer cells, identifying two benzoxazoles with good potency and selectivity. In silico predictions indicate that the two most active derivatives exhibit physicochemical properties within the range of drug-like compounds and showed potential to interact with HDAC8 and ERK1 cancer-related targets.

Long-term Comparative Evaluation of Weight Loss and Complications of Banded and Non-banded Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass.

PURPOSE: The use of a nonadjustable silicone band around the gastric pouch of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) to reduce the recurrence of obesity is still being debated in the literature. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate banded and non-banded RYGB regarding % total weight loss (%TWL) and complications up to 10 years postoperatively and regarding the removal rate of the silicone band. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective study of the medical records of all patients submitted to banded and non-banded RYGB between 2000 and 2020 was conducted. Clinical data (age, gender, weight, body mass index-BMI, comorbidities, %TWL, and the prevalence of vomiting) and laboratory data (hemoglobin, serum iron, albumin, and vitamin B12) were obtained preoperatively and at 6 months, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 10 years for both groups and at 12, 15, and 20 years after banded RYGB. RESULTS: In total, 858 patients underwent RYGB: 409 underwent banded RYGB and 449 underwent non-banded RYGB. In the preoperative period, banded RYGB patients were heavier and had higher rates of hypertension and dyslipidemia. The %TWL was higher in the banded RYGB group up to 7 years. The prevalence of vomiting is much higher in this group, which also had lower laboratory test values. Of the banded RYGB patients, 9.53% had to have the silicone ring removed after presenting complications. CONCLUSION: Banded RYGB promotes significantly higher rates of TWL at the expense of a higher frequency of food intolerance and vomiting.

A high-density linkage map and sex-determination loci in Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei).

BACKGROUND: Expansion of genomic resources for the Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), such as the construction of dense genetic linkage maps, is crucial for the application of genomic tools in order to improve economically relevant traits. Sexual dimorphism exists in Pacific white shrimp, and the mapping of the sex-determination region in this species may help in future reproductive applications. We have constructed male, female, and sex-averaged high-density genetic maps using a 50 K single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array, followed by a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify genomic regions associated with sex in white shrimp. RESULTS: The genetic map yielded 15,256 SNPs assigned to 44 linkage groups (LG). The lengths of the male, female, and sex-averaged maps were 5,741.36, 5,461.20 and 5,525.26 cM, respectively. LG18 was found to be the largest for both sexes, whereas LG44 was the shortest for males and LG31 for females. A sex-determining region was found in LG31 with 21 statistically significant SNPs. The most important SNP was previously identified as a sex-linked marker and was able to identify 99% of the males and 88% of the females. Although other significant markers had a lower ability to determine sex, putative genes were intercepted or close to them. The oplophorus-luciferin 2-monooxygenase, serine/arginine repetitive matrix protein and spermine oxidase genes were identified as candidates with possible participation in important processes of sexual differentiation in shrimp. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide novel genomic resources for shrimp, including a high-density linkage map and new insights into the sex-determining region in L. vannamei, which may be usefulfor future genetics and reproduction applications.

Low Plasma Lipids Are Associated with Relapsing and Lethal Visceral Leishmaniasis in HIV-Infected Patients.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) results from protozoa Leishmania infantum and L. donovani infection. This study investigated whether host factors would explain the relapses. First, susceptibility to amphotericin B of L. infantum isolates was evaluated in vitro. Then, clinical data and the lipid profile of patients with relapsing and non-relapsing VL were assessed. Susceptibility to amphotericin B was similar between the isolates. CD4+ lymphocytes were reduced in both groups of patients in the first episode and with relapsing VL. Still, the strongest blood cell indicator associated with relapses was low total lymphocyte counts. Total plasma cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and, uniquely, triglycerides of the six individuals in the first episode and twenty-three with relapsing VL were lower in relapsing patients than those in the first episode. Deceased patients had extremely low low-density lipoprotein. After CD4+ decreases, lymphocyte CD8+ reduction is the final stage of immunological failure. The lower lipid concentrations appear to be secondary to the depletion of fat stores by inflammation-induced cachexia and fat exhaustion provoked by the co-occurrence of both diseases, which can finally lead to death.

Characterization of the gut bacterial and viral microbiota in latent autoimmune diabetes in adults.

Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) is a heterogeneous disease characterized by autoantibodies against insulin producing pancreatic beta cells and initial lack of need for insulin treatment. The aim of the present study was to investigate if individuals with LADA have an altered gut microbiota relative to non-diabetic control subjects, individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D), and individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Bacterial community profiling was performed with primers targeting the variable region 4 of the 16S rRNA gene and sequenced. Amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were generated with DADA2 and annotated to the SILVA database. The gut virome was sequenced, using a viral particle enrichment and metagenomics approach, assembled, and quantified to describe the composition of the viral community. Comparison of the bacterial alpha- and beta-diversity measures revealed that the gut bacteriome of individuals with LADA resembled that of individuals with T2D. Yet, specific genera were found to differ in abundance in individuals with LADA compared with T1D and T2D, indicating that LADA has unique taxonomical features. The virome composition reflected the stability of the most dominant order Caudovirales and the families Siphoviridae, Podoviridae, and Inoviridae, and the dominant family Microviridae. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Photosynthesis and other factors affecting the establishment and maintenance of cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis.

Coral growth depends on the partnership between the animal hosts and their intracellular, photosynthetic dinoflagellate symbionts. In this study, we used the sea anemone Aiptasia, a laboratory model for coral biology, to investigate the poorly understood mechanisms that mediate symbiosis establishment and maintenance. We found that initial colonization of both adult polyps and larvae by a compatible algal strain was more effective when the algae were able to photosynthesize and that the long-term maintenance of the symbiosis also depended on photosynthesis. In the dark, algal cells were taken up into host gastrodermal cells and not rapidly expelled, but they seemed unable to reproduce and thus were gradually lost. When we used confocal microscopy to examine the interaction of larvae with two algal strains that cannot establish stable symbioses with Aiptasia, it appeared that both pre- and post-phagocytosis mechanisms were involved. With one strain, algae entered the gastric cavity but appeared to be completely excluded from the gastrodermal cells. With the other strain, small numbers of algae entered the gastrodermal cells but appeared unable to proliferate there and were slowly lost upon further incubation. We also asked if the exclusion of either incompatible strain could result simply from their cells' being too large for the host cells to accommodate. However, the size distributions of the compatible and incompatible strains overlapped extensively. Moreover, examination of macerates confirmed earlier reports that individual gastrodermal cells could expand to accommodate multiple algal cells. This article is part of the theme issue 'Sculpting the microbiome: how host factors determine and respond to microbial colonization'.

The spleen is the graveyard of CD4+ cells in patients with immunological failure of visceral leishmaniasis and AIDS.

BACKGROUND: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), or kala-azar, is a common comorbidity in patients with AIDS in endemic areas. Many patients continue to experiences relapses of VL despite virological control, but with immunological failure. These patients remain chronically symptomatic with hypersplenism, for example with anemia, leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia, and are at risk of severe co-infection due to low CD4+ count. Therefore, in this study, splenectomized patients with VL and HIV infection were investigated to understand why the CD4+ count fails to recover in these patients, evaluating the importance of spleen mass for hypersplenism and immunological failure. METHODS: From a retrospective open cohort of 13 patients who had previously undergone splenectomy as salvage therapy for relapsing VL, 11 patients with HIV infection were investigated. This study compared the patients' complete blood cell count (CBC) and CD4+ and CD8+ cell counts before and after splenectomy with respect to spleen weight. RESULTS: CBC was substantially improved after splenectomy, indicating hypersplenism. However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to show that spleen mass is strongly and negatively correlated with CD4+ cell count (ρ = -0.71, P = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: This finding was unexpected, as the spleen is the most extensive lymphoid tissue and T-lymphocyte source. After reviewing the literature and reasoning, we hypothesized that the immunological failure was secondary to CD4+ loss initially by apoptosis in the spleen induced by productive HIV infection and, subsequently, by pyroptosis sustained by parasitic infection in spleen macrophages.

Common bean under different water availability reveals classifiable stimuli-specific signatures in plant electrome.

Plant electrophysiology has unveiled the involvement of electrical signals in the physiology and behavior of plants. Spontaneously generated bioelectric activity can be altered in response to changes in environmental conditions, suggesting that a plant's electrome may possess a distinct signature associated with various stimuli. Analyzing electrical signals, particularly the electrome, in conjunction with Machine Learning (ML) techniques has emerged as a promising approach to classify characteristic electrical signals corresponding to each stimulus. This study aimed to characterize the electrome of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cv. BRS-Expedito, subjected to different water availabilities, seeking patterns linked to these stimuli. For this purpose, bean plants in the vegetative stage were subjected to the following treatments: (I) distilled water; (II) half-strength Hoagland's nutrient solution; (III) -2 MPa PEG solution; and (IV) -2 MPa NaCl solution. Electrical signals were recorded within a Faraday's cage using the MP36 electronic system for data acquisition. Concurrently, plant water status was assessed by monitoring leaf turgor variation. Leaf temperature was additionally measured. Various analyses were conducted on the electrical time series data, including arithmetic average of voltage variation, skewness, kurtosis, Probability Density Function (PDF), autocorrelation, Power Spectral Density (PSD), Approximate Entropy (ApEn), Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), and Multiscale Approximate Entropy (ApEn(s)). Statistical analyses were performed on leaf temperature, voltage variation, skewness, kurtosis, PDF µ exponent, autocorrelation, PSD ß exponent, and approximate entropy data. Machine Learning analyses were applied to identify classifiable patterns in the electrical time series. Characterization of the electrome of BRS-Expedito beans revealed stimulus-dependent profiles, even when alterations in water availability stimuli were similar in terms of quality and intensity. Additionally, it was observed that the bean electrome exhibits high levels of complexity, which are altered by different stimuli, with more intense and aversive stimuli leading to drastic reductions in complexity levels. Notably, one of the significant findings was the 100% accuracy of Small Vector Machine in detecting salt stress using electrome data. Furthermore, the study highlighted alterations in the plant electrome under low water potential before observable leaf turgor changes. This work demonstrates the potential use of the electrome as a physiological indicator of the water status in bean plants.

Estimating the direct effects of the genetic liabilities to bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and behavioral traits on suicide attempt using a multivariable Mendelian randomization approach.

Bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SZ) are associated with higher odds of suicide attempt (SA). In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of BD and SZ genetic liabilities on SA, also considering the contribution of behavioral traits, socioeconomic factors, and substance use disorders. Leveraging large-scale genome-wide association data from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) and the UK Biobank (UKB), we conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to evaluate the putative causal effect of BD (41,917 cases, 371,549 controls) and SZ (53,386 cases, 77,258 controls) on SA (26,590 cases, 492,022 controls). Then, we assessed the putative causal effect of BD and SZ on behavioral traits, socioeconomic factors, and substance use disorders. Considering the associations identified, we evaluated the direct causal effect of behavioral traits, socioeconomic factors, and substance use disorders on SA using a multivariable MR approach. The genetic liabilities to BD and SZ were associated with higher odds of SA (BD odds ratio (OR) = 1.24, p = 3.88 × 10-12; SZ OR = 1.09, p = 2.44 × 10-20). However, while the effect of mental distress (OR = 1.17, p = 1.02 × 10-4) and risk-taking (OR = 1.52, p = 0.028) on SA was independent of SZ genetic liability, the BD-SA relationship appeared to account for the effect of these risk factors. Similarly, the association with loneliness on SA was null after accounting for the effect of SZ genetic liability. These findings highlight the complex interplay between genetic risk of psychiatric disorders and behavioral traits in the context of SA, suggesting the need for a comprehensive mental health assessment for high-risk individuals.

Fluoxetine alters rat's milk properties causing impact on offspring's development.

Fluoxetine is an antidepressant used to treat several conditions including postpartum depression. This disease causes cognitive, emotional, behavioral and physical changes, negatively affecting the mother, child and family life. However, fluoxetine is excreted in breast milk, causing short and long-term effects on children who were exposed to the drug during lactation, so studies that seek to uncover the consequences of these effects are needed. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of fluoxetine on the nutritional characteristics of milk and on growth and neurobehavioral development of the offspring on a rat model. Lactating rats were divided into 4 groups: control group and three experimental groups, which were treated with different doses of fluoxetine (1, 10 and 20 mg/kg) during the lactation. Dams body weight and milk properties were measured, as well as offspring's growth and physical and neurobehavioral development. Results showed that the use of fluoxetine during lactation decreased dam's body weight and alters milk's properties, leading to a decrease in offspring's growth until adulthood. Therefore, the use of fluoxetine during lactation needs to be cautiously evaluated, with the benefits to the mothers and the associated risk to the offspring carefully balance.