Age- and sex-dependent cardiovascular impact of maternal perinatal stress and altered dopaminergic metabolism in the medulla oblongata of the offspring.

Maternal major depressive disorder with peripartum onset presents health risks to the mother and the developing fetus. Using a rat model of chronic mild stress, we previously reported on the neurodevelopmental impact of maternal perinatal stress on their offspring. This study examined the cardiovascular impact of maternal perinatal stress on their offspring. The cardiovascular impact was assessed in terms of blood pressure and echocardiographic parameters. The results examined by a three-way ANOVA showed a significant association of cardiovascular parameters with maternal perinatal stress and offspring sex and age. Increased blood pressure was observed in adolescent female and adult male offspring of stress-exposed dams. Echocardiography showed an increase in left atrial dimension and a reduction in left ventricular systolic function in adolescent stress-exposed female offspring. Increased interventricular septum thickness at end-diastole and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction were observed in adult stress-exposed male offspring. The underlying mechanisms of cardiovascular impact were examined in stress-exposed adult offspring by assessing the levels of neurotransmitters and their metabolites in the medulla oblongata using high-performance liquid chromatography. A significant decrease in homovanillic acid, a dopamine metabolite and indicator of dopaminergic activity, was observed in adult stress-exposed female offspring. These results suggest a significant sex- and age-dependent impact of maternal stress during the peripartum period on the cardiovascular system in the offspring that extends to adulthood and suggests a multigenerational effect. The presented data urgently need follow-up to confirm their potential clinical and public health relevance.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We demonstrate that maternal perinatal stress is associated with sex- and age-dependent impact on the cardiovascular system in their offspring. The effect was most significant in adolescent female and adult male offspring. Observed changes in hemodynamic parameters and dopaminergic activity of the medulla oblongata are novel results relevant to understanding the cardiovascular impact of maternal perinatal stress on the offspring. The cardiovascular changes observed in adult offspring suggest a potential long-term, multigenerational impact of maternal perinatal stress.

Dose-Ranging Effects of the Intracerebral Administration of Atsttrin in Experimental Model of Parkinson's Disease Induced by 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) in Mice.

Parkinson's disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders characterized by a multitude of motor and non-motor clinical symptoms resulting from the progressive and long-lasting abnormal loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons. Currently, the available treatments for patients with Parkinson's disease are limited and exert only symptomatic effects, without adequate signs of delaying or stopping the progression of the disease. Atsttrin constitutes the bioengineered protein which ultrastructure is based on the polypeptide chain frame of the progranulin (PGRN), which exerts anti-inflammatory effects through the inhibition of TNFα. The conducted preclinical studies suggest that the therapeutic implementation of Atsttrin may be potentially effective in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases that are associated with the occurrence of neuroinflammatory processes. The aim of the proposed study was to investigate the effect of direct bilateral intracerebral administration of Atsttrin using stereotactic methods in the preclinical C57BL/6 mouse model of Parkinson's disease inducted by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) intoxication. The analysis of the dose dependency effects of the increasing doses of Atsttrin has covered a number of parameters and markers regarding neurodegenerative processes and inflammatory responses including IL-1α, TNFα, IL-6, TH, and TG2 mRNA expressions. Accordingly, the evaluation of the changes in the neurochemical profile included DA, DOPAC, 3-MT, HVA, NA, MHPG, 5-HT, and 5-HIAA concentration levels. The intracerebral administration of Atsttrin into the striatum effectively attenuated the neuroinflammatory reaction in evaluated neuroanatomical structures. Furthermore, the partial restoration of monoamine content and its metabolic turnover were observed. In this case, taking into account the previously described pharmacokinetic profile and extrapolated bioavailability as well as the stability characteristics of Atsttrin, an attempt was made to describe as precisely as possible the quantitative and qualitative effects of increasing doses of the compound within the brain tissue microenvironment in the presented preclinical model of the disease. Collectively, this findings demonstrated that the intracerebral administration of Atsttrin may represent a potential novel therapeutic method for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Efflux Pump Blockers in Gram-Negative Bacteria: The New Generation of Hydantoin Based-Modulators to Improve Antibiotic Activity.

Multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria are an increasing health problem with the shortage of new active antibiotic agents. Among effective mechanisms that contribute to the spread of MDR Gram-negative bacteria are drug efflux pumps that expel clinically important antibiotic classes out of the cell. Drug pumps are attractive targets to restore the susceptibility toward the expelled antibiotics by impairing their efflux activity. Arylhydantoin derivatives were investigated for their potentiation of activities of selected antibiotics described as efflux substrates in Enterobacter aerogenes expressing or not AcrAB pump. Several compounds increased the bacterial susceptibility toward nalidixic acid, chloramphenicol and sparfloxacin and were further pharmacomodulated to obtain a better activity against the AcrAB producing bacteria.

Imidazolidine-4-one derivatives in the search for novel chemosensitizers of Staphylococcus aureus MRSA: synthesis, biological evaluation and molecular modeling studies.

A series of amine derivatives of 5-aromatic imidazolidine-4-ones (7-19), representing three subgroups: piperazine derivatives of 5-arylideneimidazolones (7-13), piperazine derivatives of 5-arylideneimidazolidine-2,4-dione (14-16) and primary amines of 5-naphthyl-5-methylimidazolidine-2,4-diones (17-19), was evaluated for their ability to improve antibiotics effectiveness in two strains of Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus: ATCC 25923 (a reference strain) and MRSA (methicillin resistant S. aureus) HEMSA 5 (a resistant clinical isolate). The latter compounds (17-19) were obtained by 4-step synthesis using Bucherer-Bergs condensation, two-phase bromoalkylation and Gabriel reactions. The naphthalen derivative: (Z)-5-(naphthalen-2-ylmethylene)-2-(piperazin-1-yl)-3H-imidazol-4(5H)-one (10) was the most potent in combination with ß-lactam antibiotics and ciprofloxacin against the resistant strain. The high potency to increase efficacy of oxacillin was noted for (Z)-5-(anthracen-10-ylmethylene)-2-(piperazin-1-yl)-3H-imidazol-4(5H)one (12) too. In order to explain the mechanism of action of the compounds 10 and 12, docking studies with the use of crystal structures of a penicillin binding protein (PBP2a) and MecR1 were carried out. Their outcomes suggested that the most probable mechanism of action of the active compounds is the interaction with MecR1. Molecular dynamic experiments performed for the active compounds and compound 13 (structurally similar to 12) supported this hypothesis and provided possible explanation of activity dependencies of the tested compounds in terms of the restoration of antibiotic efficacy in S. aureus MRSA HEMSA 5.