Anti-Obesity Effect of Different Opuntia stricta var. dillenii's Prickly Pear Tissues and Industrial By-Product Extracts in 3T3-L1 Mature Adipocytes.

Opuntia stricta var. dillenii fruit is a source of phytochemicals, such as betalains and phenolic compounds, which may play essential roles in health promotion. The aim of this research was to study the triglyceride-lowering effect of green extracts, obtained from Opuntia stricta var. dillenii fruit (whole fruit, pulp, peel, and industrial by-products (bagasse)) in 3T3-L1 mature adipocytes. The cells were treated on day 12, for 24 h, after the induction of differentiation with the extracts, at doses of 10, 25, 50, or 100 µg/mL. The expression of genes (PCR-RT) and proteins (Western blot) involved in fatty acid synthesis, fatty acid uptake, triglyceride assembly, and triglyceride mobilisation was determined. The fruit pulp extraction yielded the highest levels of betalains, whereas the peel displayed the greatest concentration of phenolic compounds. The extracts from whole fruit, peel and pulp were effective in reducing triglyceride accumulation at doses of 50 µg/mL or higher. Bagasse did not show this effect. The main mechanisms of action underpinning this outcome encompass a reduction in fatty acids synthesis (de novo lipogenesis), thus limiting their availability for triglyceride formation, alongside an increase in triglyceride mobilisation. However, their reliance is contingent upon the specific Opuntia extract.

In Vitro Screening and Lipid-Lowering Effect of Prickly Pear (Opuntia Ficus-Indica L. Mill.) Fruit Extracts in 3T3-L1 Pre-Adipocytes and Mature Adipocytes.

Opuntia ficus-indica fruits have been widely used due to their nutritional composition and beneficial effects on health, particularly against chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases and cancer, among others. In recent years, prickly pear peel and pulp extracts have been characterised, and a high number of bioactive compounds have been identified. This study aimed to analyse the triglyceride-lowering effect of prickly pear peel and pulp extracts obtained from fruits of three varieties (Pelota, Sanguinos, and Colorada) in 3T3-L1 maturing and mature adipocytes. At a concentration of 50 µg/mL, peel extracts from Colorada reduced triglyceride accumulation in pre-adipocytes and mature adipocytes. Additionally, at 25 µg/mL, Pelota peel extract decreased triglyceride content in mature adipocytes. Moreover, maturing pre-adipocytes treated with 50 and 25 µg/mL of Sanguinos pulp extract showed a reduction of triglyceride accumulation. In addition, the lipid-lowering effect of the main individual betalain and phenolic compounds standards were assayed. Piscidic acid and isorhamnetin glycoside (IG2), found in Colorada peel extract, were identified as the bioactive compounds that could contribute more notably to the triglyceride-lowering effect of the extract. Thus, the betalain and phenolic-rich extracts from Opuntia ficus indica fruits may serve as an effective tool in obesity management.

Endovascular treatment: balloon angioplasty versus nimodipine intra-arterial for medically refractory cerebral vasospasm following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Cerebral vasospasm (CV) accounts significant morbimortality after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. The objective of this study was to compare the clinical outcome of patients with CV treated by 2 endovascular procedures: intra-arterial nimodipine angioplasty (IANA) and balloon angioplasty (BA). Between 2008 and June 2011, we performed 22 IANA and 8 BA in 30 patients. The mean age was 44 years and 60% was female. In 17 patients, the treatment was clipping, whereas 13 underwent coil treatment. The CV was severe in 63%, moderate in 30%, and mild in 7%. Good outcome between 2 groups was similar (P = .36). The clinical outcome according to the subgroups of CV severity and modality treatment was equivalent (P = .22). Mortality at 3 months was 16% and 20% at 1 year. We did not find differences in the clinical outcome despite the fact that both techniques produce adequate angiographic resolution of CV.

Murine auditory brainstem evoked response: putative two-channel differentiation of peripheral and central neural pathways.

Standard noninvasive recordings of the auditory brainstem evoked response (ABR) from a single pair of obliquely oriented electrodes (typically midline vertex referenced to mastoid) confound inherently distinct signals propagating over peripheral and central neural pathways differing in location and spatial orientation. We describe here a technique for recording short-latency auditory evoked potentials that putatively differentiates peripheral and central neural activity in the mouse and rat. The technique involves recording from two orthogonally oriented electrode pairs using fast sample rates (100 k/s) to accurately measure differences in neural timing and waveform morphology. Electrodes oriented in a transverse plane (mastoid-to-mastoid) register an initial positive-going ABR peak (P1T) earlier than a series of peaks recorded from electrodes oriented along the midline (anterior and posterior to the inter-aural line). The absolute P1T latency is consistent with an origin in the primary auditory nerve, while the delayed midline latencies implicate activity farther along central neural pathways. Differences between these latencies (midline minus transverse) provide new and precise measures of central conduction time (CCT), which in one case is as brief as 0.10 ms. Results in wild type (WT) and knockout (KO) mice, as well as rats, show significant differences in absolute latencies as well as CCT.