Asperuloside Enhances Taste Perception and Prevents Weight Gain in High-Fat Fed Mice.

Asperuloside is an iridoid glycoside found in many medicinal plants that has produced promising anti-obesity results in animal models. In previous studies, three months of asperuloside administration reduced food intake, body weight, and adipose masses in rats consuming a high fat diet (HFD). However, the mechanisms by which asperuloside exerts its anti-obesity properties were not clarified. Here, we investigated homeostatic and nutrient-sensing mechanisms regulating food intake in mice consuming HFD. We confirmed the anti-obesity properties of asperuloside and, importantly, we identified some mechanisms that could be responsible for its therapeutic effect. Asperuloside reduced body weight and food intake in mice consuming HFD by 10.5 and 12.8% respectively, with no effect on mice eating a standard chow diet. Fasting glucose and plasma insulin were also significantly reduced. Mechanistically, asperuloside significantly reduced hypothalamic mRNA ghrelin, leptin, and pro-opiomelanocortin in mice consuming HFD. The expression of fat lingual receptors (CD36, FFAR1-4), CB1R and sweet lingual receptors (TAS1R2-3) was increased almost 2-fold by the administration of asperuloside. Our findings suggest that asperuloside might exert its therapeutic effects by altering nutrient-sensing receptors in the oral cavity as well as hypothalamic receptors involved in food intake when mice are exposed to obesogenic diets. This signaling pathway is known to influence the subtle hypothalamic equilibrium between energy homeostasis and reward-induced overeating responses. The present pre-clinical study demonstrated that targeting the gustatory system through asperuloside administration could represent a promising and effective new anti-obesity strategy.

Errores en la preparación y administración de medicamentos: una revisión integradora de la Literatura Latinoamericana / Errors in the preparation and administration of medications: an integrative review of Latin American literature

Objetivo: Analizar, respecto su contenido, la producción científica de enfermeros latinoamericanos sobre error en la preparación y administración de medicamentos entre el año 2005 al 2011, en las bases de datos Centro Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Información en Ciencias de la Salud (LILACS) y Biblioteca Electrónica Científica (SciELO). Metodología: Consistió en una revisión integradora. La recolección fue realizada en el mes de Octubre de 2012 y de acuerdo a los criterios de inclusión, fueron seleccionados ocho artículos. Resultados: Los artículos fueron analizados en cuanto a los objetivos, trayectoria metodológica, principales resultados y propuestas de mejora. El análisis señala producción exclusiva de Brasil, estudios descriptivos, realizados en hospitales y con sugerencias generales como educación continua, notificación de los errores, implementación de una cultura de seguridad. Conclusiones: Considerando los aspectos enfatizados por la Organización Mundial de Salud (OMS) para alcanzar una atención más segura: buscar causas, proponer soluciones y evaluar impacto, se concluye que la producción necesita conocimiento que efectivamente mejore la práctica. Impulsar la investigación analítica con la mirada al sistema permitirá el desarrollo de propuestas efectivas y de acorde a la realidad (AU)

Objective: To analyze the contents the scientific production of Latin American nurses regarding on preparation and administration of medical drugs from 2005 to 2011 using Latin American and Caribbean Center Information the Health Sciences (LILACS) y Electronics Scientific Library (SciELO) databases. Methodology: The following research was an integrative review. Data collection was performed in the month of October 2012 and according to the inclusion criteria, were selected eight articles. Results: The articles were analyzed in terms of objectives, methodological path, main results and suggestions for improvement. The analysis indicates exclusive production of Brazil, descriptive studies, conducted in hospitals and general suggestions as continuing education, error reporting and implementation of a safety culture. Conclusions: Considering that aspects emphasized by the World Health Organization (OMS) to achieve safer care are: to find causes, to propose solutions and to evaluate the impact, it is concluded that production need of knowledge that effectively improve professional practice. Looking to the system, promoting researches with analytical studies will allow effective responses according to reality (AU)

Molecular mechanism of acute ammonia toxicity: role of NMDA receptors.

Acute administration of large doses of ammonia leads to the rapid death of animals. This article reviews the role of excessive activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the mediation of ammonia-induced mortality. The studies reviewed here show that acute intoxication with large doses of ammonia leads to the activation of NMDA receptors in brain in vivo. Moreover, excessive activation of NMDA receptors is responsible for ammonia-induced death of animals, which is prevented by different antagonists of NMDA receptors. This article also reviews the studies showing that activation of NMDA receptors is also responsible for the following effects of acute ammonia intoxication: (1) depletion of brain ATP, which, in turn, leads to release of glutamate; (2) activation of calcineurin and dephosphorylation and activation of Na+/K+-ATPase in brain, thus increasing ATP consumption; (3) impairment of mitochondrial function and calcium homeostasis at different levels, thus decreasing ATP synthesis; (4) activation of calpain that degrades the microtubule-associated protein MAP-2, thus altering the microtubular network; (5) increased formation of nitric oxide (NO) formation, which, in turn, reduces the activity of glutamine synthetase, thus reducing the elimination of ammonia in brain.