Viral Infection Drives the Regulation of Feeding Behavior Related Genes in Salmo salar.

The feeding behavior in fish is a complex activity that relies on the ability of the brain to integrate multiple signals to produce appropriate responses in terms of food intake, energy expenditure, and metabolic activity. Upon stress cues including viral infection or mediators such as the proinflammatory cytokines, prostaglandins, and cortisol, both Pomc and Npy/Agrp neurons from the hypothalamus are stimulated, thus triggering a response that controls both energy storage and expenditure. However, how appetite modulators or neuro-immune cues link pathogenesis and energy homeostasis in fish remains poorly understood. Here, we provide the first evidence of a molecular linkage between inflammation and food intake in Salmon salar. We show that in vivo viral challenge with infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) impacts food consumption by activating anorexic genes such as mc4r, crf, and pomcb and 5-HT in the brain of S. salar. At the molecular level, viral infection induces an overall reduction in lipid content in the liver, favoring the production of AA and EPA associated with the increment of elovl2 gene. In addition, infection upregulates leptin signaling and inhibits insulin signaling. These changes are accompanied by a robust inflammatory response represented by the increment of Il-1b, Il-6, Tnfa, and Pge2 as well as an increased cortisol level in vivo. Thus, we propose a model in which hypothalamic neurons respond to inflammatory cytokines and stress-related molecules and interact with appetite induction/inhibition. These findings provide evidence of crosstalk between pathogenesis-driven inflammation and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axes in stress-induced food intake behavior in fish.

"Therapeutic uses of natural astaxanthin: An evidence-based review focused on human clinical trials".

Astaxanthin is a natural C40 carotenoid with numerous reported biological functions, most of them associated with its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, standing out from other antioxidants as it has shown the highest oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), 100-500 times higher than ⍺-tocopherol and a 10 times higher free radical inhibitory activity than related antioxidants (α-tocopherol, α-carotene, ß -carotene, lutein and lycopene). In vitro and in vivo studies have associated astaxanthin's unique molecular features with several health benefits, including neuroprotective, cardioprotective and antitumoral properties, suggesting its therapeutic potential for the prevention or co-treatment of dementia, Alzheimer, Parkinson, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Benefits on skin and eye health promotion have also been reported, highlighting its potential for the prevention of skin photo-aging and the treatment of eye diseases like glaucoma, cataracts and uveitis. In this review, we summarize and discuss the currently available evidence on astaxanthin benefits, with a particular focus on human clinical trials, including a brief description of the potential mechanisms of action responsible for its biological activities.

Thermal Modulation of Monoamine Levels Influence Fish Stress and Welfare.

Fish are ectotherm organisms that move through different thermal zones according to their physiological requirements and environmental availability, a behavior known as thermoregulation. Thermoregulation in ectothermic animals is influenced by their ability to effectively respond to thermal variations. While it is known that ectotherms are affected by thermal changes, it remains unknown how physiological and/or metabolic traits are impacted by modifications in the thermal environment. In captivity (land-based infrastructures or nets located in the open sea), fish are often restricted to spatially constant temperature conditions within the containment unit and cannot choose among different thermal conditions for thermoregulation. In order to understand how spatial variation of temperature may affect fish welfare and stress, we designed an experiment using either restricted or wide thermal ranges, looking for changes at hormonal and molecular levels. Also, thermal variability impact on fish behavior was measured. Our results showed that in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), a wide thermal range (ΔT 6.8°C) was associated with significant increases in monoamines hormone levels and in the expression of clock genes. Aggressive and territoriality behavior decreased, positively affecting parameters linked to welfare, such as growth and fin damage. In contrast, a restricted thermal range (ΔT 1.4°C) showed the opposite pattern in all the analyzed parameters, therefore, having detrimental effects on welfare. In conclusion, our results highlight the key role of thermal range amplitude on fish behavior and on interactions with major metabolism-regulating processes, such as hormone performance and molecular regulatory mechanisms that have positive effects on the welfare.

Satisfacción de usuarios y calidad de atención en unidades primarias de Salud de Milagro / Satisfaction of the users and quality of attention In Primary Health Care Units-Milagro

Introducción: Uno de los problemas con mayor relevancia dentro del sistema de Salud Pública del Ecuador es la satisfacción de los usuarios ante los servicios recibidos, los que se relacionan con la efectividad, eficiencia y percepción del paciente a la atención brindadaal dolor que le aqueja, así como la sensación del bienestar físico y mental. Objetivo: Se planteó como objetivo identificar la satisfacción de los usuarios y la calidad de la atención que se brinda en las unidades operativas de atención primaria de Salud en la ciudad deMilagro.Metodología: La metodología utilizada se basó en un enfoque cuantitativo, de tipo no experimental, transversal-descriptivo; el instrumento de medición para la satisfacción de usuarios se alineó a los parámetros del modeloSERVQUAL. Resultados: El 77 % de los usuarios se encuentra satisfecho con el equipamiento e infraestructura respectiva en los centros de salud; de la misma forma, el 81 % señala estar satisfecho con la atención del personal que labora en dichas dependencias, mientras que el 80 % considera que la cantidad de las camillas cumple con sus expectativas. Conclusión: Con el estudio de estas dimensiones a través de la percepción del usuario se determinó que la calidad de la atención es media y en igual forma la variable satisfacción delusuario

Introduction: One of the problems with greater relevance within the Public Health System of Ecuador is the satisfaction of the users with the services received, which are related to the effectiveness, efficiency and patient perception to the attention given to the pain that afflicts, as well as the sensation of the physical and mental well-being. Objective the objective of the research it is based on identifies the user's satisfaction and quality of care that is provided in the Operational Units of Primary Health Care in the city of Milagro. Methods this study was based on a quantitative approach, non-experimental, cross-sectional-descriptive; the measuring instrument for the satisfaction of users was aligned to the parameters of the Servqual model. Results: The process data showed that 77 % of users are satisfied with the respective equipment and infrastructure in the health centers; in the same way, the 81 % reported being satisfied with the attention of the personnel working in these units, While 80 % believe that the quantity of the stretchers meet their expectations. Conclusion: With the study of these dimensions through the user's perception, it was determined that the quality of care is average and in the same way asthe user satisfactionvariable.

Behavioral Fever Drives Epigenetic Modulation of the Immune Response in Fish.

Ectotherms choose the best thermal conditions to mount a successful immune response, a phenomenon known as behavioral fever. The cumulative evidence suggests that behavioral fever impacts positively upon lymphocyte proliferation, inflammatory cytokine expression, and other immune functions. In this study, we have explored how thermal choice during infection impacts upon underpinning molecular processes and how temperature increase is coupled to the immune response. Our results show that behavioral fever results in a widespread, plastic imprint on gene regulation, and lymphocyte proliferation. We further explored the possible contribution of histone modification and identified global associations between temperature and histone changes that suggest epigenetic remodeling as a result of behavioral fever. Together, these results highlight the critical importance of thermal choice in mobile ectotherms, particularly in response to an infection, and demonstrate the key role of epigenetic modification to orchestrate the thermocoupling of the immune response during behavioral fever.

The expression of TRPV channels, prostaglandin E2 and pro-inflammatory cytokines during behavioural fever in fish.

A fever, or increased body temperature, is a symptom of inflammation, which is a complex defence reaction of the organism to pathogenic infections. After pathogens enter the body, immune cells secrete a number of agents, the functions of which stimulate the body to develop a functional immune and fever response. In mammals it is known that PGE2 is the principal mediator of fever. The extent to which PGE2 and other pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-6, or IL-1ß could be involved in the induction of behavioural fever in fish remains to be clarified. Several members of the transient receptor potential (TRP) family of ion channels have been implicated as transducers of thermal stimuli, including TRPV1 and TRPV2, which are activated by heat. Here we show that members of the TRP family, TRPV1 and TRPV4, may participate in the coordination of temperature sensing during the behavioural fever. To examine the behavioral fever mechanism in Salmo salar an infection with IPNV, infectious pancreatic necrosis virus, was carried out by an immersion challenge with 10 × 105 PFU/mL-1 of IPNV. Behavioural fever impacted upon the expression levels of both TRPV1 and TRPV4 mRNAs after the viral challenge and revealed a juxtaposed regulation of TRPV channels. Our results suggest that an increase in the mRNA abundance of TRPV1 is tightly correlated with a significant elevation in the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1ß, IL-6, TNF-α and PGE2) in the Pre-Optic Area (POA) and cytokine release in plasma. Together, these data indicate that the reduction of TRPV4 expression during behavioural fever may contribute to the onset of behavioural fever influencing movement toward higher water temperatures. Our data also suggest an effect of TRPV channels in the regulation of behavioural fever through activation of EP3 receptors in the central nervous system by PGE2 induced by plasma-borne cytokines. These results highlight for first time in mobile ectotherms the key role of pro-inflammatory cytokines and TRPV channels in behavioural fever that likely involves a complex integration of prostaglandin induction, cytokine recognition and temperature sensing.

Valor adicional del SPECT al cintigrama óseo de cuerpo entero en la evaluación de dolor lumbar: a propósito de un caso / SPECT in whole body bone scintigraphy in patient with low back pain: clinical case

Paciente, hombre de 20 años de edad, con dolor lumbar de 2 meses de evolución, refractario a tratamiento médico y que posteriormente se asocia a hipertermia. Exámenes de laboratorio reportaron hematíes normales, leucocitos normales, sedimentación globular normal al igual que la PCR. Se le realizó radiografía de columna dorso-lumbar concluyéndose como normal. Las imágenes planares de cuerpo entero del cintigrama óseo (Cx Oseo) con 99mTc-MDP, no mostraron alteraciones significativas en columna lumbar, sin embargo en los cortes tomográficos (SPECT) se evidenció importante actividad osteoblástica con compromiso de espacio intervertebral y plataformas vertebrales de L1-L2 adyacentes. En forma posterior se efectuó Resonancia Magnética (RM) donde se observó disminución del espacio intervertebral L1-L2 con edema de sus plataformas articulares adyacentes, coincidente a los hallazgos del SPECT óseo. El cuadro clínico del paciente fue interpretado como una discitis aséptica y evolucionó satisfactoriamente con analgesia local e inmovilización.

We report the case of a 20 years old patient, male, with a 2 month’s history of back pain with no response to medical treatment. Laboratory showed normal red and white count cells, globular sedimentation and inflammation indexes (RCP). Dorsolumbar spine Rx was reported as normal. The planar bone scintigraphy images done with 99mTc-MDP showed no significant abnormalities in lumbar spine, but the bone single-photon emission tomography (SPECT) showed intense focal uptake in the intervertebral disc and adyacent vertebral platforms of L1-L2. A Magnetic Resonance (MRI) done inmediatly after showed reduction of the intervertebral space of L1-L2 and focal edema in adyacent platforms in coincidence with the SPECT findings. The final diagnosis was an aseptic discitis of L1-L2.