Methylphenidate clinically oral doses improved brain and heart glutathione redox status and evoked renal and cardiac tissue injury in rats.

Methylphenidate (MPH) is a first-line stimulant drug to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Overdiagnosis of ADHD and MPH abuse lead to serious concerns about the possible long-term adverse consequences of MPH in healthy children and adolescents. We aimed to evaluate MPH effects in adolescent male Wistar rats (postnatal day 40) using an oral dose scheme (2 daily MPH doses 5 mg/kg in a 5% sucrose solution, 5 h apart, for 7 days) that mimics the therapeutic doses given to human adolescents. Twenty-four hours after the last MPH administration, rats were sacrificed and brain areas [cerebellum, prefrontal cortex (PFC), hippocampus, and striatum], peripheral organs (liver, heart, and kidneys), and blood were collected for biochemical and histological analysis. MPH treatment did not alter rats' body temperature or weight, neither food or water intake throughout the experiment. The ratio of reduced glutathione/oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG) significantly increased in the PFC and hippocampus of MPH-treated rats, meanwhile protein carbonylation remained unchanged in the brain. In the heart, the GSH/GSSG ratio and GSH levels were significantly increased, with decreased GSSG, while histology revealed significant damage, namely interstitial edema, vascular congestion, and presence of a fibrin-like material in the interstitial space. In the kidneys, MPH treatment resulted in extensive necrotic areas with cellular disorganization and cell infiltration, and immunohistochemistry analysis revealed a marked activation of nuclear factor-ĸB. This study showed that clinically relevant oral MPH doses improve the GSH redox status in the brain and heart, but evoke heart and kidney tissue damage to adolescent rats.

Síndrome nefrótica na infância: estudo retrospectivo de quatorze casos

O estudo compreende a revisão de quatorze prontuários de crianças internadas no hospital da Santa Casa de Misericódia do Pará, com diagnóstico de Síndrome Nefrótica. Houve predomínio do sexo masculino e as idades variaram de dois a doze anos. A história clínica revelou edema em todos os casos (100%), aoligúria em doze (85,71%) e hipertenção arterial em cinco (35,71%). As principais alterações laboratoriais foram: proteinúria e hipercolesterolemia ocorridas em todos os pacientes, anemia em treze...The study includes a review of fourteen files of children admitted to the hospital Santa Casa de mercy of Para, with a diagnosis of nephrotic syndrome. There was a predominance of male and ages ranged from two to twelve years. The clinical history revealed edema in all cases (100%), aoligúria twelve (85.71%) and arterial hypertension in five (35.71%). The main laboratory abnormalities were: hypercholesterolemia and proteinuria occurred in all patients, anemia in thirteen ...