Morphological heterogeneity of neurons in the human central amygdaloid nucleus.

The central amygdaloid nucleus (CeA) has an ancient phylogenetic development and functions relevant for animal survival. Local cells receive intrinsic amygdaloidal information that codes emotional stimuli of fear, integrate them, and send cortical and subcortical output projections that prompt rapid visceral and social behavior responses. We aimed to describe the morphology of the neurons that compose the human CeA (N = 8 adult men). Cells within CeA coronal borders were identified using the thionine staining and were further analyzed using the "single-section" Golgi method followed by open-source software procedures for two-dimensional and three-dimensional image reconstructions. Our results evidenced varied neuronal cell body features, number and thickness of primary shafts, dendritic branching patterns, and density and shape of dendritic spines. Based on these criteria, we propose the existence of 12 morphologically different spiny neurons in the human CeA and discuss the variability in the dendritic architecture within cellular types, including likely interneurons. Some dendritic shafts were long and straight, displayed few collaterals, and had planar radiation within the coronal neuropil volume. Most of the sampled neurons showed a few to moderate density of small stubby/wide spines. Long spines (thin and mushroom) were observed occasionally. These novel data address the synaptic processing and plasticity in the human CeA. Our morphological description can be combined with further transcriptomic, immunohistochemical, and electrophysiological/connectional approaches. It serves also to investigate how neurons are altered in neurological and psychiatric disorders with hindered emotional perception, in anxiety, following atrophy in schizophrenia, and along different stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Human cortical amygdala dendrites and spines morphology under open-source three-dimensional reconstruction procedures.

Visualizing nerve cells has been fundamental for the systematic description of brain structure and function in humans and other species. Different approaches aimed to unravel the morphological features of neuron types and diversity. The inherent complexity of the human nervous tissue and the need for proper histological processing have made studying human dendrites and spines challenging in postmortem samples. In this study, we used Golgi data and open-source software for 3D image reconstruction of human neurons from the cortical amygdaloid nucleus to show different dendrites and pleomorphic spines at different angles. Procedures required minimal equipment and generated high-quality images for differently shaped cells. We used the "single-section" Golgi method adapted for the human brain to engender 3D reconstructed images of the neuronal cell body and the dendritic ramification by adopting a neuronal tracing procedure. In addition, we elaborated 3D reconstructions to visualize heterogeneous dendritic spines using a supervised machine learning-based algorithm for image segmentation. These tools provided an additional upgrade and enhanced visual display of information related to the spatial orientation of dendritic branches and for dendritic spines of varied sizes and shapes in these human subcortical neurons. This same approach can be adapted for other techniques, areas of the central or peripheral nervous system, and comparative analysis between species.

[Does contribute early enteral nutrition to decrease the complications of radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer?]. / ¿Contribuye la nutrición enteral precoz a disminuir las complicaciones de la gastrectomia radical por cáncer gastrico?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether the administration of early enteral nutrition in postoperative gastrectomized patients due gastric cancer helps to reduce the frequency of postoperative complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A case-control study with 120 patients, 60 with postoperative complications (cases) and 60 patients without post operative complications (controls) matched for age and sex. RESULTS: The uni-variable analysis found that albumin (p=0.03), hematocrit (p=0.004), early enteral nutrition (p<0.01), stage of gastric cancer (p=0.013), behaved as variables associated with the development of postoperative complications. However, in this multivariable analysis, only early enteral nutrition (p=0.014), hematocrit (0.019) and pathological stage (0.013), showed statistically significant association. CONCLUSIONS: The early enteral nutrition administered by nasoenteral tube in the immediate postoperative period, with the hematocrit level and the anatomopathological disease stage is associated with statistically decreased postoperative complications in patients undergoing radical surgery for gastric cancer.