Implicações neurológicas da meditação do tipo terapia cognitiva baseada em mindfulness em pacientes com transtorno de ansiedade ou transtorno depressivo: uma revisão integrativa / Neurological implications of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in patients with anxiety or depressive disorders: an integrative review / Implicaciones neurológicas de la meditación de la terapia cognitiva basada en mindfulness en pacientes con trastorno de ansiedad o trastorno depresivo: una revisión integradora

A Terapia Cognitiva Baseada em Mindfulness (MBCT, do inglês Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy) é uma técnica baseada na combinação da Terapia Cognitiva-Comportamental e da meditação mindfulness, na busca pela melhoria de sintomas psiquiátricos. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo a busca por publicações que discutam as implicações neurológicas de pacientes diagnosticados com transtorno depressivo e transtorno de ansiedade e que buscaram nessa técnica a melhoria de sua condição clínica ou qualidade de vida. Nossos resultados preliminares mostraram que os benefícios dessa prática foram colhidos na totalidade dos estudos encontrados, elucidando as áreas cerebrais modificadas e o motivo pelo qual elas foram ativadas. Procuramos abordar ainda a diferença entre essa técnica e o uso de medicamentos e tratamento usual. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Terapia Cognitiva-Comportamental; Cérebro; Transtornos Psiquiátricos; Antidepressivos.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a technique based on the combination of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and mindfulness meditation, in the search of improving psychiatric symptoms. This present work aims to search for studies and articles that discuss the neurological implications of patients diagnosed with anxiety and major depressive disorders who sought improvement in their clinical condition or life quality through this technique. The preliminary results showed that the benefits of this practice were observed in all of the studies found, elucidating the modified brain areas and the reason why they were activated. The differences between this technique and the use of medication and treatment-as-usual was also addressed.

La Terapia Cognitiva Basada en Mindfulness (MBCT) es una técnica basada en la combinación de la Terapia Cognitivo-Conductual y la meditación mindfulness, en la búsqueda de la mejora de los síntomas psiquiátricos. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo buscar publicaciones que discutan las implicaciones neurológicas de pacientes diagnosticados con trastorno depresivo y trastorno de ansiedad y que busquen en esta técnica mejorar su condición clínica o calidad de vida. Nuestros resultados preliminares mostraron que los beneficios de esta práctica se cosecharon en todos los estudios encontrados, dilucidando las áreas cerebrales modificadas y la razón por la cual se activaron. También tratamos de abordar la diferencia entre esta técnica y el uso de medicación y tratamiento habitual.

Effects of Supraphysiological Doses of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids on the Left Ventricles of Male and Female Mice Submitted to Swimming

The use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) has grown into aworldwide substance abuse problem over the last decades, with the doses taken by illegal users being 10 to 100 times higher than the therapeutic ones. In the present experiment, 60 mice were divided into 3 groups of 20 animals. Group 1 received testosterone cypionate (Deposteron [EMS, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, Brazil]); group 2 received stanozolol (Stanozolol Depot, Landerlan, Lambaré, Paraguay), and group 3 received saline solution), each one composed by 10males and 10 females, treated once a week and put to swimming thrice a week for 2months. After euthanasia, their chests were opened, the hearts removed and processed histologically for morphometric analyses. The specimens were cut into 6 different sections and each onewas measured with the help of an optical microscope with a 40-fold magnification. For such analyses, the Axiovision Rel. 4.8.2 (Carl Zeiss Microscopy LLC, Peabody, MA, USA) and Axiovision 4 Module Interactive Measurement (Carl Zeiss Microscopy LLC) software were used. The results showed that there was an increase in the diameter of the left ventricles in the male mice treated with Deposteron while in the female animals treated with Winstrol, there was a decrease in the left ventricular diameter in relation to the other two groups. Thus, one can conclude that the use of supraphysiological doses of the given AAS significantly alters the ventricular diameter in both male and female animals, which can cause a considerable change in both heart rate and blood pressure, and potentially induce disorders that are very relevant to the organism.

Effect of testosterone cypionate and stanozolol on the heart of young trained mice: A morphometric study.

Testosterone cypionate and Stanozolol are Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids (AAS) which are synthetic substances that possess functions similar to testosterone. The use of these substances has increased considerably among youngsters and sports practitioners aiming better performance of with aesthetic purposes. The major concern is the effects caused by the inappropriate use of the substances, such as hypertension, myocardial ischemia, and left ventricle hypertrophy. The objective of the present research was to measure the diameter of the left ventricle lumen and the thickness of the left ventricle myocardium in mice submitted to supraphysiological doses of AAS. A total of 30 female Swiss mice were used in the experiments. The animals received supraphysiological doses of the AAS for 30 days, and during the treatment period, they were put to swim in intercalated days. After treatment animals were euthanized and slides were made from the hearts for measurements. Results demonstrated that both AAS changed significantly the heart morphology: Testosterone cypionate led to an increase in the ventricular lumen and stanozolol increased left ventricle myocardium thickness. In conclusion, the use of AAS in supraphysiological doses can change the heart morphology and can lead to serious health consequences.

Chronical treatment with sildenafil causes Achilles tendinopathy in rats.

AIMS: The primary goal was to assess the effects of chronic sildenafil treatment over the Achilles tendons in rats. MAIN METHODS: Animals were divided into two groups, control and sildenafil administration (n = 5). After 60 days, the tendons were subject to biochemical and image analysis to compare tendons between the groups: collagen I and decorin content, polarisation microscopy and birefringence analysis, and tissue zymography. KEY FINDINGS: The animals exposed to sildenafil presented a much less organised tendon matrix, with reduced collagen I and non-collagenous protein content and a much higher decorin content. SIGNIFICANCE: The results observed in the animals can be characterised as tendinopathy, a condition not yet described as a sildenafil side effect.

Low level laser therapy accelerates the extracellular matrix reorganization of inflamed tendon.

In tendon lesions, inflammation indicates the beginning of tissue repair and influences cell proliferation and the remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Low level laser (LLL) therapy has been an important method to induce tissue repair, and several studies have sought to better understand the therapeutic possibilities of this modality. This study analyzed the effect of LLL on the ECM of rat tendons during the early phase of the inflammatory process. Wistar rats received an intratendinous application of carrageenan adjacent to the osteotendinous region in the right paw. The animals were divided into the following groups: G1-intact, G2-animals with no treatment after the inflammation induction, G3-animals treated with LLL 1 and 3h after induction of inflammation (4J/cm2 continuous). After 4h of application, the animals of the two groups were euthanized with isoflurane overdose. Our results demonstrate that LLL therapy can promote decrease in non-collagenous protein and glycosaminoglycans content, as well as an increase in metalloproteinases -9, which proved, for the first time, that LLL therapy promotes alterations in the inflamed tendons even when analyzed only four hours after this process occur and could be a useful tool to improve the balance in inflamed tissues.

Low-level laser therapy modulates pro-inflammatory cytokines after partial tenotomy.

Tendon injuries give rise to substantial morbidity, and current understanding of the mechanisms involved in tendon injury and repair is limited. This lesion remains a clinical issue because the injury site becomes a region with a high incidence of recurrent rupture and has drawn the attention of researchers. We already demonstrated that low-level laser therapy (LLLT) stimulates the synthesis and organization of collagen I, MMP-9, and MMP-2 and improved the gait recovery of the treated animals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of LLLT in the nitric oxide and cytokines profile during the inflammatory and remodeling phases. Adult male rats were divided into the following groups: G1--intact, G2-- injured, G3--injured + LLLT (4 J/cm(2) continuous), G4--injured + LLLT (4 J/cm(2)-20 Hz--pulsed laser). According to the analysis, the animals were euthanized on different dates (1, 4, 8, or 15 days after injury). ELISA assay of TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-10, and TGF-ß was performed. Western blotting of isoform of nitric oxide synthase (i-NOS) and nitric oxide dosage experiments was conducted. Our results showed that the pulsed LLLT seems to exert an anti-inflammatory effect over injured tendons, with reduction of the release of proinflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α and the decrease in the i-NOS activity. Thanks to the pain reduction and the facilitation of movement, there was a stimulation in the TGF-ß and IL-1ß release. In conclusion, we believe that pulsed LLLT worked effectively as a therapy to reestablish the tendon integrity after rupture.

Novel acidic phospholipase A2 from Porthidium hyoprora causes inflammation with mast cell rich infiltrate.

Phospholipases A2 (PLA2) are a group of enzymes that hydrolyze phospholipids at the sn-2 position, being present in all nature. In venomous animals, these proteins assume a special role, being able to exert diverse pharmacological effects. In this work, authors identified a new isoform of PLA2 in the venom of Porthidium hyoprora, which was isolated through sequential chromatographic steps and named PhTX-III. The enzyme was characterized biochemically and structurally. Structural studies using mass spectrometry confirmed an acidic secretory PLA2, family IIA, with molecular mass of 13,620.9 Da and identification of 86% of its primary sequence. PhTX-III did not exhibit myotoxic, anticoagulant or antibacterial effects, often present in this class of enzymes. Although, it was capable of initiate inflammatory response, with local edema and release of cytokines IL-1α, IL-6 and TNF-α, probably due to mast cell degranulation.