Evaluation of post-surgical cognitive function and protein fingerprints in the cerebro-spinal fluid utilizing surface-enhanced laser Desorption/Ionization time-of-flight mass-spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS) after coronary artery bypass grafting: review of proteomic analytic tools and introducing a new syndrome.

Cognitive dysfunction following surgery is a common complication, which increases the incidence of other co-morbid conditions, hospital and health-care costs. The reported rate of the occurrence of post-operative cognitive decline varies with different studies, depending on population profile, type of surgery, definition of cognitive disorder and detection methods, design of study, etc. It remains unclear whether these psychiatric signs and symptoms are direct results of the effects of surgery or general anesthesia. Nonetheless they are more frequent after cardiac surgery and are likely to be multi-factorial, but the patho-mechanisms are not yet fully characterized. This communication provides a synopsis of proteomics tools and delineates novel SELDI-TOF results to evaluate biomarkers in this regard. Presented for the first time is a classification of the clinically relevant forms of post-operative cognitive decline with the advent of a novel subclass.

Some arachnidan peptides with potential medical application

The search for new active drugs that can alleviate or cure different diseases is a constant challenge to researchers in the biological area and to the pharmaceutical industry. Historically, research has focused on the study of substances from plants. More recently, however, animal venoms have been attracting attention and studies have been successful in addressing treatment of accidents. Furthermore, venoms and their toxins have been considered good tools for prospecting for new active drugs or models for new therapeutic drugs. In this review, we discuss some possibilities of using different toxins, especially those from arachnid venoms, which have shown some potential application in diseases involving pain, hypertension, epilepsy and erectile dysfunction. A new generation of drugs is likely to emerge from peptides, including those found in animal venoms.

Tityus serrulatus Hypotensins: a new family of peptides from scorpion venom.

Using a proteomic approach, a new structural family of peptides was put in evidence in the venom of the yellow scorpion Tityus serrulatus. Tityus serrulatus Hypotensins (TsHpt) are random-coiled linear peptides and have a similar bradykinin-potentiating peptide (BPP) amino acid signature. TsHpt-I (2.7kDa), the first member of this family, was able to potentiate the hypotensive effects of bradykinin (BK) in normotensive rats. Using the C-terminal of this peptide as a template, a synthetic analog peptide (TsHpt-I([17-25])) was designed to held the BK-potentiating effect. A relevant hypotensive effect, independent on BK, was also observed on both TsHpt (native and synthetic). To better evaluate this hypotensive effect, we examined the vasorelaxation of aortic rings from male Wistar rats and the peptides were able to induce endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation dependent on NO release. Both TsHpt could not inhibit ACE activity. These peptides appear to exert their anti-hypertensive effect through NO-dependent and ACE-independent mechanisms.