A preliminary study of the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety symptoms in female adolescents maltreatment victims in Mexico / Un estudio preliminar sobre la prevalencia de síntomas de estrés postraumático, depresión y ansiedad en mujeres adolescentes femeninas víctimas de maltrato en México

Abstract: Introduction: Although child maltreatment is related with psychopathologic symptoms, however their clinical prevalence in the general population and more so in specific groups of age and gender, such as female adolescents, has been scarcely documented. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to examine the prevalence mental illness symptoms ‒such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety‒ in female adolescent maltreatment victims in Mexico. Method: Fifty-five 12-17-year old female adolescent victims of maltreatment (sexual, physical, and emotional abuse) recruited from four different Mexican institutions were evaluated through clinical scales for post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety, in addition to clinical interviews. Results: More than half of the participants presented significant scores of psychopathological symptoms in the three scales evaluated. Discussion and conclusion: The high prevalence of psychopathologic symptoms found in this study suggests that female adolescents who had experienced some form of abuse present highed a susceptibility to develop psychopathology. Results are discussed in the context of their relevance as a public health problem and their implications for professional interventions.

Resumen: Introducción: Aunque el maltrato infantil se ha asociado con síntomas psicopatológicos, se ha documentado poco la prevalencia clínica que tiene en la población general y aún más en grupos específicos de edad y género, como en el caso de mujeres adolescentes. Objetivo: El presente estudio tiene como propósito examinar la prevalencia de síntomas de enfermedades mentales como el trastorno de estrés postraumático, la depresión y la ansiedad en adolescentes víctimas de maltrato en México. Método: Se evaluaron 55 mujeres adolescentes víctimas de maltrato (abuso sexual, físico y emocional) de 12 a 17 años, reclutadas en cuatro diferentes instituciones mexicanas. A todas se les aplicaron entrevistas y escalas clínicas de estrés postraumático, depresión y ansiedad. Resultados: Más de la mitad de las participantes presentaron altos puntajes de síntomas psicopatológicos en las tres escalas evaluadas. Discusión y conclusión: La alta prevalencia de síntomas psicopatológicos encontrada en este estudio sugiere que las adolescentes que experimentaron alguna forma de abuso presentaron una alta susceptibilidad a desarrollar psicopatología. Se discuten los resultados en el contexto de su relevancia como un problema de salud pública y sus implicaciones para las intervenciones profesionales correspondientes.

Nicotine and fluoxetine induce arousing effects on sleep-wake cycle in antidepressive doses: a possible mechanism of antidepressant-like effects of nicotine.

A number of studies have reported an association between smoking and depression, and several reports suggest that nicotine (NIC) may act as an antidepressant. The present study was designed to determine whether the effects of NIC on sleep-wake patterns in rats are similar to those of the antidepressant fluoxetine (FLX), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Male rats were chronically implanted with a standard set of electrodes for sleep recording. We compared the effects of antidepressive doses of NIC, FLX and the combination of both drugs on sleep-wake pattern in rats subjected to one day, one week and two weeks of administration, as well as after the withdrawal of the two-week treatment. The changes observed in our study in an 8-h sleep recording period during one day, one week and two weeks of NIC administration are very similar to those observed in the rats that received FLX, which led to a decrease in both slow wave sleep II and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep as a consequence of an increase in wakefulness. In addition, all treatments also induced a significant lengthening of REM sleep latency onset. These data suggest that the antidepressant-like action of NIC could be caused by its arousing properties.

Orbitofrontal Cortex Inactivation Impairs Early Reversal Learning in Male Rats During a Sexually Motivated Task

This study analyzes whether inactivation of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) affects early discrimination or reversal learning during a T maze motivated task. Male rats received saline solution or one doses of tetrodotoxin (TTX) bilaterally into the OFC, and were permitted to have an intromission with a receptive female to induce a sexually motivated state. Discrimination and reversal sessions consisted of seven trials each to accomplish the non-overtrained condition. Each arm of the T maze was associated to different external cues. Subjects were sexually reinforced whenever they reached the receptive female box, and returned to the start-box if not. Spontaneous motor activity was not altered. Rats with OFC inactivated did not present alteration during discrimination. Males with higher doses of TTX had a deficit in the number of correct responses and increased number of trials without response during reversal learning. These data agrees with other studies and indicates that an intact OFC is essential for the adequate manifestation of reversal learning during its early phase in motivated tasks. However, disagrees with other findings about early perseverative responses, pointing out to a critical role of this structure in enhancing performance through incentive value re-assignment of predicted outcome cues (AU)

El objetivo de este estudio fue investigar si la inactivación de la corteza orbitofrontal (COF) afecta el aprendizaje de discriminación y/o de inversión, en su etapa temprana, durante la resolución de un laberinto T por ratas macho, utilizando como incentivo una interacción copulatoria con una hembra receptiva. Las ratas experimentales fueron infundidas con solución salina o una dosis de tetrodotoxina (TTX) bilateralmente en la COF. Luego de esto, se les permitió tener una intromisión con una hembra receptiva para inducirles un estado sexualmente motivado. Las sesiones de discriminación y de inversión consistieron en siete ensayos cada una para mantener al sujeto en un estado motivado y en la condición de aprendizaje inicial. Cada brazo del laberinto fue asociado a diferentes señales externas al mismo. Los sujetos fueron reforzados con una interacción sexual cada vez que llegaban al compartimento donde se encontraba una hembra receptiva, y eran retornados a la caja inicial cuando no lo hacían. Los sujetos que recibieron TTX no presentaron alteración en la evaluación de la conducta motora espontánea en campo abierto. Tampoco se encontró alteración significativa en las respuestas correctas durante la fase de discriminación. Las ratas que recibieron la dosis más alta de TTX presentaron un deterioro en el número de respuestas correctas y un incremento significativo en el número de ensayos sin respuesta durante la fase de inversión. Estos datos coinciden con los de estudios que señalan que una COF intacta es crítica para la adecuada ejecución durante la fase inicial del aprendizaje de inversión en tareas motivadas, aunque difieren de la mayoría de informes que encuentran un aumento de la respuesta perseverativa durante la etapa inicial de la inversión. Estos hallazgos parecen apoyar el probable papel crítico que juega la COF en la reasignación de valor incentivo de los estímulos que sirven de señal para la correcta ejecución de tareas motivadas (AU)

Male rat pelvic copulatory movements: computarized analysis of accelerometric data

Three specifically made computational programs are described. These programs were developed in order to delimitate and analyze the accelerometric signals generated in relation to the pelvic thrusting performed by the male rat during its mounting, intromission, and ejaculation copulatory responses. This methodology has allowed us to perform quantitative analysis, not only about duration and frequency but also about amplitude or vigor of pelvic thrusting trains. We found that during long ejaculation, the extravaginal pelvic movement had a significantly higher amplitude than that of the intravaginal movements