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BackgroundEmerging evidence demonstrates that diet-induced obesity disrupts corticolimbic circuits underlying emotional regulation. Studies directed at understanding how obesity alters brain and behavior are easily confounded by a myriad of complications related to obesity. This study investigated the early neurobiological stress response triggered by an obesogenic diet. Furthermore, this study directly determined the combined impact of a short-term obesogenic diet and adolescence on critical behavioral and molecular substrates implicated in emotion regulation and stress.MethodsAdolescent (postnatal day 31) or adult (postnatal day 81) Lewis rats were fed for 1 week with an experimental Western-like high-saturated fat diet (WD, 41% kcal from fat) or a matched control diet (CD, 13% kcal from fat). We used the acoustic fear-potentiated startle (FPS) paradigm to determine the effects of the WD on cued fear conditioning and fear extinction. We used c-Fos mapping to determine the functional influence of the diet and stress on corticolimbic circuits.ResultsWe report that 1-week WD consumption was sufficient to induce fear extinction deficits in adolescent rats, but not in adult rats. We identify fear-induced alterations in corticolimbic neuronal activation and demonstrate increased prefrontal cortex CRHR1 messenger RNA (mRNA) levels in the rats that consumed the WD.ConclusionOur findings demonstrate that short-term consumption of an obesogenic diet during adolescence heightens behavioral and molecular vulnerabilities associated with risk for anxiety and stress-related disorders. Given that fear extinction promotes resilience and that fear extinction principles are the foundation of psychological treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), understanding how obesogenic environments interact with the adolescent period to affect the acquisition and expression of fear extinction memories is of tremendous clinical relevance.

Objective: To report a case series of Tessier 3, 4, 7 and combined 4,7 craniofacial clefts, their clinical presentations, surgical approaches and outcomes in light of the current literature. Methods: Study Design: Case series Setting: Tertiary Government Hospital Subjects: 5 patients Results: Five patients aged 3 to 14-years-old with Tessier 3, 4 (2 cases), 7 and combined 4,7 were included in this study: Tessier 3 – medial orbitomaxillary cleft extending through the bony skeleton traversing obliquely across the lacrimal groove, Tessier 4 – median orbitomaxillary cleft traversing vertically thru the inferior eyelid, infraorbital rim and orbital floor extending to the lip between the philtral crest and the oral commissure (2 cases), Tessier 7 - macrostomia and cleft oral commissure, and combined Tessier 4 and 7, combining features described above. Four underwent 2- or 3-stage surgeries while 1 declined. Conclusion: Five craniofacial clefts were presented. Because of the varying patterns of craniofacial deformities, a series of surgical procedures, tailor-made for each individual were performed on four. Otolaryngologists who perform maxillofacial and cosmetic surgery should have good background knowledge about craniofacial defects and be familiar with the surgical approaches at their disposal to yield favorable results that are appropriate to their local contexts. Keywords: Tessier Clefts No. 3, 4 and 7, oculoplasty, commisuroplasty, alar transpositional flap, canthopexy

Background: Emerging evidence demonstrates that diet-induced obesity disrupts corticolimbic circuits underlying emotional regulation. Studies directed at understanding how obesity alters brain and behavior are easily confounded by a myriad of complications related to obesity. This study investigated the early neurobiological stress response triggered by an obesogenic diet. Furthermore, this study directly determined the combined impact of a short-term obesogenic diet and adolescence on critical behavioral and molecular substrates implicated in emotion regulation and stress. Methods: Adolescent (postnatal day 31) or adult (postnatal day 81) Lewis rats were fed for 1 week with an experimental Western-like high-saturated fat diet (WD , 41% kcal from fat) or a matched control diet (CD , 13% kcal from fat). We used the acoustic fear-potentiated startle (FPS) paradigm to determine the effects of the WD on cued fear conditioning and fear extinction. We used c-Fos mapping to determine the functional influence of the diet and stress on corticolimbic circuits. Results: We report that 1-week WD consumption was sufficient to induce fear extinction deficits in adolescent rats, but not in adult rats. We identify fear-induced alterations in corticolimbic neuronal activation and demonstrate increased prefrontal cortex CRHR1 messenger RNA (mRNA) levels in the rats that consumed the WD. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that short-term consumption of an obesogenic diet during adolescence heightens behavioral and molecular vulnerabilities associated with risk for anxiety and stress-related disorders. Given that fear extinction promotes resilience and that fear extinction principles are the foundation of psychological treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), understanding how obesogenic environments interact with the adolescent period to affect the acquisition and expression of fear extinction memories is of tremendous clinical relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasma levels of lipoprotein(a), total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, apoprotein A1 and apoprotein B were assessed in 10 healthy, untrained volunteers subjected to a bicycle ergometric exercise equal to 50% of individual VO(2max), followed by increasing loads until muscular exhaustion. Blood samples were taken before the exercise, immediately afterwards and then at 12-hourly intervals for a 72 hours period. Subsequently, the same parameters were evaluated for 8 long-distance runners during the XXIII New York Marathon, with blood samples being taken before and after the race, and then after one month of detraining. After the exercise, lipoprotein(a) in untrained subjects began to decrease significantly from the 24th hour on and remained lower than baseline levels up till the 72nd hour. After detraining, lipoprotein(a) in marathon runners increased significantly both with respect to basal values and especially to post-race values. Modifications of the other metabolic parameters evaluated in both tests were negligible and predictable. In the two groups of subjects examined, no correlation was found between lipoprotein(a) and the anthropometrical data and metabolic parameters considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One hundred consecutive patients with acute suppurative cholangitis were randomized in a prospective, controlled clinical trial to receive either ciprofloxacin (200 mg bd iv) or triple therapy comprising ceftazidime (1 g bd iv), ampicillin (500 mg qds iv) and metronidazole (500 mg tds iv); 46 and 44 patients in the ciprofloxacin and triple therapy groups respectively were suitable for inclusion in the analysis of efficacy. In two-thirds of the patients biliary obstruction was caused by ductal calculi and in one-third by malignant or benign strictures of the biliary tract. Bacteraemia was documented in 38% of patients in the ciprofloxacin group and in 34% of patients in the triple therapy group, while bile cultures were positive in 87% and 92% of patients in the ciprofloxacin and triple therapy groups respectively. Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp. and Enterococcus spp. were the most common biliary isolates. Eighty-five per cent of evaluable patients in the ciprofloxacin group and 77% of those in the triple therapy group responded to therapy. The mean durations of fever, septicaemic shock and hospitalization were also similar in the two treatment groups. Six (13%) patients in the ciprofloxacin group and seven (16%) in the triple therapy group required urgent endoscopy or surgery for uncontrolled infection. Recurrence of fever after an initial response was documented in one (2%) patient receiving ciprofloxacin and in three (7%) patients receiving triple therapy. The incidences of mortality were 4% in the ciprofloxacin group and 2% in the triple therapy group. The results of this study suggest that ciprofloxacin alone is adequate empirical therapy for patients with cholangitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]