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OBJECTIVE: To analyze the characteristics of traumatic spinal cord injury in children of Galicia (Spain). DESIGN: Descriptive and retrospective study. METHODS: Data extracted from the internal registry of the Spinal Cord Injury Unit and the patient's medical records, between March 1988 and December 2014. Inclusion criteria: patients aged ≤ 17 years with a traumatic spinal cord injury. Outcome measures: Total patients, percentages, incidence, ASIA scale results and improvement. RESULTS: A total of 68 patients were included. The incidence was 5.6 cases/1,000,000 inhabitants/year. The mean age was 14.4 years (median: 16). Only 25% were younger than 15. Male patients accounted for 73.5% of the total. The main cause were traffic accidents (60.3%; n = 41), being higher (77.8%) in children ≤ 10 years. Other etiologies included falls (19.1%), diving accidents (16.2%) and other causes (4.4%). Eleven patients (16.2%) had injuries classified as SCIWORA, 8 (72.7%) of them aged ≤ 10 years. The mean age of the SCIWORA group was 7.5 years versus 15.7 years in the non-SCIWORA group (P < 0.001). Half (50%) of these patients had a complete spinal cord injury and, of these, 64.6% were paraplegic. CONCLUSIONS: Traumatic spinal cord injuries are rare in children, and most cases occur between 15 and 17 years. Unlike in adults, SCIs in children mostly involve the thoracic spine. Most patients aged ≤ 10 years have SCIWORA. The most common etiology continues to be traffic accidents, although sports accidents prevail among adolescent patients.

Background Eccrine sweat glands (ESGs) are critical for thermoregulation and are involved in wound healing. ESGs have traditionally been considered as separate skin appendages without connection to the pilosebaceous unit (PSU). However, recent preliminary evidence has encouraged the hypothesis that the PSU and ESG are more interconnected than previously thought. Objectives To re-evaluate the morphology of human skin adnexa with an integrated three-dimensional (3D) perspective in order to explore the possible interconnections that the PSU and the ESG may form. Methods A systematic 3D reconstruction method of skin sections, direct visualization of human scalp follicular unit transplant grafts and a scalp strip ex vivo were used to validate and further explore the hypothesis. Results We demonstrate that the coiled portion of most ESGs is morphologically integrated into the PSU of human scalp skin and forms a structural unit that is embedded into a specific, hair follicle-associated region of dermal white adipose tissue (dWAT). This newly recognized unit is easily accessible and experimentally tractable by organ culture of follicular units and can be visualized intravitally. Conclusions We propose a model of functional human skin anatomy in which ESGs are closely associated with the PSU and the dWAT to form a common homeostatic tissue environment, which may best be encapsulated in the term 'adnexal skin unit'. The challenge now is to dissect how each component of this superstructure of human skin functionally cooperates with and influences the other under physiological conditions, during regeneration and repair and in selected skin diseases.

Hypertensive mechanisms are postulated to play a major role in the progressive glomerulosclerosis (GS) after renal mass reduction. Previous studies have demonstrated differences in the progression to glomerulosclerosis with the use of different antihypertensive drugs. We analyzed whether the use of carvedilol (CVD), a new beta-adrenoceptor antagonist and vasodilator slows the progression of glomerulosclerosis in 5/6 nephrectomised (Nx) rats. Fifty-four adult Sprague-Dawley rats were distributed among five groups, four with 5/6 Nx, vehicle treated and CVD at 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg/day and sham (no renal ablation or drug treatment). Tailcuff blood pressure, serum creatinine and urine protein concentration were measured. At the end of the experiment remnant kidney was removed for morphometric studies. Rats treated with 10 and 20 mg/kg/day of CVD showed controlled systemic blood pressure. Serum creatinine was similar in all treated groups with CVD, and half the levels observed in the vehicle-treated rats. The prevalence of glomerular lesions was closely associated with the degree of proteinuria. Eleven weeks after 5/6 Nx, vehicle-treated rats exhibited marked GS with 76% of affected glomeruli and creatinine retention. By contrast, renal injury was largely prevent in those rats treated with 10 and 20 mg/kg/day of CVD. Tuft enlargement occurred in all groups but was more prominent in vehicle-treated group, 1.5 times higher than the group treated with 20 mg/kg/day of CVD. Although, these data demonstrate the importance of systemic blood pressure control in the renal protective efficacy of carvedilol, other less-known mechanisms of this drug must be investigated.

Lipid peroxidation is a degenerative chain reaction in biological membranes that may be initiated by exposure to free radicals. This process is associated with changes in the membrane fluidity and loss of several cell membrane-dependent functions. 5-methoxytryptophol (ML) is an indole isolated from the mammalian pineal gland. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of ML (0. 01mM-10mM) on membrane fluidity modulated by lipid peroxidation. Hepatic microsomes obtained from rats were incubated with or without ML (0.01-10 mM). Then lipid peroxidation was induced by FeCl(3), ADP, and NADPH. Membrane fluidity was determined using fluorescence spectroscopy. Malonaldehyde (MDA) +4-hydroxyalkenals (4-HDA) concentrations were estimated as an indicator of the degree of lipid peroxidation. With oxidative stress, membrane fluidity decreased and MDA+4-HDA levels increased. ML (0.01-3 mM) reduced membrane rigidity and the rise in MDA+4-HDA formation in a concentration-dependent manner. 10 mM ML protected against lipid peroxidation but failed to prevent the membrane rigidity. In the absence of oxidative reagents, ML (0.3-10 mM) decreased membrane fluidity whereas MDA+4-HDA levels remained unchanged. This indicates that ML may interact with membrane lipids. The results presented here suggest that ML may be another pineal indoleamine (in addition to melatonin) that resists membrane rigidity due to lipid peroxidation.