MICROCIRCULATION ANALYSIS OF THE BRAIN CORTEX IS CHALLENGING BECAUSE SURFACE PERFUSION VARIES RAPIDLY IN SMALL SPACE-TIME REGIONS AND IS BONE PROTECTED. THE LASER SPECKLE CONTRAST IMAGING (LSCI) TECHNIQUE ALLOWS ANALYZING IN VIVO BRAIN VASCULAR PERFUSION GENERATING A LARGE AMOUNT OF DATA THAT REQUIRES SOPHISTICATED DATA ANALYTICS, MAKING RESEARCHERS INVEST MUCH EFFORT IN PROCESSING. OUR RESEARCH QUESTION WAS WHETHER THE REDUCED PLACENTAL PERFUSION MODEL (RUPP) OF PREECLAMPSIA (PE) WAS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPAIRED BLOOD PERFUSION IN THE OFFSPRING'S BRAINS. WE AIMED TO DEVELOP A ROBUST NUMERICAL APPROACH THAT MAINLY CONSISTED OF APPLYING A SIGNAL-PROCESSING TOOL FOR CALCULATING OPTIMAL SEGMENTATION AND PIECE-WISE FITS OF THE OFFSPRING'S BRAIN PERFUSION SIGNALS OBTAINED FROM THE LSCI TECHNIQUE. WE COMBINED THIS TOOL WITH THE USUAL STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, IMPLEMENTING BOTH IN MATLAB SOFTWARE. WE PERFORMED BRAIN PERFUSION MEASUREMENTS FROM OFFSPRING (FIVE DAYS POSTNATAL, P5) OF CONTROL PREGNANT DAMS (SHAM, N = 13) AND OF RUPP DAMS (RUPP, N = 7) USING THE PERICAM® PSI-HR SYSTEM AT A BASAL CONDITION AND AFTER THERMAL STIMULI (WARM AND COLD). WE FOUND THAT PUPS OF RUPP MICE EXHIBITED SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN PERFUSION AND VASCULAR RESPONSE TO THERMAL STIMULI COMPARED TO THE SHAM MICE. THESE DIFFERENCES WERE ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH DATA VARIABILITY IN THE SHAM GROUP, WHILE IN THE RUPP GROUP, PERFUSION LOOKS ?STIFFER.? DATA ALSO SUGGEST SEXDIMORPHISM IN THE VASCULAR RESPONSE SINCE FEMALE PUPS IN THE SHAM GROUP BUT NOT MALE PUPS SHOWED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN RESPONSE TO THE WARM STIMULUS. AGAIN, THIS SEX-RELATED DIFFERENCE WAS ABSENT IN PUPS OF RUPP MICE. IN CONCLUSION, WE PRESENT A ROBUST QUANTITATIVE APPROACH FOR LSCI MEASUREMENTS THAT REVEALED ANOMALIES IN THE BRAIN BLOOD FLOW IN OFFSPRING OF THE RUPP MODEL OF PE.

CHILDREN BORN FROM WOMEN WITH PREECLAMPSIA HAVE ALTERATIONS IN CEREBRAL NEUROVASCULAR DEVELOPMENT AND A HIGH RISK FOR DEVELOPING COGNITIVE ALTERATIONS. BECAUSE CEREBRAL BLOOD VESSELS ARE CRITICAL COMPONENTS IN CEREBROVASCULAR DEVELOPMENT, WE EVALUATED THE BRAIN MICROVASCULAR PERFUSION AND MICROVASCULAR REACTIVITY (EXPOSED TO EXTERNAL STIMULI OF WARM AND COLD) IN PUPS BORN TO PREECLAMPSIA-LIKE SYNDROME BASED ON THE REDUCTION OF UTERINE PERFUSION (RUPP). ALSO, WE EVALUATE THE ANGIOGENIC PROTEOMIC PROFILE IN THOSE BRAINS. PREGNANT MICE SHOWED A REDUCTION IN UTERINE FLOW AFTER RUPP SURGERY (-40 TO 50%) ASSOCIATED WITH UNFAVORABLE PERINATAL RESULTS COMPARED TO SHAM MICE. FURTHERMORE, OFFSPRING OF THE RUPP MICE EXHIBITED REDUCED BRAIN MICROVASCULAR PERFUSION AT POSTNATAL DAY 5 (P5) COMPARED WITH OFFSPRING FROM SHAM MICE. THIS REDUCTION WAS PREFERENTIALLY OBSERVED IN FEMALES. ALSO, BRAIN MICROVASCULAR REACTIVITY TO EXTERNAL STIMULI (WARM AND COLD) WAS REDUCED IN PUPS OF RUPP MICE. FURTHERMORE, A DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION OF THE ANGIOGENIC PROFILE ASSOCIATED WITH INFLAMMATION, EXTRINSIC APOPTOTIC, CANCER, AND CELLULAR SENESCENCE PROCESSES AS THE PRIMARY SIGNALING IMPAIRED PROCESS WAS FOUND IN THE BRAINS OF RUPP-OFFSPRING. THEN, OFFSPRING (P5) FROM PREECLAMPSIA-LIKE SYNDROME EXHIBIT IMPAIRED BRAIN PERFUSION AND MICROVASCULAR REACTIVITY, PARTICULARLY IN FEMALE MICE, ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION OF ANGIOGENIC PROTEINS IN THE BRAIN TISSUE.

OBJECTIVE: EITHER OBESITY OR VOCAL LOADING TASK LEADS TO ELEVATION OF PROINFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES SUCH AS INTERLEUKIN 6 (IL-6). HOWEVER, IT IS UNKNOWN WHETHER VOCAL PARAMETERS AFTER VOCAL LOADING ARE CORRELATED WITH BODY MASS INDEX (BMI) OR IL-6. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT VOCAL LOADING INDUCES AN ELEVATION OF ACOUSTIC PARAMETERS OF VOICE AND SALIVARY IL-6 IN OVERWEIGHT AND OBESE PEOPLE. METHODS: A TOTAL OF 33 SCHOOLTEACHERS WITHOUT ANY SELF-REPORTED VOICE ALTERATIONS WERE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS STUDY. PARTICIPANTS WERE CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO BMI INTO NORMAL, OVERWEIGHT, AND OBESE GROUPS. THE VOCAL LOADING TASK CONSISTED OF LOUD SPEECH (60-90 MINUTES) IN THEIR CLASSROOM. SALIVARY AND VOICE SAMPLES WERE TAKEN BEFORE AND AFTER VOCAL LOADING. PERCEPTUAL AND SELF-REPORTED VOICE ALTERATIONS AND OBJECTIVE VOICE ANALYSES WERE INVESTIGATED. THE RELATIVE CONCENTRATION OF SALIVARY IL-6 WAS ESTIMATED BY A COLORIMETRIC ASSAY. RESULTS: OBESE TEACHERS SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT ELEVATION IN FUNDAMENTAL FREQUENCY VALUE AFTER VOCAL LOADING. IN ADDITION, REDUCTION IN HARMONICS-TO-NOISE RATIO (HNR) WAS OBSERVED IN TEACHERS WITH NORMAL WEIGHT AFTER VOCAL LOADING BUT NOT IN OVERWEIGHT OR OBESE GROUPS. NO SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION WAS OBSERVED BETWEEN BMI AND ANY OF THE ACOUSTIC PARAMETERS ANALYZED OR SALIVARY IL-6 LEVELS. FURTHERMORE, TEACHERS WHO WERE OVERWEIGHT SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE SALIVARY IL-6 LEVELS AFTER VOCAL LOADING. INTERESTINGLY, SALIVARY IL-6 LEVELS WERE POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH HNR VALUE IN THE OVERWEIGHT GROUP AFTER VOCAL LOADING. CONCLUSION: EXCESSIVE BODY WEIGHT IS RELATED TO ALTERATIONS IN FUNDAMENTAL FREQUENCY AND HNR. IN ADDITION, HNR, BUT NOT BMI, IS ASSOCIATED WITH SALIVARY IL-6 LEVELS IN OVERWEIGHT TEACHERS.

HUMAN ENDOTHELIAL PROGENITOR CELLS (HEPC) ARE RECRUITED TO SITES OF NEOVASCULARIZATION WHERE THEY DIFFERENTIATE INTO ENDOTHELIAL CELLS. THE SIGNALS/FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR HEPC MIGRATION AND ADHESION TO SITES OF INJURY ARE NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD. ELEVATED LEVELS OF ADENOSINE ARE KNOWN TO INCREASE MATURE ENDOTHELIAL CELL MIGRATION IN RESPONSE TO TISSUE INJURY. HOWEVER, THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLE OF ADENOSINE IN THE PHYSIOLOGY OF HEPC IS VERY LIMITED. USING QUANTITATIVE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION AND WESTERN BLOT ANALYSES, WE DETECTED THE EXPRESSION OF THE ADENOSINE RECEPTORS A?A, A?B, AND A? IN HEPC. STIMULATION OF ADENOSINE RECEPTORS USING ADENOSINE OR THE NONSELECTIVE AGONIST ADENOSINE-5'-N-ETHYLCARBOXAMIDE (NECA) INCREASED HEPC MIGRATION IN 1.4-FOLD AND 2.1-FOLD (P < 0.01), RESPECTIVELY. STIMULATION OF HEPC USING THE A?A-SPECIFIC AGONIST CGS-21680 RESEMBLED THE EFFECT OBSERVED IN MIGRATION WHEN USING ADENOSINE OR NECA. CONSEQUENTLY, NECA AND CGS-21680-STIMULATED MIGRATION OF HEPC WERE REVERTED USING THE A?A RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST ZM-241385. NECA-STIMULATED MIGRATION WAS INHIBITED IN DOSE-DEPENDENT MANNER USING MRS-1523 (KI OF 147 ± 0.016 NM), MRS-1754 (KI OF 1900 ± 0.02 NM), OR ZM-241385 (KI OF 0.2 ± 0.01 NM). IN CONCLUSION, ADENOSINE STIMULATES HEPC MIGRATION BY ACTIVATING A?A AND A? BUT NOT A?B RECEPTORS AND PROVIDES EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT A ROLE OF ADENOSINE IN MODULATING ANGIOGENIC CAPACITY OF HEPC.

WE AIM TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER A2A/NITRIC OXIDE-MEDIATED REGULATION OF VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR (VEGF) EXPRESSION IS IMPAIRED IN FETO-PLACENTAL ENDOTHELIAL CELLS FROM LATE-ONSET PRE-ECLAMPSIA. CULTURES OF HUMAN UMBILICAL VEIN ENDOTHELIAL CELLS (HUVECS) AND HUMAN PLACENTAL MICROVASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL CELLS (HPMECS) FROM NORMAL AND PRE-ECLAMPTIC PREGNANCIES WERE USED. ASSAYS BY USING SMALL INTERFERENCE RNA (SIRNA) FOR A2A WERE PERFORMED, AND TRANSFECTED CELLS WERE USED FOR ESTIMATION OF MESSENGER RNA (MRNA) LEVELS OF VEGF, AS WELL AS FOR CELL PROLIFERATION AND ANGIOGENESIS IN VITRO. CGS-21680 (A2A AGONIST, 24 H) INCREASES HUVEC AND HPMEC PROLIFERATION IN A DOSE RESPONSE MANNER. FURTHERMORE, SIMILAR TO CGS-21680, THE NITRIC OXIDE DONOR, S-NITROSO-N-ACETYL-PENICILLAMINE OXIDE (SNAP), INCREASED CELL PROLIFERATION IN A DOSE RESPONSE MANNER (LOGEC50 10-9.2 M). IN HPMEC, CGS-21680 INCREASED VEGF PROTEIN LEVELS IN BOTH NORMAL (?1.5-FOLD) AND PRE-ECLAMPTIC PREGNANCIES (?1.2-FOLD), AN EFFECT BLOCKED BY THE A2A ANTAGONIST, ZM-241385 (10-5 M) AND THE INHIBITOR OF NO SYNTHASE, N ?-NITRO-L-ARGININE METHYL ESTER HYDROCHLORIDE (L-NAME). SUBSEQUENTLY, SNAP PARTIALLY RECOVERED CELL PROLIFERATION AND IN VITRO ANGIOGENESIS CAPACITY OF CELLS FROM NORMAL PREGNANCIES EXPOSED TO SIRNA FOR A2A. CGS-21680 ALSO INCREASED (?1.5-FOLD) THE LEVEL OF VEGF MRNA IN HUVEC FROM NORMAL PREGNANCIES, BUT NOT IN PRE-ECLAMPSIA. ADDITIONALLY, TRANSFECTION WITH SIRNA FOR A2A DECREASE (?30 %) THE LEVEL OF MRNA FOR VEGF IN NORMAL PREGNANCY COMPARED TO UNTRANSFECTED CELLS, AN EFFECT PARTIALLY REVERSED BY CO-INCUBATION WITH SNAP. THE A2A-NO-VEGF PATHWAY IS PRESENT IN ENDOTHELIUM FROM MICROCIRCULATION AND MACROCIRCULATION IN BOTH NORMAL AND PRE-ECLAMPTIC PREGNANCIES. HOWEVER, NO SIGNALING PATHWAY SEEMS TO BE IMPAIRED IN HUVEC FROM PRE-ECLAMPSIA.

ENDOTHELIAL PROGENITOR CELLS (EPCS) ARE STEM CELLS MAINLY DERIVED FROM BONE MARROW; FROM WHERE THEY MIGRATE TO REPAIR AND REGENERATE DAMAGED TISSUES. EEPCS HAVE BEEN CLASSIFIED INTO TWO SUB-POPULATIONS, EARLY (EEPC) AND LATE EPCS (LEPC), DEPENDING ON MATURATION STAGES IN VITRO. IN ADDITION, EEPC RELEASE ENDOCRINE MEDIATORS, INCLUDING SMALL EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES (SEVS), WHICH IN TURN MAY ENHANCE THE EEPC-MEDIATED WOUND HEALING PROPERTIES. NEVERTHELESS, ADENOSINE CONTRIBUTES TO ANGIOGENESIS BY RECRUITING EEPC AT THE INJURY SITE. HOWEVER, WHETHER ARS MAY ENHANCE THE SECRETOME OF EEPC, INCLUDING SEVS, IS UNKNOWN. THEREFORE, WE AIMED TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER AR ACTIVATION INCREASE THE RELEASE OF SEVS IN EEPC, WHICH IN TURN HAS PARACRINE EFFECTS ON RECIPIENT ENDOTHELIAL CELLS. RESULTS SHOWN THAT 5?-N-ETHYLCARBOXAMIDOADENOSINE (NECA), A NON-SELECTIVE AGONIST, INCREASE BOTH THE PROTEIN LEVELS OF THE VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR (VEGF), AND THE NUMBER OF SEVS RELEASED TO THE CONDITIONED MEDIUM (CM) IN PRIMARY CULTURE OF EEPC. IMPORTANTLY, CM AND EVS HARVESTED FROM NECA-STIMULATED EEPC PROMOTE IN VITRO ANGIOGENESIS, WITHOUT CHANGES IN CELL PROLIFERATION, IN RECIPIENT ECV-304 ENDOTHELIAL CELLS. THIS CONSTITUTES THE FIRST EVIDENCE SHOWING THAT ADENOSINE ENHANCES SEVS RELEASE FROM EEPC, WHICH HAS PRO-ANGIOGENIC CAPACITY ON RECIPIENT ENDOTHELIAL CELLS.

ESTROGENIC STEROIDS AND ADENOSINE A2A RECEPTORS PROMOTE THE WOUND HEALING AND ANGIOGENESIS PROCESSES. HOWEVER, SO FAR, IT IS UNCLEAR WHETHER ESTROGEN MAY REGULATE THE EXPRESSION AND PRO-ANGIOGENIC ACTIVITY OF A2A RECEPTORS. USING IN VIVO ANALYSES, WE SHOWED THAT FEMALE WILD TYPE (WT) MICE HAVE A MORE RAPID WOUND HEALING PROCESS THAN FEMALE OR MALE A2A-DEFICIENT MICE (A2AKO) MICE. WE ALSO FOUND THAT PULMONARY ENDOTHELIAL CELLS (MPEC) ISOLATED FROM FEMALE WT MICE SHOWED HIGHER EXPRESSION OF A2A RECEPTOR THAN MPEC FROM MALE WT MICE. MPEC FROM FEMALE WT MICE WERE MORE SENSITIVE TO A2A-MEDIATED PRO-ANGIOGENIC RESPONSE, SUGGESTING AN ER AND A2A CROSSTALK, WHICH WAS CONFIRMED USING CELLS ISOLATED FROM A2AKO. IN THOSE FEMALE CELLS, 17?-ESTRADIOL POTENTIATED A2A-MEDIATED CELL PROLIFERATION, AN EFFECT THAT WAS INHIBITED BY SELECTIVE ANTAGONISTS OF ESTROGEN RECEPTORS (ER), ER?, AND ER?. THEREFORE, ESTROGEN REGULATES THE EXPRESSION AND/OR PRO-ANGIOGENIC ACTIVITY OF A2A ADENOSINE RECEPTORS, LIKELY INVOLVING ACTIVATION OF ER? AND ER? RECEPTORS. SEXUAL DIMORPHISM IN WOUND HEALING OBSERVED IN THE A2AKO MICE PROCESS REINFORCES THE FUNCTIONAL CROSSTALK BETWEEN ER AND A2A RECEPTORS.

OBJECTIVE: TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER THE FEBRUARY 27TH EARTHQUAKE EXPOSITION WAS ASSOCIATED TO ADVERSE PERINATAL OUTCOMES IN CHILEAN PREGNANT WOMEN. METHODS: WE ANALYZED ALL DELIVERIES OCCURRED IN 2009 (N = 3,609) AND 2010 (N = 3,279) IN A REFERENCE HOSPITAL IN THE AREA OF THE EARTHQUAKE. FURTHERMORE, WE INVESTIGATED PREGNANT WOMEN WHO GAVE BIRTH BETWEEN MARCH 1ST AND DECEMBER 31ST 2010 (N = 2,553) AND WE CLASSIFIED THEM ACCORDING TO TIMING OF EXPOSITION. RESULTS: WE FOUND A 9% REDUCTION IN BIRTH RATE, BUT AN INCREASE IN THE RATE OF EARLY PRETERM DELIVERIES (

MUCH EPIDEMIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE HAS SHOWN THAT THE OFFSPRING BORN TO PREECLAMPTIC WOMEN (HYPERTENSION IN PREGNANCY) HAVE A HIGH RISK FOR DEVELOPING CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES AND NEUROCOGNITIVE DISORDERS, INCLUDING LANGUAGE DISORDERS LATER IN LIFE. NEVERTHELESS, THE ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE DISORDERS IN CHILDREN BORN TO PREECLAMPTIC WOMEN IS LIMITED. THEREFORE, THE PRESENT STUDY AIMS TO INVESTIGATE ORAL LANGUAGE IN CHILDREN OF MOTHERS WHO HAD PREECLAMPSIA. METHOD: THIS IS A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY, PREVIOUSLY APPROVED BY THE SCIENTIFIC ETHICS COMMITTEE OF THE HOSPITAL CLÍNICO HERMINDA MARTIN OF CHILLÁN, CHILE. THE ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED ON A THIRD (N = 17) OF A TARGET UNIVERSE OF 56 CHILDREN. THESE WERE SUB-DIVIDED INTO GROUPS OF PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN BORN TO NORMAL PREGNANCIES (N = 4) AND PREECLAMPTIC WOMEN (N = 3); AND CHILDREN OF SCHOOL AGE BORN TO NORMAL (N = 5) AND PREECLAMPTIC WOMEN (N = 5). WE EVALUATED IN GENERAL (SCREENING) THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF LANGUAGE AND NARRATIVE DISCOURSE USING AN ADAPTATION OF THE TESTS AVAILABLE IN THE LITERATURE. RESULTS: NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CHILDREN OF PRE-SCHOOL OR SCHOOL AGE FROM BOTH GROUPS OF PREGNANCIES WERE FOUND IN THE TOTAL SCORE OF THE LANGUAGE EVALUATION TEST. HOWEVER, IN THE MORE DETAILED ANALYSIS OF EITHER THE EXPRESSIVE OR THE COMPREHENSIVE ASPECT, SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES WERE DETECTED THAT RESULTED IN A LOW PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN BORN TO MOTHERS WITH PRE-ECLAMPSIA IN THE PRE-SCHOOL STAGE WHO FAILED TO UNDERSTAND OR EXPRESS PART OF THE DELIVERED MESSAGE (END OF A TALE) COMPARED TO THE RESPECTIVE CONTROLS. CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT CHILDREN BORN TO MOTHERS WITH PREECLAMPSIA MAY HAVE DECREASED UNDERSTANDING AND EXPRESSION OF NARRATIVE DISCOURSE AT PRESCHOOL AGE. WE SUGGEST THAT PREECLAMPSIA MIGHT CAUSE DIMINISHED ORAL VERBAL ABILITY IN OFFSPRING.

MODERN LIFE HAS CREATED A HIGH DEMAND FOR FUNCTIONAL FOOD, AND IN THIS CONTEXT, EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS VACUUM IMPREGNATION AND OHMIC HEATING HAVE BEEN APPLIED TO GENERATE FUNCTIONAL FOODS. THE AIM OF THIS RESEARCH WAS TO ENRICH THE CONTENT OF THE SEMI-ESSENTIAL AMINO ACID L-ARGININE IN APPLE CUBES USING VACUUM IMPREGNATION, CONVENTIONAL HEATING, AND OHMIC HEATING. ADDITIONALLY, COMBINED VACUUM IMPREGNATION/CONVENTIONAL HEATING AND VACUUM IMPREGNATION/OHMIC HEATING TREATMENTS WERE EVALUATED. THE ABOVE TREATMENTS WERE APPLIED AT 30, 40 AND 50 ? AND COMBINED WITH AIR-DRYING AT 40 ? IN ORDER TO OBTAIN AN APPLE SNACK RICH IN L-ARGININE. BOTH THE IMPREGNATION KINETICS OF L-ARGININE AND SAMPLE COLOR WERE EVALUATED. THE IMPREGNATED SAMPLES CREATED USING VACUUM IMPREGNATION/OHMIC HEATING AT 50 ? PRESENTED A HIGH CONTENT OF L-ARGININE, AN EFFECT ATTRIBUTED PRIMARILY TO ELECTROPERMEABILIZATION. OVERALL, VACUUM IMPREGNATION/OHMIC HEATING TREATMENT AT 50 ?, FOLLOWED BY DRYING AT 40 ?, WAS THE BEST PROCESS FOR OBTAINING AN APPLE SNACK RICH IN L-ARGININE.

EMERGING EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES (EVS) CAN MODULATE SIGNALS ON NEIGHBORING TROPHOBLAST AND ENDOTHELIAL CELLS, AND DISTANT CELLS OF OTHER ORGANS DURING PREGNANCY. EVS MAY ALSO BE TAKEN UP AND INTEGRATED INTO THE TARGET CELLS. HERE, WE AIMED TO DETECT AQUAPORIN-4 (AQP4) AND AQUAPORIN-9 (AQP9) PROTEIN EXPRESSIONS IN EV-ENRICHED SAMPLES OF PLASMA FROM HEALTHY AND PREECLAMPTIC PREGNANT WOMEN AND COMPARED THEM WITH THE AQP4 AND AQP9 EXPRESSIONS IN THE PLACENTA.

EVIDENCE FROM CLINICAL STUDIES HAS PROPOSED THAT CHILDREN BORN FROM PREECLAMPTIC WOMEN HAVE A HIGHER RISK OF SUFFERING NEUROLOGICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, OR BEHAVIORAL ALTERATIONS. HOWEVER, TO DATE, THE MECHANISMS BEHIND THESE OUTCOMES ARE POORLY UNDERSTOOD. HERE, WE SPECULATE THAT THE NEURODEVELOPMENTAL ALTERATIONS IN THE CHILDREN OF PREECLAMPTIC PREGNANCIES RESULT FROM IMPAIRED ANGIOGENESIS. THE PRO-ANGIOGENIC FACTORS VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR (VEGF) AND PLACENTAL GROWTH FACTOR (PLGF) ARE KEY REGULATORS OF BOTH VASCULAR AND NEUROLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT, AND IT HAS BEEN WIDELY DEMONSTRATED THAT UMBILICAL BLOOD OF PREECLAMPTIC PREGNANCIES CONTAINS HIGH LEVELS OF SOLUBLE VEGF RECEPTOR TYPE 1 (SFLT-1), A DECOY RECEPTOR OF VEGF. AS A CONSEQUENCE, THIS ANTI-ANGIOGENIC STATE COULD LEAD TO LONG-LASTING NEUROLOGICAL OUTCOMES. IN THIS NON-SYSTEMATIC REVIEW, WE PROPOSE THAT ALTERATIONS IN THE CIRCULATING CONCENTRATIONS OF VEGF, PLGF, AND SFLT-1 IN PREECLAMPTIC PREGNANCIES WILL AFFECT BOTH FETAL CEREBROVASCULAR FUNCTION AND NEURODEVELOPMENT, WHICH IN TURN MAY CAUSE COGNITIVE ALTERATIONS IN POST-NATAL LIFE.

PREECLAMPSIA IS A MATERNAL SYNDROME CHARACTERIZED BY THE NEW ONSET OF HYPERTENSION AND PROTEINURIA AFTER 20 WEEKS OF GESTATION ASSOCIATED WITH MULTISYSTEMIC COMPLICATIONS, INCLUDING BRAIN ALTERATIONS. INDEED, BRAIN COMPLICATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH PREECLAMPSIA ARE THE LEADING DIRECT CAUSES OF FETAL AND MATERNAL MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY, ESPECIALLY IN LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES. IN ADDITION TO THE WELL-RECOGNIZED LONG-TERM ADVERSE CARDIOVASCULAR EFFECTS OF PREECLAMPSIA, WOMEN WHO HAVE HAD PREECLAMPSIA HAVE HIGHER RISK OF STROKE, DEMENTIA, INTRACEREBRAL WHITE MATTER LESIONS, EPILEPSY, AND PERHAPS ALSO COGNITIVE DECLINE POSTPARTUM. FURTHERMORE, INCREASING EVIDENCE HAS ALSO ASSOCIATED PREECLAMPSIA WITH SIMILAR COGNITIVE AND CEREBRAL DISORDERS IN THE OFFSPRING. HOWEVER, THE MECHANISTIC LINKS BETWEEN THESE ASSOCIATIONS REMAIN UNRESOLVED. THIS ARTICLE SUMMARIZES THE CURRENT KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE CEREBROVASCULAR COMPLICATIONS ELICITED BY PREECLAMPSIA AND THE POTENTIAL PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS INVOLVED, EMPHASIZING THE IMPAIRED BRAIN VASCULAR FUNCTION IN THE MOTHER AND THEIR OFFSPRING.

BACKGROUND STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS PRODUCES 11 SEROTYPES OF ENDOTOXINS THAT MAY CAUSE FOOD POISONING. AIM TO DETERMINE THE PREVALENCE OF TYPE A ENTEROTOXIGENIC STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS CARRIAGE AMONG FOOD SERVICE WORKERS IN CHILLAN, CHILE. MATERIAL AND METHODS PHARYNGEAL SWABS WERE OBTAINED FROM 100 FOOD SERVICE WORKERS AND WERE CULTURED IN AGAR PLATES. AFTER IDENTIFYING THE PRESENCE OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS, DNA WAS EXTRACTED TO IDENTIFY TYPE A TOXIN BY CONVENTIONAL PCR. RESULTS THIRTY EIGHT PERCENT OF SAMPLES WERE COLONIZED WITH STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS. AMONG THESE, 26% WERE TOXIN A PRODUCERS. CONCLUSIONS HALF OF THE SAMPLED WORKERS CARRIED STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS AND A QUARTER OF THESE PRODUCED TYPE A ENTEROTOXIN. KEY WORDS STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS; ENTEROTOXINS; FOODBORNE DISEASES