Autonomic and peripheral neuropathies are well-described complications in diabetes. Diabetes mellitus is also associated to central nervous system damage. This little-known complication is characterized by impairment of brain functions and electrophysiological changes associated with neurochemical and structural abnormalities. The purpose of this study was to investigate brain structural and ultrastructural changes in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes. Cerebral cortex, hypothalamus, and cerebellum were obtained from controls and 8 weeks diabetic rats. Light and electron microscope studies showed degenerative changes of neurons and glia, perivascular and mitochondrial swelling, disarrangement of myelin sheath, increased area of myelinated axons, presynaptic vesicle dispersion in swollen axonal boutoms, fragmentation of neurofilaments, and oligodendrocyte abnormalities. In addition, depressive mood was observed in diabetic animals. The brain morphological alterations observed in diabetic animals could be related to brain pathologic process leading to abnormal function, cellular death, and depressive behavioral.

The current pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus infection is known as Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). This disease can be asymptomatic or can affect multiple organ systems. Damage induced by the virus is related to dysfunctional activity of the immune system, but the activity of molecules such as C-reactive protein (CRP) as a factor capable of inducing an inflammatory status that may be involved in the severe evolution of the disease, has not been extensively evaluated. A systematic review was performed using the NCBI-PubMed database to find articles related to Covid-19 immunity, inflammatory response, and CRP published from December 2019 to December 2020. High levels of CRP were found in patients with severe evolution of Covid-19 in which several organ systems were affected and in patients who died. CRP activates complement, induces the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and induces apoptosis which, together with the inflammatory status during the disease, can lead to a severe outcome. Several drugs can decrease the level or block the effect of CRP and might be useful in the treatment of Covid-19.From this review it is reasonable to conclude that CRP is a factor that can contribute to severe evolution of Covid-19 and that the use of drugs able to lower CRP levels or block its activity should be evaluated in randomized controlled clinical trials. K E Y W O R D SC-reactive protein, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, severe evolution | INTRODUCTIONSARS-CoV-2 starts its pathogenetic process through reninangiotensin system (RAS) activation, binding to the angiotensin II converting enzyme (ACE2) and originating a series of proinflammatory events that can induce a cytokine storm. 1,2 The C-reactive protein (CRP) is a molecule produced by the interaction of SARS-CoV-2 with ACE2, 3-5 which is not only an indicator of acute phase of inflammation but also has been related to prognosis and severity of Covid-19. [5][6][7] Therefore, CRP can be an important factor in the cellular damage during Covid-19. This review aims to describe the different mechanisms by which SARS-CoV-2 can induce cell

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Melatonin seems to be an important stimulatory factor of the immune system. This indolamine is capable of inducing activation of leukocytes. Tissue leukocyte infiltration is a key feature of inflammatory and immune responses; however, there is no information about the effect of melatonin on leukocyte chemotaxis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the in vitro and in vivo effects of melatonin on leukocyte chemotaxis, on modulation of leukocyte chemotaxis to other chemoattractants and on the in vivo induction of leukocyte chemokines. Neutrophils and mononuclear leukocytes (PBMC) were isolated by a discontinuous gradient on Hystopaque. Chemotaxis was performed in blind well Boyden's chambers. In vivo chemotaxis was determined after intraperitoneal injection of melatonin into rats. Leukocyte chemotactic response and leukocyte chemokine expression were determined in human volunteers treated with 20 mg daily of melatonin. Increased neutrophils and PBMC chemotaxis in response to 1.2 nm melatonin was observed in vitro. Peritoneal leukocytes were found increased after melatonin injection. Humans treated with melatonin showed an increased neutrophil chemotactic response to a physiological chemoattractant and increased expression of intracellular chemokines; however, decreased chemotactic response and no chemokine expression were observed in PBMC. These data suggest that melatonin could have a relevant role during the tissue leukocyte infiltration in inflammatory and immune responses.

Accumulating evidence demonstrates that oxidative stress is one of the underlying mechanisms to induce apoptosis in different biological systems. The aim of this study was to examine the simultaneous presence and correlation between oxidative stress events, apoptosis, apoptosis-associated proteins and monocyte/macrophage infiltration during the course of acute puromycin aminonucleoside nephrosis (PAN). To induce nephrosis, Sprague-Dawley rats were injected intraperitoneally with puromycin aminonucleoside and killed at weeks 1 and 2 of nephrosis. Controls represent animals injected with 0.9% saline solution. Kidney sections were homogenized to measure nitric oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activities by appropriate enzymatic and biochemical methods. Renal frozen sections were studied for superoxide anion (O(2) (-)) by a histochemical method, for apoptosis by TUNEL (terminal-deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUTP- digoxigenin nick end labelling) and for apoptosis-associated protein expression and monocyte/macrophage infiltration by monoclonal antibodies. Increased renal apoptosis, p53, Bax, Bcl-2 accompanied by increased O(2) (-) and NO generation, lipid peroxidation (MDA) and monocyte/macrophage infiltration were found in nephrotic animals. Renal oxidative stress (O(2) (-), NO and MDA) was correlated with apoptosis, p53 expression, monocyte/macrophage cells and proteinuria. Anti-oxidant molecules (SOD and GSH) remained unchanged apart from a decreased activity of catalase which correlated with glomerular apoptosis. In conclusion, the close correlation between the presence of apoptosis and oxidative events confirms the role of oxidative stress in the apoptosis observed during PAN.