Background:The aim of this review was to identify the mechanisms by which serotonin receptors involved at the central level are able to modulate the nociceptive response. Pain is a defense mechanism of the body that entails physio-logical, anatomical, neurochemical, and psychological changes, and is defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional expe-rience with potential risk of tissue damage, comprising the leading cause of appointments with Physicians worldwide. Treatment for this symptom has generated several neuropharmacological lines of research, due to the different types of pain and the various drugs employed to treat this condition. Serotonin [5-HydroxyTryptamine (5-HT)] is a neurotransmitter with seven families (5-HT1–5-HT7) and approximately 15 receptor subtypes. Serotonin modulates neuronal activity; however, this neurotransmitter is related with a number of physiological processes, such as cardiovascular function, gastric motility, renal function, etc. On the other hand, several researches reported that serotonin modulates nociceptive response through 5-HT1, 5-HT2, 5-HT3, and 5-HT7 receptors in the Central Nervous System (CNS).Method:In this review, a search was conducted on PubMed, ProQuest, EBSCO, and the Science Citation Index for studies evaluating the effects of 5-HT1, 5-HT2, 5-HT3, and 5-HT7 receptors in the CNS on the modulation of different types of pain.ConclusionWe concluded that 5-HT1, 5-HT2, 5-HT3, and 5-HT7 receptors in the CNS modulate the pain, but this depends on the distribution of the receptors, dose of agonists or antagonists, administration route, pain type and duration in order to inhibit, excite, or even maintain the nociceptive response.

Oxidative stress, a state of imbalance in the production of reactive oxygen species and nitrogen, is induced by a wide variety of factors. This biochemical state is associated with systemic diseases, and diseases affecting the central nervous system. Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder with refractoriness to drug therapy at about 30%. Currently, experimental evidence supports the involvement of oxidative stress in seizures, in the process of their generation, and in the mechanisms associated with refractoriness to drug therapy. Hence, the aim of this review is to present information in order to facilitate the handling of this evidence and determine the therapeutic impact of the biochemical status for this pathology.

Background: The aetiological relationship between human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical cancer (CC) is widely accepted. Our goal was to determine the prevalence of HPV types in Mexican women attending at the Mexican Institute for Social Security from different areas of Mexico. Materials and Methods: DNAs from 2,956 cervical samples were subjected to HPV genotyping: 1,020 samples with normal cytology, 931 with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LGSIL), 481 with high grade HGSIL and 524 CC. Results: Overall HPV prevalence was 67.1%. A total of 40 HPV types were found; HPV16 was detected in 39.4% of the HPV-positive samples followed by HPV18 at 7.5%, HPV31 at 7.1%, HPV59 at 4.9%, and HPV58 at 3.2%. HPV16 presented the highest prevalence both in women with altered or normal cytology and HPV 18 presented a minor prevalence as reported worldwide. The prevalence ratio (PR) was calculated for the HPV types. The analysis of PR showed that HPV16 presents the highest association with CC, HPV 31, -33, -45, -52 and -58 also demonstrating a high association. Conclusions: The most prevalent HPV types in cervical cancer samples were -16, -18, -31, but it is important to note that we obtained a minor prevalence of HPV18 as reported worldwide, and that HPV58 and -52 also were genotypes with an important prevalence in CC samples. Determination of HPV genotypes is very important in order to evaluate the impact of vaccine introduction and future cervical cancer prevention strategies.

Cervical cancer (CC) as other cancer types, presents molecular deregulations, such as the alterations of transcription factors. Krüppel-like factors (KLF) are a family of transcriptional regulators. They are involved in diverse cellular processes, such as proliferation, apoptosis, and angiogenesis among others. Here, we analyzed the expression of all 17 KLF members at messenger RNA (mRNA) level, and protein expression of the two most commonly altered KLF5 and KLF6 in cervical tissues. Fifty-nine cervical tissues ranging from normal tissue to CC were evaluated for KLF1-17 mRNA expression by end-point RT-PCR and KLF5 by qRT-PCR. For KLF5 and KLF6 protein analysis, a tissue microarray was constructed containing the 59 cases and subjected for immunohistochemistry assay and KLF6 IVS1-27G>A single nucleotide polymorphism by direct DNA sequencing. KLF2-16 expressions were present in normal tissue, whereas all 17 were present in Low-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion, High-Grade-SIL and CC, unrelated to presence of human papillomavirus (HPV). KLF5 mRNA expression gradually increased throughout the subgroups and overexpressed in CC (p=0.01). KLF5 and KLF6 proteins were immunodetected in all samples. For the KLF6 SNP analysis, 80% of the CC population analyzed presented GG genotype and the remaining 20% presented GA genotype (p=0.491). Our present data show that KLFs expression could not be related to HPV presence, at least at transcriptional level, and KLF5 mRNA overexpression could represent a potential molecular marker for CC; KLF6 SNP has no relation to increased risk of CC.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs (18-25 nucleotides) that post-transcriptionally modulate gene expression by negatively regulating the stability or translational efficiency of their target mRNAs. In this context, the present study aimed to evaluate the in vitro effects of miR-485 mimics in breast carcinoma T47D cells. Forty-eight hours after T47D cells were transfected with miR-485 mimics, an MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay was utilized to determine the effects on cell viability. Colony formation and cell migration assays were adopted to determine whether miR-485 affects the proliferation rates and cell migration of breast carcinoma T47D cells. Our results showed that ectopic expression of miR-485 resulted in a significant decrease in cell growth, cell colony formation, and cell migration. These findings suggest that miR-485 might play an important role in breast cancer by suppressing cell proliferation and migration.

BackgroundCervical Cancer (CC) has become a public health concern of alarming proportions in many developing countries such as Mexico, particularly in low income sectors and marginalized regions. As such, an early detection is a key medical factor in improving not only their population’s quality of life but also its life expectancy. Interestingly, there has been an increase in the number of reports describing successful attempts at detecting cancer cells in human tissues or fluids using trained (sniffer) dogs. The great odor detection threshold exhibited by dogs is not unheard of. However, this represented a potential opportunity to develop an affordable, accessible, and non-invasive method for detection of CC.MethodsUsing clicker training, a male beagle was trained to recognize CC odor. During training, fresh CC biopsies were used as a reference point. Other samples used included cervical smears on glass slides and medical surgical bandages used as intimate sanitary pads by CC patients. A double-blind procedure was exercised when testing the beagle’s ability to discriminate CC from control samples.ResultsThe beagle was proven able to detect CC-specific volatile organic compounds (VOC) contained in both fresh cervical smear samples and adsorbent material samples. Beagle’s success rate at detecting and discriminating CC and non-CC odors, as indicated by specificity and sensitivity values recorded during the experiment, stood at an overall high (>90%). CC-related VOC in adsorbent materials were detectable after only eight hours of use by CC patients.ConclusionPresent data suggests different applications for VOC from the uterine cervix to be used in the detection and diagnosis of CC. Furthermore, data supports the use of trained dogs as a viable, affordable, non-invasive and, therefore, highly relevant alternative method for detection of CC lesions. Additional benefits of this method include its quick turnaround time and ease of use while remaining highly accurate and robust.

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The present study was performed to assess the activity of the botulinum toxin A on breast cancer cells. The T47D cell line was exposed to diverse concentrations of the botulinum toxin A and cell viability and apoptosis were estimated using MTT and propidium iodine/annexin V methods, respectively. Botulinum toxin A exerted greater cytotoxic activity in T47D cells in comparison with MCF10A normal cells; this appeared to be via apoptotic processes caspase-3 and -7. In conclusion, botulinum toxin A induces caspase-3 and -7 dependent apoptotic processes in the T47D breast cancer cell line.