The classical motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD) are preceded by non-motor symptoms in preclinical stages, including cognition impairment. The current drug treatment for PD is palliative and does not meet the clinical challenges of the disease, such as levodopa-induced dyskinesia, non-motor symptoms, and neuroprotection. We investigated the neuroprotective and disease-modifying potential of physical exercise in a preclinical animal model of PD. C57BL/6 mice (adult males) ran on a horizontal treadmill for 6 weeks (moderate intensity, 5 times/week) and were treated intranasally with 65 mg/kg of the neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). Exercise did not protect against MPTP-induced nigrostriatal neurodegeneration or frontostriatal dopamine depletion but decreased striatal dopamine turnover. Exercise also attenuated procedural and working memory impairment and D2 receptor hypersensitivity in MPTP-treated mice. In summary, exercise improved dopaminergic neurotransmission and enhanced cognition in a preclinical animal model of PD.
Mycobacterium bovis is the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis, a disease that affects dairy herds throughout the Brazilian territory, constituting a neglected zoonosis transmitted by raw milk and its derivatives. In this study, we evaluated the presence of M. bovis and other mycobacteria in Minas cheese obtained from open fairs in the city of São Paulo between 2012 and 2013. Samples (n = 133) were decontaminated using hexa-cetylpyridinium chloride and seeded on Stonebrink–Leslie medium. The isolates were submitted to molecular identification by TB Multiplex PCR targeting the 16S rRNA gene and amplicon nucleotide sequencing. From 16 cheese samples (12%), we obtained 26 putative colonies of Mycobacterium spp., none of which belonged to any of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium avium, or Mycobacterium intracellulare complexes. Phylogenetic analysis showed that sample sequences were grouped in a clade that includes only non-tuberculous mycobacteria with proximity to sequences obtained from Mycobacterium novocastrense (3 sequences), Mycobacterium holsaticum (1 sequence), andMycobacterium elephantis (2 sequences). Although no epidemiological evidence was found regarding the importance of oral transmission of mycobacteria in healthy people, their importance in the immunosuppressed population remains uncertain.
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