Objective: To determine the effects of acute and chronic administration of methylprednisolone on oxidative stress, as quantified by measuring lipid peroxidation (LPO) and total reactive antioxidant potential (TRAP), in rat lungs. Methods: Forty Wistar rats were divided into four groups: acute treatment, comprising rats receiving a single injection of methylprednisolone (50 mg/kg i.p.); acute control, comprising rats i.p. injected with saline; chronic treatment, comprising rats receiving methylprednisolone in drinking water (6 mg/kg per day for 30 days); and chronic control, comprising rats receiving normal drinking water. Results: The levels of TRAP were significantly higher in the acute treatment group rats than in the acute control rats, suggesting an improvement in the pulmonary defenses of the former. The levels of lung LPO were significantly higher in the chronic treatment group rats than in the chronic control rats, indicating oxidative damage in the lung tissue of the former. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the acute use of corticosteroids is beneficial to lung tissue, whereas their chronic use is not. The chronic use of methylprednisolone appears to increase lung LPO levels.

ResumoObjetivo: este estudo transversal avaliou a prevalência de consumo de tabaco e/ou de álcool e de doenças cardiovasculares em população do sul do Brasil. Métodos e Indivíduos: população em estudo: 229 idosos (56,3% de mulheres e 43,7% de homens) com mais de 60 anos moradores da cidade de Cachoeira do Sul/RS. Utilizou-se questionário estruturado, contendo informações como idade, sexo, escolaridade, relato de uso de álcool, tabaco e doenças cardiovasculares. Resultados: 38,4% dos entrevistados relataram fazer uso de tabaco. Considerando os números totais por gênero, 66% dos homens e 17% das mulheres são tabagistas. Dentre os sujeitos que se declararam tabagistas, 37,5% consomem álcool e 24,5% dos entrevistados referiram serem ex-tabagistas. Gênero e escolaridade mostraram associação signifi cativa com uso de tabaco na análise multivariada. As análises univariada e multivariada indicaram signifi cativa associação entre doenças cardíacas e consumo de tabaco. Regressão logística mostrou associação entre hipertensão e tabagismo. A prevalência geral estimada para uso de álcool foi de 35,4% (12,4% para mulheres e 65% para homens). Cerca de 50% dos indivíduos hipertensos consomem álcool, e observamos associação signifi cativa entre idade e consumo de álcool. Conclusão: Este é um estudo transversal não sendo adequado para estudo de causalidade. No entanto, podemos afi rmar que, na amostra estudada, há associação entre consumo de álcool e/ou tabaco e aumento da prevalência de doenças cardiovasculares em idosos.Palavras-Chave: Tabaco; Álcool; Idosos; Doenças cardiovasculares. AbstractObjective: This cross-sectional study evaluated the prevalence of tobacco and/or alcohol consumption and cardiovascular diseases in a population in southern Brazil. Methods and Individuals: study population: 229 elderly (56.3% of women and 43.7% of men) with more than 60 years living in the city of Cachoeira do Sul / RS. A structured questionnaire was used, containing information such as age, sex, education, and reports of alcohol, tobacco and cardiovascular diseases. Results: 38.4% of the interviewees reported using tobacco (66% of men and 17% of women) and 24.5% re-

The influence of catecholamines (CA) on hypothalamic somatostatin (HPT-SRIF) was investigated in rats by using several drugs which interfere with brain CA metabolism. Depletion of brain CA stores by α-methyl-p-tyrosine (AMT) increased HPT-SRIF, while augmented brain CA levels following L-dopa administration decreased HPT-SRIF content. Blockade of dopamine β-hydroxylase activity by disulfiram depleted brain noradrenaline (NA) and decreased HPT-SRIF. The selective increase in brain NA stores caused by threo-dihydroxyphenylserine (DOPS) also produced an increase in HPT-SRIF. Increased dopamine (DA) and decreased NA levels after disulfiram + L-dopa (1 h) treatment did not modify HPT-SRIF, whereas unaltered NA and greatly increased DA levels following disulfiram + L-dopa (2 h) treatment produced a drastic reduction of HPT-SRIF. The results suggest that DA and NA exert an influence on HPT-SRIF, supporting previous observations.

Introduction: The transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a neuromodulatory technique with the potential to decrease pain scores and to improve chronic pain treatment. Although age is an essential factor that might impact the tDCS effect, most studies are solely conducted in adults. Therefore, the age limitation presents a critical research gap in this field and can be shown by only a handful of studies that have included other age groups. To examine the evidence upon the tDCS effect on pain scores on children, adolescents, or elderly, and indirectly, to infer the age-dependent impact on tDCS effects, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: A systematic review searching the following databases: PubMed, EMBASE, and Science Direct using the following search terms adapted according to MeSh or Entree: [("Adolescent" OR "Children" OR "Elderly") AND ("tDCS") AND ("Pain" OR "Pain threshold") AND ("dorsolateral prefrontal cortex" OR "Motor cortex)] up to April 20th, 2020. We retrieved 228 articles, 13 were included in the systematic review, and five studies with elderly subjects that had their outcomes assessed by pain score or pain threshold were included in the meta-analysis. Results: For the analysis of pain score, 96 individuals received active stimulation, and we found a favorable effect for active tDCS to reduce pain score compared to sham (P = 0.002). The standardized difference was −0.76 (CI 95% = −1.24 to −0.28). For the pain threshold, the analysis showed no significant difference between active and sham tDCS. We reviewed two studies with adolescents: one study using anodal tDCS over the prefrontal cortex reported a reduction in pain scores. However, the second study reported an increase in pain sensitivity for the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) stimulation. Conclusion: Our findings suggest tDCS may reduce pain levels in the elderly group. Nevertheless, the small number of studies included in this review-and the considerable heterogeneity for clinical conditions and protocols of stimulation present-limits the support of tDCS use for pain treatment in elderly people. Larger studies on the tDCS effect on pain are needed to be conducted in elderly and adolescents, also evaluating different montages and electrical current intensity.

The impaired cortical function likely plays a critical role in chronic pain maintenance and fibromyalgia symptoms. While the functional connectivity (FC), as assessed by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), is a promising approach that evaluates cortical activation through hemodynamic response estimation. Thus, this study compared the FC of bilateral motor and prefrontal cortices between responders and nonresponders to the conditioned pain modulation task (CPM-test) induced by hand immersion in cold water (0–1°C). We included 37 women with fibromyalgia according to the American College of Rheumatology diagnoses criteria (n = 23 responders to  CPM-task and n = 14 nonresponders). After the adjustment for multiple comparisons, we found that nonresponders relative to responders showed higher FC between the left motor cortex (LMC) with both left prefrontal cortex (LPFC; t=-2.476, p-value=0.01) and right prefrontal cortex (RPFC; t=-2.363, p=0.02). The psychiatric diagnoses was also positively associated with a higher FC on the LMC-LPFC and the LMC-RPFC. These results indicate that the higher connectivity between the left motor and bilateral prefrontal cortex might be a neural marker of DPMS dysfunction and an intermediate in the interplay between fibromyalgia and psychiatric disorders.

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Background: The involvement of the airway smooth muscle mediator nitric oxide (NO) in the actions of the β₂ agonist salbutamol (Sal), a well- known bronchodilator, is very poorly understood. Objectives: To determine if endogenous NO release is a major factor in the Sal-induced relaxation of the carbachol- and electrical field-stimulated rat trachea and determine the role of the tracheal epithelium as the possible source of NO involved in these effects. Methods: Isolated carbachol- or electric field-stimulated pre-contracted in vitro male Sprague Dawley rat tracheas (with epithelium intact or denuded) were relaxed with incremental or discrete concentrations of Sal in the presence and absence of the NO synthesis inhibitor L-NAME. Results: Epithelium-denuded tracheas showed a reduced relaxation response to Sal. L-NAME (1 mM) similarly decreased the sensitivity of the rat tracheas to Sal in both epithelium-intact and -denuded conditions. In the presence of L-NAME, high concentrations of Sal induced an unexpectedly large relaxation response in carbachol-stimulated rat tracheas with both intact and denuded epithelium. Sal relaxation was also affected by L-NAME in electrical field-stimulated epithelium-intact and -denuded tracheas. Conclusion: The results suggest that NO derived from sources other than the epithelium is an important mediator of the Sal-induced relaxation in rat tracheas.

BackgroundTranscranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a promising approach to improving fibromyalgia (FM) symptoms, including cognitive impairment. So, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of home-based tDCS in treating cognitive impairment. Besides, we explored if the severity of dysfunction of the Descendant Pain Modulation System (DPMS) predicts the tDCS effect and if its effect is linked to changes in neuroplasticity as measured by the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).MethodsThis randomized, double-blind, parallel, sham-controlled clinical trial, single-center, included 36 women with FM, aged from 30 to 65 years old, assigned 2:1 to receive a-tDCS (n = 24) and s-tDCS (n = 12). The primary outcome was the Trail Making Test’s assessment of executive attention, divided attention, working memory (WM), and cognitive flexibility (TMT-B-A). The secondary outcomes were the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT), the WM by Digits subtest from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III), and quality of life. Twenty-minute daily sessions of home-based tDCS for 4 weeks (total of 20 sessions), 2 mA anodal-left (F3) and cathodal-right (F4) prefrontal stimulation with 35 cm2 carbon electrodes.ResultsGLM showed a main effect for treatment in the TMT-B-A [Wald χ2 = 6.176; Df = 1; P = 0.03]. The a-tDCS improved cognitive performance. The effect size estimated by Cohen’s d at treatment end in the TMT-B-A scores was large [–1.48, confidence interval (CI) 95% = –2.07 to–0.90]. Likewise, the a-tDCS effects compared to s-tDCS improved performance in the WM, verbal and phonemic fluency, and quality-of-life scale. The impact of a-tDCS on the cognitive tests was positively correlated with the reduction in serum BDNF from baseline to treatment end. Besides, the decrease in the serum BDNF was positively associated with improving the quality of life due to FM symptoms.ConclusionThese findings revealed that daily treatment with a home-based tDCS device over l-DLPFC compared to sham stimulation over 4 weeks improved the cognitive impairment in FM. The a-tDCS at home was well-tolerated, underlining its potential as an alternative treatment for cognitive dysfunction. Besides, the a-tDCS effect is related to the severity of DPMS dysfunction and changes in neuroplasticity state.Clinical trial registration[www.ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [NCT03843203].