Male exposure to cigarette smoke is associated with seminal defects and with congenital anomalies and childhood cancers in offspring. In mice, paternal exposure to cigarette smoke condensate (CSC) causes molecular defects in germ cells and phenotypic effects in their offspring. Here we used an testicular explant model and exposure to determine the concentration at which CSC impairs spermatogenesis and offspring development. We explanted testis tissue at postnatal day (P)5.5 and cultured it until P11.5. Assessment of growth parameters by analyzing expression of cell-specific markers revealed that the explant system maintained structural and functional integrity. We exposed the P5.5 to -11.5 explants to various concentrations (40-160 µg/ml) of CSC and confirmed that nicotine in the CSC was metabolized to cotinine. We assessed various growth and differentiation parameters, as well as testosterone production, and observed that many spermatogenesis features were impaired at 160 µg/ml CSC. The same parameters were impaired by a similar CSC concentration Finally, females mated to males that were exposed to 160 µg/ml CSC neonatally had increased rates of pup resorption. We conclude that male exposure to CSC impairs offspring development and that the concentration at which CSC impairs spermatogenesis is similar and Given that the concentrations of CSC we used contained similar doses of nicotine as human smokers are exposed to, we argue that our model mimics human male reproductive effects of smoking.-Esakky, P., Hansen, D. A., Drury, A. M., Felder, P., Cusumano, A., Moley, K. H. Testicular cells exhibit similar molecular responses to cigarette smoke condensate and .
Cigarette smoking causes neurobehavioral disorders such as anxiety, addiction, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Smokers have higher rate (53%) of major depressive disorder than non-smokers (6%). Smokers absorb nearly 10% of nicotine from each cigarette (~10 –15 mg) and tar or CSC (cigarette smoke condensate; 5.3 mg of nicotine / ml). Exposure to nicotine in utero causes tremors and startle responses in newborns, and ADHD by age 6. However, studies that demonstrate paternal-mediated neurobehavioral changes in offspring are limited. We set out to determine whether paternal smoking alters neurobehavioral outcomes in offspring and underlying molecular mechanisms. Our male mouse model demonstrates that the CSC exposure in adult mice leads to altered emotionality, hyperactive and anxiety-like nature, reduced sensorimotor gating, and increased anxious depression in their F1 adolescents. This was preceded by dysregulation of neuronal receptors at protein and mRNA levels and their targeting miRNAs in fetal (e18.5) brain. These intergenerational molecular changes in F1 offspring seem to be mediated through CSC-altered miRNAs in F0 caudal sperm. In addition, the sub-chronic CSC treatment elevates miRNA levels in sire serum without hindering the postnatal growth of progeny. Thus, the paternal exposure to CSC causes behavioral and molecular changes in offspring possibly by altering the F0 sperm-borne miRNAs.
Background Emotional memory is an important type of memory that is triggered by positive and negative emotions. It is characterized by an enhanced memory for emotional stimuli which is usually coupled with a decrease in memory of neutral preceding events. Emotional memory is strongly associated with amygdala function and therefore could be disrupted in neuropsychiatric disorders. To our knowledge, there is no translated and culturally adapted instrument for the Brazilian Portuguese speaking population to assess emotional memory. Objective To report the translation and cross-cultural adaptation of a Brazilian Portuguese version of the Emotional Memory Scale, originally published by Strange et al. in 2003. Methods The author of the original scale provided 36 lists with 16 words each. Translation was performed by three independent bilingual translators. Healthy subjects assessed how semantically related each word was within the list (0 to 10) and what the emotional valence of each word was (-6 to +6). Lists without negative words were excluded (negative selection), most positive and most unrelated words were excluded (positive and semantic selection, respectively), and lists with low semantic relationship were excluded (semantic assessment). Results Five lists were excluded during negative selection, four words from each list were excluded in positive and semantic selection, and 11 lists were excluded during semantic assessment. Finally, we reached 20 lists of semantically related words; each list had one negative word and 11 neutral words. Conclusion A scale is now available to evaluate emotional memory in the Brazilian population and requires further validation on its psychometrics properties.
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