Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) arises from acute or chronic liver diseases and leads to several problems, including motor impairment. Animal models of chronic liver disease have extensively investigated the mechanisms of this disease. Impairment of locomotor activity has been described in different rat models. However, these studies are controversial and the majority has primarily analyzed activity parameters. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate locomotor and exploratory behavior in bile duct-ligated (BDL) rats to explore the spatial and temporal structure of behavior. Adult female Wistar rats underwent common bile duct ligation (BDL rats) or the manipulation of common bile duct without ligation (control rats). Six weeks after surgery, control and BDL rats underwent open-field, plus-maze and foot-fault behavioral tasks. The BDL rats developed chronic liver failure and exhibited a decrease in total distance traveled, increased total immobility time, smaller number of rearings, longer periods in the home base area and decreased percentage of time in the center zone of the arena, when compared to the control rats. Moreover, the performance of the BDL rats was not different from the control rats for the elevated plus-maze and foot-fault tasks. Therefore, the BDL rats demonstrated disturbed spontaneous locomotor and exploratory activities as a consequence of altered spatio-temporal organization of behavior.

Taurine seems to improve hepatic steatosis by reducing oxidative stress and increasing SIRT1 expression.

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Introduction: Communities of socially excluded immigrant women, especially Muslim, Asian, Aboriginal and Maroon, are among the groups of women with low rates of cervical screening. Exclusion of the pelvic examination could result in a higher acceptance of the cervical screening among these communities and an increase in screening coverage. Aim: To assess the performance of the Fournier® cervical specimen self-sampling device for the cytological diagnosis of precursor or neoplastic lesions in the uterine cervix using the Papanicolaou method. Methods: A case-control study was conducted at the Cervical Pathology Outpatient Clinic. Liquid-based cytology slides were obtained by the Fournier device and stained using the Papanicolaou method. The slides were analyzed by two pathologists, blinded for the colposcopic and histological results and compared to Papanicolaou smears that were obtained using the traditional method of speculum examination. Results: There were 68 patients who were considered free from precursor or neoplastic cervical lesions. There were 35 cases of low-grade lesions, 13 cases of high-grade lesions and 3 cases of squamous-cell carcinoma. According to the first and second pathologists, the sensitivities of the device for identifying precursor or neoplastic cervical lesions were 50.0 and 60.0%, and the specificities of the method were 81.8 and 73.8%. According to the first and second pathologists, the positive predictive values of the diagnostic test were 0.67 and 0.63, and the negative predictive values were 0.68 and 0.71, respectively. Conclusion: Sensitivity and specificity of the Fournier device test was comparable to Papanicolaou smears tests obtained using the traditional method with speculum examination.

Background: The American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists (ASCO/CAP) published, in Nov/2013, the interpretive guidelines for HER2 testing of breast cancer patients. This aimed to improve the accuracy of HER2 testing and its utility as a predictive marker in invasive breast cancer. The former version of these criteria was written in 2007. Objectives: to compare the HER2 immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis using the 2007 versus 2013 algorithms in a cohort of breast cancer cases diagnosed in a single institution in Southern Brazil. The cases were previously classified as HER2 1+ or 2+, using the 2007 criteria. Methods: the sample included 100 invasive breast cancer cases. The HercepTest (Dako, Denmark) was used for determination of HER2 expression. The HER2 testing was analyzed independently by two pathologists. The FISH analysis was done using a HER2/D17Z1 probe set. Preliminary Results: The HER2 IHC interpretation changed in 11/69 (15.9%) cases: 8.7% negative or equivocal cases by the 2007 guidelines were positive by the 2013 classification and 7.2% of HER2 1+ cases became equivocal (p<0.001; x2 test). The FISH analyses are ongoing. Conclusion: The 2013 ASCO/CAP guidelines resulted in less negative cases and in more equivocal (requiring reflex testing) and positive tests. Applying the ASCO/CAP 2013 guidelines resulted in a significantly increase of breast cancer patients eligible for HER2-targeted therapies. Citation Format: Juliana Giacomazzi, Carolina R Hartmann, Diego D Paskulin, Luis Fernando Rivero, Maira Caleffi, Alessandro C Pasqualotto, Marcia S Graudenz, Daniela D Rosa. The ASCO/CAP guideline update for HER2 testing increases the number of breast cancer patients eligible for HER2-targeted therapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2014 Dec 9-13; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(9 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-15-22.