Nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs of abuse. Tobacco smoking is a major cause of many health problems, and is the first preventable cause of death worldwide. Several findings show that nicotine exerts significant aversive as well as the well-known rewarding motivational effects. Less certain is the anatomical substrate that mediates or enables nicotine aversion. Here, we show that acute nicotine induces anxiogenic-like effects in rats at the doses investigated (0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 mg/kg, i.p.), as measured by the hole-board apparatus and manifested in behaviors such as decreased rearing and head-dipping and increased grooming. No changes in locomotor behavior were observed at any of the nicotine doses given. T-pattern analysis of the behavioral outcomes revealed a drastic reduction and disruption of complex behavioral patterns induced by all three nicotine doses, with the maximum effect for 1 mg/kg. Lesion of the lateral habenula (LHb) induced hyperlocomotion and, strikingly, reversed the nicotine-induced anxiety obtained at 1 mg/kg to an anxiolytic-like effect, as shown by T-pattern analysis. We suggest that the LHb is critically involved in emotional behavior states and in nicotine-induced anxiety, most likely through modulation of monoaminergic nuclei.

Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is the most common pediatric overgrowth syndrome. Features characteristic of the BWS phenotype include both physical attributes, such as macroglossia, abdominal wall defects, gigantism, nevus flammeus, visceromegaly, and mid-face hypoplasia, as well as biochemical abnormalities such as hypoglycemia. It is essential for the neonatal nurse to be able to recognize BWS in the patient's early years of life because of the increased frequency of medical complications, malformations, and the increased risk of embryonic malignancies. This article focuses on the presentation of BWS as an aid to early detection.

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Introduction Anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines clinical trials did not include patients with immune-mediated conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We aimed to describe the implementation of anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination among IBD patients, patients’ concerns and side-effect profile of the anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines using real-world data. Methods An anonymous web-based self-completed survey was distributed in 36 European countries between June and July 2021. The results of the patient characteristics, concerns, vaccination status and side-effect profile were analysed. Results 3272 IBD patients completed the survey, 79.6% had received at least one dose of anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, and 71.7% had completed the vaccination process. Patients over 60 years old had a significantly higher rate of vaccination (p<0.001). Patients’ main concerns before vaccination were the possibility of having worse vaccine-related adverse events due to their IBD (24.6%), an IBD flare after vaccination (21.1%) and reduced vaccine efficacy due to IBD or associated immunosuppression (17.6%). After the first dose of the vaccine, 72.4% had local symptoms and 51.4% had systemic symptoms (5 patients had non-specified thrombosis). Adverse events were less frequent after the second dose of the vaccine and in older patients. Only a minority of the patients were hospitalized (0.3%), needed a consultation (3.6%) or had to change IBD therapy (13.4%) after anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Conclusion Although IBD patients raised concerns about the safety and efficacy of anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, the implementation of vaccination in those responding to our survey was high and the adverse events were comparable to the general population, with minimal impact on their IBD.

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