Clinically-related basic studies on the behavioral effects of ribavirin treatment are still lacking despite its wide use as an antiviral medication. This paper considers the effects of low ribavirin doses (10, 20 and 30 mg/kg/day) on psychomotor activity (novelty-induced exploratory behavior, d-amphetamine (AMPH, 1.5 mg/kg, intraperitoneal)-induced motor activity), and body weight gain in socially undisturbed adult male Wistar rats 24 h after the first, seventh and fourteenth once-a-day injection. Low doses of ribavirin were tested in an attempt to avoid the recognized systemic side effects related to high-dose usage. None of the singly applied ribavirin doses affected exploratory/spontaneous and AMPH-induced motor behavior (locomotion, stereotypy-like and vertical activity), however, body weight gain was significantly lower after treatment with 30 mg/kg of ribavirin. The 7-and 14-day treatments with 10 and 30 mg/kg/day of ribavirin significantly suppressed novelty-induced locomotion and body weight gain; the 14-day treatment with ribavirin at a dose of 30 mg/kg/ day decreased AMPH-induced stereotypy. These findings indicate that repeated application (up to 14 days) of low ribavirin doses results in low novelty-induced locomotion along with reduced weight gain, accentuating the existence of a U-shaped dose-response relationship with a prolonged duration of ribavirin treatment.

No abstract

AimTo investigate the association of cornual-fundal location of the placenta and breech presentation at term delivery.MethodsThis study was conducted at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Novi Sad, in 2011. The inclusion criteria were delivery at ≥37 weeks of gestation, singleton gestation, and cornual-fundal location of the placenta determined by ultrasonography at ≥37 weeks of gestation when 3/4 or more of the placenta was in the cornual-fundal region.ResultsOut of 2750 ultrasound examinations performed, 143 showed cornual-fundal location of the placenta (frequency 5.2%). Eighty six cases had cephalic presentation (60.14%) and 57 (39.86%) had breech presentation. Of the remaining cases with non- cornual-fundal location, 2585 had cephalic presentation and 22 (0.84%) had breech presentation. The difference in the frequency of breech presentation between the cornual-fundal and non-cornual-fundal groups was significant (χ2 = 77.78, P < 0.001).ConclusionCornual-fundal location of the placenta may be an important clue in resolving the etiology of a number of cases of breech presentation at term delivery.

Our previous investigations on an animal model of neurotoxicity show that increased power in the delta range is connected with the neurotoxic effect of aluminum exposure. In this study we used several aluminum-treated animals as a reliable model for the evaluation of the neurotoxic effects of aluminum on neurons, and compared it with a control group. We conclude that spectral analysis and the ratio between the delta and theta ranges might be reliable for a qualitative description of the neurotoxic effect of aluminum, and that the t test might be used to evaluate the change in brain activity between the treated and control groups of animals. The animal model under anesthesia was used to describe the state of brain activity with neurotoxicity with suppressed functional connectivity in the brain structure. We also performed fractal analysis to quantitatively describe neurotoxic effect in different pathophysiological states of animals treated with different doses of aluminum. A decrease in the fractal dimension is an indicator of neurodegeneration in the state of stress. This animal model is suitable for evaluation of the neurodegenerative processes in Alzheimer's dementia and Parkinson's disease.

Exposure to aluminium during gestation causes changes in mammalian brain development and behavior. Our aim was to perform spectral analysis on electrocortical activity of Sprague Dawley male pups (30±3 days of age) whose mothers were treated with aluminium during gestation and lactation. There was a higher presence of power spectra in the delta range of parietal electrocortical activity, a lower presence in the theta range and increased values of the parameter DT as the ratio of delta to theta range in pups indirectly exposed to aluminium (whose mothers were drinking a 0.5% water solution of aluminium chloride during the gestation and lactation periods), compared to controls