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Evidence suggests that maternal metabolome may be associated with child health outcomes. We analyzed the association between the maternal metabolome between 28-35 gestational weeks and child growth and development during the first year. A prospective cohort of 98 mother-child dyads was followed at birth, 1, 6, and 12 months. Maternal serum samples were collected for targeted LC-MS/MS analysis, which measured 132 metabolites. The child's growth and development were assessed at each time-point. Z-scores were calculated based on WHO growth standards, and the domains of development were assessed using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ-3). Multiple linear mixed-effects models were performed and confounders were identified using a Diagram Acyclic Graph. The Benjamini-Hochberg correction was used for multiple comparison adjustments. We found a positive association between lysophosphatidylcholines (14:0; 16:0; 16:1; 17:0; 18:0; 18:1; 18:2; 20:4) with the z-score of weight-for-age, and lysophosphatidylcholines (14:0; 16:0; 16:1; 18:0) and taurine with the z-score of weight-for-length, and lysophosphatidylcholines (14:0; 16:0; 16:1; 17:0; 18:0; 18:1; 18:2; 20:4) and glycine with the z-score of BMI-for-age. The leucine, methionine, tryptophan, and valine were negatively associated with the fine motor skills domain. We observed an association between maternal metabolome and the growth and child's development throughout the first year.

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OBJECTIVES: To analyze gender inequities and trends in the authorship of articles published in high-impact factor journals of the field of Oral Medicine and Pathology. METHODS: The gender and country of first and last authors were retrieved from original articles published between 2000 and 2022. Poisson regression models and classification and regression tree (CART) analysis were performed. RESULTS: A total of 6595 studies were analyzed for first authorship, and 6627 for last authorship. Only 39.2% (CI 95% 38.0-40.3) of the first authors and 24.1% (CI 95% 23.1-25.1) of the last authors were females. Females consistently faced underrepresentation throughout the 23-year evaluation. The only region where female first authors are not a minority is Latin America. Having a female as the last author increased the prevalence of females in the first author position by 42% (PR = 1.42, CI 95% [1.30-1.54]). The most important discriminant variable by CART was the first author region. CONCLUSION: Although a slight decrease in underrepresentation was noted over the period, after 2020, the gender gap tended to widen for both first and last authors. It is crucial to implement measures aimed at attracting, retaining, and advancing women in the field of science, while also actively monitoring advancements toward achieving gender equity.

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The treatment for stage III melanoma has advanced significantly, nevertheless, a substantial proportion of patients experience relapse. Neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade has emerged as a promising approach, allowing early micrometastatic disease treatment, reduction of tumor burden before surgery, and enhanced tumor-specific T-cell responses. However, not all patients respond to treatment, highlighting the need for understanding immune mechanisms behind failure and identification of predictive markers. Here we performed a robust evaluation of systemic and tumoral immune profiles in a well-defined cohort of advanced melanoma patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Elevated CTACK and CXCL9 chemokines pre-treatment suggested their potential as predictive tools for treatment response. Furthermore, CD95 expression in CD8+ T lymphocytes surfaced as a favorable prognostic indicator, while PD-1, CD161, and PD-L2 exhibited correlations with worst outcomes. These findings shed light on the intricate interplay between immune markers and melanoma response to neoadjuvant immune checkpoint therapy, offering insights into personalized treatment strategies.

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Turner syndrome (TS) is caused by a complete or partial absence of an X or Y chromosome, including chromosomal mosaicism, affecting 1 in 2500 female live births. Sister chromatid exchange (SCE) is used as a sensitive indicator of spontaneous chromosome instability. Cells from mosaic patients constitute useful material for SCE evaluations as they grow under the influence of the same genetic background and endogenous and exogenous factors. We evaluated the proliferation dynamics and SCE frequencies of 45,X and 46,XN cells of 17 mosaic TS patients. In two participants, the 45,X cells exhibited a proliferative disadvantage in relation to 46,XN cells after 72 h of cultivation. The analysis of the mean proliferation index (PI) showed a trend for a significant difference between the 45,X and 46,X+der(X)/der(Y) cell lineages; however, there were no intra-individual differences. On the other hand, mean SCE frequencies showed that 46,X+der(X) had the highest mean value and 46,XX the lowest, with 45,X occupying an intermediate position among the lineages found in at least three participants; moreover, there were intra-individual differences in five patients. Although 46,X+der(X)/der(Y) cell lineages, found in more than 70% of participants, were the most unstable, they had a slightly higher mean PI than the 45,X cell lineages in younger (≤17 years) mosaic TS participants. This suggests that cells with a karyotype distinct from 45,X may increase with time in mosaic TS children and adolescents.

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BACKGROUND AND AIMS: There is a need to consolidate reporting guidance for nutrition randomised controlled trial (RCT) protocols. The reporting completeness in nutrition RCT protocols and study characteristics associated with adherence to SPIRIT and TIDieR reporting guidelines are unknown. We, therefore, assessed reporting completeness and its potential predictors in a random sample of published nutrition and diet-related RCT protocols. METHODS: We conducted a meta-research study of 200 nutrition and diet-related RCT protocols published in 2019 and 2021 (aiming to consider periods before and after the start of the COVID pandemic). Data extraction included bibliometric information, general study characteristics, compliance with 122 questions corresponding to items and subitems in the SPIRIT and TIDieR checklists combined, and mention to these reporting guidelines in the publications. We calculated the proportion of protocols reporting each item and the frequency of items reported for each protocol. We investigated associations between selected publication aspects and reporting completeness using linear regression analysis. RESULTS: The majority of protocols included adults and elderly as their study population (n = 73; 36.5%), supplementation as intervention (n = 96; 48.0%), placebo as comparator (n = 89; 44.5%), and evaluated clinical status as the outcome (n = 80; 40.0%). Most protocols described a parallel RCT (n = 188; 94.0%) with a superiority framework (n = 141; 70.5%). Overall reporting completeness was 52.0% (SD = 10.8%). Adherence to SPIRIT items ranged from 0% (n = 0) (data collection methods) to 98.5% (n = 197) (eligibility criteria). Adherence to TIDieR items ranged from 5.5% (n = 11) (materials used in the intervention) to 98.5% (n = 197) (description of the intervention). The multivariable regression analysis suggests that a higher number of authors [ß = 0.53 (95%CI: 0.28-0.78)], most recent published protocols [ß = 3.19 (95%CI: 0.24-6.14)], request of reporting guideline checklist during the submission process by the journal [ß = 6.50 (95%CI: 2.56-10.43)] and mention of SPIRIT by the authors [ß = 5.15 (95%CI: 2.44-7.86)] are related to higher reporting completeness scores. CONCLUSIONS: Reporting completeness in a random sample of 200 diet or nutrition-related RCT protocols was low. Number of authors, year of publication, self-reported adherence to SPIRIT, and journals' endorsement of reporting guidelines seem to be positively associated with reporting completeness in nutrition and diet-related RCT protocols.

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BACKGROUND: Studies suggest an interplay between maternal metabolome and mental health. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the association of maternal serum metabolome at pregnancy with anxiety scores during pregnancy and throughout the first year postpartum. METHODS: A prospective cohort of Brazilian women collected 119 serum metabolome at pregnancy (28-38 weeks) and anxiety scores measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) at pregnancy (n = 118), 1 (n = 83), 6 (n = 68), and 12 (n = 57) months postpartum. Targeted metabolomics quantified metabolites belonging to amino acids (AA), biogenic amines/amino acid-related compounds, acylcarnitines, lysophosphatidylcholines, diacyl phosphatidylcholines, alkyl:acyl phosphatidylcholines, non-hydroxylated and hydroxylated sphingomyelins [SM(OH)], and hexoses classes. Linear mixed-effect models were used to evaluate the association of metabolites and STAI scores. Hierarchical clustering and principal component analyses were employed to identify clusters and metabolites, which drove their main differences. Multiple comparison-adjusted p-values (q-value) ≤ 0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS: AA (ß = -1.44) and SM(OH) (ß = -1.49) classes showed an association with STAI scores trajectory (q-value = 0.047). Two clusters were identified based on these classes. Women in cluster 2 had decreased AA and SM(OH) concentrations and higher STAI scores (worse symptoms) trajectory (ß = 2.28; p-value = 0.041). Isoleucine, leucine, valine, SM(OH) 22:1, 22:2, and 24:1 drove the main differences between the clusters. LIMITATIONS: The target semiquantitative metabolome analysis and small sample size limited our conclusions. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that AA and SM(OH) during pregnancy play a role in anxiety symptoms throughout the first year postpartum.

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A role of IL-10 is down-regulating T-cell responses to schistosome antigens. Since SmATPDases can be correlated to modulation of the immune response, we evaluated the expression of enzymes in S. mansoni eggs. Faecal samples were collected from 40 infected individuals to detect coding regions of the SmATPDases. The cytokines were measured in supernatants of PBMC. The analysis was performed by the global median determination and set up high producers (HP) of cytokines. Six individuals expressed SmATPDase1, six expressed SmATPDase2 and six expressed both enzymes. The group who expressed only SmATPDase1 showed a high frequency of IFN-γ, TNF IL-4 HP; individuals who expressed only SmATPDase2 showed a high frequency of IFN-γ, IL-6 and IL-4 HP; and individuals who expressed both enzymes showed a high frequency of IL-10 HP. The comparison of the IFN-γ/IL-10 ratio presented higher indices in the group who had SmATPDase 2 expression than those who had the expression of both enzymes. The positive correlation between infection intensity and IL-10 levels remained only in the positive SmATPDase group. The IL-10 is the only cytokine induced by the expression of both enzymes. Our data suggest that the expression of both enzymes seems to be a factor that modulates the host immune response by inducing high IL-10 production.

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Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are compounds that are recalcitrant and ubiquitous that bioaccumulate in human milk (HM) and can impact infant growth and development. We explore the association between POP concentration in HM at 2-50 days postpartum and infant growth and development trajectory throughout the first year of life. A cohort of 68 healthy adult Brazilian women and their infants were followed from 28 to 35 gestational weeks to 12 months postpartum. HM samples were collected between 2 and 50 days postpartum, and POP concentrations were analyzed using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. Concentrations of POPs >limit of quantification (LOQ) were defined as presence, and concentrations ≤LOQ as an absence. Growth z-scores were analyzed according to WHO growth charts and infant development scores according to Age & Stages Questionnaires at 1 (n = 66), 6 (n = 50), and 12 months (n = 45). Linear mixed effects (LME) models were used to investigate the association of POPs in HM with infant growth and development. Benjamini-Hochberg (BH) correction for multiple testing was performed to reduce the false discovery ratio. P < 0.1 was considered for models with the interaction between POPs and time/sex. After BH correction, adjusted LME models with time interaction showed (1) a positive association between the presence of ß hexachlorocyclohexane and an increase in head circumference-for-age z-score (ß = 0.003, P = 0.095); (2) negative associations between total POPs (ß = -0.000002, P = 0.10), total organochlorine pesticides (ß = -0.000002, P = 0.10), and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene concentrations in HM (ß = -0.000002, P = 0.10) and fine motor scores. No statistical difference between the sexes was observed. Postnatal exposure to organochlorine pesticides in HM shows a positive association with the trajectory of head circumference-for-age z-score and a negative association with the trajectories of fine motor skills scores. Future studies on POP variation in HM at different postpartum times and their effect on infant growth and development should be encouraged.

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We report two cases of disseminated hyperinfection by filariae in free-living primates Saimiri sciureus and Saguinus niger from eastern Amazon. Histopathological examination showed the presence of Dipetalonema gracile microfilariae in blood, liver, lungs, spleen, small intestine, kidney, brain, liver, and adults in peritoneal thoracic cavity.

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BACKGROUND: Herein, we aimed to follow up on the cellular and humoral immune responses of a group of individuals who initially received the CoronaVac vaccine, followed by a booster with the Pfizer vaccine. METHODS: Blood samples were collected: before and 30 days after the first CoronaVac dose; 30, 90, and 180 days after the second CoronaVac dose, and also 20 days after the booster with the Pfizer vaccine. RESULTS: Whilst the positivity to gamma interferon-type cellular response increased after the first CoronaVac dose, neutralizing and IgG antibody levels only raised 30 days after the second dose, followed by a drop in these responses after 90 and 180 days. The booster with the Pfizer vaccine elicited a robust cellular and humoral response. A higher number of double-negative and senescent T cells, as well as increased pro-inflammatory cytokines levels were found in the participants with lower humoral immune responses. CONCLUSION: CoronaVac elicited an early cellular response, followed by a humoral response, which dropped 90 days after the second dose. The booster with the Pfizer vaccine significantly enhanced these responses. Furthermore, a pro-inflammatory systemic status was found in volunteers who presented senescent T cells, which could putatively impair the immune response to vaccination.

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Nanoformulations containing zein nanoparticles (ZN) can promote the stability and protection of molecules with acaricidal activity. The present study sought to develop nanoformulations with ZN associated with cypermethrin (CYPE) + chlorpyrifos (CHLO) + a plant compound (citral, menthol or limonene), characterize them, and verify their efficacy against Rhipicephalus microplus ticks. Additionally, we aimed to assess its safety in nontarget nematodes found in soil at a site subjected to contamination by acaricides. The nanoformulations were characterized by dynamic light scattering and nanoparticle tracking analysis. Nanoformulations 1 (ZN+CYPE+CHLO+citral), 2 (ZN+CYPE+CHLO+menthol), and 3 (ZN+CYPE+CHLO+limonene) were measured for diameter, polydispersion, zeta potential, concentration, and encapsulation efficiency. Nanoformulations 1, 2, and 3 were evaluated in a range from 0.004 to 0.466 mg/mL on R. microplus larvae and caused mortality > 80% at concentrations above 0.029 mg/mL. The commercial acaricide Colosso® (CYPE 15 g + CHLO 25 g + citronellal 1 g) was evaluated also from 0.004 to 0.512 mg/mL and resulted in 71.9% larval mortality at 0.064 mg/mL. Formulations 1, 2, and 3 at 0.466 mg/mL showed acaricidal efficacy of 50.2%, 40.5%, and 60.1% on engorged females, respectively, while Colosso® at 0.512 mg/mL obtained only 39.4%. The nanoformulations exhibited long residual period of activity and lower toxicity to nontarget nematodes. ZN was able to protect the active compounds against degradation during the storage period. Thus, ZN can be an alternative for the development of new acaricidal formulations using lower concentrations of active compounds.

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Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemical compounds that can bioaccumulate, adhere to lipid matrices, and affect human health. This study aimed to investigate the association between maternal pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity and dietary intake during pregnancy and POP concentrations in the human milk of women from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. One hundred and forty-seven women were followed from the third trimester of pregnancy until 119 days postpartum, and 77 human milk samples were analyzed between 2 and 119 days postpartum. POP concentrations were analyzed using gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. Pregnancy dietary intake was estimated using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire, and pre-pregnancy body mass index at baseline was classified as normal or overweight/obesity. Multiple logistic and linear regression models were performed to investigate the association between pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity, dietary intake during pregnancy, and POP concentrations in human milk. The models were adjusted for maternal age, maternal schooling, total cholesterol serum concentrations, and time postpartum. The analyses were corrected for multiple comparisons using the Benjamini-Hochberg test. Significant associations were observed between pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (ppDDE), polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)74, PCB138, PCB153, PCB170, PCB180, total PCBs, total 4PCBs, total 2 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), and total POP concentrations. Higher daily lipid intake during pregnancy increased human milk hexachlorobenzene (HCB). This study showed that pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity and total lipid intake during pregnancy were associated with POP concentrations in the milk of women from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. To promote adequate nutritional status since preconception and surveillance and control of POP in the environment could be essential to ensure binomial mother-infant health and biomonitoring studies and programs for these POPs should be stimulated.

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Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive form of breast cancer (BC). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has proven efficacy in its treatment, and a pathological complete response (pCR) to therapy is predictive of improved long-term survival. The immune response is key to successful neoadjuvant chemotherapy, as indicated by the relation between the percentage of stromal tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in pre-treated tumour tissue samples and the likelihood of achieving pCR. Here we studied systemic immune mediators from volunteer TNBC patients before undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy to determine the systemic response association with TIL intensity, treatment response and survival. Patients were classified into pCR responder or non-responder at time of surgery. We found higher levels of immune mediators before treatment began in patients that went on to be pCR responders versus non-pCR, with area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.64-0.80. We also observed a positive correlation between inflammatory systemic immune mediators and the percentage of TILs in pCR responder patients. Combining TILs and systemic immune mediator levels provided stronger AUC values (range of 0.72-0.82). Last, performing a progression-free survival analysis with several of the systemic cytokines that predict pCR, segregated the patients into long- and short-survival groups based on high and low production of the cytokines, respectively. Our study demonstrates that circulating cytokines, before treatment begins, predict pCR in TNBC patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Moreover, they may act as a surrogate marker of high TILs or together with TILs to better predict pCR and survival.

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Haemonchus contortus is the most prevalent and important gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) in small ruminants. Since it reduces the packed cell volume (PCV), causing anemia, early diagnosis can be used for targeted selective treatment (TST) of sheep, reducing antiparasitic drug use and anthelmintic resistance. This study aimed to predict PCV values through near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and to develop a classification and diagnosis model of H. contortus infection using PCV values, eggs per gram of feces (EPG) counts and mean daily weight gain (DWG). A total of 1728 spectra were collected from blood samples of 216 lambs with a portable NIR spectroscope. In parallel, other parameters indicative of infection were measured: PCV by hematocrit, FAffa MAlan CHArt (FAMACHA) scores, EPG and DWG. To evaluate the relationship between NIRS spectra and the evaluated parameters, principal component analysis (PCA) was used for an exploratory analysis, regression by the partial least squares method (PLS) for the prediction of PCV values via NIRS, and PCA linear discriminant analysis (PCA-LDA) as a classification model for diagnosis. The absorption peaks in the NIRS region associated with the excitation of overtones of nitrogen-hydrogen (N-H) functional groups of proteins had a strong impact on the principal components (PCs), indicating that blood proteins, especially hemoglobin, can be estimated by the NIRS technique. The model for predicting PCV by PLS presented a standard error of prediction of 2.53, root-mean-square error of 2.48, and coefficient of determination of 0.84, indicating good correlation between the PCV values predicted by the model and the PCV obtained by hematocrit. The PCA-LDA model presented 93.33% sensitivity and 82.18% accuracy, both higher than those of the FAMACHA method, as was expected for resilient Morada Nova lambs. The multivariate models associated with the NIRS technique reported here can be used in the future as a quick and versatile tool for H. contortus infection diagnosis and TST application in lambs.

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Lung cancer is the second most common and the most lethal malignancy worldwide. It is estimated that lung cancer in never smokers (LCINS) accounts for 10-25% of cases, and its incidence is increasing according to recent data, although the reasons remain unclear. If considered alone, LCINS is the 7th most common cause of cancer death. These tumors occur more commonly in younger patients and females. LCINS tend to have a better prognosis, possibly due to a higher chance of bearing an actionable driver mutation, making them amenable to targeted therapy. Notwithstanding, these tumors respond poorly to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). There are several putative explanations for the poor response to immunotherapy: low immunogenicity due to low tumor mutation burden and hence low MANA (mutation-associated neo-antigen) load, constitutive PD-L1 expression in response to driver mutated protein signaling, high expression of immunosuppressive factors by tumors cells (like CD39 and TGF-beta), non-permissive immune TME (tumor microenvironment), abnormal metabolism of amino acids and glucose, and impaired TLS (Tertiary Lymphoid Structures) organization. Finally, there is an increasing concern of offering ICI as first line therapy to these patients owing to several reports of severe toxicity when TKIs (tyrosine kinase inhibitors) are administered sequentially after ICI. Understanding the biology behind the immune response against these tumors is crucial to the development of better therapeutic strategies.

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The tick Rhipicephalus microplus (Canestrini) is a major economic hurdle to the global livestock industry. The incorrect and indiscriminate control carried out by synthetic chemical compounds has contributed to the emergence of parasite resistance present today to many products available in the veterinary market. Effective, economically viable and potentially safe alternatives need to be investigated, including herbal medicine and biological control by entomopathogenic fungi. In this study, extracts from Achyrocline satureioides (Lam.) DC. obtained by extraction with solvents of different polarities associated and not associated with the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo-Crivelli) Vuillemin were evaluated on different stages of the life cycle of R. microplus. The activity of plant extracts, fungus and their associations in ticks was analyzed in vitro through the adult immersion test, larval packet test and larval immersion test. The highest efficacy on engorged females (43.3%) was reached by the hexanic partition (ASh) at 5 mg/mL + fungus, reducing larval hatchability. ASh associated with B. bassiana also caused high mortality of larvae, reaching LC50 of 6.23 and 2.65 mg/mL in the packet and immersion tests, respectively. The results obtained showed that extracts, when used in combination with the fungus, have their action enhanced, reaching 100% mortality of larvae. Among the evaluated methodologies, it was observed that the larval immersion test allows better assessment, due to the time of contact with the larvae. The results obtained with A. satureioides associated with the fungus are considered promising and open new perspectives for future product development.

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Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have provided new hope for cancer patients, and in particular for patients with tumors that are immunologically active and classified as hot tumors. These tumors express antigenic and tumor microenvironment (TME) characteristics that make them potential candidates for therapy with checkpoint inhibitors that aim to reactivate the immune response such as anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4. Examples of potentially responsive cancers are, melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer and several other metastatic or unresectable tumors with genetic instability: DNA mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR), microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H), or with a high tumor mutational burden (TMB). Immunotherapy using checkpoint inhibitors is typically associated with adverse events (AEs) that are milder than those with chemotherapy. However, a significant percentage of patients develop short-term immune-related AEs (irAEs) which range from mild (~70%) to severe cases (~13%) that can lead to modifications of the checkpoint inhibitor therapy and in some cases, death. While some studies have investigated immune mechanisms behind the development of irAEs, much more research is needed to understand the mechanisms and to develop interventions that could attenuate severe irAEs, while maintaining the anti-tumor response intact. Moreover, studies to identify biomarkers that can predict the likelihood of a patient developing severe irAEs would be of great clinical importance. Here we discuss some of the clinical ramifications of irAEs, potential immune mechanisms behind their development and studies that have investigated potentially useful biomarkers of irAEs development.

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Background: Little is known regarding the association between mental health distress during pregnancy and postpartum maternal serum biomarkers of vitamin B-12 status and milk B-12 concentration. Objective: To evaluate the association between depressive and anxiety symptoms in the third trimester of pregnancy and changes in postpartum serum B-12, homocysteine, and B-12 milk concentration. Methods: A total of 101 women (18-40 years) were studied in a prospective cohort with data at the third trimester of pregnancy (baseline) and three postpartum time-points (TPs): 2-8 days (TP1), 28-50 days (TP2), and 88-119 days (TP3) postpartum. B-12 concentrations in milk were measured by competitive chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay at TP1, TP2, and TP3. Serum B-12 and homocysteine concentrations were evaluated at baseline, TP1, TP2, and TP3 by chemiluminescent immunoassays. Depressive and anxiety symptoms were measured with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory at baseline. Spearman's correlation test and multiple linear mixed-effect models were performed. Results: The prevalence of depressive and anxiety state symptoms was 35.6 and 39.6% at baseline. High prevalence of low milk B-12 concentration (<310 pmol/L) were observed at TP1 (53.2%), TP2 (71.4%), and TP3 (71.1%). Women with anxiety symptoms at baseline presented higher median concentrations of serum homocysteine at TP1 and lower concentrations of serum and milk B-12 at TP2 compared with women without anxiety symptoms [8 (7; 9) vs. 6 (5; 8) and 266 (188; 369) vs. 332 (272; 413)]. Milk B-12 concentrations were positively and significantly correlated with maternal serum B-12 concentrations at different TP. Women with anxiety symptoms at baseline exhibited a decrease in daily postpartum homocysteine concentrations compared to women without anxiety symptoms (ß = -0.002, SE = 0.001, p = 0.024). Conclusion: Anxiety symptoms at the end of pregnancy were associated with longitudinal changes in maternal serum homocysteine concentrations during the first 3 months postpartum.

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Nanocarriers of acaricidal compounds improve the bioavailability, absorption, and tissue distribution of active ingredients, releasing them in a slow, targeted way and protecting them against premature degradation. Thus, this study aimed to develop formulations from solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN), or nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) associated with cypermethrin (cip) + chlorpyrifos (chlo) and vegetable compounds (citral, menthol, or limonene). Particles were then characterised, and their efficacy was verified on R. microplus in comparison to nanoformulations without the plant-based compounds. Six different formulations were developed and characterised by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). Formulations 1 (SLN+cyp+chlo+citral), 2 (SLN+cyp+chlo+menthol), 3 (SLN+cyp+chlo+limonene), 4 (NLC+cyp+chlo+citral), 5 (NLC+cyp+chlo+menthol) and 6 (NLC+cyp+chlo+limonene) had mean diameters from 286 to 304 nm; polydispersion from 0.16 to 0.18; zeta potential from -15.8 to -20 mV, concentration from 3.37 ± 0.24 × 1013 to 5.44 ± 0.18 × 1013 particles/mL and encapsulation efficiency (EE) > 98.01 % for all active ingredients. All formulations were evaluated for their acaricidal potential by the larval packet test (LPT) and compared with nanoformulations without the plant-based compounds. Formulations were also compared with positive (Colosso® at 512 µg/mL) and negative controls (distilled water and nanoparticles without active ingredients). The SLN (1, 2 and 3) and NLC (4, 5 and 6) formulations, at 7 µg/mL, resulted in 90.4 % , 75.9 % , 93.8 % , 100 % , 95.1 % and 72.7 % mortality. The data demonstrated that the addition of citral, menthol or limonene in the formulations improved their acaricide action against tick larvae. Except for formulation 4, for which it was not possible to determine lethal concentrations (LC). Formulations, 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 reached LC50 and LC90 values of 3.3 and 7.2, 5.4 and 9.2, 4.0 and 8.1, 2.3 and 5.4 as well as 5.5 and 9.4 µg/mL, respectively. It was possible to encapsulate the active ingredients and characterise the lipid carrier systems. SLN and NLC protected the active ingredients against degradation in solution and increased the overall stability. A stabile solution is necessary for synthesizing commercial acaricidal products. It is hoped that these findings may contribute to new studies focused on the use of nanocarriers in tick formulations. By reducing the amount or concentration of active ingredients within commercial products, the risk of residues presents in food of animal origin or remaining in the environment is reduced. Nanocarriers help prevent these challenges, while still maintaining effective parasitic control. Utilizing a combination of natural and synthetic products can be part of integrated management solutions and can help overcome widespread acaricide resistance in populations of cattle ticks.

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The objective of this study was to evaluate a method of targeted selective treatment (TST) of Morada Nova lambs, based on the average daily weight gain (DWG). For this, 114 lambs in the rainy and 102 in the dry season were randomized into three treatments: control (CT), routine (RT, treated every 42 days), and targeted selective (TST, treated according to DWG). Packed cell volume (PCV) and eggs per gram of feces (EPG) tests were performed. The anthelmintic resistance of parasites was assessed by the EPG count reduction test (FECRT), RESISTA-Test©, and molecular test. For CT, RT, and TST groups, the following results were obtained: mean EPG values were 4665.1, 3063.5, and 3462.1 in the rainy season and 4475.1, 1341.7, and 2863.4 in the dry season, respectively; mean PCV values were 32.1, 33.4, and 32.3% in the rainy season and 33.9, 36.0, and 35.1% in the dry season; mean DWG readings were 0.087, 0.101, and 0.094 kg in the rainy season and 0.102, 0.113, and 0.112 kg in the dry season; efficacies of levamisole in FECRT were 66.4, 24.1, and 76.4% in the rainy and 90.7, 12.4, and 64.8% in the dry season, respectively; in the RESISTA-Test©, the LC50 values were 0.482, 1.926, and 0.117 µg.mL-1 in the rainy and 0.437, 0.851, and 0.045 µg.mL-1 in the dry season, respectively; the frequencies of the homozygous-resistant genotype were 57.1, 71.4, and 40.0% in the rainy and 47.8, 55.9, and 41.9% in the dry season. In conclusion, TST reduced the development of resistance through refugia maintenance, without productive losses, contributing to the sustainability of sheep breeding.

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