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To investigate whether mother and sibling interactions during the preweaning period influence the histological and electrophysiological characteristics of the sensory sural nerve (SUn) in the adult rat, litters composed of 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 male pups (P) were formed and the pups routinely weighed until postnatal day 60 (PND60). At PND9, 3P and 6P litters showed greater body weight than pups without siblings or from 9P or 12P litters, and such differences in weight were maintained until adulthood. Analysis of maternal licking at PND8 and 9 showed that pups from large litters received fewer licks than pups from small size litters. At PND60, SUn of rats from 6P and 9P litters had greater compound action potential (CAP) amplitude and a higher proportion of axons with large myelin thickness than nerves from rats of 1P, 3P, or 12P litters. SUn of heaviest rats from 9P and 12P litters had greater CAP area and myelination than the lightest rats from the same litters. We propose that a complex interplay of sensory, social, and nutritional factors arising from mother and littermate interactions during the preweaning period influence myelination and the propagation of action potentials in the SUn of adult rats.

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Background: Hyperactive heart fire syndrome is characterized by anxiety, insomnia, dream-disturbed sleep, tongue ulcers, heat in the hands, and palpitations. However, syndrome differentiation is often subjective due to a lack of objective, quantifiable variables. Objectives: To identify changes in heart rate variability (HRV) and psychometric analysis in patients with hyperactive heart fire syndrome. Methods: Healthy controls (n = 33) were compared to patients with hyperactive heart fire syndrome (n = 48) from the Integrative University Clinic of the State University of Ecatepec Valley (CIU-UNEVE). Physiological outcome measures included heart rate (HR), the standard deviation of the normal-to-normal heartbeat intervals (SDNN), low (LF) and high frequency (HF) power, and the LF/HF ratio. Psychometric outcome measures included the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS). Results: Compared to controls, hyperactive heart fire patients had higher HR (9.6 ± 2.62%), LF (22 ± 4.21%) and LF/HF ratio (23 ± 3.14%), and lower SDNN (21 ± 2.33%) and HF (18 ± 4.61%). Patients showed increased anxiety, both with somatic (33 ± 11.2%) and psychic symptoms (39 ± 10.5%) with more difficulty falling asleep (47 ± 9.9%) and diurnal impact of sleep (31 ± 9.6%). Conclusion: Hyperactive heart fire patients may have a sympathovagal imbalance due to a reduced parasympathetic tone and/or adominant sympathetic tone, which may be at the origin of the observed symptoms of insomnia and anxiety.

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Fiber type composition, organization, and distribution are key elements in muscle functioning. These properties can be modified by intrinsic and/or extrinsic factors, such as undernutrition and injuries. Currently, there is no methodology to quantitatively analyze such modifications. On one hand, we propose a fractal approach to determine fiber type organization, using the fractal correlation method in software Fractalyse. On the other hand, we applied the kernel methodology from machine learning to build radial-basis functions for the spatial distribution of fibers (distribution functions), by dividing into square cells a two-dimensional binary image for the spatial distribution of fibers from a muscle fascicle and mounting on each cell a radial-basis function in such a way that the sum of all cell functions creates a smooth version of the fiber histogram on the cell grid. The distribution functions thus created belong in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space which permits us to regard them as vectors and measure distances and angles between them. In the present study, we analyze fiber type organization and distribution in fascicles (F2, F3, F4, and F5) of the extensor digitorum longus muscle (EDLm) from control and undernourished male rats. Fibers were classified according to the ATPase activity in slow, intermediate, and fast. Then, (x, y) coordinates of fibers were used to build binary images and distribution functions for each fiber type and both conditions. The fractal organization analysis showed that fast and intermediate fibers, from both groups, had a fractal organization within the four fascicles, i.e., the fiber assembly is distributed in clusters. We also show that chronic undernutrition altered the organization of fast fibers in the F3, although it still is considered a fractal organization. Distribution function analysis showed that each fiber type (slow, intermediate, and fast) has a unique distribution within the fascicles, in both conditions. However, chronic undernutrition modified the intra-fascicular fiber type distributions, except in the F2. Altogether, these results showed that the methodology herein proposed allows for analyzing fiber type organization and distribution modifications. On the other side, we show that chronic undernutrition alters not only the fiber type composition but also the organization and distribution, which could affect the muscle functioning, and ultimately, its behavior (e.g., locomotion).

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Many functional diseases are related to dysautonomia, and heart rate variability has been used to assess dysautonomia. However, heart rate variability has not been studied in Spleen-Qi deficiency syndrome (SQDS). Healthy volunteers (n = 37) and patients with SQDS (n = 67), recruited from the Clinic of the State University of Ecatepec Valley were included in the study. Outcome measures were average heart rate, standard deviation of the normal-to-normal heartbeat intervals, low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF) power, and the LF/HF ratio. Also, intestinal peristalsis, gastrointestinal symptoms (GSs), fatigue, and level of attention were measured. Standard deviation of the normal-to-normal heartbeat intervals (17 ± 2.3%) and HF (14 ± 3.1%) were lower in SQDS patients (17 ± 1.3%) than in healthy volunteers. SQDS patients had higher heart rate, LF power, LF/HF ratio, and fatigue scores (9.6 ± 1.12%, 16 ± 2.1%, 22 ± 3.8%, and 21 ± 4.1%). The fatigue correlated positively with the LF/HF ratio and negatively with HF power. The SQDS group had lower concentration performance (16.2 ± 1.9%) in the d2 test. The intestinal peristalsis showed a reduction (15 ± 1.3%) as compared with control. GS score and peristalsis correlated negatively with HF. Our results suggest that the pathology of SDQS could be associated with a low vagal tone which causes a decrease in peristalsis, increased fatigue, reduced attention, and appearance of GSs.

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Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a condition that puts the patient's life at risk in the acute phase and, during the chronic stage, results in permanent deficits in motor, sensory and autonomic functions. Isolated therapeutic strategies have not shown an effect on this condition. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) and curcumin, alone or combined, on the oxidative balance, motor function recovery and amount of preserved tissue following a traumatic SCI. Long-Evans rats were divided into five groups: SHAM, SCI, SCI + EA, SCI + Curcumin, and SCI + EA + Curcumin. Nitric oxide was significantly decreased in the Curcumin group; the EA, Curcumin and SCI + EA + Curcumin groups had significantly decreased hydroxyl radical and lipid peroxidation levels. Motor function recovery and the amount of preserved spinal cord tissue were significantly greater in the EA, Curcumin and EA + Curcumin groups. The results show that EA and Curcumin treatment alone or in combination decreased oxidative stress, improved functional motor recovery and increased the amount of preserved spinal cord tissue following a traumatic injury.

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The aim of this study was to determine the effect of chronic undernutrition on the content and release of γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) and glutamate (GLU) transmitters in the rat spinal cord. The release of [(3)H]-GABA and [(3)H]-GLU was determined by radioactive liquid scintillation techniques, and the concentrations of GABA and GLU in spinal cord preparations from control and undernourished young rats (50-60 days old) were measured by reverse-phase HPLC. The GABA and GLU contents in the lumbar spinal dorsal horn (L6 segment) were significantly lower in undernourished rats relative to control rats (22.2 ± 3.7 and 10.7 ± 1.9 %, respectively; P < 0.05). Spinal cord blocks from undernourished animals also showed lower rates of [(3)H]-GABA and [(3)H]-GLU release than controls (27.6 ± 3.5 and 12.8 ± 2.5 %, respectively; P < 0.01). We propose that the decreases in GLU content and release are consistent with a reduced activation of either afferent fibers, spinal glutaminergic neurons, or both. Furthermore, we propose that the decreased content and release of GABA in undernourished animals are related to a depression in pre- and post-synaptic inhibition. In addition, we hypothesize that the reductions in GABA content and release serve as compensatory mechanisms to counterbalance decreases in sensory transmission and GLU content in the spinal cord of the chronically undernourished rat.

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The aim of this study was to determine the effect of chronic undernourishment on the amplitude depression of the first negative component in the cord dorsum potentials (N(1)-CDPs) caused by the conditioning stimulation of sensory cutaneous nerves in the rat spinal cord. Single electrical pulses (1Hz; 2 times threshold) applied to the sural (SU) nerve of control rats (n=14) produced CDPs with a first negative component (N(1)-CDPs) larger in amplitude (14.2±1.3%, p<0.01) than those recorded in chronically undernourished rats (n=14; 3 times threshold). The conditioning stimulation of the SP nerve (4 shocks at 300Hz, 3×T) in the control rats (n=5) evoked a long-lasting (~200ms) depression of the N(1)-CDP (60.2±7.2%). In contrast such depression was smaller in magnitude (42.5±5.7%, p<0.01) and time course (100-120ms) in undernourished rats (n=7). The systemic application of picrotoxin (PTX) reduced, but did not abolish the conditioned depression of the N(1)-CDPs and DRPs in both the control and undernourished rats. By assuming that the depression of the N(1)-CDPs is representative of presynaptic mechanisms, it is proposed that chronic undernourishment influence the activation of presynaptic neuronal pathways that regulate the transmitter release of cutaneous afferent fibers in the spinal cord and such effect could act as a compensatory mechanism that counterbalances the decreased activation of spinal neurons by the reduced afferent input in the rat.

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