Using the endocannabinoid system as a neuroprotective strategy in perinatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury

One of the most important causes of brain injury in the neonatal period is a perinatal hypoxicischemic event.This devastating condition can lead to long-term neurological deficits or even death.After hypoxic-ischemic brain injury,a variety of specific cellular mechanisms are set in motion,triggering cell damage and finally producing cell death.Effective therapeutic treatments against this phenomenon are still unavailable because of complex molecular mechanisms underlying hypoxic-ischemic brain injury.After a thorough understanding of the mechanism underlying neural plasticity following hypoxic-ischemic brain injury,various neuroprotective therapies have been developed for alleviating brain injury and improving long-term outcomes.Among them,the endocannabinoid system emerges as a natural system of neuroprotection.The endocannabinoid system modulates a wide range of physiological processes in mammals and has demonstrated neuroprotective effects in different paradigms of acute brain injury,acting as a natural neuroprotectant.The aim of this review is to study the use of different therapies to induce long-term therapeutic effects after hypoxic-ischemic brain injury,and analyze the important role of the endocannabinoid system as a new neuroprotective strategy against perinatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury.

Better understanding of the activated sludge process combining fluorescence-based methods and flow cytometry:A case study

This study aims to demonstrate the validity of fluorescence-based methods,together with flow cytometry,as a complementary tool to conventional physicochemical analyses carried out in wastewater treatment plants(WWTPs),for the control of the currently largely unknown activated sludge process.Staining with SYTO 9,propidium iodide and 5-(and 6)-carboxy-2’,7’-difluorodihydrofluorescein diacetate(carboxy-H2 DFFDA)was used for cell viability and oxidative stress monitoring of the bacterial population forming the activated sludge of a WWTP.Throughout the period of research,several unstable periods were detected,where the non-viable bacteria exceeded the 75%of the total bacterial population in the activated sludge,but only in one case the cells with oxidative stress grew to 9%,exceeding the typical values of2%-5%of this plant.These periods coincided in two cases with high values of total suspended solids(SST)and chemical oxygen demand(COD)in the effluent,and with an excess of ammonia in other case.A correlation between flow cytometric and physicochemical data was found,which enabled to clarify the possible origin of each case of instability in the biological system.This experience supports the application of bacterial fluorescence staining,together with flow cytometric analysis,as a simple,rapid and reliable tool for the control and better understanding of the bacteria dynamics in a biological wastewater treatment process.