Análise retrospectiva da toxicidade de gotas otológicas, medicamentos tópicos nasais e orofaríngeos registrada na Grande São Paulo.

BACKGROUND: Retrospective analysis of human toxicity files involving topical medicines for treatment of upper airways diseases (eardrops, topical nasal medicines, lozenges, drops and sprays for oropharyngeal affections). METHODS: Thirty-four brands of eardrops, 48 of topical nasal medicines and 22 of tablets, lozenges and sprays for oropharyngeal affections were selected, from a total of 104 products available in Brazil. We analyzed the registries in the electronic database from the Poison Control Centre of São Paulo (CCI-Jabaquara), Brazil, for the period from January 1996 through December 2000. The cases related to selected pharmaceuticals were collected. RESULTS: 10,823 cases of human toxicity caused by medicines were voluntarily reported to CCI-Jabaquara. Topical medicines for treatment of upper airways diseases accounted for 291 cases (2.68%), from which 240 (82.5%) represented poisoning; 12 (4.1%) involved ear drops, 268 (92%), topical nasal medicines and 11 (3.9%), topical medicines for oropharyngeal affections. Among topical nasal medicines, vasoconstrictors predominated (233 cases), and among medicines for oropharyngeal affections, it was tetracaine (four cases). Considering age distribution, toxicity predominated significantly in children aged from 1 to 4 years (p=0.0003). The main causes of toxicity were: accidental intake of medicines (43%) and error in drug administration (14.8%). Hypereflexia and vomiting were the most frequent symptoms related to toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: There was significant incidence of systemic toxicity due to eardrops, topical nasal and oropharyngeal medicines in children 1 to 4 years-old, whose main cause was accidental intake of these medicines.

Characterization of language disorders in children with lead poisoning

Background: lead poisoning can have a negative impact on the neuropsychological functions, including language, due to the damage it causes to the developthent of the Central Nervous System. Aim: to verify the occurrence of language disorders in children who suffered from led poisoning and to verify the correlation between the lead concentration level in the blood and the language disorders presented by the children. Method: language evaluation of 20 preschoolers, with lead concentration level in the blood above 10μg/dl. Results: 13 children presented language impairment involving only phonology or more than one language subsystem. The statistical analysis indicated that no correlation exists between the severity of the language impairment and the concentration levels of lead. Conclusion: the number of children with language impairment indicates lead poisoning as a risk factor for the present alterations, even though other risk factors for language disorders were found and the absence of correlation between the investigated variables.

The quest for an intermediate-scale accidental axion and further ALPs

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Accidental symmetries and massless quarks in the economical 3-3-1 model

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Poisoning after ingestion of pufferfish in Brazil: report of 11 cases

In this brief communication the authors report eleven cases of human poisoning caused by ingestion of pufferfish meat. Three patients (two children and one adult) were seriously affected. The circumstances that precipitated the poisoning are discussed as well as the clinical aspects observed. No deaths were registered and the patients did not present sequelae after the episode.

Spontaneous poisoning by Hovenia dulcis in dairy cattle in Southwest Parana, Brazil

Livestock poisoning by plants is a frequent occurrence which determines severe losses, such as the fall in the milk and meat production, the cost of expensive treatments, the state of immunosuppression, or even the animal's death. Cattle ingest toxic plants only when there is food shortage, when they cannot select what they eat, or when they ingest food for preference, which is the case of Hovenia dulcis fruits, very rich in sucrose. This plant is widely distributed in the southern and southeastern Brazilian regions. In literature, there are some cases of severe human liver injury associated with a long-term of H. dulcis leaf and fruit tea intake, and only one report regarding spontaneous poisoning of goats caused by this plant ingestion. However, its toxic effects associated with spontaneous ingestion by cattle have never been reported. This paper reports the first case of spontaneous poisoning in cattle by H. dulcis, which occurred in a dairy farm in southwest Paraná, Brazil. Three cattle individuals showed anorexia, ruminal atony, severe diarrhea and neurological tournament, head pressing, blindness, ataxia, and circling. The necropsy of the animals was done, and the remaining alterations were restricted to the digestive system and brain. The clinical signs presented by the animals are characteristic of polioencephalomalacia (PEM), caused by changes in the thiamine metabolism. Furthermore, clinical signs, gross, and microscopic lesions as well as the large amount of the plant throughout the digestive segment led to a diagnosis.

Management of accidental swallowing in implant dentistry

This report describes a protocol for managing the accidental swallowing of dental instruments in implant dentistry, illustrated by a patient who accidentally swallowed a hexagonal wrench. The first step was to refer the patient to the medical emergency hospital service for radiographic and clinical evaluation. The hexagonal wrench was located in the stomach and was immediately removed with an endoscopic procedure. The gastric mucosa was sampled via biopsy and the sample submitted to the urease test, which was positive for Helicobacter pylori. Triple treatment was instituted for gastritis caused by H pylori to avoid exposing the patient to unnecessary risk. Removal of a foreign body by means of an endoscopic procedure constitutes a safe and effective treatment.

Effects of Maternal Pb2+ poisoning during pregnancy on the development of the jaw (Meckel´s Cartilage) of rat fetus

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of maternal lead poisoning during pregnancy on the development of the jaw (Meckel's cartilage) of rat fetuses by histologic and morphometric methods. Pregnant rats received a single intraperitoneal injection of 2.5 mg of lead acetate/100g body weight on the 10th day of pregnancy. Meckel's cartilage of fetuses of the lead-treated group showed smaller volume density and size of the lacunae, as well as modification of the lacunae shape. Moreover, the number density of lacunae and the volume density of the matrix increased significantly in the Meckel's cartilage in treated group fetuses. The results suggest that lead poisoning during the period of organogenesis can induce disturbances in the development and differentiation of the fetal stomatognathic system. Reducing the consumption of alcoholic beberages and smoking cessation by women in childbearing age, along with a strict policy of control of the environmental lead exposure can bring great benefits to the future generations of children.

Assessment of the risk of raw milk consumption related to staphylococcal food poisoning

This study aimed to identify the risks of staphylococcal food poisoning due to the consumption of raw milk. Fifty-one farms in Londrina (PR) and 50 in Pelotas (RS) were analyzed, to determine the population of coagulase-positive staphylococci (UFC/ mL), as well as to verify the ability of producing Staphylococcal Enterotoxin A (SEA) by immunodifusion (OSP), the presence of the gene for the production of SEA (PCR) in the cultures, and the research of enterotoxin (SEA to SEE) in milk samples using ELISA commercial kit. Considering the 101 farms analyzed, 19 (18.8%) presented coagulase-positive staphylococci count above 105 UFC/mL. For the evaluation of the enterotoxigenic ability (SEA) by the OSP technique, six cultures coagulase-positive (5.5%) were positive to the test and identified as S. aureus. From the coagualse-negative sample, one (5.5%) was OSP positive. For the evaluation of the presence of the gene for EEA synthesis, 51 cultures of staphylococci were tested. From this total, 14 (27.45%) presented the gene, and from that, only 5 (9.81%) cultures were capable of expressing it in the technique of the OSP. The morphologic characteristic of the evaluated cultures that had enterotoxigenic capacity, from the 14 (33,3%) cultures that presented the gene for EEA production, 05 (11.9%) were characterized as typical cultures of S.aureus in Baird Parker agar. All the 12 milk samples studied for the presence of EEA to EEE in milk were negative. Thus, it can be concluded that there is extensive contamination of raw milk for staphylococci coagulase, however, most of the isolated strains were not enterotoxigenic or did not express such a characteristic. Only 9.81% of the tested colonies expressed the gene and effectively produced SEA. None of the samples had sufficient counts to produce detectable amounts of SEA. The milk samples did not present risk to cause staphylococcal food poisoning if consumed in natura until the collection moment.

Ecologia da ictiofauna de um córrego de cabeceira da bacia do alto rio Paraná, Brasil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Effect of Urucu oil (Brazilian Amazon) on the biomass of the aquatic macrophyte Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms (Pontederiaceae)

Os rios e lagos de várzea da província petrolífera de Urucu, na Amazônia Central, são amplamente colonizados por macrófitas aquáticas, que podem ser afetadas por acidentes durante a exploração e o transporte de petróleo. Entre as macrófitas, a espécie flutuante Eichhornia crassipes (aguapé) ocorre abundantemente na região; OBJETIVO: O objetivo desse estudo foi verificar o efeito de diferentes dosagens do petróleo de Urucu (0; 0,5; 1,5 e 3,0 L.m-2) na biomassa viva e morta de E. crassipes e em algumas características físicas e químicas da água; MÉTODOS: O experimento teve oitenta e quatro dias de duração. A cada sete dias foi determinada a biomassa (viva e morta) de E. crassipes e os valores de temperatura, pH, condutividade elétrica e oxigênio dissolvido da água; RESULTADOS: A dosagem de 0,5 L.m-2 foi suficiente para causar mortalidade parcial (48%) em E. crassipes após trinta e cinco dias de exposição ao petróleo. A dosagem de 3,0 L.m-2 causou mortalidade total (100%) em E. crassipes em oitenta e quatro dias de exposição. A decomposição do petróleo e da biomassa morta de E. crassipes provocam a redução do oxigênio dissolvido e do pH, e aumento da condutividade elétrica e de fósforo total na água; CONCLUSÕES: Nós concluímos que um derramamento de petróleo pode provocar mortalidade total em uma população de uma espécie de macrófita, mas não em uma outra. Isto pode alterar a diversidade de espécies de macrófitas na região impactada. No caso de Eichhornia crassipes e Pistia stratiotes, um derramamento de petróleo de Urucu pode favorecer E. crassipes, a espécie menos sensível ao petróleo.

Low glyphosate rates do not affect Citrus limonia (L.) Osbeck seedlings

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Glyphosate has low toxicity to citrus plants growing in the field

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Molecular analysis of the bacterial diversity in a specialized consortium for diesel oil degradation

Diesel oil is a compound derived from petroleum, consisting primarily of hydrocarbons. Poor conditions in transportation and storage of this product can contribute significantly to accidental spills causing serious ecological problems in soil and water and affecting the diversity of the microbial environment. The cloning and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene is one of the molecular techniques that allows estimation and comparison of the microbial diversity in different environmental samples. The aim of this work was to estimate the diversity of microorganisms from the Bacteria domain in a consortium specialized in diesel oil degradation through partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. After the extraction of DNA metagenomics, the material was amplified by PCR reaction using specific oligonucleotide primers for the 16S rRNA gene. The PCR products were cloned into a pGEM-T-Easy vector (Promega), and Escherichia coli was used as the host cell for recombinant DNAs. The partial clone sequencing was obtained using universal oligonucleotide primers from the vector. The genetic library obtained generated 431 clones. All the sequenced clones presented similarity to phylum Proteobacteria, with Gammaproteobacteria the most present group (49.8 % of the clones), followed by Alphaproteobacteira (44.8 %) and Betaproteobacteria (5.4 %). The Pseudomonas genus was the most abundant in the metagenomic library, followed by the Parvibaculum and the Sphingobium genus, respectively. After partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA, the diversity of the bacterial consortium was estimated using DOTUR software. When comparing these sequences to the database from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), a strong correlation was found between the data generated by the software used and the data deposited in NCBI.

The extract of the jellyfish Phyllorhiza punctata promotes neurotoxic effects

Phyllorhiza punctata (P. punctata) is a jellyfish native to the southwestern Pacific. Herewith we present the biochemical and pharmacological characterization of an extract of the tentacles of P. punctata. The tentacles were subjected to three freezethaw cycles, homogenized, ultrafiltered, precipitated, centrifuged and lyophilized to obtain a crude extract (PHY-N). Paralytic shellfish poisoning compounds such as saxitoxin, gonyautoxin-4, tetrodotoxin and brevetoxin-2, as well as several secretory phospholipase A2 were identified. PHY-N was tested on autonomic and somatic neuromuscular preparations. In mouse vas deferens, PHY-N induced phasic contractions that reached a peak of 234 +/- 34.7% of control twitch height, which were blocked with either 100 mu m of phentolamine or 1m m of lidocaine. In mouse corpora cavernosa, PHY-N evoked a relaxation response, which was blocked with either L-NG-Nitroarginine methyl ester (0.5 m m) or 1m m of lidocaine. PHY-N (1, 3 and 10 mu g ml(-1)) induced an increase in tonus of the biventercervicis neuromuscular preparation that was blocked with pre-treatment of galamine (10 mu m). Administration of 6 mg kg(-1) PHY-N intramuscularly produced death in broilers by spastic paralysis. In conclusion, PHY-N induces nerve depolarization and nonspecifically increases neurotransmitter release. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.