Analyses of the genotoxic and mutagenic potential of the products formed after the biotransformation of the azo dye Disperse Red 1

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

Bioactive flavone dimers from Ouratea multiflora (Ochnaceae)

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

Evaluation of the Effects of Endodontic Materials on Fibroblast Viability and Cytokine Production

Introduction: Recently, a new sealer composed of Portland cement named Endo-CPM-Sealer was developed. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Endo-CPM-Sealer (EGEO SRL, Buenos Aires, Argentina), Sealapex (Sybron Endo, Glendora, CA), and Angelus MTA (Angelus, Londrina, Brazil) on cell viability and cytokine (interleukin [IL]-1 beta and IL-6) production by mouse fibroblasts. Methods: Millipore culture plate inserts with polyethylene tubes filled with materials were placed into 24-well cell culture plates with mouse fibroblasts. Cells cultured with only empty polyethylene tubes were used as the control. After 24 hours, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay was used to evaluate the cell viability. For cytokine assay, mouse fibroblasts were incubated in 24-well flat-bottom plates with set material disks at the bottom. Cells cultured without the material disks served as the negative control. After 24 hours of incubation, culture media were collected for cytokine evaluation by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The data were statistically analyzed by analysis of variance and Bonferroni correction. Results: Endo-CPM-Sealer, Sealapex, and Angelus MTA did not inhibit the cell viability. All materials induced IL-6 releasing, but the amount was not statistically significant compared with the control group. Angelus MTA induced IL-1 beta releasing significantly more than the control. Conclusions: All materials were not considered cytotoxic in fibroblast culture. (J Endod 2009;35:1577-1579)

Avaliação do promotor OCT-4 de equinos em uma abordagem transgênica em células-tronco embrionárias de murinos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Biocompatibility studies of natural rubber latex from different tree clones and collection methods

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Classification of histological images based on the stationary wavelet transform

Non-Hodgkin lymphomas are of many distinct types, and different classification systems make it difficult to diagnose them correctly. Many of these systems classify lymphomas only based on what they look like under a microscope. In 2008 the World Health Organisation (WHO) introduced the most recent system, which also considers the chromosome features of the lymphoma cells and the presence of certain proteins on their surface. The WHO system is the one that we apply in this work. Herewith we present an automatic method to classify histological images of three types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Our method is based on the Stationary Wavelet Transform (SWT), and it consists of three steps: 1) extracting sub-bands from the histological image through SWT, 2) applying Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to clean noise and select the most relevant information, 3) classifying it by the Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm. The kernel types Linear, RBF and Polynomial were evaluated with our method applied to 210 images of lymphoma from the National Institute on Aging. We concluded that the following combination led to the most relevant results: detail sub-band, ANOVA and SVM with Linear and RBF kernels.

Mutagenicity of the Musa paradisiaca (Musaceae) fruit peel extract in mouse peripheral blood cells in vivo

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Lack of clastogenic/genotoxic effects of Baccharis dracunculifolia extract on Swiss mouse peripheral blood cells

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

Cytotoxic effects of permethrin on mouse liver and spleen cells

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

Morphological alteration of peritoneal mast cells and macrophages in the mouse peritoneal cavity during the early phases of an allergic inflammatory reaction

We investigated the presence of mast cell granules in macrophages following an in vivo model of an allergic reaction. Injection of ovalbumin (100 mug) into the peritoneal cavity of sensitised mice produced a rapid (within 2 h) influx of neutrophils followed by a slower (after >4 h) eosinophil migration. Ovalbumin treatment induced a high incidence (similar to 50%) of mast cell degranulation compared to control phosphated-buffered saline-treated mice. The majority (similar to 90%) of peritoneal macrophages contained mast cell granules as early as 2 It post-ovalbumin, with lower values at later time-points, as determined by staining with Toluidine blue and Berberine sulphate. This was confirmed by electron microscopy which enabled us to identify the complex mast cell granule sub-structural components in macrophage phagosomes. In conclusion, we used histochemical and ultrastructural analyses to show that mast cell granules become internalised with macrophages during the early stages of an experimental allergic reaction. (C) 2001 Academic Press.

An essential role for mast cells as modulators of neutrophils influx in collagen-induced arthritis in the mouse

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

Radioprotection of beta-carotene evaluated on mouse somatic and germ cells

In the present paper, the protective effect of beta-carotene was evaluated after whole body exposure of mice to 2 Gy of X-rays. Splenocytes, reticulocytes, bone marrow cells and spermatids were evaluated for the frequency of micronuclei (MN) induced by X-rays. Mice were treated (gavage) with beta-carotene (10, 25 and 50 mg/kg b.w.) for 5 consecutive days and, 4 h after the last treatment, the animals were irradiated. The results obtained showed different frequencies of X-ray-induced-MN between different cell populations analysed and also different response of these cells to the beta-carotene treatment. The radioprotective effect of beta-carotene was observed in splenocytes, reticulocytes, and spermatids but not in bone marrow cells. No dose-response relationship for beta-carotene was detected. The time of sampling, the sensitivity of the cells as well as the antioxidant activity of beta-carotene are discussed as important factors for the radioprotective action of this provitamin.