DNA damage in cytologically normal urothelial cells of patients with a history of urothelial cell carcinoma

In order to determine if patients with a history of previous urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) but with current normal urinary cytology have DNA damage in urothelial cells, the single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet) assay was conducted with cells obtained by urinary bladder washings from 44 patients (28 with a history of previous UCC). Increased DNA damage was observed in cytologically normal urothelial cells of patients with a history of UCC when compared with referents with no similar history and after correcting the data for smoking status and age (P < 0.018). Increased DNA damage also correlated with the highest tumor grade, irrespective of time or course of the disease after clinical intervention (Kendall tau correlation, 0.37, P = 0.016). Moreover, aneuploidy, as assessed by DNA content ratio (DCR; 75th/25th percentile of total DNA fluorescence of 50 comets/patient) was unaltered by smoking status, but increased with UCC grade: 1.39 +/- 0.12 (median +/- 95% confidence interval; referents); 1.43 +/- 0.11 (Grade I UCC; P = 0.264, against referents); 1.49 +/- 0.16 (Grade II UCC; P = 0.057); 1.57 +/- 0.16 (Grade III UCC; P = 0.003). Micronucleated urothelial cells (MNC) were also scored on Giemsa-stained routine cytological smears and were found not to correlate with DNA damage or DCR. MNC frequencies were higher for patients with a history of UCC and/or smoking than referents with neither history, but there was no statistical difference between groups. Taken together, these results suggest that the normal-appearing urothelium of patients resected for UCC still harbor genetically unstable cells. (C) 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Equine neosporosis: search for antibodies in cerebrospinal fluid and sera from animals with history of ataxia

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

The effects of Brazilian and Bulgarian propolis in vitro against Salmonella Typhi and their synergism with antibiotics acting on the ribosome

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi is the causative agent of typhoid fever in humans, and the use of antibiotics is essential for controlling this infection; however, the excessive use of antibiotics may select resistant strains. Propolis is a honeybee product and its antimicrobial activity has been intensively investigated. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate a possible synergism between propolis (collected in Brazil and Bulgaria) and antibiotics acting on the ribosome (chloramphenicol, tetracycline and neomycin) against Salmonella Typhi in vitro. The synergism was investigated by using 1/2 and 1/4 of the minimum inhibitory concentration for propolis and these antimicrobial agents, evaluating the number of viable cells according to the incubation time. Brazilian propolis showed a bacteriostatic action against S. Typhi, while Bulgarian propolis showed a bactericidal activity and a synergistic effect with the three antibiotics. Variations in the biological assays might be due to the differences in their chemical compositions. Based on the results, one may conclude that Bulgarian propolis showed an important antibacterial action, as well as a synergistic effect with antibiotics acting on the ribosome, which points out a possible therapeutic strategy evaluating the use of propolis preparations for the treatment of Salmonella Typhi infection.

Antibacterial effects of Brazilian and Bulgarian propolis and synergistic effects with antibiotics acting on the bacterial DNA and folic acid

Propolis is a honeybee product that has been used since ancient times because of its therapeutic effects. It can be used in the development of alternative therapies for the treatment of many diseases, and because propolis shows antibacterial action, this work was carried out in order to investigate a possible synergism between propolis and antibiotics acting on DNA (ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin) and on the metabolism (cotrimoxazole) against Salmonella Typhi. Propolis samples collected in Brazil and Bulgaria were compared in these assays, and the synergism was investigated by using 1/2 and 1/4 of the minimal inhibitory concentration for propolis and antibiotics, evaluating the number of viable cells according to the incubation time. Brazilian and Bulgarian propolis showed antibacterial activity, but no synergistic effects with the three tested antibiotics were seen. Previous works by our laboratory have revealed that propolis has synergistic effects with antibiotics, acting on the bacterial wall and ribosome, but it does not seem to interact with antibiotics acting on DNA or folic acid, and only a bacteriostatic action was seen in these assay conditions.

Acoustic and perceptual analyses of Brazilian male actors' and nonactors' voices: Long-term average spectrum and the Actor's Formant

This study investigates the possible differences between actors' and nonactors' vocal projection strategies using acoustic and perceptual analyses. A total of 11 male actors and 10 male nonactors volunteered as subjects, reading an extended text sample in habitual, moderate, and loud levels. The samples were analyzed for sound pressure level (SPL), alpha ratio (difference between the average SPL of the 1-5 kHz region and the average SPL of the 50 Hz-1 kHz region), fundamental frequency (F0), and long-term average spectrum (LTAS). Through LTAS, the mean frequency of the first formant (171) range, the mean frequency of the actor's formant, the level differences between the F1 frequency region and the F0 region (L1-L0), and the level differences between the strongest peak at 0-1 kHz and that at 3-4 kHz were measured. Eight voice specialists evaluated perceptually the degree of projection, loudness, and tension in the samples. The actors had a greater alpha ratio, stronger level of the actor's formant range, and a higher degree of perceived projection and loudness in all loudness levels. SPL, however, did not differ significantly between the actors and nonactors, and no differences were found in the mean formant frequencies ranges. The alpha ratio and the relative level of the actor's formant range seemed to be related to the degree of perceived loudness. From the physiological point of view, a more favorable glottal setting' providing a higher glottal closing speed, may be characteristic of these actors' projected voices. So, the projected voices, in this group of actors, were more related to the glottic source than to the resonance of the vocal tract.

Genetic characterization of Brazilian annual Arachis species from sections Arachis and Heteranthae using RAPD markers

The genus Arachis is divided into nine taxonomic sections. Section Arachis is composed of annual and perennial species, while section Heteranthae has only annual species. The objective of this study was to investigate the genetic relationships among 15 Brazilian annual accessions from Arachis and Heteranthae using RAPD markers. Twenty-seven primers were tested, of which nine produced unique fingerprintings for all the accessions studied. A total of 88 polymorphic fragments were scored and the number of fragments per primer varied from 6 to 17 with a mean of 9.8. Two specific markers were identified for species with 2n = 18 chromosomes. The phenogram derived from the RAPD data corroborated the morphological classification. The bootstrap analysis divided the genotypes into two significant clusters. The first cluster contained all the section Arachis species, and the accessions within it were grouped based upon the presence or absence of the 'A' pair and the number of chromosomes. The second cluster grouped all accessions belonging to section Heteranthae.

Isoenzymatic variation in the germplasm of Brazilian races of maize (Zea mays L.)

Existem mais de 200 raças de milho (Zea mays L.), as quais são divididas em três grupos (raças comerciais antigas, raças comerciais recentes e raças indígenas). As raças indígenas, embora não tenham valor comercial, possuem muitas características importantes que podem ser utilizadas em programas de melhoramento de milho. A maior parte do germoplasma brasileiro das raças de milho indígena foi coletada, no mínimo, 40 anos atrás e nada é conhecido sobre a variabilidade presente neste germoplasma. Quinze populações de 4 raças indígenas de milho (Caingang, Entrelaçado, Lenha e Moroti) e 5 cultivares indígenas foram analisados utilizando-se 5 sistemas isoenzimáticos codificados por 14 locos. A análise revelou um baixo nível de variabilidade entre as amostras estudadas. O número médio de alelos/loco foi três, com 64,3% de locos polimórficos e uma heterozigosidade média esperada de 0,352. Por população, a média de número de alelos por loco polimórfico foi 1,6, em média 47,5% dos locos foram polimórficos e a heterozigosidade média foi 0,195. A distância genética média entre as populações foi 0,821 e a proporção da variabilidade genética, que é atribuída ao componente entre populações (Gst), foi 0,156. Os dados sugerem que um efeito de fundador poderia explicar a baixa variabilidade detectada.

Effects of Brazilian and Bulgarian propolis on bactericidal activity of macrophages against Salmonella Typhimurium

Propolis has been used in folk medicine since ancient times due to its, many biological properties: such as antimicrobial. antinflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory activities, among others. 'Macrophages play an important role in the early phase of Salmonella infection. In this work, macrophages were prestimated with Brazilian or Bulgarian propolis and subsequently challenged with Salmonella Typhimurium at different macrophage/bacteria ratio. After 60 min of incubation. cells were harvested with Triton-X to lyse the macrophages. To assess the bactericidal activity. The number of colony-forming units (CFU) of S. typhimurium was determined by plating 0.1 mL in 'Mueller Hinton agar. After 24 h. CFU were counted. and the percentage of bactericidal activity was obtained. Propolis from Brazil and Bulgaria enhanced the bactericidal activity of macrophages, depending on its concentration. Brazilian propolis seemed to be more efficient than that from Bulgaria. because of their different chemical composition. In Bulgaria, bees collect the material mainly from the bud exudate of poplar tree, while in Brazil, Baccharis dracunculifolia DC. was shown to be the main propolis source. Our data also showed that the increased bactericidal activity of macrophages involved the participation of oxygen (H2O2) and nitrogen (NO) intermediate metabolites. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In vitro Cytotoxic Effect of Brazilian Green Propolis on Human Laryngeal Epidermoid Carcinoma (HEp-2) Cells

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

Evolutionary and biogeographic history of the subfamily Neoplecostominae (Siluriformes: Loricariidae)

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

Natural history of the South American water snake Helicops leopardinus (Colubridae : Hydropsini) in the pantanal, Central Brazil

The South American water snake Helicops leopardinus is very abundant in the Pantanal wetlands of Central Brazil. We studied the biology of this species based on specimens collected by local workers in the Paraguay River. Females attained greater body lengths and had larger heads than males, but the latter had longer tails. Helicops leopardinus fed on a wide variety of fishes (70% of the total prey items) and frogs, with fishes of the order Gymnotiformes (33.34%) and frogs of the family Hylidae (23.34%) representing the most common prey items. There was relatively lows diet overlap between the sexes and between juveniles and adults. Mean litter size was 6.6 and ranged from 4-11. The reproductive cycle was seasonal, with birth occurring late in the wet season (simultaneous with the flooding of the Paraguay River), facilitating dispersal of young snakes by floating vegetation. Floating vegetation may be a critical habitat for H. leopardinus, and management plans for their maintenance need to be developed.

New host records of Brazilian pentastomid species

Pentastomida é um táxon de organismos parasitas obrigatórios de sistema respiratório de vertebrados, principalmente répteis. Embora esse táxon seja muito importante para a compreensão da filogenia dos Metazoa, tem recebido pouca atenção. No Brasil, existem poucas coleções que abrigam espécies de pentastomídeos, quais sejam: a Coleção Helmintológica do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (CHIOC), a Coleção de Invertebrados do Laboratório de Zoologia da Universidade Regional do Cariri (LAZ-URCA) e a Coleção Helmintológica do Laboratório de Parasitologia de Animais Silvestres (LAPAS). O presente trabalho descreve as espécies de pentastomídeos depositados na Coleção Helmintológia do LAPAS. O trato respiratório e as cavidades do corpo dos répteis foram removidos e analisados sob Microscópio Esteroscópico; quando encontrados os pentastomídeos, foram montados slides em meio Hoyer e identificados. Foram identificadas quatro espécies e outras três ficaram identificadas no nível de gênero, tendo sido registrados quatro novos hospedeiros para as espécies de pentastomídeos.

Genotyping of Brazilian Giardia duodenalis human axenic isolates

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