Quantification of pulmonary inflammatory processes using chest radiography: tuberculosis as the motivating application

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

Anti-hyperalgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of Alternanthera maritima extract and 2″-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosylvitexin in mice

Alternanthera maritima are used in Brazilian popular medicine for the treatment of inflammatory and infectious diseases. Species of Alternanthera have demonstrated biological activities in previous scientific studies. The aim of this study was to determine whether the ethanol extract of the aerial parts of A. maritima (EEAM) and the isolated compound 2″-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-vitexin inhibit mechanical hyperalgesia and parameters of inflammation in mice. The oral administration of EEAM significantly inhibited carrageenan (Cg)-induced paw edema and reduced leukocyte migration into the pleural cavity. 2″-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosylvitexin significantly inhibited paw edema and reduced both leukocyte migration and the leakage of protein into the pleural cavity. Both EEAM and 2″-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosylvitexin significantly prevented the Cg-induced hyperalgesia. Local administration of 2″-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosylvitexin significantly prevented the Cg- and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-induced hyperalgesia. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that EEAM is an anti-inflammatory and anti-hyperalgesic agent, and the results suggested that 2″-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosylvitexin is responsible for the effects of EEAM and the mechanism involves the TNF pathway.

Oral syphilis: report of three cases and characterization of the inflammatory cells

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infectious disease caused by Treponema pallidum. This study reports 3 cases of syphilis and highlights the importance of identifying oral lesions for its final diagnosis. Case 1: a 48-year-old male patient presented with a bleeding ulcer in the lower lip. Overall clinical examination revealed patchy alopecia and skin target lesions. Case 2: a 61-year-old male patient presented with white spots on the lateral tongue and nodules on the dorsum of the tongue. Overall clinical examination showed erythematous target lesions on the abdomen, forearm, palms of the hand, and soles of the feet. Case 3: a 17-year-old male patient presented with an ulcerated lesion on the tongue and lymph node involvement. The following serologic tests were requested: Venereal Disease Research Laboratory, fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorption, anti-HIV-1 and anti-HIV-2, and anti-hepatitis C virus. An incisional biopsy revealed epithelial hyperplasia associated with intense and diffuse mononuclear inflammatory cell infiltration consisting mainly of plasma cells, in a perivascular and perineural distribution. The final diagnosis in the 3 patients was syphilis. Treatment consisted of 1 weekly dose of penicillin (2.4 million units, intramuscular) for 2 or 3 weeks. Immunohistochemical reactions for XIIIa, CD3, CD20, CD68, CD163, S100, CD1a, CD11c, CD83, CD138, and CD208 were performed. Clinicians should be familiarized with oral syphilis lesions in order to be able to diagnose this emerging infectious disease of variable clinical presentation.

Investigation of cytokines, oxidative stress, metabolic, and inflammatory biomarkers after orange juice consumption by normal and overweight subjects

Abdominal adiposity has been linked to metabolic abnormalities, including dyslipidemia, oxidative stress, and low-grade inflammation. To test the hypothesis that consumption of 100% orange juice (OJ) would improve metabolic, oxidative, and inflammatory biomarkers and cytokine levels in normal and overweight subjects with increased waist circumference. Subjects were divided into two groups in accordance with their body mass index: normal and overweight. Both groups of individuals consumed 750 mL of OJ daily for 8 weeks. Body composition (weight, height, percentage of fat mass, and waist circumference); metabolic biomarkers (total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol [LDL-C], high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol [HDL-C], triglycerides, glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR, and glycated hemoglobin); oxidative biomarkers (malondialdehyde and DPPH(•)); inflammatory biomarkers (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [hsCRP]); cytokines (IL-4, IL-10, IL-12, TNF-α, and IFN-γ); and diet were evaluated before and after consumption of OJ for 8 weeks. The major findings of this study were: 1) no alteration in body composition in either group; 2) improvement of the lipid profile, evidenced by a reduction in total cholesterol and LDL-C; 3) a potential stimulation of the immune response due to increase in IL-12; 4) anti-inflammatory effect as a result of a marked reduction in hsCRP; and 5) antioxidant action by the enhancement of total antioxidant capacity and the reduction of lipid peroxidation, in both normal and overweight subjects. OJ consumption has a positive effect on important biomarkers of health status in normal and overweight subjects, thereby supporting evidence that OJ acts as functional food and could be consumed as part of a healthy diet to prevent metabolic and chronic diseases.

Novel markers of inflammatory response and hepatic dysfunction in canine leishmaniasis

Dogs are the main host of Leishmania infantum, and the clinical presentation may range from asymptomatic to systemic manifestations. The immune mechanisms in infected, but clinically healthy dogs, prevails Th1 response mediated by cytokines. In this sense, adenosine deaminase (ADA) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) are considered as key enzymes in several physiological processes, including the modulation of inflammatory process. Considering the variable immune response against Leishmania and the known participation of ADA and BChE, the aim of this study was to assess the relation between these two enzymes with the inflammatory response as well as hepatic function in dogs naturally infected with L. infantum. For this purpose, the activity of ADA and BChE was assessed in sera of 24 dogs naturally infected with L. infantum, plus 17 healthy dogs. The naturally infected dogs had clinical signs compatible with leishmaniasis and sera activities of ADA (P<0.01) and BChE (P<0.05) decreased, when compared to the healthy group. The reduction of ADA activity probably represented an effect on inflammatory response, especially due to the decreased hydrolysis of extracellular adenosine, might in order to protect against tissue damage and, also, setting a down-regulation on pro-inflammatory cytokines. BChE enzyme had no effect on modulating the immune response in leishmaniasis, but it decreased, a fact may related to deficiency of synthesis in the liver. Therefore, ADA and BChE activities reduced probably in order to protect against extra tissue damage and due failure in synthesis, respectively.

Down-regulation of protease activated receptor 2, interleukin-17 and other pro-inflammatory genes by subantimicrobial doxycycline dose in a rat periodontitis model

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Anti-inflammatory drug design by molecular hybridization approach

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

Avaliação clínico-laboratorial e da expressão de metaloproteinases 2 e 9 de equinos com obstrução experimental do cólon menor

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Genomic gains in prostatic carcinoma and proliferative inflammatory atrophy in dogs

The dog can spontaneously develop prostate cancer and consequently can be used as an experimental model for prostatic diseases associated with aging, including benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate carcinoma (PCa). DNA copy number variations (CNVs) have been used to identify genes associated with cancer development and progression. DNA microarray based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) is a technique that allows to identify copy number of thousands of genes throughout the genome. aCGH was used to identify genomic regions with significantly different DNA copy number in three benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), four proliferative inflammatory atrophy (PIA), and 14 canine prostate carcinoma (PCa). Five histologically normal prostate tissue were used as reference. Genomic DNA was extracted from formalin fixed and paraffin embedded samples and CNVs data was evaluated in Canine Genome CGH Microarray 4x44K (G2519F, Design ID021193, Agilent). Data analysis was performed using Genomic Workbench Standard Edition 5.0.14 (Agilent). PCa showed higher number of altered genes related to canonical diseases process, cellular functions and molecular pathways as well as greater inter-relationship between genes, compared with PIA and BPH. In conclusion, PCa showed a more complex genotype, being losses the most frequent genomic changes. Some discrepancies between genomic alterations in human and canine carcinomas may indicate the different clinical behavior of these tumors in these two species. In addition, it was observed was an ascending pattern of genomic complexity in BPH, PIA and CA consistent with a model of multistep tumor progression.