Nutritionally induced changes in endosperm of shrunken-1 and brittle-2 maize kernels grown in vitro

Although mineral nutrition affects maize (Zea mays L.) yield by controlling starch deposition in kernels, the mechanisms involved are largely unknown. Our objectives were to examine this relationship by nutritionally and genetically altering starch production in the endosperm. Kernels of W64A and two starch-deficient mutants, shrunken-1 and brittle-2, were grown in vitro with varying supplies of N (0-50 mM) or P (0-6 mM) to produce different degrees of endosperm starch production, and the levels of enzyme activities and metabolites associated with carbohydrate and N metabolism were examined. In vitro grown kernels exhibited the expected starch phenotypes, and a minimum level of media N (25 mM) and P (2 mM) was required for optimal growth. However, increasing the availability of N or P could not overcome the genetically induced decrease in starch deposition of the mutants. Nitrogen deficiency enhanced sugar accumulation, but decreased amino acid levels, soluble protein, enzyme activity, starch synthesis, and endosperm dry weight. Phosphorous deficiency also decreased starch production and endosperm dry weight, but with only a minimal effect on the activities of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase and alanine transaminase. Genotypic differences in endosperm starch, and the increases induced by N and P supply, Here closely associated with the level of endosperm N, but not endosperm P. Thus, while both N and P are crucial for optimal yield of maize grain, they appear to act by different means, and with different importance in governing starch deposition in the endosperm.

Efeito de indutores bióticos e abióticos na atividade de quitinase e peroxidase e no controle da ferrugem causada por Puccinia psidii em eucalipto

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

Avaliação da qualidade de vida através do indicativo de saúde no bairro jardim Cherveson em Rio Claro-SP

This research reffers to a study of case about Jardim Cherveson district, in which was mensured the quality of life of the resident population. The term quality of life has a dificult definition, because include a lot of variables objectives and subjectives, however, we can say that good quality of life depends on health condition of the individual. To assess the quality of life of the residents on district were verified the diseases of higher occurrence, identifing if the same were caused by the condition of local urban infrastructure and still the treatment of the Unidade Básica de Saúde in the study area

Effect of Byrsonima crassa and Phenolic Constituents on Helicobacter pylori-Induced Neutrophils Oxidative Burst

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

Mutagenicity induced by the hydroalcoholic extract of the medicinal plant Plathymenia reticulata Benth

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Assessment of DNA damage induced by extracts, fractions and isolated compounds of Davilla nitida and Davilla elliptica (Dilleniaceae)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Cell cycle arrest evidence, parasiticidal and bactericidal properties induced by L-amino acid oxidase from Bothrops atrox snake venom

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

Effect of gender on training-induced vascular remodeling in SHR

There is accumulating evidence that physical inactivity, associated with the modern sedentary lifestyle, is a major determinant of hypertension. It represents the most important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, which are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality for both men and women. In addition to involving sympathetic overactivity that alters hemodynamic parameters, hypertension is accompanied by several abnormalities in the skeletal muscle circulation including vessel rarefaction and increased arteriole wall-to-lumen ratio, which contribute to increased total peripheral resistance. Low-intensity aerobic training is a promising tool for the prevention, treatment and control of high blood pressure, but its efficacy may differ between men and women and between male and female animals. This review focuses on peripheral training-induced adaptations that contribute to a blood pressure-lowering effect, with special attention to differential responses in male and female spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Heart, diaphragm and skeletal muscle arterioles (but not kidney arterioles) undergo eutrophic outward remodeling in trained male SHR, which contributed to a reduction of peripheral resistance and to a pressure fall. In contrast, trained female SHR showed no change in arteriole wall-to-lumen ratio and no pressure fall. on the other hand, training-induced adaptive changes in capillaries and venules (increased density) were similar in male and female SHR, supporting a similar hyperemic response to exercise.

Infliximab-induced psoriasis during therapy for Crohn's disease

Although therapy with tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors (anti-TNF) provides beneficial effects in different immune inflammatory disorders, paradoxical cases of anti-THE-induced psoriasis have increasingly been reported, mostly in the setting of rheumatologic diseases. To date, less than 50 cases of infliximab-induced psoriasis in inflammatory bowel disease patients have been described. The present report was aimed at describing two new cases of infliximab-induced psoriasis during therapy for Crohn's disease and at carrying out a review on this intriguing phenomenon. (C) 2011 European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental models of autoimmune inflammatory ocular diseases

A inflamação ocular é uma das principais causas de perda visual e cegueira. As uveítes constituem um grupo complexo e heterogêneo de doenças caracterizadas por inflamação dos tecidos intraoculares. O olho pode ser o único órgão envolvido ou a uveíte pode ser parte de uma doença sistêmica. A etiologia é desconhecida em um número significativo de casos, que são considerados idiopáticos. Modelos animais têm sido desenvolvidos para estudar a fisiopatogênese da uveíte autoimune devido às dificuldades na obtenção de tecidos de olhos humanos inflamados para experimentos. Na maioria desses modelos, que simulam as uveítes autoimunes em humanos, a uveíte é induzida com proteínas específicas de fotorreceptores (antígeno-S, proteína ligadora de retinoide do interfotoreceptor, rodopsina, recoverina e fosducina). Antígenos não retinianos, como proteínas associadas à melanina e proteína básica de mielina, são também bons indutores de uveíte em animais. Entender os mecanismos básicos e a patogênese dessas doenças oculares é essencial para o desenvolvimento de novas formas de tratamento das uveítes autoimunes e de novos agentes terapêuticos. Nesta revisão serão abordados os principais modelos experimentais utilizados para o estudo de doenças inflamatórias oculares autoimunes.

Coffee and Caffeine Protect against Liver Injury Induced by Thioacetamide in Male Wistar Rats

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

Autologous implant of bone marrow mononuclear cells as treatment of induced equine tendinitis

Superficial digital flexor tendonitis is an important cause of lameness in horses and its incidence ranges from 13% to 30%, depending on the horse's activity. This injury can occur in yearlings and compromise its carriers by reinjury or even impossibility to return to athletic life. In spite of the long period required for tendon repair, the scar tissue presents lack of elasticity and stiffness. As current treatment strategies produce only marginal results, there has been great interest in research of therapies that influence the quality or the speed of tendon repair. Stem cell therapy has shown promising results in degenerative diseases and cases of deficient healing processes. This study aims to evaluate the influence of autologous mesenchymal bone marrow stem cells in tendon healing, comparing treated and non-treated tendons. Superficial digital flexor tendonitis lesions were induced by collagenase infiltration in both forelimbs of 6 horses, followed by autologous implant in one of the forelimbs of each animal. The horses were evaluated using clinical, ultrasonographic, histopathologic, and immunohistochemical parameters. Tendon biopsies were performed at Day 48. Results found in the treatment group, such as high inflammatory cells infiltration, extracellular matrix synthesis, reduced amount of necrosis areas, small increase in cellular proliferation (KI-67/MIB-1), and low immunoreactivity to transforming growth factor P I, suggested the acceleration of tendon repair in this group. Further studies should be conducted in order to verify the influence of this treatment on later phases of tendon repair. Overall, after analysis of the results, we can conclude that cellular therapy with the mononuclear fraction of bone marrow has accelerated tendon repair at 48 days after treatment.

Hypertension favors the inflammatory process in rats with experimentally induced periodontitis

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

Histometric analysis of ligature-induced periodontitis in rats: a comparison of histological section planes

The purpose of this study was to analyze the histometry of ligature-induced periodontitis in rats at different histological section depths. Sixteen male adult Wistar rats were randomly assigned to two groups: ligature and control. In the ligature group, rats received a sterile 4/0 silk ligature around the maxillary right 2nd molar. Thirty serial sections containing the 1st and 2nd molars, in which the coronal and root pulp, cementoenamel junction (CEJ) in the mesial side of the 2nd molar, interproximal alveolar bone and connective fiber attachment were clearly visible, were selected for histometric analysis. The histological sections were clustered in groups of 10 sections corresponding the buccal (B), central (C) and lingual (L) regions of the of periodontal tissue samples. The distance between the CEJ in the mesial side of the 2nd molar and the attached periodontal ligament fibers (CEJ-PL) as well as the distance between the CEJ and the alveolar bone crest (CEJ-BC) were determined. From CEJ-PL and CEJ-BC distances measured for each specimen, the measurements obtained in the B, L and C regions were recorded individually and together. Data were submitted to statistical analysis. Significant differences (p<0.001) were observed between the control and ligature groups regarding CEJ-PL (0.05 mm and 0.26 mm, respectively) and CEJ-BC (0.47 mm and 0.77 mm, respectively) measurements. Regarding the depth of the buccal, central and lingual planes, the means of CEJ-PL and CEJ-BC of both groups showed no statistically significant differences (p>0.05). In conclusion, the selection of 10 serial sections of the central region of periodontal tissue samples at any depth can be considered as representative for the evaluation of periodontal ligament fiber attachment and bone loss in ligature-induced periodontitis in rats.

The influence of chronic stress imposed on pregnant rats on the induced bone loss in their adult offspring

Background and objective: Stress during pregnancy may alter offspring susceptibility to diseases during adulthood. In the present study, female Lewis rats were subjected to chronic stress during the gestational period, and the effect of this stress was evaluated histometrically on the progression of ligature-induced bone loss in their adult offspring.Material and methods: After confirming pregnancy, half of the pregnant rats were randomly designated as control animals (no stress regimen was imposed), and the other half was submitted to a chronic stress model (immobilization at cold temperature) between the 7th and the 18th gestational day. After birth, 12 male rats delivered by stressed mothers - Group 1 (G1) - and 12 male rats delivered by non-stressed mothers - Group 2 (G2) - were selected. When birthed rats reached 250 g of body weight, a silk ligature was placed around their maxillary right second molar in order to induce bone loss. The non-ligated left side served as a control. Sixty days later, these animals were sacrificed by anaesthetic overdose. After routine laboratorial processing, images of the histological sections were digitized and submitted for histometric measurement using two parameters: histological attachment loss and bone loss.Results: on the ligated side, G1 presented with greater histological attachment and bone loss than G2 (p < 0.05). on the non-ligated control side, neither of the groups presented with alterations in these parameters (p > 0.05).Conclusion: The chronic stress regimen imposed on pregnant rats produced a greater progression of ligature-induced bone loss in their adult offspring. (C) 0 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.