In vitro and in vivo antioxidant activity of the pulp of Jatobá-do-cerrado

Abstract Oxygen metabolism in cells causes the production of free radicals, which produce damage, including changes in cell structure and function. Antioxidants are substances that, at low concentrations, slow down or prevent oxidation. Fruits and vegetables contribute to the dietary supply of these compounds. The flora of the Cerrado in Brazil has shown to have high levels of bioactive compounds. This study aimed to characterize the antioxidant activity of the pulp of jatobá-do-cerrado in vitro and in vivo.In vitro antioxidant activity of the aqueous, ethanol and aqueous acetone extracts was evaluated by the DPPH method. We determined total phenols by the Folin-Ciocalteu assay and tannins by the Folin-Denis method.In vivo antioxidant potential of the aqueous acetone extract was evaluated by the TBARS technique. The aqueous acetone extract had the highest antioxidant capacity, followed by the aqueous and ethanol extracts. The same pattern occurred in the extraction of phenols and in the extraction of tannins. In vivo administration of the aqueous acetone extract inhibited lipid peroxidation compared to the control group. The inhibition of peroxidation has increased by elevating the dosage concentration of the extracts, demonstrating a significant antioxidant potential in vivo as well as in vitro.

Biological drugs for the treatment of psoriasis in a public health system

OBJECTIVE To analyze the access and utilization profile of biological medications for psoriasis provided by the judicial system in Brazil.METHODSThis is a cross-sectional study. We interviewed a total of 203 patients with psoriasis who were on biological medications obtained by the judicial system of the State of Sao Paulo, from 2004 to 2010. Sociodemographics, medical, and political-administrative characteristics were complemented with data obtained from dispensation orders that included biological medications to treat psoriasis and the legal actions involved. The data was analyzed using an electronic data base and shown as simple variable frequencies. The prescriptions contained in the lawsuits were analyzed according to legal provisions.RESULTS A total of 190 lawsuits requesting several biological drugs (adalimumab, efalizumab, etanercept, and infliximab) were analyzed. Patients obtained these medications as a result of injunctions (59.5%) or without having ever demanded biological medication from any health institution (86.2%), i.e., public or private health services. They used the prerogative of free legal aid (72.6%), even though they were represented by private lawyers (91.1%) and treated in private facilities (69.5%). Most of the patients used a biological medication for more than 13 months (66.0%), and some patients were undergoing treatment with this medication when interviewed (44.9%). Approximately one third of the patients discontinued treatment due to worsening of their illness (26.6%), adverse drug reactions (20.5%), lack of efficacy, or because the doctor discontinued this medication (13.8%). None of the analyzed medical prescriptions matched the legal prescribing requirements. Clinical monitoring results showed that 70.3% of the patients had not undergone laboratory examinations (blood work, liver and kidney function tests) for treatment control purposes.CONCLUSIONS The plaintiffs resorted to legal action to get access to biological medications because they were either unaware or had difficulty in accessing them through institutional public health system procedures. Access by means of legal action facilitated long-term use of this type of medication through irregular prescriptions and led to a high rate of adverse drug reactions as well as inappropriate clinical monitoring.

Tratamento da cisticercose subcutânea co praziquantel: um novo agente cestoidicida

Twenty adult patients presenting dermal cysticercosis without cerebral or ocular involvement were treated with praziquantel. The first eleven cases received 60 mg/kg/day and the last nine cases 30 mg/kg/day. In both groups the daily dose was split into three oral intakes 4 to 6 hours apart and the drug administration lasted for 6 consecutive days. The latter group of patients also got dexamethasone, 3 mg daily, from one day before until four days after the treatment period with praziquantel. The drug proved to be 100% efficacious as demonstrated histopathologically by the death of the cysticerci of Taenia solium (Cysticercus cellulosae) in serial biopsies taken from the 2nd week on after the end of treatment, as well as clinically by the steady disappearence of the dermal nodules during the 6 months following the therapy. Tolerance of praziquantel was good as the incidence and severity of side-effects were not relevant. The drug safety was confirmed through laboratory tests which failed to detect any abnormal findings related to the hematopoietic, liver and kidney functions.

Trypanosoma (Herpetosoma) rangeli Tejera, 1920: intracellular amastigote stages of reproduction in white mice

The method, site, and stage of multiplication of Trypanosoma (Herpetosoma) rangeli Tejera, 1920 has not hitherto been known. "We have now observed many intracellular nests or pseudocysts, containing amastigotes and trypomastigotes of this parasite in the heart, liver, and spleen of suckling (5.0 g) male white mice (NMRI strain) inoculated i.p. with 9 x 10(4) metatrypomastigotes/g body weight from a 12-day-old culture of the "Dog-82" strain of T. rangeli. At the peak of parasitemia (1.9 x 10(6) trypomastigotes/ml blood, 3 days post-inoculation) various tissues were taken for sectioning and staining. The heart was most intensely parasitized. The amastigotes were rounded or ellipsoidal, with a rounded nucleus and the kinetoplast in the form of a straight or curved bar; the average maximum diameter of 50 measured amastigotes was 4.2 p. Binary fission was seen in the nucleus and kinetoplast of some amastigotes; no blood trypomastigotes were seen in division. The above characteristics, as well as the location of the pseudocysts in the tissues, are similar to T. cruzi. Comparison of these results with those reported for other Herpetosoma suggest study of the taxonomic position of T. rangeli.

Schistosomiasis mansoni: evidence for a milder response in germfree mice

Germfree (GF and conventional (CV) mice were infected intraperitoneally with GF cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni and kept for six weeks. Twenty four hours before killing, they were injected with [³H]-thymidine. Schistosoma worms, harvested after perfusion of portal system, were counted as well as eggs from liver and intestines. Liver was also used for DNA, protein, and collagen determinations. [³H] -Thymidine incorporation and collagen determinations were used to establish the indices given by the difference between their contents in infected and control animals and expressed per thousand eggs in liver. The recovery of worms in GF mice was around twice as much as in CV ones, and the total number of eggs was higher in the liver of GF animals. No hypertrophy of liver cells was observed by the ratio protein/DNA, but [³H]-thymidine incorporation into DNA was higher than in controls in both GF and CV infected animals. The [³H]-thymidine and collagen indices were lower in GF animals which indicate a more discrete cellular replication and smaller collagen content in relation to the number of eggs present in livers of these mice. It was concluded that the disease seems to be less severe in GF animals.

Labeling of Salmonella Typhymurium with iodine-131 to study phagocytic function in rats

The present study describes a method for labeling Salmonella typhymurium with iodine-131 to evaluate both the morphological and the functional characteristics of the reticulo-endothelial system. A suspension containing 2 x 10(9) bacteria per ml was labeled with carrier-free Na131I without reductor, with a labeling yield of 46.5 ± 3% and 3.5 ± 1.3% of free Iodine-131. The biodistribution of the labeled bacteria in rats was studied with a large field-of-view scintillation camera equiped with a pinhole collimator. Whole body images were obtained 15 and 30 minutes after intravenous injection of the labeled microorganisms. Images showed accumulation of bacteria in the liver and both normal and transplanted spleens of the animals. Autoradiographs of liver and spleen demonstrated labeled bacteria within the cells of the reticulo-endothelial system. The method described is easy to perform, has a good labeling yield and allows the functional evaluation of the reticulo-monophagocytic system, including transplanted spleens.

Experimental pulmonary schistosomiasis: lack of morphological evidence of modulation in schistosomal pulmonary granulomas

Numerous pulmonary schistosome egg granulomas were present in mice submitted to partial portal vein ligation (Warren's model). The granulomas were characterized by cellular aggregations formed within alveolar tissue. Main cellular types were macrophages (epithelioid cells), eosinophils, plasma cells and lymphocytes. These cells were supported by scanty fibrous stroma and exhibited close membrane contact points amongst themselves, but without forming specialized adhesion apparatus. When granulomas involved arterial structures, proliferation of cndothelial and smooth muscle cells occurred and fibrosis associated with angiogenesis became more evident. Granulomas formed around mature eggs in the pulmonary alveolar tissue presented approximately the same size and morphology regardless of the time of infection, the latter being 10, 18 and 25 weeks after cercarial exposure. This persistence of morphological appearance suggests that pulmonary granulomas do not undergo immunological modulation, as is the case with the granulomas in the liver and, to a lesser extent, in the intestines. Probably, besides general immunological factors, local (stromal) factors play an important role in schistosomal granuloma modulation.

Flucytosine + fluconazole association in the treatment of a murine experimental model of cryptococcosis

The efficacy of flucytosine (5-FC) and fluconazole (FLU) association in the treatment of a murine experimental model of cryptococcosis, was evaluated. Seven groups of 10 Balb C mice each, were intraperitoneally inoculated with 10(7) cells of Cryptococcus neoformans. Six groups were allocated to receive 5-FC (300 mg/kg) and FLU (16 mg/ kg), either combined and individually, by daily gavage beginning 5 days after the infection, for 2 and 4 weeks. One group received distilled water and was used as control. The evaluation of treatments was based on: survival time; macroscopic examination of brain, lungs, liver and spleen at autopsy; presence of capsulated yeasts in microscopic examination of wet preparations of these organs and cultures of brain homogenate. 5-FC and FLU, individually or combined, significantly prolonged the survival time of the treated animals with respect to the control group (p<0.01). Animals treated for 4 weeks survived significantly longer than those treated for 2 weeks (p<0.01). No significant differences between the animals treated with 5-FC and FLU combined or separately were observed in the survival time and morphological parameters. The association of 5-FC and FLU does not seem to be more effective than 5-FC or FLU alone, in the treatment of this experimental model of cryptococcosis.

Blood culture as a parameter of treatment effectiveness in experimental histoplasmosis of the hamster

The aim of this study was to determine the value of blood culture as a parameter of treatment effectiveness in experimental histoplasmosis. A total of thirty five hamsters, weighing approximately 120g, were inoculated intracardiacly with 0.1 ml of a suspension containing 4 x 10(7) cells/ml of the yeast phase of H. capsulatum. Treatments were started one week after the infection and lasted for 3 weeks. The azoles, (itraconazole, saperconazole and fluconazole) were administered once a day by gavage, at a dose of 8 mg/kg; Amphotericin B was given intraperitonealy every other day at a dose of 6mg/kg. Blood samples (1 ml) were obtained by heart punction from the 4th day after infection and were seeded in Sabouraud honey-agar and BHI-agar. The hamsters that survived were killed one week after treatment completion and the following criteria were considered for treatment evaluation: 1) rate of spontaneous death, at the end of the experience; 2) microscopic examination of Giemsa smears from liver and spleen and 3) determination of CFU in spleen cultures. Amphotericin B was the most effective drug, with negative blood cultures at day 20, negative spleen cultures in all cases and all the animals survived until the end of the study. Fluconazole was the less effective drug, blood cultures were positive during the whole experience, spleen cultures showed a similar average of CFU when compared with the control animals and 42.8% of these animals died. Saperconazole and itraconazole showed a similar activity, with survival of all hamsters and negative blood cultures at 23 and 26 days respectively. Blood culture seems to be valuable parameter for treatments' evaluation in experimental histoplasmosis of the hamster.

New records of Histoplasma capsulatum from wild animals in the Brazilian Amazon

Twenty-eight isolates of Histoplasma capsulation were obtained from eight species of forest mammals from the States of Amazonas, Pará and Rondônia in the Amazon Region of Brazil. Primary isolates were obtained by inoculating triturated liver and spleen tissue intradermally and intraperito-neally in hamsters. Mycological diagnosis in hamsters presenting lesions was confirmed by histopathology and culture on Sabouraud dextrose-agar. Infected hamsters developed signs of disease within two to nine months; all had disseminated visceral lesions and most also had skin lesions at the sites of inoculation. None of the hamsters inoculated with skin macerates of the original hosts developed histoplasmosis, and histopathological examination of the viscera of the wild hosts failed to reveal H. capsulation. Prevalence of infection was considerably higher in females than in males both for the opossum Didelphis marsupialis and for total wild animals (479) examined. It is proposed that canopy-dwelling mammals may acquire the infection from conidia borne on convective currents in hollow trees with openings at ground-level.

FEVER OF UNDETERMINED ORIGIN IN PATIENTS WITH THE ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICIENCY SYNDROME IN BRAZIL: REPORT ON 55 CASES

The medical records of patients with AIDS admitted to a general hospital in Brazil from 1989 to 1997 were reviewed retrospectively with the aim at defining the frequency and etiology of fever of undetermined origin (FUO) in HIV-infected patients of a tropical country and to evaluate the usefulness of the main diagnostic procedures. 188 (58.4%) out of 322 patients reported fever at admission to hospital and 55 (17.1%) had FUO. Those with FUO had a mean CD4+ cell count of 98/ml. A cause of fever was identified for 45 patients (81.8%). Tuberculosis (32.7%), Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (10.9%), and Mycobacterium avium complex (9.1%) were the most frequent diagnoses. Other infectious diseases are also of note, such as cryptococcal meningitis (5.5%), sinusitis (3.6%), Salmonella-S. mansoni association (3.6%), disseminated histoplasmosis (3.6%), neurosyphilis (1.8%), and isosporiasis (1.8%). Four patients had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (7.3%). We conclude that an initial aggressive diagnostic approach should be always considered because biopsies (lymph node, liver and bone marrow) produced the highest yield in the diagnosis of FUO and the majority of the diagnosed diseases are treatable. The association of diseases is common and have contributed to delay the final diagnosis of FUO in most cases. In our study area the routine request of hemocultures for Salmonella infection and the investigation of cryptococcal antigen in the serum should be considered.

Congenital Chagas disease of second generation in Santiago, Chile. Report of two cases

Congenital Chagas disease (CChD) has been reported in different countries, mostly in Latin America. In 1987 a fatal case of CChD of second generation (CChDSG) was published. Within a period of six months - 1989-1990 - two cases of CChDSG were diagnosed and studied in the city of Santiago. Two premature newborns, sons of two sisters, with moderate liver and spleen enlargement, were found to have positive serology for Chagas disease and xenodiagnoses. The mothers, urban residents all their lives, without antecedents of triatomine bugs contact or blood transfusions, showed positive serology and xenodiagnoses. Their mother (grandmother of the infants), lived 20 years in a Northern rural Chagas disease endemic locality, in a triatomine infested house. Afterwards, she moved to Santiago, where she married and has resided up to now. Serology and xenodiagnoses were also positive. All the Trypanosoma cruzi infected individuals were successfully treated with nifurtimox.

Visceral leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis in a patient infected with human immunodeficiency virus

The current article reports the case of a 19-month-old-girl, from the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, with visceral leishmaniasis, by Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) co-infection. The child's mother and father, aged 22 and 27 years old, respectively, were both HIV positive. The child was admitted to the General Pediatric Center, in Belo Horizonte, presenting high fever, fatigue, weight loss and enlargement of liver and spleen. Indirect immunofluorescent test revealed a titer of 1:320 for Leishmania. Such result was confirmed by the presence of amastigotes in bone marrow aspirate samples and culture of promastigote forms. Parasites were identified as being Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis through PCR, using a L. braziliensis complex primer and a generic primer, followed by hibridization. Specific leishmaniasis therapy (GlucantimeÒ antimonial) was intravenously administered.

Influence of human t-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) Infection on laboratory parameters of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) share routes of transmission and some individuals have dual infection. Although some studies point to a worse prognosis of hepatitis C virus in patients co-infected with HTLV-1, the interaction between these two infections is poorly understood. This study evaluated the influence of HTLV-1 infection on laboratory parameters in chronic HCV patients. Twelve HTLV-1/HCV-coinfected patients were compared to 23 patients infected only with HCV, in regard to demographic data, risk factors for viral acquisition, HCV genotype, presence of cirrhosis, T CD4+ and CD8+ cell counts and liver function tests. There was no difference in regard to age, gender, alcohol consumption, smoking habits, HCV genotype or presence of cirrhosis between the groups. Intravenous drug use was the most common risk factor among individuals co-infected with HTLV-1. These patients showed higher TCD8+ counts (p = 0.0159) and significantly lower median values of AST and ALT (p = 0.0437 and 0.0159, respectively). In conclusion, we have shown that HCV/HTLV-1 co-infected patients differs in laboratorial parameters involving both liver and immunological patterns. The meaning of these interactions in the natural history of these infections is a matter that deserves further studies.

NATURAL INFECTION BY Trypanosoma cruzi IN ONE DOG IN CENTRAL WESTERN BRAZIL: A CASE REPORT

SUMMARY It is estimated that about 10 million people are infected with Trypanosoma cruzi worldwide, mostly in Latin America and more than 25 million are at risk of acquiring this infection in endemic areas. Dogs are an important reservoir for this pathogen and thus, considered a risk factor for human populations. This report describes one case of Chagas disease in a dog from Cuiabá, Mato Grosso State, Brazil. The diagnosis was obtained by direct examination of trypomastigote forms in blood smears. Amastigotes forms were visualized in microscopy of the bone marrow, lymph nodes, kidneys, liver and brain. The T. cruzi (ZIII) infection was confirmed by Polymerase Chain Reaction, and sequencing. The animal presented multisystemic failure and died. Although acute Chagas disease in humans is not reported in Cuiabá, this is the first report of a canine case in this region. This case represents a warning, to health professionals and authorities, to the possibility of transmission of this zoonosis in Cuiabá.