Indices de atividade da doença inflamatória do intestino: indicadores clínicos e laboratoriais.

The quantification of the degree of activity of inflammatory bowel disease is assuming growing importance nowadays. The activity index of the disease can be attained by clinical and laboratorial indicators. For ulcerative colitis the mostly used clinical parameters are daily bowel movements and presence of bloody diarrhea whereas albumin, hemoglobin, ESR and positive acute phase protein measurements are the laboratory parameters. For Crohn's disease activity besides the daily bowel movements the presence of abdominal pain and discomfort sensation are also frequently used whereas the C-reactive protein is the most used laboratory test which is able to detect the disease reactivation even before the appearance of any clinical sign. The combinations of clinical signs with the laboratory tests earned the sympathy of the specialists and the set of ensembled indicators has been recognized by the author's name. In this sense, the classification of the ulcerative colitis activity originally proposed by Truelove and Witts deserves presently a wide acceptance whereas such agreement is still lacking for Crohn's disease activity. In the mean time, the Bristol index is clinically the most feasible, once the Crohn's disease activity index and the Van Hees index are considered too complex. However the latter indexes are still useful mainly for comparisons among multicentric data. It seems that the currently existing clinical signs used for Crohn's disease activity would be quantitatively improved by adding some easily made laboratory tests such as C-reactive protein.

Assessment of vitamin A status in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients and healthy smokers

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

Endogenous carotenoid concentrations in cancerous and non-cancerous tissues of gastric cancer patients in Korea

Carotenoid concentrations were measured in serum and in both non-cancerous and cancerous gastric mucosal tissues of Korean patients with gastric cancer (n = 18). Carotenoids in serum and gastric tissue were extracted with chloroform/methanol (2:1), and measured using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with a C30 column. Cryptoxanthin and β-carotene were the major carotenoids in the Korean blood and they had a median ratio of non-cancerous tissue/serum levels which was less than 1.0. No significant differences of Cryptoxanthin and β-carotene levels were found between non-cancerous and cancerous tissues. After incubation of β-carotene with gastric tissue, significantly higher levels of β-carotene breakdown products were produced in the homogenates of cancerous tissue when compared with non-cancerous tissue. Lutein, zeaxanthin and α-carotene were the minor carotenoid constituents in the blood and their median ratio of non-cancerous tissue/serum levels was greater than 1.0. Cancerous tissue had significantly lower levels of lutein, zeaxanthin and α-carotene than did non-cancerous tissue. It appears that the increased breakdown of β-carotene and cryptoxanthin in cancerous tissue can be compensated for by an increased uptake of circulating carotenoids by cancerous tissue, whereas lutein, zeaxanthin and α-carotene levels in cancerous tissue are not able to be maintained.

Influence of the collection methodology on the Apis mellifera venom composition: Peptide analysis

Differences of venom peptide composition as function of two collection methodologies, electrical stimulation (ES) and reservoir disruption (RD), were analyzed by reverse-phase HPLC in Apis mellifera races - A. m. adansonii, A. m. ligustica and Africanized honeybee. The analyses were performed through determination of the relative number and percentage of each molecular form associated to the peaks eluted by chromatography. Comparison of these profiles revealed qualitative and quantitative differences related to the venom collection methodology as well to the three races analyzed. In contrast to data usually found for venom proteins, the three races presented a major number of peaks or molecular forms when venom was collected by ES. Besides, in general, the relative concentration of each peak was higher for ES in relation to RD. That indicates the presence of molecular precursors in the venom obtained by RD. The presence/absence pattern of the peaks, such as their relative concentrations showed a closer similarity between A. m. adansonii and the Africanized honeybees than that observed between these and A. m. ligustica. The obtained data allowed a discussion about the differences in the relative concentration of each venom component according to the collection methodology, and finally the biological action of the venom in different races. So, these results, apart from being useful to establish a peptide profile for each bee race as a function of the venom collection methodology, pointed out once more that the chromatographic techniques are a great tool for the identification of A. mellifera subspecies.

Validation of a stability-indicating RP-LC method for the determination of tigecycline in lyophilized powder

A reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-LC) method was validated for the determination of tigecycline in lyophilized powder. The LC method was conducted on a Luna C18 column (250 × 4.6 mm i.d.), maintained at room temperature. The mobile phase consisted of buffer containing sodium phosphate monobasic (0.015M) and oxalic acid (0.015M) (pH 7.0)-acetonitrile (75:25, v/v), run at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min and using ultraviolet detection at 280 nm. The chromatographic separation was obtained with a retention time of 8.6 min, and was linear in the range of 40-100 μg/mL (r2 = 0.9997). The specificity and stability-indicating capability of the method was proven through forced degradation studies, which also showed no interference of the excipients. The accuracy was 99.01% with a bias lower than 1.81%. The limits of detection and quantitation were 1.67 and 5.05 μg/mL, respectively. Moreover, method validation demonstrated satisfactory results for precision and robustness. The proposed method was applied for the analysis of the lyophilized powder formulation, contributing to improve the quality control and to assure the therapeutic efficacy. © The Author [2012]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

O uso de um sistema LC-ESI-IT-TOF/MS e MSn na prospecção de novos componentes peptídicos do veneno da vespa social Polybia paulista

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

Efeito do comprimento e da polaridade do espaçador entre cadeias do peptídeo Hylina-C na forma dimérica

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Quantificação de proteínas de fase aguda em éguas doadoras de embrião da raça quarto de milha

Pós-graduação em Ciência Animal - FMVA

Perfil sanguíneo de fêmeas bovinas em gestação e no periparto e avaliação da transferência de imunidade passiva aos descendentes

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

Ciprofloxacino encapsulado em lipossomas revestidos com ácido poli láctico co-glicólico ou veiculado em gel de copolímero de bloco Pluronic R F127

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Análise químico-farmacêutica de azumoleno sódico

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

O papel das imunidades nas relações parasito-hospedeiro: o carrapato Rhipicephalus (Boophilus ) microplus e bovinos resistentes ou susceptíveis

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Ação imunomodulatória da β-glucana e Saccharomyces cerevisiae em ratos (Rattus rattus) da linhagem Wistar imunossuprimidos pela administração experimental de dexametasona

Pós-graduação em Medicina Veterinária - FCAV

Farmacocinética pré-clínica do composto 1-(2,6-diclorofenil)indolin-2-ona (DICCIC), pró-fármaco de diclofenaco

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

Preparação e caracterização de casearinas de Casearia sylvestris como padrão fitoquímico

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)