Efeitos da aplicação tópica do mel de melipona subnitida em feridas infectadas de ratos

Avaliar efeitos do uso tópico do mel da abelha silvestre Melipona subnitida na evolução de feridas infectadas de pele. Método: Ratos Wistar foram distribuídos aleatoriamente em grupos de 6, anestesiados com tiopental sódico 20mg/Kg IP e cetamina 30mg/Kg IM e submetidos a exérese de segmento de 1 cm2 de pele total do dorso. Os ratos do grupo C (não infectado) foram tratados com solução salina sobre a ferida diariamente e no grupo MEL (não infectado) as feridas foram tratadas com mel uma vez por dia. Nos grupos C/I e MEL/I as feridas foram inoculadas com solução polimicrobiana. Culturas foram feitas 24 horas após. Caracterizada a infecção, as feridas foram tratadas com solução salina e mel, respectivamente. No terceiro dia de tratamento foi feita nova cultura. Após epitelização foi contado o tempo de cicatrização e as feridas foram biopsiadas para histopatologia e dosagem de TNF-a, IL-1b e IL-6 no tecido. Resultados: O tempo médio de cicatrização do grupo MEL/I foi menor que nos demais grupos(P<0,05). Verificou-se que a densidade de colágeno, leucócitos, fibroblastos e dosagem de citocinas (especialmente TNF) foi maior no grupo infectado e tratado com mel que nos demais grupos. Houve significante redução de bactérias Gram-negativas e positivas nas feridas após o tratamento com mel. Conclusão: O uso tópico de mel de Melipona subnitida em feridas infectadas da pele de ratos estimulou a resposta imunológica, reduziu a infecção e o tempo de cicatrização

Ultrastructure of the ducts of the reproductive tract of males of Melipona bicolor bicolor Lepeletier (Hymenoptera, Apinae, Meliponini)

The present paper describes the ultrastructural features of seminal vesicle, post-vesicular vas deferens and ejaculatory duct of Melipona bicolor bicolor from newly emerged and mature males. Although the results do not show very consistent morphological signs of secretory activity by the epithelium of these organs, lipidic droplets and lamellar granules present in mature males' seminal vesicles and the vacuoles present in post-vesicular vas deferens are probably secretion. Besides, the spermatozoa in the lumen are immersed in a material of characteristic structure, which must be produced in superior regions of the reproductive system of immature males, not studied here. The presence of sperm cells, apparently in cytoplasm vesicles of seminal vesicle and post-vesicular vas deferens, suggests spermiophagy by their epithelium.

Comparative study of mandibular glands of Melipona bicolor queens obtained from polygynic and monogynic colonies

The aim of the present study was analyze, by histological and morphometrical studies, mandibular glands of Melipona bicolor queens collected from monogynic and polygynic colonies and compare their level of development. The results showed that the glands of physogastric queens from monogynic colony present a higher level of activity in relation to the queens of polygynic colonies; this is explained by the fact that just a unique queen controls the monogynic colony. In the polygynic colonies, the queens may divide such control to each other.

Occurrence, morphology and ultrastructure of the Dufour gland in Melipona bicolor Lepeletier (Hymenoptera, Meliponini)

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

Cytochemistry of fat body trophocytes and ovaries of workers and queens of Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) during vitellogenesis

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

Repeated unrewarded scent exposure influences the food choice of stingless bee foragers, Melipona scutellaris

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Ultrastructural studies of the mandibular gland of Melipona quadrifasciata Lepeletier, 1836 (Apidae, Meliponini): a comparison between workers and queens

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

Vitellogenin content in fat body and ovary homogenates of workers and queens of Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides during vitellogenesis

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

A comparative cytochemical study of the dufour gland in the eusocial bee Apis mellifera Linne, 1758 and Melipona bicolor Lepeletier, 1836

Dufour glands of Apis mellifera and Melipona bicolor were studied under light and transmission electron microscopy, using the cytochemical techniques of mercury bromophenol blue for protein detection, imidazole-buffered osmium tetroxide selective staining of unsaturated lipids, lanthanum nitrate for intercellular junction identification and zinc-iodide-osmium tetroxide for cytoplasmic endomembrane visualization. The results in both species corroborated the lipid nature of the gland secretion and showed in A. mellifera the poverty of the synthetic machinery in the worker gland cells in comparison with the queen, as expected by previous biochemical analyses. The pathway of the exogenous compounds of the secretion is intracellular, since substances can penetrate the cell folds and intercellular junctions, but their access to the, gland lumen is barred by the apical intercellular junctions.

Ultrastructural aspects of the mandibular gland of Melipona bicolor Lepeletier, 1836 (Hymenoptera : Apidae, Meliponini) in the castes

The mandibular gland in Melipona bicolor workers and queens was studied by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. There is no difference in the gland anatomy between the castes, but the transmission electron microscopy showed variation of the cellular ultrastructure according to the secretory phase of the gland in both castes. Smooth endoplasmic reticulum was abundant in the secretory cells of physogastric queens, indicating that these cells produce lipid secretion that is stored in granules with multi-lamellar bodies. Mitochondrial variations during the cell secretory cycle indicates their participation in the lipid synthesis. After secretion, release in the reservoir lumen through the collecting canals, the secretory cells contain many myelinic bodies, indicative of cellular regression. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Oral Toxicity of Fipronil Insecticide Against the Stingless Bee Melipona scutellaris (Latreille, 1811)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Ultrastructure of the intramandibular gland of workers and queens of the stingless bee, Melipona quadrifasciata

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

Protein content and electrophoretic profile of fat body and ovary extracts from workers of Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides (Hymenoptera, Meliponini)

Workers of Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides (Lepeletier, 1836) develop their ovaries and lay eggs, therefore the production of vitellogenin is expected. In electrophoretic profiles only fat body extracts from nurse workers and ovary extracts from newly-emerged workers show protein with molecular mass similar to vitellogenin. However, an increase in the protein content was detected in forager fat body. This increase was attributed to storage of vitellogenin or other proteins in the previous phase and not discharged into the hemolymph or to an effect of the increased titre of juvenile hormone in this phase of worker life over the fat body functioning.

Ultrastructural evidences of the occurrence of digestion and absorption of organic solutes in bees ileum (Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides - Hymenoptera, Apidae)

The ultrastructural aspects of the ileum of Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides, a stingless bee whose workers obtain their protein requirements from pollen, present morphological evidences of digestion and absorption. These evidences are represented by special relationships between food particles and the bacterial nora present and between their assemblage and the ileum wall, mainly in the ileum three anterior fourths. The apical features of the epithelium also are indicative of organic material absorption.