Using omeprazole to link the components of the post-prandial alkaline tide in the spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias

After a meal, dogfish exhibit a metabolic alkalosis in the bloodstream and a marked excretion of basic equivalents across the gills to the external seawater. We used the H⁺, K⁺-ATPase pump inhibitor omeprazole to determine whether these post-prandial alkaline tide events were linked to secretion of H⁺ (accompanied by Cl^–) in the stomach. Sharks were fitted with indwelling stomach tubes for pretreatment with omeprazole (five doses of 5mg omeprazole per kilogram over 48 h) or comparable volumes of vehicle (saline containing 2% DMSO) and for sampling of gastric chyme. Fish were then fed an involuntary meal by means of the stomach tube consisting of minced flatfish muscle (2% of body mass) suspended in saline (4% of body mass total volume). Omeprazole pretreatment delayed the post-prandial acidification of the gastric chyme, slowed the rise in Cl^– concentration of the chyme and altered the patterns of other ions, indicating inhibition of H⁺ and accompanying Cl^– secretion. Omeprazole also greatly attenuated the rise in arterial pH and bicarbonate concentrations and reduced the net excretion of basic equivalents to the water by 56% over 48h. Arterial blood CO₂ pressure and plasma ions were not substantially altered. These results indicate that elevated gastric H⁺ secretion (as HCl) in the digestive process is the major cause of the systemic metabolic alkalosis and the accompanying rise in base excretion across the gills that constitute the alkaline tide in the dogfish.

Involvement of nitric oxide in the gastroprotective effects of an aqueous extract of Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng) Pedersen, Amaranthaceae, in rats

The plants belonging to Pfaffia genus are used in folk medicine to treat gastric disturbances. This study examined the effects of an aqueous extract of Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng) Pedersen (AEP) on the gastrointestinal tract. Wistar rats were pretreated orally (p.o.) with the AEP (125, 250, 500 and 1000 mg.kg(-1)) before induction of ulcers by hypothermic restraint stress (HRS, 3 h restraint stress at 4 degreesC), ethanol (ET, 70%; 0.5 ml/animal; p.o.) or indomethacin (IND, 20 mg.kg(-1); s.c.). Control animals received water (C) or ranitidine (60 mg.kg(-1)) p.o. The AEP protected rats against HRS and ET-induced ulcers, but was not able to protect the gastric mucosa against IND-induced ulcers. When injected into the duodenal lumen, the AEP reduced total acidity and both basal and histamine-stimulated acid secretion in pylorus-ligated rats. In addition, gastric secretion from AEP-treated animals exhibited increased concentrations of nitrite and nitrate. Treatment of animals with L-NAME (120 mg.kg(-1), p.o.) prevented both the reduction of total acidity and the increase in NO, levels promoted by AEP treatment. In conclusion, AEP effectively protected the gastric mucosa and inhibited gastric acid secretion in rats, probably by involving the histaminergic pathway and an enhanced production of nitric oxide in the stomach. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Disintegration of magnetic tablets in human stomach evaluated by alternate current Biosusceptometry

Oral administration is the most convenient route for drug therapy. The knowledge of the gastrointestinal transit and specific site for drug delivery is a prerequisite for development of dosage forms. The aim of this work was to demonstrate that is possible to monitor the disintegration process of film-coated magnetic tablets by multi-sensor alternate current Biosusceptometry (ACB) in vivo and in vitro. This method is based on the recording of signals produced by the magnetic tablet using a seven sensors array and signal-processing techniques. The disintegration was confirmed by signals analysis in healthy human volunteers' measurements and in vitro experiments. Results showed that ACB is efficient to characterize the disintegration of dosage forms in the stomach, being a research tool for the development of new pharmaceutical dosage forms. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

First occurrence of Quadrigyrus nickoli (Acanthocephala) in the ornamental fish Hyphessobrycon eques

O objetivo desse trabalho foi registrar a primeira ocorrência sazonal do acantocefala Quadrigyrus nickoli ^{Schmidt & Hugghins, 1973} (Quadrigyridae) no peixe “Mato Grosso”, Hyphessobrycon eques Steindachner, 1882 (Characidae), capturados no Rio Chumucuí, região Bragantina, Pará, Brasil. Os peixes foram coletados no período de julho∕2006 a junho∕2007 e examinados com técnica padrão para detecção de parasitas. Um total de 75 parasitas foram encontrados no estômago e intestino. Dos 83 peixes capturados (50 na estação seca e 33 na chuvosa), 22 estavam parasitados por cistacantos de Quadrigyrus nickoli. No presente trabalho discute-se a importância do H. eques como hospedeiro paratênico para Quadrigyrus nickoli. Os presentes dados constituem o primeiro estudo sobre a biologia e a infecção de Q. nickoli na Amazônia oriental.

Disintegration of magnetic tablets in human stomach evaluated by alternate current biosusceptometry

Oral administration is the most convenient route for drug therapy. The knowledge of the gastrointestinal transit and specific site for drug delivery is a prerequisite for development of dosage forms. The aim of this work was to demonstrate that is possible to monitor the disintegration process of film-coated magnetic tablets by multi-sensor alternate current Biosusceptometry (ACB) in vivo and in vitro. This method is based on the recording of signals produced by the magnetic tablet using a seven sensors array and signal-processing techniques. The disintegration was confirmed by signals analysis in healthy human volunteers' measurements and in vitro experiments. Results showed that ACB is efficient to characterize the disintegration of dosage forms in the stomach, being a research tool for the development of new pharmaceutical dosage forms.

Effects of vasopressin on microcirculatory blood flow in the gastrointestinal tract in anesthetized pigs in septic shock

BACKGROUND: Vasopressin increases arterial pressure in septic shock even when alpha-adrenergic agonists fail. The authors studied the effects of vasopressin on microcirculatory blood flow in the entire gastrointestinal tract in anesthetized pigs during early septic shock. METHODS: Thirty-two pigs were intravenously anesthetized, mechanically ventilated, and randomly assigned to one of four groups (n=8 in each; full factorial design). Group S (sepsis) and group SV (sepsis-vasopressin) were made septic by fecal peritonitis. Group C and group V were nonseptic control groups. After 300 min, group V and group SV received intravenous infusion of 0.06 U.kg.h vasopressin. In all groups, cardiac index and superior mesenteric artery flow were measured. Microcirculatory blood flow was recorded with laser Doppler flowmetry in both mucosa and muscularis of the stomach, jejunum, and colon. RESULTS: While vasopressin significantly increased arterial pressure in group SV (P<0.05), superior mesenteric artery flow decreased by 51+/-16% (P<0.05). Systemic and mesenteric oxygen delivery and consumption decreased and oxygen extraction increased in the SV group. Effects on the microcirculation were very heterogeneous; flow decreased in the stomach mucosa (by 23+/-10%; P<0.05), in the stomach muscularis (by 48+/-16%; P<0.05), and in the jejunal mucosa (by 27+/-9%; P<0.05), whereas no significant changes were seen in the colon. CONCLUSION: Vasopressin decreased regional flow in the superior mesenteric artery and microcirculatory blood flow in the upper gastrointestinal tract. This reduction in flow and a concomitant increase in the jejunal mucosa-to-arterial carbon dioxide gap suggest compromised mucosal blood flow in the upper gastrointestinal tract in septic pigs receiving low-dose vasopressin.

Taste receptor-like cells in the rat gut identified by expression of alpha-gustducin.

The alpha-subunit of the trimeric G-protein complex specific for taste receptor cells of the tongue, alpha-gustducin, is described here to be also expressed in the stomach and intestine. The alpha-gustducin-containing cells were identified as brush cells that are scattered throughout the surface epithelium of the gut and share structural features of taste receptor cells of the tongue. These findings provide clues to the long-sought molecular and cellular basis for chemoreception in the gut.

Ambient CINEMATIC SHORT

A creaking door, an ambient ethno underscore, a couple of synths and you may just have your moody composition.

Gene duplication is an evolutionary mechanism for expanding spectral diversity in the long-wavelength photopigments of butterflies

Butterfly long-wavelength (L) photopigments are interesting for comparative studies of adaptive evolution because of the tremendous phenotypic variation that exists in their wavelength of peak absorbance (lambda(max) value). Here we present a comprehensive survey of L photopigment variation by measuring lambda(max) in 12 nymphalid and 1 riodinid species using epi-microspectrophotometry. Together with previous data, we find that L photopigment lambda(max) varies from 510-565 nm in 22 nymphalids, with an even broader 505- to 600-nm range in riodinids. We then surveyed the L opsin genes for which lambda(max) values are available as well as from related taxa and found 2 instances of L opsin gene duplication within nymphalids, in Hermeuptychia hermes and Amathusia phidippus, and 1 instance within riodinids, in the metalmark butterfly Apodemia mormo. Using maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood ancestral state reconstructions to map the evolution of spectral shifts within the L photopigments of nymphalids, we estimate the ancestral pigment had a lambda(max) = 540 nm +/- 10 nm standard error and that blueshifts in wavelength have occurred at least 4 times within the family. We used ancestral state reconstructions to investigate the importance of several amino acid substitutions (Ile17Met, Ala64Ser, Asn70Ser, and Ser137Ala) previously shown to have evolved under positive selection that are correlated with blue spectral shifts. These reconstructions suggest that the Ala64Ser substitution has indeed occurred along the newly identified blueshifted L photopigment lineages. Substitutions at the other 3 sites may also be involved in the functional diversification of L photopigments. Our data strongly suggest that there are limits to the evolution of L photopigment spectral shifts among species with only one L opsin gene and that opsin gene duplication broadens the potential range of lambda(max) values.

The content of the form of Julia Alvarezs In the time of the butterflies

In the Time of the Butterflies é um romance da escritora dominicana-americana Julia Alvarez sobre a vida e a morte das Borboletas, Las Mariposas, codinome das irmãs Mirabal, membros de um movimento clandestino contra o regime ditatorial de Rafael Leonidas Trujillo na República Dominicana, que se tornaram símbolos da luta contra o Trujillato depois de serem assassinadas a mando do ditador. Essa dissertação tem como objetivo expor como forma literária e contexto social estão diretamente relacionados nesse romance. Ela defende a ideia de que o borramento de três gêneros literários distintos metaficção historiográfica, autobiografia e bildungsroman reflete o questionamento das fronteiras entre o privado e o público, o pessoal e o político, o eu e o outro, o individual e o coletivo, a literatura e a história, fato e ficção e história e subjetividade. Ela também tenta mostrar como a problematização dessas dicotomias implica na contestação de noções pré-concebidas de identidade, história e nação

Stomach fullness modulates prey size choice in the frillfin goby, Bathygobius soporator

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

Magnetic images of the disintegration process of tablets in the human stomach by ac biosusceptometry

Oral administration of solid dosage forms is usually preferred in drug therapy. Conventional imaging methods are essential tools to investigate the in vivo performance of these formulations. The non-invasive technique of ac biosusceptometry has been introduced as an alternative in studies focusing on gastrointestinal motility and, more recently, to evaluate the behaviour of magnetic tablets in vivo. The aim of this work was to employ a multisensor ac biosusceptometer system to obtain magnetic images of disintegration of tablets in vitro and in the human stomach. The results showed that the transition between the magnetic marker and the magnetic tracer characterized the onset of disintegration (t(50)) and occurred in a short time interval (1.1 +/- 0.4 min). The multisensor ac biosusceptometer was reliable to monitor and analyse the in vivo performance of magnetic tablets showing accuracy to quantify disintegration through the magnetic images and to characterize the profile of this process.