Chemical reduction of carboxyl groups in heparin abolishes its vasodilatory activity

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

Identification and enzymatic characterization of acid phosphatase from Burkholderia gladioli

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

Implicações da disponibilidade de espaço no confinamento de bovinos de corte

Pós-graduação em Zootecnia - FCAV

Indicadores de estresse, ansiedade e depressão de mães de bebês com risco ao desenvolvimento

Pós-graduação em Psicologia do Desenvolvimento e Aprendizagem - FC

Effects of aging and maternal protein restriction on the muscle fibers morphology and neuromuscular junctions of rats after nutritional recovery

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Disease resistance of pacu Piaractus mesopotamicus (Holmberg, 1887) fed with beta-glucan

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Boas práticas de manejo de bezerras leiteiras na fase de cria e potenciais efeitos na recria

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Eficácia do levamisol como imunoestimulante, redutor de estresse e antiparasitário no pacu

Pós-graduação em Aquicultura - FCAV

Stunning method in broiler chickens meat processing

Quality is a variable concept, which involves many factors, depending on the consumer market. In meat production, the concern with environmental aspects, animal welfare and the health and safety of workers is increasing. This work studied the effect of controlled atmosphere stunning of broilers on meat features and biochemical parameters for stress. Cobb broilers were stunned by electrical stunning and by controlled atmosphere with 70% CO2 and 70% CO2 + 30% Argon. After stunning, serum levels of glucose, lactate and corticosterone were compared with those of broilers at rest, immediately before transportation and slaughter and after 12 h of feed withdrawal (control group). At slaughter, blood volume drained during bleeding was not different for the stunning methods tested, ranging from 3.3 to 3.4% birds weight. This finding was important to demonstrate that gas stunning was not responsible for the animals′ death. Final pH in breast (6.1 to 6.2) and thigh (6.3 to 6.5) also did not vary among the different stunning methods (P > 0.05). Lightness (L = 60.55) and redness (a = +8.94) values found for breasts from electrical stunning showed that they were darker and redder (P < 0.05), probably due to changes in blood pressure. Glucose and corticosterone levels were not different between gas stunned birds (302.45 to 315.7 mg/dl and 55.71 to 72.49 ng/ml respectively) and birds at rest (305.95 mg/dl and 50.65 ng/ml) (P > 0.05). These stress indicators were higher (337.65 mg/dl for glucose and 104.13 ng/ml for costicosterone) when electrical stunning was used (P < 0.05). Lactate concentrations were lower (5.4 mmol/l) for birds at rest (P < 0.05) but not different for all stunning methods tested (7.3 to 8.1 mmol/l; P > 0.05). These results show that serum glucose may be used as a stress indicator in birds, with the advantage of being a quick and cheap biochemical test. Gas stunning favored birds′ management during slaughter and so reduced workers′ effort and injury hazard and the amount of feces and dust in the room. To make this method available for a large scale process, adjustments in equipments will be necessary to avoid delays in the processing line.

Potencial de ocorrência de avarias ambientais em bacias hidrográficas com ocupação rural mediante análise morfométrica

The understanding of the geo-morphological characteristics allows the identification of flood areas and instability slopes among others important features for land use planning. The study of the hydrological net and the analysis of morphometric parameters help in the geomorphologic characterization, providing specific physics indicators that quantify the risks for environmental damages. The present work used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and carried out the morphometric analysis of two watersheds in the Alto Rio Sorocaba, municipality of Ibiuna (SP). Using digitalized topographic bases in the scale 1:50,000, the main morphometric parameters were extracted and the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) was obtained. Hence the slope, ground illumination, hill orientation and relief feature maps were elaborated. The characteristics for the two watersheds were quite similar, both have low risks for floods and landslides. Therefore, the concave feature is the predominant hill shape for both watersheds. The morphometric parameters directly related to the river density of the watersheds showed some differences, because the Sorocabuçú watershed presents higher value, resulting in a higher level of relief development. Thus, with this characterization it is possible to provide subsidies for environmental planning actions to the area.

Direito à desconexão do trabalho como instrumento de proteção à saúde do trabalhador

Pós-graduação em Direito - FCHS

Pulmonary artery sarcoma: a rare disease

Pulmonary artery sarcomas (PAS) are rare and probably incurable tumours. The clinical manifestations are non-specific and very similar to that of patients with thromboembolic disease, resulting in delay of the correct diagnosis and proper treatment. We report the case of a 66-year-old woman with PAS diagnosed by computed tomography guided biopsy. Chemotherapy treatment was initiated but the patient died 11 months after diagnosis.

Hipotireoidismo em cães: revisão

Hypothyroidism is one of the most frequent endocrinopathies in dogs, affecting preferentially middle-aged, pure breed animals. Associated clinical signs are variable and often non-specific, including metabolic, dermatological or cardiovascular alterations. The main laboratorial findings are non-regenerative anemia and hypercholesterolemia. Hyponatremia and an increase in alanine transferase and alkaline phosphatase activities can also be observed with lower frequency. There are specific diagnostic tests that can be used to help diagnose hypothyroidism, and those should be interpreted in the light of the animal´s clinical symptoms. The levels of thyroxine stimulating hormone (TSH) and both free and total thyroxine (T4) are the most used hormonal tests. It is important to differentiate between hypothyroidism and the euthyroid sick syndrome, a condition that may be caused by severe diseases such as hyperadrenocorticism and lead to decreased TSH and T4 levels as well. Levothyroxine sodium is the standard treatment. The main objective of this paper is to review hypothyroidism in dogs, since this is a very common disease in small animal clinics, but with difficult diagnosis.

Chemical reduction of carboxyl groups in heparin abolishes its vasodilatory activity

Previous studies have shown that heparin induces vascular relaxation via integrin-dependent nitric oxide (NO)-mediated activation of the muscarinic receptor. The aim of this study was to identify the structural features of heparin that are necessary for the induction of vasodilatation. To address this issue, we tested heparin from various sources for their vasodilatation activities in the rat aorta ring. Structural and chemical characteristics of heparin, such as its molecular weight and substitution pattern, did not show a direct correlation with the vasodilation activity. Principal component analysis (PCA) of circular dichroism (CD), 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and vasodilation activity measurements confirmed that there is no direct relationship between the physico-chemical nature and vasodilation activity of the tested heparin samples. To further understand these observations, unfractionated heparin (UFH) from bovine intestinal mucosa, which showed the highest relaxation effect, was chemically modified. Interestingly, non-specific O- and N-desulfation of heparin reduced its anticoagulant, antithrombotic, and antihemostatic activities, but had no effect on its ability to induce vasodilation. On the other hand, chemical reduction of the carboxyl groups abolished heparin-induced vasodilation and reduced the affinity of heparin toward the extracellular matrix (ECM). In addition, dextran and dextran sulfate (linear non-sulfated and highly sulfated polysaccharides, respectively) did not induce significant relaxation, showing that the vasodilation activity of polysaccharides is neither charge-dependent nor backbone unspecific. Our results suggest that desulfated heparin molecules may be used as vasoactive agents due to their low side effects. J. Cell. Biochem. 113: 13591367, 2012. (c) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Toll-like receptor 4 contributes to blood pressure regulation and vascular contraction in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Activation of TLRs (Toll-like receptors) induces gene expression of proteins involved in the immune system response. TLR4 has been implicated in the development and progression of CVDs (cardiovascular diseases). Innate and adaptive immunity contribute to hypertension-associated end-organ damage, although the mechanism by which this occurs remains unclear. In the present study, we hypothesize that inhibition of TLR4 decreases BP (blood pressure) and improves vascular contractility in resistance arteries from SHR (spontaneously hypertensive rats). TLR4 protein expression in mesenteric resistance arteries was higher in 15-week-old SHR than in age-matched Wistar controls or in 5-week-old SHR. To decrease the activation of TLR4, 15-week-old SHR and Wistar rats were treated with anti-TLR4 (anti-TLR4 antibody) or non-specific IgG control antibody for 15 days (1 mu g per day, intraperitoneal). Treatment with anti-TLR4 decreased MAP (mean arterial pressure) as well as TLR4 protein expression in mesenteric resistance arteries and IL-6 (interleukin 6) serum levels from SHR when compared with SHR treated with IgG. No changes in these parameters were found in treated Wistar control rats. Mesenteric resistance arteries from anti-TLR4-treated SHR exhibited decreased maximal contractile response to NA (noradrenaline) compared with IgG-treated SHR. Inhibition of COX (cyclo-oxygenase)-1 and COX-2, enzymes related to inflammatory pathways, decreased NA responses only in mesenteric resistance arteries of SHR treated with IgG. COX-2 expression and TXA(2) (thromboxane A(2)) release were decreased in SHR treated with anti-TLR4 compared with IgG-treated SHR. Our results suggest that TLR4 activation contributes to increased BP, low-grade inflammation and plays a role in the augmented vascular contractility displayed by SHR.