Renal and vascular effects of the natriuretic peptide isolated from Crotalus durissus cascavella venom

Crotalus durissus cascavella is a snake that is usually found in the scrublands of northeast Brazil. The components of its venom may have effects on the vascular and renal systems. Recently, a new bradykinin inhibitory peptide has been identified in the venom of the Crotalinae family. The aim of the present study was to investigate the renal and vascular effects of the natriuretic peptide isolated from the venom of Crotalus durissus cascavella (NP2_Casca). The chromatographic profile showed the fractionation of substances identified as convulxin, gyroxin, crotoxin and crotamine, as well as fractions V and VI. The electrophoretic profile of fraction V consisted of several bands ranging from approximately 6 kDa to 13 kDa, while fraction VI showed only two main electrophoretic bands with molecular weights of approximately 6 and 14 kDa. Reverse-phase chromatography showed that NP2_Casca corresponds to about 18% of fraction VI and that this fraction is the main natriuretic peptide. NP2_Casca was compared to other natriuretic peptides from other sources of snake venom. All amino acid sequences that were compared showed a consensus region of XGCFGX, XLDRIX and XSGLGCX. The group treated with NP2-Casca showed an increase in perfusion pressure, renal vascular resistance, urinary flow and glomerular filtration rate. The percent of total and proximal tubular transport of sodium was reduced significantly after administration of the peptide. The mean arterial pressure showed a dose-dependent decrease after infusion of NP2_Casca, and an increase in nitrite production. In the aortic ring assay, NP2_Casca caused a relaxant effect in endothelium-intact thoracic aortic rings precontracted with phenylephrine in the presence and absence of isatin. NP2_Casca failed to relax the aortic rings precontracted with an isosmotic potassium Krebs-Henseleit solution. In conclusion, the natriuretic peptide isolated from Crotalus durissus cascavella venom produced renal and vascular effects. NP2_Casca reduced total and proximal sodium tubular transport, leading to an increase in sodium excretion, thereby demonstrating a diuretic action. A hypotensive effect was displayed in an arterial pressure assay, with an increase in nitrite production, suggesting a possible vasoactive action. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Renal- and calcium-dependent vascular effects of Polybia paulista wasp venom

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Estrutura econômica, mercado de trabalho e evolução sócio-ocupacional no Rio Grande do Norte 2001 a 2008: reflexo de uma condição mercantil e estruturalmente periférica

The aim of this thesis was to investigate the evolution of the socio-occupational status in Rio Grande do Norte from 2001 to 2008, based on the characterization of the socio-economic status of this State from the analysis of labor market norte-rio-grandense . The study, specifically, drew a comparison between the dynamics of the labor market in Rio Grande do Norte and the capital city, Natal. From this perspective, the purpose was to make a relationship between the social division of labor and its effects on the socio-spatial division, represented in the "macro scale" by the federal unit and the "micro level" for the capital; locus of economic and population concentration. The collection of data on the labor market had as a major source PNAD/IBGE, characterizing the labor market in many ways: people of working age, economically active population and employed and unemployed people, classified by age, sex, color, education, income and social protection condition. However, as for the socio-occupational division, we follow the methodology used by the research group on national television, based in IPPUR /UFRJ, called Monitoring of the Metropolis," which rallied twenty-four groups that aggregate the occupations found in the PNAD/IBGE, in eight groups of socio-occupational categories, according to the similarity between them. It was used in the socio-spatial cutting two relevant discussions, which are inter-related and were characterized as crucial points in developing the research problem: the former was related to the influence of the hegemony of merchant capital in the labor market in Rio Grande North and, the latter, it referred the socio-economic relations between the territory and the variable occupation. Lastly, the results all indicated that in Rio Grande do Norte, as a peripheral state, has suffered the devastating influence of the hegemony of capital purely commercial basis, where "wealth" of capitalism is generated through the sphere of mere movement of goods and services rather than a productive process due to the social relations of production more advanced. We have a little advanced economic structure, with a tertiary sector that has propagated under-employment or disguised unemployment. Similarly, the agricultural sector has been presented as an example of greater social degradation of working conditions in the state. The secondary sector, in turn, also was not behind this uncertainty; on the contrary, confirmed that condition, with poor levels of income, low education of the workforce and a high degree of social helplessness, even in the state capital, space full urban area, which although always appear with a favorable condition compared to Province, in practically most of the variables studied, was also reflected at the same time the author of a structurally underdeveloped condition

Avaliação hemodinâmica e metabólica da cetamina e cetamina S(+) após a reposição volêmica com hidroxietilamido 130/0,4 e solução salina hipertônica 7,5%

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

Viabilidade celular da fração mononuclear da medula óssea e fração vascular estromal do tecido adiposo de equinos após o processo de congelamento e descongelamento

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

Diagnósticos de enfermagem em pacientes no pós-operatório imediato de prostatectomia de um Hospital Universitário de Natal-RN

The characterization of the nursing diagnoses in prostatectomized patients is important to provide an unique nursing language, facilitating the communication between professionals and patients. The objective of this study was to analyze the nursing diagnoses of patients in the immediate prostatectomy postoperative period. This is a cross-sectional and descriptive study, developed at the surgical-clinic of Onofre Lopes University Hospital, in the Natal City RN - Brazil. The sample was composed of 50 patients included by the criteria: have presented a diagnosis of a benign prostatic hyperplasia or a prostate cancer, have been subjected to a prostate surgery at the mentioned hospital, and have been in the immediate postoperative period at the moment of the data collection. The exclusion criteria were: haven t been in an appropriate physical and mental condition, have presented a brain vascular disease, a lung disease, an advanced liver disease, a heart disease or a extensive coronary artery disease. The data collection instruments were: the script of an interview and physical examination. The data collection period was between November 2010 and April 2011. The data were organized in two phases: the diagnostic process and the construction of the database. The project was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte The results showed that most patients came from the countryside, was living with partners, had an average of 67.78 years, was pensionerthose with low schooling, Catholic and often did not perform preventive examinations of prostatic disease. The patients showed an average of 9.48 nursing diagnoses, defining characteristics 21.70 and 20.72 related or risk factors per patient. We identified 30 nursing diagnoses, of which 7 were above the 75 percentile: Risk of falls, Impaired ambulation, Risk of infection, Self-care deficit bath / hygiene and dress up and Risk for deficient fluid volume. The top six nursing diagnoses were in all patients, and therefore could not apply any statistical test. The others ND were associated with their defining characteristics and related or risk factors. We conclude that the nursing diagnoses identified in this study contribute to the progress of the nursing care to the prostatectomized patients in post-surgery period, allowing the deployment of nursing actions for the effective resolution of identified problems

Validação de instrumentos para avaliação do conhecimento e da habilidade acerca da punção venosa periférica com cateter agulhado

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico

Treinamento resistido reduz inflamação em músculo esquelético e melhora a sensibilidade à insulina periférica em ratos obesos induzidos por dieta hiperlipídica

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

The semi-synthetic kaurane ent-16 alpha-methoxykauran-19-oic acid induces vascular relaxation and hypotension in rats

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

Desempenho de pacientes com acidente vascular encefalico em testes de reconhecimento de tividades de vida diaria com frequencia autocontrolada e pre- determinada Luciana Protásio de Melo Natal 2009

The stimulation of motor learning is an important component to a rehabilitation and type of practice used is de basic importance to Physiotherapy. The motor skills are the types more basic of behavior that subjects must acquire throughout its lives and observational learning one of forms for its acquisition. Objective: This study aimed to compare performance of patients post- stroke on test of recognition of activities of day life using self-controlled and externally determined practice. Intervention: Forty subjects had been evaluated, 20 stroke patients (the mean age was 57,9?}6,7 years, schooling 6,7?}3,09 years and time of injury 23,4?}17,2 months) and 20 health subjects (the mean age 55,4?}5,9 years and schooling 8?}3,7 years). All was evaluated about independence functional (FIM) and cognitive state (MMSE), and patients were also evaluated about neurologic state (NIHSS). Later, all realized a recognition of activities of day life test (drink water and speak to telephone) on self-controlled (PAUTO and CAUTO) and externally determined (P20 and C20) frequency. The stroke subjects also were examined for a three-dimensional system of kinematic analysis, when they have drink water. The statistic analysis was realized for chi-square and t Student tests. Results: This was not difference, about number of rightness, between groups of self-controlled and externally determined practice (p0,005), and also not between patients and control groups (p0,005). Patients mean velocity (PAUTO: 141,1mm/sec and P20: 141,6mm/sec) and peak velocity (PAUTO: 652,1mm/sec and P20: 598,6mm/sec) were reduced, as well as the angles reached for elbow (PAUTO: 66,60 and 124,40; P20: 66,30 and 128,50 extension e flexion respectively) regarding literature. Conclusions: The performance on recognition of activities of day life test was similar between on self-controlled and externally determined frequency, showing both technique may be used to stimulate motor learning on chronic patients after stroke

Funcionalidade em pacientes após acidente vascular encefálico: relação com o sono e ritmo de atividade-repouso

It is known that sleep plays an important role in the process of motor learning. Recent studies have shown that the presence of sleep between training a motor task and retention test promotes a learning task so than the presence of only awake between training and testing. These findings also have been reported in stroke patients, however, there are few studies that investigate the results of this relationship on the functionality itself in this population. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between functionality and sleep in patients in the chronic stage of stroke. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted. The sample was composed of 30 stroke individuals in chronic phase, between 6 and 60 months after injury and aged between 55 and 75 years. The volunteers were initially evaluated for clinical data of disease and personal history, severity of stroke, through the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale, and mental status, the Mini-Mental State Examination. Sleep assessment tools were Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Questionnaire of Horne and Ostberg, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, the Berlin questionnaire and actigraphy, which measures were: real time of sleep, waking after sleep onset, percentage of waking after sleep onset, sleep efficiency, sleep latency, sleep fragmentation index, mean activity score. Other actigraphy measures were intraday variability, stability interdiária, a 5-hour period with minimum level of activity (L5) and 10-hour period with maximum activity (M10), obtained to evaluate the activity-rest rhythm. The Functional Independence Measure (FIM) and the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) were the instruments used to evaluate the functional status of participants. The Spearman correlation coefficient and comparison tests (Student's t and Mann-Whitney) were used to analyze the relationship of sleep assessment tools and rest-activity rhythm to measures of functional assessment. The SPSS 16.0 was used for analysis, adopting a significance level of 5%. The main results observed were a negative correlation between sleepiness and balance and a negative correlation between the level of activity (M10) and sleep fragmentation. No measurement of sleep or rhythm was associated with functional independence measure. These findings suggest that there may be an association between sleepiness and xii balance in patients in the chronic stage of stroke, and that obtaining a higher level of activity may be associated with a better sleep pattern and rhythm more stable and less fragmented. Future studies should evaluate the cause-effect relationship between these parameters

Effect of gender on training-induced vascular remodeling in SHR

There is accumulating evidence that physical inactivity, associated with the modern sedentary lifestyle, is a major determinant of hypertension. It represents the most important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, which are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality for both men and women. In addition to involving sympathetic overactivity that alters hemodynamic parameters, hypertension is accompanied by several abnormalities in the skeletal muscle circulation including vessel rarefaction and increased arteriole wall-to-lumen ratio, which contribute to increased total peripheral resistance. Low-intensity aerobic training is a promising tool for the prevention, treatment and control of high blood pressure, but its efficacy may differ between men and women and between male and female animals. This review focuses on peripheral training-induced adaptations that contribute to a blood pressure-lowering effect, with special attention to differential responses in male and female spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Heart, diaphragm and skeletal muscle arterioles (but not kidney arterioles) undergo eutrophic outward remodeling in trained male SHR, which contributed to a reduction of peripheral resistance and to a pressure fall. In contrast, trained female SHR showed no change in arteriole wall-to-lumen ratio and no pressure fall. on the other hand, training-induced adaptive changes in capillaries and venules (increased density) were similar in male and female SHR, supporting a similar hyperemic response to exercise.

Desempenho motor de pacientes com acidente vascular cerebral em um jogo baseado em realidade virtual

The Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA) is the leading cause of motor disability in adults and elderly and that is why it still needs effective interventions that contribute to motor recovery. Objective: This study was aimed to evaluate the performance of stroke patients in chronic stage using a virtual reality game. Method: 20 patients (10 with injury to the left and 10 to the right side), right-handed, average age 50.6 ± 9.2 years, and 20 healthy subjects with average age of 50.9 ± 8.8, also right-handed participated. The patients had a motor (Fugl-Meyer) and muscle tone assessment (Ashworth). All participants made a kinematic evaluation of the drinking water activity and then underwent training with the table tennis game on XBOX 360 Kinect®, 2 sets of 10 attempts for 45 seconds, 15 minutes rest between sets, giving a total of 30 minutes session. After training the subjects underwent another kinematic evaluation. The patients trained with the right and left hemiparect upper limb and the healthy ones with the right and left upper limb. Data were analyzed by ANOVA, t Student test and Pearson correlation. Results: There was significant difference in the number of hits between the patients and healthy groups, in which patients had a lower performance in all the attempts (p = 0.008), this performance was related to a higher level of spasticity (r = - 0.44, p = 0.04) and greater motor impairment (r = 0.59, p = 0.001). After training, patients with left hemiparesis had improved shoulder and elbow angles during the activity of drinking water, approaching the pattern of motion of the left arm of healthy subjects (p < 0.05), especially when returning the glass to the table, and patients with right hemiparesis did not obtain improved pattern of movement (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The stroke patients improved their performance over the game attempts, however, only patients with left hemiparesis were able to increase the angle of the shoulder and elbow during the functional activity execution, better responding to virtual reality game, which should be taken into consideration in motor rehabilitation

Prevalência de doença arterial obstrutiva periférica (DAOP) e alterações sensoriais em pacientes diabéticos tipo 2: impacto da DAOP sobre a qualidade de vida, nível de atividade física e composição corporal

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) affected approximately 171 million people in the world in the year 2000 as described by the World Health Organization (WHO). Because DM is a multisystem disease it can cause several complications especially those related to the cardiovascular system. The Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) of the lower limbs and the Diabetic Distal Symmetric Polyneuropathy (DDSP) can affect the DM patient causing consequences as the diabetic foot and eventually amputations. The main objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of PAD and sensorial impairment in 73 type 2 DM (DM2) patients and also assess the impact of PAD on quality of life, level of physical activity and body composition. For clinical assessment it was used: the ankle-brachial index (ABI); quantitative sensorial test for tactile sensibility (ST), pain (SD), vibration (SV); Achilles tendon reflex (RA); quality of life questionnaire (SF-36); modified Baecke physical activity questionnaire and bioelectric impedance. Prevalence of PAD in the studied population was 13.7%. ABI was inversely correlated to age (p=0,03; rhô= -0,26), diabetes duration (p=0,02; rhô= -0,28) and blood pressure (p= 0,0007; rhô= -0,33). There were lower scores for physical health summary on the SF-36 in DM2 patients; however, the presence of PAD predominantly mild did not significantly impact quality of life, body composition or physical activity level assessed by questionnaire. Fourteen patients (19.2%) present bilateral and symmetrical alterations in two or more sensorial tests compatible to DPN diagnosis. Abnormalities in ST, SD and SV were present in 27.3%, 24.6% and 8.2%; respectively. There was association of results from ST abnormalities with RA and mainly with SD, suggesting the importance of 10g monofilament use in DM2 routine assessment. In conclusion, the prevalence of PAD in subclinical DM2 was slightly higher compared to the general population and in agreement to previously published data in DM patients. The PAD severity was predominantly mild and still without repercussion on quality of life and body composition. Our study demonstrated a significant prevalence of both PAD and DPN in DM2 without previous diagnosis of these complications and indicates the necessity of early preventive and therapeutic interventions for this population