Influence of homeopathic treatment with comfrey on bone density around titanium implants. A digital subtraction radiography study in rats

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of homeopathic treatment with comfrey (Shymphytum officinalis 6CH) on radiographic bone density and area around titanium implants.Material and methods: Forty-eight rats were divided into two groups of 24 animals each: a control group (C) and a test group (SO). Each animal received one titanium micro-implant placed in the tibia. The animals in Group SO were subjected to 10 drops of comfrey 6CH per day mixed into their drinking water until the day of sacrifice. Eight animals of each group were sacrificed at 7, 14 and 28 days post-surgery, respectively.Standardized digital radiographs were obtained on the day of implant installation (baseline images) and on the day of sacrifice (final images). Digital subtraction of the two corresponding images was performed to evaluate changes in bone density and the area related to change around the implant between baseline and final images.Results: Subtraction images demonstrated that a significant difference existed in mean shade of gray at 14 days post-surgery between Group SO (mean 175.3 +/- 14.4) and Group C (mean 146.2 +/- 5.2). Regarding the area in pixels corresponding to the bone gain in Group SO, the differences observed between the sacrifice periods and groups were only significant at 7 days sacrifice between Group SO (mean 171.2 +/- 21.9) and Group C (mean 64.5 +/- 60.4).Conclusion: Within the limits of this study, comfrey administration promotes an increase in radiographic bone density around titanium implants in the initial period of bone healing.

Ultrastructure and cytochemistry of the pearl gland in Piper regnellii (Piperaceae)

Pearl glands are scattered throughout the lamina of developing leaves and rarely found on adult leaves of Piper regnellii (Piperaceae). The pearl gland is a bicellular secretory trichome composed of a short broad basal cell and a spatula-like, semiglobular apical cell. Four different stages of the pearl grand were determined during its ontogenesis: origin, pre-secretory, secretory and post-secretory. During the pre-secretory stage, mitochondria, ribosomes, dictyosomes, rough endoplasmic reticulum, and plastids with electron dense inclusions were present in the cytoplasm of the apical cell. During the secretory stage, the most remarkable characteristics of the apical cell are the proliferation of dictyosomes and their vesicles, rough endoplasmic reticulum, and modified plastids. At this stage, electron-dense oil drops occur in the plastids as well as scattered within the cytoplasm, proteins and polysaccharides are seen in the plastids, vesicles, and vacuoles. Only polysaccharides are present in the periplasmic space, wall cavities, and on the surface of the apical cell. The polysaccharides are one of the main components of the mucilagenous exudate that covers the developing leaf structures. The apical cell of the senescing trichomes undergoes a progressive degeneration of its cellular components, the plastids being the first organelles to undergo lysis.

Bulliform cells in Loudetiopsis chrysothrix (Nees) Conert and Tristachya leiostachya Nees (Poaceae): structure in relation to function

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

Dendroid colleters on vegetative and reproductive apices in Alibertia sessilis (Rubiaceae) differ in ultrastructure and secretion

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

Uso do colírio de Citrus lemon em úlceras de córnea induzidas em coelhos

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

Ultrastructure of Giardia duodenalis trophozoites group from hamster: some relevant aspects

Throphozoites of Giardia duodenalis group obtained from fragments or scratched of hamster's mucosa were examined by transission electron microscopy. The fine structure of the trophozoites are presented and comapred with those described for other animals. Some of the trophozoites present the cytoplasm full of glycogen, rough endoplasmic reticulum-like structures and homogeneous inclusions not enclosed by membranes, recognized as lipid drops, which had not been observed in Giardia from other animals. The adhesive disk is composed of a layer of microtubules, from which fibrous ribbons extend into the cytoplasm; these ribbons are linked by layer of crossbridge filaments that shows an intermediary dense band, described for the first time in this paper. The authors regard this band as the result of the cross-bridge filaments slinding in the medium region between adjacent fibrous ribbons, and suggest a contractile activity for them. The role of the adhesive disk on the trophozoite mechanism of attachment to host mucosa is also discussed.

Ultrastructure of oocytes of the Urostreptus atrobrunneus (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Spirostreptidae): A potential urban centers plague

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

Wettability of Aqueous Rhamnolipids Solutions Produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa LBI

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

Mites and leaf domatia: no evidence of mutualism in Coffea arabica plants

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

Homeopathic treatment for bone regeneration: experimental study

Aim and method: The objective of this research was to study the effect of homeopathic treatment with Plumbum metallicum (Plumbum met.) on mandibular bone repair in rats.Materials and methods: We analyzed the mandibles of 60 male rats, approximately 3-month-old, randomly divided into three groups of 20 animals each: control, treated with calcitonin, and treated with a homeopathic medicine. A circumscribed bone defect measuring 4 mm in diameter was made in the mandible and covered with a pollytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) barrier. The group treated with calcitonin received 2 IU/kg intramuscularly three times a week; the group treated with Plumbum met. 30c received three drops in water every day. The animals were sacrificed after 7,14,21 and 28 days. The mandibles were removed and submitted to histologic and histomorphometric analyses.Results: Data were analyzed statistically by two-way ANOVA and by the Tukey test. The interaction effect (ANOVA, F df(6; 48) = 4.64; p = 0.001 < 0.05) indicated that the relationship between treatments was not the same at each time of sacrifice. Although statistical analysis of the histomorphometric data showed a similar results for the treated and control groups. But histological analysis showed complete filling of the surgical defect throughout its extent was only for the group treated with Plumbum met.Conclusion: The study demonstrated that for repair of surgical defects in rat mandibles Plumbum met. 30c and control did not differ significantly in histomorphometric terms. Homeopathy (2009) 98, 92-96.

Aplicação da resistividade e cargabilidade em estudos de contaminação de sedimentos por derivados de hidrocarbonetos

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

Contrasting fluvial styles of the Paraguay River in the northwestern border of the Pantanal wetland, Brazil

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

A Genome-wide Screen for Neurospora crassa Transcription Factors Regulating Glycogen Metabolism

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

Obtenção da fase peroviskita via microemulsão

Pequenas partículas de fase peroviskita de BaMnO3 foram preparadas por dois métodos: a rota da coprecipitação convencional (RCC) e o método convencional de microemulsão (MCM). As técnicas instrumentais utilizadas para caracterizar as amostras foram: microscopia eletrônica de varredura (SEM), difratometria de raios X (XRD), termogravimetria (TG) e análise térmica diferencial (DTA). A síntese de materiais em sistemas coloidais auto-organizados tem por objetivo aumentar a homogeneidade de tamanho e forma das partículas. Nos últimos anos aumentou a busca por materiais mais uniformes visando o aperfeiçoamento da microestrutura. A rota de microemulsão é um método alternativo para a síntese de materiais porque permite o controle da relação entre as concentrações de água e do tensoativo, (w), o qual controla o tamanho das gotículas de microemulsão denominadas microreatores. Peroviskita pura obtida de microemulsão forma-se em temperatura menor do que a fase precipitada, e resulta.em partículas com distribuição de tamanho mais adequada, de aproximadamente 0,1 mm de diâmetro comparado com a média de 0,5 mm das partículas coprecipitadas.

Estudo da série iso-eletrônica do átomo de hélio pelo método hiperesférico

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