Detection of Listeria sp in meat and meat products using TECRA Listeria visual immunoassay and biocontrol visual immunoprecipitate assay for Listeria immunoassays and a cultural procedure

The routine methods for detecting Listeria sp. in foods are time consuming and involve using selective enrichments and plating on agars. In this study, the presence of Listeria sp. in 120 meat and meat product samples was investigated by two rapid immunoassays (TECRA Listeria Visual Immunoassay [VIA] and BioControl Visual Immunoprecipitate Assay [VIP] for Listeria) and a cultural procedure. The cultural method of detecting Listeria sp. followed Canada's Health Protection Branch Method, and the rapid tests followed the manufacturers' instructions. The agreement between the cultural and the rapid tests was established at a confidence limit of 95%. Seventy-nine samples (65.8%) were Listeria sp. positive in at least one of the three tests. There was no statistically significant difference between the cultural procedure and any of the rapid immunoassays. The agreement rates between the VIA and the cultural method and between the VIP and the cultural method were 87 and 84%, respectively. Both tests - the VIA and VIP - proved to be rapid, efficient and easy to perform.

Automatic identification by C-13 NMR of substituent groups bonded in natural product skeletons

The aim of this paper is to present a procedure that utilizes C-13 NMR for identification of substituent groups which are bonded to carbon skeletons of natural products. For so much was developed a new version of the program (MACRONO), that presents a database with 161 substituent types found in the most varied terpenoids. This new version was widely tested in the identification of the substituents of 60 compounds that, after removal of the signals that did not belong to the carbon skeleton, served to test the prediction of skeletons by using other programs of the expert system (SISTEMAT). (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. Ltd. All rights reserved.

New anti-Alzheimer drugs from biodiversity: the role of the natural acetylcholinesterase inhibitors

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative pathology with severe economic and social impact. There is currently no cure, although cholinesterase inhibitors provide effective temporary relief of symptoms in some patients. Nowadays, drug research and development are based on the cholinergic hypothesis that supports the cognition improvement by regulation of the synthesis and release of acetylcholine in the brain. There are only four commercial medicines approved for treatment of AD, and natural products have played an important alternative role in the research for new acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, as exemplified through the discovery of galantamine. This profile conducts us to give in this paper an overview relating the several classes of natural products with anti-cholinesterasic activity as potential templates to the design of new selective and powerful anti-Alzheimer drugs.

Diagnosis of Public Programs focused on Herbal Medicines in Brazil

The present study is aimed to diagnose the current public programs focused on herbal medicines in Brazil by means of in loco visits to 10 programs selected by means of questionnaires sent to 124 municipalities that count on herbal medicine services. The main purpose of the implementation of program programs is related to the development of medicinal herbs. 70% of them are intended for the production of herbal medicines and 50% are aimed to ensure the access of the population to medicinal plants and or herbal medicines. The initiative of the implementation of these programs was related to the managers (60%). The difficulties in this implementation were due to the lack of funding (100%) of the programs. In 60% of the programs, the physicians did not adhere to herbal medicine services due to the lack of knowledge of the subject. Training courses were proposed (80%) to increase the adhesion of prescribers to the system. Some municipalities use information obtained from patients to assess the therapeutic efficiency of medicinal plants and herbal medicines. of the programs underway, cultivation of medicinal plants was observed in 90% and 78% of them adopt quality control. In most programs, this control is not performed in accordance with the legal requirements. The programs focused on medicinal plants and herbal medicines implemented in Brazil face sonic chronic problems of infrastructure, management, operational capacity and self-sustainability, which can be directly related to the absence of a national policy on medicinal plants and herbal medicines.

Oral health of Alzheimer's patients in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil

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

Detection of Toxoplasma gondii DNA in the milk of naturally infected ewes

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

Analysis of aluminum plates under heating in electrical and natural gas furnaces

This paper analyzes the thermal storage characteristics of aluminum plates in furnaces during their heating for lamination under two sources of heat: an electrical resistance bank and a combustion process carried out with natural gas. The set of equations to model the furnace under operation with electrical energy, for air as the fluid, is presented. This supports the theoretical analysis for the system under operation with natural gas combustion products. A numerical procedure, using the software ANSYS, is applied to determine the convection heat transfer coefficients for heating by the air flow. Temperatures measured in a plate inside a real furnace are used as parameters to determine these coefficients. Then convection and radiation heat transfer coefficients are determined for the natural gas combustion products. Results are compared, indicating a possible gain of 5.5 h in relation to a 19.5 h period of conventional electrical heating per plate.

Abundância natural do isótopo estável de carbono (13C) de alguns itens alimentares e sua contribuição no crescimento de juvenis de pintado, Pseudoplatystoma corruscans (Agassiz, 1829) (Osteichthyes, Pimelodidae)

The aim of this study is to determine the natural abundance of carbon stable isotope (13C) of some food components and determine its contribution to the pintado juvenile growth, in laboratory conditions. 150 fishes were used with average weight of 1.39 g, and stocked in two net ponds with 125L each, during 60 days. Every 10 days a water sample was collected to analyse phytoplakton and zooplankton. Clacocera was dominant in the analysis of the stomach contents, following Chironomidae and Copepoda. A fish sample was collected in the beginning, and at the end of the experiment to analyses the isotopic signal. An average value of -20.94; -15.36 and -18.81 δ13C%o was obtained for phytoplankton, Cladocera and Chironomidae, respectively. Cladocera was the main carbon source and contribution with carbon average 89.24% in feeding this species, while the Chironomid contribution was 10.76%. The δ13C was effective as carbon tracer in food chain, because the consumer reflects its diet isotopicly.

Ativação de macrófagos por produtos naturais obtidos da Achillea millefolium L. (Asteraceae)

Plants are a valuable source of natural products for the maintenance of human health. The purpose of this paper was the study of immunologic activity of yarrow (Achillea millefolium L.), a largely used plant in popular medicine that has many different properties such as: antiinflammatory, astringent, antiseptic and antispasmodic. Macrophages stimulation was evaluated by the determination of H2O2, NO and TNF-α in supernatants of peritoneal macrophages cultures of mice in the presence of the yarrow leaves extract. The thin layer chromatography of extract was also analyzed, showing rutin. All concentrations showed a moderate release of H2O2 and the concentrations of 6, 8 and 10mg/mL had a higher release of NO. The TNF-a was produced in all concentrations, but the best result was obtained at 4mg/mL. Analyzing the results, it is suggested that the yarrow ethanolic extract can modulate the macrophages activation.

Efficacy of homeopathic treatment against natural infection of sheep by gastrointestinal nematodes.

The efficacy of the homeopathic treatment with the Fator Vermes, administered according to the manufacturer's recommendations, was evaluated against gastrointestinal nematodes infections in sheep. The experiment was divided into two phases: in the first phase (January/06/2004 to April/30/2004), the animals of the treated (n=10) and control (n=10) groups were treated individually with conventional anthelmintics to avoid deaths. In the second phase (April/30/2004 to July/06/2004), the sheep from the group that received the Fator Vermes were treated as they had been in the previous phase, while the control group animals were treated with conventional anthelmintics at 14 day intervals. In the first phase of the experiment, there was no significant difference (P>0.05) between group means regarding egg counts in feces (EPG), weight gain, or packed cell volume (PCV). Meanwhile, in the second phase, the control group sheep had a significantly higher weight gain, higher PCV values, and lower EPG counts. Infective larvae of Haemonchus spp., Trichostrongylus spp., Cooperia spp., and Oesophagostomum spp. were identified in the fecal cultures. After six months of daily treatment with the Fator Vermes, it was not possible to substantiate the product's benefits in both sheep health and productivity or in the prophylaxis of gastrointestinal nematode infections.

OS produtos naturais e a química medicinal moderna

Natural products have been utilized by humans since ancient times and the relief and cure of their diseases was the first purpose for using natural products in medicine. The history of the oriental and occidental civilizations is very rich in examples of the utilization of natural products in medicine and health care. Chinese traditional medicine is one of the most important examples of how natural products can be efficient in the treatment of diseases, and it points to the importance of scientific research on natural products, concerning the discovery of new active chemical entities. The complexity, chemical diversity and biological properties of natural products always fascinated people, and during the last 200 years, this led to the discovery of important new drugs. In the last 30 years, the development of new bioassay techniques, biotechnology methods, bio-guided phytochemical studies, automated high throughput screening and high performance analytical methods, have introduced new concepts and possibilities of rational drug design and drug discovery. In this context, natural products have played an important and decisive role in the development of modern medicinal chemistry.

Surface electromyography of facial muscles during natural and artificial feeding of infants

Objective: To measure and compare the activity of the masseter, temporalis and buccinator muscles in different infant feeding methods. Method: Cross-sectional study of 60 full-term infants with no intercurrent diseases, aged between two and three months, classified into the following groups: 1) exclusive breastfeeding; 2) breastfeeding plus bottle-feeding; and 3) exclusive breastfeeding plus cup feeding. Surface electromyography was performed during infant feeding. The Krushal-Wallis test was used, complemented by multiple paired comparisons of the groups. A 5% significance level was chosen for the tests. Results: Statistically higher results were verified in the breastfeeding group in relation to the bottle-feeding one, both in the range of movement and the mean contraction of the masseter. With regard to the temporalis muscle, statistically higher results were found in the breastfeeding group comparatively to the bottle-feeding one. As to the buccinator muscle, statistically higher results were observed in the breastfeeding group in relation to the bottle-feeding one, although in this case, the difference concerned only the range of contraction. Conclusion: The similarities between the muscle activity in the breastfeeding and in the cup-feeding groups suggests that cup-feeding can be used as an alternative infant feeding method, being better than bottle-feeding, due to the hyperactivity of the buccinator muscle, which could result in changes to the structural growth and development of the stomatognathic system functions. Copyright © 2006 by Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria.

Evaluation of the anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activities of the natural polyphenol chlorogenic acid

Phenolic compounds are numerous and ubiquitous in the plant kingdom, being particularly present in health-promoting foods. Epidemiological evidences suggest that the consumption of polyphenol-rich foods reduces the incidence of cancer, coronary heart disease and inflammation. Chlorogenic acid (CGA) is one of the most abundant polyphenol compounds in human diet. Data obtained from in vivo and in vitro experiments show that CGA mostly presents antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic activities. However, the effects of CGA on the inflammatory reaction and on the related pain and fever processes have been explored less so far. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive and antipyretic activities of CGA in rats. In comparison to control, CGA at doses 50 and 100 mg/kg inhibited carrageenin-induced paw edema beginning at the 2nd hour of the experimental procedure. Furthermore, at doses 50 and 100 mg/kg CGA also inhibited the number of flinches in the late phase of formalin-induced pain test. Such activities may be derived from the inhibitory action of CGA in the peripheral synthesis/release of inflammatory mediators involved in these responses. On the other hand, even at the highest tested dose (200 mg/kg), CGA did not inhibit the febrile response induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in rats. Additional experiments are necessary in order to clarify the true target for the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of CGA. © 2006 Pharmaceutical Society of Japan.

Comparative study of disk diffusion and microdilution methods for evaluation of antifungal activity of natural compounds against medical yeasts Candida spp and Cryptococcus sp

Antifungal activity of natural products has been tested by adapting methods designed for synthetic drugs. In this study, two methods for the determination of antifungal activity of natural products, agar diffusion and broth microdilution, the CLSI reference methods for synthetic drugs, are compared and discussed. The microdilution method was more sensitive. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of crude extracts, fractions and pure substances from different species of the plant families Piperaceae, Rubiaceae, Clusiaceae, Fabaceae and Lauraceae, from the Biota project, were determined. Antifungal activities against Candida albicans, C.krusei, C.parapsilosis and Cryptococcus neoformans were produced by several samples.

Determination of calcium and magnesium in hydroethanolic extracts of propolis by atomic absorption flame spectrophotometry

Propolis is a natural product collected by honeybees and has a large range of pharmacological activity, including antimicrobial, antitumoral, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Its use as a popular medicine is increasing all over the world, creating a need for quality control of the commercial products. In this study the levels of calcium and magnesium in commercial hydroalcoholic propolis extracts from varies states of Brazil were determined by atomic absorption flame spectrophotometry and different values were obtained for northern and southern states. This study can be extended to the analysis of metals that are harmful to health. The results showed that the calibration curves were linear over a wide concentration range (0.5-4.0 μg.mL -1 for calcium and 0.05-0.4 μg.mL -1 for magnesium) with good correlation coefficients (0.999 and 0.988, respectively). Good analytical recovery (94%) was obtained. The proposed method showed adequate precision and relative standard deviation lower than 2 %. The method is accurate and precise as well as having advantages such as simplicity and speed.