Differential morphology of the hemocytes present in pupal ovaries of the queen and worker honeybee

The location and morphological features of the blood cells found in the pupal ovary of workers and queens of Apis mellifera are described in relationship with their probable function in the ovary differentiation. The hemocytes from inside the ovarioles are different in both castes. In queens their morphology suggest an action in the tunica propria production, while in workers it suggest a phagocytic activity. The hemocytes present in the intersticial tissue are phagocytes in both castes, and may be responsible by the ovary shapping during metamorphosis.

Avaliação dos produtos de degradação oxidativa da Hb S em eritrócitos de doentes falcêmicos

Analysis of the products of oxidative degradation of Hb S was made by methahemoglobin measurement and a count of red blood cells with Heinz bodies. Free radicals originating from oxidation cause extensive injury to erythrocytes, decreasing their useful survival period especially in Hb S carriers. The Superoxide ion (O 2) is the most responsible for the oxidation process of Hb forming membrane-bound haemachromes which afterwards evolve to Heinz bodies, damaging the membrane and provoking erythrocytes hemolysis. The results from this work showed that the SS genotype is more susceptible to the action of the free radicals than the S/Tal genotype. The β genotype has a lower oxidative susceptibility than the SS because it has only one β s mutation. The results allowed us to conclude that: a) the simple presence of Hb S, independent of its genotype and its concentration, is sufficient to produce methaemoglobin from this Hb; b) there is not a direct relationship between methaetnoglobin concentration and the Heinz bodies count; c) the intensity of Heinz bodies in the sickled erythrocytes seems to be independent of the Hb Fetal concentration; d) The genotype SS is more susceptible to Hb oxidation with the release of products of oxidative degradation; e) methaemoglobin formation in blood of people with Hb AA and Hb AS, assessed over 24, 48, 72 and 163 hourly-periods, showed greater oxidative intensity in the Hb AS compared with Hb AA.

Mebendazole treatment against Anacanthorus penilabiatus (Monogenea, Dactylogyridae) gill parasite of cultivated Piaractus mesopotamicus (Osteichthyes, Characidae) in Brazil. Efficacy and hematology

The present work evaluated the efficacy of mebendazole (MBZ) treatment against infections with the monogenean helminths Anacanthorus penilabiatus, gill parasites of young cultivated pacu, Piaractus mesopotamicus. A short-term bath treatment using 100, 200 and 500 mg MBZ/1 of water for 10 and 30 min and a long-term bath using 1, 10 and 100 mg MBZ/1 of water for 24 h were utilized. Seven days after, fish were sacrificed and parasites counted. Concentrations of 500 and 200 mg MBZ/1 for 10 and 30 min showed reduced efficacy (0.0 and 0.7%) and (14.2 and 11.0%), respectively. Nevertheless, 100 mg MBZ/1 (10 min) and 10 mg MBZ/1 (24 h) showed better efficacy (79.6 and 81.4%, respectively). Treatments for 24 h provoked increases in hematocrit, hemoglobin concentration and leukocyte number when compared to those untreated fish. Mebendazole treatments also provoked alterations in the defense blood cells especially in lymphocyte and thrombocyte numbers, when the fishes were submitted to 10 and 30 min baths.

Interdisciplinary approach to treat dyskeratosis congenita associated with severe aplastic anemia: A case report

This paper reports on a 4-year-old male who had dyskeratosis congenita and who acquired severe aplastic anemia. The patient developed hyperpigmentation of the face, neck and chest region, arms, shoulders and legs. In addition, he had dry skin, deformed fingernails and toenails, sparse hair and eyebrows and hyperkeratosis of the dorsum of the hands and feet. Laboratory and histological analysis revealed severe pancytopenia and dyserythropoiesis of red blood cells, hypocellularity of white blood cells and decreased megakaryocytes with dysplasia. The intraoral examination identified bleeding gums; petechiae of the palate, tongue and cheek mucosa; and an atrophic, smooth and shining dorsal surface of the tongue. There were deep carious lesions in the deciduous mandibular molars and maxillary anterior teeth; as well as mobility of mandibular left canine, which had bone loss. The treatment for oral lesions included diet changes, improved oral hygiene, and extraction of the deciduous teeth destroyed by caries.

Morphological, cytochemical, and ultrastructural study of thrombocytes and leukocytes in neotropical fish, Brycon orbignyanus Valenciennes, 1850 (Characidae, Bryconinae)

Morphological, cytochemical and ultrastructural studies are important to demonstrate the function of the blood cells, which is very little understood in teleosts. In peripheral blood of piracanjuba' Brycon orbignyanus, thrombocytes, lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils and heterophils were studied and characterized. Thrombocytes had a fusiform or oval shape with PAS-positive granules. Lymphocytes presented small size with sparse basophilic cytoplasm. Monocytes were large in size, presented basophilic cytoplasm that may be foamy or vacuolated, with non-specific esterase staining. The neutrophils presented lightly neutrophilic granule cytoplasm, with positivity for PAS and peroxidase. The heterophils were large in size, with eosinophilic and basophilic granules cytoplasm and PAS-positive. Transmission electron microscopy study demonstrated that the thrombocytes, lymphocytes and monocytes features were similar to other teleosts. In ultrastructural study only one type of neutrophils was observed. Cytochemical findings indicated that neutrophils and monocytes of B. orbignyanus may be involved in phagocytosis, and neutrophils play an important microbicidal role.

Assessment of DNA damage by extracts and fractions of Strychnos pseudoquina, a Brazilian medicinal plant with antiulcerogenic activity

Strychnos pseudoquina St. Hil. is a native plant of the Brazilian Savannah, used in popular medicine to treat a number of conditions. Since it contains large quantities of alkaloids with proven antiulcer activity, we tested the genotoxic potential of crude extracts and fractions containing alkaloids and flavonoids from the leaves of this plant, on Salmonella typhimurium and performed the micronucleus test on peripheral blood cells of mice treated in vivo. The results showed that the methanol extract of the leaves of S. pseudoquina is mutagenic to the TA98 (-S9) and TA100 (+S9, -S9) strains of Salmonella. The dichloromethane extract was not mutagenic to any of the tested strains. Fractions enriched with alkaloids or flavonoids were not mutagenic. In vivo tests were done on the crude methanol extract in albino Swiss mice, which were treated, by gavage, with three different doses of the extract. The highest dose tested (1800 mg/kg b.w.) induced micronuclei after acute treatment, confirming the mutagenic potential of the methanol extract of the leaves of S. pseudoquina. In high doses, constituents of S. pseudoquina compounds act on DNA, causing breaks and giving rise to micronuclei in the blood cells of treated animals. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The influence of dietary vitamin C and E supplementation on the physiological response of pirarucu, Arapaima gigas, in net culture

This study evaluated the efficacy of dietary vitamin C (ascorbic acid or AA), vitamin E (α-tocopherol or α-T), and C + E supplementation on the blood parameters of Arapaima gigas grown in net cages for 45 days. Four treatments were tested: control (commercial feed); C800; E500 and C + E (800 + 500) with supplementation of 800 mg AA kg- 1, 500 mg α-T kg- 1 and 800 + 500 mg AA + α-T kg- 1, respectively. Hematocrit (Ht), red blood cells (RBC), and hemoglobin concentration (Hb) (oxidative status indicators), thrombocytes and leukocytes (immunological indicators), plasma protein and glucose were evaluated. Fish fed vitamin C and C + E supplemented diets showed greater weight gain and survival. Dietary vitamin C and C + E diet supplementation resulted in increased Ht, Hb, RBC, MCHC, total leukocytes, total proteins, thrombocytes and eosinophils compared to the control and α-T. The α-tocopherol-supplemented diet reduced the number of total thrombocytes, lymphocytes and neutrophils and increased glucose and eosinophils relatively to the control. In general, leukocytes and thrombocytes were good indicators of the efficiency of vitamin on the defense mechanism of the A. gigas reared in cages. Results indicate that high α-T diet supplementation provides no benefit for the maintenance of the oxidative or the immunological status of A. gigas. However, it was demonstrated that high dietary AA improves A. gigas immunological status. Red blood cell indices and immune system indicators showed no synergistic effect between the vitamins after supplementing the A. gigas diet with α-T + AA. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Valores da Amplitude de Distribuição do Tamanho dos Eritrócitos (RDW) em eqüinos Puro Sangue Inglês (PSI) submetidos a exercícios de diferentes intensidades

In order to evaluate the influence of exercise of different intensities on Red Blood Cell Distribution width (RDW) and Packed Cell Volume (VG) in Thoroughbred horses, blood was collected from 60 animals, 30 males and 30 females, subdivided in groups of horses with 24 to 36 months of age and not in training, and after 12 months of training, and horses with 36 to 48 months of age in training. Blood samples where collected before and after trot and gallop. Samples where analyzed with a automatic cell counter (Cell-Dyn 3500R, Abbott Diagnostic). Red Blood Cell Distribution width (RDW) values increased significantly after trot and gallop demonstrating a variation in the size of red blood cells, while Packed Medium Cell Volume (VGM) values did not show variations before or after exercise.

Hematological and serum chemistry values for the ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus): Variation with sex and age

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

DNA damage and nitric oxide synthesis in experimentally infected Balb/c mice with Trypanosoma cruzi

This study aimed to evaluate whether experimental Chagas disease in acute phase under benznidazole therapy can cause DNA damage in peripheral blood, liver, heart, and spleen cells or induce nitric oxide synthesis in spleen cells. Twenty Balb/c mice were distributed into four groups: control (non-infected animals); Trypanosoma cruzi infected; T. cruzi infected and submitted to benznidazole therapy; and only treated with benznidazole. The results obtained with the single cell gel (comet) assay showed that T. cruzi was able induce DNA damage in heart cells of both benznidazole treated or untreated infected mice. Similarly, T. cruzi infected animals showed an increase of DNA lesions in spleen cells. Regarding nitric oxide synthesis, statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed in all experimental groups compared to negative control, the strongest effect observed in the T. cruzi infected group. Taken together, these results indicate that T. cruzi may increase the level of DNA damage in mice heart and spleen cells. Probably, nitric oxide plays an important role in DNA damaging whereas benznidazole was able to minimize induced T. cruzi genotoxic effects in spleen cells. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessment of the potential clastogenic/aneugenic risk of Casearia sylvestris extract using in vivo assays

Casearia sylvestris (Flacourtiaceae) is a plant which grows in wild and has been widely used in folk medicine. In this study, clastogenic/aneugenic properties of Casearia sylvestris crude ethanolic extract were evaluated using in vivo chromosomal aberrations (CAs) and micronucleus (MN) assays in rodents. The animals were treated by gavage with 3 concentrations of the extract: 150, 300 and 500 mg/kg body weight. Bone marrow cells from Wistar rats were collected 24 h after having been submitted to the MN and CAs test. Peripheral blood cells from Swiss mice were collected 48 and 72 h after having been submitted to the MN test. The results show that C. sylvestris extract does not induce a significant increase in mean values for micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MNPCE) in Swiss mice and Wistar rats, or CAs in rat bone marrow cells, at the 3 tested doses, indicating that the extract showed no clastogenic/aneugenic effects on chromosomes of the rodent cells tested. © 2007 The Japan Mendel Society.

Metodologia para quantificação de leucóciotos totais em peixe Oreochromis Niloticus

Haematological investigation is an important part of disease diagnosis. The techniques used for mammals are generally applicable for fishes with slight modification. The presence of nucleated erythrocytes and thrombocytes in fish may cause some confusion in the identification of blood cells, mainly in total leukocytes count. This work evaluated two different methods (direct and indirect) of leukocytes counting. Specimens of tilapia were divided randomly into four groups of 48 fish each. Each group was further randomized into three replicate experiments of 16 fish per replicate in 40 L aquarium and maintained for 10 days. Counting of leukocytes in peripheral blood was determined in six fishes per group at the times: 0, 3, 7 and 10 days. The direct method in Neubauer chamber showed a large dispersion of data in regard to the average, the opposite was observed in indirect method determined in blood smears that showed more homogeneity among groups. Due to this factor the indirect method can be considered more accurate than the direct method for counting leukocytes in fishes.

Mitigating stress effects during transportation of matrinxã(Brycon amazonicus Günther, 1869; Characidae) through the application of calcium sulfate

This study verified the effects of CaSO4 on physiological responses of the tropical fish matrinxãBrycon amazonicus(200.2 ± 51.1 g) in water containing CaSO4 after a 4-h transportation at concentrations of: 0, 75, 150, and 300 mg L-1. Blood samples were collected prior to transportation (initial levels), immediately after packaging, at arrival, and 24 h and 96 h after transportation (recovery). Cortisol levels increased after ackaging (118.2 ± 14.2 ng ml-1), and decreased slightly after transportation in water containing CaSO4 (106.8 ± 14.1), but remained higher than initial levels (21.0 ± 2.6 ng ml)1). Fish kept at 150 mg L-1 CaSO4 reached the pre-transportation levels at 24 h of recovery. Blood glucose increased after transportation in all treatments (8.2 ± 0.2 mmol L-1) and declined after full recovery to values below initial levels (4.8 ± 0.1 mmol L-1). Chloride levels did not change in CaSO4 treatments; serum sodium concentrations decreased after packaging and after transportation. Serum calcium levels did not differ among treatments, but decreased after packaging and increased at 96 h of recovery. Hematocrit and the number of red blood cells were higher in all treatments after packaging and arrival, except in fish exposed to 300 mg L-1 CaSO4. Mean corpuscular volume increased in 75 mg L-1 CaSO4, which reached the higher VCM after transportation. Hemoglobin levels increased only after transportation, regardless of calcium sulfate levels. Handling before transportation and transportation itself were both stressful to fish; calcium sulfate at concentrations tested in the present work had a moderate influence in the reduction of stress responses. © 2009 Blackwell Verlag, Berlin.

Tratamento hepatoprotetor favorece a resposta leucocitária de ratos wistar intoxicados por CCL4

The aims of this investigation was to evaluate the effect of hepatoprotective treatments with a compound prepared by the association of N-Acetyl DL-Methionine (5%) + Choline chloride (2%) + Caffeine (1%) + Thiamine hydrochloride (1%) + Nicotinamida (0,5%)+ Pyridoxine hydrochloride (0.04%), administered through intramuscular (IM) route, at doses of 0.2, 0.6 and 1.0 mL/kg of BW, through the study of leukocytes responses in rats submitted to acute intoxication with CCl4. 147 females were randomized into 21 groups, performing five different treatments, which were evaluated seven animals in four periods: two, four, six and eight days after CCl4-induced intoxication. In this study, it was observed absolute eosinophilia and monocytosis in animals untreated and treated with the lowest dose of 0.2 mL. These responses were significantly better in animals treated with 0.6 and 1.0 mL/ kg BW. The untreated animals showed thrombocytopenia, when compared to treated animals. Absolute neutropenia and lymphocytosis was observed in all rats intoxicated with CCl4, there is no difference among treatments. The analysis of white blood cells demonstrated that the hepatoprotective treatments favored the leukocyte response, by act beneficially on the population of these cells, supporting the hypothesis that these events may reduce the deleterious effects in liver tissue after intoxication by CCl4.

Hemoglobin polymorphism and hematological profile of Geoffroy's side-necked turtle (Phrynops geoffroanus, Testudines) in the northwestern region of São Paulo State, Brazil

Complete blood counts and hemoglobin isoform data were gathered from 36 specimens of the turtle species Phrynops geoffroanus from the northwestern region of São Paulo State, Brazil. They were collected in an urban area. The hemoglobin profiles were obtained after red blood cell lysis and by electrophoretic migration in alkaline pH, acid pH, and neutral pH buffer. The hemoglobin components were confirmed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Erythrogram analysis included hematocrit, total hemoglobin concentration, total red blood cell count, and red blood cell indices. The leukogram included a total white blood cell count and a calculation of the percent values of neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, basophils, eosinophils, heterophils, and azurophils. HPLC analysis revealed three hemoglobin components; the first with a concentration of 5.5%, the second was a major component with an average concentration of 67.1%, and the third with a concentration of 28.5%. The hematological profile obtained for these specimens allowed us to establish a pattern for P. geoffroanus in São Paulo State Northwestern region. The average hematocrit values were 22.5% for females and 24.0% for males. For total hemoglobin, we found average values of 6.66 g/dL in females and 7.22 g/dL in males. The number of white blood cells was 2725 x 103/μL for females and 2775 x 103/μL for males. There was a predominance of heterophils, eosinophils, and monocytes in both sexes. No significant differences were found between males and females for hematological profile. The hematological results were compared to literature data for other Chelonia. They were similar to what is known for fresh water turtles. © FUNPEC-RP.