Involvement of NO in the inhibitory effect of Calotropis procera latex protein fractions on leukocyte rolling, adhesion and infiltration in rat peritonitis model

Aim of the study: The latex of Calotropis procera has been used in the traditional medicinal system for the treatment of leprosy, ulcers, tumors, piles and diseases of liver, spleen, abdomen and toothache. it comprises of a non-dialyzable protein fraction (LP) that exhibits anti-inflammatory properties and a dialyzable fraction (DF) exhibiting pro-inflammatory properties. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of LP sub-fractions on neutrophil functions and nociception in rodent models and to elucidate the mediatory role of nitric oxide (NO). Material and methods: The LP was subjected to ion exchange chromatography and the effect of its three sub-fractions (LP(PI), LP(PII), and LP(PIII)) thus obtained was evaluated on leukocyte functions in the rat peritonitis model and on nociception in the mouse model. Results: LP sub-fractions exhibit distinct protein profile and produce a significant decrease in the carrageenan and DF induced neutrophil influx and exhibit anti-nociceptive property. The LP and its sub-fractions produced a marked reduction in the number of rolling and adherent leukocytes in the mesenteric microvasculature as revealed by intravital microscopy. The anti-inflammatory effect of LP(PI), the most potent anti-inflammatory fraction of LP, was accompanied by an increase in the serum levels of NO. Further, our study shows that NO is also involved in the inhibitory effect of LP(PI) on neutrophil influx. Conclusions: Our study shows that LP fraction of Calotropis procera comprises of three distinct sets of proteins exhibiting anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive properties of which LP(PI) was most potent in inhibiting neutrophil functions and its effects are mediated through NO production. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Protocol of orofacial myofunctional evaluation with scores

Objective: In the literature there is no validated instrument for the clinical evaluation of the orofacial myofunctional condition of children that will permit the examiner to express numerically his perception of the characteristics and behaviors observed. The proposal of this study is to describe a protocol for the evaluation of children aged 6-12 years in order to establish relations between the orofacial. myofunctional conditions and numerical scales. The protocol validity, reliability of the examiners and agreement between them was analyzed. Methods: Eighty children aged 6-12 years participated in the study. All were evaluated and 30 were selected at random for the analyses (age range: 72-149 months, mean = 103.3, S.D. = 23.57). Individuals with and without orofacial myofunctional. disorders were included. The examiners were two speech therapists property calibrated in orofacial myofunctional evaluation. Two protocols were constructed. One, based on traditional models, was called traditional orofacial. myofunctional. evaluation (TOME), and the other, with the addition of numerical scales, was called orofacial myofunctional. evaluation with scores (OMES). The clinical conditions included were: appearance, posture and mobility of lips, tongue, cheeks and jaws, respiration, mastication and deglutition. Statistical analysis was performed using the split-half reliability method. Means, standard deviations and the Spearman correlation coefficient were also calculated. Results: There was a statistically significant correlation between the evaluations of 30 children assessed with the TOME and OMES protocols (r = 0.85, p < 0.01). The reliability between protocols was 0.92. The test-retest reliability of the OMES instrument was 0.99 and the correlation was 0.98. Reliability between examiners 1 and 2 using the OMES protocol was 0.99, and the correlation was 0.98 (P < 0.01). Conclusion: The OMES protocot proved to be a valid and reliable instrument for orofacial myofunctional evaluation, permitting the grading of orofacial myofunctional conditions within the limits of the selected items. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

High CO(2)/H(+) dialysis in the caudal ventrolateral medulla (Loeschcke`s area) increases ventilation in wakefulness

Central chemoreception, the detection of CO(2)/H(+) within the brain and the resultant effect on ventilation, was initially localized at two areas on the ventrolateral medulla, one rostral (rVLM-Mitchell`s) the other caudal (cVLM-Loeschcke`s), by surface application of acidic solutions in anesthetized animals. Focal dialysis of a high CO(2)/H(+) artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) that produced a milder local pH change in unanesthetized rats (like that with a similar to 6.6 mm Hg increase in arterial P(CO2)) delineated putative chemoreceptor regions for the rVLM at the retrotrapezoid nucleus and the rostral medullary raphe that function predominantly in wakefulness and sleep, respectively. Here we ask if chemoreception in the cVLM can be detected by mild focal stimulation and if it functions in a state dependent manner. At responsive sites just beneath Loeschcke`s area, ventilation was increased by, on average, 17% (P < 0.01) only in wakefulness. These data support our hypothesis that central chemoreception is a distributed property with some sites functioning in a state dependent manner. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cannibal rights: Intertextuality and postcolonial discourse in the Caribbean region

"The history of the Caribbean," says Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria in his book on Alejo Carpentier, "is one of beginnings or foundations" (252). The Caribbean, in thi'i sense, sets the scene for Latin American history. Caribbean writers' attempts to retrieve or, better, refashion their cultural origins prefigure the collective struggle of a New World continent to imagine itself into the future. Imagination clashes here with memory; for like many of their Latin American counterparts, Anglo-Caribbean writers are often torn between an almost involuntary desire to remember and an urgent need to reinvent. [Extract]