Exercise counteracts fatty liver disease in rats fed on fructose-rich diet

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

Influence of acute pancreatitis on the in vitro responsiveness of rat mesenteric and pulmonary arteries

Background: Acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease characterized by local tissue injury and systemic inflammatory response leading to massive nitric oxide (NO) production and haemodynamic disturbances. Therefore, the aim of this work was to evaluate the vascular reactivity of pulmonary and mesenteric artery rings from rats submitted to experimental pancreatitis.Male Wistar rats were divided into three groups: saline (SAL); tauracholate (TAU) and phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)). Pancreatitis was induced by administration of TAU or PLA(2) from Naja mocambique mocambique into the common bile duct of rats, and after 4 h of duct injection the animals were sacrificed. Concentration-response curves to acetylcholine (ACh), sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and phenylephrine (PHE) in isolated mesenteric and pulmonary arteries were obtained. Potency (pEC(50)) and maximal responses (E(MAX)) were determined. Blood samples were collected for biochemical analysis.Results: In mesenteric rings, the potency for ACh was significantly decreased from animals treated with TAU (about 4.2-fold) or PLA(2) (about 6.9-fold) compared to saline group without changes in the maximal responses. Neither pEC(50) nor E(MAX) values for Ach were altered in pulmonary rings in any group. Similarly, the pEC(50) and the E(MAX) values for SNP were not changed in both preparations in any group. The potency for PHE was significantly decreased in rat mesenteric and pulmonary rings from TAU group compared to SAL group (about 2.2- and 2.69-fold, for mesenteric and pulmonary rings, respectively). No changes were seen in the E(MAX) for PHE. The nitrite/nitrate (NO(x)(-)) levels were markedly increased in animals submitted to acute pancreatitis as compared to SAL group, approximately 76 and 68% in TAU and PLA(2) protocol, respectively.Conclusion: Acute pancreatitis provoked deleterious effects in endothelium-dependent relaxing response for ACh in mesenteric rings that were strongly associated with high plasma NO(x)(-) levels as consequence of intense inflammatory responses. Furthermore, the subsensitivity of contractile response to PHE in both mesenteric and pulmonary rings might be due to the complications of this pathological condition in the early stage of pancreatitis.

Influence of Imposed Optic Flow Characteristics and Intention on Postural Responses

This study examined the influence of both optic flow characteristics and intention on postural control responses. Two groups of 10 adults each were exposed to the room's movement either at 0.6 cm/s (low velocity group) or 1.0 cm/s (high velocity group). All the participants stood in the upright stance inside of a moving room and were informed about the room movement only after the fourth trial as they were asked to resist to its influence. Results revealed that participants from both groups were influenced by the imposed visual stimulus in the first trials, but the coupling strength was weaker for the high velocity group. The request to resist the visual influences decreased visual influences oil body sway, but only for the low velocity group. These results indicate that intention might play a role in stimulus influences on body sway but it is stimulus dependent.

Different exercise protocols improve metabolic syndrome markers, tissue triglycerides content and antioxidant status in rats

Background: An increase in the prevalence of obesity entails great expenditure for governments. Physical exercise is a powerful tool in the combat against obesity and obesity-associated diseases. This study sought to determine the effect of three different exercise protocols on metabolic syndrome and lipid peroxidation markers and the activity of antioxidant enzymes in adult Wistar rats (120 days old).Methods: Animals were randomly divided into four groups: the control (C) group was kept sedentary throughout the study; the aerobic group (A) swam1 h per day, 5 days per week, at 80% lactate threshold intensity; the strength group (S) performed strength training with four series of 10 jumps, 5 days per week; and the Concurrent group (AS) was trained using the aerobic protocol three days per week and the strength protocol two days per week.Results: Groups A and S exhibited a reduction in body weight compared to group C. All exercised animals showed a reduction in triglyceride concentrations in fatty tissues and the liver. Exercised animals also exhibited a reduction in lipid peroxidation markers (TBARS) and an increase in serum superoxide dismutase activity. Animals in group A had increased levels of liver catalase and superoxide dismutase activities.Conclusions: We concluded that all physical activity protocols improved the antioxidant systems of the animals and decreased the storage of triglycerides in the investigated tissues.

Muscle protein metabolism in neonatal alloxan-administered rats: effects of continuous and intermittent swimming training

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

O Efeito de diferentes intervalos de recuperação entre as séries de treinamento com pesos, na força muscular em mulheres idosas treinadas

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

Effects of physical training with different intensities of effort on lipid metabolism in rats submitted to the neonatal application of alloxan

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

The contribution of air breathing to aerobic scope and exercise performance in the banded knifefish Gymnotus carapo L.

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

Pigmentation in Anuran Testes: Anatomical Pattern and Variation

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

Design of a reconfigurable pseudorandom number generator for use in intelligent systems

This paper deals with the design of a network-on-chip reconfigurable pseudorandom number generation unit that can map and execute meta-heuristic algorithms in hardware. The unit can be configured to implement one of the following five linear generator algorithms: a multiplicative congruential, a mixed congruential, a standard multiple recursive, a mixed multiple recursive, and a multiply-with-carry. The generation unit can be used both as a pseudorandom and a message passing-based server, which is able to produce pseudorandom numbers on demand, sending them to the network-on-chip blocks that originate the service request. The generator architecture has been mapped to a field programmable gate array, and showed that millions of numbers in 32-, 64-, 96-, or 128-bit formats can be produced in tens of milliseconds. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Refolding and purification of bothropstoxin-1, a Lys49 - Phospholipase A(2) homologue, expressed as inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli

Hydrolysis of phospholipids by Group II phospholipase A(2) enzymes involves a nucleophilic attack on the sn-2 ester bond by the His48 residue and stabilization of the reaction intermediate by a Ca2+ ion cofactor bound to the Asp49 residue in the protein active site region, Bothropstoxin-I (BthTX-I) is a PLA, variant present in the venom of the snake Bothrops jararacussu which shows a Asp49 to Lys substitution and which lacks hydrolytic activity yet damages artificial membranes by a noncatalytic Ca2+-independent mechanism. In order to better characterize this unusual mechanism of membrane damage, we have established an expression system for BthTX-I in Escherichia coli. The DNA-coding sequence for BthTX-I was subcloned into the vector pET11-d, and the BthTX-I was expressed as inclusion bodies in E, coli BL21(DE3). The native BthTX-I contains seven disulfide bonds, and a straightforward protocol has been developed to refold the recombinant protein at high protein concentration in the presence of surfactants using a size-exclusion chromatography matrix. After refolding, recovery yields of 2.5% (corresponding to 4-5 mg of refolded recombinant BthTX-I per liter of bacterial culture) were routinely obtained. After refolding, identical fluorescent and circular dichroism spectra were obtained for the recombinant BthTX-I compared to those of the native protein. Furthermore, the native and refolded recombinant protein demonstrated identical membrane-damaging properties as evaluated by measuring the release of an entrapped fluorescent marker from liposomes, (C) 2001 Academic Press.

Tertiary structural changes of the alpha-hemolysin from Staphylococcus aureus on association with liposome membranes

The interaction of alpha-hemolysin (also called alpha-toxin) from Staphylococcus aureus with mixed egg-yolk phosphatidylcholine/cholesterol liposomes has been investigated using the intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence emission (ITFE) signal. The ITFE intensity of alpha-hemolysin, which was obtained using a novel purification protocol, showed a triphasic increase on incubation with liposomes at low protein/lipid ratios. The first, rapid phase results in an increase in ITFE of 10%, which reflects rapid conformation changes in the alpha-hemolysin on association with the liposome membrane, the second phase of the ITFE increase is associated with a red shift from 334 to 339 nm in the maximum emission wavelength, suggesting the transition to a partially unfolded intermediate in the oligomerization process. The third phase of the ITFE intensity change demonstrates a temporal correlation with the appearance of SDS-stable oligomers. The results demonstrate the feasibility of identification of intermediate protein conformations in complex membrane-associated processes by manipulation of the liposomal membrane composition. (C) 1998 Academic Press.

Interaction between Pluronic F127 and Dioctadecyldimethylammonium Bromide (DODAB) Vesicles Studied by Differential Scanning Calorimetry

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

Protein-Ion Binding Process on Finite Macromolecular Concentration. A Poisson-Boltzmann and Monte Carlo Study

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Clinicopathological analysis of oral mucous autoimmune disease: A 27-year study

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to analyze the main clinical and histopathological features of autoimmune diseases with oral manifestations such as oral lichen planus (OLP); mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP); pemphigus vulgaris (PV) and erythema multiforme (EM). Study design: Retrospective review of 5770 files from the Oral Pathology Laboratory of Sao Jose dos Campos Dental School, São Paulo State University (UNESP) comprising a 27- year period from 1974 to 2000.Results: The cases accounted for 64 (1.10%) of 5770 anatomopathological examinations performed over the study period. Among the autoimmune diseases diagnosed, 49 (76.56%) were OLP, 6 (9.37%) were MMP, 5 (7.82%) were em and 4 (6.25%) were PV. Descriptive statistical analysis was used.Conclusion: The initial manifestations of most autoimmune diseases occur in the oral mucosa. An earlier diagnosis and proper therapeutic protocol will delay the dissemination of the lesions, thus greatly contributing to a better prognosis and quality of life of the patient.