Chemical, enzymatic and cellular antioxidant activity studies of Agaricus blazei Murrill

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

Oral syphilis: report of three cases and characterization of the inflammatory cells

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infectious disease caused by Treponema pallidum. This study reports 3 cases of syphilis and highlights the importance of identifying oral lesions for its final diagnosis. Case 1: a 48-year-old male patient presented with a bleeding ulcer in the lower lip. Overall clinical examination revealed patchy alopecia and skin target lesions. Case 2: a 61-year-old male patient presented with white spots on the lateral tongue and nodules on the dorsum of the tongue. Overall clinical examination showed erythematous target lesions on the abdomen, forearm, palms of the hand, and soles of the feet. Case 3: a 17-year-old male patient presented with an ulcerated lesion on the tongue and lymph node involvement. The following serologic tests were requested: Venereal Disease Research Laboratory, fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorption, anti-HIV-1 and anti-HIV-2, and anti-hepatitis C virus. An incisional biopsy revealed epithelial hyperplasia associated with intense and diffuse mononuclear inflammatory cell infiltration consisting mainly of plasma cells, in a perivascular and perineural distribution. The final diagnosis in the 3 patients was syphilis. Treatment consisted of 1 weekly dose of penicillin (2.4 million units, intramuscular) for 2 or 3 weeks. Immunohistochemical reactions for XIIIa, CD3, CD20, CD68, CD163, S100, CD1a, CD11c, CD83, CD138, and CD208 were performed. Clinicians should be familiarized with oral syphilis lesions in order to be able to diagnose this emerging infectious disease of variable clinical presentation.

Uncaria tomentosa increases growth and immune activity in Oreochromis niloticus challenged with Streptococcus agalactiae

Cat's claw (Uncaria tomentosa) is an Amazon herb using in native cultures in Peru. In mammals, it has been described several effects of this herb. However, this is the first report of its use on the diet of fish. The aim of this study was to determinate the effect of this plant on the growth and immune activity in Oreochromis niloticus. Nile tilapia (81.3 ± 4.5 g) were distributed into 5 groups and supplemented with 0 (non-supplement fish), 75, 150, 300, and 450 mg of U. tomentosa.kg(-1) of diet for a period of 28 days. Fish were inoculated in the swim bladder with inactivated Streptococcus agalactiae and samples were taken at 6, 24, and 48 h post inoculation (HPI). Dose dependent increases were noted in some of the evaluated times of thrombocytes and white blood cells counts (WBC) in blood and exudate, burst respiratory activity, lysozyme activity, melanomacrophage centers count (MMCs), villi length, IgM by immunohistochemistry in splenic tissue, and unexpectedly on growth parameters. However, dietary supplementation of this herb did not affect red blood cells count (RBC), hemoglobin, and there were no observed histological lesions in gills, intestine, spleen, and liver. The current results demonstrate for the first time that U. tomentosa can stimulate fish immunity and improve growth performance in Nile tilapia.

Estudo morfológico, morfométrico e molecular de espécies do complexo Triatoma brasiliensis (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae)

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

Níveis de lisina em dietas para reprodutores de Rhamdia voulezi em tanques-rede

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Utilização de lama vermelha para oxidação eletrolítica assistida por plasma de liga de alumínio

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Efeito de scaffolds de nanofibras incorporados com antibióticos sobre biofilmes formados por bactérias presentes nos canais radiculares

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Efeito do soro de cães portadores de insuficiência renal sobre a apoptose e o metabolismo oxidativo dos polimorfonucleares

In recent years, uremic toxins have been widely investigated as an immunosuppressive factor for nephropathic patients. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that, as it was similarly observed in humans, the rate of apoptosis and superoxide production in polymorphonuclear leukocytes are changed in dogs treated with uremic serum. The superoxide production of polymorphonuclear leukocytes and apoptotic index of 10 healthy dogs incubated with autologous and homologous serum from healthy and uremic dogs was compared. Thus, there was an effect of partial inhibition of oxidative metabolism in uremia without correlation with the acceleration of polymorphonuclear leukocytes apoptosis in dogs.

Avaliação clínico-laboratorial e da expressão de metaloproteinases 2 e 9 de equinos com obstrução experimental do cólon menor

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Descrição de uma nova espécie de Rhodnius (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae) da Amazônia

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Sphenophorus levis Vaurie, 1978 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae): caracterização macroscópica e determinação de inseticida e época de aplicação para controle

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Pancreatic hemangioma manifesting as variceal gastroesophageal bleeding during pregnancy: case report

There are only 10 reported cases of pancreatic hemangiomas in adults, only one of them causing digestive bleeding. We present a case of variceal bleeding and portal hypertension caused by a pancreatic hemangioma. The patient had 19 year-old and was received at her 16th week of pregnancy. She had massive hematemesis, controlled after variceal band ligation. Her image exams revealed a cystic lesion of 164 cm³ in the pancreas tail and signs of portal hypertension. Two months after, the ultrassonographic exam documented the lesion growth, achieving 200 cm³ at that time. The patient was submitted to distal pancreatectomy, and the histopathological analysis revealed a pancreatic hemangioma of 11 x 9 x 8 cm. Therefore, we report the second case of digestive bleeding caused by a pancreatic hemangioma, which had a well documented growth during the pregnancy. Additionally, we review the previous reports of pancreatic hemangiomas and discuss the hypothesis of hormonal infl uence on the natural history of these tumors.

Hiperadrenocorticismo em cães: revisão

Hyperadrenocorticism is a relatively common endocrinopathy in dogs, which is associated to an excessive production or administration of cortisol. The most affected breeds are Poodles, Teckels, Boxers, Boston Terriers and Beagles. The clinical signs most commonly observed are polyuria, polydipsia, polyfagia, panting, distended abdomen, endocrine alopecia, muscular weakness and lethargy. Laboratorial abnormalities include stress leukogram, increase in alkaline phosphatase and alanine aminotransferase activities, hypercholesterolemia, lipemia, hyperglycemia and hyposthenuria. The preferred essay to evaluate adrenal gland function is the low-dose dexamethasone suppression test, whereas the most used treatments include mitotane and trilostane. The objective of this paper is to review hyperadrenocorticism in dogs, because this disease is relatively common in small animal clinics and has many long-term complications.

Vitamin A affects haematology, growth and immune response of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus, L.), but has no protective effect against bacterial challenge or cold-induced stress

Vitamin A (vitA) is an essential nutrient that acts as an endocrine regulator of several metabolic pathways, modulating normal growth and health status of animals. Although the importance of vitA for normal haematology and immune response is well documented for higher vertebrates, there is limited information on the physiological effects of vitA on fish. Therefore, we designed a 130-day feeding trial to evaluate the effect of vitA supplementation on growth, haematology, immune function and resistance to experimental infection with Aeromonas hydrophila and cold-induced stress. A group of 320 Nile tilapia fingerlings 7.49 ± 0.19 g weight (mean ± SD) were randomly stocked into 40 250 L-aquaria and fed practical diets containing graded levels of vitA (0, 0.06, 0.12, 0.24, 0.48, 0.96, 1.92, 3.84 mg retinol (ROH) kg−1 diet. Growth, haematology, plasma protein profile and immune response were significantly affected by vitA supplementation; however, no clear protective effect of vitA supplementation on disease and cold stress resistance were observed in this study. Clinical signs of vitA deficiency were: resting and abnormal swimming behaviour, exophthalmia, haemorrhages at the base of fins and on skin, serous fluids in abdominal cavity, neutropenia, reduction in red blood cell count, haematocrit and haemoglobin evolving to high mortality rates in a short period of time. A dietary level of vitA around 1.2 mg ROH kg−1 may be required to prevent gross deficiency signs and promote proper growth and health status of Nile tilapia. VitA does not seem to have a pronounced effect on leucocyte differentiation, but clearly plays an important role on maintaining normal erythropoiesis.

Avaliação ultrassonográfica abdominal modo-B em cães e gatos filhotes: revisão de literatura

In veterinary medicine, the same clinician usually follows an animal from birth to old age, whereas in human medicine different specialists are required. It is therefore essential that veterinarians know the normal imaging, biochemical, hematological and physical exam values for younglings, which differ significantly from those of adults of the same species. Abdominal radiographies of young animals are poorly defined due to differences in tissue constitution in relation to adults. These same factors, however, substantially improve sonographic images of the region. Nonetheless, the interpretation of B-mode sonographic findings in puppies is difficult due to the lack of information about the normal parameters in this phase of life. The objective of this study was to compile information about peculiarities of abdominal B-mode ultrasonography in puppies and kittens.