Sibutramine Effects on the Reproductive Performance of Pregnant Overweight and Non-Overweight rats

It is well established that sibutramine produces weight loss and is used frequently in women of childbearing age. However, the potential adverse consequences attributed to sibutramine use by women who may become pregnant is not known. It was thus of interest to determine the effects of sibutramine on the reproductive performance of pregnant rats. Overweight as well as non-overweight female Wistar rats were treated with sibutramine (6 mg/kg) orally, daily for 15 d and then mated with normal male rats. Pregnancy was confirmed and treatment continued with sibutramine until d 14 of pregnancy. on d 20 of pregnancy all rats were anesthetized for determination of various maternal and fetal parameters. There was a significant maternal weight reduction at the end of pregnancy in the non-overweight drug-treated group compared to the control (non-overweight, no drug). Sibutramine alone and overweight condition alone produced a significant increase in postimplantation loss and placental index. In the overweight with or without sibutramine groups a significant decrease in fetal weight was noted. Data suggest that sibutramine alone or the condition of excess weight in the absence of drugs produced impaired reproductive performance. However, treatment of overweight rats with sibutramine did not further exacerbate fetal loss compared to sibutramine alone or the effects noted with excess weight alone.

Recovery of rat growth and lipid profiles in adult rats subjected to fetal protein malnutrition with a fructose-rich diet

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

PRESSER MECHANISMS IN ADRIAMYCIN-INDUCED NEPHROPATHY WITH HYPERTENSION IN RATS

We explored the role of angiotensin II and vasopressin in the maintenance of blood pressure during the nephrotic syndrome of adriamycin-induced nephropathy in rats. All 91 rats treated with adriamycin developed chronic renal failure with nephrotic syndrome, which was more pronounced in the normotensive rats than the 35% who became hypertensive. Angiotensin II blockade with DuP 753 produced a significantly greater hypotensive response in both the adriamycin-hypertensive (-16+/-3 mmHg) and adriamycin-normotensive (-14+/-5 mmHg) groups than the saline-treated controls (-5+/-1 mm Hg, P<.05). Vasopressin blockade with either a V1V2 inhibitor or a selective V-1 inhibitor produced a hypotensive response in adriamycin-hypertensive rats only (by -16+/-4 and -17+/-2 mm Hg, respectively, P<.01), although the nonselective vasopressin inhibitor produced similar fluid loss and body weight reduction in all three groups. The data suggest that in adriamycin-induced nephropathy with nephrotic syndrome, angiotensin II contributes to blood pressure maintenance in both hypertensive and normotensive animals, whereas the presser action of vasopressin contributes to elevated blood pressure in hypertensive animals only.

Redução de sementes do tangor 'Murcote' com a aplicação de biorreguladores durante o florescimento

The present experiment was conducted in a commercial tangor 'Murcote' citrus grove in Pratania, São Paulo State, Brazil and had the objective to evaluate the effects of, 2,4-D (auxin), NAA (auxin), GA(3) (gibberellin) and BA (cytokinin), on the reduction of seed number, without modifications on citrus fruit quality. The treatments sprayed were as follow: control (water); 10 and 20 mg.L-1 of 2,4-D; 100, 150 and 200 mg.L-1 of NAA; 100 and 200 mg.L-1 of GA(3) ; 20 and 40 mg.L-1 of BA. The results showed that none of plant growth regulators influenced fruit quality, without weight reduction, diameter or (0)Brix. In relation to seed number, none of the plant growth regulators were effective on reduction of seed number, however the reduced of viable seed number and total seed number of fruits, specially with the treatment of 100 and 200 mg.L-1 of NAA and 100 mg.L-1 of GA(3), that showed a reduction of 30% of total seed of tangor murcott fruits.

Evaluation of hygrothermal effects on the shear properties of Carall composites

Fiber metal laminates are the frontline materials for aeronautical and space structures. These composites consists of layers of 2024-T3-aluminum alloy and composite prepreg layers. When the composite layer is a carbon fiber prepreg, the fiber metal laminate, named Carall, offers significant improvements over current available materials for aircraft structures. While weight reduction and improved damage tolerance characteristics were the prime drivers to develop this new family of materials, it turns out that they have additional benefits, which become more and more important for today's designers, such as cost reduction and improved safety. The degradation of composites is due to environmental effects mainly on the chemical and/or physical properties of the polymer matrix leading to loss of adhesion of fiber/resin interface. Also, the reduction of fiber strength and stiffness are expected due to environmental degradation. Changes in interface/interphase properties leads to more pronounced changes in shear properties than any other mechanical properties. In this work, the influence of moisture in shear properties of carbon fiber/epoxy composites and Carall have been investigated by using interlaminar shear (ILSS) and Iosipescu tests. It was observed that hygrothermal conditioning reduces the Iosipescu shear strength of CF/E and Carall composites due to the moisture absorption in these materials. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of electrolytic lesion of the median raphe nucleus on behavioral and physiological measures of stress.

The effect of electrolytic lesion of the median raphe nucleus was measured on behavioral and physiological parameters related to stress 24 h after the lesion. In of the elevated plus-maze the lesion decreased the percentage of open arm entries and tended to shorten the time spent on the open arms indicating an increase in anxiety. In contrast, the lesion markedly increased the time spent in the bright (aversive) compartment of the light-dark box and decrease in attempts to cross from the dark toward the bright compartment, an anxiolyic effect. With the exception of plasma prolactin level, which was lowered by the lesion, the physiological measures used in the present study indicate that the lesioned animals are under stress. Thus, death rate and weight loss after the surgery were higher in lesioned than in control animals. In addition, lesioned animals showed higher plasma corticosterone levels, a high incidence of gastric ulcers in the fundus and a depressed immune response to the mitogen concavaline A. These results highlight the importance of the median raphe nucleus in the regulation of stress and anxiety. They also show that behavioral and physiological measures of stress may be dissociated.

The monosodium glutamate (MSG) obese rat as a model for the study of exercise in obesity

Obesity is an increasing problem in several countries, leading to health problems. Physical exercise, in turn, can be used effectively by itself or in combination with dietary restriction to trigger weight loss. The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of aerobic exercise training on lipid profile of obese male Wistar rats in order to verify if this model may be of value for the study of exercise in obesity. Obesity was induced by MSG administration (4mg/g, each other day, from birth to 14 days old) After 14 from drug administration, the rats were separated into two groups: MSG-S (sedentary) and MSG-T (exercise trained). Exercise training consisted in 1h/day, 5 days/week, with an overload of 5% bw, for 10 weeks. Rats of the same age and strain, receiving saline at birth, were used as control (C), and subdivided into two groups: C-S and C-T. At the end of the experimental period, MSG-T and C-T rats showed similar blood lactate and muscle glycogen responses to exercise training and acute exercise. MSG-S rats showed significantly higher carcass fat, serum triacylglycerol, serum insulin and liver total fat than C-S rats. On the other hand, MSG-T rats had lower carcass fat, serum triacylglycerol and liver total fat than MSG-S rats. There were no statistical differences in food intake and serum free fatty acids among the groups studied. These data indicate that this model may be of value for the study of exercise effects on tissue and circulating lipid profile in obesity.

Neuroendocrine alterations impair enamel mineralization, tooth eruption and saliva in rats.

Neonatal administration of monosodium glutamate (MSG) in rats causes definite neuroendocrine disturbances which lead to alterations in many organ systems. The possibility that MSG could affect tooth and salivary gland physiology was examined in this paper. Male and female pups were injected subcutaneously with MSG (4 mg/g BW) once a day at the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th day after birth. Control animals were injected with saline, following the same schedule. Lower incisor eruption was determined between the 4th and the 10th postnatal days, and the eruption rate was measured between the 43rd and the 67th days of age. Pilocarpine-stimulated salivary flow was measured at 3 months of age; protein and amylase contents were thereby determined. The animals treated with MSG showed significant reductions in the salivary flow (males, -27%; females, -40%) and in the weight of submandibular glands (about -12%). Body weight reduction was only about 7% for males, and did not vary in females. Saliva of MSG-treated rats had increased concentrations of total proteins and amylase activity. The eruption of lower incisors occurred earlier in MSG-treated rats than in the control group, but on the other hand the eruption rate was significantly slowed down. The incisor microhardness was found to be lower than that of control rats. Our results show that neonatal MSG treatment causes well-defined oral disturbances in adulthood in rats, including salivary flow reduction, which coexisted with unaltered protein synthesis, and disturbances of dental mineralization and eruption. These data support the view that some MSG-sensitive hypothalamic nuclei have an important modulatory effect on the factors which determine caries susceptibility.

Exercício contínuo e intermitente: Efeitos do treinamento e do destreinamento sobre a gordura corporal de ratos obesos

Exercise training is often recommended in prevention and treatment of obesity. The present study was designed to compare the effects of intermittent and continuous exercise on weight loss and carcass composition in obese rats. Obese male Wistar rats (monosodium glutamate [MSG] administration, 4 mg/g of body weight every other day from birth to 14 days old) were used. After drug administration, the rats were separated into three groups: MSG-SED (sedentary), MSG-CONT (continuous, swimming, 45 min/day, 5 days/week, with and overload of 5% body weight for 12 weeks) and MSG-INT (intermittent, 15s swimming intermitted by 15s rest, during 45 min, 5 days/week, with and overload of 15% body weight for 12 weeks). Rats of the same age and strain, administered with saline were used as control (SAL), and subdivided into three groups: SAL-SED, SAL-CONT and SAL-INT. The animals were evaluated at the 10 weeks of training and 8 weeks of its interruption. MSG rats showed higher carcass fat as well as weight and cell size in epididymal adipose tissue than SAL rats, indicting the efficacy of the drug in producing obesity. Intermittent training protocol led to a reduction in blood lactate accumulation during acute exercise and both protocols reduced body weight gain during the experiment in MSG rats. After 8 weeks of training interruption no differences were observed among groups in the examined parameters. Only intermittent exercise training improved aerobic fitness but both protocols were similarly efficient in determining weight loss. However, the effects were transitory, since they disappeared after detraining.

Morphometric and quantitative evaluation of the NADH-diaphorase positive myenteric neurons of the jejunum of streptozotocin-diabetic rats supplemented with acetyl-L-carnitine

In this study we investigated the effect of the acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) supplementation on the myenteric neurons of the jejunum of rats made diabetic at the age of 105 days by streptozotocin (35 mg/kg body weight). Four groups were used: non-diabetic (C), non-diabetic supplemented with ALC (CC), diabetic (D), diabetic supplemented with ALC (DC). After 15 weeks of diabetes induction the blood was collected by cardiac puncture to evaluate glycaemia and glycated haemoglobin. Next the animals were killed and the jejunum was collected and subjected to whole-mount preparation to evidence the myenteric neurons through the histochemical technique of the NADH-diaphorase. The neuronal counts were made in 80 microscopic fields, in tissue samples of five animals of each group. The profiles of the cell bodies of 1000 neurons per group were analysed. Diabetes induced a significant increase in the area of the cell body and decrease in the number of NADH-diaphorase positive myoenteric neurons. ALC suplementation to the diabetic group promoted smaller hypertrophic effects and less neuronal loss than in the myoenteric neurons of the diabetic rats, and in addition diminished the body weight decrease and reduced the fasting glycaemia. © 2005 Blackwell Verlag.

A review on the development and properties of continuous fiber/epoxy/aluminum hybrid composites for aircraft structures

Weight reduction and improved damage tolerance characteristics were the prime drivers to develop new family of materials for the aerospace/ aeronautical industry. Aiming this objective, a new lightweight Fiber/ Metal Laminate (FML) has been developed. The combination of metal and polymer composite laminates can create a synergistic effect on many properties. The mechanical properties of FML shows improvements over the properties of both aluminum alloys and composite materials individually. Due to their excellent properties, FML are being used as fuselage skin structures of the next generation commercial aircrafts. One of the advantages of FML when compared with conventional carbon fiber/epoxy composites is the low moisture absorption. The moisture absorption in FML composites is slower when compared with polymer composites, even under the relatively harsh conditions, due to the barrier of the aluminum outer layers. Due to this favorable atmosphere, recently big companies such as EMBRAER, Aerospatiale, Boing, Airbus, and so one, starting to work with this kind of materials as an alternative to save money and to guarantee the security of their aircrafts.

Doxazosin reduces cell proliferation and increases collagen fibers in rat prostatic lobes

We investigated the effects of doxazosin (Dox), an alpha-adrenoceptor antagonist used clinically for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), on the rat prostatic complex by assessing structural parameters, collagen fiber content, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. Adult Wistar rats were treated with Dox (25 mg/kg per day), and the ventral (VP), dorsolateral, and anterior prostate (AP) regions of the prostate complex were excised at 3, 7, and 30 days after treatment. At 24 h before being killed, the rats were injected once with 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU; thymidine analog) to label mitotically active cells. The prostates were weighed and processed for histochemistry, morphometry-stereology, immunohistochemistry for BrdU, Western blotting for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and the TUNEL reaction for apoptosis. Dox-treated prostate lobes at day 3 presented increased weight, an enlarged ductal lumen, low cubical epithelial cells, reduced epithelial folds, and stretched smooth muscle cells. However, at day 30, the prostates exhibited a weight reduction of ∼20% and an increased area of collagen and reticular fibers in the stromal space. Dox also reduced epithelial cell proliferation and increased apoptosis in the three prostatic lobes. Western blotting for PCNA confirmed the reduction of cell proliferation by Dox, with the AP and VP being more affected than the dorsal prostate. Thus, Dox treatment alters epithelial cell behavior and prostatic tissue mechanical demand, inducing tissue remodeling in which collagen fibers assume a major role. © 2007 Springer-Verlag.

Evolução da perda de peso entre indivíduos da fila de espera para a cirurgia bariátrica em um ambulatório multidisciplinar de atenção secundária à saúde

Objective: The objective of this study is to characterize the assistance and analyze patient's adherence to nutritional follow-up while in the waiting line for bariatric surgery in a multidisciplinary, secondary healthcare outpatient clinic. Methods: This retrospective study was based on the nutritional records of 59 patients subjected to bariatric surgery at the Hospital das Clinics de Botucatu, from 2001 to 2008. The population studied was distributed into 8 groups and analyzed according to follow-up duration. The analysis took into account the evolution of body weight and the number of follow-up visits in a given period. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare data between groups while Spearman's coefficient was used to test correlations. Results: Among the 59 studied patients, 42 (71.2%) returned to the clinic at least once in six months. Of these, 67.8% lost weight while in the waiting line and 27.1% of them lost more than 10% of their body weight. The greatest weight losses in the preoperative period were found in the groups that had more than six months of nutrition follow-up. There was a mean delay of three months between return visits, which could have contributed to the low adherence to follow-up. Conclusion: The patients in the waiting line for surgery analyzed in this study presented low adherence to the long-spaced return visits. The greatest weight losses were observed in groups that had been followed for more than six months. This shows that, to achieve the desired weight loss and an adequate education process before surgery, at least six months of follow-up and regular visits are necessary.

Modelo experimental de úlcera traumática em mucosa jugal de ratos

Purpose: To establish an experimental model of traumatic ulcer in rat cheek mucosa for utilization in future alternative therapy studies. Methods: A total of 60 adult male rats (250 - 300g) were used. Ulceration of the left cheek mucosa was provoked by abrasion using a n o 15 scalpel blade. The animals were observed for 10 days, during which they were weighed and their ulcers were measured. The histological characteristics were analyzed and scored according to the ulcer phase. In the statistical analysis, a value of p<0.01 was considered a statistically significant response in all cases. Results: During the five first days, the animals lost weight (Student t test, p<0.01). The ulcerated area receded linearly over time and was almost completely cicatrized after 10 days (ANOVA, Tendency post-test, p<0.0001). Groups on days 1, 2 and 3 days displayed similar results, but a decrease in scores were observed after the 4th day. Conclusion: The proposed cheek mucosa ulcer model in rats can be considered an efficient, low-cost, reliable, and reproducible method.

Insulina pancreática de ratos diabéticos tipo 1 submetidos a um protocolo de treinamento físico individualizado

Since diabetes mellitus is considered a world public health problem, the present study aimed to evaluate oral glucose tolerance (TTGo) and pancreatic insulin concentration (PIC) of type I diabetic rats subjected to an individualized exercise training protocol. A total of 40 adult Wistar rats were used, half of which induced to diabetes by alloxan (32 mg/kg) endovenous injection, and divided into four groups (10 per group): Sedentary Control (SC), Trained Control (TC), Sedentary Diabetic (SD) and Trained Diabetic (TD). The physical training consisted of swimming, 1 h/day, 5 days/week during 8 weeks, supporting overload equivalent to 90% of the individual anaerobic/aerobic metabolic transition determined at the beginning of the experiment. The rats of SD and TD groups presented body weight reduction in relation to controls, which was less accentuated in TD group. Water and food ingestion increased in the diabetic groups in relation to controls. The areas under the serum glucose curve during the GTTo of diabetic groups were higher than the controls. Physical training attenuated this elevation. The diabetic groups showed reduced PIC when compared to both control groups. The physical training protocol employed improved glucose homeostasis and attenuated the body weight loss of diabetic animals but did not alter pancreatic insulin concentration. © FTCD/FIP-MOC.