GENOTOXICITY AND CYTOTOXICITY OF X-RAYS IN CHILDREN EXPOSED TO PANORAMIC RADIOGRAPHY.

Objective: To assess the genotoxicity and cytotoxicity produced by X-rays in the epithelium of the oral mucosa of infants exposed to panoramic radiography.

Methods: The sample consisted of 30 healthy children, 19 females and 11 males, ranging in age from 4 to 10 years (average of 7 years of age). Oral mucosa cells were collected by liquid-based cytology immediately before and after seven days following the exposure to panoramic radiography.

Von Willebrand Disease Lab Diagnosis.

Unlabelled: The hemorrhagic diseases are characterized by bleeding which can vary considerably according to their severity. The von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most frequent hereditary hemorrhagic disease and the prevalence of clinically significant disease is probably closer to 1:1000, being an extremely heterogeneous and complex disorder that is related to the deficiency in concentration, structure or function of von Willebrand factor (VWF). The VWD is divided into type 1, with partial deficiency of the VWF, type 2, with qualitative defects in the molecule with four subdivisions, and type 3, with very low or undetectable levels of plasma and platelet VWF and ristocetin cofactor activity.

N-acetylcysteine as a potential strategy to attenuate the oxidative stress induced by uremic serum in the vascular system.

Aims: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression is accompanied by systemic oxidative stress, which contributes to an increase in the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is among the most studied antioxidants, but its therapeutic benefits in CKD-associated CVDs remain controversial. Here, we investigated whether NAC could inhibit the oxidative stress induced by uremia in vitro and in vivo.

Rural-urban focus of canine visceral leishmaniosis in the far western region of Santa Catarina State, Brazil.

The aim of this work was to investigate the occurrence of canine visceral leishmaniosis (CVL) in the far western region of Santa Catarina State, bordering Argentina and Parana State, southern Brazil, where in recent years, VL has been recorded in both dogs and humans. Clinical signs, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), indirect immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were used for Leishmania investigation. Among the 252 dogs surveyed, 41 were positive by ELISA assay, 43 in IFAT (titer>40), and 55 by PCR.

Protective effect of flavonoids against reactive oxygen species production in sickle cell anemia patients treated with hydroxyurea.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effects of quercetin, rutin, hesperidin and myricetin against reactive oxygen species production with the oxidizing action of tert-butylhydroperoxide in erythrocytes from normal subjects and sickle cell anemia carriers treated with hydroxyurea.

Methods: Detection of intracellular reactive oxygen species was carried out using a liposoluble probe, 2',7'-dichlorfluorescein-diacetate (DCFH-DA). A 10% erythrocyte suspension was incubated with flavonoids (quercetin, rutin, hesperidin or myricetin; 30, 50, and 100 µmol/L), and then incubated with tert-butylhydroperoxide (75 µmol/L).

Reference values for methemoglobin concentrations in children.

Objective: The aim of this work was to establish reference values for methemoglobin levels in 6 to 10-year-old children.

Methods: Methemoglobin concentrations were studied in clinically healthy children. The method for methemoglobin measurement used, neither uses highly toxic chemical compounds nor expensive enzymatic methods, thus it is feasible in the laboratory routine.

Toxoplasma gondii in goats from Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil: risks factors and epidemiology.

Toxoplasmosis is a zoonosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii, a protozoan with wide geographical distribution and minimal parasitic specificity that affects many species of wild and domestic animals. In livestock, especially in small ruminants like goats, toxoplasmosis can cause abortion and the birth of weak animals, leading to economic losses to farmers, and is a major source of human infection. This is a seroepidemiological study of toxoplasmosis in goats in the state of Paraná, Brazil.

Characterization of virulence genes cagA and vacA in Helicobacter Pylori and their prevalence in gastrointestinal disorders.

Prevalence of H. pylori infection was determined using cultures of gastric biopsy samples of patients attended at the academic hospital of the Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. Molecular methods were used to characterize the cagA and vacA genes from bacterial isolates associated with different diseases presented by patients.

Manual and automated reticulocyte counts.

Manual reticulocyte counts were examined under light microscopy, using the property whereby supravital stain precipitates residual ribosomal RNA versus the automated flow methods, with the suggestion that in the latter there is greater precision and an ability to determine both mature and immature reticulocyte fractions. Three hundred and forty-one venous blood samples of patients were analyzed of whom 224 newborn and the rest adults; 51 males and 66 females, with ages between 0 and 89 years, as part of the laboratory routine for hematological examinations at the Clinical Laboratory of the Hospital Universitário do Oeste do Paraná. This work aimed to compare manual and automated methodologies for reticulocyte countings and evaluate random and systematic errors.

[Real-time infrared thermography as an evaluation method of spleen viability in partial splenectomy in pigs].

Objective: To determine if infrared thermography is capable of precisely detecting loss of tissue perfusion in the spleen during a partial splenectomy.

Methods: Five Landrace pigs, weighing between 12 and 15 kg, after intramuscular pre-anesthetic medication and intravascular infusion anesthesia, were submitted to four sequential vascular interruption steps of the arterial vessels to the lower splenic pole: 1-vessels of splenic ligament; 2-splenic artery branch to the lower pole; 3-arterial branch to the lower pole on the organ visceral surface; 4-splenic parenchyma, splitting the organ. The images were captured by a Therma CAM SC500 camera 50 centimeters from the organ surface.

Effect of vitamin C, deferoxamine, quercetin and rutin against tert-butyl hydroperoxide oxidative damage in human erythrocytes.

The mature human erythrocyte, when submitted to oxidative stress, can demonstrate depletion of reduced glutathione, oxidation of the hemoglobin molecule and aggregation of complexes of iron close to the membrane. These can produce abnormalities in the erythrocyte membrane and hemolysis. The aim of this work was to study the antioxidative action of vitamin C (vit.

Oxidative process in erythrocytes of individuals with hemoglobin S.

The understanding of the oxidative stress mechanisms helps to explain many of the processes of cellular lesion and death, especially those related to the hemolytic diseases. Sickle cell anemia, thalassemias and G6-PD deficiency are among the more frequent genetic anomalies accompanied by oxidative stress. In the sickle cells, one of the factors that predisposes to the hemolytic process is the oxidative degradation of the hemoglobin S due to its deoxigenation leading to hemichrome formation and precipitation as Heinz bodies.

Effect of vitamins C and E on oxidative processes in human erythrocytes.

The oxidative action of 1 mmol l(-1) phenylhydrazine hydrochloride (PH) was studied on human erythrocytes treated with the antioxidants vitamin C (vit. C) and vitamin E (vit. E).