Gum arabic reduces inflammation, oxidative, and nitrosative stress in the gastrointestinal tract of mice with chronic kidney disease.

The aim of this study was to investigate some biochemical indices of inflammation and oxidative and nitrosative stresses in the gastrointestinal tract of mice with experimental chronic kidney disease (CKD) and treated with gum arabic (GA). Male CD1 mice (n = 28) were randomly distributed into four groups and treated for four consecutive weeks: group 1: Control: received the same diet without treatment until the end of the study; group 2: Adenine: switched to a powder diet containing adenine (0.2% w/w in feed); group 3: Gum acacia (GA): given normal feed and GA in drinking water at a concentration of 15% w/v; and group 4: Adenine + GA: given adenine in the feed as in the second group plus GA in the drinking water at concentration of 15% w/v.

Extensive genetic diversity of Plasmodium vivax dbp-II in Rio de Janeiro Atlantic Forest and Brazilian Amazon Basin: evidence of positive selection.

Background: Plasmodium vivax is the most widespread human malaria parasite outside Africa and is the predominant parasite in the Americas. Increasing reports of P. vivax disease severity, together with the emergence of drug-resistant strains, underscore the urgency of the development of vaccines against P.

In vivo and in vitro analysis of cytogenotoxicity in populations living in abnormal conditions from Santos-Sao Vicente estuary.

The aim of the study was to evaluate cyto- and genotoxic effects in populations living in subnormal clusters in Santos São Vicente estuary. For in vivo study, samples of buccal mucosa and peripheral blood cells were collected. Micronucleus assay and single-cell gel (comet) assay were performed.

Therapeutical properties of Mimosa caesalpiniifolia in rat liver intoxicated with cadmium.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic properties of Mimosa caesalpiniifolia in liver of rats exposed to cadmium under morphological, oxidative, inflammatory, and mutagenic parameters. A total of 40 Wistar rats (90 days, ~ 250 g) were distributed into eight groups (n = 5) as follows: (i) control; (ii) cadmium: cadmium chloride injection at 1.2 mg/kg; (iii) Mimosa extract: treatment with Mimosa extract at 250 mg/kg; (iv) Mimosa fraction: treatment with Mimosa acetate fraction at 62.

The protective effect of grape skin or purple carrot extracts against cadmium intoxication in kidney of rats.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effect of grape skin or purple carrot extracts against cadmium-induced intoxication in rats' kidneys. For this purpose, 30 male Wistar rats were distributed into six groups (n = 5), as follows: control group; cadmium group and groups treated with grape skin at 175 or 350 mg / L doses; or purple carrot extract at 400 mg / L or 800 mg / L doses, by drinking water. In the group exposed to cadmium, histopathological analysis revealed severe tissue injury as a result of coagulation necrosis, congested vessels and inflammatory infiltrate.

Inhibitory effects of dabigatran etexilate, a direct thrombin inhibitor, on osteoclasts and osteoblasts.

Introduction: Anticoagulants are widely used in orthopedic surgery to decrease the risk of deep vein thrombosis. While significant bone impairment is induced by long-term heparin therapy, little is known about the effects of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs). Herein, we investigated the effects of dabigatran etexilate (Pradaxa®), a DOAC inhibitor of thrombin, on bone cells using in vitro and ex vivo cell culture models.

Low concentrations of sodium arsenite induce hepatotoxicity in prepubertal male rats.

Arsenic (As) can contaminate air, soil, water, and organisms through mobilization of natural mineralogical deposits or anthropogenic actions. Inorganic-As compounds are more toxic and widely available in aquatic environments, including drinking water reservoir catchments. Since little is known about its effects on prepubertal mammals, the present study focused on it.

Howler monkeys are the reservoir of malarial parasites causing zoonotic infections in the Atlantic forest of Rio de Janeiro.

Background: Although malaria cases have substantially decreased in Southeast Brazil, a significant increase in the number of Plasmodium vivax-like autochthonous human cases has been reported in remote areas of the Atlantic Forest in the past few decades in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) state, including an outbreak during 2015-2016. The singular clinical and epidemiological aspects in several human cases, and collectively with molecular and genetic data, revealed that they were due to the non-human primate (NHP) parasite Plasmodium simium; however, the understanding of the autochthonous malarial epidemiology in Southeast Brazil can only be acquired by assessing the circulation of NHP Plasmodium in the foci and determining its hosts.

Methodology: A large sampling effort was carried out in the Atlantic forest of RJ and its bordering states (Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Espírito Santo) for collecting and examining free-living NHPs.

Polyphenol rich fruit attenuates genomic instability, modulates inflammation and cell cycle progression of offspring from fatty acid intake maternal.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of juçara (Euterpe edulis Mart.) supplementation on the maternal trans fatty acids intake in the livers of 21-day-old offspring. In order for this to happen, histopathological analysis, cytogenetic status, inflammation (COX-2 and TNF-alpha) and cell cycle progression were investigated in this setting.

Author Correction: An assay for the identification of Plasmodium simium infection for diagnosis of zoonotic malaria in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Non-genetic factors and polymorphisms in genes CYP2C9 and VKORC1: predictive algorithms for TTR in Brazilian patients on warfarin.

Purpose: This study was designed to evaluate the association of non-genetic factors and polymorphisms CYP2C9*2 (rs1799853), CYP2C9*3 (rs1075910), and VKORC1-G1639A (rs9923231) with time in therapeutic range (TTR), and to build a regression model to predict the quality of oral anticoagulation control in a sample of Brazilian patients.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study developed at an anticoagulation clinic of a university hospital. Overall, 312 patients were included.

Paradoxical sleep deprivation induces differential biological response in rat masticatory muscles: Inflammation, autophagy and myogenesis.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether sleep deprivation (SD) induces inflammation, autophagy and myogenesis in the following masticatory muscles: masseter and temporal.

Methods: In this study, 18 animals were randomly distributed into three groups: control group (CTL, n = 6), SD for 96 hours (SD96, n = 6), and SD for 96 hours and more 96 hours of sleep recovery (SD96 + R, n = 6).

Results: In the histopathological analysis, SD 96 was able to induce inflammation in masseter and temporal.

Novel Quinolinyl-pyrrolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine-2,5-dione Derivatives Against Chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum.

Introduction: In this work DHPMs were combined with the quinoline nucleus to obtain new quinolinyl-pyrrolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine-2,5-dione compounds with improved antiplasmodial activity as well as decreased cytotoxicity. Nineteen quinolinyl-pyrrolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine-2,5-dione derivatives connected by a linker group to quinolone ring moieties with different substituents were synthesized and assayed against P. falciparum.

Antibody Responses Against TRAP Recombinant and Synthetic Antigens in Naturally Exposed Individuals From the Brazilian Amazon.

Thrombospondin-related adhesive protein (TRAP) is essential for sporozoite motility and the invasion of mosquitoes' salivary gland and vertebrate's hepatocyte and is, thus, considered a promising pre-erythrocytic vaccine candidate. Despite the existence of a few reports on naturally acquired immune response against TRAP (PvTRAP), it has never been explored so far in the Amazon region, so results are conflicting. Here, we characterized the (IgG and IgG subclass) antibody reactivity against recombinant PvTRAP in a cross-sectional study of 299 individuals exposed to malaria infection in three municipalities (Cruzeiro do Sul, Mâncio Lima and Guajará) from the Acre state of the Brazilian Amazon.

A Simple Method for Anchoring Silver and Copper Nanoparticles on Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes.

Single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) were functionalized using the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of an azomethine ylide under solvent-free conditions, a one-pot procedure that yields pyrrolidine type of groups at the nanotubes surface. The functionalized SWCNT were further decorated with Ag and Cu nanoparticles by reduction of the corresponding metal salts in dimethylformamide. The extensive reduction of silver from its nitrate was observed, as well as the partial reduction of copper from its acetate.

Inhibition of MAPK and STAT3-SOCS3 by Sakuranetin Attenuated Chronic Allergic Airway Inflammation in Mice.

Asthma allergic disease is caused by airway chronic inflammation. Some intracellular signaling pathways, such as MAPK and STAT3-SOCS3, are involved in the control of airway inflammation in asthma. The flavonoid sakuranetin demonstrated an anti-inflammatory effect in different asthma models.

L-arginine supplementation and thromboxane synthase inhibition increases cerebral blood flow in experimental cerebral malaria.

Cerebral malaria pathogenesis involves vascular dysfunction with low nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability, vasoconstriction and impaired vasodilation, leading to ischemia, tissue hypoxia and ultimately death. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) involves NO and other pathways, including arachidonic acid (AA)-derived metabolites. Here we show that mice with experimental cerebral malaria (ECM) by P.

The Role of Dimethoate and UV-B on Skin of Wistar Rats.

Background/aim: The pesticide dimethoate (O-dimethyl-S- Nmethylcarbamoylmethyl phosphorodithioate) is able to induce severe acute toxicity in living organisms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ultraviolet radiation, alone or combined with exposure to dimethoate, on the rat skin.

Materials And Methods: A total of 38 Wistar female rats (Rattus norvegicus albinus), were distributed into four groups: A (n=9) control group, B (n=10) exposed to ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B), C (n=10) exposed to UV-B followed by application of dimethoate (UV-B+AGRO) and group D (n=9) exposed to dimethoate (AGRO).

Common snook juveniles, Centropomus undecimalis, as biomonitor organisms to evaluate cytogenotoxicity effects of surface estuarine water from Southern Brazil.

Centropomus undecimalis fish inhabit the highly contaminated Santos-São Vicente Estuarine System (SESS) and could be a good biomonitor of contaminants. This study aimed to investigate the cytogenotoxic potential of superficial water from SESS using C. undecimalis as a biomonitoring model and to validate the use of farmed fish as controls.

Chloroquine and mefloquine resistance profiles are not related to the circumsporozoite protein (CSP) VK210 subtypes in field isolates of Plasmodium vivax from Manaus, Brazilian Amazon.

Background: The central repetitive region (CRR) of the Plasmodium vivax circumsporozoite surface protein (CSP) is composed of a repetitive sequence that is characterised by three variants: VK210, VK247 and P. vivax-like. The most important challenge in the treatment of P.

Effectiveness of a tailored rehabilitation versus standard strengthening programme for patients with shoulder pain: a protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial (the Otago MASTER trial).

Introduction: Exercise therapy is the treatment of choice for the management of patients with shoulder subacromial pain. However, we do not know whether a tailored rehabilitation programme is more effective than a standardised strengthening programme. The aim of this feasibility trial is to assess: (1) participant recruitment rate, (2) the proportion of participants enrolled from the total number screened, (3) adherence to the rehabilitation programme, (4) drop-out rates, (5) obtain estimates of adverse reactions to treatment, (6) obtain estimates of intervention effects in order to inform the sample size of the fully-powered randomised controlled trial, (7) conduct a preliminary cost-effectiveness analysis of the standardised strengthening and the tailored rehabilitation interventions.

The Use of Single-Cell Comet Assay on Oral Cells: A Critical Review.

Background/aim: Genotoxicity is the capacity of an agent to induce damage to DNA. Given the close relationship between genotoxicity and carcinogenesis, several assays have been developed for detecting genetic damage. Among them, the single-cell gel (comet) assay plays an important role for evaluating DNA damage in mammalian cells, including those of the oral cavity.