Publications by authors named "Luiz E M Nery"

The crustacean molting cycle is triggered by the elevation of ecdysteroid levels in the hemolymph during late pre-molt. It is known that these animals absorb water through the intestine and gills to promote bodily swelling and rupture of the old exoskeleton. The participation of two membrane proteins responsible for the most uptake of water during the late pre-molt has been shown in the gill and gut cells of the freshwater shrimp Palaemon argentinus: Na/K-ATPase (NKA), which generates an osmoionic gradient, and Aquaporins (AQPs), water channels, which provide higher water permeability.

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Temperature fluctuations, particularly elevated temperatures, can significantly affect immune responses. These fluctuations can influence the immune system and alter its response to infection signals, such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Therefore, this study was designed to investigate how high temperatures and LPS injections collectively influence the immune system of the crab Neohelice granulata.

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The physiological variations during the crustacean molting cycle have intrigued researchers for many years. Maintaining osmotic homeostasis in the face of hemolymph dilution and dealing with dynamic intracellular and extracellular calcium fluctuations are challenges these animals continuously confront. It has recently been shown that water channels present in the cell membrane (aquaporins) are essential for water uptake during premolt and postmolt.

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Physiological trade-offs among expensive fitness-related traits, such as reproduction and immunity, are common in life histories of animals. An immune challenge can have different effects on female reproduction mediated by resource allocation and acquisition. In this study, employing a widely used method to challenge the insect immune system (nylon implant), we assessed the effects of mounting a chronic immune response simulating three successive immune assaults on survival and reproduction of mated females of Gryllus assimilis.

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Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in Brazil, representing 30% of all cases. Among these, melanoma represents only 3% of malignant neoplasms; however, it is the most serious and has a high capacity for metastasis. For this reason, it is extremely important to identify more efficient compounds and treatments that stop or decrease the proliferation of melanoma, even in its more advanced stages.

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The effects of reproduction are variable among insects, as well as the time of mate. In animals, a trade-off is usually observed between reproduction and self-maintenance, mostly in females because of egg producing costs. In the present investigation, manifestations of aging and senescence at population and cellular levels were studied associated with the mating opportunities.

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Animals that live in changing environments need to adjust their metabolism to maintain body functions, and sensing these changing conditions is essential for mediating the short- and long-term physiological and behavioral responses that make these adjustments. Previous research on nematodes and insects facing changing oxygen levels has shown that these animals rapidly respond using atypical soluble guanylyl cyclases (sGCs) as oxygen sensors connected to downstream cGMP pathways, and they respond more slowly using hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIFs) that are further modulated by oxygen-sensing prolyl hydroxylases (PHs). Crustaceans are known to respond in different ways to hypoxia, but the mechanisms responsible for sensing oxygen levels are more poorly understood than in nematodes and insects.

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Climate changes affecting aquatic environments are increasing, and the resultant environmental challenges require animals to adopt alternative compensatory behavioral and physiological strategies. In particular, low levels of dissolved O are a regular problem for estuarine animals, leading to activation of a series of behavioral and physiological responses. This study on the semi-terrestrial crab Neohelice granulata examined patterns of emersion behavior under different levels of dissolved O availability and the role of lactate in this behavior.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to investigate the calcium channel affinity and effects of 43 new lipophilic dihydropyridines, focusing on their antihypertensive and antioxidant properties, alongside toxicity testing compared to nifedipine.
  • Animals with induced hypertension were treated for 56 days, first with N (ω) -nitro-L-arginine methyl ester and then with the dihydropyridines or nifedipine, with measurements taken for blood pressure, heart rate, and oxidative stress markers.
  • The findings showed that two new dihydropyridines (2c and 9a) effectively lowered blood pressure and heart rate to normal levels, exhibiting superior antioxidant properties compared to nifedipine, indicating their
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An increase in environmental temperature can deleteriously affect organisms. This study investigated whether the semiterrestrial estuarine crab Neohelice granulata uses emersion behavior as a resource to avoid thermal stress and survive higher aquatic temperatures. We also examined whether this behavior is modulated by exposure to high temperature; whether, during the period of emersion, the animal loses heat from the carapace to the medium; and whether this behavior is altered by the temperature at which the animal has been acclimated.

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The visual system is an important biological indicator of effects induced by ultraviolet (UV) radiation. However, research has extensively investigated the effects of high-dose UV radiation in a single exposure, thus, the differential of this work was to investigate the effects of UVB radiation in low doses in single and repeated exposure. Therefore, we investigated the effects of repeated exposure to environmental UVB doses (0.

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Due to the presence of the exoskeleton, the moult cycle is a required event in the life of crustaceans. In order for the exoskeleton to be replaced, it is necessary for these animals to uptake water from the environment for their body tissues during the late pre-moult, ecdysis and in the early post-moult for the expansion of the new cuticle. The mechanisms and organs used to uptake water in these events are not yet completely clear.

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Dihydropyridines (DHPs) obtained from Hantzsch multicomponent reactions are an important pharmaceutical class of compounds marketed as antihypertensive (e.g., nifedipine, nitrendipine, and amlodipine) drugs.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of various anesthetics on the brachyuran crab Neohelice granulata, focusing on essential oils (EOs) and isolated compounds.
  • Most EOs tested did not induce anesthesia through immersion, with only tea tree oil (TTO) and eugenol showing some effect, though with prolonged induction and recovery times.
  • Injection of terpinen-4-ol and nanoencapsulated TTO provided ideal anesthetic results, suggesting they could be promising alternatives for anesthetizing crustaceans.
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This work investigated the acute effects of the calcium channel blocker nifedipine and its new fatty hybrid derived from palmitic acid, 3,5-dipalmitoyl-nifedipine, compared to endocannabinoid anandamide during the process of inducing ischemia and reperfusion in cardiomyoblast H9c2 heart cells. The cardiomyoblasts were treated in 24 or 96-well plates (according to the test being performed) and maintaining the treatment until the end of hypoxia induction. The molecules were tested at concentrations of 10 and 100μM, cells were treated 24h after assembling the experimental plates and immediately before the I/R.

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The agent triclosan has been extensively used in different personal care products as a broad-spectrum antimicrobial and preservative agent. Due to its continuous release into the environment, including discharge via wastewater treatment plants, triclosan has been widely detected in aquatic environments. There is growing interest in improving the knowledge about the environmental fate of triclosan due to its possible bioaccumulation and the toxicity it may pose to organisms, such as fish and other non-target species.

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Crustaceans often occur in areas with variations in oxygen and experience situations known as hypoxia and reoxygenation. Consequences of such situations are increased levels of reactive oxygen species. To avoid oxidative damage intertidal crabs appear to possess an efficient antioxidant defense system (ADS).

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The air exposure behavior of the semi-terrestrial crab Neohelice granulata during severe hypoxia was studied. This study also verified whether this behavior mitigates possible oxidative damage, namely lipoperoxidation, caused by hypoxia and reoxygenation cycles. The lethal time for 50% of the crabs subjected to severe hypoxia (0.

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Ultraviolet (UV) radiation can produce biological damage, principally oxidative stress, by increasing the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). This study evaluated biochemical impairments related to the oxidative stress induced by UVA, UVB and UVA+UVB (solar simulator-SIM) in environmental doses, during five consecutive days of exposure, in the brain and eyestalk of the crab Ucides cordatus. We evaluated these regions by sampling on the 1st, 3rd and 5th days of UV exposure for lipid peroxidation (LPO), antioxidant capacity against the peroxyl radical (ACAP), and the activities of catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST).

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Melatonin has been identified in a variety of crustacean species, but its function is not as well understood as in vertebrates. The present study investigates whether melatonin has an effect on crustacean hyperglycemic hormone (CHH) gene expression, oxygen consumption (VO2) and circulating glucose and lactate levels, in response to different dissolved-oxygen concentrations, in the crab Neohelice granulata, as well as whether these possible effects are eyestalk- or receptor-dependent. Melatonin decreased CHH expression in crabs exposed for 45 min to 6 (2, 200 or 20,000 pmol·crab-1) or 2 mgO2·L-1 (200 pmol·crab-1).

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Fish are commonly exposed to environmental pollutants, which in turns could induce an oxidative stress. So, it is important to understand the effects and the responses elicited by these toxicants in fish species, being fish cell lines important tools for this purpose. Thus, the aim of the present study was to compare the effects of copper and UV-B radiation exposure on zebrafish hepatocytes (ZFL lineage) in terms of reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, sulfhydril groups content and mRNA levels of important genes related to cellular response to toxic agents.

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The aim of this work was to determine whether different durations of severe hypoxia (0.5 mg O2 L(-1)) followed by reoxygenation cause damage to the locomotor muscle of the crab Neohelice granulata. We evaluated reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation (LPO), mitochondrial membrane potential, and aerobic fiber area of the locomotor muscle after different periods of hypoxia (1, 4, or 10h) followed by 30 or 120 min of reoxygenation.

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The first and main target-structure of ultraviolet (UV) radiation in animals is the body surface, including the skin and eyes. Here, we investigated cell damage in the visual system of the crab Neohelice granulata acclimated to constant light and exposed to UVA or UVB at 12:00 h for 30 min. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, antioxidant capacity against peroxyl radicals (ACAP), lipid peroxidation (LPO) damage, catalase (CAT) activity, and the melatonin immunohistochemical reactivity in the eyestalks were evaluated.

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Decapod crustaceans show proliferation of the nerve cells in the olfactory lobe throughout their lives. However, the regulation of this process is still poorly understood, since it may vary with endogenous and exogenous factors. The objective of the present investigation was to quantify the proliferation of nerve cells and number of nerve cells with ecdysone receptors in the clusters of the central olfactory system in Neohelice granulata, according to moult stages and in different seasons (summer and winter).

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The purpose of this study was to verify the occurrence of pigment dispersion in retinal pigment cells exposed to UVA and UVB radiation, and to investigate the possible participation of a nitric oxide (NO) pathway. Retinal pigment cells from Neohelice granulata were obtained by cellular dissociation. Cells were analyzed for 30 min in the dark (control) and then exposed to 1.

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