Pereskia aculeata Miller Flour: Metabolic Effects and Composition.

Pereskia aculeata Miller is known in Brazil as ora-pro-nobis (OPN) and has been used commonly in the folklore medicine. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the composition and the effects of OPN flour on the metabolic profile and intestinal motility of Wistar rats. Animals were divided randomly into five groups (n = 10): G1 (control group) and G2 (treated with OPN flour).

Mercury and DDT exposure risk to fish-eating human populations in Amazon.

In order to investigate the potential risk of mercury and DDTs exposure to fish-eating human populations in Samuel Reservoir, not affected directly by gold-mining activities, the axial muscle of Cichla monoculus was analyzed. Twenty-nine and thirty adults individuals were collected respectively on February (rainy season) and August (dry season) 2007. The specimens were sacrificed by spinal section before sex identification, body weight and total length determination.

Recovery of silver residues from dental amalgam.

Unlabelled: Dental amalgam residues are probably the most important chemical residues generated from clinical dental practice because of the presence of heavy metals among its constituents, mainly mercury and silver.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop an alternative method for the recovery of silver residues from dental amalgam.

Material And Methods: The residue generated after vacuum distillation of dental amalgam for the separation of mercury was initially diluted with 32.

Oxidation of melatonin by AAPH-derived peroxyl radicals: evidence of a pro-oxidant effect of melatonin.

Background: Melatonin is well-established as a powerful reducing agent of oxidant generated in the cell medium. We aimed to investigate how readily melatonin is oxidized by peroxyl radicals ROO generated by the thermolysis of 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane) hydrochloride (AAPH) and the role of glutathione (GSH) during the reaction course.

Methods: Chromatographic, mass spectroscopy, and UV-visible spectrometric techniques were used to study the oxidation of melatonin by ROO or horseradish peroxidase (HRP)/H2O2.

The co-catalytic effect of chlorpromazine on peroxidase-mediated oxidation of melatonin: enhanced production of N1-acetyl-N2-formyl-5-methoxykynuramine.

Accumulating evidence points to relationships between increased production of reactive oxygen or decreased antioxidant protection in schizophrenic patients. Chlorpromazine (CPZ), which remains a benchmark treatment for people with schizophrenia, has been described as a pro-oxidant compound. Because the antioxidant compound melatonin exerts protective effects against CPZ-induced liver disease in rats, in this investigation, our main objective was to study the effect of CPZ as a co-catalyst of peroxidase-mediated oxidation of melatonin.