Decreased forelimb ability in mice intracerebroventricularly injected with low dose 6-hydroxidopamine: A model on the dissociation of bradykinesia from hypokinesia.

Bradykinesia and hypokinesia represent well-known motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). While bradykinesia (slow execution of movements) is present in less affected PD patients and aggravates as the disease severity increases, hypokinesia (reduction of movement) seems to emerge prominently only in the more affected patients. Here we developed a model based on the central infusion of low dose (40μg) 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) in mice in an attempt to discriminate bradykinesia (accessed through forelimb inability) from hypokinesia (accessed through locomotor and exploratory activities).

Fractal analysis of extra-embryonic vessels of chick embryos under the effect of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfates.

Like heparan sulfate proteoglycans, some monosaccharides and glycosaminoglycans, such as sulfated glucosamine (GS) and chondroitin (CS), integrate the vascular extracellular matrix and may influence vascular endothelial cell growth. To assess the effects of these substances on blood vessel formation, we used the chick yolk sac membrane (YSM) model and fractal geometry quantification, which provided an objective in vivo method for testing potential agents that promote vasculogenesis and angiogenesis. An image processing method was developed to evaluate YSM capillary vessels after they were implanted in a methylcellulose disk of GS or CS at a concentration between 0.

Southern Brazilian autumnal propolis shows anti-angiogenic activity: an in vitro and in vivo study.

The present study focuses on the effects of a hydro-alcoholic propolis extract collected in autumn (2010) in Santa Catarina State (Southern Brazil), on the angiogenesis, using in vitro and in vivo models. Cultures of human umbilical vein endothelial cells were used to assess the effects of propolis on viability, proliferation, and cell migration, as well as capillary tube formation. The propolis autumnal extracts significantly decreased the cell viability, based on CC50 values, which decreased (56%) from 297 to 130 μg/ml in 24 h and 72 h of treatment, respectively (cytotoxicity assay).

Carotenoid and anthocyanin contents of grains of Brazilian maize landraces.

Background: Carotenoid and anthocyanin contents of 26 maize landraces cultivated in southern Brazil were determined to evaluate their potential as natural colorants or functional food ingredients.

Results: The major carotenoids detected in the whole grain flour were zeaxanthin and lutein. Anthocyanins of landraces with purple starchy endosperm (Lingua de Papagaio and Mato Grosso Palha Roxa) were more extractable in methanol-HCl (1%, v/v), exhibiting 2.

Metabolic fingerprint of Brazilian maize landraces silk (stigma/styles) using NMR spectroscopy and chemometric methods.

Aqueous extract from maize silks is used by traditional medicine for the treatment of several ailments, mainly related to the urinary system. This work focuses on the application of NMR spectroscopy and chemometric analysis for the determination of metabolic fingerprint and pattern recognition of silk extracts from seven maize landraces cultivated in southern Brazil. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the (1)H NMR data set showed clear discrimination among the maize varieties by PC1 and PC2, pointing out three distinct metabolic profiles.

Metabolomic analysis of Ocotea odorifera cell cultures: a model protocol for acquiring metabolite data.

Metabolomics constitutes a quantitative and qualitative survey of the whole metabolites of an organism as well as a tissue, reflecting the genome and proteome of a sample as analyzed. Advanced analytical spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques are used along with uni- or multivariate statistical data analysis, rapidly identifying up- or down-regulated metabolites in complex matrices. In this chapter, protocols for the analysis of target compounds (protocol I) and metabolomics (protocol II) of Ocotea odorifera cell cultures are described.

Trans-resveratrol inhibits early blood vessel formation (vasculogenesis) without impairment of embryonic growth.

Resveratrol is a stilbene compound found in grapes and other sources. In this study we examined the effects of trans-resveratrol (4.38 - 438 microM/implant) in the vasculogenesis of yolk-sac membranes and its capacity to improve chick embryo growth.

A polysaccharide isolated from the brown seaweed Sargassum stenophyllum exerts antivasculogenic effects evidenced by modified morphogenesis.

A polysaccharide (Sarg) extracted from the brown marine alga Sargassum stenophyllum was studied for its antivasculogenic effects in both in vivo and in vitro assays, as well as for its capacity to modify embryonic morphogenetic processes endogenously regulated by bFGF, a well-known angiogenic stimulator. The antivasculogenic activity of Sarg (6-1500 microg/implant) was evaluated in a chick yolk sac membrane assay and the embryonic morphogenesis was measured as the percentage cephalic length. Sarg alone (96-1500 microg/implant) and co-administered with hydrocortisone (HC; 156 microg/implant) decreased the vitelline vessel number by 23-100% and 54-100% respectively.

Antiangiogenic and antitumoral properties of a polysaccharide isolated from the seaweed Sargassum stenophyllum.

The potential antiangiogenic and antitumoral properties of SargA, a polysaccharide extracted from the brown marine alga Sargassum stenophyllum, were studied in assays carried out in chick embryos and mice. Gelfoam plugs containing SargA (2-1500 microg/plug) implanted in vivo into fertilized 6-day-old chicken eggs induced dose-related antiangiogenic activity in the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). By day 8, the highest dose of SargA alone decreased the vessel number in the CAM by 64%, but coadministered with hydrocortisone (156 microg/plug, which alone caused 30% inhibition) failed to potentiate its antiangiogenic effect.