Publications by authors named "Raquel A Costa"

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of the topical application of the ethanol extract (EESL) and the hydroethanolic fraction (HFSL) of ripe Solanum lycocarpum fruit on the healing of experimentally-induced wounds in mice.

Methods: The EESL and HFSL obtained from ripe fruit of the species S. lycocarpum were obtained by percolation with ethanol.

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Coumarins have great pharmacotherapeutic potential, presenting several biological and pharmaceutical applications, like antibiotic, fungicidal, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, anti-HIV, and healing activities, among others. These molecules are practically insoluble in water, and for biological applications, it became necessary to complex them with cyclodextrins (CDs), which influence their bioavailability in the target organism. In this work, we studied two coumarins, and it was possible to conclude that there were structural differences between 4,7-dimethyl-2-chromen-2-one (DMC) and 7-methoxy-4-methyl-2-chromen-2-one (MMC)/β-CD that were solubilized in ethanol, frozen, and lyophilized (FL) and the mechanical mixtures (MM).

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The impact of vaccination on the world's population is difficult to calculate. For developing different types of vaccines, adjuvants are substances added to vaccines to increase the magnitude and durability of the immune response and the effectiveness of the vaccine. This work explores the potential use of spherical gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as adjuvants.

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Bone fractures cause acute inflammation that, despite being important for initial repair, may delay the healing of the damaged bone. Parenteral injection of dietary protein has been shown to decrease inflammation and accelerate the repair of skin wounds and other inflammatory pathologies. Thus, our aim was to evaluate whether the intraperitoneal (i.

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Oral tolerance refers to the specific inhibition of immune responsiveness to T-cell-dependent antigens contacted through the oral route before parenteral immunization. Oral tolerance to one protein does not inhibit immune responses to other unrelated proteins, but parenteral injection of tolerated antigens plus adjuvant into tolerant, but not normal, mice inhibits immune responses to antigens injected concomitantly or soon thereafter. The inhibitory effect triggered by parenteral injection of tolerated proteins is known as bystander suppression or indirect effects of oral tolerance.

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Background: Immunological tolerance refer to the inhibition of specific immune responsiveness and the ingestion of proteins previous to immunization is a reliable method to induce (oral) tolerance. Parenteral exposure to tolerated antigens, in adjuvant, trigger indirect and systemic effects that inhibits concomitant immune responses to other unrelated antigens and also decrease unrelated inflammatory responses. Interesting, intraperitoneal (i.

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Objective: To analyze the association between parental tobacco consumption and the prevalence of psychomotor development disorders in children between 6 and 22 months of age.

Method: One hundred and nine mothers, fathers, and their babies participated in the study. The sociodemographic and clinical conditions were assessed using questionnaires.

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Skin wound healing is a complex process involving many types of cells and molecules and often results in scar tissue formation in adult mammals. However, scarless healing occurs in foetal skin and minimal scars may occur after cutaneous healing in the adult with reduced inflammation. Alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) is widely distributed within the central nervous system and in other body regions, such as the skin, and has strong anti-inflammatory activity.

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Parenteral injection of tolerated proteins into orally tolerant mice inhibits the initiation of immunological responses to unrelated proteins and blocks severe chronic inflammatory reactions of immunological origin, such as autoimmune reactions. This inhibitory effect which we have called "indirect effects of oral tolerance" is also known as "bystander suppression." Herein, we show that i.

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Tissue injury in adult mammalian skin frequently results in scarring while fetal mammalian skin heals with complete regeneration. Inflammatory reactions are among the factors thought to impair regeneration. Previous studies have shown that the injection of an immunologically tolerated protein blocks immune responses to unrelated antigens and is also able to inhibit inflammation in mice.

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