First record of Anastrepha pseudanomala Norrbom (Diptera: Tephritidae) and its host in Brazil

Anastrepha pseudanomala Norrbom was reared in fruits of Couma utilis (Apocynaceae), and also collected in McPhail traps in Ferreira Gomes county, State of Amapá, Brazil.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Espécies de Anastrepha (Diptera: Tephritidae) capturadas em armadilhas mcphail no estado do Amapá.

Resumos 1504-1

Treatment of patients with aortic atherosclerotic disease with paclitaxel-associated lipid nanoparticles

OBJECTIVE: The toxicity of anti-cancer chemotherapeutic agents can be reduced by associating these compounds, such as the anti-proliferative agent paclitaxel, with a cholesterol-rich nanoemulsion (LDE) that mimics the lipid composition of low-density lipoprotein (LDL). When injected into circulation, the LDE concentrates the carried drugs in neoplastic tissues and atherosclerotic lesions. In rabbits, atherosclerotic lesion size was reduced by 65% following LDE-paclitaxel treatment. The current study aimed to test the effectiveness of LDE-paclitaxel on inpatients with aortic atherosclerosis. METHODS: This study tested a 175 mg/m2 body surface area dose of LDE-paclitaxel (intravenous administration, 3/3 weeks for 6 cycles) in patients with aortic atherosclerosis who were aged between 69 and 86 yrs. A control group of 9 untreated patients with aortic atherosclerosis (72-83 yrs) was also observed. RESULTS: The LDE-paclitaxel treatment elicited no important clinical or laboratory toxicities. Images were acquired via multiple detector computer tomography angiography (64-slice scanner) before treatment and at 1-2 months after treatment. The images showed that the mean plaque volume in the aortic artery wall was reduced in 4 of the 8 patients, while in 3 patients it remained unchanged and in one patient it increased. In the control group, images were acquired twice with an interval of 6-8 months. None of the patients in this group exhibited a reduction in plaque volume; in contrast, the plaque volume increased in three patients and remained stable in four patients. During the study period, one death unrelated to the treatment occurred in the LDE-paclitaxel group and one death occurred in the control group. CONCLUSION: Treatment with LDE-paclitaxel was tolerated by patients with cardiovascular disease and showed the potential to reduce atherosclerotic lesion size

Índice de infestação de taperebá (Spondias monbin) por Anastrepha spp. (Dip., Tephritidae) em quatro municípios do estado do Amapá.

Resumo 1541-2

Frutíferas hospedeiras e parasitóides (Hym. Braconidae) de Anastrepha spp. (Dip., Tephritidae) na Ilha de Santana, Estado do Amapá, Brasil.

Este trabalho objetivou efetuar um levantamento de moscas-das-frutas, suas plantas hospedeiras e seus parasitóides na Ilha de Santana, estado do Amapá, Brasil. Foram coletadas 44 amostras de frutos de 13 espécies vegetais, totalizando 4.177 frutos e 78.753g. Os frutos foram coletados no período de janeiro a julho de 2005, sendo obtidos 608 pupários, de onde emergiram 225 moscas-das-frutas pertencentes ao gênero Anastrepha e 42 parasitóides da família Braconidae. Houve emergência de moscas-das-frutas somente de amostras de taperebá (Spondias mombin L.), goiaba (Psidium guajava L.) e abiu (Pouteria caimito Radlk.). As espécies registradas foram A. obliqua Macquart, A. striata Schiner e A. leptozona Hendel. Parasitóides de 3 espécies emergiram de amostras de taperebá e goiaba: Doryctobracon areolatus (Szépligeti), Opiussp. e Asobara anatrephae (Muesebeck).Comunicação científica

The Combination of Gefitinib With ATRA and ATO Induces Myeloid Differentiation in Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia Resistant Cells

In approximately 15% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), total and phosphorylated EGFR proteins have been reported to be increased compared to healthy CD34(+) samples. However, it is unclear if this subset of patients would benefit from EGFR signaling pharmacological inhibition. Pre-clinical studies on AML cells provided evidence on the pro-differentiation benefits of EGFR inhibitors when combined with ATRA or ATO in vitro. Despite the success of ATRA and ATO in the treatment of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), therapy-associated resistance is observed in 5-10% of the cases, pointing to a clear need for new therapeutic strategies for those patients. In this context, the functional role of EGFR tyrosine-kinase inhibitors has never been evaluated in APL. Here, we investigated the EGFR pathway in primary samples along with functional in vitro and in vivo studies using several APL models. We observed that total and phosphorylated EGFR (Tyr992) was expressed in 28% and 19% of blast cells from APL patients, respectively, but not in healthy CD34(+) samples. Interestingly, the expression of the EGF was lower in APL plasma samples than in healthy controls. The EGFR ligand AREG was detected in 29% of APL patients at diagnosis, but not in control samples. In vitro, treatment with the EGFR inhibitor gefitinib (ZD1839) reduced cell proliferation and survival of NB4 (ATRA-sensitive) and NB4-R2 (ATRA-resistant) cells. Moreover, the combination of gefitinib with ATRA and ATO promoted myeloid cell differentiation in ATRA- and ATO-resistant APL cells. In vivo, the combination of gefitinib and ATRA prolonged survival compared to gefitinib- or vehicle-treated leukemic mice in a syngeneic transplantation model, while the gain in survival did not reach statistical difference compared to treatment with ATRA alone. Our results suggest that gefitinib is a potential adjuvant agent that can mitigate ATRA and ATO resistance in APL cells. Therefore, our data indicate that repurposing FDA-approved tyrosine-kinase inhibitors could provide new perspectives into combination therapy to overcome drug resistance in APL patients