Oxidative Stress and Disease

Typically in aerobic metabolism, organic compounds such as nucleic acids, proteins and lipids can undergo structural damage by oxidative reactions. This damage caused by reactive oxygen/nitrogen species has been recognized as “oxidative stress”. Despite the biological systems present efficient enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidant systems, oxidative stress indicates a pro-oxidant/antioxidant imbalance in favor of excessive generation of free radicals or decrease in the removal rate. Various diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative clearly exemplify the chronic oxidative stress. Therefore, it is important to consider that at low and moderate ROS levels, it can, for example, act as signaling molecules that support cell proliferation and differentiation and activate survival pathways in response to stress. Correlations between oxidative stress and disease should be carefully investigated in order to understand whether oxidative stress actually increases susceptibility to a particular disease or opposite

Estudo da composição mineral de algumas plantas forrageiras oriundas do Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul. III - Manganês

It was conducted a study about the manganese content of Guinea grass (Panicum maximun), Jaragua grass (Hyparrhenia ruta (Nessi) Stapf ), Pangola grass (Digitaria decumbens, Stent) and Angollnha grass (Eriochloa polystachya (H.B.K.I. Hitchc). Collected (14.820 h.) in areas of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Sample analisis examined showed In the Guinea grass, Jaragua grass, Pangola grass and Angolinha grass, 190, 167, 811 e 499 ppm of manganese respectively. The Pangola grass exhibited significantly higher concentrations of manganese (811 ppm) than Angolinha grass (499 ppm), Guinea grass (190 ppm) or Jaragua grass (167 ppm). High levels of manganese in Pangola grass and Angolinha grass were found to be toxic for cattle.Levantamento sobre a quantidade de manganês contida em quatro gramíneas — capim Colonião (Panicum maximun), Jaraguá (Hyparrhenia rufa (Ness) Stapf), Pangola (Digitaria decumbens Stent) e capim Angolinha (Eriochloa polystachya (H.B.K.) Hitchc.) colhidas mensalmente durante um ano, no município de Brasilândia, com área de 14.820 hectares em Mato Grosso do Sul. As médias anuais foram 190, 167, 811 e 494 ppm para os capins, respectivamente, Colonião, Jaraguá, Pangola e Angolinha. O Pangola com a média 811 ppm diferiu estatisticamente do Colonião, Jaraguá e Angolinha. Níveis tóxicos para bovinos foram apresentados pelos capins Pangola e Angolinha

Cytokine profile associated with human chronic schistosomiasis mansoni

This study objective was to evaluate the cytokines associated with early events of hepatic fibrosis in schistosomiasis mansoni. Hepatic fibrosis was classified by ultrasonography in 94 patients. Immunological evaluation was performed by measurement of secreted cytokines (interleukin IL-5, IL-10, IL-13, interferon-g, tumor necrosis factor-a and transforming growth factors-b) in peripherl blood mononuclear cells stimulated by Schistosoma mansoni antigens. Significantly, higher levels of IL-5, IL-10 and IL-13 were found in supernatants of SEA-stimulated PBMC from subjects with degree III hepatic fibrosis as compared to patients with degree I or II fibrosis, Significant increases in IL-5 and IL-13 levels were also observed in some of the subjects who remained untreated for one year following initial assessment and developed more serious fibrosis during this period. The data suggests a role for type 2 cytokines in early stages of hepatic fibrosis in human schistosomiasis mansoni

Factor IX Gene Haplotypes in Amerindians

We have determined the haplotypes of the factor IX gene for 95 Indians from 5 Brazilian Amazon tribes: Wayampf, Wayana-Apalaf, Kayapo, Arara, and Yanomami. Eight polymorphisms linked to the factor IX gene were investigated: MseI (at 5\u27, nt —698), BamHI (at 5\u27, nt —561), DdeI (intron 1), BamHI (intron 2), XmnI (intron 3), Taql (intron 4), Mspl (intron 4), and Hhal (at 3\u27, ~ 8 kb). The results of the haplotype distribution and the allele frequencies for each of the factor IX gene polymorphisms in Amerindians were similar to the results reported for Asian populations but differed from results for other ethnic groups. Only five haplotypes were identified within the entire Amerindian study population, and the haplotype distribution was significantly different among the five tribes, with one (Arara) to four (Wayampf) haplotypes being found per tribe. These findings indicate a significant heterogeneity among the Indian tribes and contrast with the homogeneous distribution of the /?-globin gene cluster haplotypes but agree with our recent findings on the distribution of a-globin gene cluster haplotypes and the allele frequencies for six VNTRs in the same Amerindian tribes. Our data represent the first study of factor IX-associated polymorphisms in Amerindian populations and emphasizes the applicability of these genetic markers for population and human evolution studies