Autologous Platelet-Rich Plasma Infusion to Improve Pregnancy Outcome in Suboptimal Endometrium: A Review

Over the past decade, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been used in several fields of medicine to promote cell growth and expedite wound healing for the treatment of arthritis, nerve injury, tendinitis, bone regeneration, cardiac muscle repair, and oral & plastic surgery. Recently, researchers have been applying autologous PRP to bolster the growth of endometrial lining in patients with a history of endometrium-related failed embryo transfers. Evidence reveals that PRP is a rich source of active cytokines and various growth factors, which come from an autologous source that can be easily attained from peripheral blood without risk of disease transmission to the patient. In this review, several studies were analyzed that involved patients 18–42 years of age undergoing hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in preparation for embryo transfer and serial transvaginal ultrasound in conjunction with PRP infusions into the endometrium via an intrauterine insemination (IUI) catheter. Exclusion criteria included patients with endometritis, polyps, or adhesions. Embryo transfers (ET) were performed when the endometrial lining achieved a thickness of >7 mm. The database indicates that PRP infusion therapy is a promising low-cost treatment for HRT patients that significantly increases endometrial thickness and improves pregnancy success in a previous suboptimal ET patient population

How accurate are pedotransfer functions for bulk density for Brazilian soils?

The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive capability of PTFs available in the literature to estimate soil pb in different regions of Brazil, using different metrics (mean absolute error (MAE), root mean squared error (RMSE), mean error (ME) and regression error characteristic (REC) curve)

Metabolomics and Lipidomics Profiling of a Combined Mitochondrial Plus Endoplasmic Reticulum Fraction of Human Fibroblasts: A Robust Tool for Clinical Studies

Mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are physically and functionally connected. This close interaction, via mitochondria-associated membranes, is increasingly explored and supports the importance of studying these two organelles as a whole. Metabolomics and lipidomics are powerful approaches for the exploration of metabolic pathways that may be useful to provide deeper information on these organelles\u27 functions, dysfunctions, and interactions. We developed a quick and simple experimental procedure for the purification of a mitochondria-ER fraction from human fibroblasts. We applied combined metabolomics and lipidomics analyses by mass spectrometry with excellent reproducibility. Seventy-two metabolites and 418 complex lipids were detected with a mean coefficient of variation around 12%, among which many were specific to the mitochondrial metabolism. Thus this strategy based on robust mitochondria-ER extraction and "omics" combination will be useful for investigating the pathophysiology of complex diseases

Modelagem computacional do crescimento de cana-de-açúcar para predição de produtividade potencial.

Resumo- Neste artigo é apresentado um modelo ecofisiológico-matemático (BrCane) para predizer a produtividade potencial - sem restrições nutricionais ou de água -, a fim de analisar a sustentabilidade da expansão do cultivo de cana-de-açúcar em novas áreas para produção de etanol. A arquitetura do modelo BRCANE foi concebida para uma planta tipo C4, onde a evolução mensal da biomassa foi estimada em função da temperatura do ar e da radiação incidente. Nas simulações apresentadas a produção de biomassa levou em conta a taxa bruta de fotossíntese subtraídas as perdas para respiração de manutenção, senescência de folhas e morte de perfilhos durante o ciclo da cultura. O modelo BRCANE também foi usado para descrever o comportamento fisiológico em função das condições ambientais relacionadas ao tempo termal. A implementação de tais condições permitiu ajustar os resultados das simulações a resultados experimentais disponíveis na literatura. As estimativas de biomassa foram comparadas com dados obtidos durante o ciclo da cultura em experimentos de campo com irrigação (Cultivares RB72 454, NA 56-79, CB 41-76, CB47-355, CP51-22, Q138 e Q141) no Estado de São Paulo (Brasil) e em Bundaberg e Queensland (Austrália) e os resultados foram expressos em toneladas de colmo por hectare (Mg.ha-1), por meio de uma relação linear para cada variedade (R2 = 0,88). O modelo apresentou resultados consistentes com dados experimetais para crescimento de biomassa no ciclo da cultura da cana-de-açúcar.bitstream/item/65018/1/boletim31.pd

The role of T cell subsets and cytokines in the regulation of intracellular bacterial infection

Cellular immune responses are a critical part of the host's defense against intracellular bacterial infections. Immunity to Brucella abortus crucially depends on antigen-specific T cell-mediated activation of macrophages, which are the major effectors of cell-mediated killing of this organism. T lymphocytes that proliferate in response to B. abortus were characterized for phenotype and cytokine activity. Human, murine, and bovine T lymphocytes exhibited a type 1 cytokine profile, suggesting an analogous immune response in these different hosts. In vivo protection afforded by a particular cell type is dependent on the antigen presented and the mechanism of antigen presentation. Studies using MHC class I and class II knockout mice infected with B. abortus have demonstrated that protective immunity to brucellosis is especially dependent on CD8+ T cells. To target MHC class I presentation we transfected ex vivo a murine macrophage cell line with B. abortus genes and adoptively transferred them to BALB/c mice. These transgenic macrophage clones induced partial protection in mice against experimental brucellosis. Knowing the cells required for protection, vaccines can be designed to activate the protective T cell subset. Lastly, as a new strategy for priming a specific class I-restricted T cell response in vivo, we used genetic immunization by particle bombardment-mediated gene transfer

Hypoxia-inducible factor 2α drives nonalcoholic fatty liver progression by triggering hepatocyte release of histidine rich glycoprotein

Mechanisms underlying progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are still incompletely characterized. Hypoxia and hypoxia inducible factors (HIFs) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic liver diseases but the actual role of HIF-2α in the evolution of NAFLD has never been investigated in detail. In this study, we show that HIF-2α is selectively overexpressed in the cytosol and the nuclei of hepatocytes in a very high percentage (> 90%) of liver biopsies from a cohort of NAFLD patients at different stage of the disease evolution. Similar features were also observed in mice with steatohepatitis induced by feeding a methionine/choline-deficient (MCD) diet. Experiments performed in mice carrying hepatocyte-specific deletion of HIF-2α and related control littermates fed with either choline-deficient L-amino acid-refined (CDAA) or MCD diets showed that HIF-2α deletion ameliorated the evolution of NAFLD by decreasing parenchymal injury, fatty liver, lobular inflammation and the development of liver fibrosis. The improvement in NAFLD progression in HIF-2α deficient mice was related to a selective down-regulation in the hepatocyte production of Histidine-Rich Glycoprotein (HRGP), recently proposed to sustain macrophage M1 polarization. In vitro experiments confirmed that the up-regulation of hepatocyte HRGP expression was hypoxia- and HIF-2α-dependent. Finally, analyses performed on specimens from NAFLD patients indicated that HRGP was overexpressed in all patients showing hepatocyte nuclear staining for HIF-2α and revealed a significant positive correlation between HIF-2α and HRGP liver transcripts levels in these patients