EFFECTS OF PHYSICAL TRAINING ON THE MYOCARDIUM OF FEMALE LDL KNOCKOUT OVARIECTOMIZED MICE

Introduction: The emergence of coronary heart disease increases with menopause, physical inactivity and with dyslipidemia. It is known that physical training promotes the improvement of cardiovascular functions. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of aerobic physical training on the left ventricle in female LDL knockout ovariectomized mice. Methods: Thirty animals were divided into 6 groups (n=5), namely, sedentary non-ovariectomized control; sedentary ovariectomized control; trained ovariectomized control; sedentary non-ovariectomized; sedentary ovariectomized; and trained ovariectomized. We analyzed the mean nuclear volume parameters, the cross sectional area of the myocytes, the apparent density of the capillaries, interstitium, myocytes and collagen fibers. Results: The results show that for the density of the number of nuclei, the physical activity decreased to values close to the ovariectomized control group. Regarding the mean nuclear volume and the average area of myocytes, training and ovariectomy promoted the elevation of these values but hypercholesterolemia was lower. the volume density of myocytes, hypercholesterolemia showed an increase of these values as well as the training. There was no change in the volumetric density of the capillaries and the density of collagen fibers. The training caused the decrease in the density of the interstitial volume, and the hypercholesterolemia changed to a smaller one than the control group. Conclusion: We concluded that the moderate aerobic activity or the training time used in our study were not sufficient to generate significant alterations in the hypercholesterolemic group.Univ Sao Judas Tadeu, Programa Posgrad, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilFac Adventista Hortolandia UNASP, Campus Hortolandia, Hortolandia, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Goias, Dept Histol Embriol & Biol Mol, Goiania, Go, BrazilFMABC, Lab Anal Clin, Santo Andre, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, UNIFESP, Dept Ciencias Biol, Diadema, SP, BrazilInst Dante Pazzanese Cardiol, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, UNIFESP, Dept Ciencias Biol, Diadema, SP, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Molecular epidemiological investigation of Mayaro virus in febrile patients from Goiania City, 2017-2018.

Mayaro virus (MAYV) has historically been associated with sylvatic transmission; however, urban outbreaks have been reported in Brazil, including cases of co-detection with dengue virus (DENV). Therefore, we performed a molecular survey to investigate MAYV circulation and cocirculation with DENV within Goiania, a major city in Central-West Brazil. Among 375 subjects with arbovirus-like symptoms, 259 were positive for DENV and 26 for MAYV. Of these, 17 were coinfected with DENV-2, suggesting co-transmission of the viruses. The most common complaints at the time of inclusion were myalgia, headache, fever, arthralgia, retro-orbital pain, and skin rash. No specific symptoms were associated with MAYV when either detected alone or co-detected with DENV, compared to that when DENV was detected alone. Most MAYV-infected subjects were women with no recent travel history to rural/sylvatic areas. Phylogenetic reconstruction indicated that the MAYV identified in this study is closely related with a lineage observed in Peru, belonging to genotype D. Our results corroborate the growing circulation of MAYV in urban environments in Brazil and reinforce the need to implement laboratory diagnosis in the Unified Health System, considering that the clinical manifestations of Mayaro fever are similar to those of other arboviruses, particularly dengue. Furthermore, most cases occurred in association with DENV-2. Further phylogenetic studies are needed to evaluate MAYV, which has not been widely examined

Lesões típicas da Doença de Chagas em aves com genoma alterado por integração de seqüências de minicírculos de kDNA de Trypanosoma cruzi

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Medicina, 2006.Acredita-se que a origem e evolução dos seres vivos foram antecedidas por uma complexa rede de interações entre moléculas, microrganismos e células em metazoários. Nesse processo, inúmeros eventos de rearranjo e transferência gênica teriam concorrido para o aumento da complexidade do genoma dos seres hoje existentes. O acúmulo de moléculas de DNA no núcleo das células eucariontes aumentou progressivamente a complexidade da herança genética, configurando um ponto chave na evolução dos organismos. Neste contexto, as evidências trazidas pela pesquisa relatada aqui mostram que os genomas continuam a receber um fluxo de DNA mediante a transferência gênica horizontal (TGH), seguida da herança das novas moléculas pela progênie. Acumulam-se as evidências mostrando que vários genes nos organismos eucariontes são oriundos de procariontes. Até recentemente a TGH era considerada evento raro que teria acontecido apenas em épocas remotas, visto que só era conhecida pela presença de ortólogos em genomas de procariontes e eucariontes. Entretanto, a pesquisa desenvolvida no nosso laboratório mostra que TGH é um evento esperado toda vez que o T. cruzi infecta uma célula eucarionte. O nosso modelo sugere que a barreira refletia apenas a dificuldade de flagrar tal evento entre seres vivos filogeneticamente distantes. Portanto, a noção que TGH seja um processo já extinto ou, na melhor hipótese, de muito baixa freqüência, não foi confirmada. A evidência em favor desta conclusão se encontra nos nossos achados prévios de TGH em coelhos, humanos e aves, onde a transferência de DNA de eucarionte para eucarionte foi documentada. O trabalho apresentado aqui documenta a integração de minicírculos de kDNA de T. cruzi no genoma de aves (TGH) e a sua transmissão vertical (TGV) para a progênie. As galinhas são susceptíveis ao T.cruzi somente nos primeiros dias de desenvolvimento embrionário. Após o oitavo dia de incubação a infecção intra-ovo é eliminada pela imunidade inata do embrião. Verificamos que no período crucial da infecção e do desenvolvimento do embrião ocorre a infecção da célula tronco pelo T. cruzi – ambos em acelerado processo de multiplicação – quando, então, ocorre a TGH. A demonstração de TGH (seqüências de minicírculos de kDNA do T. cruzi) para o genoma da galinha refratária à infecção representa, portanto, um modelo biológico limpo para o estudo da integração de kDNA que gera alterações genotípicas e patologia semelhante àquela da doença de Chagas humana. Indo além, foi documentada TGV pelo cruzamento de aves kDNA-positivas, permitindo a produção de progênie também kDNA-positivas, nas gerações F1, F2 e F3. A comprovação da TGV foi feita pela documentação da integração do kDNA no genoma de espermatozóides e de óvulos das aves kDNA-positivas. As aves kDNA-positivas (F0, F1, F2 e F3) desenvolveram sinais típicos da doença de Chagas: lesões nos músculos estriados cardíaco e esquelético, músculos lisos e gânglios parassimpáticos foram documentadas. Nas galinhas com kDNA integrado em seu genoma (portanto, sem a infecção) observou-se unidades mínimas de rejeição, caracterizadas por infiltrados mononucleares e lise da célula alvo. A confluência de unidades mínimas de rejeição reproduz a miocardite difusa típica da doença letal em hospedeiros mamíferos. Os achados deste estudo sugerem que a alteração genômica causada pela inserção de kDNA possa desencadear reação auto-imune no organismo hospedeiro. De fato, as lesões severas da doença de Chagas em aves com kDNA do parasito em seus genomas são sugestivas de que o T. cruzi é vetor de doença genética. A continuação do estudo que mostra integração de DNA do T. cruzi no hospedeiro, livre do parasito e alterações patológicas oriundas dessa mutação, pode contribuir para a elucidação dos mecanismos patogênicos que associam auto-imunidade com as lesões típicas da doença de Chagas.It has been said that origin and evolution of live organisms were anticipated by network interactions among molecules, microorganisms and cells into complex metazoa. It appears, in this process took place countless events of horizontal transfer of DNA (HGT) amongst species far distant in the phylogenetic tree, thus promoting increasing complexity of the existing organism genomes. The accumulation of DNA molecules in the eukaryote cell nucleus led to sustainable genetic inheritance, thus portraying a main pathway for the evolution of species. Within this framework, the research reported herein is consistent with the idea that genomes from eukaryotes can receive continuous flow of DNA by HGT. Furthermore, it has also been shown that HGT molecules can be inherited vertically (VGT) by the progeny. These observations are in keeping with previous evidence showing prokaryote orthologues that would have been inherited by eukaryotes. Although until recently HGT had been considered a rare event that took place in early epochs, as suggested by the evidence recently found in the vertebrate’s genome sequencing databank, the research carried out in our Laboratory shows that HGT is indeed a mostly expected event, which could be consistently demonstrated in vitro and in vivo. This demonstration does not confirm a previous concept describing HGT as a rare event, which would occur at a rather low frequency. The data reported here shows that HGT can be detected in each host cell undergoing T. cruzi infections and, therefore HGT was shown in a high ratio of chicks born from T. cruzi–infected eggs. In conjunction, our previous studies have shown a gamut of HGT in different in vitro and in vivo models depicting DNA transfer from eukaryote to eukaryote. The work presented here shows sequences of kDNA minicircles from T. cruzi integrated (HGT) within the chicken genome. Furthermore, crossings of kDNA-positive birds resulted in the transfer of the kDNA integrations (VGT) to progeny. The chickens are refractory to the T. cruzi infections, although the infections could get established in early stages of the embryos; after ten days of incubation the T. cruzi infection could be eliminated by the embryo innate immune response. We verified that in the crucial early period of the infection and embryo development the chick stem cells can be T. cruzi-infected. Thereafter host cell and parasite undergoing accelerated multiplication created the grounds for HGT. The demonstration of HGT of sequences of minicircles of kDNA to the chicken genome represents a clean biological system, since birds are refractory to T. cruzi. Accordingly, the chicken model allowed the study of the kDNA-integration that generate genotype alterations and pathology similar to those described in human Chagas disease. Besides, we have demonstrated VGT by the crossings of kDNA-positive birds, which yielded kDNA-integrated progeny. The kDNA-positive F1, F2 e F3 birds were obtained and proved to carry VGT through the kDNA integrations in male and female gametes. The kDNA-integrated birds (F0, F1, F2 e F3) developed clinical signals typical of Chagas disease: destructive lesions were documented in the striated skeletal and heart muscles, in the smooth muscles and in the parasympathetic ganglia. In the kDNA-integrated but parasite-free birds there were minimal rejection units characterized by the immune system mononuclear cell infiltrates and lyses of the host’s self target cells. The confluence of a gamut of minimal rejection units did reproduce a typical diffuse myocarditis hallmark of Chagas disease affecting mammal hosts. These results show that genomic alterations stemming form kDNA insertion-mutation can provoke auto-immune rejection of host tissues. In fact, the documentation of severe Chagas lesions in kDNA-integrated birds is consistent with our hypothesis that the T. cruzi is vector of a genetic disease. Further studies are required to unravel the practical consequences resulting from the T. cruzi kDNA integration in the parasite-free host organism. Such demonstrate could ultimately show much such kDNA integrations contribute to the development of pathological lesions typical of Chagas disease. Moreover, these studies could elucidate the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis calling forth auto-immunity in Chagas disease

Vigilância de chikungunya no Brasil: desafios no contexto da Saúde Pública

Resumo Objetivo: descrever os desafios da implantação do sistema de vigilância e prevenção de chikungunya no Brasil. Métodos: estudo descritivo dos casos suspeitos da doença notificados no Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (Sinan) entre 2014 e 2016. Resultados: no período estudado, foram notificados mais de 100 mil casos prováveis de chikungunya no país, com maior concentração nos estados do Nordeste (83,3% entre 2014 e 2015; 91,0% em 2016); o Sinan apresentou excelente oportunidade de encerramento dos casos entre 2014 e 2015 (85%) e alta completitude das variáveis obrigatórias. Conclusão: com a introdução de chikungunya no Brasil em 2014, houve um preparo prévio em termos de Saúde Pública para minimizar seus efeitos na sociedade; a implantação do sistema de vigilância ampliou a coleta de informações da doença, embora muitos desafios mostrem-se evidentes na prática, haja vista a incidência crescente de casos, demandando maior capacidade operante desse setor

Tellimagrandin-I and camptothin a exhibit chemopreventive effects in <i>Salmonella enterica</i> serovar Typhimurium strains and human lymphocytes

Tellimagrandin-I (TL) and camptothin A (CA) are ellagitannins widely found in diverse plant species. Numerous studies demonstrated their significant biological activities, which include antitumor, antioxidant, and hepatoprotective properties. Despite this protective profile, the effects of TL and CA on DNA have not been comprehensively investigated. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the mutagenic and antimutagenic effects attributed to TL and CA exposure on Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strains using the Ames test. In addition, the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects were examined on human lymphocytes, employing both trypan blue exclusion and CometChip assay. The antigenotoxic effect was determined following TL and CA exposure in the presence of co-treatment with doxorubicin (DXR). Our results from the Ames test indicated that TL or CA did not display marked mutagenic activity. However, TL or CA demonstrated an ability to protect DNA against the damaging effects of the mutagens 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide and sodium azide, thereby exhibiting antimutagenic properties. In relation to human lymphocytes, TL or CA did not induce significant cytotoxic or genotoxic actions on these cells. Further, these ellagitannins exhibited an ability to protect DNA from damage induced by DOX during co-treatment, indicating their potential beneficial usefulness as antigenotoxic agents. In conclusion, the protective effects of TL or CA against mutagens, coupled with their absence of genotoxic and cytotoxic effects on human lymphocytes, emphasize their potential therapeutic value in chemopreventive strategies.</p

Protective Effects of Silymarin and Silibinin against DNA Damage in Human Blood Cells

Silymarin (SM), a standardized extract derived from Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn, is primarily composed of flavonolignans, with silibinin (SB) as its major active constituent. The present study aimed to evaluate the antigenotoxic activities of SM and SB using the alkaline comet assay in whole blood cells and to assess their effects on the expression of genes associated with carcinogenesis and chemopreventive processes. Different concentrations of SM or SB (1.0, 2.5, 5.0, and 7.5 mg/ml) were used in combination with the DNA damage-inducing agent methyl methanesulfonate (MMS, 800 μM) to evaluate their genoprotective potential. To investigate the role of SM and SB in modulating gene expression, we performed quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis of five genes that are known to be involved in DNA damage, carcinogenesis, and/or chemopreventive mechanisms. Treatment with SM or SB was found to significantly reduce the genotoxicity of MMS, upregulate the expression of PTEN and BCL2, and downregulate the expression of BAX and ABL1. We observed no significant changes in ETV6 expression levels following treatment with SM or SB. In conclusion, both SM and SB exerted antigenotoxic activities and modulated the expression of genes related to cell protection against DNA damage