Age-Related Reference Intervals of the Main Biochemical and Hematological Parameters in C57BL/6J, 129SV/EV and C3H/HeJ Mouse Strains

BACKGROUND: Although the mouse is the animal model most widely used to study the pathogenesis and treatment of human diseases, reference values for biochemical parameters are scanty or lacking for the most frequently used strains. We therefore evaluated these parameters in the C57BL/6J, 129SV/EV and C3H/HeJ mice. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We measured by dry chemistry 26 analytes relative to electrolyte balance, lipoprotein metabolism, and muscle/heart, liver, kidney and pancreas functions, and by automated blood counter 5 hematological parameters in 30 animals (15 male and 15 female) of each mouse strain at three age ranges: 1-2 months, 3-8 months and 9-12 months. Whole blood was collected from the retro-orbital sinus. We used quality control procedures to investigate analytical imprecision and inaccuracy. Reference values were calculated by non parametric methods (median and 2.5(th) and 97.5(th) percentiles). The Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for between-group comparisons. Median levels of GLU, LDH, Chol and BUN were higher, and LPS, AST, ALP and CHE were lower in males than in females (p range: 0.05-0.001). Inter-strain differences were observed for: (1) GLU, t-Bil, K+, Ca++, PO(4)- (p<0.05) and for TAG, Chol, AST, Fe++ (p<0.001) in 4-8 month-old animals; (2) for CK, Crea, Mg++, Na++, K+, Cl- (p<0.05) and BUN (p<0.001) in 2- and in 10-12 month-old mice; and (3) for WBC, RBC, HGB, HCT and PLT (p<0.05) during the 1 year life span. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results indicate that metabolic variations in C57BL/6J, 129SV/EV and C3H/HeJ mice after therapeutic intervention should be evaluated against gender- and age-dependent reference intervals

Porotaxia em larvas de Anocentor nitens e Haemaphysalis leporispalustris.

Estruturas tegumentares de larvas de Anocentor nitens e Haemaphysalis leporispalustris foram estudadas por microscopia óptica. Três tipos de estruturas tegumentares foram identificadas nas larvas das duas espécies: lirifissuras, pequenas glândulas e grandes glândulas de cera. Estas estruturas foram observadas isoladas ou associadas cobrindo todo o idiossoma, exceto no escudo onde não foram encontrados grandes glândulas de cera. Grandes glândulas de cera foram o tipo de estrutura mais estável dentro e entre as espécies, seguido pelas lirifissuras e pequenas glândulas. Pequenas glândulas, embora relativamente estáveis, mostraram um grande número de variações numéricas entre as espécies de carrapatos. Os padrões de lirifissuras, pequenas glândulas e grandes glândulas de cera mostraram diferenças marcantes quando comparadas entre si e com larvas de algumas espécies do gênero Amblyomma. Estas diferenças foram suficientes para diferenciar as larvas das espécies dos três gêneros.bitstream/item/24655/1/bpd51-carrapato.pd

PEGylated helper-dependent adenoviral vector expressing human Apo A-I for gene therapy in LDLR-deficient mice

Helper-dependent adenoviral (HD-Ad) vectors have great potential for gene therapy applications; however, their administration induces acute toxicity that impairs safe clinical applications. We previously observed that PEGylation of HD-Ad vectors strongly reduces the acute response in murine and primate models. To evaluate whether PEGylated HD-Ad vectors combine reduced toxicity with the correction of pathological phenotypes, we administered an HD-Ad vector expressing the human apolipoprotein A-I (hApoA-I) to low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-receptor-deficient mice (a model for familial hypercholesterolemia) fed a high-cholesterol diet. Mice were treated with high doses of HD-Ad-expressing apo A-I or its PEGylated version. Twelve weeks later, LDL levels were lower and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels higher in mice treated with either of the vectors than in untreated mice. After terminal killing, the areas of atherosclerotic plaques were much smaller in the vector-treated mice than in the control animals. Moreover, the increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines was lower and consequently the toxicity profile better in mice treated with PEGylated vector than in mice treated with the unmodified vector. This finding indicates that the reduction in toxicity resulting from PEGylation of HD-Ad vectors does not impair the correction of pathological phenotypes. It also supports the clinical potential of these vectors for the correction of genetic diseases

Anti-Leptospira spp. antibodies in ovines from Monte Negro municipality Rondonia State, Brazil

O presente estudo determinou a prevalência de anticorpos anti-Leptospira spp. em ovinos do Município de Monte Negro, RO. Foram examinados soros de 141 ovinos de raça, idade e sexo variados provenientes de 15 fazendas, pela técnica de Soroaglutinação Microscópica. Doze (80,0%) propriedades apresentaram pelo menos um animal reagente. Títulos de anticorpos iguais ou superiores a 100 foram detectados em 47 (33,3%) animais, e os sorovares mais frequentes foram Patoc (29,7%), Autumnalis (14,8%), Pyrogenes (10,6%), Australis (4,2%), Bratislava (4,2%), Hardjo (4,2%), Icterohaemorrhagiae (4,2%), Castellonis (2,1%) e Hebdomadis (2,1%). Em 11 (23,4%) soros não foi possível a determinação do provável sorovar envolvido na reação. Alerta-se também para a possibilidade de infecção no homem, tendo em vista as características regionais de fronteira agrícola amazônicaThe present study determined the prevalence of anti-Leptospira spp. antibodies in 141 ovines from 15 farms of the Monte Negro Municipality, Rondonia State, Brazil, by the microscopic agglutination test. Twelve (80.0%) farms presented at least 1 reactive animal. Antibodies titers of ≥ 100 were detected in 47 (33.3%) animals, the most frequent serovars being Patoc (29.7%), Autumnalis (14.8%), Pyrogenes (10.6%), Australis (4.2%), Bratislava (4.2%), Hardjo (4.2%), Icterohaemorrhagiae (4.2%), Castellonis (2.1%) and Hebdomadis (2.1%). In 11 (23.4%) sera it was not possible to determine the most frequent serovar involved. The results raise a warning as to the possibility of infection in the human being by Leptospira in light of the regional characteristics of the Amazon agricultural frontierCNP

Amblyomma cajennense (Fabricius, 1787) (Acari: Ixodidae), the Cayenne tick: phylogeography and evidence for allopatric speciation

Background: Amblyomma cajennense F. is one of the best known and studied ticks in the New World because of its very wide distribution, its economical importance as pest of domestic ungulates, and its association with a variety of animal and human pathogens. Recent observations, however, have challenged the taxonomic status of this tick and indicated that intraspecific cryptic speciation might be occurring. In the present study, we investigate the evolutionary and demographic history of this tick and examine its genetic structure based on the analyses of three mitochondrial (12SrDNA, d-loop, and COII) and one nuclear (ITS2) genes. Because A. cajennense is characterized by a typical trans-Amazonian distribution, lineage divergence dating is also performed to establish whether genetic diversity can be linked to dated vicariant events which shaped the topology of the Neotropics. Results: Total evidence analyses of the concatenated mtDNA and nuclear + mtDNA datasets resulted in well-resolved and fully congruent reconstructions of the relationships within A. cajennense. The phylogenetic analyses consistently found A. cajennense to be monophyletic and to be separated into six genetic units defined by mutually exclusive haplotype compositions and habitat associations. Also, genetic divergence values showed that these lineages are as distinct from each other as recognized separate species of the same genus. The six clades are deeply split and node dating indicates that they started diverging in the middle-late Miocene. Conclusions: Behavioral differences and the results of laboratory cross-breeding experiments had already indicated that A. cajennense might be a complex of distinct taxonomic units. The combined and congruent mitochondrial and nuclear genetic evidence from this study reveals that A. cajennense is an assembly of six distinct species which have evolved separately from each other since at least 13.2 million years ago (Mya) in the earliest and 3.3 Mya in the latest lineages. The temporal and spatial diversification modes of the six lineages overlap the phylogeographical history of other organisms with similar extant trans-Amazonian distributions and are consistent with the present prevailing hypothesis that Neotropical diversity often finds its origins in the Miocene, after the Andean uplift changed the topology and consequently the climate and ecology of the Neotropics.Fil: Beati, Lorenza. Georgia State University; Estados UnidosFil: Nava, Santiago. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Santa Fe. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria, Rafaela; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe; ArgentinaFil: Burkman, Erica J.. Georgia State University; Estados UnidosFil: Barros Battesti, Darcy M.. Governo Do Estado de Sao Paulo. Secretaria Da Saude. Instituto Butantan; Brasil;Fil: Labruna, Marcelo B.. Universidade do Sao Paulo; Brasil;Fil: Guglielmone, Alberto Alejandro. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Santa Fe. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria, Rafaela; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe; ArgentinaFil: Cáceres, Abraham G.. Instituto Nacional de Salud; PerúFil: Guzman Cornejo, Carmen. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; México;Fil: Léon, Renato. Universidad San Francisco de Quito; Ecuador;Fil: Durden, Lance A.. Georgia State University; Estados UnidosFil: Faccini, João L.H.. Universidade Federal Rural Do Rio de Janeiro; Brasi

Porotaxia em larva de carrapatos do gênero Amblyomma como caracterísiticas morfológicas adicionais para a identificação dos estágios imaturos.

Variabilidade intraespecífica e interespecífica das estruturas tegumentares sobre o idiossoma.bitstream/CPAF-RO-2009-09/12171/1/bpd45_porotaxia-em-larvas-de-carrapatos.pd