Carvacrol, (-)-borneol and citral reduce convulsant activity in rodents

Carvacrol, a monoterpenic phenol present in essential oils of the Labiatae family, has been used through the ages as a source of flavor in food and for medicinal purposes. Borneol is a monoterpene found in several species of Artemisia and Dipterocarpaceae, used for anxiety, pain and anesthesia in traditional Chinese. Citral, a mixture of two geometrical isomers (neral and geranial), is one of the most important compounds in some citrus oils and has central nervous system (CNS) properties. The anticonvulsant effect of carvacrol (CARV), (-)-borneol (BOR) and citral (CIT) was investigated in two animal models of epilepsy. Mice were pretreated with CARV, BOR or CIT (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, i.p.) 30 min before pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) or maximal electroshock (MES) tests, the two most important animal epilepsy tests. The latency for development of convulsions and protection percentage was recorded. In order to investigate the involvement of GABAergic system, flumazenil was utilized. These monoterpenes, CARV in a higher, but not in a lower dose (p < 0.001), BOR and CIT in all doses (p < 0.05 or p < 0.001), were capable of promoting an increase of latency for the development of convulsions induced by PTZ. Additionally, these compounds were efficient in preventing the tonic convulsions (p < 0.05) induced by MES. However, the GABAergic neurotransmitter system might be involved, at least in BOR effects. Henceforth, our results suggest that CARV, BOR and CIT possess anticonvulsant activity effect against PTZ-induced convulsions and MES.Key words: Carvacrol, (-)-borneol, citral, anticonvulsant activit

Study of intrinsic risk factors for falls in institutionalized elderly people

Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo identificar a presença de fatores intrínsecos que predispõem a quedas em idosos moradores em instituições de longa permanência na cidade de Goiânia (GO). Trata-se de estudo descritivo transversal realizado em seis instituições de longa permanência para idosos existentes na cidade de Goiânia. A amostra da investigação constou de 95 idosos que atenderam aos critérios de inclusão e exclusão. Utilizou-se um questionário contendo dados clínicos relacionados às condições de saúde-doença; dados cognitivos; avaliação da capacidade para as atividades básicas de vida diária e avaliação do equilíbrio e marcha. Os idosos avaliados, no geral, apresentam vários fatores de risco, apontados pela literatura, para quedas, tais como: relato de dificuldade motora em membros inferiores (90%), déficit visual (81,1%), uso de três ou mais medicamentos (59,7%), suspeita de depressão (37,9%), falta de equilíbrio em apoio unipodal (37,9%) e altura do passo anormalmente diminuída (32,6%). As informações obtidas nos permitem apontar condições determinantes que aumentam a possibilidade dos eventos queda acontecerem na amostra estudada, sinalizando à necessidade de que estratégias de promoção de saúde, prevenção de agravos e reabilitação devam ser tomadas. _________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTThe objective of this research was to identify intrinsic risk factors that predispose elderly people living in long-term institutions in the city of Goiânia (GO) to falls. The present descriptive transversal study was carried out in six long-term institutions for seniors in the city of Goiânia. The investigated sample consisted of 95 elderly that fitted the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A questionnaire was used for collecting clinical data related to health-disease conditions; cognitive data; capacity to develop basic daily life activities and equilibrium and gait. In general terms, as pointed out the literature, the examined elderly presented different fall risk factors such as: motor difficulty in lower limbs (90%), visual deficit (81,1%), use of 3 or more kinds of medicines (59,7%), suspected depression (37,9%), lack of equilibrium/unstable unipodal support (37,9%) abnormally decreased height in step (32,6%). The obtained data allow us to set indicators for the increase in falls among the studied sample, demonstrating the need for creating strategies for health promotion, prevention of injuries and rehabilitation

Homemade oral supplement: a proposal for the nutritional recovery of children and adolescents with cancer

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of homemade oral supplements on the nutritional recovery of patients with mild or severe malnutrition or at nutritional risk. Methods Eight recipes of homemade oral supplements containing 30% to 35% of the total energy expenditure were proposed. The patients with severe malnutrition (group B) received the oral supplement for 2 weeks and the others for 4 weeks (group A). Oral supplementation with homemade supplements was compared with oral supplementation with store-bought supplements, investigated earlier with a protocol with the same design. Results Homemade oral supplements contain much lower amounts of certain micronutrients but are five times cheaper than store-bought supplements. In group A, 88% of the patients taking homemade oral supplements and 84% of the patients taking store-bought supplements responded positively to supplementation. In group B, 22% of the patients taking homemade oral supplements and 25% of the patients taking store-bought supplements recovered. The difference was not significant. The impact of store-bought supplementation on the triceps skinfold thicknesses and arm circumferences of the patients in group A was greater than that obtained with homemade supplements. In group B, the effect on triceps skinfold thickness was not significant (p=0.16). Patients taking homemade or store-bought oral supplements presented similar protein and energy intakes and improvements in nutritional status. Only the body composition of patients in group A taking store-bought oral supplements was better. Conclusion The results obtained by this study suggest that the therapeutic use of homemade oral supplements is an alternative capable of promoting the nutritional recovery of cancer patients, especially those who cannot afford store-bought supplements.Objetivo Avaliar o impacto do suplemento oral artesanal na recuperação do estado nutricional de pacientes com desnutrição leve, grave e com risco nutricional. Métodos Propuseram-se oito receitas de suplementos visando ofertar entre 30,0% e 35,0% do gasto energético total. Os pacientes com desnutrição grave (grupo B) receberam o suplemento oral por duas semanas, e os demais pacientes (grupo A), por quatro semanas. Para a comparação dos resultados obtidos com o emprego do suplemento oral artesanal, foram utilizados dados referentes a um protocolo anterior, com o mesmo desenho, entretanto, com a utilização de suplemento oral industrializado. Resultados O suplemento oral artesanal fica muito aquém no que diz respeito a alguns micronutrientes, entretanto é cinco vezes mais barato do que a preparação com o suplemento oral industrializado. Os pacientes do grupo A com suplemento oral artesanal apresentaram 88,0% de resposta positiva na semana de avaliação, enquanto os com suplemento oral industrializado tiveram 84,0%. No grupo B, foram recuperados 22,0% dos pacientes com suplemento oral artesanal e 25,0% do grupo com suplemento oral industrializado, não apresentando, portanto, diferença significante. Comparando o impacto do industrializado com o do artesanal na prega cutânea tricipital e circunferência do braço, verificou-se que o suplemento oral industrializado no grupo A apresentou melhores resultados que o suplemento oral artesanal, e no grupo B, esse efeito observado na prega cutânea não foi significante (p=0,16). Os consumos de energia e de proteína, assim como a evolução nutricional, foram semelhantes entre suplemento oral industrializado e suplemento oral artesanal. Apenas a composição corpórea no grupo A com suplemento oral industrializado apresentou melhores resultados. Conclusão Os resultados apresentados neste estudo sugerem que o emprego da terapia com suplemento artesanal seja uma opção capaz de auxiliar na recuperação nutricional de pacientes oncológicos e uma opção para populações financeiramente desfavorecidas.Hospital Samaritano de São PauloInstituto Adriana GarófoloUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de Pediatria Instituto de Oncologia PediátricaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de PediatriaUNIFESP, Depto. de Pediatria Instituto de Oncologia PediátricaUNIFESP, Depto. de PediatriaSciEL

Effects of conversion of native cerrado vegetation to pasture on soil hydro-physical properties, evapotranspiration and streamflow on the Amazonian agricultural frontier

Understanding the impacts of land-use change on landscape-hydrological dynamics is one of the main challenges in the Northern Brazilian Cerrado biome, where the Amazon agricultural frontier is located. Motivated by the gap in literature assessing these impacts, we characterized the soil hydro-physical properties and quantified surface water fluxes from catchments under contrasting land-use in this region. We used data from field measurements in two headwater micro-catchments with similar physical characteristics and different land use, i.e. cerrado sensu stricto vegetation and pasture for extensive cattle ranching. We determined hydraulic and physical properties of the soils, applied ground-based remote sensing techniques to estimate evapotranspiration, and monitored streamflow from October 2012 to September 2014. Our results show significant differences in soil hydro-physical properties between the catchments, with greater bulk density and smaller total porosity in the pasture catchment. We found that evapotranspiration is smaller in the pasture (639 ± 31% mm yr-1) than in the cerrado catchment (1,004 ± 24% mm yr-1), and that streamflow from the pasture catchment is greater with runoff coefficients of 0.40 for the pasture and 0.27 for the cerrado catchment. Overall, our results confirm that conversion of cerrado vegetation to pasture causes soil hydro-physical properties deterioration, reduction in evapotranspiration reduction, and increased streamflow