Influence of dietary n-6 and n-3 lipids upon the development of pulmonary granulomas induced by Schistosoma mansoni eggs

Pulmonary granuloma development was studied in mice injected with 2x103 Schistosoma mansoni eggs through the main tail vein. Mice were divided into three groups and fed with a laboratory manipulated diet differing among them only in the source of fatty acids. Control group (CT) was fed with a soya oil diet; n-6 deficient animals (low n-6 group) received a supplemented coconut fat diet; and the third group, high n-3, was fed with a cod liver oil diet. The expected anti-inflammatory actions associated with essential fatty acids deficiency was noticed in our system. When compared with CT, animals fed with the n-6 deficient diet presented significantly reduced pulmonary granulomas 32 days after egg injection. Mice fed with high n-3 diet had pulmonary granulomas reduced as soon as 16 days post egg injection. Mean granuloma measurements for CT at days 8, 16 and 32 were, in 103μ2, respectively 7.52 5.92, 32.70 18.09, 32.22 19.87; for n-6 deficient animals 17.65 18.85, 36.14 29.14, 24.45 14.06; and for high n-3 group were 11.60 12.67, 9.97 12.34, 25.54 16.66

RNAi-mediated suppression of vimentin or glial fibrillary acidic protein prevents the establishment of Müller glial cell hypertrophy in progressive retinal degeneration.

Gliosis is a complex process comprising upregulation of intermediate filament (IF) proteins, particularly glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin, changes in glial cell morphology (hypertrophy) and increased deposition of inhibitory extracellular matrix molecules. Gliosis is common to numerous pathologies and can have deleterious effects on tissue function and regeneration. The role of IFs in gliosis is controversial, but a key hypothesized function is the stabilization of glial cell hypertrophy. Here, we developed RNAi approaches to examine the role of GFAP and vimentin in vivo in a murine model of inherited retinal degeneration, the Rhodopsin knockout (Rho-/- ) mouse. Specifically, we sought to examine the role of these IFs in the establishment of Müller glial hypertrophy during progressive degeneration, as opposed to (more commonly assessed) acute injury. Prevention of Gfap upregulation had a significant effect on the morphology of reactive Müller glia cells in vivo and, more strikingly, the reduction of Vimentin expression almost completely prevented these cells from undergoing degeneration-associated hypertrophy. Moreover, and in contrast to studies in knockout mice, simultaneous suppression of both GFAP and vimentin expression led to severe changes in the cytoarchitecture of the retina, in both diseased and wild-type eyes. These data demonstrate a crucial role for Vimentin, as well as GFAP, in the establishment of glial hypertrophy and support the further exploration of RNAi-mediated knockdown of vimentin as a potential therapeutic approach for modulating scar formation in the degenerating retina

Angular dependence of the bulk nucleation field Hc2 of aligned MgB2 crystallites

The angular dependence of the bulk nucleation field of a sample made of aligned MgB2 crystallites was obtained using dc magnetization and ac susceptibility measurements. A good fitting of the data by the three-dimensional anisotropic Ginzburg-Landau theory attests to the bulk nature of the critical field H-c2. We found a mass anisotropy ratio epsilon2 approximate to0.39 that implies an anisotropy of the Fermi velocity, with a ratio of 1.6 between the in-plane and perpendicular directions, if an isotropic gap energy is assumed. For an s-wave anisotropic gap this ratio could increase to 2.5. Besides the fundamental implications of this result, it also implies the use of texturization techniques to optimize the critical current in wires and other polycrystalline forms of MgB2.641

Structure and regional representativeness of the herpetofauna from Parque Estadual da Serra de Caldas Novas, Cerrado, Central Brazil

Amphibians and reptiles are diversified in the Cerrado biome but have been threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, as well as lack of understanding of their distribution. Therefore, collection and organization of information about species in natural environments are essential for conservation, especially in Protected areas (PAs) and their adjacent zones. We present information about the composition and structure of the herpetofauna from Parque Estadual da Serra de Caldas Novas (PESCAN) and its representativeness in comparison to other PAs in the Cerrado. Fieldwork was conducted in 12 sampling sites from February 2009 to February 2010, using active search and pitfall traps. We recorded 41 species of amphibians, with greatest richness in sites with open vegetation and water bodies. Reptiles were represented by 32 species, with the greatest species richness in cerrado open environments. Both amphibian and reptile communities were more similar to those from geographically closer PAs and located in the central region of the Cerrado (State of Goiás and Distrito Federal). The PESCAN holds 24.85% and 17.98% of amphibians and reptiles species occurring in Cerrado PAs, respectivelly. This large representativeness and the high number of endemisms (18 amphibians and 7 reptiles) emphasize the importance of the PESCAN, together with other PAs, for the maintenance of regional biodiversity. In addition, we also encourage researches evaluating amphibian and reptile communities outside PAs, such as legal reserves, and we suggest new approaches to study the biodiversity of protected areas. © 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group