AVALIAÇÃO DA INCIDÊNCIA DE Salmonella spp. EM PEQUENOS ROEDORES SILVESTRES CAPTURADOS EM FRAGMENTOS DE MATA LOCALIZADOS NO MUNICÍPIO DE JOAÇABA, SC

Diversas espécies de animais silvestres são reservatórios de patógenos de interesse na saúde humana e animal, sendo “agentes-chave” na permanência desses micro-organismos no ambiente. Os roedores são animais cosmopolitas e formam colônias nos mais diversos ambientes, podendo ser hospedeiros e vetores de micro-organismos patogênicos. Entre os patógenos de importância para a saúde humana e animal destaca-se o gênero Salmonella. Contaminações e infecções por essa bactéria são comumente descritas em humanos, alimentos, animais domésticos e, mais recentemente, em espécies de animais silvestres. Este estudo buscou avaliar a incidência de Salmonella spp. em roedores silvestres capturados em dois pontos de um fragmento de mata na cidade de Joaçaba, SC. A captura dos animais foi realizada entre março e agosto de 2013, sendo um dos pontos próximo a residências e o segundo no interior da mata, em armadilhas com iscas atrativas, obtendo-se onze roedores: quatro do gênero Oligoryzomys e sete da espécie Mus musculus. Os animais foram transferidos para terrários forrados com papel absorvente estéril, disponibilizando alimento e água estéreis em abundância, e neles foram mantidos até que fosse possível a coleta de suas fezes. As amostras de fezes foram transferidas para recipientes estéreis para análise. Aproximadamente um grama de amostra foi homogeneizado em dez mililitros de água peptonada tamponada e incubado a 36 °C por 16-18 horas para pré-enriquecimento. As culturas pré-enriquecidas foram semeadas por estriamento direto em placas de ágar Xilose Lisina Desoxicolato (incubado a 36 °C/24h) e 100 uL foram transferidos para tubos de Craigie inseridos em tubos de ensaio contendo o Meio Semi-sólido Rappaport Vassiliadis (incubado a 42,5 °C/24-48h). Após a incubação, observou-se o desenvolvimento de colônias características e estas identificadas por meio de kit de identificação bioquímica. Os resultados das análises indicaram ausência de Salmonella spp. em todas as amostras, porém, foram identificadas outras enterobactérias, como Acinetobacter baumannii/calcoaceticus, Citrobacter spp., Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp., Klebsiella pneumoniae, Providencia spp. e Providencia stuartii. Embora o número de roedores tenha sido pequeno, supõe-se que estes tenham pouca importância na veiculação de Salmonella na fauna silvestre do local de estudo. Esse resultado é bastante surpreendente, visto que esses animais, sobretudo os que vivem próximos às residências, são apontados como vetores do patógeno e são geralmente considerados o principal reservatório de Salmonella. O risco de transmissão de patógenos por animais sinantrópicos aos selvagens que se aproximam do ambiente domiciliar deve ser monitorado e, portanto, é imprescindível a realização de estudos sobre esses micro-organismos determinando a ocorrência e a frequência de infecções em animais selvagens, visando garantir que tanto a saúde desses animais quanto a dos humanos que habitam as proximidades das áreas sejam preservadas.Palavras Chave: Enterobactérias. Animais sinantrópicos. Reservatórios silvestres

A list of land plants of Parque Nacional do Caparaó, Brazil, highlights the presence of sampling gaps within this protected area

Brazilian protected areas are essential for plant conservation in the Atlantic Forest domain, one of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots. A major challenge for improving conservation actions is to know the plant richness, protected by these areas. Online databases offer an accessible way to build plant species lists and to provide relevant information about biodiversity. A list of land plants of “Parque Nacional do Caparaó” (PNC) was previously built using online databases and published on the website "Catálogo de Plantas das Unidades de Conservação do Brasil." Here, we provide and discuss additional information about plant species richness, endemism and conservation in the PNC that could not be included in the List. We documented 1,791 species of land plants as occurring in PNC, of which 63 are cited as threatened (CR, EN or VU) by the Brazilian National Red List, seven as data deficient (DD) and five as priorities for conservation. Fifity-one species were possible new ocurrences for ES and MG states

Saturated Fatty Acids Modulate Autophagy's Proteins In The Hypothalamus.

Autophagy is an important process that regulates cellular homeostasis by degrading dysfunctional proteins, organelles and lipids. In this study, the hypothesis that obesity could lead to impairment in hypothalamic autophagy in mice was evaluated by examining the hypothalamic distribution and content of autophagic proteins in animal with obesity induced by 8 or 16 weeks high fat diet to induce obesity and in response to intracerebroventricular injections of palmitic acid. The results showed that chronic exposure to a high fat diet leads to an increased expression of inflammatory markers and downregulation of autophagic proteins. In obese mice, autophagic induction leads to the downregulation of proteins, such as JNK and Bax, which are involved in the stress pathways. In neuron cell- line, palmitate has a direct effect on autophagy even without inflammatory activity. Understanding the cellular and molecular bases of overnutrition is essential for identifying new diagnostic and therapeutic targets for obesity

mRNA gene expression of autophagic proteins in the hypothalamus of obese mice.

<p>QRT-PCR was used to analyze the gene expression of <b>A.</b> Ulk1, <b>B.</b> BECN-1, <b>C.</b> ATG5, <b>D.</b> Map1lc3 and <b>E.</b> SQSTM1 in the hypothalamus of diet induced obese mice (16 weeks on a HFD) versus lean mice. Values are shown as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05; n = 6 animals per group.</p

Effect of saturated fatty acid in a neuron cell line.

<p><b>E</b>. Western-blotting shows the Beclin-1 and p62 to β-actin ratio, respectively in CLU-189 cell line treated with 500 μM of palmitic acid for 6, 12 or 24 hours. Values are shown as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05;</p

The contents of the autophagic proteins in the hypothalamus from diet induced obese mice with 8 and 16 weeks of treatment.

<p><b>A.</b> Western-blotting shows the Beclin-1 to β-actin ratio in the hypothalamus of obese mice with 8 weeks on a HFD. <b>B.</b> Western-blotting shows LC3-II to β-actin ratio in the hypothalamus of obese mice with 8 weeks on a HFD. <b>C.</b> p62 content in the hypothalamus of obese mice with 8 weeks on a HFD. <b>D.</b> Beclin-1 content in the hypothalamus of obese mice with 16 weeks on a HFD. <b>E.</b> LC3-II to β-actin ratio in the hypothalamus of obese mice with 16 weeks on a HFD. <b>F.</b> p62 content in the hypothalamus of obese mice with 16 weeks on a HFD. Values are shown as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05; n = 4–7 animals per group.</p

Rapamycin treatment decreases inflammation, endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis markers in obese mice.

<p><b>A and B.</b> Western blotting of pJNK and pEIF2α content in the hypothalamus of obese mice (16 weeks on a HFD) treated (once per day) for 5 days with 2 μl of a solution that contained 25 μM rapamycin (Rap) or saline (Sal). <b>C and D.</b> Bax and Bcl-2 content in hypothalamus of obese mice treated with rapamycin. Values are shown as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05; n = 5–6 animals per group.</p

Rapamycin treatment reverses the autophagic downregulation in obese mice.

<p><b>A.</b> Western blotting showing LC3-II to β-actin ratio in the hypothalamus of diet induced obese mice (16 weeks on a HFD) treated (once per day) for 5 days with 2 μl of a solution that contained 25 μM rapamycin (Rap) or saline (Sal). <b>B.</b> The p62 content in the hypothalamus of the diet induced obese mice treated with rapamycin. Values are shown as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05; n = 5–6 animals per group.</p

Metabolic parameters in mice treated with Rapamycin (icv).

<p><b>A</b> and <b>B</b>. GTT curve and area under the GTT of lean or obese mice (16 weeks of a HFD) treated with 2 μl of a solution that contained 25 μM rapamycin (Rap) or saline (Sal) once a day for 6 days. <b>C and D.</b> Food intake and weight modulation in obese mice treated with rapamycin. HFD versus chow diet in mice treated with saline and a HFD in mice treated with rapamycin versus a HFD in mice treated with saline. Values are shown as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05; n = 5–6 animals per group.</p

Effect of treatment with conditioned medium on hypothalamic neuron cell lien.

<p><b>A, B, C and D.</b> QRT-PCR was used to analyze the gene expression of TNF, Map1lc3, Sqstm1, Becn1, respectively. <b>E</b>. Western-blotting shows the Beclin-1, LC3-II and p62 to β-actin ratio, respectively in CLU-189 cell line treated with conditioned medium of microglia cells BV-2 treated with 500 μM of palmitic acid for 6 hours. Values are shown as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05;</p