Clastogenic effect of bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum v. arachnoideum) diet in peripheral lymphocytes of human consumers : preliminary data.

Ingestion of bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum v. arachnoideum) is associated with digestive tract cancer in different regions of Japan, Venezuela and Brazil. In view of reports that dietary bracken fern causes chromosomal instability in cattle, the clastogenic effect of bracken fern was investigated, in a preliminary study, in peripheral lymphocytes obtained from habitual consumers and a control group of non-consumers, which were carefully investigated about cancer history or family cancer history, negative in both cases, using protocols comparable to those previously described in studies in cattle raised on bracken pastures. Cytogenetic analysis showed significant increased levels of chromosomal abnormalities, such as chromatid breaks, in cultured peripheral lymphocytes of the consumer group. There was no correlation with subjects, gender, smoking habits or alcohol consumption, and the only correlation was with prolonged exposure to dietary bracken

Human papillomavirus infection in Brazilian women with normal cervical cytology.

We examined the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in a sample of Brazilian women presenting normal cervical cytology. Possible interactions between patient characteristics and HPV infection were analyzed in order to provide background data to improve cervical cancer screening and prophylaxis. Cervical samples of 399 women, received for routine evaluation in the Health Department of Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil, were subjected to HPV-DNA testing by PCR with MY09/11 primers. HPV-positive specimens were typed by RFLP. A structured epidemiological questionnaire was administered to each woman. HPV prevalence among these cytologically normal women was 11%. Twelve viral types were detected, the most common being HPV-16, -6, -61, -83, and -66. HPV was more prevalent in younger women; high-risk viral types were detected in 61% of the infected women and 27% of the infected women had multiple HPV infections. Significant associations of HPV infection were found with age, literacy, residence, marital status, lifetime number of sexual partners, and parity. We detected a great diversity of HPV types in women with normal cytology. This kind of information about local populations is useful for HPV prevention and vaccination strategies

Can established cultured papilloma cells harbor bovine papillomavirus?

Papillomaviruses have been reported to be very dif¬ficult to grow in cell culture. Also, there are no descriptions of cell cultures from lesions of bovine cutaneous papillomatosis, with identification of different bovine papilloma virus (BPV) DNA se¬quences. In the present report, we describe primary cell cultures from samples of cutaneous lesions (warts). We investigated the si¬multaneous presence of different BPV DNA sequences, comparing the original lesion to different passages of the cell cultures and to peripheral blood. BPV 1, 2 and 4 DNA sequences were found in lesion samples, and respective cell cultures and peripheral blood, supporting our previous hypothesis of the possible activity of these sequences in different samples and now also showing how they can be maintained in different passages of cell cultures