Hematološki profil farmski uzgajanog Sorubim lima: referentne vrijednosti, stanična morfologija i citokemija.

Hematology implies rapid and practical analysis to assist the diagnosis of fish homeostatic imbalance. This study determined the blood reference intervals in an important native South American catfish farmed in the Brazilian Pantanal wetland, Sorubim lima (Siluriformes, Pimelodidae), and describes the morphological and cytochemical characteristics of the cells. A total of 92 fish reared in a fish farm were examined for reference intervals 25 - 75% of total plasmatic protein, hemoglobin, red blood cell count (RBC), hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and total thrombocyte and leukocyte count (WBC). Periodic acid Schiff (PAS) with salivary amylase, bromophenol blue, Sudan black B and toluidine blue (metacromasy) were the cytochemical stains employed to signal glycogen, proteins, lipids and nuclei in thrombocytes and leucocytes. In the blood smears, monocytes, lymphocytes, neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, PAS - positive granular lymphocytes (LG-PAS) and thrombocytes were observed. Siluriforme similar results were observed in neutrophils and eosinophils morphology. Compared to other pimelodidae RBC, hematocrit and MCV showed the lowest index variation. In contrast to other siluriformes fish, S. lima showed the concomitant presence of circulating eosinophils and basophils.Hematologija podrazumijeva brze i praktične analize koje pomažu dijagnostici poremećene homeostatske ravnoteže u riba. Ovim istraživanjem utvrđeni su referentne vrijednosti morfoloških i citokemijskih obilježja krvnih stanica južnoameričkog soma Sorubim lima (Siluriformes, Pimelodidae), uzgajanog u močvarnim područjima Brazila. Kod ukupno 92 farmski uzgojene ribe istraženi su referentne vrijednosti za ukupne bjelačevine plazme, hemoglobin, broj eritrocita, hematokrit, srednji volumen eritrocita, prosječnu koncentraciju hemoglobina te ukupni broj trombocita i leukocita. Za citokemijsko određivanje glikogena, bjelančevina, masti te jezgri u trombocitima i leukocitima upotrijebljen je Schiffov perjodni reagens (PAS) s amilazom sline, bromfenolnim plavilom, sudanskim crnilom B i toluidinskim plavilom (metakromatska zrnca). U krvnim razmascima utvrđeni su monociti, limfociti, neutrofili, bazofili, eozinofili, PAS pozitivni granulirani limfociti i trombociti. Ustanovljeno je da je morfologija neutrofila slična onoj u riba somovki (Siluriformes). U usporedbi s ostalim dugobrkim ribama (Pimelodidae), broj eritrocita, hematokrit i srednji volumen eritrocita pokazali su najniži indeks varijacija. Za razliku od ostalih somovki, S. lima je pokazala istodobnu prisutnost cirkulirajućih eozinofila i bazofila

Striped dolphins as trace element biomonitoring tools in oceanic waters: accounting for health-related variables

In Europe, monitoring contaminant concentrations and their effects in the marine environment is required under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, 2008/56/EC). The striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) is the most abundant small cetacean species in Portuguese oceanic waters, representing a potential biomonitoring tool of contaminant levels in offshore waters. Concentrations of nine trace elements were evaluated by ICP-MS in kidney, liver and muscle samples of 31 striped dolphins stranded in the Portuguese continental coast. The mean renal Cd concentration was high (19.3 μg.g-1 wet weight, range 0.1-69.3 μg.g-1 wet weight) comparing to striped dolphins from other locations. Therefore, the present study reports a possibly concerning level of Cd in the oceanic food chain in Portuguese offshore areas. This study also aimed at evaluating potential relationships between trace element concentrations and striped dolphins' biological and health-related variables. Individual length was related with some of the trace element concentrations detected in striped dolphins. Indeed, Cd, Hg and Se bioaccumulated in larger animals, whereas the reverse was observed for Mn and Zn. Striped dolphins with high parasite burdens showed higher levels of Hg, while animals showing gross pathologies presented higher concentrations of Cd and Se. This study reported relationships between trace element concentrations and health-related variables for the first time in striped dolphins and it also provided information on the relative contamination status of Portuguese oceanic waters in comparison to other regions in the world.publishe

Understanding the clinical spectrum of complicated Plasmodium vivax malaria: a systematic review on the contributions of the Brazilian literature

The resurgence of the malaria eradication agenda and the increasing number of severe manifestation reports has contributed to a renewed interested in the Plasmodium vivax infection. It is the most geographically widespread parasite causing human malaria, with around 2.85 billion people living under risk of infection. The Brazilian Amazon region reports more than 50% of the malaria cases in Latin America and since 1990 there is a marked predominance of this species, responsible for 85% of cases in 2009. However, only a few complicated cases of P. vivax have been reported from this region. A systematic review of the Brazilian indexed and non-indexed literature on complicated cases of vivax malaria was performed including published articles, masters' dissertations, doctoral theses and national congresses' abstracts. The following information was retrieved: patient characteristics (demographic, presence of co-morbidities and, whenever possible, associated genetic disorders); description of each major clinical manifestation. As a result, 27 articles, 28 abstracts from scientific events' annals and 13 theses/dissertations were found, only after 1987. Most of the reported information was described in small case series and case reports of patients from all the Amazonian states, and also in travellers from Brazilian non-endemic areas. The more relevant clinical complications were anaemia, thrombocytopaenia, jaundice and acute respiratory distress syndrome, present in all age groups, in addition to other more rare clinical pictures. Complications in pregnant women were also reported. Acute and chronic co-morbidities were frequent, however death was occasional. Clinical atypical cases of malaria are more frequent than published in the indexed literature, probably due to a publication bias. In the Brazilian Amazon (considered to be a low to moderate intensity area of transmission), clinical data are in accordance with the recent findings of severity described in diverse P. vivax endemic areas (especially anaemia in Southeast Asia), however in this region both children and adults are affected. Finally, gaps of knowledge and areas for future research are opportunely pointed out

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio