Damage induction by direct electric current in tumoural target cells

554-558Damage induction to tumour target cells (P815) by direct electric current (DC) was investigated. A 6 min treatment of P815 cells with DC generated decreased levels of cell viability and proliferation. The ultrastructural analysis of DC-treated cells revealed the presence of blebs, loss of cell surface filopodia, and ruptures in cell membrane. Mitochondrial alterations, swelling of cells, cytoplasmic matrix rarefaction, and cellular debri formation were also observed. The study shows that tumoural target cells can be damaged by direct electric current and this approach may provide means to understand the mechanism of tumour regression induced by electrochemical therapy

Crude ethanol extract from babassu (Orbignya speciosa): cytotoxicity on tumoral and non-tumoral cell lines

Plant-derived substances have been considered as important sources of drugs, including antineoplasic agents. Babassu mesocarp is popularly used in Brazil as a food additive, and in popular medicine against several conditions, such as inflammations, menstrual pains and leukaemia. From babassu Orbignya speciosa (Mart.) Barb. Rodr. [Arecaceae (Palmae)] epicarp/mesocarp, an ethanol extract was prepared and named OSEME, which was tested on the viability,morphology and metabolism of several cell lines, such as the leukaemic cell lines, HL-60, K562 and the latter multidrug resistant counterpart K562-Lucena 1, the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7, the mouse fibroblast cell line 3T3-L1 and fresh human lymphocytes. OSEME promoted a dose-dependent decrease on the viability of all cells. This effect was much more pronounced on the tumoral cell lines than on non-tumoral cells, a phenomenon revealed by the dose of OSEME which promotes half of maximal effect (ID50). The decrease on viability was followed by shrinkage of cells, alteration on their morphology, and a markedly nuclear condensation. Curiously, stimulation of 6-phosphofructokinase activity (6.6-times) was observed on HL-60 cells, treated with OSEME, when compared to control treated with ethanol (vehicle). These results support evidences to suggest OSEME as a promising source of novel antineoplasic agents

The use of homeopathy to prevent symptoms of human flu and acute respiratory infections: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial with 600 children from Brazilian public health service

Sonia Regina Lambert Passos. Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Documento produzido em parceria ou por autor vinculado à Fiocruz, mas não consta a informação no documento.Submitted by Repositório Arca ([email protected]) on 2019-04-24T16:46:40Z No. of bitstreams: 1 license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5)Approved for entry into archive by Janaína Nascimento ([email protected]) on 2019-11-13T14:51:02Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 ve_Lyrio_Carlos_etal_INI_2011.pdf: 124203 bytes, checksum: a6db7a937020818a2d19a9fab7994ab6 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2019-11-13T14:51:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 ve_Lyrio_Carlos_etal_INI_2011.pdf: 124203 bytes, checksum: a6db7a937020818a2d19a9fab7994ab6 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011Roberto Costa Institute. Petrópolis, RJ, Brazil.Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Pontifice Catholic University. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Federal University of São Paulo. São Paulo, SP, Brazil.Rio de Janeiro State University. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Roberto Costa Institute. Petrópolis, RJ, Brazil.Roberto Costa Institute. Petrópolis, RJ, Brazil.In Brazil, homeopathy was implemented in the Public Health Service through the National Policy on Complementary and Integrative Practices of the Health Ministry, published in 2006. Homeopathy appears as a very interesting therapy to be used in the Public Health Services since its medicines are compounded at a very low cost. Considering this interesting scenario to develop research in the Public Health, the Family Health Program (FHP) in Petropolis and the Faculty of Pharmacy at UFRJ started a partnership with the Roberto Costa Institute. A homeopathy clinical trial, employing a control protocol (double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled), was developed as a result of this partnership starting in April 2009 and ending in April 2010. This clinical trial, approved by the Ethics Committee at UFRJ, number 194/08, aimed to evaluate the efficacy of two types of biotherapics to prevent symptoms of both flu and acute respiratory infections, compared to placebo (ethanol 30%). The biotherapics tested were ARI (Acute Respiratory Infection) and InfluBio. ARI is a homeopathic complex containing three different microorganisms related to respiratory infection while InfluBio is a biotherapic compounded from infectious influenza A virus. Before the development of this clinical trial, ARI had been used routinely in FHP, in Petropolis, to prevent acute respiratory infections in patients. The qualitative results obtained from this application suggested that this medicine has a prophylactic potential in the treatment of respiratory diseases. Additionally, we evaluated the antiviral activity of InfluBio using in vitro methodology and the promising results obtained motivated our group to test it in a clinical trial. With this aim, 600 children, from 1 to 5 years of age, were selected by physicians in 21 units of FHP, following the inclusion/exclusion criteria. For 1 month (April 2009), the children received daily, in a blind manner, the test solutions (placebo, ARI, InfluBio) in the posology of 1 drop per year of age. After 30 days, the use of these solutions was interrupted, and the health agents monitored the children for the subsequent twelve months, registering, in a specific questionnaire, symptoms of flu and acute respiratory infections. The respiratory symptoms that were to be reported were: runny nose, fever, prostration, myalgia, cough and headache. In the occurrence of one or more of these symptoms, the health agents evaluated the necessity of intervention by the physician. Of the 600 children, 450 completed the planned monitoring. The main reasons why 150 quit the treatment were change of address and parents’ abandonment. Additionally, no death was recorded and all the children presented good clinical evolution. In the case of the children who received placebo, the frequency of episodes diagnosed as acute respiratory infection/flu was three times higher when compared to those that received the ARI and InfluBio samples, considering the superior limit of the interquartile interval. Moreover, children treated with these biotherapics did not present any or presented only a single episode of ARI/Flu. These results showed that both biotherapics tested were statistically higher (p<0.01) than placebo, i.e., the biotherapics minimized the frequency of symptomatic episodes of flu. Besides the proved efficacy of homeopathic medicines, the homeopathic treatment presents the additional advantages that include the low cost of medicine compounding and the absence of registered adverse effects, which put this therapeutic as a very useful option for the Public Health Services