Revisão sobre o uso de ferramentas múltiplas em estudos tróficos de comunidade de peixes

Fishes are among the most well-studied groups in papers aiming to analyze food webs and the trophic relations between their organisms. Their importance comes from the potential of the ichthyofauna to consume different types of prey, allowing the fishes to be representative at different trophic levels. However, the feeding plasticity showed by this group makes it difficult to reach a conclusive evaluation about their diets. The goal of this review is to describe the different tools used to evaluate fish diets, including their limitations and advantages. The stomach contents analysis describes and quantifies the diet, but it does not take into account the assimilation of food items. This information can be obtained through stable isotope analyses, influenced by turnover and fractionation rates. The bioaccumulation of mercury along a food web makes it a good indicator of the trophic level of organisms. These tools can provide complementary data, and thus studies including a multiple approach can give a better understanding of how different groups participate in the fish diets.Keywords: fishes, stomach contents, stable isotopes, total mercury.Os peixes estão entre os grupos mais estudados em trabalhos que investigam as teias alimentares e as relações tróficas entre os organismos que as compõem. Sua importância vem do potencial que a ictiofauna apresenta para consumir diferentes tipos de presas, permitindo que a comunidade íctica seja representativa em diferentes níveis de uma teia trófica. Porém, a plasticidade alimentar mostrada pelos peixes torna difícil uma avaliação conclusiva acerca de sua dieta. O objetivo desta revisão é descrever o uso de diferentes ferramentas, incluindo suas limitações e vantagens, que podem ajudar na avaliação da dieta dos peixes. A análise de conteúdo estomacal permite caracterizar e quantificar a dieta das espécies, mas não fornece dados acerca da assimilação dos itens alimentares. Essa informação pode ser obtida através da análise de isótopos estáveis, influenciada pelas taxas de turnover e pelo fracionamento isotópico. Finalmente, a bioacumulação de mercúrio ao longo de uma teia alimentar torna-o um bom indicador do nível trófico dos organismos. Essas ferramentas podem fornecer dados complementares entre si, de forma que trabalhos incluindo uma abordagem múltipla podem ajudar a entender melhor como presas de diferentes grupos participam na alimentação dos peixes.Palavras-chave: peixes, conteúdo estomacal, isótopos estáveis, mercúrio total

Leptin Downregulates LPS-Induced Lung Injury: Role of Corticosterone and Insulin

Background/Aims: We investigated the effects of leptin in the development of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung inflammation (ALI) in lean mice. Methods: Mice were administered leptin (1.0 mu g/g) or leptin (1.0 mu g/g) followed by LPS (1.5 mu g/g) intranasally. Additionally, some animals were given LPS (1.5 mu g/g) or saline intranasally alone, as a control. Tissue samples and fluids were collected six hours after instillation. Results: We demonstrated that leptin alone did not induce any injury. Local LPS exposure resulted in significant acute lung inflammation, characterized by a substantial increase in total cells, mainly neutrophils, in bronchoalveolar lavages (BAL). We also observed a significant lymphocyte influx into the lungs associated with enhanced lung expression of chemokines and cytokines (KC, RANTES, TNF-alpha, IFN-beta, GM-CSF and VEGF). LPS-induced ALI was characterized by the enhanced expression of ICAM-1 and iNOS in the lungs. Mice that received LPS showed an increase in insulin levels. Leptin, when administered prior to LPS instillation, abolished all of these effects. LPS induced an increase in corticosterone levels, and leptin potentiated this event. Conclusion: These data suggest that exogenous leptin may promote protection during sepsis, and downregulation of the insulin levels and upregulation of corticosterone may be important mechanisms in the amelioration of LPS-induced ALI.Copyright (c) 2014 S. Karger AG, BaselConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Complex Fluids INCTFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Univ São Paulo, Inst Biomed Sci 1, Dept Pharmacol, Lab Hypertens, BR-1524 São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Inst Biomed Sci, Dept Immunol, Lab Transplantat Immunobiol, BR-1524 São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Lab Inflammat & Vasc Pharmacol, BR-05508 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Div Nephrol, Lab Clin & Expt Immunobiol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Div Nephrol, Lab Clin & Expt Immunobiol, São Paulo, BrazilFAPESP: 12/51104-8FAPESP: 10/01404-0FAPESP: 12/02270-2FAPESP: 12/10512-6Web of Scienc

Coronaviruses Detected in Brazilian Wild Birds Reveal Close Evolutionary Relationships with Beta- and Deltacoronaviruses Isolated From Mammals

This study showed that the most of the coronaviruses (CoVs) detected in Brazilian wild birds clustered with the mouse hepatitis virus A59 strain, belonging to the BetaCoV group. Furthermore, CoV detected in two different bird species, Amazona vinacea and Brotogeris tirica, clustered with a CoV isolated from Sparrow (SpaCoV HKU17) belonging to a monophyletic group related with the CoVs isolated from swines (PorCoV HKU15), both belonging to the DeltaCoV genus, previously unreported in South America. Considering the risk of inter-species host switching and further adaptation to new hosts, detection in bird species of CoVs closely related to mammal CoVs should warn for the potential emergence of new threatening viruses.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (Grants 2013/03922-6 and 2011/50919-5

Dor na fibromialgia e sono: uma revisão de literatura/Pain in fibromyalgia and sleep: a literature review

Esse artigo busca relacionar, a partir de uma revisão sistemática de literatura, a intensidade da dor da fibromialgia (FM) com a qualidade de sono do paciente. A FM leva a dor crônica intensa que pode vir a ter impacto significativo no sono. Com base nesse estudo enfatizou-se a importância de abordagem multidisciplinar no tratamento dessa doença reumatológica

Uptake of oxLDL and IL-10 production by macrophages requires PAFR and CD36 recruitment into the same lipid rafts

Macrophage interaction with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) leads to its differentiation into foam cells and cytokine production, contributing to atherosclerosis development. In a previous study, we showed that CD36 and the receptor for platelet-activating factor (PAFR) are required for oxLDL to activate gene transcription for cytokines and CD36. Here, we investigated the localization and physical interaction of CD36 and PAFR in macrophages stimulated with oxLDL. We found that blocking CD36 or PAFR decreases oxLDL uptake and IL-10 production. OxLDL induces IL-10 mRNA expression only in HEK293T expressing both receptors (PAFR and CD36). OxLDL does not induce IL-12 production. The lipid rafts disruption by treatment with βCD reduces the oxLDL uptake and IL-10 production. OxLDL induces co-immunoprecipitation of PAFR and CD36 with the constitutive raft protein flotillin-1, and colocalization with the lipid raft-marker GM1-ganglioside. Finally, we found colocalization of PAFR and CD36 in macrophages from human atherosclerotic plaques. Our results show that oxLDL induces the recruitment of PAFR and CD36 into the same lipid rafts, which is important for oxLDL uptake and IL-10 production. This study provided new insights into how oxLDL interact with macrophages and contributing to atherosclerosis development

Raman evidence for pressure-induced formation of diamondene.

Despite the advanced stage of diamond thin-film technology, with applications ranging from superconductivity to biosensing, the realization of a stable and atomically thick two-dimensional diamond material, named here as diamondene, is still forthcoming. Adding to the outstanding properties of its bulk and thin-film counterparts, diamondene is predicted to be a ferromagnetic semiconductor with spin polarized bands. Here, we provide spectroscopic evidence for the formation of diamondene by performing Raman spectroscopy of double-layer graphene under high pressure. The results are explained in terms of a breakdown in the Kohn anomaly associated with the finite size of the remaining graphene sites surrounded by the diamondene matrix. Ab initio calculations and molecular dynamics simulations are employed to clarify the mechanism of diamondene formation, which requires two or more layers of graphene subjected to high pressures in the presence of specific chemical groups such as hydroxyl groups or hydrogens

[Book of abstracts]

USPFAPESPCAPESICMC Summer Meeting on Differential Equations (2015 São Carlos

SARS-CoV-2 uses CD4 to infect T helper lymphocytes

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the agent of a major global outbreak of respiratory tract disease known as Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 infects mainly lungs and may cause several immune-related complications, such as lymphocytopenia and cytokine storm, which are associated with the severity of the disease and predict mortality. The mechanism by which SARS-CoV-2 infection may result in immune system dysfunction is still not fully understood. Here, we show that SARS-CoV-2 infects human CD4+ T helper cells, but not CD8+ T cells, and is present in blood and bronchoalveolar lavage T helper cells of severe COVID-19 patients. We demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (S) directly binds to the CD4 molecule, which in turn mediates the entry of SARS-CoV-2 in T helper cells. This leads to impaired CD4 T cell function and may cause cell death. SARS-CoV-2-infected T helper cells express higher levels of IL-10, which is associated with viral persistence and disease severity. Thus, CD4-mediated SARS-CoV-2 infection of T helper cells may contribute to a poor immune response in COVID-19 patients.</p

SARS-CoV-2 uses CD4 to infect T helper lymphocytes

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the agent of a major global outbreak of respiratory tract disease known as Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 infects mainly lungs and may cause several immune-related complications, such as lymphocytopenia and cytokine storm, which are associated with the severity of the disease and predict mortality. The mechanism by which SARS-CoV-2 infection may result in immune system dysfunction is still not fully understood. Here, we show that SARS-CoV-2 infects human CD4+ T helper cells, but not CD8+ T cells, and is present in blood and bronchoalveolar lavage T helper cells of severe COVID-19 patients. We demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (S) directly binds to the CD4 molecule, which in turn mediates the entry of SARS-CoV-2 in T helper cells. This leads to impaired CD4 T cell function and may cause cell death. SARS-CoV-2-infected T helper cells express higher levels of IL-10, which is associated with viral persistence and disease severity. Thus, CD4-mediated SARS-CoV-2 infection of T helper cells may contribute to a poor immune response in COVID-19 patients.</p