Efeitos Da Clonidina E Da Rilmenidina Sobre Os Sistemas Cardiorrespiratório E Gastrointestinal De Equinos

Clonidine and rilmenidine are drugs used in human medicine as central acting antihypertensive agents due to their actions on the alpha2-adrenoceptor and I1 imidazoline receptors in the central nervous system. Currently, clonidine is also used as a pre-anesthetic medication and in spinal anesthesia, and rilmenidine, despite the lower selectivity for alpha2-adrenergic receptors than clonidine, has also shown antinociceptive potential in experimental pain models. In this study, six horses were submitted to four treatments: R1 group (0.014 mg/kg of rilmenidine); R2 group (0.021 mg/kg of rilmenidine); Clo group (0.002 mg/kg of clonidine), and a control group. The assessment comprehended their heart and respiratory rates, systolic blood pressure and intestinal motility at basal levels and, then, 60 and 120 minutes after the oral administration of the drugs. Rilmenidine decreased heart rate on the two tested doses, which did not occur in the Clonidine treatment; slight variations in systolic blood pressure in all treatments and respiratory rate reduction in treatments with rilmenidine at 0.021 mg/ kg and clonidine at 0.002 mg/kg were also observed. Further studies with different dosages and varied administration routes are still necessary in order to elucidate more effects of these drugs on horses. © 2016, Cienc. anim. bras., Goiânia. All rights reserved.17460861

Pregnancy Reprograms the Epigenome of Mammary Epithelial Cells and Blocks the Development of Premalignant Lesions

Pregnancy causes a series of cellular and molecular changes in mammary epithelial cells (MECs) of female adults. In addition, pregnancy can also modify the predisposition of rodent and human MECs to initiate oncogenesis. Here, we investigate how pregnancy reprograms enhancer chromatin in the mammary epithelium of mice and influences the transcriptional output of the oncogenic transcription factor cMYC. We find that pregnancy induces an expansion of the active cis-regulatory landscape of MECs, which influences the activation of pregnancy-related programs during re-exposure to pregnancy hormones in vivo and in vitro. Using inducible cMYC overexpression, we demonstrate that post-pregnancy MECs are resistant to the downstream molecular programs induced by cMYC, a response that blunts carcinoma initiation, but does not perturb the normal pregnancy-induced epigenomic landscape. cMYC overexpression drives post-pregnancy MECs into a senescence-like state, and perturbations of this state increase malignant phenotypic changes. Taken together, our findings provide further insight into the cell-autonomous signals in post-pregnancy MECs that underpin the regulation of gene expression, cellular activation, and resistance to malignant development

Evaluation of Arenaria montana L. hydroethanolic extract as a chemopreventive food ingredient: A case study focusing a dairy product (yogurt)

Natural ingredients are valuable options to be exploited in the design of innovative food formulations with health benefits. Therefore, it was evaluated the potential use of Arenaria montana L. hydroethanolic extract (rich in apigenin derivatives) as a chemopreventive agent in functional foods. Apigenin is recognized as inhibiting VEGFR-2, which is the key receptor involved in angiogenesis. The obtained extract was also able to inhibit the VEGFR-2 phosphorylation through an enzymatic assay (IC 50 = ~63 µg/mL). Thereafter, free and microencapsulated forms were incorporated in yogurt. The obtained products maintained the nutritional value along the tested 3 days of storage, as also free sugars and fatty acids profiles, in comparison with the control samples. Nevertheless, the VEGFR-2 phosphorylation inhibition was not exhibited as intended. Even this behavior for the microencapsulated forms can be attributed to the protecting effect of the alginate matrix, further studies are required in order to better understand the shown performance.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER for CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2013) financial support. To POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006984 (LA LSRE-LCM) funded by ERDF through POCI-COMPETE2020 and FCT. To NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000006, funded by NORTE 2020, under PT2020 through ERDF. L. Barros, R.C. Calhelha and J.C.M. Barreira acknowledge the FCT for their post-doctoral grants (SFRH/BPD/107855/2015, SFRH/BPD/68344/2010 and SFRH/BPD/72802/2010, respectively). The authors also thank Ana Maria Carvalho for providing Arenaria montana L. samples.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Potencial anti-angiogénico de iogurtes com extratos ricos em derivados de apigenina

Os metabolitos secundários das plantas têm sido alvo de diversos estudos para avaliação dos benefícios para a saúde humana. Mais concretamente, os compostos fenólicos apresentam elevado potencial de utilização na indústria alimentar, nomeadamente no desenvolvimento de alimentos funcionais. Entre estes, a apigenina tem sido associada a efeitos quimiopreventivos relacionados com o cancro. De facto, a quimioprevenção é um conceito atual e contempla a utilização de medicamentos, compostos biológicos ou nutrientes como estratégia de intervenção na prevenção do cancro. Neste trabalho, preparou-se um extrato a partir de Arenaria montana L. utilizando etanol: água (80:20, v/v) como solvente de extração que, após caracterização por HPLCDAD- ESI/MS mostrou ser rico em derivados de apigenina e possuir um elevado potencial anti-angiogénico demonstrado pela capacidade de inibição da fosforilação do VEGFR-2 (vascular endotelium growth fator receptor). Com o intuito de proteger o potencial bioativo do extrato recorreu-se à sua microencapsulação com alginato através da técnica atomização/coagulação. Posteriormente, utilizaram-se extratos hidroetanólicos, na sua forma livre e microencapsulada, para funcionalizar uma matriz alimentar- iogurte- com o intuito de desenvolver alimentos quimiopreventivos em relação ao processo da angiogénese. Os iogurtes funcionalizados com extrato de A. montana (livre e encapsulado) mostraram um valor nutricional similar ao controlo (iogurte não enriquecido), mas um aumento da capacidade de inibição da fosforilação do VEGFR-2. Este efeito foi mais preservado ao longo do tempo nas amostras funcionalizadas com o extrato protegido. Em suma, este trabalho contribui para a valorização de plantas ricas em flavonoides, explorando o seu potencial anti-angiogénico pela interação com o VEGFR-2.FCT pelo suporte financeiro ao CIMO (PEst-OE/AGR/UI0690/2014); FCT/MEC e FEDER no âmbito do programa PT2020 pelo suporte financeiro ao LSRE (UID/EQU/50020/2013). QREN, ON2 e FEDER (NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000014) e PRODER (Projeto nº 46577- PlantLact). Os autores agradecem ainda à Professora Ana Maria Carvalho pela recolha e identificação das amostras de Arenaria montana