Effects of high intensity interval training on neuro-cardiovascular dynamic changes and mitochondrial dysfunction induced by high-fat diet in rats

This research was supported by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technologic Development (CNPq) (Grant number: 474116/2008-5) and Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Research Support in the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) (Grant number: E-26/ 111.732/2011), both received by Eliete Bouskela. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

“Vozes do Mangue”: promovendo sensibilização para a conservação dos manguezais amazônicos/ “Vozes do Mangue”: promoting awareness of the conservation of amazonian mangroves

Cerca de 80% dos manguezais brasileiros estão na costa amazônica, onde ocupam a maior faixa contínua de manguezal do mundo. A grande maioria desse ecossistema está abrigada em alguma unidade de conservação e, mesmo assim, a sua manutenção e sustentabilidade ainda é dependente do engajamento direto de projetos socioambientais. Mangues da Amazônia é um projeto socioambiental que incentiva a conservação e promove a sustentabilidade dos recursos dos manguezais amazônicos, através de ações e atividades estratégicas. Vozes do Mangue é um evento criado para se ajustar às condições pandêmicas da Covid-19, utilizando-se do universo virtual para dicutir temas inerentes aos manguezais através de webinários e rodas de conversa. O presente trabalho relata esse processo construtivo e o poder que a comunicação virtual tem para gerar produtos que democratizam o acesso à informação. Três edições desse evento foram realizadas em 2021 e trouxeram as mulheres do mangue (da ciência e das comunidades tracionais) e os manguezais como as principais temáticas. As edições contaram com 22 convidados(as), mais de 400 participantes (nacionais e internacionais) e mais de 2 mil visualizações nas redes sociais do projeto. Os resultados ressaltaram o Vozes do Mangue como uma ferramenta relevante para a popularização da ciência do manguezal e a criação de produtos, como a carta aberta, capazes de sensibilizar e facilitar o acesso à informação. As avaliações interativas identificaram falhas e preencheram lacunas para edições futuras, otimizando a gestão do tempo e potencializando a interação dos participantes

Ultrastructural Analysis of Leishmania infantum chagasi

Leishmaniasis is considered by the World Health Organization as one of the infectious parasitic diseases endemic of great relevance and a global public health problem. Pentavalent antimonials used for treatment of this disease are limited and new phytochemicals emerge as an alternative to existing treatments, due to the low toxicity and cost reduction. Usnic acid is uniquely found in lichens and is especially abundant in genera such as Alectoria, Cladonia, Evernia, Lecanora, Ramalina, and Usnea. Usnic acid has been shown to exhibit antiviral, antiprotozoal, antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antileishmanial activity of usnic acid on Leishmania infantum chagasi promastigotes and the occurrence of drug-induced ultrastructural damage in the parasite. Usnic acid was effective against the promastigote forms (IC50 = 18.30 ± 2.00 µg/mL). Structural and ultrastructural aspects of parasite were analyzed. Morphological alterations were observed as blebs in cell membrane and shapes given off, increasing the number of cytoplasmic vacuoles, and cellular and mitochondrial swelling, with loss of cell polarity. We concluded that the usnic acid presented antileishmanial activity against promastigote forms of Leishmania infantum chagasi and structural and ultrastructural analysis reinforces its cytotoxicity. Further, in vitro studies are warranted to further evaluate this potential

Cytotoxic effect of Erythroxylum suberosum combined with radiotherapy in head and neck cancer cell lines

O câncer de boca e de orofaringe emerge como o 6º tipo de câncer mais comum no mundo. O tratamento pode envolver cirurgia, quimioterapia e radioterapia. Mais de 50% das drogas com atividade de combate ao câncer foram isoladas de fontes naturais, tais como a Catharanthus roseus e a epipodofilotoxina, isolada de Podophyllum. O maior desafio é maximizar o controle da doença, enquanto minimiza a morbidade e toxicidade para os tecidos normais circundantes. O Erythroxylum suberosum é uma planta comum no bioma Cerrado brasileiro e é popularmente conhecida como "cabelo-de-negro". O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a citotoxicidade dos extratos da planta Erythroxylum suberosum do bioma Cerrado brasileiro, associados à radioterapia em linhagens celulares humanas de carcinomas de língua e de hipofaringe. As células foram tratadas com os extratos aquoso, etanólico e hexânico do Erythroxylum suberosum e irradiadas com 4 Gy, 6 Gy e 8 Gy. A citotoxidade foi avaliada pelo ensaio de MTT e a absorvância foi medida a 570 nm em uma leitora Beckman. A cisplatina, quimioterápico padrão, foi utilizada como controle positivo. O uso de extratos de Erythroxylum suberosum mostrou potencial efeito radiosensibilizante in vitro no câncer de cabeça e pescoço. O efeito da citotoxicidade nas linhagens foi de forma não seletiva e muito semelhante ao efeito da quimioterapia padrão. O extrato aquoso de Erythroxylum suberosum, combinado com radioterapia, foi o extrato mais citotóxico para os carcinomas de língua e hipofaringe, associados à radioterapia.The mouth and oropharynx cancer is the 6th most common type of cancer in the world. The treatment may involve surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. More than 50% of drugs against cancer were isolated from natural sources, such as Catharanthus roseus and epipodophyllotoxin, isolated from Podophyllum. The biggest challenge is to maximize the control of the disease, while minimizing morbidity and toxicity to the surrounding normal tissues. The Erythroxylum suberosum is a common plant in the Brazilian Cerrado biome and is popularly known as "cabelo-de-negro". The objective of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxic activity of Erythroxylum suberosum plant extracts of the Brazilian Cerrado biome associated with radiotherapy in human cell lines of oral and hypopharynx carcinomas. Cells were treated with aqueous, ethanolic and hexanic extracts of Erythroxylum suberosum and irradiated at 4 Gy, 6 Gy and 8 Gy. Cytotoxicity was evaluated by MTT assay and the absorbance was measured at 570 nm in a Beckman Counter reader. Cisplatin, standard chemotherapy, was used as positive control. The use of Erythroxylum suberosum extracts showed a possible radiosensitizing effect in vitro for head and neck cancer. The cytotoxicity effect in the cell lines was not selective and it is very similar to the effect of standard chemotherapy. The aqueous extract of Erythroxylum suberosum, combined with radiotherapy was the most cytotoxic extract to oral and hypopharynx carcinomas

In vitro and in vivo antitumor effects of the flavonol glycosides isolated of Herissantia crispa (L.) Brizicky

This paper describes the cytotoxic and antitumoral activities of kaempferol 3-O-(6”-O-E-pcoumaroyl)-β-D-glucopyranoside (tiliroside), kaempferol 3,7-di-O-α-L-rhamnoside (dhiramnoside) and of the mixture of sitosteryl-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside and stigmasteryl-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (GM) isolated of the Herissantia crispa. The compounds did not present cytotoxic activity against NCI-H292, HEp-2 and KB cells. In vivo, dhiramnoside did not present significant inhibitory activity of the growth of sarcoma 180 when compared with the control group; however, tiliroside and GM-treated animals showed a high inhibition rate in the growth of the tumor. Tiliroside inhibits significantly the growth of the carcinoma of Ehrlich. In conclusion, tiliroside exhibited promising antitumor effects without an expressive toxicity.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Stanniocalcin 2 contributes to aggressiveness and is a prognostic marker for oral squamous cell carcinoma

Stanniocalcin 2 (STC2), a glycoprotein that regulates calcium and phosphate homeostasis during mineral metabolism, appears to display multiple roles in tumorigenesis and cancer progression. This study aimed to access the prognostic value of STC2 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and its implications in oral tumorigenesis. STC2 expression was examined in 2 independent cohorts of OSCC tissues by immunohistochemistry. A loss-of-function strategy using shRNA targeting STC2 was employed to investigate STC2 in vitro effects on proliferation, apoptosis, migration, invasion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and possible activation of signaling pathways. Moreover, STC2 effects were assessed in vivo in a xenograft mouse cancer model. High expression of STC2 was significantly associated with poor disease-specific survival (HR: 2.67, 95% CI: 1.37-5.21, p = 0.001) and high rate of recurrence with a hazard ratio of 2.80 (95% CI: 1.07-5.71, p = 0.03). In vitro downregulation of STC2 expression in OSCC cells attenuated proliferation, migration and invasiveness while increased apoptotic rates. In addition, the STC2 downregulation controlled EMT phenotype of OSCC cells, with regulation on E-cadherin, vimentin, Snaill, Twist and Zeb2. The reactivation of STC2 was observed in the STC2 knockdown cells in the in vivo xenograft model, and no influence on tumor growth was observed. Modulation of STC2 expression levels did not alter consistently the phosphorylation status of CREB, ERK, JNK, p38, p70 S6K, STAT3, STAT5A/B and AKT. Our findings suggest that STC2 overexpression is an independent marker of OSCC outcome and may contribute to tumor progression via regulation of proliferation, survival and invasiveness of OSCC cells.Peer reviewe

Sensor Surface Design with NanoMaterials: A New Platform in the Diagnosis of COVID-19

Mass testing for COVID-19 is essential to defining patient management strategies, choosing the best clinical management, and dimensioning strategies for controlling viral dissemination and immunization strategies. Thus, it is of utmost importance to search for devices that allow a quick and reliable diagnosis of low cost that can be transposed from the bench to the bedside, such as biosensors. These devices can help choose the correct clinical management to minimize factors that lead to infected patients developing more severe diseases. The use of nanomaterials to modify biosensors’ surfaces to increase these devices’ sensitivity and their biofunctionality enables high-quality nanotechnological platforms. In addition to the diagnostic benefits, nanotechnological platforms that facilitate the monitoring of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies may be the key to determining loss of protective immune response after an episode of COVID-19, which leads to a possible chance of reinfection, as well as how they can be used to assess and monitor the success of immunization strategies, which are beginning to be administered on a large scale and that the extent and duration of their protection will need to be determined. Therefore, in this chapter, we will cover nanomaterials’ use and their functionalities in the surface design of sensors, thus generating nanotechnological platforms in the various facets of the diagnosis of COVID-19