ABSTRACT: Pineapple is a tropical fruit with high demand by the fruit market in Brazil. Fruits of the cultivar ´Turiaçu` stans out in local consumer markets due to its excellent quality. The objective of this work was to evaluate ecophysiological responses of ´Turiaçu` pineapple plants at the vegetative and reproductive stages to soil fertilization and crop location, and their effects in fruit yield. The study was conducted in the cities of São Luís and Turiaçu, MA, Brazil. Plants under mineral and organic fertilization in two locations, São Luís and Turiaçu, and in two seasons, dry and rainy season, were evaluated during dry and rainy seasons. Chlorophyll index, photochemical efficiency, gas exchange, and fruit yield were evaluated. The pineapple plants presented decrease in the photosynthetic activity, at both developmental stages and in both seasons, when grown in São Luís. The CO2 photosynthetic assimilation decreased. The PSI and PSII activity, according with photosynthetic index, was more sensitive at the reproductive than at the vegetative stage. The organic fertilization was not appropriate for the ´Turiaçu` pineapple crops, regardless of the crop location. The fruit yields were 54.4% and 57.9% lower in São Luís, under mineral and organic fertilization, respectively. Thus, the ecophysiology of ´Turiaçu` pineapple was more affected by water availability than by soil fertility in the municipality of Turiaçu.

RESUMO: O abacaxi é uma fruta tropical com alta demanda pelo mercado de frutas no Brasil. Os frutos da cultivar ´Turiaçu`se destacam nos mercados consumidores locais pela excelente qualidade. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar as respostas ecofisiológicas de plantas de abacaxizeiro ´Turiaçu`nos estádios vegetativo e reprodutivo à adubação do solo e ao local de cultivo, e seus efeitos na produção de frutos. O estudo foi realizado nas cidades de São Luís e Turiaçu, MA, Brasil. Plantas sob adubação mineral e orgânica foram avaliadas durante as estações seca e chuvosa. Foram avaliados teores de clorofila, eficiência fotoquímica, trocas gasosas e produção de frutos. As plantas de abacaxi apresentaram diminuição da atividade fotossintética, em ambas as fases de desenvolvimento e em ambas as estações, quando cultivadas em São Luís. A assimilação fotossintética de CO2 diminuiu. A atividade de PSI e PSII foi mais sensível na fase reprodutiva do que na fase vegetativa. A adubação orgânica não foi adequada para as lavouras de abacaxi ´Turiaçu`, independente do local de cultivo. As produtividades de frutos foram 54,4% e 57,9% menores em São Luís, sob adubação mineral e orgânica, respectivamente. Assim, a ecofisiologia do abacaxi de ´Turiaçu`foi mais afetada pela disponibilidade hídrica do que pela fertilidade do solo no município de Turiaçu.

Leaves of Eugenia florida DC. have been used in folk medicine as hypotensive, hypoglycemic, antipyretic and for gastrointestinal disorders, among others. In this study dried leaves were extracted with ethanol and the extract was partitioned with hexane, CHCl3, EtOAc, BuOH and water to afford triterpenoid- and polyphenol-rich fractions which were analyzed by GC-MS and UFLC-DAD-ESI-Ion Trap-MSn. All fractions were tested against the proliferation of leukemic K562 and human melanoma SK-Mel-28 cell lines and for their ability to scavenge DPPH radical. Twenty-nine compounds were fully identified (among triterpenic and phenolic acids, flavonol- and dihydroflavonol-monoglyclosides) based on mass fragmentation patterns and comparison to standards and/or literature data. The ability to scavenge DPPH radical resulted in the following order: BuOH ≈ EtOAc > crude extract ≈ Water >> CHCl3 >> hexane; with the two most active reaching half of the TBHQ control potency (EC50 6.59 ± 0.03 µg mL-1). On testing against the proliferation of K562 and SK-Mel-28 cell lines, the most significant inhibitions were achieved on the former by the crude extract (IC50 12 µg mL-1) and the hexane and EtOAc fractions at 15 µg mL-1.

Adult patients hospitalized for a non-surgical condition, usually have a high risk of venous thromboembolism and may develop some form of this disease when they do not receive appropriate preventive treatment. The objectives of this prospective, analytical, observational and cross-sectional study were: 1) to determine what percentage of adult patients hospitalized for a non-surgical acute condition at the Hospital de Clínicas José de San Martín, Universidad de Buenos Aires, had indication for preventive thromboprophylaxis, 2) to establish how many of them had been prescribed a preventive treatment of venous thromboembolism, 3) to establish how many of them had been prescribed a preventive treatment of venous thromboembolism without having reasons to justify the treatment. The study was performed on 93 patients for 72 consecutive hours. It resulted in 90.3% in need of preventive treatment for venous thromboembolism and 76.2% of these patients had received pharmacological thromboprophylaxis. A 33.3% of the studied patients had received preventive pharmacological treatment without having a proper indication. In this study, the percentage of patients treated is higher than in those reported in other published observational studies.

Los pacientes adultos internados por una enfermedad no quirúrgica tienen un riesgo alto de padecer una tromboembolia venosa y pueden desarrollar alguna forma de esta enfermedad cuando no reciben un tratamiento preventivo adecuado. Los objetivos de este estudio prospectivo, analítico, observacional y transversal, fueron: 1) determinar cuál es el porcentaje de pacientes adultos internados por una enfermedad aguda no quirúrgica en el Hospital de Clínicas José de San Martín, Universidad de Buenos Aires, que tienen indicación de tromboprofilaxis, 2) establecer cuántos de ellos reciben un tratamiento preventivo para la tromboembolia venosa, y 3) comprobar cuántos estaban medicados con alguna forma de tromboprofilaxis sin tener causas que justificaran este tratamiento. Se estudiaron 93 pacientes durante un lapso de 72 horas consecutivas. Se encontró que el 90.3% de ellos necesitaba un tratamiento preventivo para la tromboembolia venosa y el 76.2% de estos enfermos recibían tromboprofilaxis farmacológica. Un 33.3% de los pacientes internados tenía indicado un tratamiento farmacológico preventivo sin tener una causa que justificara esta prescripción. El porcentaje encontrado de pacientes tratados con tromboprofilaxis es más alto que el comunicado en otros estudios observacionales.

Uncaria tomentosa (Willd.) DC. e Uncaria guianensis (Aubl.) Gmel., conhecidas comercialmente como unha-de-gato, são trepadeiras lenhosas nativas das florestas tropicais amazônica e central-americana. Essas espécies de Rubiaceae enfrentam ultimamente um eminente risco de extinção devido tanto ao extrativismo indiscriminado quanto ao desflorestamento de seus habitats naturais. Esse trabalho descreve métodos de cultivo in vitro para as duas espécies, analisando o perfil e o teor dos alcalóides oxindólicos pentacíclicos marcadores por CLAE no material vegetal obtido. Os resultados mostraram que os métodos desenvolvidos foram capazes de produzir plantas com perfil e teor dos alcalóides alvos similares à plantas nativas e cultivadas in vivo, com a vantagem adicional de produção em menor tempo de mudas próprias para plantio no campo. Os dados evidenciaram que o cultivo in vitro pode ser uma ferramenta viável para a produção das duas espécies com impacto na sua comercialização e na preservação das florestas.

Uncaria tomentosa (Willd.) DC. and Uncaria guianensis (Aubl.) Gmel., commercially known as cat's claw, are large woody vines native of the Amazon and Central America rainforests. These Rubiaceae species face nowadays an imminent risk of extinction due to indiscriminate harvesting in the wild as well as to increasing deforestation of their natural habitat. This work describes in vitro cultivation methods for both species with determination, by HPLC, of the pentacyclic oxindole alkaloid contents and profiles of the plant material. The results have proved that the methods we developed were able to produce plants with alkaloid profiles and contents similar to the wild and in vivo cultivated species, and with the additional advantage of producing suitable young plants in a shorter period of time. The data showed that the in vitro technique can be a feasible tool for the growth of the species, and may thus be important for their commercialization and for their conservation as a forest resource.

O gênero Uncaria (Rubiaceae) é representado na América do Sul e Central por duas espécies: U. tomentosa (Willd.) DC. e U. guianensis (Aubl.) Gmel., conhecidas popularmente como unha-de-gato. Ambas são trepadeiras perenes, sendo empregadas na prevenção e cura de várias doenças. Nessas plantas são encontrados alcalóides oxindólicos e indólicos, triterpenos glicosilados, taninos e flavonóides. Seis alcalóides oxindólicos pentacíclicos, considerados seus marcadores: especiofilina, mitrafilina, uncarina F, isomitrafilina, pteropodina e isopteropodina, são usados na padronização do material vegetal e fitoterápicos derivados. O presente trabalho descreve o desenvolvimento de metodologia analítica qualitativa utilizando cromatografia em camada delgada (CCD) para determinação do perfil dos seis alcalóides oxindólicos pentacíclicos marcadores das espécies. O desenvolvimento do método incluiu a comparação entre o uso do extrato metanólico bruto, e de frações enriquecidas obtidas por partição ácido-base clássica ou pelo uso de resina básica Poliamida 6. Utilizou-se gel de sílica como fase estacionária, e variaram-se alguns parâmetros como: eluentes, concentração da amostra, espaço de eluição e tipos de reveladores. O método desenvolvido em CCD mostrou-se confiável, reprodutível e seletivo para os alcalóides alvos, sendo aplicado na análise de amostras de folhas e caule das duas espécies e também de fitoterápicos comerciais à base de U. tomentosa.

The species Uncaria tomentosa (Willd.) DC. and U. guianensis Gmel. (Rubiaceae), known as cat's claw, are large woody vines occurring in the Amazon rain forest and other tropical areas of South and Central America. It has been used medicinally by indigenous peoples for at least 2,000 years for several diseases. Tetra- and pentacyclic oxindole alkaloids, triterpenoid glycosides, sterols and flavonoids are found in these plants. Among these metabolites, six pentacyclic oxindole alkaloids, speciophylline, mitraphylline, pteropodine, uncarine F, isopteropodine and isomitraphylline, are considered to be the biochemical markers and are used to standardize commercial herbal medicines. The present study describes the development of an analytical methodology to determine the profile of these alkaloid markers through thin layer chromatography (TLC). This development has also included a comparison among the use of the crude methanol extract and fractions obtained through the classical acid-base partition or by using the basic resin Polyamide 6. Silica gel was used as stationary phase with the variation of some parameters such as solvent systems, sample concentration, distance of development and detection method. The TLC method developed was shown to be reliable, reproducible and selective for the target alkaloids. It has been applied to the analysis of leaves and stems from both species as well as phytopharmaceutical derivatives based on U. tomentosa.

The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in an Argentine universitary hospital. We used a longitudinal, retrospective, observational design. Participants were all over-16 year patients who were discharged or died in clinical, obstetrical and surgical units in the Hospital de Clínicas José de San Martín during a 24 month period between July 1, 2001 and June 30, 2003, with a diagnosis on release of VTE. VTE frequency reached 0.92% and incidence was 0.40%; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.37 to 0.42%. Incidence was highest in the 9th decade of life (0.80%; 95% CI: 0.78% to 0.82%). Only 31% of patients who developed VTE during hospitalization had received thromboprophylaxis. Total in-hospital mortality of VTE patients was 19%.

El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar la frecuencia y la incidencia de la tromboembolia venosa (TEV), objetivamente diagnosticada, en un hospital universitario argentino. Se utilizó un diseño retrospectivo, observacional y longitudinal. Se analizaron las historias clínicas de todos los pacientes mayores de 16 años que habían egresado o fallecido en las unidades de internación clínica, obstétrica y quirúrgica del Hospital de Clínicas José de San Martín con el diagnóstico de TEV durante un período de 24 meses. La frecuencia y la incidencia de TEV fueron 0.92% y 0.40% (intervalo de confianza de 95% (IC95%): 0.37 a 0.42%) respectivamente. La incidencia más alta de TEV se presentó en la novena década de la vida (0.80%; IC95%: 0.78% a 0.82%). Solamente el 31% de los pacientes que desarrollaron TEV durante la internación habían recibido tromboprofilaxis con heparina. La mortalidad intrahospitalaria global de los pacientes con TEV fue 19%.

Quantitative GC-FID was evaluated for analysis of methylated copaiba oils, using trans-(-)-caryophyllene or methyl copalate as external standards. Analytical curves showed good linearity and reproducibility in terms of correlation coefficients (0.9992 and 0.996, respectively) and relative standard deviation (< 3%). Quantification of sesquiterpenes and diterpenic acids were performed with each standard, separately. When compared with the integrator response normalization, the standardization was statistically similar for the case of methyl copalate, but the response of trans-(-)-caryophyllene was statistically (P < 0.05) different. This method showed to be suitable for classification and quality control of commercial samples of the oils.

The genus Plumbago belongs to the family Plumbaginaceae, order Plumbaginales. Comparative chemical profile of P. scandens (native) and P. auriculata (cultivated) was obtained by normal and reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detector. Comparison of the ultraviolet espectra and the retention times for the compounds allowed to find similar metabolic patterns in roots, stems and leaves. Four flavonoids, one phenolic acid or derivative and the naphtoquinone plumbagin were comparatively identified to standards.