RESUMO: Vários patógenos e anticorpos derivados do soro ou produzidos em tecidos associados a cavidade oral estão presentes no fluido oral (FO). Considerando a aplicabilidade dessa amostra alternativa, estudos recentes em medicina veterinária têm testado o FO como substituto do soro para testes diagnósticos. O objetivo desse estudo foi padronizar a imunoperoxidase em monocamada de célula (IPMC) para a detecção de imunoglobulina A e imunoglobulina G anti-Lawsonia intracellularis em amostras de FO de suínos experimentalmente infectados. Um total de 62 suínos foram divididos em dois grupos: controle (T1, n=30) e inoculados com L. intracellularis (T2, n=32). Sangue, FO e amostras de fezes foram coletados aos 0, 7,14, 21, 28 e 42 dias após a inoculação (dpi). Algumas adaptações da técnica foram realizadas na técnica padrão da IPMC para a detecção de IgA e IgG. A IPMC demostrou alta especificidade e sensibilidade para amostras de soro e alta especificidade de moderada sensibilidade para a detecção de IgA e IgG em FO. Houve alta concordância entre resultados de detecção de IgG em soro com a IgA e IgG em amostras de FO. Baseado em nossos resultados, amostras de fluido oral podem ser usadas em avaliações e detecção de anticorpos anti-L. intracellularis em suínos, porém não de forma individual.

ABSTRACT: Several pathogens and antibodies derived from serum or produced in tissues associated with the oral cavity are present in the oral fluid (OF). Considering the applicability of this alternative sample, recent studies in veterinary medicine have tested OF as a replacement for serum in diagnostic assays. The aim of this study was to standardize the immunoperoxidase monolayer assay (IPMA) to detect anti-Lawsonia intracellularis immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) in OF samples from experimentally infected pigs. Sixty-two pigs were divided into two groups: control (T1, n=30) and inoculated with L. intracellularis (T2, n=32). Blood, OF and fecal samples were collected at 0, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 42 days post-inoculation (dpi). Some adaptations of the standard technique for serum were made to IPMA for the detection of IgA and IgG in OF. The IPMA showed high specificity and sensitivity for serum samples and high specificity and moderate sensitivity for the detection of IgA and IgG in OF. There was high agreement between the results of serum IgG and OF IgA and IgG. Based on our results, oral fluid samples may be used for the evaluation and determination of anti-L. intracellularis antibodies in pigs, but not for individual diagnosis of swine proliferative enteropathy.

OBJECTIVES: The present study aims to describe the clinical, electrocardiographic, and echocardiographic cardiological findings in a group of patients with oral clefts. METHODS: This is a prospective cross-sectional study on 70 children (age range from 13 days to 19 years) with oral clefts who attended the multidisciplinary program of a university hospital from March 2013 to September 2014. The patients were evaluated by a pediatric cardiologist and underwent detailed anamnesis, physical examination, electrocardiogram, and echocardiogram. RESULTS: Sixty percent of the patients were male; 55.7% presented with cleft lip and palate, and 40.0% presented with health complaints. Comorbidities were found in 44.3%. Relevant pregnancy, neonatal, family and personal antecedents were present in 55.7%, 27.1%, 67.2%, and 24.3% of the patients, respectively. Regarding the antecedents, 15.2% of the patients presented with a cardiac murmur, 49.0% with a familial risk of developing plurimetabolic syndrome, and 6% with family antecedents of rheumatic fever. Electrocardiographic evaluation showed one case of atrioventricular block. Echocardiograms were abnormal in 35.7% of the exams, including 5 cases of mitral valve prolapse — one of which was diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease. CONCLUSION: The finding of a family risk of developing plurimetabolic syndrome and a diagnosis of rheumatic heart disease indicates that patients with oral clefts may be more prone to developing acquired heart disease. Thus, our findings highlight the importance of anamnesis and methodological triangulation (clinical-electrocardiographic-echocardiographic) in the investigation of patients with oral clefts and emphasize that cardiological follow-up to evaluate acquired and/or rhythm heart diseases is necessary. This strategy permits comorbidity prevention and individualized planned treatment.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third highest cause of cancer death worldwide. In general, the disease is diagnosed at an advanced stage when potentially curative therapies are no longer feasible. For this reason, it is very important to develop new therapeutic approaches. Retinoic acid (RA) is a natural derivative of vitamin A that regulates important biological processes including cell proliferation and differentiation. In vitro studies have shown that RA is effective in inhibiting growth of HCC cells; however, responsiveness to treatment varies among different HCC cell lines. The objective of the present study was to determine if the combined use of RA (0.1 µM) and cAMP (1 mM), an important second messenger, improves the responsiveness of HCC cells to RA treatment. We evaluated the proliferative behavior of an HCC cell line (HTC) and the expression profile of genes related to cancer signaling pathway (ERK and GSK-3β) and liver differentiation (E-cadherin, connexin 26 (Cx26), and Cx32). RA and cAMP were effective in inhibiting the proliferation of HTC cells independently of combined use. However, when a mixture of RA and cAMP was used, the signals concerning the degree of cell differentiation were increased. As demonstrated by Western blot, the treatment increased E-cadherin, Cx26, Cx32 and Ser9-GSK-3β (inactive form) expression while the expression of Cx43, Tyr216-GSK-3β (active form) and phosphorylated ERK decreased. Furthermore, telomerase activity was inhibited along treatment. Taken together, the results showed that the combined use of RA and cAMP is more effective in inducing differentiation of HTC cells.

Avaliaram-se os efeitos dos precursores dos glicosaminoglicanos (GAG) e do sulfato de condroitina A (SC) sobre a histomorfometria da cartilagem articular normal ou de cartilagem de cães com doença articular degenerativa (DAD) experimental. Os grupos experimentais constituíram-se de animais com articulação direita normal, que não foi submetida a procedimento cirúrgico, e com articulação esquerda osteoartrótica e que foi submetida à intervenção cirúrgica. Os grupos foram subdivididos em animais com articulação não tratada e tratada, portanto: normais (N) (n=5), NGAG (n=5) e NSC (n=4); e osteoartróticos (O) (n=5), OGAG (n=5) e OSC (n=4). Secções de cartilagens do fêmur, da tíbia e da patela foram utilizadas neste estudo. Nos normais (N, NGAG e NSC), não se encontraram lesões que caracterizassem a DAD, embora tenha havido diminuição na celularidade nos de NGAG e NSC, em relação a N. Foram observadas alterações em graus variáveis entre os grupos osteoartróticos. Houve redução acentuada dos condrócitos no grupo O em comparação aos normais enquanto os grupos osteoartróticos tratados apresentaram celularidade semelhante aos normais tratados. Estes resultados foram confirmados pela análise do índice de proporção (IP), que se mostrou elevado em O, indicando menor síntese de proteoglicanos. Não houve diferença significativa entre os IPs dos grupos osteoartróticos tratados (OGAG, OSC) apesar do comportamento distinto do OSC ao assemelhar-se aos grupos N e NSC. Estes resultados sugeriram que o SC agiu na cartilagem osteoartrótica de maneira mais eficaz, reduzindo a perda de proteoglicanos e estimulando a viabilidade celular e a atividade metabólica.

The effects of precursors of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) and chondroitin sulphate A (CS) on the histomorphometry of normal articular cartilage and with experimental degenerative joint disease (DJD) in dogs were evaluated. The groups were constituted as follows: normal joints were not undergone to the surgical procedure and left osteoarthritics that suffered surgical intervention. These were then distributed into joints that did not receive drug treatment and those that received: normal (N) (n = 5); NGAG (n = 5), and NCS (n = 4); and osteoarthritics: O (n = 5); OGAG (n = 5); and OCS (n = 4). Cartilage sections of the femur, tibia, and patella were used in this study. In normal groups (N, NGAG, and NCS) no lesions were found that could characterize DJD, although the cellularity was shown to be slightly diminished in NGAG and NCS, in relation to N. Characteristic DJD disorders were identified in variable degrees among osteoarthritic groups and were more severe in O. There was marked reduction of the number of chondrocytes in group O, as compared to the normal groups, while treated osteoathritic groups showed similar cellularity to that of normal groups. These results were supported by the analysis of the index of proportion (IP), which was high in O, indicating less synthesis of proteoglycans. These results suggest that chondroitin A sulphate acted on osteoarthritic cartilage in a more efficient way than glycosaminoglycan precursors, reducing the loss of proteoglycans caused by the degenerative process, stimulating cellular viability and metabolic activity.

A utilização de compósitos poliméricos na fabricação de aeronaves vem sendo cada vez mais intensa. Em função disso, a possibilidade de ocorrer falhas em serviço de um componente fabricado em compósito polimérico torna-se cada vez maior. A análise de falhas de materiais compósitos ainda é um tema pouco explorado, principalmente no Brasil, porém vem tornando-se cada vez mais importante em apoio à área de prevenção e investigação de acidentes aeronáuticos. Este trabalho teve como objetivo a caracterização de fraturas em laminados unidirecionais de fibra de carbono de módulo intermediário com sistema de resina epóxi modificada, tipo 8552, em resistência ao cisalhamento interlaminar nas condições ambiente e saturado de umidade em câmara higrotérmica. A análise fractográfica no plano de falha dos laminados foi realizada por microscopias óptica e eletrônica de varredura. A comparação dos resultados mostrou que o condicionamento higrotérmico afetou significativamente a região de interface da resina sem alterar a adesão interfacial fibra/resina. Os aspectos de fratura presentes na região de resina, como cristas de galo e escarpas, e do reforço foram detalhados, podendo-se assim estabelecer a direção de propagação da trinca e caracterizar o modo de falha, por ser do tipo misto (arrancamento e cisalhamento simultaneamente).

The use of polymeric composites in aircraft fabrication has been more and more intense. As a function of this fact, the possibility to occur service failures in components produced by using polymeric composites has increased more and more. The failure analyses in composite materials is still not much explored, principally in Brazil, but it has been very important in order to give subsidies to prevent aeronautical accidents. This work focuses the fracture characterization of intermediate modulus type unidirectional carbon fiber laminates impregnated with modified epoxy resin (code 8552), by using interlaminar shear test, in two conditions: ambient and saturated with moisture in an hygrothermal chamber. The fractographic analyses on the failure plane of the laminates were performed by optical and scanning electron microscopies. The comparison of results showed that the hygrothermal conditioning affects significantly the interface region but doesn't alter the fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion. The failure modes present in the resin region, such as hackles and scarps, and in the reinforcement were evaluated, being possible to establish the failure propagation direction and the failure mode that was characterized as a mixing of pull-out and shear modes.

Pesquisaram-se eventuais diferenças na composição da matéria seca (MS), proteína bruta, extrato etéreo, cinzas, cálcio, fósforo, cobre, zinco, perfil de aminoácidos e biotina entre cascos pretos e claros, de eqüinos das raças Pantaneira e Mangalarga Marchador, criados na região do Pantanal, MS, e no município de Caeté, MG, respectivamente. De cada raça foram coletadas amostras de 10 éguas vazias, não lactantes, com idade entre 5 e 10 anos, sendo que, em um mesmo animal, foram retiradas amostras das duas colorações de casco nas regiões da pinça, ombro, quarto e talão. Na raça Pantaneira, os cascos claros apresentaram maior teor de fósforo que os pretos, e os demais elementos avaliados não foram diferentes segundo a cor. Na Mangalarga Marchador, não houve diferença entre os cascos claros e pretos, quanto a todas as características estudadas.

Chemical composition (dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, ash, calcium, phosphorus, copper and zinc and amino acid profile) in black and non-pigmented hooves from non-lactating five-to ten-year-old Pantaneira and Mangalarga Marchador mares raised in central and southeastern Brazil was studied. In the Pantaneira breed, phosphorus concentration was higher in non-pigmented than in black hooves, but hoof color did not affect any other composition variables. Likewise, black versus non-pigmented hooves did not differ for any composition variable in the Mangalarga Marchador mares.

O vírus da imunodeficiência humana (HIV) é o agente etiológico da Síndrome da Imunodeficiência Adquirida, AIDS, uma doença de grande preocupação médica. O genoma deste vírus encontra-se arranjado em nove genes individuais e por duas estruturas idênticas denominadas de repetições terminais nas extremidades 5' e 3'. Tivemos como objetivo analisar a sensibilidade do teste da reação em cadeia da polimerase (PCR) e o teste de ensaio imunoenzimático (ELISA), como teste para triagem de doadores de sangue para HIV. Foram analisadas 200 amostras de doadores e pacientes, da Fundação HEMOPA, com padrão positivo e indeterminado no teste ELISA. Na triagem sorológica pelo ELISA tiveram como resultado 35 amostras positivas, 75 amostras negativas e 90 amostras indeterminadas as quais foram submetidas ao teste pela PCR. Vinte e cinco amostras tiveram resultado positivo e 175 amostras negativas. Com estes resultados concluímos que a reação de PCR apresenta-se positiva somente nas amostras em que o teste ELISA apresenta relação DO/cutoff, acima de 3.

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the etiological agent of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, (AIDS), a disease of great concern in the medical world. The genome of this virus is found arranged in nine genes and by two identical structures named terminal repetitions on the 5' and 3' extremities. As our objective, the sensitivity of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Enzyme-Linked Immunoabsorbent Assay (ELISA) tests were analyzed as an evaluation for blood donors who are infected with HIV. Two hundred samples from donors and patients from the HEMOPA Foundation were analyzed, with the positive and indeterminate standard of the ELISA test. In the ELISA test selection, the results were thirty-five positive samples, seventy-five negative samples and ninety indeterminate samples. These samples were subsequently submitted to the PCR test where twenty-five samples had a positive result and one hundred seventy five had negative results. With these results we conclude that only samples that had a relation between the optical density and the cutoff above three (ELISA) were found positive in the PCR test.

Com o objetivo de avaliar a eficiência da prótese de poliuretano de mamona como substituto parcial do tendão calcâneo comum, foram utilizadas 30 coelhas da raça Nova Zelândia, entre dois e três meses de idade e peso médio de 2kg. Após anestesia geral, o procedimento cirúrgico em ambos os membros constou de incisão caudo-lateral no sentido longitudinal do terço médio ao distal da tíbia e exposição do tendão calcâneo comum. Após a tenectomia do tendão do músculo gastrocnêmio, a prótese de poliuretano de cerca de 0,5cm de extensão por 0,5cm de diâmetro foi fixada aos cotos proximal e distal do tendão, empregando-se o fio de polipropileno monofilamentar 4-0, conforme técnica modificada de Kessler. A prótese de poliuretano na forma elastomérica revelou propriedades como textura e flexibilidade semelhantes à do tecido tendinoso, pode ser confeccionada na forma e no tamanho almejados e permite ser moldada, cortada e esterilizada por calor úmido. Todos os animais apoiaram os membros operados imediatamente após o retorno anestésico. Não se observaram sinais clínicos de infecção e não ocorreu deiscência de ferida. Percebeu-se aumento de volume local devido ao edema, evidente na primeira semana pós-cirúrgica, que gradualmente desapareceu . À palpação foi possível delimitar com facilidade a prótese que se conservou fixa no local e intacta. Clinicamente o poliuretano de mamona não induziu reação desfavorável que comprometesse a cicatrização tendínea, podendo ser indicado como substituto temporário de tendão.

With the goal of evaluating the efficiency of a prosthesis of castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis) polyurethane as a partial substitute for common calcaneous tendon, 30 New Zealand female rabbits, aging between two to three months, weighting about 2kg were used. After general anesthesia, the surgical procedure in both members consisted of rear lateral longitudinal incision, in the medium third of the distal of tibia and exposition of the common calcaneous tendon. After the tenectomies of the gastrocnemius muscle tendon, the polyurethane prosthesis of about 0,5cm in length by 0,5 in diameter was seized to the proximal and distal of the tendon stumps, using polypropylene 4-0 suture just like the Keessler modified technique. The prosthesis of polyurethane in the form of elastomers revealed qualities like the texture and flexibility similar to the tendon tissue, and it can be made in the form and size desired. In addition, it can be shaped, cut and sterilized in wet heat. All animals could stand on the surgically treated members immediately after the end of anesthetic effect. No clinical signs of infection and no dehiscence of the cut were observed. An increase of local volume, due to the edema, evident in the first week after the surgery could be noted, which gradually disappeared. It was possible to detect easily upon touch the prosthesis which remained fixed in place. Clinically, the polyurethane of castor-oil plant did not induce any unfavorable reaction which could compromise the tendon healing and can be indicated as a temporary substitute of a tendon.

Biological aspects of Chelonus insularis (Cresson, 1865) an egg-larval parasitoid reared on Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith, 1797) eggs Chelonus insularis (Cresson. 1865) has been cited in the international literature as a promissing biological control agent against the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith, 1797). Its field occurrence in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais (Brasil) has been increasing in the last years. For these reasons this experiment was conducted in the laboratory, at the National Corn and Sorghum Research Center, of EMBRAPA, under temperature of 25ºC. RH of 73% and photophase of 12 hours. Ten couples of the parasitoid were individually placed in a glass jar (5 liters capacity). They were fed on a 10% sugar solution. Each couple received one fall armyworm egg mass to oviposit during a 24-hour period. After hatching, the larvae were fed on artificial bean diet, up to the death caused by the parasitoid larvae. The total biological life cycle was 26.61 days on the average (larval period of 20.42 and pupal period of 6.19 days). The average weight of two days - old pupae was 0.02g. The adult longevity was on average. 10 days (8.4 days for males and 11.6 days for females). The greatest rate of parasitism occurred when the female was three days old, with a maximum of 92 eggs parasitized in that day.