Avaliaram-se diferentes níveis de cloro da ração sobre os parâmetros sanguíneos e o desenvolvimento ósseo de codornas destinadas à produção de carne. Foram utilizadas 384 codornas italianas de um a 49 dias de idade, distribuídas em delineamento inteiramente ao acaso, com seis tratamentos e oito repetições de oito aves. Os tratamentos consistiram de rações isonutrientes, exceto para o nível de cloro, que foram: 0,07; 0,12; 0,17; 0,22; 0,27 e 0,32%. Aos 49 dias, foram selecionadas duas aves por parcela para as coletas do sangue e das tíbias. Foram avaliados o pH e as concentrações de Na, Cl e K no sangue, bem como o comprimento, o diâmetro, o peso, o teor de matéria seca e cinzas, o índice de Seedor e a resistência à quebra e deformidade da tíbia. Os níveis de cloro da ração não influenciaram significativamente o pH, as concentrações de Na, Cl, K no sangue, assim como o comprimento, o diâmetro, o peso, o índice de Seedor, o teor de matéria seca e cinzas e a resistência à quebra e deformidade da tíbia. Conforme os resultados, o nível de cloro pode variar de 0,07 até 0,32%, sem alterar o pH e as concentrações de Na, Cl e K no sangue e sem prejuízos na qualidade óssea.

We evaluated different levels of chlorine in the feed on the blood parameters and bone development of quail for meat production. 384 Italian quails were used at 1-49 days of age, distributed in a completely randomized design with six treatments and eight replicates of eight birds. The treatments consisted of isonutrient diets, except for the level of chlorine, which were 0.07, 0.12, 0.17, 0.22, 0.27 and 0.32%. After 49 days, two birds were selected per plot for the collection of blood and tibia. The pH and the concentration of Na, K and Cl in the blood and the length, diameter, weight, dry matter and ash, Seedor index, breaking strength and deformity of the tibia were evaluated. The chlorine levels in the diet did not significantly influence the pH, the concentrations of Na, Cl, K blood, length, diameter, weight, Seedor index, dry matter and ash, crack resistance and deformity of the tibia. As the results, the level of chloride can range from 0.07 to 0.32%, without changing the pH and the concentrations of Na, K and Cl in the blood and without a loss in bone quality.

O estresse hídrico é considerado um dos fatores limitantes para o desenvolvimento das plantas, com isso, os vegetais desenvolvem mecanismos para tolerar a deficiência hídrica do solo. Entre esses mecanismos, está o acúmulo de prolina livre nos tecidos, tendo como função a regulação osmótica dos tecidos. A influência do estresse hídrico em plantas medicinais ainda é pouco estudado, principalmente em plantas nativas, como é o caso do alecrim-pimenta Lippia sidoides Cham. Assim, o trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar a prolina livre e o teor de flavonoides totais na referida espécie sob condições de estresse hídrico antes da colheita. O trabalho foi realizado no Instituto de Ciências Agrárias da UFMG, Campus Montes Claros, delineamento em blocos casualizados, com 5 tratamentos e 4 repetições, sendo eles 8, 6, 4, 2 e 0 dias de supressão da irrigação antes da colheita. Os teores encontrados de prolina variaram entre 0,2489 a 3,2421 ìM.g-1 de matéria seca e de flavonoides entre 0,0139 a 0,008 g.g-1. Os resultados observados indicam que a planta diminui seu teor de flavonoides e aumenta o teor de prolina com o aumento do período de estresse.

Water stress is considered a limiting factor for plant growth, thus, the plants develop mechanisms to tolerate the soil water deficit. Among these mechanisms is the accumulation of free proline in tissues, with the poke the osmotic regulation of tissues. The influence of water stress in medicinal plants is still poorly studied, mainly on native plants such as rosemary-pepper Lippia sidoides Cham. Thus, the study aimed to evaluate the free proline and total flavonoid content in that species under conditions of water stress before harvest. The study was conducted at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, UFMG, Campus Montes Claros, randomized block design with 5 treatments and 4 replicates, and they 8, 6, 4, 2 and 0 days of withholding irrigation before harvest. The content of proline ranged from 0.2489 to 3.2421 ìM.g-1 of dry matter and flavonoids from 0.0139 to 0.008 gg-1. The results indicate that the plant reduces its content of flavonoids and proline content increases with increasing stress time.

Although Helicobacter heilmannii infection is less common than H. pylori infection in humans, it is considered to be of medical importance because of its association with gastritis, gastric ulcer, carcinoma, and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma of the stomach. However, there have been no studies evaluating the role of the Th cell response in H. heilmannii gastric infection. We evaluated the participation of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, IFN-gamma and IL-4, in H. heilmannii gastric infection in genetically IFN-gamma- or IL-4-deficient mice. The serum IFN-gamma and IL-4 concentrations were determined by ELISA. The gastric polymorphonuclear infiltrate was higher (P = 0.007) in H. heilmannii-positive than in H. heilmannii-negative wild-type (WT) C57BL/6 mice, whereas no significant inflammation was demonstrable in the stomach of H. heilmannii-positive IFN-gamma-/- C57BL/6 mice. The degree of gastric inflammatory cells, especially in oxyntic mucosa, was also higher (P = 0.007) in infected IL-4-/- than in WT BALB/c mice. Serum IFN-gamma levels were significantly higher in IL-4-/- than in WT BALB/c mice, independently of H. heilmannii-positive or -negative status. Although no difference in serum IFN-gamma levels was seen between H. heilmannii-positive (11.3 ± 3.07 pg/mL, mean ± SD) and -negative (11.07 ± 3.5 pg/mL) WT BALB/c mice, in the group of IL-4-/- animals, the serum concentration of IFN-g was significantly higher in the infected ones (38.16 ± 10.5 pg/mL, P = 0.04). In contrast, serum IL-4 levels were significantly decreased in H. heilmannii-positive (N = 10) WT BALB/c animals compared to the negative (N = 10) animals. In conclusion, H. heilmannii infection induces a predominantly Th1 immune response, with IFN-gamma playing a central role in gastric inflammation.

We infected NIH germ-free female mice with Helicobacter trogontum, a recently described intestinal bacterium of rats, in order to study the lesions it induced in the liver of this host. Fifteen mice were challenged with a single dose of H. trogontum (test group) and killed 6, 12 and 18 months after inoculation (5 animals/group). Nine animals were challenged with 0.85% saline alone (control group) and killed at the same times. Fragments from the liver, cecum and colon were obtained for microbiologic and histologic examination. Stool samples were also collected. H. trogontum was detected in the cecum, colon and/or stool samples of all test mice. As expected, the bacterium was not isolated from any specimen obtained from the control animals. On the other hand, although we could not cultivate the bacterium from the liver, 13 test animals (86.7%) presented histological changes in this organ. The 6-month group presented infiltration of mononuclear and polymorphonuclear cells in the hepatic parenchyma and the two other groups presented foci of mononuclear cells. The results suggest that H. trogontum can elicit a hepatic inflammatory response in mice since the only difference between control and test animals was the presence of H. trogontum in the latter. This result, together with the growing number of related reports in the literature, reinforces the possible role of Helicobacter infection in the pathogenesis of hepatobiliary diseases.

We evaluated the accuracy of a 2nd generation ELISA to detect Helicobacter pylori infection in adults from a developing country in view of variations in sensitivity and specificity reported for different populations. We studied 97 non-consecutive patients who underwent endoscopy for evaluation of dispeptic symptoms. The presence of H. pylori was determined in antral biopsy specimens by culture, by the preformed urease test and in carbolfuchsin-stained smears. Patients were considered to be H. pylori positive if at least two of the three tests presented a positive result or if the culture was positive, and negative if the three tests were negative. Sixty-five adults (31 with peptic ulcer) were H. pylori positive and 32 adults were H. pylori negative. Antibodies were detected by Cobas Core anti-H. pylori EIA in 62 of 65 H. pylori-positive adults and in none of the negative adults. The sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values of the test were 95.4, 100, 100 and 91.4%, respectively. The Cobas Core anti-H. pylori EIA presented high sensitivity and specificity when employed for a population in Brazil, permitting the use of the test both to confirm the clinical diagnosis and to perform epidemiologic surveys.

In the present study we compared the inoculation of swine gastric mucus into the stomach of mice, the urease test and carbolfuchsin-stained smears for the diagnosis of the infection with "Gastrospirillum suis" ("Helicobacter heilmannii" type 1), an uncultivated tightly spiralled gastric bacterium. Fragments obtained from the antral and oxyntic mucosa of the stomach of 50 slaughtered pigs were used for urease test, for carbolfuchsin-stained smears and for obtaining scrapings of mucus for mouse inoculation. The mice were killed by spinal dislocation 10 days after inoculation and fragments of the antral and oxyntic mucosa were used for spiral bacterium identification (urease test and carbolfuchsin-stained smears). Among the methods employed for the diagnosis of "H. heilmannii" infection, the inoculation of gastric mucus into the stomach of mice was the most sensitive and demonstrated bacterial positivity in 31 (62.0%) swine. Direct examination showed tightly spiralled bacteria in the gastric mucosa of only 4 (8.0%) of the 50 pigs studied. Among them, 3 (6.0%) presented a positive preformed urease test. Spiral bacteria were not seen in the gastric mucosa of any control mice. These results show that the use of the mouse inoculation method improved the detection of "H. heilmannii" in swine