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INTRODUCTION: Obesity can cause deleterious effects on respiratory function and impair health and quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of obesity on the pulmonary function of adult women. METHODS: An obese group, constituted of 20 women between 20 and 35 years old with a BMI of 35 - 49.99 kg/m² who were non-smokers and sedentary and had no lung disease were recruited. The non-obese group consisted of 20 women between 20 and 35 years old who were sedentary and non-smokers and had no lung disease and a body mass index between 18.5 and 24.99 kg/m². Spirometry was performed in all subjects. The statistical analysis consisted of parametric or non-parametric tests, depending on the distribution of each variable, considering p < 0.05 to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The obese group presented a mean age of 25.85 ± 3.89 years and a mean BMI of 41.1 ± 3.46 kg/m², and the non-obese group presented a mean age of 23.9 ± 2.97 years and a mean body mass index of 21.91 ± 1.81 kg/m². There were no significant differences between the obese group and the non-obese group as to the age, vital capacity, tidal volume, forced vital capacity, and forced expiratory volume in one second. However, the obese group presented a greater inspiratory reserve volume (2.44 ± 0.47 L vs. 1.87 ± 0.42 L), a lower expiratory reserve volume (0.52 ± 0.32 L vs. 1.15 ± 0.32 L), and a maximal voluntary ventilation (108.5 ± 13.3 L/min vs. 122.6 ± 19.8 L/min) than the non-obese group, respectively. CONCLUSION: The alterations evidenced in the components of the vital capacity (inspiratory reserve volume and expiratory reserve volume) suggest damage to the chest mechanics caused by obesity. These factors probably contributed to a reduction of the maximal voluntary ventilation.

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BACKGROUND: The relationship between the percentage of oxygen consumption reserve and percentage of heart rate reserve in heart failure patients either on non-optimized or off beta-blocker therapy is known to be unreliable. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the percentage of oxygen consumption reserve and percentage of heart rate reserve in heart failure patients receiving optimized and non-optimized beta-blocker treatment during a treadmill cardiopulmonary exercise test. METHODS: A total of 27 sedentary heart failure patients (86% male, 50±12 years) on optimized beta-blocker therapy with a left ventricle ejection fraction of 33±8% and 35 sedentary non-optimized heart failure patients (75% male, 47±10 years) with a left ventricle ejection fraction of 30±10% underwent the treadmill cardiopulmonary exercise test (Naughton protocol). Resting and peak effort values of both the percentage of oxygen consumption reserve and percentage of heart rate reserve were, by definition, 0 and 100, respectively. RESULTS: The heart rate slope for the non-optimized group was derived from the points 0.949±0.088 (0 intercept) and 1.055±0.128 (1 intercept), p<0.0001. The heart rate slope for the optimized group was derived from the points 1.026±0.108 (0 intercept) and 1.012±0.108 (1 intercept), p=0.47. Regression linear plots for the heart rate slope for each patient in the non-optimized and optimized groups revealed a slope of 0.986 (almost perfect) for the optimized group, but the regression analysis for the non-optimized group was 0.030 (far from perfect, which occurs at 1). CONCLUSION: The relationship between the percentage of oxygen consumption reserve and percentage of heart rate reserve in patients on optimized beta-blocker therapy was reliable, but this relationship was unreliable in non-optimized heart failure patients.

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PURPOSE: To report our initial experiences with laparoscopic partial cystectomy for urachal and bladder malignancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between March 2002 and October 2004, laparoscopic partial cystectomy was performed in 6 cases at 3 institutions; 3 cases were urachal adenocarcinomas and the remaining 3 cases were bladder transitional cell carcinomas. All patients were male, with a median age of 55 years (45-72 years). Gross hematuria was the presenting symptom in all patients, and diagnosis was established with trans-urethral resection bladder tumor in 2 patients and by means of cystoscopic biopsy in the remaining 4 patients. Laparoscopic partial cystectomy was performed using the transperitoneal approach under cystoscopic guidance. In each case, the surgical specimen was removed intact entrapped in an impermeable bag. One patient with para-ureteral diverticulum transitional cell carcinoma required concomitant ureteral reimplantation. RESULTS: All six procedures were completed laparoscopically without open conversion. The median operating time was 110 minutes (90-220) with a median estimated blood loss of 70 mL (50-100). Frozen section evaluations of bladder margins were routinely obtained and were negative for cancer in all cases. The median hospital stay was 2.5 days (2-4) and the duration of catheterization was 7 days. There were no intraoperative or postoperative complications. Final histopathology confirmed urachal adenocarcinoma in 3 cases and bladder transitional cell carcinoma in 3 cases. At a median follow-up of 28.5 months (range: 26 to 44 months), there was no evidence of recurrent disease as evidenced by radiologic or cystoscopic evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic partial cystectomy in carefully selected patients with urachal and bladder cancer is feasible and safe, offering a promising and minimally invasive alternative for these patients.

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INTRODUCTION: Somatosensory stimulation of the paretic upper limb enhances motor performance and excitability in the affected hemisphere, and increases activity in the unaffected hemisphere, in chronic stroke patients. We tested the hypothesis that somatosensory stimulation of the paretic hand would lead to changes in excitability of the unaffected hemisphere in these patients, and we investigated the relation between motor function of the paretic hand and excitability of the unaffected hemisphere. METHODS: Transcranial magnetic stimulation was administered to the unaffected hemisphere of nine chronic stroke patients. Patients were submitted to 2-h somatosensory stimulation in the form of median nerve stimulation and control stimulation using a cross-over design. Baseline Jebsen-Taylor test scores were evaluated. Resting motor threshold, intracortical facilitation, short-interval intracortical inhibition, and visual analog scores for attention, fatigue and drowsiness were measured across conditions. RESULTS: Better pre-stimulation baseline motor function was correlated with deeper SICI in the unaffected hemisphere. We found no overt changes in any physiological marker after somatosensory stimulation. There was increased drowsiness in the control session, which may have led to changes in intracortical facilitation. CONCLUSIONS: Our results do not support an overt effect of a single session of somatosensory stimulation of the paretic hand on motor cortical excitability of the unaffected hemisphere as measured by motor threshold, short-interval intracortical inhibition or intracortical facilitation. It remains to be determined if other markers of cortical excitability are modulated by somatosensory stimulation, and whether repeated sessions or lesion location may lead to different effects.

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OBJECTIVE: This study analyzes the reliability of the PHEEM questionnaire translated into Portuguese. We present the results of PHEEM following distribution to doctors in three different medical residency programs at a university hospital in Brazil. INTRODUCTION: Efforts to understand environmental factors that foster effective learning resulted in the development of a questionnaire to measure medical residents' perceptions of the level of autonomy, teaching quality and social support in their programs. METHODS: The questionnaire was translated using the modified Brislin back-translation technique. Cronbach's alpha test was used to ensure good reliability and ANOVA was used to compare PHEEM results among residents from the Surgery, Anesthesiology and Internal Medicine departments. The Kappa coefficient was used as a measure of agreement, and factor analysis was employed to evaluate the construct strength of the three domains suggested by the original PHEEM questionnaire. RESULTS: The PHEEM survey was completed by 306 medical residents and the resulting Cronbach's alpha was 0.899. The weighted Kappa was showed excellent reliability. Autonomy was rated most highly by Internal Medicine residents (63.7% ± 13.6%). Teaching was rated highest in Anesthesiology (66.7% ± 15.4%). Residents across the three areas had similar perceptions of social support (59.0% ± 13.3% for Surgery; 60.5% ± 13.6% for Internal Medicine; 61.4% ± 14.4% for Anesthesiology). Factor analysis suggested that nine factors explained 58.9% of the variance. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that PHEEM is a reliable instrument for measuring the quality of medical residency programs at a Brazilian teaching hospital. The results suggest that quality of teaching was the best indicator of overall response to the questionnaire.

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BACKGROUND: Scarring alopecias are classified into primary and secondary types according to the initial site of inflammation. In primary scarring alopecias, the hair follicle is the main target of destruction; the term secondary cicatricial alopecia implies that follicular destruction is not the primary pathologic event. AIMS: To review the histopathologic diagnoses of cases of cicatricial alopecia in order to classify them according to the North American Hair Research Society. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with biopsy specimens diagnosed as cicatricial alopecia seen from 2000 to 2005 at the Dermatologic Department of Hospital das Clinicas, São Paulo University Medical School had hematoxylin and eosin, Periodic acid-Schiff and Weigert stained slides reevaluated and sub-typed into different primary cicatricial alopecias. RESULTS: Thirty-eight cases of primary cicatricial alopecias were reclassified as: chronic cutaneous lupus (17), lichen planus pilaris (4), pseudopelade of Brocq (12), folliculitis decalvans (3), dissecting folliculitis (1), and non-specific scarring alopecia (1). In our cases, the methods employed allowed an accurate diagnosis in 12 of 13 cases (92.3%) previously classified as non-specific cicatricial alopecias. CONCLUSIONS: Even in the late, pauci or non-inflammatory phases, an approach with systematic evaluation of a constellation of criteria in routine hematoxylin and eosin stain, Periodic acid-Schiff and Weigert stain allowed for a more accurate diagnosis of cicatricial alopecias.

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BACKGROUND: Even with anti-hypertensive therapy, it is difficult to maintain optimal systemic blood pressure values in hypertensive patients. Exercise may reduce blood pressure in untreated hypertensive, but its effect when combined with long-term anti-hypertensive therapy remains unclear. Our purpose was to evaluate the acute effects of a single session of aerobic exercise on the blood pressure of long-term-treated hypertensive patients. METHODS: Fifty treated hypertensive patients (18/32 male/female; 46.5±8.2 years; Body mass index: 27.8±4.7 kg/m²) were monitored for 24 h with respect to ambulatory (A) blood pressure after an aerobic exercise session (post-exercise) and a control period (control) in random order. Aerobic exercise consisted of 40 minutes on a cycle-ergometer, with the mean exercise intensity at 60% of the patient's reserve heart rate. RESULTS: Post-exercise ambulatory blood pressure was reduced for 24 h systolic (126±8.6 vs. 123.1±8.7 mmHg, p=0.004) and diastolic blood pressure (81.9±8 vs. 79.8±8.5 mmHg, p=0.004), daytime diastolic blood pressure (85.5±8.5 vs. 83.9±8.8 mmHg, p=0.04), and nighttime S (116.8±9.9 vs. 112.5±9.2 mmHg, p<0.001) and diastolic blood pressure (73.5±8.8 vs. 70.1±8.4 mmHg, p<0.001). Post-exercise daytime systolic blood pressure also tended to be reduced (129.8±9.3 vs. 127.8±9.4 mmHg, p=0.06). These post-exercise decreases in ambulatory blood pressure increased the percentage of patients displaying normal 24h systolic blood pressure (58% vs. 76%, p=0.007), daytime systolic blood pressure (68% vs. 82%, p=0.02), and nighttime diastolic blood pressure (56% vs. 72%, p=0.02). Nighttime systolic blood pressure also tended to increase (58% vs. 80%, p=0.058). CONCLUSION: A single bout of aerobic exercise reduced 24h ambulatory blood pressure levels in long-term-treated hypertensive patients and increased the percentage of patients reaching normal ambulatory blood pressure values. These effects suggest that aerobic exercise may have a potential role in blood pressure management of long-term-treated hypertensive.

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OBJECTIVES: To establish a formula that estimates tumor volume in localized prostate cancer based on serum prostate specific antigen levels. One of the main prognostic variables in localized prostate cancer is tumor volume, which can be precisely defined only after prostate extirpation. The present study defines a simple method that allows for estimation of tumor volume before treatment, which can help to establish a better therapeutic strategy for each patient. METHODS: From 1997 to 2002, 735 patients with prostate cancer of stagesT1c-T2c without any previous treatment were submitted to radical prostatectomy. Surgical specimens were evaluated by the same pathologist and the total tumor volume (in cc) and the relative tumor volume (as the percent of the total prostate volume) were determined using the grid morphometric method. Pretreatment serum prostate specific antigen was correlated with tumor volume in each patient using a linear regression model. RESULTS: There were positive correlations between the serum levels of prostate specific antigen and the total tumor volume in cc (p<0.001) and the relative tumor volume as a percentage (p<0.001). For each ng/ml unit increment of serum prostate specific antigen, there was a 0.302 cc increase in total tumor volume and a 0.7% increase in relative tumor volume. Total and percent tumor volume could be calculated, respectively, using the formulas Volume (cc) = 3.476 + 0.302 x PSA (ng/ml) and Volume (%) = 11.331 + 0.704 x prostate specific antigen (ng/ml). CONCLUSIONS: Tumor volume in patients with prostate cancer can be determined before treatment based on the serum prostate specific antigen levels.

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PURPOSE: Compare the effect of conventional static stretching and muscle chain stretching, as proposed by the global posture reeducation method, in the manual therapy of patients with chronic neck pain. METHODS: Thirty-three female patients aged 35 to 60 years old, 31 of whom completed the program, were randomly divided into two groups: The global posture reeducation group (n=15) performed muscle chain stretching, while the conventional stretching group (n=16) performed conventional static muscle stretching. Both groups also underwent manual therapy. Patients were evaluated before and after treatment and at a six-week follow-up appointment and tested for pain intensity (by means of visual analog scale), range of motion (by goniometry), and health-related quality of life (by the SF-36 questionnaire). The treatment program consisted of two 1-hour individual sessions per week for six weeks. Data were statistically analyzed at a significance level of p<0.05. RESULTS: Significant pain relief and range of motion improvement were observed after treatment in both groups, with a slight reduction at follow-up time. Quality of life also improved after treatment, except for the global posture reeducation group in one domain; at follow-up, there was improvement in all domains, except that both groups reported increased pain. There were no significant differences between groups CONCLUSION: Conventional stretching and muscle chain stretching in association with manual therapy were equally effective in reducing pain and improving the range of motion and quality of life of female patients with chronic neck pain, both immediately after treatment and at a six-week follow-up, suggesting that stretching exercises should be prescribed to chronic neck pain patients.

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INTRODUCTION: Level T4 video-assisted thoracoscopic sympathectomy proved superior to T3-T4 treatment for controlling axillary hyperhidrosis at the initial and six-month follow-ups of these patients. OBJECTIVE: To compare the results of two levels of sympathectomy (T3-T4 vs. T4) for treating axillary sudoresis over one year of follow-up. METHODS: Sixty-four patients with axillary hyperhidrosis were randomized to denervation of T3-T4 or T4 alone and followed prospectively. All patients were examined preoperatively and were followed postoperatively for one year. Axillary hyperhidrosis treatment was evaluated, along with the presence, location, and severity of compensatory hyperhidrosis and self-reported quality of life. RESULTS: According to patient reports after one year, all cases of axillary hyperhidrosis were successfully treated by surgery. There were no instances of treatment failure. After six months, compensatory hyperhidrosis was present in 27 patients of the T3-T4 group (87.1%) and in 16 patients of the T4 group (48.5%). After one year, all T3-T4 patients experienced some degree of compensatory hyperhidrosis, compared to only 14 patients in the T4 group (42.4%). In addition, compensatory hyperhidrosis was less severe in the T4 patients (p < 0.01). Quality of life was poor before surgery, and it improved in both groups at six months and one year of follow-up (p = 0.002). There were no cases of mortality, no significant postoperative complications, and no need for conversion to thoracotomy in either group. CONCLUSION: Both techniques were effective for treating axillary hyperhidrosis, but the T4 group showed milder compensatory hyperhidrosis and greater patient satisfaction at the one-year follow-up.

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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of sexual dysfunction and its associated factors in middle-aged women with 11 years or more of formal education. METHODS: A cross-sectional, population-based study was carried out using an anonymous, self-response questionnaire. A total of 315 Brazilian-born women, 40-65 years of age with 11 years or more of schooling, participated in the study. The instrument used in the evaluation was based on the Short Personal Experiences Questionnaire. Sexual dysfunction was calculated from the mean score of sexual responsiveness (pleasure in sexual activities, excitation and orgasm), frequency of sexual activities and libido. Sociodemographic and clinical factors were evaluated. Poisson multiple regression analysis was carried out and the prevalence ratios with respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were calculated. RESULTS: The prevalence of sexual dysfunction was 35.9% among our study population. Multiple regression analysis showed that sexual dysfunction was positively associated with older age (prevalence ratios=1.04; 95%CI:1.01-1.07) and with the presence of hot flashes (prevalence ratios=1.37; 95%CI:1.04-1.80). Having a sexual partner (PR=0.47; 95%CI:0.34-0.65) and feeling well or excellent (prevalence ratios= 0.68; 95%CI: 0.52-0.88) were factors associated with lower sexual dysfunction scores. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual dysfunction was present in more than one-third of women that were 40-65 years of age with 11 years or more of formal education. Within that age group, older age and hot flashes were associated with higher sexual dysfunction scores, whereas feeling well and having a sexual partner were associated with better sexuality.

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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate quality of life in a population that attended a specific community event on health care education, and to investigate the association of their quality of life with the presence of cardiovascular risk factors INTRODUCTION: Interest in health-related quality of life is growing worldwide as a consequence of increasing rates of chronic disease. However, little is known about the association between quality of life and cardiovascular risk factors. METHODS: This study included 332 individuals. Demographics, blood pressure, body mass index, and casual glycemia were evaluated. The brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire on quality of life was given to them. The medians of the scores obtained for the physical, psychological, emotional, and environmental domains were used as cutoffs to define "higher" and "lower" scores. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to define the parameters associated with lower scores. RESULTS: Diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and obesity were associated with lower scores in the physical domain. Dyslipidemia was also associeted with lower scores in the psychological domain. Male gender and regular physical activity had protective effects on quality of life. Aging was inversely associated with decreased quality of life in the environmental domain. CONCLUSION: The presence of cardiovascular risk factors is related to a decreased quality of life. Conversely, male gender and regular physical activity had protective effects on quality of life. These findings suggest that exercising should be further promoted by health-related public programs, with a special focus on women.

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OBJECTIVES: Traditionally, chronic empyema has been treated by thoracotomy and decortication. Some recent reports have claimed similar clinical results for videothoracoscopy, but with less morbidity and mortality than open procedures. Our experience with thoracotomy and decortication is reviewed so that the results of this surgical procedure can be adequately evaluated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From March 1992 to June 2006, 85 patients diagnosed with empyema were treated at Santo Tomás Hospital by the first author. Diagnosis of chronic empyema was based on the duration of signs and symptoms before definitive treatment and imaging findings, such as constriction of the lungs and the thoracic cage. Thirty-three patients fulfilled the criteria for chronic empyema and underwent open thoracotomy and decortication. RESULTS: Twenty-seven patients (81.8 %) were male and the average age of the study group was 34 years. The etiology was pneumonia in 26 patients (78.8%) and trauma in 7 (21.2%). The duration of symptoms and signs before definitive treatment averaged 37 days. All patients had chronic empyema, as confirmed by imaging studies and operative findings. Surgery lasted an average of 139 min. There were 3 (9%) complications with no mortality. The post-operative length of stay averaged 10 days. There were no recurrences of empyema. CONCLUSIONS: Open thoracotomy and decortication can be achieved with low morbidity and mortality. Long-term functional results are especially promising. We suggest that the validation of other surgical approaches should be based on comparative, prospective and controlled studies.

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PURPOSE: To compare hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy and pure laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy techniques in live donor nephrectomy. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we included all patients submitted to hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy and pure laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy between May 2002 and December 2007. The operative data and post-operative courses were reviewed. Information was collected on the operative time, warm ischemia time, estimated blood loss, intra-operative complications, time to first oral intake, length of hospital stay, and post-operative complications. The data were analyzed using Student's t -tests and Fisher exact tests as appropriate, with statistical significance defined as p < 0.05. RESULTS: The means of the operative duration, warm ischemia time and intra-operative bleeding were 83 min, 3.6 min and 130.9 cc, respectively, for hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy, and 78.4 min, 2.5 min and 98.9 cc, respectively, for pure laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy (p=0.29, p<0.0001 and p=0.08, respectively). Intra-operative complications occurred in 6% of patients submitted to hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy and in 4.5% of those submitted to pure laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy (p=0.68). Only one patient from each group required conversion to open surgery; one person receiving hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy had bleeding and one person receiving pure laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy had low carbon dioxide levels during the warm ischemia period. Compared with patients receiving hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy, patients submitted to pure laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy were able to take their first meal earlier (12.5 vs. 9.2 hours, p=0.046), were discharged home sooner (2.8 vs. 1.4 days, p<0.0001) and had fewer post-operative complications (7.5% vs. 0.6%, p=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Pure laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy had some advantages over hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy in terms of the warm ischemia time, time to first oral intake, length of hospital stay, and post-operative donor complications.

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INTRODUCTION: The use of bone grafts in orthopedic, maxillofacial and dental surgery has been growing. Nevertheless, both fresh autografts and frozen allografts have limitations, and therefore, alternative synthetic or natural biomaterials, such as processed and lyophilized bovine bone graft have been developed. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility of lyophilized bovine bone manufactured in a semi-industrial scale, according to a modifical protocol developed by the authors. METHODS: Samples of bovine cancellous bone were processed according to a protocol developed by Kakiuchi et al., and modified to process samples of bovine cancellous bone. The following trials were performed: in vitro cytotoxicity, in vivo acute systemic toxicity, in vivo oral irritation potential, in vitro pyrogenic reaction, and bioburden. RESULTS: The in vitro evaluation of lyophilized bovine cancellous bone revealed an absence of cytotoxicity in 100% of the samples. Regarding in vivo evaluation of acute systemic toxicity, neither macroscopic abnormalities nor deaths were noted in the animals. Pyrogenicity was not greater than 0.125 UE/ml in any of the samples. The bioburden revealed negative results for microbial growth before sterilization. Regarding the oral irritation potential, in vivo evaluation at 24 and 72 hours showed that the animals had no edema or erythema on the oral mucosa. CONCLUSION: The protocol changes established by the authors to prepare lyophilized bovine cancellous bone at a semi-industrial scale is reproducible and yielded a product with excellent biocompatibility.

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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of ginger extract on the expression of NFκB and TNF-α in liver cancer-induced rats. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups based on diet: i) control (given normal rat chow), ii) olive oil, iii) ginger extract (100mg/kg body weight), iv) choline-deficient diet + 0.1% ethionine to induce liver cancer and v) choline-deficient diet + ginger extract (100mg/kg body weight). Tissue samples obtained at eight weeks were fixed with formalin and embedded in paraffin wax, followed by immunohistochemistry staining for NFκB and TNF-α. RESULTS: The expression of NFκB was detected in the choline-deficient diet group, with 88.3 ± 1.83% of samples showing positive staining, while in the choline-deficient diet supplemented with ginger group, the expression of NFκB was significantly reduced, to 32.35 ± 1.34% (p<0.05). In the choline-deficient diet group, 83.3 ± 4.52% of samples showed positive staining of TNF-α, which was significantly reduced to 7.94 ± 1.32% (p<0.05) when treated with ginger. There was a significant correlation demonstrated between NFκB and TNF-α in the choline-deficient diet group but not in the choline-deficient diet treated with ginger extract group. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, ginger extract significantly reduced the elevated expression of NFκB and TNF-α in rats with liver cancer. Ginger may act as an anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory agent by inactivating NFκB through the suppression of the pro-inflammatory TNF-α.

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OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to analyze the effect Cissus quadrangularis plant petroleum ether extract on the development of long bones during the intra-uterine developmental stage in rats. METHODS: Pregnant rats (n=12) were randomly assigned into either a control group (n=6) or a Cissus quadrangularis treatment (n=6) group. Pregnant rats in the Cissus quadrangularis group were treated with Cissus quadrangularis petroleum ether extract at a dose of 500 mg/kg body weight from gestation day 9 until delivery. The animals in the control group received an equal volume of saline. Newborn pups were collected from both groups for alizarin red S - alcian blue staining to differentiate ossified and unossified cartilage. The ossified cartilage (bone) was morphometrically analyzed using Scion image software. RESULTS: Morphometric analysis revealed that the percentage of the total length of ossified cartilage (bone) in pups born to treated dams was significantly higher (P<0.001- -0.0001) than that of the control group. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study suggest that maternal administration of Cissus quadrangularis petroleum ether extract during pregnancy can stimulate the development of fetal bone growth during the intra-uterine developmental period.

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INTRODUCTION: Methotrexate, a folate antagonist, is a mainstay treatment for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It is also widely used in a low dose formulation to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis. In rats, methotrexate is known to induce micronuclei formation, leading to genetic damage, while vitamin A is known to protect against such methotrexate-induced genetic damage. Leucovorin (folinic acid) is generally administered with methotrexate to decrease methotrexate-induced toxicity. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to determine whether vitamin A and leucovorin differed in their capacity to prevent formation of methotrexate-induced micronuclei in rat bone marrow erythrocytes. The present study also aimed to evaluate the effect of combined treatment with vitamin A and leucovorin on the formation of methotrexate-induced micronuclei. METHODS: Male and female Wistar rats (n=8) were injected with 20 mg/kg methotrexate (single i.p. dose). The control group received an equal volume of distilled water. The third and fourth groups of rats received vitamin A (5000 IU daily dose for 4 successive days) and leucovorin (0.5 mg/kg i.p. dose for 4 successive days), respectively. The fifth and sixth groups of rats received a combination of vitamin A and a single dose of methotrexate and a combination of leucovorin and methotrexate, respectively. The last group of rats received a combination of leucovorin, vitamin A and single dose of methotrexate. Samples were collected at 24 hours after the last dose of the treatment into 5% bovine albumin. Smears were obtained and stained with May-Grunwald and Giemsa. One thousand polychromatic erythrocytes were counted per animal for the presence of micronuclei and the percentage of polychromatic erythrocyte was determined. RESULTS: Comparison of methotrexate-treated rats with the control group showed a significant increase in the percentage of cells with micronuclei and a significant decrease polychromatic erythrocyte percentage. Combined methotrexate and vitamin A therapy and combined methotrexate and leucovorin therapy led to significant decreases in the micronuclei percentage and an increase in polychromatic erythrocyte percentage when compared to rats treated with methotrexate alone. Leucovorin was found to be more effective than vitamin A against the formation of methotrexate-induced micronuclei. CONCLUSIONS: Both vitamin A and leucovorin provided significant protection against genetic damage induced by methotrexate.

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The purpose of this paper is to supply a narrative review of the concepts, history, functions, methods, development and theoretical bases for the use of halfway houses for patients with mental disorders, and their correlations, for the net construction of chemical dependence model. This theme, in spite of its relevance, is still infrequently explored in the national literature. The authors report international and national uses of this model and discuss its applicability for the continuity of services for alcohol dependents. The results suggest that this area is in need of more attention and interest for future research.

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Hyperosmotic-hyperoncotic solutions have been widely used during prehospital care of trauma patients and have shown positive hemodynamic effects. Recently, there has been a growing interest in intra-operative use of hypertonic solutions. We reviewed 30 clinical studies on the use of hypertonic saline solutions during surgeries, with the majority being cardiac surgeries. Reduced positive fluid balance, increased cardiac index, and decreased systemic vascular resistance were the main beneficial effects of using hypertonic solutions in this population. Well-designed clinical trials are highly needed, particularly in aortic aneurysm repair surgeries, where hypertonic solutions have shown many beneficial effects. Examining the immunomodulatory effects of hypertonic solutions should also be a priority in future studies.