Plants are promising sources of new bioactive compounds. The aim of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic potential of nine plants found in Brazil. The species studied were: Annona pickelii ...Diels (Annonaceae), Annona salzmannii A. DC. (Annonaceae), Guatteria blepharophylla Mart. (Annonaceae), Guatteria hispida (R. E. Fr.) Erkens & Maas (Annonaceae), Hancornia speciosa Gomes (Apocynaceae), Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae), Kielmeyera rugosa Choisy (Clusiaceae), Lippia gracilis Schauer (Verbenaceae), and Hyptis calida Mart. Ex Benth (Lamiaceae). Different types of extractions from several parts of plants resulted in 43 extracts. Their cytotoxicity was tested against HCT-8 (colon carcinoma), MDA-MB-435 (melanoma), SF-295 (glioblastoma), and HL-60 (promielocitic leukemia) human tumor cell lines, using the thiazolyl blue test (MTT) assay. The active extracts were those obtained from G. blepharophylla, G. hispida, J. curcas, K. rugosa, and L. gracilis. In addition, seven compounds isolated from the active extracts were tested; among them, β-pinene found in G. hispida and one coumarin isolated from K. rugora showed weak cytotoxic activity. In summary, this manuscript contributes to the understanding of the potentialities of Brazilian plants as sources of new anticancer drugs.
The effect of environmental factors on the proportion of the nitrogen (N) derived from the atmosphere (Ndfa) in soybean
Glycine max
(L.) Merril have been traditionally approached individually given ...their intrinsic complexity. Alternatively, a more in-depth investigation of such complex interactions can be pursued by delimiting environments where Ndfa is uniform. Thus, the aim of this study was to define environments on 24 sites by extensively characterizing weather, plant, and Ndfa-related traits to find discriminant variables defining three Ndfa classes (low, medium, and high). The Ndfa was determined at the beginning of the seed filling (R5 growth stage) using the
15
N natural abundance method. Twenty environmental variables were utilized to categorize Ndfa in low (< 57%), medium (57–66%), and high (≥ 66%) classes via implementation of discriminant multivariate analysis. The Ndfa averaged 60%, lower to previous values reported for Brazil (ranging from 69 to 94%). Mean air temperature, associated to SOM and soil N, was the most important variable related to low Ndfa, while improving soil fertility (soil pH, base saturation, exchangeable Ca and Mg, and available P) was critical for high Ndfa and, consequently, seed yield. The high contribution of those factors highlight the importance of implementing strategies to improve soil fertility, to promote better plant growth, and thus enhancing Ndfa contribution to crop N uptake.
Soybean Glycine max (L.) Merr. responses to seed inoculation with rhizobium are inconsistent in sites with inoculation history. Field trials were conducted in South-central region of Paraná State ...(Southern Brazil) aiming to evaluate yield response to inoculation in areas with history of inoculation at a regional-scale (21 trials, 1999/2000 to 2014/2015), and identify nodulation, plant dry weight and nitrogen (N) components underpinning yield formation (10 trials, 2015/2016 and 2016/2017). Seed yield varied from 1853 to 5352 kg ha
−1
(first dataset), characterizing a wide range of environmental conditions across seasons. Response to inoculation was inconsistent at regional-scale, with a similar seed yield of inoculated (3286 kg ha
−1
) and non-inoculated (3298 kg ha
−1
) soybean. Lack of differences were also observed in all the variables analyzed of second dataset. Research efforts should be applied aiming to identify rhizobia persistence in the soil and its efficacy at N fixation after continuous cropping without inoculation.
Brazilian Society of Cardiology - The Women's Letter Oliveira, Glaucia Maria Moraes de; Negri, Fátima Elizabeth Fonseca de Oliveira; Clausell, Nadine Oliveira ...
Arquivos brasileiros de cardiologia,
06/2019, Letnik:
112, Številka:
6
Journal Article
A new sorbent was synthesized by anchoring 7-amino-4-azaheptyltrimetoxisilane, freshly prepared, to silica gel, producing 7-amino-4-azaheptyl anchored silica gel (AAHSG). This material was ...characterized by infrared spectroscopy (IR), elemental analysis (CHN), and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. Isotherms of the adsorption of Fe3+, Fe2+ and Cu2+ on AAHSG were recorded, which indicated that Fe3+ presents a higher affinity by the sorbent. Therefore, AAHSG was successfully employed as a sorbent in a simple flow system for the preconcentration of Fe3+ in natural water samples, such as, river water, lagoonwater, springwater, stream water, well water and two water reference materials (NIST-SRM 1640, NIST-SRM 1643d). The obtained preconcentration factor was 82.2, and the detection limit achieved was 5.9 ng ml-1. The recovery of spiked water samples ranged from 95.0 - 103.1%.
Voluntary physical activity improves memory and learning ability in rodents, whereas status epilepticus has been associated with memory impairment. Physical activity and seizures have been associated ...with enhanced hippocampal expression of BDNF, indicating that this protein may have a dual role in epilepsy. The influence of voluntary physical activity on memory and BDNF expression has been poorly studied in experimental models of epilepsy. In this paper, we have investigated the effect of voluntary physical activity on memory and BDNF expression in mice with pilocarpine-induced epilepsy. Male Swiss mice were assigned to four experimental groups: pilocarpine sedentary (PS), pilocarpine runners (PRs), saline sedentary (SS) and saline runners (SRs). Two days after pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus, the affected mice (PR) and their running controls (SR) were housed with access to a running wheel for 28 days. After that, the spatial memory and the expression of the precursor and mature forms of hippocampal BDNF were assessed. PR mice performed better than PS mice in the water maze test. In addition, PR mice had a higher amount of mature BDNF (14
kDa) relative to the total BDNF (14
kDa
+
28
kDa
+
32
kDa forms) content when compared with PS mice. These results show that voluntary physical activity improved the spatial memory and increased the hippocampal content of mature BDNF of mice with pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus.
Paracoccidioides brasiliensis infections have been little studied in wild and/or domestic animals, which may represent an important indicator of the presence of the pathogen in nature. Road-killed ...wild animals have been used for surveillance of vectors of zoonotic pathogens and may offer new opportunities for eco-epidemiological studies of paracoccidiodomycosis (PCM). The presence of P. brasiliensis infection was evaluated by Nested-PCR in tissue samples collected from 19 road-killed animals; 3 Cavia aperea (guinea pig), 5 Cerdocyon thous (crab-eating-fox), 1 Dasypus novemcinctus (nine-banded armadillo), 1 Dasypus septemcinctus (seven-banded armadillo), 2 Didelphis albiventris (white-eared opossum), 1 Eira barbara (tayra), 2 Gallictis vittata (grison), 2 Procyon cancrivorus (raccoon) and 2 Sphiggurus spinosus (porcupine). Specific P. brasiliensis amplicons were detected in (a) several organs of the two armadillos and one guinea pig, (b) the lung and liver of the porcupine, and (c) the lungs of raccoons and grisons. P. brasiliensis infection in wild animals from endemic areas might be more common than initially postulated. Molecular techniques can be used for detecting new hosts and mapping 'hot spot' areas of PCM.
The 1,3-diaminepropane-3-propyl-anchored silica gel (DAPPS) was successfully employed as a sorbent in a spectrophotometric flow system for the preconcentration of Cu
2+ in digests of biological ...materials (maize powder, soybean, citrus leaves, corn stalks) as well as water samples (river, stream, streamlet, springwater and well). The system presented a minicolumn packed with DAPPS, where the sample solution was passed through it for a period of time, and subsequently, an eluent solution, stripped-out the retained analyte which was further determined with DDTC at 460
nm.
The better preconcentration conditions utilized were: 120
s loading, 60
s elution, 30
s regeneration of the column, loading flow rate 6.5
ml
min
−1, buffer solution for the preconcentration and regeneration of the column-borate buffer pH 8.5, elution flow rate 2.3
ml
min
−1, time of elution 60
s, eluent composition, 0.4
mol
l
−1 HNO
3. Under these conditions, the preconcentration factor obtained was 36, and the detection limit achieved was 8.4
ng
ml
−1 in water samples and 0.84
μg
g
−1 in biological material. The maximum adsorption capacity of DAPPS to Cu
2+ was 0.49
mmol
g
−1 (31.1
mg
g
−1) obtained in a batch system.
The recovery of copper in the water samples ranged from 96.9 to 102.4% and in the biological materials ranged from 97.0 to 102.6%.
The biphenilaminepropylsilica and biphenilaminepropylsilicatitania were synthesized by sol–gel method, in two steps: (a) biphenylamine reacts with chloropropyltrimethoxysilane and (b) the product of ...reaction was polycondensed with tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) or TEOS and titanium isopropoxide. The sol–gel materials were characterized using infrared spectroscopy and N
2 adsorption–desorption isotherms and they were employed as sorbents for carcinogenic N-containing compound retention, in aqueous solution, using the SPE technique. The N-containing compounds adsorption was influenced by the titania presence and the sorption process seems to happen in the pores with higher organic density.
The hybrid biphenylaminepropylsilica (bPhe/SiO
2
) and biphenylaminepropylsilicatitania xerogels were obtained by the sol-gel synthesis. The bPhe/SiO
2
material showed higher porosity and higher ...thermal stability of the organic component. These materials were submitted to high-pressure processing (3.5 and 6.0 GPa) and the changes in their morphological properties were investigated by using scanning electron microscopy, N
2
adsorption-desorption isotherms and infrared spectroscopy. The high-pressure processing produces changes in the morphological structure of hybrid materials caused by the compaction of the aggregated particles and the blocking of the pores with the entrapment of organics through the cold sintering process. However, when the organics are covalently bonded to the surface, this mechanism can be partially inhibited.
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