At the mouth of the Amazon River, a widespread carbonate ecosystem exists below the river plume, generating a hard-bottom reef (∼9500 km
) that includes mainly large sponges but also rhodolith beds. ...The mesozooplankton associated with the pelagic realm over the reef formation was characterized, considering the estuarine plume and oceanic influence. Vertical hauls were carried out using a standard plankton net with 200 μm mesh size during September 2014. An indicator index was applied to express species importance as ecological indicators in community. Information on functional traits was gathered for the most abundant copepod species. Overall, 179 zooplankton taxa were recorded. Copepods were the richest (92 species), most diverse and most abundant group, whereas meroplankton were rare and less abundant. Species diversity (>3.0 bits.ind
) and evenness (>0.6) were high, indicating a complex community. Small holoplanktonic species dominated the zooplankton, and the total density varied from 107.98 ind. m
over the reef area to 2,609.24 ind. m
in the estuarine plume, with a significant difference between coastal and oceanic areas. The most abundant copepods were the coastal species
and
and early stages copepodites of Paracalanidae. The holoplanktonic
, an important producer of mucous houses, was very abundant on the reefs. The indicator species index revealed three groups: (1) indicative of coastal waters under the influence of the estuarine plume
and Hydromedusae; (2) characterized coastal and oceanic conditions (
); (3) characterized the reef system (
). Two major copepods functional groups were identified and sorted according to their trophic strategy and coastal-oceanic distribution. The species that dominated the coastal area and the area over the rhodolith beds are indicators of the estuarine plume and are mixed with species of the North Brazil Current. These species practically disappear offshore, where occur oceanic species commonly found in other oligotrophic tropical areas. This ecosystem shows a mixture of estuarine, coastal and oceanic communities coexisting in the waters over the Amazon reefs, with no significant differences among these areas. However, the MDS clearly separated the communities along the salinity gradient in the plume.
The aim of this study was to evaluate if the presence of periodontal infections (PI) is associated with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in a group of patients admitted to a hospital. A total of ...140 patients were enrolled in this case–control study, with 70 patients having CAP (case group) and the other 70 patients diagnosed with other systemic diseases (control group). A periodontal examination was carried out to assess pocket probing depth (PPD), clinical attachment loss (CAL), bleeding on probing (BOP), and presence of bacterial plaque (BP). CAL and BOP showed higher scores in the case group over the control group. They were, respectively, 3.16 ± 2.43 mm and 0.33 ± 0.24 % for the case group, and 1.99 ± 2.23 mm and 0.25 ± 0.24 % for the control group (
p
< 0.05). High scores for BP were observed in both groups (case: 97.1 %; control: 98.6 %,
p
= 1.0000). Chronic periodontitis (CP) was more frequent in patients with CAP (case: 61.4 %; control: 41.4 %). The presence of moderate or severe CP increased the risk for CAP odds ratio (OR) = 4.4, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 1.4–13.8, even when adjusted for age, ethnicity, gender, and smoking. Moderate and severe chronic periodontitis were associated with CAP in this study.
We studied the bacterial characteristics and incidence of invasive infections caused by group B streptococci (GBS) in adults in Iceland in 1975–2014. A total of 145 isolates were characterized by ...serotyping, antimicrobial susceptibility, multilocus sequence typing and surface protein gene profiling. Disease incidence increased during the studied period (p <0.001), reaching 2.17 cases/100 000 person-years in 2013–14. Overall, serotype Ia was the most frequently found (23%), but serotypes Ib, II, III and V showed similar prevalence (14%–17%). Although there were notable changes in the proportion of most serotypes during the study period, only the decline of serotype III was statistically supported (p = 0.003) and was reflected in a decrease of clonal complexes CC17 and CC19 that included most serotype III isolates (p <0.04). On the other hand, the increase in frequency of CC1 was caused by two lineages expressing distinct serotypes: ST1/V/alp3 and ST196/IV/eps. Underlying the relative stability of serotype Ia were major changes in the lineages expressing this serotype, with an increase in the relative importance of CC23, including both ST23/Ia/eps and ST24/Ia/bca lineages, and a decrease in CC7. Nine cases of invasive GBS disease were caused by ST7, of possible zoonotic origin. All isolates were susceptible to penicillin. Rates of erythromycin and clindamycin resistance were 8.3% and 9.7%, respectively. An over-representation of resistance solely to clindamycin was associated with the unusual lsaC gene and serotype III ST19/rib lineage (p <0.001).
Osteoclasts play a key role in the regulation of bone mass and are highly active metabolically. Here we show that a metabolic reprogramming toward the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway (HBP) is ...required not only for osteoclast differentiation but also to determine the bone resorption mode during physiological and pathological bone remodeling. We found that pharmacological inhibition of O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) significantly reduced protein O-GlcNAcylation and osteoclast differentiation. Accordingly, genetic deletion of OGT also inhibited osteoclast formation and downregulated critical markers related to osteoclasts differentiation and function (NFATc1, αvintegrin, cathepsin K). Indeed, cells treated with OSMI-1, an OGT inhibitor, also reduced nuclear translocation of NFATc1. Furthermore, the addition of exogenous N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) strongly increased osteoclast formation and demineralization ability. Strikingly, our data show for the first time that O-GlcNAcylation facilitates an aggressive trench resorption mode in human cells. The incubation of osteoclasts with exogenous GlcNAc increases the percentage of erosion by trench while having no effect on pit resorption mode. Through time-lapse recording, we documented that osteoclasts making trenches moving across the bone surface are sensitive to GlcNAcylation. Finally, osteoclast-specific Ogt-deficient mice show increased bone density and reduced inflammation-induced bone loss during apical periodontitis model. We show that osteoclast-specific Ogt-deficient mice are less susceptible to develop bacterial-induced periapical lesion. Consistent with this, Ogt-deleted mice showed a decreased number of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-positive cells lining the apical periodontitis site. In summary, here we describe a hitherto undiscovered role of the HBP/O-GlcNAcylation axis tuning resorption mode and dictating bone resorption outcome.
Phytoextraction is a remediation technique that consists in using plants to remove contaminants from soils and water. This study evaluated arsenic (As) accumulation in Castor bean (
Ricinus communis ...cv. Guarany) grown in nutrient solution in order to assess its phytoextraction ability. Castor bean plants were grown under greenhouse conditions in pots containing a nutrient solution amended with increasing doses of As (0, 10, 50, 100, 250, 500 and 5000
μg
L
−1) in a completely randomized design with four replications. Shoot and roots dry matter production as well as arsenic and nutrient tissue concentrations were measured at the end of the experiment. The results showed that increasing As concentration in nutrient solution caused a decrease in shoot and root biomass but did not result in severe toxicity symptoms in castor bean growing under a range of As concentration from 0 to 5000
μg
L
−1. The As doses tested did not affect the accumulation of nutrients by castor bean. Although castor bean did not pose characteristics of a plant suitable for commercial phytoextraction, it could be useful for revegetation of As-contaminated areas while providing an additional income by oil production.
Glioblastoma is the most prevalent and malignant brain tumor identified in adults. Surgical resection followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy, mainly with temozolomide (TMZ), is the chosen ...treatment for this type of tumor. However, the average survival of patients is around 15 months. Novel approaches to glioblastoma treatment are greatly needed. Here, we aimed to investigate the anti-glioblastoma effect of the combination of matteucinol (Mat) (dihydroxyflavanone derived from Miconia chamissois Naudin) with the chemotherapeutic TMZ in vitro using tumor (U-251MG) and normal astrocyte (NHA) cell lines and in vivo using the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. The combination was cytotoxic and selective for tumor cells (28 microg/mL Mat and 9.71 microg/mL TMZ). Additionally, the combination did not alter cell adhesion but caused morphological changes characteristic of apoptosis in vitro. Notably, the combination was also able to reduce tumor growth in the chick embryo model (CAM assay). The docking results showed that Mat was the best ligand to the cell death membrane receptor TNFR1 and to TNFR1/TMZ complex, suggesting that these two molecules may be working together increasing their potential. In conclusion, Mat-TMZ can be a good candidate for pharmacokinetic studies in view of clinical use for the treatment of glioblastoma. Key words: Brain cancer; Antitumor; Natural products; Apoptosis
The aims of this study were: to evaluate the total equivalent antioxidant capacities (TEAC) and phenolic contents of 13 plants extracts; to select the most promising extracts regarding reducing ...activity using cluster analysis multivariate statistical technique; and to analyse evaluate sensory acceptance of lamb burgers produced with the most promising natural antioxidants replacing sodium erythorbate. Plant extracts were evaluated regarding TEAC by DPPH
•
and FRAP methods, and total phenolics contents by Folin-Ciocalteau assay. The TEAC values ranged from 0.50 to 9.06 g trolox/100 g dry weight (dw) and from 43.6 to 472.32 μmol trolox/g dw for DPPH
•
and FRAP methods, respectively, and the total phenolic contents from 5.98 to 74.01 mg GAE/g dw. Extracts from
Origanum vulgare
,
Melissa officinalis
,
Origanum majorana L
. and
Rosmarinus officinalis
were grouped as the ones with higher antioxidant capacities by cluster analysis. All burgers produced with each one of these four plant extracts or with sodium erythorbate showed no differences (
P
> 0.05) regarding consumers’ sensory acceptance. In conclusion, it is possible to replace sodium erythorbate in lamb burgers by any of the four natural extracts selected without compromising sensory acceptance of this meat product.
Schistosomiasis treatment is dependent on a single drug, praziquantel (PZQ). The development of resistance of PZQ has drawn the attention of many researchers to alternative drugs. One viable and ...promising treatment is the study of medicinal plants as a new approach to the experimental treatment for Schistosomiasis. The present work aimed to evaluate in vivo antischistosomal activity of effect of Mentha x villosa Oil Essential (Mv-EO) and rotundifolone (ROT) against Schistosoma mansoni. Thirty-day-old female Swiss webster mice (Mus musculus) weighing 50 grams were used. Mice were infected with 80 cercariae of S. mansoni (BH strain) and orally administered Mv-EO (50, 100 and 200 mg/Kg) and ROT (35.9, 70.9 and 141.9 mg/Kg) at 45-days post infection for 5 consecutive days. All mice were euthanized 60 days after infection. Praziquantel was the positive control in the experiment. Doses of 200 mg/kg (Mv-EO) and ROT (141.9 mg/Kg) resulted in a significant reduction in fluke burden (72.44% and 74.48%, respectively). There was also marked reduction in liver, intestinal and faecal and changed oogram pattern, compared to infected untreated mice. Considering the results obtained, further biological studies are required in order to elucidate the mechanism of schistosomicidal action on against adult S. mansoni.
We investigated the role of an evidence-based integrated group rehabilitation program on the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). This was a two-group, randomized controlled, 8 wk ...trial with 41 patients with moderate to very severe KOA. Patients were assigned to an intervention group (IG) or control group (CG). After both groups had received a self-management education program, IG participants underwent a rehabilitation program, including educational aspects about KOA followed by exercises. CG participants received only general health orientation about KOA during this period. The outcome measures were the Lequesne algofunctional index; 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36); and chair-stand, sit-and-reach, timed up-and-go, and 6-minute walk tests. Analysis of covariance revealed significant postintervention improvements of IG participants compared with CG participants (p < 0.05) on Lequesne total score and pain and function subdomains; SF-36 physical function, role physical, bodily pain, general health, vitality, and role emotional subdomains; and performance assessed by chair-stand, timed up-and-go, and 6-minute walk tests. Focusing on the primary outcome (Lequesne total score), the mean +/- standard deviation after 8 wk was 5.50 +/- 2.98 for the IG and 7.87 +/- 3.48 for the CG (p = 0.009). The corresponding effect size (partial eta squared with 90% confidence interval) was 0.23 (0.04-0.42), indicating a large effect. The presented rehabilitation program reduced pain and improved quality of life and function in patients with KOA.
ClinicalTrials.gov; Progressive Collective-exercise Program on the Knee Osteoarthritis; NCT01850862; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01850862?term=NCT01850862&rank=1.
•New data on Hg in tissues of green turtles from the South Atlantic Ocean.•A nonlethal/noninvasive method is assessed for Hg monitoring in sea turtles.•We found positive correlations between Hg in ...muscle and scutes, liver and kidney.
The green sea turtles are facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild and the impacts of heavy metals contamination contributes with the decline of their populations. It is very important to assess noninvasive and nonlethal methods for monitoring Hg contamination in sea turtles. Thus, Hg concentrations were measured in keratinized fragments (scutes) and internal tissues of green sea turtles from the Ceará coast to test the usefulness of scutes as a monitoring subject for sea turtles. A significantly positive correlation was found between Hg concentrations in muscle and scutes, which demonstrate that scutes can be used as a predictive matrix of Hg concentration in muscle tissue of green sea turtles.
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