Anti-inflammatory properties of bergenin in mice

Inflammation is a protective biological reaction against infection and has undesirable effects. Although bergenin (BG),a C-glycoside derivative of 4-O-methyl gallic acid, has many pharmacological properties, no study has demonstratedthe activity of BG in inflammatory mediators, such as histamine and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). The present studyinvestigated the anti-inflammatory activity of BG obtained from Peltophorum dubium Taub, in edema models inducedby carrageenan and inflammatory mediators in Swiss mice. The assessment of its toxicity was also conducted. Theevaluations of this study indicated that the pre-treatment with BG (25 mg/kg) significantly reduced edema induced bycarrageenan, compound 48/80, histamine, and PGE2 (p < 0.05). Also, pre-treatment with BG inhibited the recruitmentof leukocytes and neutrophils, reducing adhesion and rolling of these cells, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity,malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and vascular permeability. Treatment with BG (2,000 mg/kg) showed no toxicsigns in hippocratic screening, weight of animals, water and feed intake, vital organs weight and histopathologicalevaluation, and hematological and biochemical parameters. In conclusion, these results show that the BG obtainedfrom P. dubium Taub has anti-inflammatory activity against different models of inflammation, reducing neutrophilmigration and damage caused by oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation. BG did not present toxic effects in theevaluated parameters.

Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of essential oil from leaves of Croton heliotropiifolius in different seasons of the year

ABSTRACT This paper reports the first study of the variation of the chemical composition and abundance of the essential oil of Croton heliotropiifolius, in four seasons, and the evaluation of its antibacterial activity. Essential oil obtained from leaves of C. heliotropiifolius were analyzed by GC/MS and evaluated against eight bacteria strains by broth microdilution method. The chemical constituents identified were the same in all samples, but with different proportions. The total percentages identified were 96.58% in summer, 92.08% in autumn, 98.44% in winter and 90.78% in spring. The majors constituents are β-caryophyllene, bicyclogermacrene, germacrene-D, limonene and 1,8-cineole. β-Caryophyllene was the major compound in all samples. The results of the antibacterial evaluations showed weak to moderate activity against the analyzed strains. In all analyzes was observed that essential oil sample collected in summer stands out from the others, displaying stronger activity against Gram-positive as Gram-negative bacteria.

Neonatal lipopolysaccharide exposure induces sexually dimorphic sickness behavior in adult rats

The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether neonatal exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 50 µg/kg, i.p., on postnatal day 2) induces depressive- and/or anxiety-like effects and sexually dimorphic responses in rats challenged with LPS (100 µg/kg, i.p.) in adulthood. The results revealed that males presented a less depressive state in the forced swim test and exhibited no changes in general motor activity in the open field test. Females exhibited an increase in sickness behavior, revealing different behavioral strategies in response to a bacterial disease. The male rats also exhibited higher cell proliferation, reflected by bone marrow and peripheral blood counts, and female rats exhibited a decrease in corticosterone levels. No changes were observed in the elevated plus maze or peripheral cytokine levels (interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α). Neonatal exposure to LPS induced sexually dimorphic behavioral, neuroendocrine, and immune effects after an LPS challenge in adulthood, differentially affecting male and female susceptibility to disease later in life...

Prevalence of human papillomavirus types in women with pre-neoplastic and neoplastic cervical lesions in the Federal District of Brazil

As a contribution to the public health authorities in planning prophylactic and therapeutic vaccine strategies, we describe the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) types in women presenting abnormal cytological results in Pap smear screening tests in the Federal District, Central Brazil. We studied 129 cervical scraping samples from women whose cytological tests showed either pre-neoplastic or neoplastic lesions. Amplification of HPV DNA was performed by polymerase chain reaction using consensus primers MY09 and MY11 followed by identification of isolates by restriction fragment length polymorphism. We detected HPV DNA in 62 percent of the samples, including HPV-16 in 43.8 percent, HPV-58 in 12.5 percent, HPV-31 in 10 percent, HPV-53 in 6.3 percent, each of HPV-18 and HPV-33 in 3.8 percent of the isolates. Other types (HPV-35, -52, -66, -CP8304, -6, -11, and -CP8061) were less frequent (= or < 2.5 percent each). The prevalence of HPV-58 was relatively higher in this population than in data in South America, but similar to results obtained in other studies in Latin America, Europe, and Eastern Asia. Case-control studies need to be carried out to establish the association between the prevalence of HPV types specially the less frequent high-risk types and cervical cancer.