Análise citogenética em material de abortamento espontâneo / Cytogenetic analysis of material from spontaneous abortion

OBJETIVO: Descrever as anormalidades cromossômicas em material de abortamento espontâneo. MÉTODOS: Realizou-se compilação retrospectiva da análise de cariótipo em lâmina corada com Banda G por microscopia óptica e em material de 428 produtos de abortamento encaminhados para estudo. RESULTADOS: Foram observados 145 resultados normais (33,9 por cento) e 237 resultados anormais (55,4 por cento). Em 46 amostras não houve crescimento celular (10,7 por cento). As anormalidades numéricas foram as mais frequentes, destacando-se a trissomia do 16 (41 casos), a triplodia (27 casos), a monossomia do X (26 casos), a tetraploidia (13 casos) e a trissomia do 15 (13 casos). CONCLUSÃO: As alterações citogenéticas representam importante causa de perdas gestacionais e sua detecção auxilia o aconselhamento genético do casal. A trissomia do cromossomo 16 é a alteração mais frequentemente encontrada.

OBJECTIVE: To describe chromosomal abnormalities in spontaneous abortion material. METHODS: A retrospective compilation of karyotype analysis of slides stained with Band G was carried out by optical microscopy with materials of 428 abortion products referred for study. RESULTS: There were 145 normal results (33.9 percent) and 237 abnormal results (55.4 percent). In 46 samples there was no cell growth (10.7 percent). Numerical abnormalities were the most frequent, especially trisomy 16 (41 cases), triplodia (27 cases), monosomy X (26 cases), tetraploidy (13 cases) and trisomy 15 (13 cases). CONCLUSION: Cytogenetic alterations are an important cause of pregnancy loss and their detection helps the genetic counseling to the couple. Trisomy 16 is the most often found change.

Effect of angiotensin II and losartan on the phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophages from Balb/C mice

Angiotensin II (AII), a product of rennin-angiotensin system, exerts an important role on the function of immune system cells. In this study, the effect of AII on the phagocytic activity of mouse peritoneal macrophages was assessed. Mice peritoneal macrophages were cultured for 48 h and the influence of different concentrations of AII (10-14 to 10-7 M) and/or losartan, 10-16 to 10-6 M), an AT1 angiotensin receptor antagonist, on phagocytic activity and superoxide anion production was determined. Dimethylthiazoldiphenyltetrazolium bromide reduction and the nucleic acid content were used to assess the cytotoxicity of losartan. A stimulatory effect on phagocytic activity (P < 0.05) was observed with 10-13 M and 10-12 M AII concentrations. The addition of losartan (up to10-14 M) to the cell cultures blocked (P < 0.001) the phagocytosis indicating the involvement of AT1 receptors. In contrast, superoxide anion production was not affected by AII or losartan. The existence of AT1 and AT2 receptors in peritoneal macrophages was demonstrated by immunofluorescence microscopy. These results support the hypothesis that AII receptors can modulate murine macrophage activity and phagocytosis, and suggest that AII may have a therapeutic role as an immunomodulatory agent in modifying the host resistance to infection.