Comportamento ingestivo e respostas fisiológicas de cabritos alimentados com dietas contendo torta de girassol oriunda da produção de biodiesel / Ingestive behavior and physiological responses of goats fed with diets containing sunflower cake from biodiesel production

Avaliou-se o efeito de dieta com torta de girassol, oriunda da produção de biodiesel, sobre o comportamento ingestivo e a resposta fisiológica de 32 cabritos ½ sangue Boer, não castrados, com peso médio inicial de 15,3±3,2kg e idade média de 135 dias. Utilizou-se delineamento inteiramente ao acaso, com quatro tratamentos 0; 8; 16 e 24% de inclusão da torta de girassol e oito repetições. O tempo despendido com ruminação, ócio e mastigação total não foi influenciado pela dieta, e observou-se efeito linear crescente sobre o tempo de ingestão em min/período e em min/dia. A eficiência de ingestão e ruminação da matéria seca e da fibra em detergente neutro também não diferiu entre dietas. Quanto às respostas fisiológicas, as frequências respiratória e cardíaca e as temperaturas retal e superficial não sofreram influência da dieta. Concluiu-se que a torta de girassol pode ser incluída até 24% da matéria seca em dietas de cabritos ½ sangue Boer sem comprometer o comportamento ingestivo e os parâmetros fisiológicos desses animais. O fornecimento de dietas com até 24% de matéria seca de torta de girassol não interfere no estresse calórico de cabritos.

The effect of diets with sunflower cake originated from biodiesel production on the ingestive behavior and physiological responses of 32 crossbred Boer goats, noncastrated, with initial weight of 15.3±3.2 kg and mean age of 135 days was evaluated. A completely randomized design with four treatments (0, 8, 16 and 24% of sunflower cake inclusion) and eight replicates was used. The rumination and idling times and the total chewing time were not affected by diets, but the ingestion time (min/period and min/day) had an increasing linear effect. The rumination and ingestion efficiencies of dry matter and neutral detergent fiber also did not differ among diets. Regarding the physiological responses of animals, the heart and respiratory frequencies and the surface and rectal temperatures were not influenced by diets. Sunflower cake can be included up to 24% DM in diets of crossbred Boer goats without compromising the ingestive behavior and physiological parameter of these animals. Under the climatic conditions evaluated the supply of diets with up to 24% DM of sunflower cake does not mitigate or enhance the heat stress in kids.

Trailing end-point phenotype antibiotic-sensitive strains of Candida albicans produce different amounts of aspartyl peptidases

Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that causes severe systemic infections in immunosuppressed individuals. C. albicans resistance to antifungal drugs is a severe problem in patients receiving prolonged therapy. Moreover, trailing yeast growth, which is defined as a resistant MIC after 48 h of incubation with triazole antifungal agents but a susceptible MIC after 24 h, has been noted in tests of antifungal susceptibility against some C. albicans isolates. In this context, we recently noticed this phenomenon in our routine susceptibility tests with fluconazole/itraconazole and C. albicans clinical isolates. In the present study, we investigated the production of cell-associated and secreted aspartyl peptidases (Saps) in six trailing clinical isolates of C. albicans, since this class of hydrolytic enzymes is a well-known virulence factor expressed by this fungal pathogen. Sap2, which is the best-studied member of the Sap family, was detected by flow cytometry on the cell surface of yeasts and as a 43-kDa polypeptide in the culture supernatant, as demonstrated by Western blotting assay using an anti-Sap1-3 polyclonal antibody. Released aspartyl peptidase activity was measured with BSA hydrolysis and inhibited by pepstatin A, showing distinct amounts of proteolytic activity ranging from 5.7 (strain 44B) to 133.2 (strain 11) arbitrary units. Taken together, our results showed that trailing clinical isolates of C. albicans produced different amounts of both cellular and secreted aspartyl-type peptidases, suggesting that this phenotypic feature did not generate a regular pattern regarding the expression of Sap.

Effect of Erythrina velutina and Erythrina mulungu in rats submitted to animal models of anxiety and depression

Erythrina velutina (EV) and Erythrina mulungu (EM), popularly used in Brazil as tranquilizing agents, were studied. The effects of acute and chronic oral treatment with a water:alcohol extract of EV (7:3, plant grounded stem bark; acute = 100, 200, 400 mg/kg; chronic = 50, 100, 200 mg/kg) were evaluated in rats (N = 11-12) submitted to the elevated T-maze (for avoidance and escape measurements) model of anxiety. This model was selected for its presumed capacity to elicit specific subtypes of anxiety disorders recognized in clinical practice: avoidance has been related to generalized anxiety and escape to panic. Additionally, animals were treated with the same doses of EV and EM (water:alcohol 7:3, inflorescence extract) and submitted to the forced swim test for the evaluation of antidepressant activity (N = 7-10). Both treatment regimens with EV impaired elevated T-maze avoidance latencies, without altering escape, in a way similar to the reference drug diazepam (avoidance 1, mean ± SEM, acute study: 131.1 ± 45.5 (control), 9.0 ± 3.3 (diazepam), 12.7 ± 2.9 (200 mg/kg), 28.8 ± 15.3 (400 mg/kg); chronic study: 131.7 ± 46.9 (control), 35.8 ± 29.7 (diazepam), 24.4 ± 10.4 (50 mg/kg), 29.7 ± 11.5 (200 mg/kg)). Neither EV nor EM altered measurements performed in the forced swim test, in contrast to the reference drug imipramine that significantly decreased immobility time after chronic treatment. These results were not due to motor alterations since no significant effects were detected in an open field. These observations suggest that EV exerts anxiolytic-like effects on a specific subset of defensive behaviors which have been associated with generalized anxiety disorder.