ABSTRACT
Several physiotherapy approaches are used with different aims in the treatment of cerebral palsy (CP), such as the early stimulation and the locomotor training, but their biological effects, isolated or combined, are not completely known. In animals models, these strategies can be compared, with due translational restrictions, to the environmental enrichment (EE), that involves the enhancement of animal's physical and social environment, and locomotor stimulation (LS), that can be performed using the treadmill adapted for rats. This study was designed to describe which biological and functional mechanisms underlying rehabilitative process in clinical practice. Male rat pups were initially divided in two groups: control (healthy) and submitted to a CP model. Then, pups were divided in eight groups: CP, CPEE, CPLS, CPEELS and its respectively control groups. Functional outcomes were assessed at the postnatal day (P) 31 and P52. The tibialis anterior and soleus muscles, tibia bone parameters, the expression of synaptophysin in the primary motor cortex (M1) and ventral horn (VH) of the spinal cord, were evaluated. The association of therapies was able to improve the functional assessments and musculoskeletal parameters. Isolated therapies presented complementary benefits in CP, but the association of therapies proved to be a fundamental and effective strategy to functional recovery, besides alter positively all biological tissues evaluated in this study.
Subject(s)
Cerebral Palsy/physiopathology , Cerebral Palsy/therapy , Environment , Exercise Therapy , Walking/physiology , Animals , Cerebral Palsy/pathology , Disease Models, Animal , Housing, Animal , Immunohistochemistry , Male , Motor Cortex/metabolism , Motor Cortex/pathology , Motor Skills/physiology , Muscle, Skeletal/pathology , Organ Size , Rats, Wistar , Spinal Cord/metabolism , Spinal Cord/pathology , Synaptophysin/metabolism , Tibia/pathologyABSTRACT
The species Drimys angustifolia Miers and D. brasiliensis Miers, commonly known as "casca-de-anta", have in their leaves essential oils that can confer cytotoxic effects. In this study, we evaluated the citotoxic effects of the volatile oils from these two species. We also proposed a nanoemulsion formulation for each of the species and assessed the in vitro cytotoxicity on U-138 MG (human glioblastoma) and T24 (human bladder carcinoma) cell lines. The plant chemical composition was evaluated by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometer. Furthermore, the nanoemulsions were prepared and characterized. Our results showed that; bicyclogermacrene (19.6%) and cyclocolorenone (18.2%) were the most abundant for the D angustifolia oil and D brasiliensis oil, respectively. Both nanoemulsions, D angustifolia and D brasiliensis appeared macroscopically homogeneous and opalescent bluish liquids, with nanometric mean diameters of 168 nm for D brasiliensis and 181 nm for D angustifolia. The polydispersity indices were below 0.10, with an acid pH of 4.7-6.3, and negative zeta potentials about -34 mV. The results of transmission electron microscopy showed that droplets are present in the nanometer range. Only the D brasiliensis oil was efficient in reducing the cell viability of both U-138 MG (42.5%±7.0 and 67.8%±7.8) and T24 (33.2%±2.8, 60.3%±1.6 and 80.5%±8.8) cell lines, as assessed by MTT assay. Noteworthy, similar results were obtained with cell counting. Finally, D brasiliensis oil incubation caused an increase of annexin-V and propidium iodite population, according to evaluation by cytometry analysis, what is characteristic of late apoptosis. The results presented herein lead us to consider the potential therapeutic effects of the essential oils and nanoformulations as novel strategies to inhibit tumor growth.
