Germinação de sementes e emergência de plântulas de jutaí (Hymenaea parvifolia Huber. ) / Seed germination and emergence of jutai (Hymenaea parvifolia Huber. ) seedlings

RESUMO O objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar a influencia do tamanho e da temperatura na germinação das sementes, assim como, da posição de escarificação do tegumento e a profundidade de semeadura na emergência de plântulas de jutaí. As sementes foram separadas em três grupos: sementes pequenas, médias e grandes. A germinação das sementes foram realizadas nas temperaturas de 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 e 45 °C e com fotoperíodo de 12 horas. As sementes escarificadas foram colocadas para germinar em 0, 2, 4 e 6 cm de profundidade de semeadura. As sementes médias e grandes apresentaram maiores porcentagens e índices de velocidade de germinação. A faixa de temperatura ótima de germinação está entre 25 e 35°C. A escarificação no hilo da semente ou não é adequada para quebra de dormência de sementes de jutaí. Profundidades de semeadura iguais ou superiores a 4 cm são inadequadas para a emergência de plântulas de jutaí.

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of seed size and temperature on seed germination, as well as the scarification position of the tegument and sowing depth on the emergence of jutai seedlings. The seeds were separated into three groups: large, medium and small. The temperatures to which the seeds were subjected for germination were 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, and 45°C under a photoperiod of 12 hours. The scarified seeds were placed to germinate at depths of 0, 2, 4, and 6 cm. Seed germination was affected by seed size (large and medium seeds). The optimum temperature range was found to be between 25 and 35°C. The scarification in the hilum or the tegument was enough to break the dormancy of the jutai seeds. Sowing depths equal to or deeper than 4 cm were found to be inadequate for the emergence of jutai seedlings.

Advice alone vs. structured detoxification programmes for medication overuse headache: a prospective, randomized, open-label trial in transformed migraine patients with low medical needs.

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of strong advice to withdraw the overused medication with the effectiveness of two structured pharmacological detoxification strategies in a cohort of patients diagnosed with probable migraine overuse headache (MOH) plus migraine and presenting low medical needs. One hundred and twenty patients participated in the study. Exclusion criteria included: previous detoxification treatments, coexistent medical or psychiatric illnesses and overuse of agents containing opioids, benzodiazepines and barbiturates. Group A received only intensive advice to withdraw the overused medication. Group B underwent a standard out-patient detoxification programme (advice+prednisone+preventive treatment). Group C underwent a standard in-patient withdrawal programme (as in group B + fluid replacement and antiemetics). Withdrawal therapy was considered successful if, after 2 months, the patient had reverted to an episodic pattern of headache and to an intake of symptomatic medication on fewer than 10 days/month. We were able to detoxify 75.4% of the whole cohort, 77.5% of patients in group A, 71.7% of patients in group B and 76.9% of those in group C (P>0.05). In patients with migraine plus MOH and low medical needs, effective drug withdrawal may be obtained through the imparting of advice alone.

Prevalence, pattern and predictors of use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in migraine patients attending a headache clinic in Italy.

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in migraine is a growing phenomenon about which little is known. This study was undertaken to evaluate the rates, pattern and presence of predictors of CAM use in a clinical population of patients with different migraine subtypes. Four hundred and eighty-one migraineurs attending a headache clinic were asked to undergo a physician-administered structured interview designed to gather information on CAM use. Past use of CAM therapies was reported by 31.4% of the patients surveyed, with 17.1% having used CAM in the previous year. CAM therapies were perceived as beneficial by 39.5% of the patients who had used them. A significantly higher proportion of transformed migraine patients reported CAM treatments as ineffective compared with patients suffering from episodic migraine (73.1% vs. 50.7%, P < 0.001). The most common source of a recommendation of CAM was a friend or relative (52.7%). In most cases, migraineurs' recourse to CAM treatments was specifically for their headache (89.3%). Approximately 61% of CAM users had not informed their medical doctors of their CAM use. The most common reason for deciding to try a CAM therapy was that it offered a 'potential improvement of headache' (47.7%). The greatest users of CAM treatments were: patients with a diagnosis of transformed migraine; those who had consulted a high number of specialists and reported a higher lifetime number of conventional medical visits; those with a comorbid psychiatric disorder; those with a high income; and those whose headache had been either misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all. Our findings suggest that headache clinic migraine patients, in their need of and quest for care, seek and explore both conventional and CAM approaches. Physicians should be made aware of this patient-driven change in the medical climate in order to prevent misuse of healthcare resources and to be better equipped to meet patients' needs.

Acetyl-L-carnitine in Alzheimer disease: a short-term study on CSF neurotransmitters and neuropeptides.

Acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) is a drug currently under investigation for Alzheimer disease (AD) therapy. ALCAR seems to exert a number of central nervous system (CNS)-related effects, even though a clear pharmacological action that could explain clinical results in AD has not been identified yet. The aim of this study was to determine cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma biological correlates of ALCAR effects in AD after a short-term, high-dose, intravenous, open treatment. Results show that ALCAR CSF levels achieved under treatment were significantly higher than the ones at baseline, reflecting a good penetration through the blood-brain barrier and thus a direct CNS challenge. ALCAR treatment produced no apparent change on CSF classic neurotransmitters and their metabolite levels (homovanillic acid, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, MHPG, dopamine, choline). Among CSF peptides, while corticotropin-releasing hormone and adrenocorticotropic hormone remained unchanged, beta-endorphins significantly decreased after treatment; plasma cortisol levels matched this reduction. Since both CSF beta-endorphins and plasma cortisol decreased, one possible explanation is that ALCAR reduced the AD-dependent hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis hyperactivity. At present, no clear explanation can be proposed for the specific mechanism of this action.

Naloxone-induced jumping activity in morphine-dependent mice: a pharmacological study on the role of DA2 receptors.

The morphine withdrawal syndrome is strictly related to modifications on neurotransmittorial systems at central and peripheral levels. Dopamine seems to play an important role. Particularly in the experimental withdrawal syndrome the jumping activity seems to be related to a hypersensitivity of DA receptors. While the role of DA1 receptors has been extensively studied, using agonist and antagonist drugs, the role of DA2 receptors is still little known. In our study we evaluated the changes of the jumping response that was induced by substances active on DA2 receptors (lisuride, tiapride) in mice made acutely dependent on morphine, in which we induced a withdrawal syndrome with naloxone. Haloperidol (DA1-DA2 blocker) did not provoke significant changes. Either tiapride or lisuride determined a sharp increase of jumping.