Cryopreservation: Extending the viability of biological material from sea urchin (Echinometra lucunter) in ecotoxicity tests.

The sea urchin, Echinometra lucunter, is widely used in embryo-larval tests for ecotoxicological studies in Brazil and other countries. For each test, sea urchins are collected from the wild and this can cause impact on wild populations and it is limited by the weather and season which in turn limits the ability to carry out the tests. Cryopreservation is a method of live biological material storage at low temperature and can be used for long periods with little decline in viability, reducing the number of animals taken from the wild and enabling testing to be carried out on demand, irrespective of spawning season or location. In this study, 15 combinations of cryoprotective agents (CPAs) were evaluated on spermatozoa, subjected to a rapid cooling curve followed by immersion in liquid nitrogen. Twenty-four CPA combinations were evaluated on eggs subjected to a more gradual cooling curve in nitrogen vapor down to -35 °C and then plunging in liquid nitrogen. Fertilization tests using cryopreserved spermatozoa gave high pluteus larvae yields (≈80%) when concentrations of 10.5% or 13.65% ME2SO or 13.65% ME2SO+15.75% sucrose were used. The higher concentrations of ME2SO plus sucrose were more effective at maintaining the fertilization capacity of spermatozoa post-thawing. Egg cryopreservation was not successful with 0% fertilization observed post-thawing. The results suggest that it is feasible to implement spermatozoa cryopreservation as technological innovation to create a sperm bank for E. lucunter, which can be used in ecotoxicological tests, bringing benefits for researches and contributing to the conservation of the species.

Clinical characteristics and spatial distribution of Visceral leishmaniasis in children in São Paulo state: an emerging focus of Visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is an emerging zoonosis, and Brazil harbors about 90% of those infected in Latin America. Since 1998, the disease has been spreading quickly in São Paulo state, and the western region is considered an emerging focus of VL in Brazil. Our aim was to evaluate the clinical characteristics and spatial distribution of VL in children referred to a public tertiary hospital located in the western region of São Paulo state, Brazil. METHODS: Medical records of children up to 18 years of age who were diagnosed with VL between January 2006 and December 2010 were reviewed. Geospatial analysis was performed using the ArcGIS 10.2 platform. RESULTS: Sixty-three patients were enrolled in the study; the median age was 3.3 ± 3.3 years. The median time interval between the onset of clinical symptoms and diagnosis was 16.1 ± 11.1 days, and the median time in the pediatric ward was 18.0 ± 9.4 days. Liposomal amphotericin B was the first-line treatment in 90.5% of the patients and 9.6% relapsed. One patient died (1.6%), and 19% were submitted to the pediatric intensive care unit. CONCLUSION: The short interval between the onset of symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment and the reduced number of days of hospitalization certainly influenced the small number of deaths, relapses, and severity among the children infected with VL. However, the disease is spreading fast in the western region of São Paulo state. Thus, integrated actions and effective monitoring of the disease are needed to complement curative practices.

Alterações de enzimas de biotransformação de xenobióticos na fase inicial da esquistossomose mansônica murina / Alterations of enzymes of xenobiotics biotransformation in the initial phase of the schistosomiasis mansoni murine

Estudos em seres humanos e animais de laboratório têm indicado que infecções e estímulos inflamatórios alteram as atividades e a expressão de várias isoformas de citocromo P450 (CYP), e de outras enzimas envolvidas na biotransformação de xenobióticos, no fígado, nos rins e no cérebro. Sabe-se que o clearance de muitos fármacos depende do metabolismo hepático e da atividade dos CYPs. Por outro lado, algumas drogas (pró-drogas) são convertidas por estas enzimas em metabólitos farmacológica e toxicologicamente ativos (ativação metabólica). Assim sendo, os fatores que modulam a atividade ou a expressão dos CYPs e das UDP-glicuronosiltransferases (UGTs), afetam também – favorável ou negativamente – os efeitos terapêuticos e adversos dos fármacos e a toxicidade de outros xenobióticos. Neste contexto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar a ocorrência de alterações do conteúdo total de citocromo P450, e da atividade de enzimas hepáticas de biotransformação (CYP1A, CYP2A, CYP2B, CYP2E e UGT) durante a fase inicial da esquistossomose mansônica (15 e 30 dias pós-infecção), antes da deposição de ovos e do aparecimento de granulomas no fígado dos camundongos. Camundongos Swiss Webster e DBA/2, machos e fêmeas, foram expostos a 100 cercárias de Schistosoma mansoni aos 10 dias de vida e mortos, por deslocamento cervical, 15 e 30 dias após a infecção. Os fígados foram retirados para a preparação da fração microssomal e determinação do conteúdo total de CYPs, bem como das atividades da etoxiresorufina-O-desetilase (EROD), metoxiresorufina-O-desmetilase (MROD), benziloxiresorufina-O-desbenzilase (BROD), pentoxiresorufina-O-despentilase (PROD), nitrosodimetilamina-desmetilase (NDMA-d), cumarina 7-hidroxilase (COH) e UGT. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que, 15 dias após a infecção com S. mansoni, o conteúdo total de CYPs e as atividades de CYP1A, 2A, 2B e 2E, assim como da UGT, não estão alteradas. Mais tarde, 30 dias após a infecção, foram notadas, em alguns casos, modificações discretas das atividades de CYP1A, 2B e 2E, cujo sentido dependeu da linhagem e sexo dos animais.