ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Our aim was to investigate a geographical cluster of Huntington's disease (HD) in Ervalia, a Brazilian town of Minas Gerais state (MG). Therefore, we calculated the minimum prevalence of HD in Ervalia, known to have many HD affected families. We also determined the genetic profile of the polymorphic CAG region of the HTT gene in 32 subjects of these affected families. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed, starting in January 2011 until June 2013. Individuals who participated in the survey were all from Ervalia town, MG. RESULTS: The minimum prevalence rate found was 7.2/10,000 people, higher than the worldwide prevalence. CONCLUSION: The minimum prevalence of HD in Ervalia was at least 10.3- to 14.4-fold greater than that of the world population, although it does not represent the overall prevalence of the disease in Brazil. Certainly an expanded survey in the country will lead to a lower prevalence estimate than Ervalia's.
Subject(s)
Huntington Disease/epidemiology , Brazil/epidemiology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Prevalence , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
O uso indiscriminado de plantas medicinais vem da crença de que produtos naturais não causam mal à saúde, porém assim como medicamentos sintéticos, as plantas possuem grupos de compostos farmacologicamente ativos que atuam nos organismos vivos, sendo necessário o conhecimento destes para avaliação de suas potencialidades terapêuticas e tóxicas. Estudos sobre propriedades químicas de plantas medicinais, associando o extrato destas às atividades toxicofarmacológicas, são pouco encontrados. O presente ensaio objetivou analisar a ação do óleo essencial de B. trimera (Less.) DC., espécie pertencente à família Asteraceae e popularmente conhecida como carqueja, sobre cultura de células do sistema nervoso central. Foram usadas células de retina de ratos neonatos tratadas pelo óleo de carqueja nas concentrações 1:500 e 1:1000, por um período de incubação de 4, 24 e 48 horas. Nossos resultados demonstram que a carqueja possui ação inibitória na diferenciação de células neuronais in vitro quando tratadas cronicamente. Observamos também uma redução na sobrevida de células neuronais e diminuição da proliferação de células gliais. Essa redução da proliferação de células da glia poderia estar interferindo na sobrevivência e diferenciação neuronal. Maiores estudos são necessários para se compreender os mecanismos envolvidos nesse efeito.
The indiscriminate use of medicinal plants comes from the belief that natural products don't cause harm to health, but as well as synthetic drugs, plants have groups of pharmacologically active compounds that act in living organisms, with the necessary knowledge of these groups to evaluate the therapeutic and toxic potential. Studies of chemical properties of medicinal plants, involving the toxicfarmacologics activities of these extracts are hardly found. This study aimed to analyze the action of essential oil of B. trimera (Less.) DC., a species belonging to the Asteraceae family and popularly known as carqueja, on cultured cells of central nervous system. We used retinal cells from newborn rats treated by carqueja's oil, with concentrations 1:1000 and 1:500, for an incubation period of 4, 24 and 48 hours. Our results showed that carqueja has inhibitory action on the differentiation of neuronal cells in vitro when treated chronically. We also observed a reduction in survival of neuronal cells and decreased proliferation of glial cells. This reduction of the proliferation of glial cells could be interfering with the survival and neuronal differentiation. Further studies are needed to understand the mechanisms involved in this effect.
