Utilization of the Plant Clusia Fluminensis Planch & Triana Against Some Toxic Activities of the Venom of Bothrops jararaca and B. jararacussu Snake Venom Toxic Activities.

BACKGROUND: In Brazil, the Bothrops genus accounts for 87% of registered snakebites, which are characterized by hemorrhage, tissue necrosis, hemostatic disturbances, and death. The treatment recommended by governments is the administration of specific antivenoms. Although antivenom efficiently prevents venom-induced lethality, it has limited efficacy in terms of preventing local tissue damage. Thus, researchers are seeking alternative therapies able to inhibit the main toxic effects of venoms, without compromising safety. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to test the ability of aqueous extracts of leaves, stems, and fruits of the plant Clusia fluminensis to neutralize some toxic effects induced by the venoms of Bothrops jararaca and Bothrops jararacussu. METHODS: The plant extracts were incubated with venoms for 30 min. at 25 °C, and then in vitro (coagulant and proteolytic) and in vivo (hemorrhagic, myotoxic, and edematogenic) activities were evaluated. In addition, the extracts were administered to animals (by oral, intravenous or subcutaneous routes) before or after the injection of venom samples, and then hemorrhage and edema assays were performed. In addition, a gel solution of the fruit extract was produced and tested in terms of reducing hemorrhage effects. A chemical prospection was performed to identify the main classes of compounds present in the extracts. RESULTS: All the extracts inhibited the activities of the two venoms, regardless of the experimental protocol or route of administration of the extracts. Moreover, the gel of the fruit extract inhibited the venom-induced-hemorrhage. The extracts comprised of tannins, flavonoids, saponins, steroids, and terpenoids. CONCLUSION: Antivenom properties of C. fluminensis extracts deserve further investigation in order to gain detailed knowledge regarding the neutralization profile of these extracts.

A maternidade é uma forma de sublimação? / The maternity is a kind of sublimation?

O presente artigo parte de uma contraposição das definições do conceito de sublimação com as construções sobre a feminilidade, presentes na obra de Sigmund Freud. Busca situar o “enigma” freudiano da feminilidade em sua época, remetendo seus ensinamentos àquilo que se pode validar na atualidade. Para além de uma leitura canônica, a autora, especialista na conceituação sobre a sublimação, põe em questão algumas proposições facilmente tomadas por uma leitura superficial da obra, conduzindo o leitor a uma reflexão dialética e inovadora da relação entre esse conceito e a parentalidade, sobretudo no que concerne a sexualidade materna. Ampliando o escopo das saídas sublimatórias na mulher, discorda de um destino exclusivamente masculino no que concerne a sublimação, dado o complexo de masculinidade como única saída sublimatória para o homossexualismo recalcado na mulher. A autora leva, pois, em conta a economia pulsional e uma análise metapsicológica, não se restringindo apenas a uma crítica feminista da posição freudiana. Com essa exegese, formula, então, uma nova forma de conceber a relação entre feminilidade e sublimação que ilumina o entendimento teórico das funções da maternidade, situando a sublimação ao lado da ternura e do respeito à alteridade.(AU)

The present paper illustrates a confrontation between the definitions of sublimation, with some constructions about femininity presented by Sigmund Freud. It intends to situate the “enigma of femininity” in the Freudian’s epoch, in order to validate some parts of his knowledge in present time. Far beyond a traditional reading, the author - an expert in the concept of sublimation’s – puts in check some propositions easily taken for granted by a superficial reading of Freud’s texts. She drives the reader throw a dialectical and pioneering reflection within sublimation and parentality, in particular as concerning the maternal sexuality. Opening the spectrum of sublimatory issues for the woman, the author disagree that only a masculine destiny for sublimation would be possible, given the masculine complex as the only sublimatory issue for repressed homosexuality in the woman. The author takes into account the “economical” point of view and a metapsychological analysis, but she doesn’t remain fixed in critical feminist statement about Freud’s position. Through this exegesis, she formulates a new manner for understanding the relation among femininity and sublimation that enlightens the theoretical comprehension of the maternal function, putting sublimation besides tenderness and the respect to otherness.(AU)