Comparative research performance of top universities from the northeastern Brazil on three pharmacological disciplines as seen in scopus database.

OBJECTIVES: Postgraduate programmes around the world are periodically subjected to research performance evaluation through bibliometric indicators. In this research, we characterized and compared the research performance of 15 universities from Northeastern Brazil, in which 13 were among the top Universities of the Latin America. METHODS: Specifically, total documents, citations and the h-index of each university were retrieved from the Elsevier Scopus database and were analysed not only for historical scientific achievement but also across the period of the past 6 years (2010-2015). Using these bibliometric indicators, we also investigated the performance of programmes at these Universities that have their papers indexed in the Scopus database under the category of "Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceuticals" for the same period. RESULTS: We found that the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) and the Federal University of Ceará (UFC) were the most productive institutions, producing 17847 and 15048 documents, respectively. The number of papers published by each of these universities in the past six years represented more than 50% of their entire productivity. With regards to their scientific output in "Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics", UFC showed the highest number of published documents followed by UFPE and the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB). UFC received the highest h-index (with and without self-citations) and number of citations and shared their most cited papers with foreign institutions from the USA and Germany. However, papers from UFC were published in journals with lower impact factors (2.322). CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows where each of these universities stands and can be helpful in identifying potential collaborators in these areas of knowledge.

Scientific Performance of Brazilian Researchers in Pharmacology with grants from CNPq: A comparative study within the Brazilian categories.

In Brazil, scientific performance of researchers is one important criteria for decision-making in grant allocation. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate and compare the profile of 82 seniors' investigators (graded as level 1A-D) which were receiving CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) productivity grant in Pharmacology, by analyzing the pattern of citation of their papers and h-index. Total documents, citations (with and without self-citations) and h-index (with and without self-citations) were retrieved from the Scopus database. The results indicated a clear difference among researchers from the higher categories (1A and 1B) in most of the parameters analyzed. However, no noticeable differentiation was found between researchers from grant category 1C and 1D. The results presented here may inform the scientific community and the grant agencies on the profile of PQ 1(A-D) fellows of Pharmacology, and may help to define new differences within CNPq grant categories, and consequently, a better allocation of grants.

Phytocompounds and modulatory effects of Anacardium microcarpum (cajui) on antibiotic drugs used in clinical infections.

BACKGROUND: The challenge of antibiotic resistance and the emergence of new infections have generated considerable interest in the exploration of natural products from plant origins as combination therapy. In this context, crude ethanolic extract (CEE), ethyl acetate fraction (EAF), and methanolic fraction (MF) from Anacardium microcarpum were tested alone or in combination with antibiotics (amikacin, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, and imipenem) against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. METHODS: Antibiotic resistance-modifying activity was performed using the microdilution method by determining the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). In addition, phytochemical prospecting analyses of tested samples were carried out. RESULTS: Our results indicated that all the extracts showed low antibacterial activity against multidrug-resistant strains (MIC =512 µg/mL). However, addition of CEE, EAF, and MF to the growth medium at the subinhibitory concentration (MIC/8=64 µg/mL) significantly modulated amikacin- and gentamicin-resistant E. coli 06. CEE and EAF also demonstrated a significant (P<0.001) synergism with imipenem against S. aureus. In contrast, MF antagonized the antibacterial effect of ciprofloxacin and gentamicin against P. aeruginosa 03 and S. aureus 10, respectively. Qualitative phytochemical analysis of the extracts revealed the presence of secondary metabolites including phenols, flavonoids, xanthones, chalcones, and tannin pyrogallates. CONCLUSION: Taken together, our results suggest that A. microcarpum is a natural resource with resistance-modifying antibacterial activity that needs to be further investigated to overcome the present resistant-infection problem.

Ovotoxicants 4-vinylcyclohexene 1,2-monoepoxide and 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide disrupt redox status and modify different electrophile sensitive target enzymes and genes in Drosophila melanogaster.

The compounds 4-vinylcyclohexene 1,2-monoepoxide (VCM) and 4-Vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) are the two downstream metabolites of 4-vinylcyclohexene (VCH), an ovotoxic agent in mammals. In addition, VCM and VCD may be found as by-products of VCH oxidation in the environment. Recently, we reported the involvement of oxidative stress in the toxicity of VCH in Drosophila melanogaster. However, it was not possible to determine the individual contributions of VCM and VCD in VCH toxicity. Hence, we investigated the toxicity of VCM and VCD (10-1000 µM) in flies after 5 days of exposure via the diet. Our results indicated impairments in climbing behaviour and disruptions in antioxidant balance and redox status evidenced by an increase in DCFH oxidation, decreases in total thiol content and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity in the flies exposed to VCM and VCD (p<0.05). These effects were accompanied by disruptions in the transcription of the genes encoding the proteins superoxide dismutase (SOD1), kelch-like erythroid-derived cap-n-collar (CNC) homology (ECH)-associated protein 1 (Keap-1), mitogen activated protein kinase 2 (MAPK-2), catalase, Cyp18a1, JAFRAC 1 (thioredoxin peroxidase 1) and thioredoxin reductase 1 (TrxR-1) (p<0.05). VCM and VCD inhibited acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and delta aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (δ-ALA D) activities in the flies (p<0.05). Indeed, here, we demonstrated that different target enzymes and genes were modified by the electrophiles VCM and VCD in the flies. Thus, D. melanogaster has provided further lessons on the toxicity of VCM and VCD which suggest that the reported toxicity of VCH may be mediated by its transformation to VCM and VCD.