Thyroid-disrupting effects of chlorpyrifos in female Wistar rats.

Thousands of chemicals are released into the environment daily, arousing great scientific interest because they can influence the overall function of living organisms. The indiscriminate use of pesticides, especially organophosphate, confers important risks to both public and environmental health. Previous studies showed that chlorpyrifos (CPF) acts as an endocrine disruptor. Nevertheless, CPF is still widely used in many countries. Thus, we evaluated the thyroid-disrupting effects of CPF after short-term low-dose oral exposure in female Wistar rats. A total of 48 female Wistar rats were divided into five experimental groups (n = 8/group) that were treated orally by gavage with vehicle (control) and chlorpyrifos (0.01, 0.1, 1, and 10 mg/kg) for 5 days. Clinical signs of toxicity were observed throughout treatment. On day 6, the animals were weighed. Serum samples were obtained to measure levels of thyroid hormones, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, bilirubin, glutamyl transpeptidase, and estradiol. The animals were then euthanized by deep anesthesia with isoflurane. The thyroid gland, liver, spleen, and kidneys were collected to determine relative organ weight and perform histopathological analyses. We observed a significant increase in total triiodothyronine (T3) levels in all CPF treatment groups, even at very low doses that corresponded to the Acceptable Daily Intake. Only the highest dose tested significantly increased both total and free T3 levels. In the group that received the highest dose of CPF, thyroid follicles had irregular contours and few or no colloids. The present results indicated that short-term low-dose CPF exposure in female rats induced significant thyroid-disrupting effects.

Levantamento de informações etnobotânicas, etnofarmacológicas e farmacológicas registradas na literatura sobre Tropaeolum majus l. (CHAGUINHA) / Survey of ethnobotanical, ethnopharmacological and pharmacological information recorded in literature on Tropaeolum majus l. (garden nasturtium)

O uso popular de plantas é uma arte muito antiga fundamentada no acúmulo de informações repassadas por meio de sucessivas gerações. A etnobotânica e a etnofarmacologia são considerados ferramentas importantes no resgate de saberes tradicionais das sociedades humanas, passadas e presentes, e suas interações com as plantas e a geração de conhecimento científico e tecnológico voltados para o uso sustentável dos recursos naturais, e estão diretamente ligados com o mercado fitoterápico. A Tropaeolum majus L. conhecida popularmente como capuchinha, chaguinha ou nastúrcio pertence à família Tropaeolaceae é uma espécie amplamente cultivada no Brasil, tanto para fins ornamentais, medicinais e alimentícios. A Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) orienta e recomenda o cultivo desta espécie para fins alimentares e medicinais. Diante dessa realidade, inúmeros estudos foram realizados com essa espécie no intuito de comprovar sua eficácia, segurança e qualidade. A partir do levantamento bibliográfico sobre a etnobotânica, etnofarmacologia, farmacologia e toxicologia da espécie em questão, observou-se que existem vários trabalhos publicados que justificam a utilização desta espécie, tanto no uso medicinal quanto alimentício, podendo-se lançar no mercado de produtos naturais um novo fitoterápico promissor, cujos estudos encontram-se bem definidos e justificados.

The popular use of plants is an ancient art based on the accumulation of information passed on through successive generations. Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology are considered important tools in the recovery of traditional human society knowledge, both past and present, their interactions with plants and the generation of scientific and technological knowledge for sustainable use of natural resources, directly linked with the herbal medicine market. The Tropaeolum majus L. (popularly known as garden nasturtium, Indian cress or monks cress) belongs to the Tropaeolaceae family, and is widely cultivated in Brazil, for ornamental, medicinal and food purposes. The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) provides guidance and recommendation on the cultivation of this species for food and medicinal purposes. Thus, many studies have been carried out with this species in order to prove its efficacy, safety and quality. From the literature on ethnobotany, ethnopharmacology, pharmacology and toxicology of the studied species, it could be observed that there are several published works justifying the use of this species, both for its medical and food use, thus allowing the launching of natural products on the market with a promising new herbal medicine, with well-defined and justified studies.