Effect of three-dimensional collagen membrane culture and presence of cumulus cells on maturation of bovine oocytes.

OBJECTIVE: The use of animals as experimental models has been proposed to improve the techniques applied in human reproduction clinics. This prospective and observational study evaluates the effects of the use of cumulus cells and collagen membrane on the maturation process of bovine oocytes. METHODS: Design and Setting: Bovine oocytes with or without cumulus cells were cultured in maturation medium for 24 hours in the conventional system (2D), central well plates and in the three-dimensional (3D) system. Intervention: The oocytes were positioned in the collagen membrane and matured for the same period. The morphological evaluation was carried out with the parameters of maturation. Main Outcome Measure: Presence or absence of the first polar corpuscle, which were observed and classified as germinal vesicle (GV), meiosis I (MI) and meiosis II (MII). RESULTS: The percentage of oocytes in GV was higher (p<0.05) in treatments without cumulus cells than those with cells. The rates of MII were higher (p<0.05) in the treatments with cumulus cells, independent of the culture system. In general, oocytes with presence of cumulus cells have approximately 1.7 times more chances (p<0.001) of reaching MII after MIV than those matured without cells. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of the cells in the cumulus is essential for the maturation process of bovine oocytes; the three-dimensional collagen membrane culture system is favorable for the maturation process of bovine oocytes.

Cancer do intestino grosso no Hospital de Clinicas da Universidade Federal de Uberlandia dados epidemiologicos e anatomo-patologicos / Colorectal cancer at Uberlandia University Hospital epidemiologic and anatomicopathologic data

Visando contribuir para o maior conhecimento dos tumores malignos do intestino grosso no Triangulo Mineiro, fez-se o estudo retrospectivo de 137 casos diagnosticados histologicamente em biopsias ou pecas cirurgicas, no Hospital de Clinicas da Universidade Federal de Uberlandia, no periodo de 1978-1992. Analisaram-se o sexo, a idade e a cor dos pacientes, a sede do tumor e seu tipo histologico. Houve leve predominio do acometimento feminino (71 casos). As decadas de maior incidencia foram a sexta e setima (24,8 por cento e 22,6 por cento, respectivamente). A distribuicao foi maior em brancos, havendo apenas 6 casos em pretos, 67,3 por cento dos blastomas localizavam-se em reto (35,5 por cento) e/ou sigmoide. Todos os tumores observados eram epiteliais, sendo 73,9 por cento adenocarcinomas bem ou moderadamente diferenciados. Nenhum paciente tinha megacolo concomitante