Effect of overexpression of citrus 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase 3 (CsNCED3) on the physiological response to drought stress in transgenic tobacco.

9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED) encodes a key enzyme in abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis. Little is known regarding the regulation of stress response by NCEDs at physiological levels. In the present study, we generated transgenic tobacco overexpressing an NCED3 ortholog from citrus (CsNCED3) and investigated its relevance in the regulation of drought stress tolerance. Wild-type (WT) and transgenic plants were grown under greenhouse conditions and subjected to drought stress for 10 days. Leaf predawn water potential (Ψwleaf), stomatal conductance (gs), net photosynthetic rate (A), transpiration rate (E), instantaneous (A/E) and intrinsic (A/gs) water use efficiency (WUE), and in situ hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and abscisic acid (ABA) production were determined in leaves of irrigated and drought-stressed plants. The Ψwleaf decreased throughout the drought stress period in both WT and transgenic plants, but was restored after re-watering. No significant differences were observed in gs between WT and transgenic plants under normal conditions. However, the transgenic plants showed a decreased (P ≤ 0.01) gs on the 4th day of drought stress, which remained lower (P ≤ 0.001) than the WT until the end of the drought stress. The A and E levels in the transgenic plants were similar to those in WT; therefore, they exhibited increased A/gs under drought conditions. No significant differences in A, E, and gs values were observed between the WT and transgenic plants after re-watering. The transgenic plants had lower H2O2 and higher ABA than the WT under drought conditions. Our results support the involvement of CsNCED3 in drought avoidance.

Guidelines for the management of chronic medication in the perioperative period: systematic review and formal consensus.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: The worldwide volume of surgery is huge and the number of interventions performed is increasing as a result of advances in technological resources and refinement of medical teams' expertise, in a progressively elderly and sick population. Consequently, half of the general surgical patients take medications unrelated to surgery. Evidence-based guidelines for perioperative medication management are therefore critically needed to improve safety in surgery. The purpose of this work was to develop practice recommendations for the management of chronic medication in the perioperative period. METHODS: A systematic review and a formal consensus were performed. A search in Medline, Embase, ISI Web of Knowledge and Medscape were conducted in September 2008. Two independent investigators assessed the quality of selected studies. Evidence-based guidelines with strength classification were found for some therapeutic groups. Those guidelines were adopted and no further analysis was performed. For the other therapeutic groups, a formal consensus was used, based on a modified nominal group technique: 32 statements were formulated considering the literature retrieved. A selected panel of experts was asked by electronic mail to rate their level of agreement with each statement. Then, a meeting was convened and a second round survey was used to determine the final level of agreement. The statements which met the established criteria of consensus were developed into practice recommendations, supported by the results of the formal consensus and the evidence-based findings from systematic review. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A total of 23 studies were included in the systematic review; three randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 13 cohorts, two case-controls and three clinic-cases. Twenty-two practice recommendations for the management of chronic medication in the perioperative period resulted from formal consensus. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Epidemiological studies concerning the perioperative management of chronic medications are clinically heterogeneous and there are few RCTs available. However, the formal consensus method proved to be a helpful tool to integrate different strands of evidence for the development of practice guidelines.

The effect of retinal image slip on peripheral visual acuity.

Retinal image slip promoted by fixational eye movements prevents image fading in central vision. However, in the periphery a higher amount of movement is necessary to prevent this fading. We assessed the effect of different levels of retinal image slip in peripheral vision by measuring peripheral visual acuity (VA), with and without crowding, while modulating retinal image slip by using gaze-linked stimuli. Measurements were carried out at four isoeccentric positions at 5 and at 10 degrees eccentricity. Gaze position was monitored throughout using an infrared eyetracker. The target was presented for up to 500 msec, either with no retinal image slip, with reduced retinal slip, or with increased retinal image slip. Without crowding, peripheral visual acuity improved with increased retinal image slip compared with the other two conditions. In contrast to the previous result, under crowded conditions, peripheral visual acuity decreased markedly with increased retinal image slip. Therefore, the effects of increased retinal image slip are different for simple (noncrowded) and more complex (crowded) visual tasks. These results provide further evidence for the importance of fixation stability on complex visual tasks when using the peripheral retina.

Ocorrência do uso de plantas medicinais por moradores de um bairro do município de Marília-SP / The use of herbal medicine by inhabitants of a part of the city of Marília (SP, Brazil)

As plantas medicinais continuam ocupando lugar de destaque no arsenal terapêutico e muitas vezes, é o único recurso de muitas comunidades e grupos étnicos. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi pesquisar a ocorrência do uso de plantas medicinais em residências de um bairro do município de Marília-SP. Foram entrevistados moradores de 150 residências do Jardim Lavínia, no período de março a julho de 2006. Foram aplicados questionários semi-estruturados para o levantamento dos dados. Os resultados mostraram que 19,34% das residências, possuíam plantas e destas, 41,37% de Melissaofficinalis, 31,03% de Matricaria chamomilla, 13,79% de Camellia sinensis, Mentha piperita e Foeniculum vulgare, 6,89% de Valeriana officinalis, Baccharis triptera, Peumus boldus e 27,52% outros. A indicação do uso foi de 55,17% por amigos/parentes, 13,79% por TV/Rádio, 13,79% por cultura/crenças, 6,89% não responderam e apenas 10,34% por prescrição médica. Das plantas medicinais encontradas, 31,25% eram utilizados de modo contrário à sua finalidade. Dos moradores entrevistados, 41,37% apresentavam idade acima de 46 anos e 31,03% possuíam ensino superior completo. Estes dados permitem concluir que mesmo o consumo sendo amplo no Brasil, ainda existe escassez de informação e a falta desta se dá também em indivíduos de nível superior, podendo gerar uso incorreto. Os meios de comunicação já não são mais os grandes vilões do estímulo do uso das plantas medicinais, a cultura popular faz com que as indicações sejam transmitidas de pessoa para pessoa, atingindo também a população mais favorecida economicamente

Medicinal herbs continue to occupy an important place in the therapeutic arsenal and frequently are the only available resource for some communities and ethnic groups. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of medicinal herbs in the population of Marília (São Paulo State, Brazil). The occupants of 150 houses in a popular residential district (Jardim Lavinia) were interviewed between March and July 2006, with the aid of semi-structured questionnaires. The results showed that 19.34% of the households had medicinal herbs; of these, 41.37% had Melissa officinalis, 31.03% Matricaria chamomilla, 13.79% Camellia sinensis, Mentha piperita and Foeniculum vulgare, 6.89% Valeriana officinalis, Baccharis triptera and Peumus boldus and 27.52% had others. Their use was recommended in 55.17% of cases by friends?family, 13.79% by TV?radio, 13.79% by received culture or belief, only 10.34% by medical prescription and 6.89% did not answer. 31.25% of the herbs found were used in ways contrary to their recommended use. 41.37% of the interviewees were more than 46 years old and 31.03% had completed university courses. It can be concluded from these data that, although medicinal herbs are widely consumed in Brazil, there is still a shortage of information about them, even among people with higher education, which can lead to incorrect use. The media is no longer the big promoter of herbal medication; popular culture enables indicated treatments to spread from person to person, also reaching the more advantaged population.

Causality assessment of adverse drug reactions: comparison of the results obtained from published decisional algorithms and from the evaluations of an expert panel, according to different levels of imputability.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate agreement between causality assessments of reported adverse drug reactions (ADRs) obtained from decisional algorithms, with those obtained from an expert panel using the WHO global introspection method (GI), according to different levels of imputability and to evaluate the influence of confounding variables. METHOD: Two hundred reports were included in this study. An independent researcher used decisional algorithms, while an expert panel assessed the same ADR reports using the GI, both aimed at evaluating causality. Reports were divided according to the presence, absence or lack of information on confounding variables. RESULTS: The rates of concordance between assessments made using the algorithms and GI according to levels of imputability were: 45% for 'certain', 61% for 'probable', 46% for 'possible' and 17% for drug unrelated terms. When confounding variables were taken into account, the rates of concordance for the 'absence of information', 'lack of information' and 'presence of confounding variables' in the 'certain' group were 49, 69 and 7%, respectively. The corresponding values for the 'probable' group were 80, 68 and 24% and 30, 51 and 51%, respectively for the 'possible' group. CONCLUSION: Full agreement with global introspection was not found for any level of causality assessment. Confounding variables were found to be associated with low levels of agreement between decision algorithms and the GI method compromising the algorithms' sensitivity and specificity.

Pharmacological and phytochemical studies of callus culture extracts from Alternanthera brasiliana.

This work describes the establishment of callus cultures of Alternanthera brasiliana, a Brazilian medicinal plant used to treat several ailments. In addition the two extracts, exhibiting best yields, were chemically analysed and evaluated as antinociceptive agents in two classical models of pain in mice: the writhing test and the formalin test. The results show that the highest biomass accumulation was observed in callus grown in media with higher concentrations of growth regulator of 2,4-D. Both extracts studied exhibited antinociceptive effects in mice, being more effective than the plant extracts. The pharmacological action seems to be related to the presence of steroids and/or terpenes.