Use of ractopamine during compensatory gain of finishing pigs on carcass and meat performance and quality / Uso de ractopamina durante ganho compensatório de suínos em terminação sobre o desempenho e a qualidade da carcaça e de carne

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of compensatory gain associated with the use of 10ppm ractopamine after a period of feed restriction in finishing pigs on performance, carcass and meat quality. Twenty castrated males and 20 females, at 110 days of age and 66.137±6.13kg live weight, were submitted to four treatments using a 2 x 2 factorial design (fed ad libitum or with 20% restriction between 0(21 days of age and fed with or without 10ppm ractopamine for 22(42 days of experimentation), with 10 replicates (animals). There was no interaction between the factors for any of the evaluated parameters. Animals treated with ractopamine presented better weight gain (1.083 versus 1.259kg), feed conversion (2.910 versus 2.577), warm and cold carcass weight (86.08 versus 89.00 and 83.46 versus 87.20kg, respectively), loin depth (63.02 versus 68.40mm), loin eye area (41.43 versus 46.59mm2) and muscle fiber diameter (27.48 versus 35.85µm). Animals submitted to feed restriction followed by ad libitum feed presented compensatory gain without losses to carcass and meat characteristics, but with a reduction in the ethereal extract (2.19 versus 1.64%) and lower water loss due to thawing in the meat (11.35 versus 9.42%). The effects of compensatory gain after food restriction and ractopamine are independent of the parameters evaluated.(AU)

Objetivou-se avaliar os efeitos do ganho compensatório associado ao uso de 10ppm de ractopamina após um período de restrição alimentar, em suínos em terminação, sobre características de desempenho, carcaça e qualidade de carne. Foram utilizados 20 machos castrados e 20 fêmeas, com 110 dias de idade e 66,137±6,13kg de peso vivo, submetidos a quatro tratamentos, fatorial 2 x 2 (alimentação à vontade ou com 20% de restrição entre zero e 21 dias de experimentação; e alimentação à vontade, sem ou com 10ppm de ractopamina, durante 22 a 42 dias de experimentação), com 10 repetições, sendo o animal a repetição. Não houve interação entre os fatores para nenhum dos parâmetros avaliados. Animais tratados com ractopamina apresentaram melhor ganho de peso (1,083 versus 1,259kg), conversão alimentar (2,910 versus 2,577), peso da carcaça quente e fria (86,08 versus 89,00 e 83,46 versus 87,20kg, respectivamente), profundidade do lombo (63,02 versus 68,40mm), área de olho de lombo (41,43 versus 46,59mm2) e diâmetro de fibras musculares (27,48 versus 35,85µm). Animais submetidos à restrição alimentar seguida de arraçoamento ad libitum apresentaram ganho compensatório sem prejuízos às características de carcaça e à carne, mas com redução do extrato etéreo (2,19 versus 1,64%) e menor perda de água por descongelamento na carne (11,35 versus 9,42%) Os efeitos do ganho compensatório após a restrição alimentar e da ractopamina mostram-se independentes sobre os parâmetros avaliados.(AU)

Efeitos do trimetilaminoetano (TES) e ringer lactato em sêmen de macacos-aranha mantidos em cativeiro ( Ateles paniscus e A. marginatus) / Effects of TES and a ringer-lactato diluent in semen from captive spider monkeys (Ateles paniscus e A. marginatus)

The performances of the diluents TES and CEBRAN II were compared as cryopreservatives of semen from non human primates of the genus Ateles. The experiment was carried out using one Ateles marginatus and two Ateles paniscus specimens, males and adults, maintained in the same captivity conditions at the National Center of Primates (CENP-SVS/MS). The animals were subjected to clinical and andrological examinations - testicular biometry - before the semen collection by eletroejaculation. Evaluations of motility and forward movement in the fresh semen were made. Semen were made dilution was made with the diluents TES and CEBRAN II. The ejaculates were diluted with the diluents (2:1proportion), packed in 0.25mL plastic straws and cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen. After thawing, the packed ejaculates were appraised in thermo resistance test (TTR). The averages of volume and concentration were, respectively, 1.94mL (0.83) and 3,020,000 sptz/mL (275.97). The pH 8 and seminal coagulation were observed in all samples. The results suggest that the TES diluent presents better efficiency in the preservation of Ateles semen than CEBRAN II.

Gene trio signatures as molecular markers to predict response to doxorubicin cyclophosphamide neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancerpatients

In breast cancer patients submitted to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (4 cycles of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide, AC), expression of groups of three genes (gene trio signatures) could distinguish responsive from non-responsive tumors, as demonstrated by cDNA microarray profiling in a previous study by our group. In the current study, we determined if the expression of the same genes would retain the predictive strength, when analyzed by a more accessible technique (real-time RT-PCR). We evaluated 28 samples already analyzed by cDNA microarray, as a technical validation procedure, and 14 tumors, as an independent biological validation set. All patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (4 AC). Among five trio combinations previously identified, defined by nine genes individually investigated (BZRP, CLPTM1,MTSS1, NOTCH1, NUP210, PRSS11, RPL37A, SMYD2, and XLHSRF-1), the most accurate were established by RPL37A, XLHSRF-1based trios, with NOTCH1 or NUP210. Both trios correctly separated 86 percent of tumors (87 percent sensitivity and 80 percent specificity for predicting response), according to their response to chemotherapy (82 percent in a leave-one-out cross-validation method). Using the pre-established features obtained by linear discriminant analysis, 71 percent samples from the biological validation set were also correctly classified by both trios (72 percent sensitivity; 66 percent specificity). Furthermore, we explored other gene combinations to achieve a higher accuracy in the technical validation group (as a training set). A new trio, MTSS1, RPL37 and SMYD2, correctly classified 93 percent of samples from the technical validation group (95 percent sensitivity and 80 percent specificity; 86 percent accuracy by the cross-validation method) and 79 percent from the biological validation group (72 percent sensitivity and 100 percent specificity). Therefore, the combined expression of MTSS1, RPL37 and SMYD2, as evaluated by real-time RT-PCR, is a potential candidate to predict response to neoadjuvant doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide in breast cancer patients.

Gene expression profiling of clinical stages II and III breast cancer

Clinical stage (CS) is an established indicator of breast cancer outcome. In the present study, a cDNA microarray platform containing 692 genes was used to identify molecular differences between CSII and CSIII disease. Tumor samples were collected from patients with CSII or CSIII breast cancer, and normal breast tissue was collected from women without invasive cancer. Seventy-eight genes were deregulated in CSIII tumors and 22 in CSII tumors when compared to normal tissue, and 20 of them were differentially expressed in both CSII and CSIII tumors. In addition, 58 genes were specifically altered in CSIII and expression of 6 of them was tested by real time RT-PCR in another cohort of patients with CSII or CSIII breast cancer and in women without cancer. Among these genes, MAX, KRT15 and S100A14, but not APOBEC3G or KRT19, were differentially expressed on both CSIII and CSII tumors as compared to normal tissue. Increased HMOX1 levels were detected only in CSIII tumors and may represent a molecular marker of this stage. A clear difference in gene expression pattern occurs at the normal-to-cancer transition; however, most of the differentially expressed genes are deregulated in tumors of both CS (II and III) compared to normal breast tissue.

Consideraçöes sobre linfedema pós-mastectomia / Considerations on post-mastectomy lymphedemas

Os autores estudaram 142 pacientes com linfedema pós-mastectomia (LPM) de 1984 a 1992, sendo analisados, segundo protocolo especial: tipo de tratamento que precedeu o aparecimento do LPM, tempo de apracimento do edema, fatores que contribuíram para piora do edema. A grande maioria dos LPM (75,5 por cento) apareceram no primeiro ano após a mastectomia (precoces). Vinte e seis pacientes (23,2 por cento) tiveram lingangite como fator desencadeante do linfedema; 74 (52,1 por cento) fizeram no mínimo umpisódio de lingangite em seu seguimento e em sua evoluçäo e também tiveram piora do linfedema; 34 pacientes (23,9 por cento) apresentavam impotência funcional do membro afetado; 25 pacientes (22,5 por cento) tiveram recidiva da doença de base, o que também agravou o linfedema. Näo pudemos concluir qual o fator desencadeante do LPM, mas usa maioria ocorreu após a cirurgia associada à radioterapia. Os fatores de piora foram os descritos acima.

Teletermografia e cancer de mama. / Telethermography and breast cancer

Sao relatados os principios gerais sobre os quais se fundamenta a termografia mamaria, nocoes sobre sua execucao e os criterios para sua interpretacao. Para os carcinomas mamarios os mapeamentos termicos sao classificados em normais, duvidosos e anormais, que foram identificados pelos autores em cerca de 63%, 13% e 23%, respectivamente.O termograma duvidoso, frequentemente (40%) evolui para o anormal, indicativo de malignidade. Em funcao do grau de hipertermia, pode-se determinar pre-operatoriamente o indice prognostico da molestia