Polifenóis totais e flavonoides em amostras de chá verde (Camellia sinensis L. ) de diferentes marcas comercializadas na cidade de Salvador-BA / Contents of phenolics and flavonoids in green tea (Camellia sinensis) from samples of different brands available for sale in Salvador-Ba

RESUMO Camellia sinensis é amplamente conhecida por seus efeitos benéficos à saúde humana. Dentre as diversas formas de processamento desta erva, o chá verde e chá preto são os mais populares. Neste trabalho objetivou-se avaliar os teores de fenólicos totais e flavonoides em amostras de 25 diferentes marcas disponíveis à venda em farmácias e supermercados de Salvador-Ba. Os resultados obtidos apresentaram diferenças significativas na concentração dos compostos fenólicos entre as marcas de chá verde estudadas. No estudo também ficou comprovado que, no preparo do chá verde, as amostras obtidas por infusão aquosa com agitação mecânica apresentaram maiores teores de polifenóis e flavonoides em relação àquelas que não foram submetidas à agitação.

ABSTRACT Camellia sinensis is widely known for its beneficial effects to human health. Among the various forms of processing this herb, the green and the black tea are the most popular ones. The objective of this work was to evaluate the contents of total polyphenol and flavonoids in samples of 25 different brands available for sale in pharmacies and supermarkets of Salvador-Ba. The results showed great variation in the concentration of phenolic compounds among the brands of green tea which were tested. In the study it was also proven that in the green tea preparation the samples obtained by mechanical agitation with aqueous infusion showed higher levels of phenolics and flavonoids contents than those which were not subjected to stirring.

Diabetes mellitus: new therapeutic approaches to treat an old disease

Diabetes mellitus is a widespread disease whose frequency increases constantly and is expected to reach alarming levels by the year 2025. Introduction of insulin therapy represented a major breakthrough; however, a very strict regimen is required to maintain blood glucose levels within the normal range and to prevent or postpone chronic complications associated with this disease. Frequent hyper- and hypoglycemia seriously affect the quality of life of these patients. Reversion of this situation can only be achieved through whole organ (pancreas) transplant or pancreatic islet transplant, the former being a high-risk surgical procedure, while the latter is a much simpler and may be accomplished in only 20-40 min. The advantages and perspectives of islet cell transplantation will be discussed, in the light of tissue engineering and gene therapy. Ongoing research carried out in our laboratory, aimed at developing clinical cell and molecular therapy protocols for diabetes will also be focused

Microencapsulation and tissue engineering as an alternative treatment of diabetes

In the 70's, pancreatic islet transplantation arose as an attractive alternative to restore normoglycemia; however, the scarcity of donors and difficulties with allotransplants, even under immunosuppressive treatment, greatly hampered the use of this alternative. Several materials and devices have been developed to circumvent the problem of islet rejection by the recipient, but, so far, none has proved to be totally effective. A major barrier to transpose is the highly organized islet architecture and its physical and chemical setting in the pancreatic parenchyma. In order to tackle this problem, we assembled a multidisciplinary team that has been working towards setting up the Human Pancreatic Islets Unit at the Chemistry Institute of the University of São Paulo, to collect and process pancreas from human donors, upon consent, in order to produce purified, viable and functional islets to be used in transplants. Collaboration with the private enterprise has allowed access to the latest developed biomaterials for islet encapsulation and immunoisolation. Reasoning that the natural islet microenvironment should be mimicked for optimum viability and function, we set out to isolate extracellular matrix components from human pancreas, not only for analytical purposes, but also to be used as supplementary components of encapsulating materials. A protocol was designed to routinely culture different pancreatic tissues (islets, parenchyma and ducts) in the presence of several pancreatic extracellular matrix components and peptide growth factors to enrich the beta cell population in vitro before transplantation into patients. In addition to representing a therapeutic promise, this initiative is an example of productive partnership between the medical and scientific sectors of the university and private enterprises.

Abscessos piogênicos do fígado: análise de 36 casos tratados por punçäo percutânea / Pyogenic liver abscesses: analysis of 36 cases treated by percutaneous drainage

Analisaram-se 36 casos de abscessos piogênicos do fígado tratados por drenagem percutânea associada à antibioticoterapia. Os sintomas predominantes forma febre (75%) e dor (72,2%), e os sinais clínicos mais freqüentes, hepatomegalia (58,3%) e icterícia (33,3%). O tempo médio entre o início dos sintomas e o diagnóstico foi de 16 dias, e a tomografia computadorizada e a ultra-sonografia eficazes em todos os casos. Para a drenagem percutânea realizou-se apenas uma punçäo em 19 casos, duas em 8, três em 8 e mais de quatro em apenas um paciente. Observaram-se três casos de hemoperitônio (8,3%), um deles submetido a laparotomia. O período médio de internaçäo foi de 24,8 dias, com mortalidade de 5,5%. Conclui-se ser a drenagem percutânea associada à antibioticoterapia terapêutica pouco invasiva e eficaz no tratamento dos abscessos piogênicos do fígado

Serum pepsinogen in gastric and duodenal ulcer patients before and after proximal gastric vagotomy

O pepsinogenio serico em situacao basal e sob o estimulo betazolico foi avaliado em 69 pacientes: 14 normais, nove ulcerosos duodenais nao operados, 36 apos vagotomia gastrica proximal devido a ulcera duodenal e dez ulcerosos gastricos, antes e apos serem submetidos a vagotomia gastrica proximal. O seguimento medico foi de 38.7 meses para os pacientes operados por ulcera duodenal e de um ano para os dez ulcerosos gastricos. Dos 36 operados por ulcera duodenal, 22 nao apresentavam recidiva ulcerosa, enquanto 14 a apresentava. Tanto os niveis de pepsinogenio serico basal como estimulado foram estatisticamente elevados nos ulcerosos duodenais nao operados, quando comparados aos controles e aos pacientes submetidos a vagotomia gastrica proximal. O pepsinogenio serico nao mostrou sensibilidade para diferenciar os ulcerosos gastricos do grupo controle. O pepsinogenio serico diferenciou pacientes com e sem recidiva ulcerosa apos vagotomia gastrica proximal devido a ulcera duodenal, tanto em situacao basal, como apos estimulo betazolico. O pepsinogenio serico discrimina pacientes ulcerosos duodenais dos individuos normais e reduz-se significantemente apos vagotomia gastrica proximal, apesar de nao ser indicador sensivel de ulcera gastrica ou recidiva ulcerosa apos vagotomia gastrica proximal.