Standardization of histological procedures for the detection of toxic substances by immunohistochemistry in Dipteran larvae of forensic importance.

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) technique is an alternative toxicological analysis to detect drugs in insects of forensic importance, but it requires thorough histological procedures. In this study, we tested different fixatives--phosphate-buffered paraformaldehyde 4% (PP), Carnoy's fluid (CF), Kahle's solution (KS), ethanol in different concentrations, and ethanol associated to PP and CF, time of fixation and histological processes for dipteran larvae's tissue, aiming to develop a sample preparation protocol for IHC application. A suitable fixation was achieved using PP for 12 and 24 h, CF for 3 h, 70% ethanol for 19 days, and 70% ethanol/CF for 2 h/3 h. Postfixation using negative pressure, two immersions in xylene for 30 min each, and one in xylene plus paraffin for 45 min increased tissue preservation. An immunohistochemical test for cocaine detection was performed using monoclonal benzoylecgonine antibody from mouse, peroxidase-conjugated anti-mouse IgG and visualized by 3,3'-diaminobenzidine method showed these histological procedures didn't compromise antigenicity.

Hyperbaric oxygen prevents early death caused by experimental cerebral malaria.

BACKGROUND: Cerebral malaria (CM) is a syndrome characterized by neurological signs, seizures and coma. Despite the fact that CM presents similarities with cerebral stroke, few studies have focused on new supportive therapies for the disease. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy has been successfully used in patients with numerous brain disorders such as stroke, migraine and atherosclerosis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: C57BL/6 mice infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA (PbA) were exposed to daily doses of HBO (100% O(2), 3.0 ATA, 1-2 h per day) in conditions well-tolerated by humans and animals, before or after parasite establishment. Cumulative survival analyses demonstrated that HBO therapy protected 50% of PbA-infected mice and delayed CM-specific neurological signs when administrated after patent parasitemia. Pressurized oxygen therapy reduced peripheral parasitemia, expression of TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma and IL-10 mRNA levels and percentage of gammadelta and alphabeta CD4(+) and CD8(+) T lymphocytes sequestered in mice brains, thus resulting in a reduction of blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction and hypothermia. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The data presented here is the first indication that HBO treatment could be used as supportive therapy, perhaps in association with neuroprotective drugs, to prevent CM clinical outcomes, including death.

HIF-1 regulates heritable variation and allele expression phenotypes of the macrophage immune response gene SLC11A1 from a Z-DNA forming microsatellite.

The Ity/Lsh/Bcg locus encodes the macrophage protein Slc11a1/Nramp1, which protects inbred mice against infection by diverse intracellular pathogens including Leishmania, Mycobacterium, and Salmonella. Human susceptibility to infectious and inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and tuberculosis, shows allelic association with a highly polymorphic regulatory, Z-DNA-forming microsatellite of (GT/AC)n dinucleotides within the proximal SLC11A1 promoter. We surmised that cis-acting allelic polymorphisms may underlie heritable differences in SLC11A1 expression and phenotypic variation in disease risk. However, it is unclear what may underlie such variation in SLC11A1 allele expression. Here we show that hypoxia-inducible Factor 1 (HIF-1) regulates allelic variation in SLC11A1 expression by binding directly to the microsatellite during macrophage activation by infection or inflammation. Targeted Hif-1alpha ablation in murine macrophages attenuated Slc11a11 expression and responsiveness to S typhimurium infection. Our data also showed that HIF-1 may be functionally linked to complex prototypical inflammatory diseases associated with certain SLC11A1 alleles. As these alleles are highly polymorphic, our finding suggests that HIF-1 may influence heritable variation in SLC11A1-dependent innate resistance to infection and inflammation within and between populations. This report also suggests that microsatellites may play critical roles in the directional evolution of complex heritable traits by regulating gene expression phenotypes.

Expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha in the cutaneous lesions of BALB/c mice infected with Leishmania amazonensis.

The hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) is expressed in response to hypoxia and has been recently demonstrated in a variety of cells such as tumor cells and tumor-associated macrophages. Several characteristics of leishmanial lesions in humans and in animal models, such as microcirculation impairment, metabolic demand for leukocyte infiltration into infected tissue, parasite proliferation, and secondary bacterial infection, are strong indications of a hypoxic microenvironment in the lesions. We evaluated HIF-1alpha expression in the cutaneous lesions of BALB/c mice during Leishmania amazonensis infection. Immunohistochemical analyses of the lesions demonstrated, only in the later stages of infection when the lesion size is maximal and parasite burden is enormous and massive numbers of recruited macrophages and ulcers are observed, positive HIF-1alpha-infected cells throughout the lesions. HIF-1alpha is expressed mainly in the cytoplasm and around parasites inside the parasitophorous vacuoles of macrophages. This is the first evidence that macrophages in the microenvironment of lesions caused by a parasite produce a hypoxia-inducible factor.