Chemical, ecotoxicological, cytotoxic, and mutagenic evaluation of gelling agents used in the production of 70% alcohol gel.

With COVID-19, there has been an increase in the use of gelling agents for hand sanitizer production, and as a result, the release of this product into wastewater could induce impacts and adverse reactions in living organisms. Thus, ecotoxicological and cytotoxicological assessments of gelling agents with test organisms from different trophic levels are necessary to assess their environmental safety. For this, seven cellulose-based gelling agents and a polyacrylic acid derivative (C940) were selected for tests with Artemia salina. The most toxic agent was tested on Allium cepa to assess cytotoxicity. The volatile compounds of the gelling agents were analyzed. Cellulose-based gelling agents were not considered toxic according to their LC50, but C940 presented moderate toxicity to A. salina and cytotoxicity to Allium cepa, but without mutagenicity. In addition, C940 contained cyclohexane as a volatile compound. Thus, cellulose-based gelling agents are better environmental options than carbomer for 70% alcohol gel sanitizer.

Prediction of ground vibrations induced by rail traffic in Lisbon urban area.

The possibility of introducing high-speed trains in Portugal will challenge the regular train circulation of existing railways tracks. To carry this traffic, improvements and maintenance programmes will be intensified together with the evaluation of the railway performance and its consequences on neighbourhood structures, including the execution of several vibration measurement tests. One of them was performed in Lisbon's urban area for measure of ground-borne vibration due to the train traffic. It was used to develop an efficient numerical model, which allowed to study the influence of introducing high-speed vehicles on the generation and propagation of vibrations through the free field and the impact on the wayside buildings. To access the effect of introducing such trains in the existing tracks, three bi-dimensional numerical models for each measurement profile were developed. Numerical models were calibrated using the monitoring records. Then, new simulations were performed with Thalys HST train allowing to conclude that the introduction of high-speed trains will not lead to an increase of level of vibrations, for the adopted traffic conditions.

Genotoxicity and mutagenicity research in Quilombola communities.

The Quilombola communities are mostly isolated and deprived of sources of treated water, garbage collection and sewage, consuming fresh water from wells, streams, lakes, among others. This lack of basic infrastructure can be a relevant factor in exposing residents to substances and factors that are harmful to the integrity of their genetic material that can lead to carcinogenesis. Based on this, the objective of this study was to evaluate the genomic and mutagenic/cytotoxic damage in the adult population of two Quilombola communities (one urban and another rural region), in the state of Goiás, Brazil. For this purpose, the leukocyte of peripheral blood Comet Assay in 68 individuals and Micronucleus Test from exfoliated buccal cells of oral mucosa in 21 volunteers were performed. The results evidenced genomic damage, especially for the community of Aparecida de Goiânia city, which detected significant values (p < 0.05), for the length of the comet's tail and for of the Olive Tail Moment. In the micronucleus test, significant differences were only detected (p < 0.05), when it came to the distribution of nuclear changes among the groups. Therefore, it is essential to perform constant population biomonitoring studies to help guarantee health and, consequently, the quality of life.

Verificação genotípica do polimorfismo rs1143634 do gene il1b em indivíduos com a doença periodontal crônica / Genotypic Verification rs1143634 polymorphism IL1B gene in Individuals with Chronic Periodontal Disease

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi verificar a frequência do polimorfismo rs1143634 do gene IL1B em indivíduos com a doença periodontal crônica (DPC) e a relação do mesmo com o risco de afecção. Foram analisadas 39 amostras de um grupo de indivíduos diagnosticados com DPC, sendo 77% com nível leve, 21% com o nível moderado e 3% com o nível severo, apresentando uma média de idade de 43,26. Durante o estudo foram utilizadas as técnicas de PCR e RFLP para o rastreamento do SNP (Do Inglês, Single nucleotide polymorphism - Polimorfismo de Núcleotídeo Único) rs1143634, verificando-se diferenças significativas (p<0,0001) e uma redução absoluta de risco de 53,8% referente à presença do alelo C, indicando o alelo T como um fator de risco. No entanto, este resultado também sugere a possibilidade da participação de outros fatores, uma vez que a redução obtida foi pouco acima de 50%, e deste modo, poderia apontar para o envolvimento de elementos relacionados aos hábitos de vida (higiene bucal, tabagismo e etilismo) e/ou outros aspectos genéticos, considerando que o gene IL1B entre outros mediadores implicados com a patogênese da DPC possuem várias regiões polimórficas.(AU)

The current work aimed to determine the allelic frequency regarding the SNP rs1143634 in the IL1B gene of individuals with chronic periodontal disease (CPD) and the potential to predict the relative risk for the condition. Thus, 39 patients, with a mean age of 43.26, diagnosed with CPD were clinically distributed according the level of disease in low level (77%), moderate (21%), and severe (3%). In order to genotype the SNP, PCR and RFLP methodologies were used. Allele C in rs1143634 was related to an absolute relative risk reduction of 53.8%, showing statistically significant difference (p<0,0001) On the other hand, the presence of T in rs1143634 can be considered a risk factor for CPD. Additional to the results from the current study, the participation of other factors, since reduction obtained was slightly above 50%, suggested to involvement others elements including and life style (oral hygiene, smoking, and alcoholism) and the genetic risk when considering the roll of IL1B gene in the pathogenesis of CPD.(AU)

Indole based cyclooxygenase inhibitors: synthesis, biological evaluation, docking and NMR screening.

The close structural similarity between the two cyclooxygenase (COXs) isoforms and the absence of selective inhibitors without side effects continues to stimulate the development of novel approaches towards selective anti-inflammatory drugs. In the present study a small library of new indolic compounds involving two different substitutions patterns at the indole scaffold was synthesized. In order to establish a relation between the spatial distribution of known functional groups related with inhibitory activity, two substitution patterns were explored: one with substituents at N-1, C-3, C-5 positions and another at C-2, C-3 and C5 positions. Accordingly, indole positions C-5, C-3 and N-1 were substituted with: sulfonamide or methylsulfone at C-5, p-halo-benzyl group at C-3, and an alkyl chain with a trifluoromethyl group at N-1. Alternatively, a p-halo-benzyl group was introduced at C-2, leaving the indolic nitrogen free. Inhibitory studies were performed and the activity results obtained against both COXs isoforms were rationalized based on docking and NMR studies. Docking studies show that dialkyation at C-2 and C-3 favors a binding with an orientation similar to that of the known selective inhibitor SC-558. From the tested compounds, this substitution pattern is correlated with the highest inhibitory activity and selectivity: 70% COX-2 inhibition at 50 µM, and low COX-1 inhibition (18 ± 9%). Additionally, Saturation Transfer Difference NMR experiments reveal different interaction patterns with both COXs isoforms that may be related with different orientations of the sulfonamide group in the binding pocket. Despite the moderated inhibitory activities found, this study represents an innovative approach towards COXs inhibitory activity rationalization and to the design of anti-inflammatory drugs.

Binding of ibuprofen, ketorolac, and diclofenac to COX-1 and COX-2 studied by saturation transfer difference NMR.

Saturation transfer difference NMR (STD-NMR) spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful screening tool and a straightforward way to study the binding epitopes of active compounds in early stage lead discovery in pharmaceutical research. Here we report the application of STD-NMR to characterize the binding of the anti-inflammatory drugs ibuprofen, diclofenac, and ketorolac to COX-1 and COX-2. Using well-studied COX inhibitors and by comparing STD signals with crystallographic structures, we show that there is a relation between the orientations of ibuprofen and diclofenac in the COX-2 active site and the relative STD responses detected in the NMR experiments. On the basis of this analysis, we propose that ketorolac should bind to the COX-2 active site in an orientation similar to that of diclofenac. We also show that the combination of STD-NMR with competition experiments constitutes a valuable tool to address the recently proposed behavior of COX-2 as functional heterodimers and complements enzyme activity studies in the effort to rationalize COX inhibition mechanisms.

A comparative study of alginate beads and an ion-exchange resin for the removal of heavy metals from a metal plating effluent.

The capacity of dry protonated calcium alginate beads to sorb metals from an industrial effluent was studied and compared with a commercial ion-exchange resin (Lewatit TP 207). Both sorbents decreased zinc, nickel, iron and calcium concentrations in the effluent, and released sodium during treatment. Alginate beads removed lower amounts of heavy metals than the resin, but exhibited faster uptake kinetics. Zinc desorption from the sorbents was achieved in 30 minutes using 0.1 M HCl or 0.1 M H(2)SO(4). Desorption ratios with these acids varied between 90 and 100% for alginate, and 98 to 100% for the ion-exchange resin. Reusability tests with HCl showed that alginate beads can stand acid desorption and recover binding capacity. Overall, the comparison of dry protonated alginate beads with the resin supports the potential of the biosorbent for the treatment of industrial effluents.