Rosuvastatin promotes benefits on induced periodontitis in hypertensive rats.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The potential benefits of statins in modulating periodontal disease is supported by in vitro and clinical studies showing statins can induce a lower expression of proinflammatory cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of rosuvastatin (ST) on ligature-induced periodontitis in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty-four adult male rats were divided into three groups: SHR-C, SHR-L and SHR-L-ST (C, control; L, ligature groups). In the SHR-L-ST group, animals were treated with daily 2 mg/kg ST administration. In L groups, a ligature remained around mandibular first molars for 10 d. Each group was divided for killing at 10 or 21 d postoperatively. Microtomographic and histometric analyses were performed. Osteoclastogenesis was evaluated by tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase assay and gene expression of 84 proinflammatory mediators by polymerase chain reaction array. RESULTS: The SHR-L-ST group showed reduced bone loss and attachment loss in comparison with the SHR-L group at both 10 and 21 d postoperatively (p < 0.05). ST decreased the amount of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-positive cells compared with the SHR-L group at both 10 and 21 d (p < 0.05). The SHR-L-ST group presented 14 genes differentially expressed when compared with SHR-L group, featuring a downregulated gene profile at 10 d. CONCLUSION: Statin therapy may promote a protective effect against alveolar bone and connective tissue attachment losses attributable to periodontitis in hypertensive rats through inflammatory gene profile modulation.

Effects of maternal separation on the dietary preference and behavioral satiety sequence in rats.

This study investigated the effects of maternal separation on the feeding behavior of rats. A maternal separation model was used on postnatal day 1 (PND1), forming the following groups: in the maternal separation (MS) group, pups were separated from their mothers each day from PND1 to PND14, whereas in the control (C) group pups were kept with their mothers. Subgroups were formed to study the effects of light and darkness: control with dark and light exposure, female and male (CF and CM), and maternal separation with dark and light exposure, female and male (SDF, SDM, SLF and SLM). Female rats had higher caloric intake relative to body weight compared with male controls in the dark period only (CF=23.3±0.5 v. CM=18.2±0.7, P<0.001). Macronutrient feeding preferences were observed, with male rats exhibiting higher caloric intake from a protein diet as compared with female rats (CF=4.1±0.7, n=8 v. CM=7.0±0.5, n=8, P<0.05) and satiety development was not interrupted. Female rats had a higher adrenal weight as compared with male rats independently of experimental groups and exhibited a higher concentration of serum triglycerides (n=8, P<0.001). The study indicates possible phenotypic adjustments in the structure of feeding behavior promoted by maternal separation, especially in the dark cycle. The dissociation between the mother's presence and milk intake probably induces adjustments in feeding behavior during adulthood.

Teratogenic effects of the interaction acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and ethanol: morphologic and morphometric evaluation of the lingual epithelium in rat fetuses.

The objective of the present work was to evaluate the teratogenic effects of the interaction between acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and ethanol on the epithelium of the lingual mucosa in rat fetuses. On the 10th pregnancy day, a single intraperitoneal ethanol dose (2.96 g/kg body weight) (Group I), ASA (200 mg/kg body weight) (Group II) and ASA plus ethanol, in the same doses (Group III), or saline (Group IV - control), were administrated. The epithelial alterations were assessed by means of histological and morphometric methods, on posterior dorsal, anterior dorsal and ventral regions of the tongue. ASA reduced, in rat fetuses, the ethanol deleterious effects on nuclear size in the epithelial prickle cell of the lingual mucosa. On the other hand, ASA did not influence the effects of ethanol in both epithelial layers of the lingual mucosa, when the nuclear shape, cell volume or epithelial layers thickness were evaluated.

Early malnourished rats are not affected by anorexia induced by a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor in adult life.

The effect of early postnatal malnutrition upon food intake and its modulation by the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram, was investigated in adult rats. Sixty four Wistar rats were allocated to two groups, according to their mother's diet during lactation. Mothers receiving a 23% protein diet fed the well-nourished group; mothers receiving 8% protein diet fed the malnourished. After weaning, all rats received the 23% protein diet ad libitum. On the 120th day after birth, each nutritional group was divided in two subgroups (each one, n = 16) which received a single daily injection of citalopram (10 mg/kg) or saline (0.9% NaCl) for 14 days. Chronic treatment with citalopram decreased both the food intake and weight gain in the well-nourished rats, but not in the malnourished ones. These data are consistent with findings concerning the nutritional manipulation of the nervous system during its higher vulnerable phase, suggesting that early malnutrition alters the effect of treatment of SSRI in adult rats, and that malnutrition during the critical period of brain development affects the serotoninergic system.

Prevalence of Neospora caninum antibodies in dogs from dairy cattle farms in Parana, Brazil.

Serum samples from 134 dogs from 22 cattle dairy farms in the northern region of Parana State, Brazil, were tested for antibodies to Neospora caninum in an indirect fluorescent antibody test. Antibodies (> or = 1:50) to N. caninum were found in 29 (21.6%) of the 134 dogs, and seropositive dogs were found on 14 (63.6%) of the 22 dairy cattle farrms. The antibody titers of dogs were 1:50 (3 dogs), 1:100 (7 dogs), 1:200 (7 dogs), 1:400 (6 dogs), and > or = 1:800 (6 dogs). The low prevalence (9%) in < 1-yr-old dogs compared with the 2- to 3-fold higher prevalence in older dogs (17-29%) suggests postnatal exposure to N. caninum infection.

Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in venous blood from AIDS patients by polymerase chain reaction.

Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in blood by means of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) may facilitate the diagnosis and follow-up of cerebral toxoplasmosis in patients with AIDS. We evaluated this approach with seven patients with tissue culture-proven parasitemia, 14 patients with presumptive cerebral toxoplasmosis, and 17 healthy human immunodeficiency virus-positive controls. Each sample of blood was assayed on three different occasions by a PCR assay based on detection of the gene encoding the P30 surface protein. A positive PCR diagnosis required positivity in at least two of the three PCR tests. None of the controls had a positive PCR diagnosis, but six of the seven patients with parasitemia did. Cerebral toxoplasmosis was confirmed in 13 of the 14 patients with a presumptive diagnosis; diagnosis by PCR was positive before treatment for 9 of these 13 patients, whereas tissue culture was positive for only 1 patient. During treatment, blood samples were taken from 14 patients at regular intervals until day 12. PCR diagnosis became negative on ethidium-stained gels, but persistent signals were observed after hybridization, in some cases, for up to 12 days after initiation of therapy. PCR on venous blood could thus be a sensitive and noninvasive method for the diagnosis of cerebral and disseminated toxoplasmosis in AIDS patients and could be a potential tool for monitoring the effects of treatment.

Polymorphisms of human albumin gene after DNA restriction by HaeIII endonuclease.

Hybridization of albumin clones cDNA with human DNAs digested by several restriction endonucleases reveals two HaeIII polymorphisms. The first polymorphism, H1, is of low frequency (f1 = 0.05); the second, which is validated by family analysis, occurs frequently (f2 = 0.21) and is an intronic polymorphism, probably of substitution--base type.