Characterization of biomarkers in blood serum for cancer diagnosis in dogs using Raman spectroscopy.

Biomarkers of cancer in sera of domestic dogs were detected through Raman spectroscopy with 830 nm excitation. Raman spectra of sera from 61 dogs (31 healthy and 30 with cancer, resulting in 154 and 200 spectra, respectively) were submitted to principal component analysis (PCA) for feature extraction and partial least squares (PLS) regression for discrimination between Healthy and Cancer groups. In the PCA, the peaks at 1132, 1342, 1368, and 1453 cm-1 (albumin and phenylalanine) were higher for the Cancer group. The "redshift" of the peaks at 621, 1003, and 1032 cm-1 (conformational change in proteins and/or bonds at sites close to the aromatic ring of amino acids) occurred in the Cancer group, and the peaks at 451 cm-1 (tryptophan) and 1441 cm-1 (lipids) were higher for the Healthy group. The PLS-DA classified the serum spectra in Healthy and Cancer groups with high accuracy (78%).

Glicemical analysis of human blood serum using FT-Raman: a new approach.

BACKGROUND DATA: Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy (FT-Raman) is a noninvasive diagnostic tool largely applied to the analysis of biological fluids and tissues. METHODS: We examined the variation of carbohydrate concentration in human blood during 180 min relative to 29 spectra of patients split into four categories: hypoglycemic, healthy, threshold, and diabetic. The main bands monitored were placed in 960, 1030, 1091, 1128, and 1205 cm(-1). These bands were respectively attributed to C-O, C-C (stretching), C-O-H and C-O-C of carbohydrates. In this study, the Raman scattering signal of the all the blood samples was collected during 360 sec. The calculated correlation coefficient (R) between the concentration of carbohydrates and the Raman intensity was 0.923. CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results are reasonable according to classical biochemical analysis. Our proposed FT-Raman-based method was shown to be suitable for the monitoring of carbohydrate concentration in human blood, and presented some advantages over classical biochemical methods, such as real-time analysis, required small sample volume, and was nondestructive, and the samples did not need any previous treatment.

A história do câncer e a contribuição da homeopatia / The history of cancer and the contribution of homeopathy

Revisão bibliográfica cujo objetivo é analizar as representações sociais do câncer e com base nessa análise mostrar os aspectos simbólicos na abordagem dessa doença. Há milênios a humanidade vem convivendo com o aumento gradativo das mais variadas formas de Câncer, pois seu aparecimento é tão remoto quanto a psora, citada por Moisès nas escrituras. Contudo apesar do progresso da ciência Genética, dos avanços em biologia molecular e do câncer ja ter sido debelado "in vitro", a doença esta conosco há mais de 2000 anos e os mecanismos de cura são complexos, pois a doença é multifatorial, o que nos leva imaginar que a psora foi transmitidae mantida geneticamente e posteriormente agravada pela supressão trazida pela vida moderna, vacinações e da revolução industrial. Cabe a nós homeopatas prevenir e tratar as supressões dando condições ideais para a afluência da energia vital.

A medicina dos druidas e o Viscum album / The medicine of the druids and the Viscum album

Os autores apresentam uma revisão histórica sobre o Viscum album, planta utilizada na Farmacopeia homeopática e sua relação com a cultura Druida.

A história do câncer e a contribuição da homeopatia / The history of cancer and the contribution of homeopathy

Revisão bibliográfica cujo objetivo é analizar as representações sociais do câncer e com base nessa análise mostrar os aspectos simbólicos na abordagem dessa doença. Há milênios a humanidade vem convivendo com o aumento gradativo das mais variadas formas de Câncer, pois seu aparecimento é tão remoto quanto a psora, citada por Moisès nas escrituras. Contudo apesar do progresso da ciência Genética, dos avanços em biologia molecular e do câncer ja ter sido debelado "in vitro", a doença esta conosco há mais de 2000 anos e os mecanismos de cura são complexos, pois a doença é multifatorial, o que nos leva imaginar que a psora foi transmitidae mantida geneticamente e posteriormente agravada pela supressão trazida pela vida moderna, vacinações e da revolução industrial. Cabe a nós homeopatas prevenir e tratar as supressões dando condições ideais para a afluência da energia vital.(AU)

A medicina dos druidas e o Viscum album / The medicine of the druids and the Viscum album

Os autores apresentam uma revisão histórica sobre o Viscum album, planta utilizada na Farmacopeia homeopática e sua relação com a cultura Druida.(AU)

Estudos de casos clínicos oncológicos em caninos e felinos tratados com homeopatia injetável (2005-2007) / Clinical case studies cancer in dogs and cats treated with homeopathy injectable (2005-2007)

Este experimento clínico relata o resultado do tratamento de oito animais com tipos variados de neoplasias que foram tratados com uma combinação de medicamentos homeopáticos injetáveis, Arnica montana, Lachesis muta, thuya occidentalis, Echinacea e o Viscum album - um antineoplásico que estimula o sistema imune - e possuem efeitos citotóxicos, sendo uma alternativa ao tratamento convencional empregado nos animais domestícos. O resultado obtido no decorrer de 12 meses de acompanhamento indica que a medicação estuda auxilia na qualidade de vida demostrando ser uma possibilidade terapêutica auxiliando no controle da evolução da doença neoplásica em cães e gatos.

Estudos de casos clínicos oncológicos em caninos e felinos tratados com homeopatia injetável (2005-2007) / Clinical case studies cancer in dogs and cats treated with homeopathy injectable (2005-2007)

Este experimento clínico relata o resultado do tratamento de oito animais com tipos variados de neoplasias que foram tratados com uma combinação de medicamentos homeopáticos injetáveis, Arnica montana, Lachesis muta, thuya occidentalis, Echinacea e o Viscum album - um antineoplásico que estimula o sistema imune - e possuem efeitos citotóxicos, sendo uma alternativa ao tratamento convencional empregado nos animais domestícos. O resultado obtido no decorrer de 12 meses de acompanhamento indica que a medicação estuda auxilia na qualidade de vida demostrando ser uma possibilidade terapêutica auxiliando no controle da evolução da doença neoplásica em cães e gatos.(AU)

Dissertation Abstract: Viscum album citotoxicity in Caco-2 cells (in vitro) analyzed by Dispersive Raman Spectroscopy

In the last decades, it has been observed a gradual increase in the diagnosis of neoplasm in both human beings and animals. This can be attributed to the advances in research and technology, which facilitated detection, promoting, thus, survival. On the other hand, the current incidence of cancer may also be attributed to an excess of chemicals in food products, radiation arising from antennae, environmental pollutants, indiscriminate use of hormone therapies, besides genetic alterations. Conventional oncologic treatments traditionally employ chemotherapic drugs. Later on, vegetal immunomodulators were also introduced, such as Viscum album. In the present study, the effectiveness of injectable extract Viscum album was tested in vitro in Caco-2 cells, in dilutions D3 (0.1ìg/ml ), D6 (0.1 ng/ml), D9 (0.1x10-³ ng/ml), D12 (0.1x10-6 ng/ml) and D30 (0.1x10-6 ng/ml). The optical method used was the Dispersive Raman Spectroscopy at 830nm by comparison to MTT Assay. The results showed that Viscum album has an action on mitochondrial activity, reducing cellular viability in Caco-2 cells in dilutions D3, D6 and D9. Correlation of Raman spectrum to the values obtained in the MTT test was statistically analyzed by PLS, revealing a sensitive tool for the detection of changes in the mitochondrial activity of Caco-2 cells. Raman spectroscopy is a non invasive diagnostic procedure, allowing for real-time diagnosis and reduction of costs, besides indicating the best therapy for each type of tumor as well as modifications in the therapeutic strategy.(AU)

Dissertation abstract: Viscum album citotoxicity in Caco-2 cells (in vitro) analyzed by Dispersive Raman Spectroscopy

In the last decades, it has been observed a gradual increase in the diagnosis of neoplasm in both human beings and animals. This can be attributed to the advances in research and technology, which facilitated detection, promoting, thus, survival. On the other hand, the current incidence of cancer may also be attributed to an excess of chemicals in food products, radiation arising from antennae, environmental pollutants, indiscriminate use of hormone therapies, besides genetic alterations. Conventional oncologic treatments traditionally employ chemotherapic drugs. Later on, vegetal immunomodulators were also introduced, such as Viscum album. In the present study, the effectiveness of injectable extract Viscum album was tested in vitro in Caco-2 cells, in dilutions D3 (0.1ìg/ml ), D6 (0.1 ng/ml), D9 (0.1x10-³ ng/ml), D12 (0.1x10-6 ng/ml) and D30 (0.1x10-6 ng/ml). The optical method used was the Dispersive Raman Spectroscopy at 830nm by comparison to MTT Assay. The results showed that Viscum album has an action on mitochondrial activity, reducing cellular viability in Caco-2 cells in dilutions D3, D6 and D9. Correlation of Raman spectrum to the values obtained in the MTT test was statistically analyzed by PLS, revealing a sensitive tool for the detection of changes in the mitochondrial activity of Caco-2 cells. Raman spectroscopy is a non invasive diagnostic procedure, allowing for real-time diagnosis and reduction of costs, besides indicating the best therapy for each type of tumor as well as modifications in the therapeutic strategy.