Experimental paracoccidioidomycosis in ethyl alcohol-fed rats

1. The course of experimental paracoccidioidomycosis was studied in alcohol-fed rats and compared with pair-fed and ad libitum controls. The alcohol-fed rats were fed a regular commercial solid diet plus a 32% (v/v) ethyl alcohol-25% sucrose (w/v) solution 4 weeks prior to the infection and throughout the study. The inoculum was standardized in terms of virulance, age of culture, percentage of multicellular fungal units containing 1-3 cells and viability. 2. Th extent of infection was measured by quantitative counts of fungal units (FU), colony-forming units (CFU) or Paracoccidioides brasiliensis from infected pulmonary tissue and histopathological examination of the main organs involved. The specific humoral response and cell-mediated immunity of the animals were assessed by measuring the specific serum antibody levels by counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE) and by the footpad swelling test (FST), respectively. 3. Alcohol-fed rats and pair-fed controls did not differ significantly in mean body weight or the extent of disease after 5 and 10 weeks of infection. In contrast, the alcohol-fed group when compared with the ad libitum group presented a significantly lower mean body weigh (301.6 ñ 0.6 vs 389.6 ñ 0.7g) and a larger number of fungi recovered from the lung: 81.1 ñ 4.1 x 10**4 vs 13.4 ñ 8.0 x 10**4 FU; 24.3 ñ 8.6 x 10**4 vs 2.9 ñ 0.5 x 10**4 CGU after 5 weeks of infection. There were no significant differences in the specific antibody levels, FST indices, histopathological pattern or frequency of disseminated lesions between groups. 4. We conclud tahta alcohol per se neither aggravated the infection by P. brasiliensis nor affected the especific humoral reponse and delayed hypersensitivity. However, the high alcohol intake resulted in malnourished animals associated with a more marked degree of infection

A autopsia na historia / The autopsy in the history

A presente revisäo relata as possíveis interferências na aceitaçäo e/ou na rejeiçäo da realizaçäo de autópsias nos períodos da história, desde a pre-história até a idade contenporanea. Considerando os fatores que levaram ao seu sucesso até o início do século XX e também os fatores que tem levado a diminuiçäo das autópsias na última metade deste século. Dentro de cada período é feita pequena discussäo relacionando o momento historico com a autópsia e a possível importancia da mesma na História da Medicina