Inhibitory effect of the Pseudobrickellia brasiliensis (Spreng) R.M. King & H. Rob. aqueous extract on human lymphocyte proliferation and IFN-γ and TNF-α production in vitro.

Pseudobrickellia brasiliensis (Asteraceae) is a plant commonly known as arnica-do-campo and belongs to the native flora of the Brazilian Cerrado. The alcoholic extract of the plant has been used as an anti-inflammatory agent in folk medicine, but the biological mechanism of action has not been elucidated. The present study evaluated the composition of P. brasiliensis aqueous extract and its effects on pro-inflammatory cytokine production and lymphocyte proliferation. The extracts were prepared by sequential maceration of P. brasiliensis leaves in ethanol, ethyl acetate, and water. Extract cytotoxicity was evaluated by trypan blue exclusion assay, and apoptosis and necrosis were measured by staining with annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide. The ethanolic (ETA) and acetate (ACE) extracts showed cytotoxic effects. The aqueous extract (AQU) was not cytotoxic. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate and ionomycin and treated with AQU (100 µg/mL) showed reduced interferon (IFN)-γ and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α expression. AQU also inhibited lymphocyte proliferative response after nonspecific stimulation with phytohemagglutinin. The aqueous extract was analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection and mass spectrometry. Quinic acid and its derivatives 5-caffeoylquinic acid and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, as well as the flavonoids luteolin and luteolin dihexoside, were detected. All these compounds are known to exhibit anti-inflammatory activity. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that P. brasiliensis aqueous extract can inhibit the pro-inflammatory cytokine production and proliferative response of lymphocytes. These effects may be related to the presence of chemical substances with anti-inflammatory actions previously reported in scientific literature.

[Anatomo-radiological study of the middle colic artery in children from 0 to 1 year]. / Contribuição para o estudo anátomo-radiológico da artéria cólicamédia em crianças de 0 a um ano.

The authors tried to establish the most frequent origin and distribution patterns of the middle colic artery. The search consisted of fifty cases and it was possible to distinguish five fundamental types of vascular origin and two basic types of distribution. The use of the radiological method for the anatomical study of small vascular structures proved us the great importance comparing it with the traditional dissecation.

Contribuicao para o estudo anatomo-radiologico da arteria colica media em criancas de 0 a um ano. / Anatomo-radiological study of the middle colic artery in childrem from 0 to 1 year

Os autores procuraram estabelecer em pesquisa sistematica, os padroes mais frequentes de origem e da distribuicao da arteria colica media. O trabalho constou de 50 observacoes e foi possivel determinarse a presenca de cinco tipos fundamentais de origem vascular e de dois tipos basicos de distribuicao. A utilizacao do metodo radiologico para o estudo anatomico de pequenas estruturas vasculares mostrou ser de grande valia em comparacao aos metodos classicos de disseccao