Inflammatory bowel disease is triggered by an uncontrolled immune response associated with genetic, environmental, and intestinal microbiota imbalance. Ipomoea asarifolia (IA), popularly known as “salsa” or “brave salsa”, belongs to the Convolvulaceae family. The aim of this approach was to study the preventive effect of IA aqueous extract in 2,4-dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (DNBS)-induced colitis in rats. Rats pretreated with IA extract or sulfasalazine (SSZ) received intracolonic instillation of DNBS in 50% ethanol (v/v). IA extract presented a protective effect against intestinal inflammation, with improvement in the disease activity index and macroscopic damage. IA or SSZ significantly reduced myeloperoxidase activity, and also down-regulation of the gene expression of JNK1, NF-κβ-p65, STAT3, and decreased levels of TNFα, IL-1β, and increased IL-10, associated with a significant improvement of oxidative stress, in addition to a reduction in MDA and an increase of glutathione in colonic tissue. The protective effect of the extract was also confirmed in histological evaluation, showing preservation of the colonic cytoarchitecture. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed down-regulation of NF-κβ-p65, iNOS, IL-17, and up-regulation of SOCs-1 and MUC-2. IA extract presents antioxidant and anti-inflammatory intestinal properties, and proved to be a potential application for preventing damage induced by DNBS.
Purpose: Oxidative Stress (OS) plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), especially by targeting the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Dietary habits with high consumption of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) have been shown to prevent the development and evolution of AMD. Nevertheless, it is still unclear how DHA affects AMD. Our study aimed to investigate the involvement of the PI3K/Akt and m-TOR/p70-p85S6K pathways in human RPE cells after induction of OS, and then to assess the effect of DHA in the signaling pathways and in the protection against RPE cell death. Methods: For this purpose, we used ARPE-19 cells exposed to the prooxidant agent, tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP). Results: We found that exposing cells to t-BHP (400µM) showed complete inhibition of Akt and p70/p85S6K active forms. However in cells enriched with DHA (20µM) and then exposed to t-BHP (400µM), we demonstrated that Akt and p85S6K, but not p70S6K, remained phosphorylated for a longer time after stress. In addition there was a 2.6-fold decrease in the number of necrotic cells after 48hours of t-BHP treatment, as assessed by flow cytometry. Conclusion: Our study suggests that 1/ PI3K/Akt and m-TOR/P70-p85S6K pathways play an important role in OS, 2/DHA protects RPE cells from apoptosis and necrosis triggered by OS by enhancing the phosphorylation of Akt and p85S6K
The use of steam injection in the recovery of heavy oils leads to improved results. During the process, only a fraction of the injected heat will warm up the porous media effectively due to heat losses within the injection lines and to formations adjacent to the productive zone. One way of measuring the amount of heat present in the porous media is through thermal efficiency. Therefore, this research proposes a more accurate way of investigating the amount of heat provided and actually used within the reservoir rock. To perform this study, a semi synthetic numerical model was developed, in a system with a Cartesian grid. It used a high viscosity oil, similar to those found in the Northeast region of Brazil, specifically in the Potiguar Basin, produced through an inverted quarter five spot. By varying the operational parameters (steam injection and steam quality), one observed the behavior of thermal efficiency curves, through a period of 15 years, for an oil net pay of 10m. The study concluded that high steam qualities and steam injection rates were associated to the lowering of the fraction of the remaining heat at the end of the project. Also, increased values of steam injection rates resulted in higher thermal efficiencies, before the steam breakthrough.
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