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Human schistosomiasis, caused by trematode worms of the genus Schistosoma, is one of the most significant neglected tropical diseases, affecting more than 200 million individuals worldwide and praziquantel is the only available drug to treat this disease. Artemisia absinthium L. and Tanacetum parthenium L. are species popularly used as anthelmintics. We investigated the in vitro schistosomicidal activity of crude extracts of A. absinthium (AA) and T. parthenium (TP) and their isolated compounds. AA and TP, at 200 μg/mL, were active, causing 100% mortality of all adult worms. Chromatographic fractionation of AA leads to isolation of artemetin and hydroxypelenolide, while santin, apigenin, and parthenolide were isolated from TP. Artemetin, hydroxypelenolide, santin, and apigenin, at 100 μM, were inactive against adult worms. Parthenolide (12.5 to 100 μM) caused 100% mortality, tegumental alterations, and reduction of motor activity of all adult worms of S. mansoni, without affecting mammalian cells. Confocal laser scanning microscopy showed tegumental morphological alterations and changes on the numbers of tubercles of S. mansoni worms. This report provides the first evidence for the in vitro activity of parthenolide against adult worms of S. mansoni, opening the route to further schistosomicidal studies with this compound.

BACKGROUND: Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) has been widely applied to different populations, including the general population of older adults. In addition to increasing inspiratory muscle strength, other benefits of IMT in the health of this population have been reported. The primary aim of this study was to review the effects of IMT on the general parameters of health (eg, respiratory, functional, physical, and other variables) in older adults (> 60 y), and the secondary aim was to analyze the main IMT protocol used in the studies. METHODS: We searched the MEDLINE, PEDro, SciELO, and LILACS databases to identify relevant randomized controlled clinical trials, and we assessed their methodological quality according to the PEDro scale. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines were used to guide the development of the protocol for this systematic review. RESULTS: The search yielded 7 studies involving 248 participants from 917 titles. The main outcomes investigated in response to IMT were related to the respiratory, functional, and physical variables. The results indicate that IMT promotes an increase of inspiratory muscle strength and diaphragmatic thickness in older adults. There was heterogeneity in the protocols described for this population with respect to the total training time (4-8 weeks), intensity (30-80% of the maximum inspiratory pressure), and weekly frequency (5 or 7 sessions). CONCLUSIONS: The reviewed studies revealed a positive trend for the effectiveness of IMT in improving inspiratory muscle performance in elderly subjects. More randomized studies are needed to evaluate other outcomes (eg, functional capacity, exercise capacity, cardiac autonomic control, quality of life, and others) to provide robust evidence that this training modality can promote improvements in health parameters in this population. In addition, the usual IMT prescription in this population is based on sets and repetitions, of mild to moderate intensity, performed on most days of the week, for > 4 weeks.

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Objective The aim of the study was to compare the quality of life (QOL) of patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation who improved their functional capacity during hospitalization (increased functional capacity group) with that of patients who maintained or decreased functional capacity during hospitalization (decreased functional capacity group). Design This observational, longitudinal study included 27 hospitalized patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Patients were divided into increased functional capacity group (16 patients) and decreased functional capacity group (11 patients). Functional capacity (6-min step test), peripheral muscle strength (sit-to-stand test and handgrip strength), and QOL (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer) were assessed at admission and at hospital discharge. Results Increased functional capacity patients had increased functional capacity and peripheral muscle strength of the lower and upper limbs at hospital discharge (P < 0.01, <0.01, and 0.02, respectively). The patients in the increased functional capacity group demonstrated an increase in global health and reduced symptoms at discharge (P = 0.02 and 0.03, respectively). No significant differences were observed between groups in the functional domain. Conclusions Patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, who have improved functional capacity at discharge, also experience an improved QOL, with no such improvement noted among patients who have stable or reduced functional capacity. We recommend that the treatment protocol for hospitalized patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation include an exercise program aimed at improving functional capacity.

Offspring of hypertensive parents present autonomic dysfunction at rest and during physiological maneuvers. However, the cardiac autonomic modulation during exercise remains unknown. This study tested whether the cardiac autonomic modulation would be reduced in offspring of hypertensive parents during exercise. Fourteen offspring of hypertensive and 14 offspring of normotensive individuals were evaluated. The groups were matched by age (24.5±1.0 vs. 26.6±1.5 years; p=0.25) and BMI (22.8±0.6 vs. 24.2±1.0 kg/m; p=0.30). Blood pressure and heart rate were assessed simultaneously during 3 min at baseline followed by 3-min isometric handgrip at 30% of maximal voluntary contraction. Cardiac autonomic modulation was evaluated using heart rate variability. Primary variables were subjected to two-way ANOVA (group vs. time). P value<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Blood pressure and heart rate were similar between groups during exercise protocol. In contrast, offspring of hypertensive subjects showed a reduction of SDNN (Basal=34.8±3.5 vs. 45.2±3.7 ms; Exercise=30.8±3.3 vs. 41.5±3.9 ms; p group=0.01), RMSSD (Basal=37.1±3.7 vs. 52.0±6.0 ms; Exercise=28.6±3.4 vs. 41.9±5.3 ms; p group=0.02) and pNN50 (Basal=15.7±4.0 vs. 29.5±5.5%; Exercise=7.7±2.4 vs. 18.0±4.3%; p group=0.03) during the exercise protocol in comparison with offspring of normotensive parents. We concluded that normotensive offspring of hypertensive parents exhibit impaired cardiac autonomic modulation during exercise.

Eremanthus erythropappus (DC) McLeisch, a plant popularly known as Candeia (Asteraceae), has high therapeutic potential. In this study, the in vitro schistosomicidal potentials of the ethanolic, dichloromethane and hexane extract of branches were evaluated. Couples of worms obtained from the infected mice were cultured in RPMI supplemented with foetal bovine serum and antibiotics. Four pairs of adult worms were exposed to increasing concentrations of each extract and examined by light microscope. The extracts at 100 and 200 µg mL(-1) had schistosomicidal activity, as demonstrated by the analysis of several aspects such as tegument darkening, absence of motility, incapacity of adhesion in culture plate and absence of egg in culture medium. At 50 and 75 µg mL(-1), the dichloromethane and hexane extracts were highly effective. The results suggest that these extracts could be useful in the development of new schistosomicidal drugs.

-The objective of this work was to establish an efficient protocol for in vitro multiplication and rooting, as well as ex vitro acclimatization of Aegiphila verticillata, a woody species found in Brazilian rocky fields. Aseptic cultures were established by seeds and two multiplication analyses were performed. In the first, we employed 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP -0, 2.5, 5 and 7.5 μM) + α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA -0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 μM) and, in the second, were studied adenine sulfate, kinetin and thidiazuron (0, 5, 7.5, 10 and 12.5 μM). After 90 days, we assessed the quantitative and qualitative shoot propagation. There were more than 90% seed germination and low contamination (2%). In multiplication phase, the culture medium that promoted the best quantitative and qualitative culture development was supplemented with 7.5 μM BAP + 0.4 μM NAA. In the rooting assay, were used NAA, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) (0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 or 0.4 μM). After 90 days, the root number and rooting quality were evaluated. In this analysis, differences were not found between the control and the other treatments. Rooted plantlets were acclimatized in styrofoam trays for 30 days, after which they were transferred to pots in the greenhouse. Only 3% of the plants subjected to initial acclimatization died and 70% of the plants transferred to the field conditions survived and showed normal development. The results founded in this work are the first involving in vitro propagation and ex vitro acclimatization of Aegiphila verticillata and provide a continuous supply of this medicinal native species, endangered due anthropogenic activities.Keywords: In vitro propagation; Ex vitro culture; Rocky fields. 2,5; 5; e 7,5 μM) + ácido α-naftaleno acético 0,2; 0,4; e 0,6 μM) e, no segundo, sulfato de adenina, cinetina ou thidiazuron (0; 5; 7,5; 10; e 12,5 μM MICROPROPAGAÇÃO E ACLIMATIZAÇÃO DE