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Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a disease associated with delayed wound healing of oral ulcers by increased expression of proinflammatory cytokines and cellular apoptosis. Objective to evaluate the influence of Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-α) and apoptosis in rats with DM treated with chamomile extract or triamcinolone.Material and Methods Wistar male rats (210.0±4.2 g) were divided into five groups: negative control group (NCG) without diabetes; positive control group (PCG) with DM (alloxan, 45 mg/kg); and groups treated with chamomile extract (normoglycemic= NCG group and diabetic= DCG group) and with triamcinolone (TG). Traumatic ulcers were performed on all animals that received topical triamcinolone, chamomile extract or saline 12/12 hours for ten days.Results On days five and ten the animals were euthanized and the ulcers were analyzed by light microscopy, TUNEL assay, and immunohistochemically (TNF-α). The NCG (p=0.0062), PCG (p=0.0285), NCG (p=0.0041), and DCG (p<0.0001) groups were completely healed on the 10th day, however, there was no healing on the TG (p=0.5127) group. The TNF-α expression showed a significant reduction from the 5th to the 10th day in NCG (p=0.0266) and DCG (p=0.0062). In connective tissue, the TUNEL assay showed a significant reduction in the number of positive cells in NCG (p=0.0273) and CNG (p=0.0469) and in the epithelium only in CDG (p=0.0320).Conclusions Chamomile extract can optimize the healing of traumatic oral ulcers in diabetic rats through the reduction of apoptosis in the epithelium and TNF-α expression.

Vatairea guianensis lectin (VGL), Dalbergiae tribe, is a N-acetyl-galactosamine (GalNAc)/Galactose (Gal) lectin previously purified and characterized. In this work, we report its structural features, obtained from bioinformatics tools, and its inflammatory effect, obtained from a rat paw edema model. The VGL model was obtained by homology with the lectin of Vatairea macrocarpa (VML) as template, and we used it to demonstrate the common characteristics of legume lectins, such as the jellyroll motif and presence of a metal-binding site in the vicinity of the carbohydrate-recognition domain (CRD). Protein-ligand docking revealed favorable interactions with N-acetyl-d-galactosamine, d-galactose and related sugars as well as several biologically relevant N- and O-glycans. In vivo testing of paw edema revealed that VGL induces edematogenic effect involving prostaglandins, interleukins and VGL CRD. Taken together, these data corroborate with previous reports showing that VGL interacts with N- and/or O-glycans of molecular targets, particularly in those presenting galactosides in their structure, contributing to the lectin inflammatory effect.

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Chronic treatment with ZA increase proinflammatory cytokines and the number of inflammatory cells in periodontium of rats and GSH are expressed probably in a compensatory manner.

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Andira anthelmia (tribe Dalbergieae), a plant from Brazilian Amazon, possesses a seed lectin that was purified by affinity chromatography in sepharose-mannose. This novel Dalbergieae lectin, named AAL, agglutinated rabbit erythrocytes treated with trypsin. The hemagglutinating activity of AAL was maintained after incubation at a wide range of temperature (40 to 70 °C) and pH, was shown to be dependent on divalent cations, and was inhibited by d-mannose and d-sucrose. AAL showed an electrophoretic profile in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis similar to other lectins of the tribe Dalbergieae, presenting a double band of molecular weight with approximately 20 kDa and other minor bands of 17, 15, and 13 kDa, being the smaller fragment glycosylated. AAL injected by intravenous route in mice showed antinociceptive activity in two behavioral tests (writhing and formalin). In the writhing test induced by acetic acid, AAL showed inhibitory effect at 0.01 mg/kg (68%), 0.1 mg/kg (46%) and 1 mg/kg (74%). In the formalin test, AAL (0.1 mg/kg) inhibited by 48% the licking time in the inflammatory phase, an effect that was recovered by the lectin association with mannose. In conclusion, AAL presents analgesic effect involving the lectin domain via peripheral mechanisms of inflammatory nociception. This activity highlights the importance of lectins as tools to be used for understanding the interaction of protein-carbohydrate in processes associated to inflammatory pain. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.