Several cellular mechanisms affect nuclear morphology which can therefore be used to assess certain processes. Here, we present an analytic tool to quantify the number of cells in a population that present characteristics of senescence, apoptosis or nuclear irregularities through nuclear morphometric analysis. The tool presented here is based on nuclear image analysis and evaluation of size and regularity of adhered cells in culture. From 46 measurements of nuclear morphometry, principal component analysis filtered four measurements that best separated regular from irregular nuclei. These measurements, namely aspect, area box, radius ratio and roundness were combined into a single nuclear irregularity index (NII). Normal nuclei are used to set the parameters for a given cell type, and different nuclear phenotypes are separated in an area versus NII plot. The tool was validated with β-gal staining for senescence and annexin or caspases inhibitor for apoptosis as well as several treatments that induce different cellular phenotypes. This method provides a direct and objective way of screening normal, senescent, apoptotic and nuclear irregularities which may occur during failed mitosis or mitotic catastrophe, which may be very useful in basic and clinical research.

Relatos da prevalência das parasitoses intestinais no Brasil são pontuais e têm sido descritos em diferentes populações, tornando difícil um diagnóstico abrangente. Visando estudar a variação em 35 anos da prevalência de enteroparasitoses em escolares de Caxias do Sul, RS, foram avaliados 9.787 exames parasitológicos de fezes realizados por centrífugo-sedimentação. Resultaram positivas 5.655 (58%) amostras sendo mais prevalente a infestação por Ascaris lumbricoides (47%), Trichuris trichiura (36%), Enterobius vermicularis (8%) e os protozoários: Giardia lamblia (24%) e Entamoeba coli (20%). A prevalência geral diminuiu de 89% para 37%, com um decréscimo médio de 1,4% ao ano. Houve redução na prevalência de Ascaris lumbricoides de 61 para 26% e de Trichuris trichiura de 38 a 18%. Para Giardia lamblia não houve alteração significativa. A prevalência de Entamoeba coli cresceu de 29 a 46%. Os decréscimos obtidos na prevalência dos helmintos são provavelmente devidos às melhorias da infra-estrutura e às ações formativas desenvolvidas nas escolas.

The sigmodontine South American rodent genus Oligoryzomys was first described as a subgenus of the genus Oryzomys to group together species distinguished by morphological measurements. To describe the dispersion patterns of this genus in South America, in this study, a total of 100 sequences were analyzed and compared with sequences of 9 Oligoryzomys species from GenBank. The sequences comprised 90 mitochondrial cytochrome b genes and 10 nuclear interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein genes, from 75 individuals of 7 species from 27 localities. Topologies of different phylogenetic trees revealed Oligoryzomys as a monophyletic genus containing 2 main species groups, one designated as the "Amazon-Cerrado" assemblage and the second as the "Pampa-Andean" clade. The north-to-south geographic pattern observed supports the hypothesis that the genus started from the northern Andes, occupied the Amazon and the Cerrado, and later inhabited the more southern regions of South America.

Our data suggest an influence of the DRD2/ANKK1 gene region on levodopa-induced dyskinesia.

For most morbidly obese patients, in addition to causing significant weight loss, GBP reduces GERD symptoms, improves reflux esophagitis, and decreases esophageal acid exposure for longer than 3 years.

We characterized 144 Escherichia coli isolates from severe cellulitis lesions in broiler chickens from South Brazil. Analysis of susceptibility to 15 antimicrobials revealed frequencies of resistance of less than 30% for most antimicrobials except tetracycline (70%) and sulphonamides (60%). The genotyping of 34 virulence-associated genes revealed that all the isolates harbored virulence factors related to adhesion, iron acquisition and serum resistance, which are characteristic of the avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) pathotype. ColV plasmid-associated genes (cvi/cva, iroN, iss, iucD, sitD, traT, tsh) were especially frequent among the isolates (from 66.6% to 89.6%). According to the Clermont method of ECOR phylogenetic typing, isolates belonged to group D (47.2%), to group A (27.8%), to group B2 (17.4%) and to group B1 (7.6%); the group B2 isolates contained the highest number of virulence-associated genes. Clonal relationship analysis using the ARDRA method revealed a similarity level of 57% or higher among isolates, but no endemic clone. The virulence of the isolates was confirmed in vivo in one-day-old chicks. Most isolates (72.9%) killed all infected chicks within 7 days, and 65 isolates (38.1%) killed most of them within 24 hours. In order to analyze differences in virulence among the APEC isolates, we created a pathogenicity score by combining the times of death with the clinical symptoms noted. By looking for significant associations between the presence of virulence-associated genes and the pathogenicity score, we found that the presence of genes for invasins ibeA and gimB and for group II capsule KpsMTII increased virulence, while the presence of pic decreased virulence. The fact that ibeA, gimB and KpsMTII are characteristic of neonatal meningitis E. coli (NMEC) suggests that genes of NMEC in APEC increase virulence of strains.

Large-scale screening for NAT2 and CYP2E1 genotypes can prove useful in predicting the risk of adverse effects.

Apolipoprotein E (protein: apo E; gene: APOE) plays an important role in the multifactorial etiology of both Alzheimers disease (AD) and lipid level concentrations. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to investigate the APOE gene polymorphism in 446 unrelated Caucasians, among them 23 AD patients, and 100 Afro-Brazilians living in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The frequencies of the APOE*2, APOE*3 and APOE*4 alleles were 0.075, 0.810 and 0.115 in Caucasians and 0.075, 0.700 and 0.225 in Afro-Brazilians, respectively (c 2 = 8.72, P = 0.013). A highly significant association was observed between the APOE*4 allele and AD in this population-based sample. The APOE*4 frequency in AD patients (39%) was about four times higher than in the general Caucasian population (11.5%). The influence of each of the three common APOE alleles on lipid traits was evaluated by the use of the average excess statistic. The E*2 allele is associated with lower levels of triglycerides and of total and non-HDL cholesterol in both men and women. Conversely, the E*4 allele is associated with higher levels of these traits in women only. The effect of APOE alleles was of greater magnitude in women.