Objective: The main aim of the present study was to detect bovine fetal DNA in the maternal circu... more Objective: The main aim of the present study was to detect bovine fetal DNA in the maternal circulation, a relatively unexplored subject in the literature. Study design: DNA was extracted from blood of 84 primipara cows (Bos indicus) at different gestational ages (30e270 days) and from 100 adult animals (50 males and 50 non-pregnant cows). The samples were analyzed using PCR with primers for TSPY gene. Results: Molecular results matched the fetal phenotypic gender in all 47 male and 37 female fetuses, including early pregnancy, and in control animals. Conclusions: These results evidence a bovine transplacental fetal DNA passage.
Folic acid-deficient diet during gestation and post-weaning alters Pomc gene and protein expressi... more Folic acid-deficient diet during gestation and post-weaning alters Pomc gene and protein expression in rat offspring La dieta deficiente en ácido fólico durante la gestación y el destete altera la expresión del gen Pomc y de proteínas en la descendencia de ratas
ABSTRACTThe concern with human health has increased the interest in producing foods enriched with... more ABSTRACTThe concern with human health has increased the interest in producing foods enriched with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), directly or naturally by inclusion in the animals’ diet. The positive effects such as antithrombotic, anti-inflammatory, and hypolipidemic have been observed in pigs and rats, used as human models for study. The present study evaluated the effect of cow’s milk with different lipid profiles on performance, serum fatty acid profile, biochemical analysis, and a complete blood count of gilts used as a human model. At 34 days, thirty gilts were equally distributed in three treatments. Experimental treatments were milk from cows without the oil supplementation (C), milk from cows fed an enriched diet with linseed oil (n-3), and milk from cows fed an enriched diet with soybean oil (n-6). Milk supplementation was performed until the age of 190 days, provided once in the morning. The n-3 and n-6 milk reduced the concentration of myristic acid in the blood and ...
We adapted a method that allows the identification of X chromosome copy number by quantitative re... more We adapted a method that allows the identification of X chromosome copy number by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in a short amount of time. It may be used for sex and aneuploidy involving X chromosome large population screening tests.
Folic acid-deficient diet during gestation and post-weaning alters Pomc gene and protein expressi... more Folic acid-deficient diet during gestation and post-weaning alters Pomc gene and protein expression in rat offspring La dieta deficiente en ácido fólico durante la gestación y el destete altera la expresión del gen Pomc y de proteínas en la descendencia de ratas
Nutrition is a major contributing factor for immunocompetence. The aim was to assess the immune s... more Nutrition is a major contributing factor for immunocompetence. The aim was to assess the immune status of older people after consuming milk produced by lactating cows fed with one of the following diets: control diet (C), C + vitamin E + selenium (C + A), C + sunflower oil (C + O), and C + sunflower oil + vitamin E + selenium (A + O). Sixty elderly people received one of these biofortified milks for 12 weeks. Immune response was assessed by measurement of the expression of COX-1, COX-2, MCP-1, PPAR (δ, α, and β/δ) genes, neutrophil production of oxygen reactive species induced by immune complexes, neutrophil phagocytosis and lytic activity of the alternative pathway of the complement system, and cytokine levels. Variables were assessed before and after treatment. Our findings showed stability of some inflammatory mediators (complement activity and neutrophils burst) in treatment groups, except complement activity in C + A, and an increase of these markers in C, especially reactive o...
InsuYcient intakes of many micronutrients found in fruits and vegetables, such as folic acid, vit... more InsuYcient intakes of many micronutrients found in fruits and vegetables, such as folic acid, vitamins C and B 6 may lead to DNA damage, cancer, and degenerative disease. The investigation of dietary antioxidants is a Weld of great interest for elucidating mechanisms of mutagenesis/carcinogenesis. The present study was undertaken to investigate the eVects of vitamin B 6 on the induction of chromosomal aberrations in cultured human lymphocytes and to examine the possible anticlastogenic eVect of this vitamin on chromosomal damage induced by the antitumor drug doxorubicin. The results showed that when the cultures treated with vitamin B 6 were compared with the untreated control in terms of total chromosomal damage and abnormal metaphases, pre-and simultaneous treatment with this vitamin showed no signiWcant diVerences. In the post-treatment, average and above average concentrations of vitamin B 6 alone showed a clastogenic eVect. In the simultaneous protocol, this vitamin (15, 90 and 120 g/mL) was eVective in inhibiting chromosomal aberrations induced by doxorubicin (p < 0.05), with a reduction of 33.1% with the highest concentration tested. However, in the post-treatment, the associations of vitamin B 6 and doxorubicin exerted a more evident clastogenic eVect than that observed in the cultures exposed only to the antitumor drug. In the present investigation, the inability of vitamin B 6 to decrease chromosomal damage induced by doxorubicin in the pre-and post-treatments could be justiWed by the instability of this vitamin as a free radical scavenger. In conclusion, the results from this study conWrmed that vitamin B 6 is protective against chromosomal damage induced by doxorubicin in cultured human lymphocytes, but that the eVects depend on concentration and form of treatment.
To investigate whether formocresol, in Buckley&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;am... more To investigate whether formocresol, in Buckley&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s original formulation, is mutagenic in vivo to lymphocyte cultures obtained from the peripheral blood of children aged from 5 to 10 years old. These children were recruited from those attending the dental clinics of Recife City Council and the University of Pernambuco School of Dentistry, Brazil. The sample comprised 20 children who had primary teeth with cariously exposed vital pulps. Two venous blood samples were collected (6-8 ml) from each child, the first prior to vital pulpotomy (control group) and the second 24 h after pulpotomy (treated group). This research is a case-control study. The peripheral lymphocytes were grown in a complete culture medium consisting of 78% RPMI 1640 medium (a), supplemented with streptomycin (0.01 mg/ml), penicillin (0.005 ml(-1)), 20% fetal bovine serum (b) and 2% phytohemagglutinin (c). The lymphocytes were assessed for chromosomal aberrations via a previously published method which was modified. The cytogenetic analysis was performed in a blind test, where the slides were codified by an annotator and the scorers did not know which group they were analyzing. For each sample, this envolved the analysis of 200 metaphases. The level of significance adopted in the statistical test was 5.0% (p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in clinical doses between the control and treated groups, using Wilcoxon&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s Signed Ranks test, for the chromosomal aberrations (P=0.251) and for the total chromosomal breaks (P=0.149). Although there were no statistically significant differences between the control and treated groups, Buckley&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s formocresol was mutagenic for one patient, raising doubt about the desirability of its use for pulpotomies in children. The results revealed that, from a statistical standpoint, formocresol is not mutagenic. However, further investigations are required, preferably with a larger sample, in patients needing more than one pulpotomy in order to observe whether an increase in the quantity of the drug would increase the quantity of chromosome aberrations and also to verify individual susceptibility to chromosome alterations with the use of formocresol.
The Y-encoded, testis-specific protein (TSPY) is a Y-specific gene. The copy numbers of TSPY rang... more The Y-encoded, testis-specific protein (TSPY) is a Y-specific gene. The copy numbers of TSPY range from 20 to 60 in men and up to 200 in bulls. In this study, we examined the possibility of using the TSPY gene to sex cattle. DNA from blood samples of 100 Nelore cattle (50 males and 50 females) from the Nelore Cattle Breeding Program (PMGRN) was screened for TSPY by PCR using TSPY-specific primers. The assay was highly specific since all male samples were TSPY-positive and all female samples were negative. Positive results were also obtained at low DNA concentrations (less than 1 ρg/µL). These results showed that TSPY was a good male-specific marker, the usefulness of which was enhanced by the high copy number of the gene. This is the first report to demonstrate the applicability of TSPY for sexing cattle.
Vitamin B(6) has shown to be a potentially effective antioxidant agent, and dietary antioxidants ... more Vitamin B(6) has shown to be a potentially effective antioxidant agent, and dietary antioxidants are also frequently valuable inhibitors of clastogenesis and carcinogenesis. The purpose of the present work was to study the clastogenicity of different doses of vitamin B(6) and to examine the possible modulating effect of this vitamin on chromosomal damage induced by the antitumor agent doxorubicin in Wistar rats. Experimental groups were set up for pre- and simultaneous treatment with vitamin B(6) alone or in combination with DXR. The data obtained from administering different doses of vitamin B(6) (12.5-100 mg/kg b.w.) showed no significant increase in total chromosomal aberrations when compared with the negative control. The administration of two doses of 25 mg/kg b.w. or one dose of 50 mg/kg b.w. of vitamin B(6) before doxorubicin injection seemed equally effective in protecting cells against doxorubicin clastogenicity. The anticlastogenic effect of vitamin B(6) on DXR-induced chromosomal damage could be ascribed to its antioxidant properties. Vitamin B(6) was not clastogenic or cytotoxic in rat bone marrow cells and it plays a role in inhibiting the clastogenicity induced by DXR.
Vitamin B(6) has shown to be a potentially effective antioxidant agent, and dietary antioxidants ... more Vitamin B(6) has shown to be a potentially effective antioxidant agent, and dietary antioxidants are also frequently valuable inhibitors of clastogenesis and carcinogenesis. The purpose of the present work was to study the clastogenicity of different doses of vitamin B(6) and to examine the possible modulating effect of this vitamin on chromosomal damage induced by the antitumor agent doxorubicin in Wistar rats. Experimental groups were set up for pre- and simultaneous treatment with vitamin B(6) alone or in combination with DXR. The data obtained from administering different doses of vitamin B(6) (12.5-100 mg/kg b.w.) showed no significant increase in total chromosomal aberrations when compared with the negative control. The administration of two doses of 25 mg/kg b.w. or one dose of 50 mg/kg b.w. of vitamin B(6) before doxorubicin injection seemed equally effective in protecting cells against doxorubicin clastogenicity. The anticlastogenic effect of vitamin B(6) on DXR-induced chromosomal damage could be ascribed to its antioxidant properties. Vitamin B(6) was not clastogenic or cytotoxic in rat bone marrow cells and it plays a role in inhibiting the clastogenicity induced by DXR.
Objective: The main aim of the present study was to detect bovine fetal DNA in the maternal circu... more Objective: The main aim of the present study was to detect bovine fetal DNA in the maternal circulation, a relatively unexplored subject in the literature. Study design: DNA was extracted from blood of 84 primipara cows (Bos indicus) at different gestational ages (30e270 days) and from 100 adult animals (50 males and 50 non-pregnant cows). The samples were analyzed using PCR with primers for TSPY gene. Results: Molecular results matched the fetal phenotypic gender in all 47 male and 37 female fetuses, including early pregnancy, and in control animals. Conclusions: These results evidence a bovine transplacental fetal DNA passage.
Folic acid-deficient diet during gestation and post-weaning alters Pomc gene and protein expressi... more Folic acid-deficient diet during gestation and post-weaning alters Pomc gene and protein expression in rat offspring La dieta deficiente en ácido fólico durante la gestación y el destete altera la expresión del gen Pomc y de proteínas en la descendencia de ratas
ABSTRACTThe concern with human health has increased the interest in producing foods enriched with... more ABSTRACTThe concern with human health has increased the interest in producing foods enriched with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), directly or naturally by inclusion in the animals’ diet. The positive effects such as antithrombotic, anti-inflammatory, and hypolipidemic have been observed in pigs and rats, used as human models for study. The present study evaluated the effect of cow’s milk with different lipid profiles on performance, serum fatty acid profile, biochemical analysis, and a complete blood count of gilts used as a human model. At 34 days, thirty gilts were equally distributed in three treatments. Experimental treatments were milk from cows without the oil supplementation (C), milk from cows fed an enriched diet with linseed oil (n-3), and milk from cows fed an enriched diet with soybean oil (n-6). Milk supplementation was performed until the age of 190 days, provided once in the morning. The n-3 and n-6 milk reduced the concentration of myristic acid in the blood and ...
We adapted a method that allows the identification of X chromosome copy number by quantitative re... more We adapted a method that allows the identification of X chromosome copy number by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in a short amount of time. It may be used for sex and aneuploidy involving X chromosome large population screening tests.
Folic acid-deficient diet during gestation and post-weaning alters Pomc gene and protein expressi... more Folic acid-deficient diet during gestation and post-weaning alters Pomc gene and protein expression in rat offspring La dieta deficiente en ácido fólico durante la gestación y el destete altera la expresión del gen Pomc y de proteínas en la descendencia de ratas
Nutrition is a major contributing factor for immunocompetence. The aim was to assess the immune s... more Nutrition is a major contributing factor for immunocompetence. The aim was to assess the immune status of older people after consuming milk produced by lactating cows fed with one of the following diets: control diet (C), C + vitamin E + selenium (C + A), C + sunflower oil (C + O), and C + sunflower oil + vitamin E + selenium (A + O). Sixty elderly people received one of these biofortified milks for 12 weeks. Immune response was assessed by measurement of the expression of COX-1, COX-2, MCP-1, PPAR (δ, α, and β/δ) genes, neutrophil production of oxygen reactive species induced by immune complexes, neutrophil phagocytosis and lytic activity of the alternative pathway of the complement system, and cytokine levels. Variables were assessed before and after treatment. Our findings showed stability of some inflammatory mediators (complement activity and neutrophils burst) in treatment groups, except complement activity in C + A, and an increase of these markers in C, especially reactive o...
InsuYcient intakes of many micronutrients found in fruits and vegetables, such as folic acid, vit... more InsuYcient intakes of many micronutrients found in fruits and vegetables, such as folic acid, vitamins C and B 6 may lead to DNA damage, cancer, and degenerative disease. The investigation of dietary antioxidants is a Weld of great interest for elucidating mechanisms of mutagenesis/carcinogenesis. The present study was undertaken to investigate the eVects of vitamin B 6 on the induction of chromosomal aberrations in cultured human lymphocytes and to examine the possible anticlastogenic eVect of this vitamin on chromosomal damage induced by the antitumor drug doxorubicin. The results showed that when the cultures treated with vitamin B 6 were compared with the untreated control in terms of total chromosomal damage and abnormal metaphases, pre-and simultaneous treatment with this vitamin showed no signiWcant diVerences. In the post-treatment, average and above average concentrations of vitamin B 6 alone showed a clastogenic eVect. In the simultaneous protocol, this vitamin (15, 90 and 120 g/mL) was eVective in inhibiting chromosomal aberrations induced by doxorubicin (p < 0.05), with a reduction of 33.1% with the highest concentration tested. However, in the post-treatment, the associations of vitamin B 6 and doxorubicin exerted a more evident clastogenic eVect than that observed in the cultures exposed only to the antitumor drug. In the present investigation, the inability of vitamin B 6 to decrease chromosomal damage induced by doxorubicin in the pre-and post-treatments could be justiWed by the instability of this vitamin as a free radical scavenger. In conclusion, the results from this study conWrmed that vitamin B 6 is protective against chromosomal damage induced by doxorubicin in cultured human lymphocytes, but that the eVects depend on concentration and form of treatment.
To investigate whether formocresol, in Buckley&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;am... more To investigate whether formocresol, in Buckley&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s original formulation, is mutagenic in vivo to lymphocyte cultures obtained from the peripheral blood of children aged from 5 to 10 years old. These children were recruited from those attending the dental clinics of Recife City Council and the University of Pernambuco School of Dentistry, Brazil. The sample comprised 20 children who had primary teeth with cariously exposed vital pulps. Two venous blood samples were collected (6-8 ml) from each child, the first prior to vital pulpotomy (control group) and the second 24 h after pulpotomy (treated group). This research is a case-control study. The peripheral lymphocytes were grown in a complete culture medium consisting of 78% RPMI 1640 medium (a), supplemented with streptomycin (0.01 mg/ml), penicillin (0.005 ml(-1)), 20% fetal bovine serum (b) and 2% phytohemagglutinin (c). The lymphocytes were assessed for chromosomal aberrations via a previously published method which was modified. The cytogenetic analysis was performed in a blind test, where the slides were codified by an annotator and the scorers did not know which group they were analyzing. For each sample, this envolved the analysis of 200 metaphases. The level of significance adopted in the statistical test was 5.0% (p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in clinical doses between the control and treated groups, using Wilcoxon&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s Signed Ranks test, for the chromosomal aberrations (P=0.251) and for the total chromosomal breaks (P=0.149). Although there were no statistically significant differences between the control and treated groups, Buckley&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s formocresol was mutagenic for one patient, raising doubt about the desirability of its use for pulpotomies in children. The results revealed that, from a statistical standpoint, formocresol is not mutagenic. However, further investigations are required, preferably with a larger sample, in patients needing more than one pulpotomy in order to observe whether an increase in the quantity of the drug would increase the quantity of chromosome aberrations and also to verify individual susceptibility to chromosome alterations with the use of formocresol.
The Y-encoded, testis-specific protein (TSPY) is a Y-specific gene. The copy numbers of TSPY rang... more The Y-encoded, testis-specific protein (TSPY) is a Y-specific gene. The copy numbers of TSPY range from 20 to 60 in men and up to 200 in bulls. In this study, we examined the possibility of using the TSPY gene to sex cattle. DNA from blood samples of 100 Nelore cattle (50 males and 50 females) from the Nelore Cattle Breeding Program (PMGRN) was screened for TSPY by PCR using TSPY-specific primers. The assay was highly specific since all male samples were TSPY-positive and all female samples were negative. Positive results were also obtained at low DNA concentrations (less than 1 ρg/µL). These results showed that TSPY was a good male-specific marker, the usefulness of which was enhanced by the high copy number of the gene. This is the first report to demonstrate the applicability of TSPY for sexing cattle.
Vitamin B(6) has shown to be a potentially effective antioxidant agent, and dietary antioxidants ... more Vitamin B(6) has shown to be a potentially effective antioxidant agent, and dietary antioxidants are also frequently valuable inhibitors of clastogenesis and carcinogenesis. The purpose of the present work was to study the clastogenicity of different doses of vitamin B(6) and to examine the possible modulating effect of this vitamin on chromosomal damage induced by the antitumor agent doxorubicin in Wistar rats. Experimental groups were set up for pre- and simultaneous treatment with vitamin B(6) alone or in combination with DXR. The data obtained from administering different doses of vitamin B(6) (12.5-100 mg/kg b.w.) showed no significant increase in total chromosomal aberrations when compared with the negative control. The administration of two doses of 25 mg/kg b.w. or one dose of 50 mg/kg b.w. of vitamin B(6) before doxorubicin injection seemed equally effective in protecting cells against doxorubicin clastogenicity. The anticlastogenic effect of vitamin B(6) on DXR-induced chromosomal damage could be ascribed to its antioxidant properties. Vitamin B(6) was not clastogenic or cytotoxic in rat bone marrow cells and it plays a role in inhibiting the clastogenicity induced by DXR.
Vitamin B(6) has shown to be a potentially effective antioxidant agent, and dietary antioxidants ... more Vitamin B(6) has shown to be a potentially effective antioxidant agent, and dietary antioxidants are also frequently valuable inhibitors of clastogenesis and carcinogenesis. The purpose of the present work was to study the clastogenicity of different doses of vitamin B(6) and to examine the possible modulating effect of this vitamin on chromosomal damage induced by the antitumor agent doxorubicin in Wistar rats. Experimental groups were set up for pre- and simultaneous treatment with vitamin B(6) alone or in combination with DXR. The data obtained from administering different doses of vitamin B(6) (12.5-100 mg/kg b.w.) showed no significant increase in total chromosomal aberrations when compared with the negative control. The administration of two doses of 25 mg/kg b.w. or one dose of 50 mg/kg b.w. of vitamin B(6) before doxorubicin injection seemed equally effective in protecting cells against doxorubicin clastogenicity. The anticlastogenic effect of vitamin B(6) on DXR-induced chromosomal damage could be ascribed to its antioxidant properties. Vitamin B(6) was not clastogenic or cytotoxic in rat bone marrow cells and it plays a role in inhibiting the clastogenicity induced by DXR.
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