The indiscriminate use of anthelmintics has resulted in the establishment of parasite resistance. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the in vitro antiparasitic effect of plant extracts on Haemonchus contortus in sheep and the in vivo effect on Strongyloides venezuelensis in Rattus norvegicus. The plant extracts from Piper tuberculatum, Lippia sidoides, Mentha piperita, Hura crepitans and Carapa guianensis, produced at different research institutions, were chemically analyzed and evaluated through the egg hatch test (EHT) and larval development test (LDT) in H. contortus. P. tuberculatum (150 and 250 mg kg(-1) of body weight) was evaluated for its anthelmintic action on R. norvegicus experimentally infected with S. venezuelensis. In the EHT, the LC(50) and LC(90) of the extracts were respectively as follows: 0.031 and 0.09 mg mL(-1) for P. tuberculatum, 0.04 and 0.13 mg mL(-1) for L. sidoides, 0.037 and 0.10 mg mL(-1) for M. piperita, 2.16 and 17.13 mg mL(-1) for H. crepitans and 2.03 × 10(-6) and 1.22 × 10(-12) mg mL(-1) for C. guianensis. In the LDT, the LC(50) and LC(90) were respectively: 0.02 and 0.031 mg mL(-1) for P. tuberculatum, 0.002 and 0.04 mg mL(-1) for L. sidoides, 0.018 and 0.03 mg mL(-1) for M. piperita, 0.36 and 0.91 mg mL(-1) for H. crepitans and 17.65 and 1890 mg mL(-1) for C. guianensis. The extract of P. tuberculatum showed the following substances: piperamides as (Z)-piplartine, (E)-piplartine, 8,9-dihydropiplartine, piperine, 10,11-dihydropiperine, 5,6 dihydropiperlongumine and pellitorine. The major compounds of the oils were thymol (76.6%) for L. sidoides, menthol (27.5%) for M. piperita and oleic acid (46.8%) for C. guianensis. Regarding the in vivo test, neither dose of P. tuberculatum caused any significant reduction (P>0.05) in worm burden and fecal egg counts compared with the control group. We conclude that the extracts of P. tuberculatum, L. sidoides and M. piperita have effective activity when tested in vitro, but the doses of the extract of P. tuberculatum have no effect when employed in in vivo tests.

The activity of plant extracts on parasites may indicate groups of substances that are potentially useful for controlling Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus. The aim of the present study was to investigate the in vitro action of Artemisia annua extracts on this tick. The concentrations of the sesquiterpene lactones artemisinin and deoxyartemisinin present in plant extracts were quantified via high-performance liquid chromatography. Four extracts produced from the concentrated crude extract (CCE) were evaluated on larvae using the impregnated paper method, with readings after 24 hours of incubation. The engorged females were immersed in the CCE and in its four derived extracts for five minutes, with incubation for subsequent analysis of biological parameters. The extracts were not effective on the larvae at the concentrations tested (3.1 to 50 mg.mL(-1)). The CCE showed greater efficacy on engorged females (EC(50) of 130.6 mg.mL(-1) and EC(90) of 302.9 mg.mL(-1)) than did the derived extracts. These results tend to confirm that the action of artemisinin on engorged females of R. (B.) microplus is conditional to their blood intake. In this case, in vitro methods would be inadequate for effective evaluation of the action of A. annua on R. (B.) microplus.

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O que é um produtor rural na Amazônia? Quantos existem, como e onde vivem? Qual sua relação com o desmatamento? O universo dos produtores rurais e das unidades e áreas de produção amazônicas é complexo e dinâmico. Ele resulta de uma história de milhares de anos. Inclui desde extrativistas de produtos vegetais e animais até os mais modernos agricultores do Brasil (grãos e algodão). Detectar, identificar e mapear sua ocorrência numa grande extensão territorial, onde o hábitat é disperso, a infraestrutura precária e com muitos conflitos fundiários, sempre foi um desafio. O acesso aos dados do Censo Agropecuário (IBGE) e do Cadastro Ambiental Rural (CAR), em bases geográficas, levaram a Embrapa Territorial a organizar, num bigdata geocodificado, um Sistema de Inteligência Territorial Estratégica do Bioma Amazônia. Mais de um milhão de produtores rurais e unidades e áreas de produção foram identificados e mapeados no bioma, de forma inédita, graças a procedimentos estatístico-matemáticos. Mais de 97% dos produtores rurais e unidades de produção, em sua maioria pequenos, não participam do processo de desmatamento na Amazônia. Além disso, a análise espaço-temporal geocodificada dos polígonos de desmatamento, entre 2009 e 2018, revelou que 12% dos casos não ocorrem em áreas rurais e, sim, em áreas protegidas.

Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common form of cancer worldwide. Although surgical treatments have an acceptable cure rate, tumor recurrence is still a challenging issue. In this meta-analysis, we investigated whether statins prevent HCC recurrence following liver surgery. Methods PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE and Cochrane Central were searched. The Outcome of interest was the HCC recurrence after hepatic surgery. Pooled estimates were represented as hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) using a random-effects model. Summary effect measures are presented together with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI). The certainty of evidence was evaluated using the Grades of Research, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Results The literature search retrieved 1,362 studies excluding duplicates. Nine retrospective studies including 44,219 patients (2,243 in the statin group and 41,976 in the non-statin group) were included in the qualitative analysis. Patients who received statins had a lower rate of recurrence after liver surgery (HR: 0.41; 95% CI: 0.31– 0.54; p <0.001). Moreover, Statins decreased the recurrence one year after surgery (OR: 0.27; 95% CI: 0.16–0.47; P < 0.001), three years after surgery (OR: 0.22; 95% CI: 0.15–0.33; P < 0.001), and five years after surgery (OR: 0.28; 95% CI: 0.19–0.42; P < 0.001). The certainty of evidence for the outcomes was moderate. Conclusion Statins increase the disease-free survival of patients with HCC after liver surgery. These drugs seem to have chemoprevention effects that decrease the probability of HCC recurrence after liver transplantation or liver resection.