This study examined the antinociceptive effect of Bauhinia microstachya (Leguminosae), a native plant widely distributed in the South of Brazil, in several chemical and mechanical models of pain. The methanolic extract (ME) from B. microstachya (3--30 mg kg(-1), i.p.) and the isolated compound quercitrin (1--10 mg kg(-1), i.p.), given 30 min earlier, produced a dose-dependent inhibition of acetic-acid-induced visceral pain in mice, with a mean ID50 value (dose necessary to reduce the nociceptive response by 50% relative to the control value) of 7.9 and 2.4 mg kg(-1), respectively. The ME of B. microstachya (3--100 mg kg(-1), i.p., 30 min earlier) also caused a dose-dependent inhibition of capsaicin-induced pain, with a mean ID50 value of 18.8 mg kg(-1). Moreover, the ME (3--100 mg kg(-1), i.p., 30 min earlier) produced marked inhibition of both phases of formalin-induced pain, with mean ID50 values for the neurogenic and the inflammatory phases of 30.3 and 17.2 mg kg(-1), respectively. In addition, the ME of B. microstachya (3--300 mg kg(-1), i.p., 30 min earlier) inhibited, in a graded manner, the hyperalgesia induced by bradykinin (3.2 microg/paw), substance P (13.5 microg/paw), carrageenan (300 microg/paw), capsaicin (100 microg/paw) and adrenaline (100 ng/paw) in the rat paw, with mean ID50 values of 20.5, 17.9, 101.8, 54.2 and 99.7 mg kg(-1), respectively. Taken together, these data demonstrate that ME of B. microstachya elicited a pronounced antinociceptive action against several chemical and mechanical models of pain in mice and rats. The precise mechanism responsible for the antinociceptive effect of the extract still remains unclear, but seems to be partly related to modulation of the release or action of pro-inflammatory mediators involved in the models of pain used. Finally, the flavonoid quercitrin isolated from this plant appears to contribute for the antinociceptive property of the methanolic extract.

No abstract

This study analyzes the geographical distribution of 131 podocopid ostracod species recovered from the Brazilian continental shelf between Cabo de São Roque (lat. 05°30'S) and Cabo Frio (lat. 23 o S). This very large area corresponds to the northeastern and eastern Brazilian marine regions. The 104 samples studied were collected in water depths ranging from 12 to 110 m as part of the legs 4 and 7 of the REMAC Project. The cosmopolitan species, as well as those shared with the Caribbean and/or Gulf of Mexico region, represent a small part of the ostracods herein studied and it is assumed that their dispersion was prompted by processes linked to events of relative sea level changes during the Neogene and Quaternary. The fossil record of some species spans to the Neogene, mostly from the Atlantic coast of North and Central America, while one species has Tethyan origin. Three species known from the Neogene of the Caribbean have been recorded as relicts in the study area. From the 131 species herein identified, 36.5% are more widespread in temperate waters south of Cabo Frio town, 46.5% of warm waters north of Cabo Frio town, 4% are present only in the studied area, and 11.5% are rare and probably restricted to the E region. A new province-the Brazilian Province-is herein proposed based on the species occurrence.

ABSTRACT. The present study is a further contribution to the systematic knowledge of the shallow water marine ostracodes from the Brazilian oceanic islands. A total of 14 species belonging to 10 genera and eight families is herein identified. One new genus and species are described and illustrated: Berguecythere insularis gen. nov., sp. nov. In addition to this new taxon, the abundant species Loxocorniculum tricornatum Krutak, 1971, widely distributed in recent sediments in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, north and northeast of Brazil and the Rocas Atoll, along with the cosmopolitan tropical ostracode Triebelina sertata Triebel, 1948, were also identified at specific level. The remaining 11 species were left at the genus level, and should provide new species. Ecological, zoo-and paleozoogeographical aspects were also briefly discussed.KEYWORDS. Taxonomy, new species, morphology, Atlantic Ocean. RESUMO. Ostracoda (Crustacea) do Arquipélago de São Pedro e São Paulo, Atlântico Equatorial, com ênfase em novo gênero deHemicytheridae. O presente estudo é uma contribuição para o conhecimento da sistemática dos ostracodes marinhos rasos das ilhas oceânicas brasileiras. Um total de 14 espécies pertencentes a 10 gêneros e oito famílias é aqui identificado. Um novo gênero e espécie são descritos e ilustrados: Berguecythere insularis gen. nov., sp. nov. Além desse novo táxon, foram também identificados Loxocorniculum tricornatum Krutak, 1971, espécie abundante amplamente distribuída em sedimentos recentes do Golfo do México, Caribe, norte e nordeste do Brasil e no Atol das Rocas, e o ostracode cosmopolita tropical Triebelina sertata Triebel, 1948. As 11 espécies restantes foram deixadas em nível de gênero e devem fornecer novas espécies. Aspectos ecológicos e zoo-e paleozoogeográficos também foram brevemente discutidos.

Iberian Buxus spp. are represented by B. sempervirens, restricted to the Cantabrian, eastern Iberian Peninsula, and northeastern mountain systems, emerging scarcely in Portugal, and by B. balearica that occurs in the Betic deep river valleys and in the Balearic islands. The genetic affinity existent between fifteen populations of B. sempervirens was evaluated by seven ISSRs primers. Moreover, leaf morphoanatomical measurements indicative of leaf performance (such as leaf area, leaf mass per unit area, width, length, shape factor, tissues thickness, stomatal density, and quantification of epi-and intracuticular waxes) and environmental characterization were conducted to get insight into the functional ecology of the genus Buxus. Six populations of B. balearica and 15 of B. sempervirens, collected in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic islands, were included to establish the interspecific ranges. A functional ecological description by morpho-anatomical analysis of leaves and a genetic and environmental approach exposed differences between Pyrenaean-Cantabrian-Portuguese and Iberian B. sempervirens populations. Genetic relationships among Buxus populations were investigated using intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. Seven ISSR primers generated a total of 159 unambiguous and repeatable bands, of which 156 (98.1%) were polymorphic. These divergences for Iberian B. sempervirens are explained by the isolation in their distributions since the Oligocene. Previsions for future climate change scenarios confirm those biogeographic divergences for the Iberian B. sempervirens.