Key words:Colorectal cancer. Infl ammatory bowel disease. Probiotics. Intestinal microbiota. Immune system. Palabras clave:Cáncer colorrectal. Enfermedad infl amatoria intestinal. Probióticos. Microbiota intestinal. Sistema inmune. ResumenEntre las neoplasias, el cáncer colorrectal es una de las principales causas de muerte por cáncer en hombres y mujeres. El aumento de la incidencia de este tipo de cáncer es debido al aumento de la esperanza de vida de la población y al aumento de las enfermedades infl amatorias crónicas del intestino, colitis ulcerosa y principalmente la enfermedad de Crohn, así como el cambio en los hábitos alimenticios. La American Cancer Society (2011) muestra que la dieta podría ser responsable de aproximadamente el 30% de los casos de cáncer en los países desarrollados; por otra parte, cuando se considera solo el cáncer colorrectal, el número puede ser del 30% al 50%. Los probióticos son efi caces en la prevención y el tratamiento de muchas enfermedades intestinales como la enfermedad infl amatoria del intestino (IBD), la diarrea, el síndrome del intestino irritable, la intolerancia al gluten, la gastroenteritis, la infección por Helicobacter pylori y el cáncer de colon. Ejemplos clásicos son cepas de los géneros Lactobacillus y Bifi dobacterium que tienen propiedades probióticas con un uso potencial en la profi laxis, así como en el tratamiento de una variedad de trastornos del tracto gastrointestinal. Los investigadores se están centrando en estudios muy importantes relacionados con la posibilidad de que el uso de probióticos pueda promover una composición de la microbiota equilibrada, y un sistema de vigilancia inmunológica sufi ciente como una forma de prevenir el cáncer. Teniendo en cuenta el hecho de que en los intestinos humanos viven 100 billones de bacterias, incluyendo más de 1.000 especies, todavía hay necesidad de realizar más investigaciones en profundidad con el fi n de encontrar probióticos con potencial para prevenir y tratar enfermedades cancerosas, añadiendo un efecto muy prometedor a este ya exitoso panorama. Esta revisión tiene como objetivo realizar una revisión de los estudios más recientes que relacionan los probióticos y su potencial con la prevención y el tratamiento del cáncer. AbstractAmong the neoplasias, colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death in men and women. The increasing incidence of this type of cancer is due to the increase in the population's life expectancy, by the increase in chronic infl ammatory bowel diseases, primarily ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, and the change in eating habits. The American Cancer Society (2011) shows that diet might be responsible for approximately 30% of cancer cases in developed countries, moreover when considering only colorectal cancer, the number can reach 30% to 50%. Probiotics are effective in the prevention and treatment of many bowel diseases as infl ammatory bowel disease (IBD), diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, gluten intolerance, gastroenteritis, Helicobacter pylori infection, an...

Calyptranthes tricona is a species (Myrtaceae) native to South Brazil. Plants belonging to this family are folkloric used for analgesia, inflammation, and infectious diseases. However, little is known about the toxic potential of C. tricona. The present study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant activity of C. tricona ethanol and hexane leaf extracts, as well as verify their effect on human lymphocytes and MCF-7 cells. The extracts were subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening, antioxidant activity using DPPH and ORAC methods. Genotoxic and mutagenic effects in cultured human lymphocytes were assessed using the comet assay and the micronucleus assay, respectively. In addition, cell viability by MTT assay and fluorometric analysis of mitochondrial potential and caspases-9 activity were performed in order to verify the possible effects of both extracts on HO-induced cell death of MCF-7 cells. Our findings revealed that the phenol content and the antioxidant activity were only present in the ethanol extract. Also, the phytochemical screening presented steroids, triterpenoids, condensed tannins, and flavones as the main compounds. However, both extracts were capable of inducing concentration-dependent DNA damage in human lymphocytes. When treating MCF-7 cells with the extracts, both of them inhibited MCF-7 cell death in response to oxidative stress through a decrease of mitochondrial depolarization and caspases-9 activity. Thus, our results need to be considered in future in vitro and in vivo studies of C. tricona effects. In the meanwhile, we recommend caution in the acute/chronic use of this homemade preparation for medicinal purpose.

No abstract

No abstract

This study aims to verify the predominance of contamination with pathogenic microorganisms in dairy herds. In order to validate the initially used methodology, an artificial contamination was conducted in commercially acquired whole UHT milk, with strains of Listeria monocytogenes, Streptococcus agalactiae and Escherichia coli, in final concentrations from 2.10 -7 to 2.10 0 CFU/mL, which were submitted to a DNA extraction protocol and to a later amplification using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. The 702 bp fragments were identified, 884 and 524 bp corresponding, respectively, to L. monocytogenes, E. coli, S. agalactiae. In order to verify the presence of these pathogens in in natura milk, the samples were obtained directly from the teats of 125 cows from the dairy herds of four producers, and from the cooling tanks of eight producers, being submitted to DNA extraction, and posterior PCR analysis. The data were analyzed with the Chi-squared test ( 2 ) and different sensibility and specificity values were obtained for each microorganism . In cooling tanks, a prevalence of 37.5% of contamination with S. agalactiae and of 31.25% by E. coli was found. Regarding samples obtained from cow teats, we observed the presence of S. agalactiae and E. coli in 16.2 and 47.5% of the samples. No sample tested positive for L. monocytogenes. The results obtained indicate that the isolation protocol of bacterial DNA directly from the milk, and the PCR technique were efficient to detect the analyzed microorganisms, and may be incorporated as part of routine tests. Moreover, PCR may be an important mechanism to evaluate the quality of milk to be consumed.