Early and delayed treatment with low-dose ASA can reduce the morphofunctional damage of colonic myenteric neurons caused by murine T. cruzi infection.

The metopic suture is found between the frontal bone tubers, there being divergences concerning the precise time of its closure, varying from the first to tenth year of life, and it can persist until adult age (metopism). A study was conducted in 71 dry skulls of adult Brazilian subjects of both sexes (43 males and 28 females), with ages ranging from twenty five to eighty years from the bone collection of the Laboratory of Human Anatomy of the Paranaense University-UNIPAR, Brazil. It was observed the occurrence of metopism in 7.04% (05/71) of the studied skulls, of which 80% (4/5) were female and only 20% (1/5) male. The incomplete metopic suture was found in 32.39% (23/71), with higher frequency in female skulls, 60.86% (14/23), when compared to the male ones, that reached 31.13% (9/23). Sutures showed variations of morphology, the linear type being the most frequent, with 69.56% (16/23). Different incidences of metopic suture were found in the different antrophometric types of skulls. Incomplete metopic sutures were predominant in the brachycranics, while complete metopic sutures had the same incidence in mesocranics, 40% (2/ 5) and dolichocranics, 40% (2/5).

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In this study we assess the thickness, the cellular density, the cell sizes and the collagen of the three superficial cartilage zones and the morphology of the articular surface of the femoral trochlea in rats with 3, 12 and 32 months of age. The cartilage was studied using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The quantitative results are expressed as means +/- SEM. The data were compared statistically (P < 0.05). Both the thickness and the cellular density significantly diminish with age, in the three cartilage zones studied. The reduction of cellular density is more pronounced in the superficial and intermediate zones of the cartilage (zones I and II, respectively). In zone III (deep zone), the cellular density declines only as from 12 months of age. The area of the chondrocytes diminishes in the superficial and deep zones, but only as from 12 months old. In the intermediate zone, there is no chondrocyte hypotrophy with age. The types of collagen in the zones of the cartilage change with age. In the superficial zone, the collagen type I predominates at 3 months of age while the collagen type II predominates at 12 and 32 months of age. In the intermediate and deep zones, the collagen type I that predominates at 3 months of age is substituted by the collagen type III at 12 and 32 months of age. The articular surface in the 3-month-old rats is relatively smooth, presenting few undulations. In 12-month-old animal cartilages, few fissures and craters are found. In the 32-month-old animals, it was observed a higher number of this kind of degenerative changes and with a more severe look.