Stress is a defense mechanism of an organism and is directly related to homeostasis, which is the equilibrium state of the multitude of organism systems, both among each other and with the environment. Given that stress is a major cause of cellular instability, it is directly related to its loss homeostasis. The present study assessed the changes caused by stress on the genetic material of Rattus norvegicus using micronuclei analysis. A total of 10 males were studied by being submitted to continuous stress from photoperiod, temperature and noise for 26 days. Peripheral blood samples were obtained immediately before submitting the animals to stress, as well as on the fifteenth and twenty‐sixth days afterwards. Blood smears were stained with Giemsa and the slides were analyzed using light microscopy. Approximately 3,000 polychromatic erythrocytes from each animal were observed and classified as either normal or micronucleated. The analysis indicated a frequency of 0.0012014 for the control sample, whereas samples on days 15 and 26 had frequencies of 0.0035458 and 0.0496850, respectively. A statistical analysis revealed statistically significant differences among the studied cell samples (ANOVA p < 0.00001, significance of 5%). Therefore, the presence of micronuclei in the studied samples is consistent with a cause/effect relationship. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Para o estudo da Anatomia da coluna vertebral foram utilizados quatro cães, sendo dois previamente fixados em formalina, com o intuito de adestrar a técnica de dissecção. Os dois últimos animais, sob anestesia geral, foram sacrificados através da retirada de sangue facilitando a limpeza e visualização de estruturas. Após o óbito os animais foram posicionados em decúbitos lateral e esternal e congelados a menos 20°C para posterior secção, através dos planos transversal e sagital, respectivamente. Os cortes transversais totalizaram 10 secções, divididos em regiões desde a primeira vértebra cervical até a primeira vértebra caudal. Os cortes permitiram a identificação e dissecção das articulações, ligamentos e músculos hipaxiais e epaxiais, embora fossem estudadas e identificadas as demais estruturas anatômicas, observadas em cada secção. O corte paramediano foi realizado 1cm à esquerda do plano mediano, onde foram identificados a medula espinhal no interior do canal vertebral, os corpos vertebrais das diversas regiões da coluna vertebral, os discos intervertebrais formados pelo ânulo fibroso e núcleo pulposo, os ligamentos da nuca e supra-espinhoso e os músculos oblíquo caudal da cabeça, reto dorsal maior da cabeça, semi-espinhal da cabeça, multífido cervical, longo do pescoço, reto ventral da cabeça e interespinhais, como as demais estruturas anatômicas visualizadas. O estudo da anatomia da coluna vertebral, mostrou-se de fundamental importância para o aprimoramento dos conhecimentos a serem utilizados nas clínicas médica e cirúrgica em doenças inflamatórias, infecciosas, degenerativas, imunológicas, vasculares, metabólicas, neplásicas e também no trauma raquimedular.

A enterografia através de contraste positivo permite avaliar o tempo de trânsito entre as divisões do tubo intestinal, delgado e grosso, assim como o tempo de esvaziamento. O tempo para o contraste positivo iniciar a entrada no cólon foi denominado de trânsito do intestino delgado (TID), sendo possível a determinação dos tempos de trânsito do duodeno (TD) e jejuno (TJ), assim como para as divisões do cólon ascendente e transverso, (TCA) e (TCT), respectivamente. O tempo de esvaziamento do intestino delgado (EID) foi evidenciado pela ausência de contraste em todas as suas porções, subdividindo-se ainda em tempos de esvaziamento do duodeno (ED), jejuno (EJ) e para as porções iniciais do intestino grosso, cólon ascendente (ECA) e cólon descendente (ECD). O propósito deste experimento consistiu em determinar os tempos de trânsito e esvaziamento intestinais, delgado e grosso, e suas principais divisões, em cães normais, sem raça definida, com peso entre 8Kg e 10Kg, através de estudo radiográfico com ingestão de alimento sólido, comercial (25mg/Kg), adicionado a 200ml de sulfato de bário a 60%. As imagens foram realizadas aos 20, 40, 60, 120, 240, 300 e 360 minutos pós-prandial. Em alguns casos as radiografias foram realizadas em períodos de até 10 horas após a alimentação. O experimento foi realizado sem o uso de agentes tranquilizantes, geralmente empregados na contenção química dos animais, os quais poderiam alterar a motilidade do tubo intestinal e interferir na determinação dos dados do experimento. Os tempos médios de trânsito e esvaziamento obtidos para os segmentos intestinais supracitados, foram comparados aos resultados encontrados na literatura, somente para alimentos líquidos.

Introduction: Periodontal disease (PD) is a chronic inflammatory process that occurs in response to infection from bacteria in dental plaque. PD affects and destroys the periodontal tissues causing teeth loss. It is also associated to systemic diseases. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a protein produced by the liver and released into the blood during the acute phase of inflammation. Therefore, CRP is very used as a marker for inflammation process. Studies on the presence of CRP in the saliva of the subjects with PD do not exist. Objective:The aim of this study was to test a biochemical kit for CRP detection in blood plasma to monitor CRP in saliva of PD subjects. Material and methods: Saliva was collected from 40 individuals, both sexes, from 20-45 years-old, divided into two groups: Test Group – PD subjects (TG; n = 20) and Control Group (CG n = 20), without PD. The following salivary parameters were analysed: buffer capacity (BC), salivary flow (SF), pH, urea, total proteins, and CRP. Results: pH, SF and BC values were considered normal in both groups. The urea concentration was higher in TG (27.4 mg/dl ± 10.03) than CG (22.9 mg/dl ± 8.3). However, the concentration of total proteins was higher in CG (201.2 ± 100 mg/dl) than TG (155.0 ± 95 mg/dl). CRP was detected in 11 PD subjects and in eight subjects without PD. Conclusion: There were no significant differences between the two groups in relation to SF, pH and BC. However, in PD subjects’ saliva, urea values increased and total proteins decreased. The biochemical kit detected CRP in subjects’ saliva of both groups.

The main goal of this study was to reconstruct three-dimensionally (3D) the sphenoid bone of adolescents with the software Materialise Mimics to test the accuracy and reliability of craniometric measurements performed with the software. The study was conducted according to Strengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines. Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) was performed in adolescents before the orthodontic treatment as part of the orthodontic records. The CBCT images were exported as DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine) files, in a universal format, with a voxel size of 0.3 mm and sphenoid bone was three-dimensionally rendered with Software Materialise Mimics. Ten sphenoid measurements were performed in triplicate by two trained examiners. The studied population was composed of 26 adolescents, 16 females (61.5%), and 10 males (38.5%) with a mean age of 12.5 years (SD= 1.7). 60 measurements were taken and the intra and inter-examiner accuracy revealed a high degree of data reproducibility (Kappa test higher than 0.90). The reconstruction and rendering of the images obtained by CBTC allowed anatomical details of the sphenoid bone to be measured with very high reproducibility.  The Software Materialise Mimics allows you to analyze anatomical structures in detail and presents useful tools to optimize craniometry analyses.