Reactive oxygen species

Obesity and the risk of heart failure

Although Escherichia coli can be an innocuous resident of the gastrointestinal tract, it also has the pathogenic capacity to cause significant diarrheal and extraintestinal diseases. Pathogenic variants of E. coli (pathovars or pathotypes) cause much morbidity and mortality worldwide. Consequently, pathogenic E. coli is widely studied in humans, animals, food, and the environment. While there are many common features that these pathotypes employ to colonize the intestinal mucosa and cause disease, the course, onset, and complications vary significantly. Outbreaks are common in developed and developing countries, and they sometimes have fatal consequences. Many of these pathotypes are a major public health concern as they have low infectious doses and are transmitted through ubiquitous mediums, including food and water. The seriousness of pathogenic E. coli is exemplified by dedicated national and international surveillance programs that monitor and track outbreaks; unfortunately, this surveillance is often lacking in developing countries. While not all pathotypes carry the same public health profile, they all carry an enormous potential to cause disease and continue to present challenges to human health. This comprehensive review highlights recent advances in our understanding of the intestinal pathotypes of E. coli.

Recent Advances in Understanding Enteric Pathogenic Escherichia coli

From a Novel

Unbiased Stereology. Three‐Dimensional Measurement in Microscopy.

Maternal high-fat intake predisposes nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in C57BL/6 offspring

Classical schemes of the adult Schistosoma mansoni reproductive system have been described. In our study, whole adult worms derived from unisexual or mixed infections and stained with carmine chlorine were virtually and tomographically analyzed under confocal laser scanning microscopy. We found that: (1) there were morphological differences in the ovary, vitteline glands and testicular lobes between specimens derived from unisexual or mixed infections; (2) there was always a single lobed ovary (three or four lobes), presenting differentiation from the anterior to the posterior lobes, where the most mature oocytes were located; (3) the proximal segment of oviduct was connected to an ampullary dilatation, full of tailed spermatozoa, characterizing a seminal receptacle; (4) there was no long vitelline duct, but a short one that begins at the end of the proximal region of the vitelline gland; (5) long cells of Mehlis' gland placed radially around the ootype were not observed. Otherwise, the ootype was only lined by thick cuboidal epithelial cells with plaited bases and nuclei with flabby chromatin, making a clear distinction from the uterine epithelium. This morphological feature suggests that each cell represents a gland. (6) In coupled males, the specimens located inside the gynaecophoric canal had smaller testicular lobes, suckers, and body length and width when compared to their partners. Our results show that the reproductive system does not follow a unique pattern within flatworms. Due to its better resolution, confocal laser scanning microscopy, using a reflected mode with tomographic sections, allows new interpretations, modifying the adopted and current descriptions of the internal morphological structures of S. mansoni adult worms.

A new description of the reproductive system of Schistosoma mansoni (Trematoda: Schistosomatidae) analyzed by confocal laser scanning microscopy.

Varicose veins alternate areas of phlebosclerosis and hypertrophy of the vein wall. In this study, samples of long saphenous veins obtained from patients submitted for aortocoronary saphenous vein graft or for surgical resection of varicose saphenous veins were examined. Histologic changes in the intima, muscle, and adventitial layers were quantified. Thicknesses of the venous wall layers were obtained by linear measurements, and the volumetric density of the connective tissue in the muscle layer was determined by point counting. The muscle layer thickness was 300 +/- 13 and 581 +/- 25 microns in normal and varicose veins, respectively. A more severe connective tissue accumulation within the muscle bundles was found in the varicose condition. The volumetric density of the connective tissue in the circular muscle layer (CmC/MmC) showed also a marked difference between varicose (0.67 +/- 0.08) and normal veins (0.43 +/- 0.02), P < 0.05. The authors suggest that the varicose condition is associated with a connective tissue uniform accumulation among muscle cells in the circular muscle layer.

Connective tissue accumulation in the muscle layer in normal and varicose saphenous veins

The objective of the present study was to examine whether hypothyroidism affects the reproductive system of adult female rats by evaluating ovarian morphology, uterus weight and the changes in serum and pituitary concentrations of prolactin and gonadotropins. Three-month-old female rats were divided into three groups: control (N = 10), hypothyroid (N = 10), treated with 0.05% 6-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU) in drinking water for 60 days, and T4-treated group (N = 10), receiving daily sc injections of L-thyroxine (0.8 microg/100 g body weight) during the last 10 days of the experiment. At the end of 50 days of hypothyroidism no hypothyroid animal showed a regular cycle, while 71% of controls as well as the T4-treated rats showed regular cycles. Corpora lutea, growing follicles and mature Graafian follicles were found in all ovaries studied. The corpora lutea were smaller in both the hypothyroid and T4-replaced rats. Graafian follicles were found in 72% of controls and only in 34% of hypothyroid and 43% of T4-treated animals. Serum LH, FSH, progesterone and estradiol concentrations did not differ among the three groups. Serum prolactin concentration and the pituitary content of the three hormones studied were higher in the hypothyroid animals compared to control. T4 treatment restored serum prolactin concentration to the level found in controls, but only partially normalized the pituitary content of gonadotropins and prolactin. In conclusion, the morphological changes caused by hypothyroidism can be a consequence of higher prolactin production that can block the secretion and action of gonadotropins, being the main cause of the changes observed.

/pdf/is-the-infertility-in-hypothyroidism-mainly-due-to-ovarian-4yjwwswbqc.pdf

Jorge José de Carvalho

Papers

Maternal high-fat intake predisposes nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in C57BL/6 offspring

A new description of the reproductive system of Schistosoma mansoni (Trematoda: Schistosomatidae) analyzed by confocal laser scanning microscopy.

Connective tissue accumulation in the muscle layer in normal and varicose saphenous veins

Is the infertility in hypothyroidism mainly due to ovarian or pituitary functional changes

Exercise training attenuates blood pressure elevation and adverse remodeling in the aorta of spontaneously hypertensive rats.