Antinociceptive activity of Amazonian Copaiba oils

Copaiba oil resins are extensively commercialized in Brazil as capsules or crude oil and used as anti-inflammatory and anti-septic. Comparative pharmacological studies between different species of Copaiba oils are scarce. In the present work we compared the antinociceptive activity of two Amazonian Copaiba oils (Copaifera multijuga Hayne and Copaifera reticulata Ducke, Fabaceae) administered by oral route using peripheral (acetic acid-induced abdominal writhing and formalin), spinal (tail flick) and supra-spinal (hot plate) models. Results demonstrated that the Copaiba oils did not develop toxic effects. Doses ranging from 30 to 150 mg/kg were enough to significantly develop peripheral antinociceptive effect. All Copaiba oils demonstrate central activity but with less effect on supra-spinal regions of the brain. Administration of the opioid receptor antagonist, naloxone completely inhibited the antinociceptive effect induced by both Copaiba oils. Our results indicate that Copaiba oils demonstrate peripheral and central antinociceptive effect. This new comprobate effect may be useful in the treatment of algesic disorders.     

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells: an overview of their presence and distribution in different inflammatory skin diseases,with special emphasis on Jessner's lymphocytic infiltrate of the skin and cutaneous lupus erythematosus

Background: Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDC) play a pivotal role in the induction of autoimmune diseases and other skin diseases. The present study focuses on the distribution patterns of PDC in patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus (LE) and Jessner's lymphocytic infiltrate (LI) of the skin and compares them with other skin diseases. The goal was to scrutinize the involvement of PDC in LI, and to show that PDC present a specific pattern of distribution in various cutaneous disorders. Methods: 353 skin biopsies of LE (various subtypes), LI, and other inflammatory skin diseases as well as two halo melanocytic nevi and 10 epithelial tumors were immunohistochemically investigated for the presence of PDC by employing antibodies against CD123 and CD2AP. Results: PDC were constantly detected as distinct perivascular and periadnexal clusters in LE and LI. In other forms of dermatitis, PDC could be found as single cells or scattered throughout the infiltrate or beneath the epidermis. Conclusions: Our data suggest that the distribution of PDC in tumid LE and LI is identical, and this observation suggests that both designations signify one disease. The distinct PDC arrangement in LE represents as useful diagnostic tool in the differential diagnosis with other forms of dermatitis. Tomasini D, Mentzel T, Hantschke M, Cerri A, Paredes B, Rütten A, Schärer L, Kutzner H. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells: an overview of their presence and distribution in different inflammatory skin diseases, with special emphasis on Jessner's lymphocytic infiltrate of the skin and cutaneous lupus erythematosus.     

Benefit-Cost Methodology in the Evaluation of Therapeutic Services for Alcoholism

Benefit--cost analysis as a form of "social profitability analysis" can be a powerful tool in the overall evaluation of alcoholism treatment efforts. Alcoholism treatment potentially leads to a multiplicity of benefits in addition to sobriety. Benefit--cost analysis provides a methodology for converting many of these diverse benefits into a common metric (dollars), thereby allowing the comparison of aggregate benefits and treatment costs. The analysis thus leads to the expression of treatment outcome in terms of the return on investment. A benefit--cost analysis conducted on 3034 clients from the Oklahoma data base indicated a return to society of $1.98 for every $1 invested in alcoholism treatment. Such data may represent a critical portion of the information required for responsible resource allocation decisions.     

What do female rats like about sex? Paced mating.

The motivational aspects of female sexual behavior have been evaluated by a variety of methodologies including: the increasing barrier method, the runway procedure, partner preference test, operant behavior and conditioned place preference. When female rats are tested for sexual receptivity under traditional laboratory conditions, usually a small open area, both appetitive and aversive components of the sexual interaction are easily observed. For example, after prolonged testing, subsequent lordosis and the intensity of this response are reduced increasing the rejection behavior by the female. However, when female rats are allowed to pace (control) the rate of sexual stimulation they received, as usually occurs under seminatural and natural conditions, the aversive properties of mating are reduced. The conditioned place preference can be use to measure the positive affect elicited by mating. We have combined pacing and conditioned place preference in an attempt to reduced the possible aversive consequences associated with mating and increase the likelihood of detecting the appetitive effects of coital interaction in female rats. Only female rats that regulated (paced) their coital interactions with a stud male through a two-compartment chamber in which only the female could freely move from one compartment to the other developed a clear place preference. As well, females that received ten or 15 paced intromissions (without ejaculation) also developed place preference. The place preference induce by paced mating is blocked by the systemic administration of naloxone suggesting that opioids are involved in the reward processes associated with paced mating. Paced sexual interactions can induce a positive affect of sufficient intensity and duration to induce conditioning.     

Evaluation of the validity of the Bolton Index using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT)

Aims: To evaluate the reliability and reproducibility of calculating the Bolton Index using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), and to compare this with measurements obtained using the 2D Digital Method. Material and Methods: Traditional study models were obtained from 50 patients, which were then digitized in order to be able to measure them using the Digital Method. Likewise, CBCTs of those same patients were undertaken using the Dental Picasso Master 3D® and the images obtained were then analysed using the InVivoDental programme. Results: By determining the regression lines for both measurement methods, as well as the difference between both of their values, the two methods are shown to be comparable, despite the fact that the measurements analysed presented statistically significant differences. Conclusions: The three-dimensional models obtained from the CBCT are as accurate and reproducible as the digital models obtained from the plaster study casts for calculating the Bolton Index. The differences existing between both methods were clinically acceptable. Key words:Tooth-size, digital models, bolton index, CBCT.     

Reversal of HIV-1-associated osteoporosis with once-weekly alendronate

HIV-1-infected patients with osteoporosis were randomly assigned to alendronate 70 mg once-weekly plus dietary counselling (n = 11) or diet counselling alone (n = 14). At week 96, 27% of patients on alendronate versus 96% of controls presented with osteoporosis. Spine bone mineral density (BMD) increases were detected at week 48, and progressed thereafter. Improvements in trochanter BMD were obtained after 2 years. Once-weekly oral alendronate may be an effective and safe treatment for HIV-1-associated osteoporosis.     

A conditional tetracycline-regulated increase in Gamma amino butyric acid production near luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone nerve terminals disrupts estrous cyclicity in the rat

Gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter controlling LH-releasing hormone (LHRH) secretion in the mammalian hypothalamus. Whether alterations in GABA homeostasis within discrete regions of the neuroendocrine brain known to be targets of GABA action, such as the median eminence, can disrupt the ability of the LHRH releasing system to maintain reproductive cyclicity is not known but amenable to experimental scrutiny. The present experiments were undertaken to examine this issue. Immortalized BAS-8.1 astroglial cells were genetically modified by infection with a regulatable retroviral vector to express the gene encoding the GABA synthesizing enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase-67 (GAD-67) under the control of a tetracycline (tet) controlled gene expression system. In this system, expression of the gene of interest is repressed by tet and activated in the absence of the antibiotic. BAS-8.1 cells carrying this regulatory cassette, and cultured in the absence of tet ("GAD on"), expressed abundant levels of GAD-67 messenger RNA and GAD enzymatic activity, and released GABA when challenged with glutamate. All of these responses were inhibited within 24 h of exposure to tet ("GAD off"). Grafting "GAD on" cells into the median eminence of late juvenile female rats, near LHRH nerve terminals, did not affect the age at vaginal opening, but greatly disrupted subsequent estrous cyclicity. These animals exhibiting long periods of persistent estrus, interrupted by occasional days in proestrus and diestrus, suggesting the occurrence of irregular ovulatory episodes. Administration of the tetracycline analog doxycycline (DOXY) in the drinking water inhibited GAD-67synthesis and restored estrous cyclicity to a pattern indistinguishable from that of control rats grafted with native BAS-8.1 cells. Animals carrying "GAD on" cells showed a small increase in serum LH and estradiol levels, and a marked elevation in serum androstenedione, all of which were obliterated by turning GAD-67 synthesis off in the grafted cells. Morphometric analysis of the ovaries revealed that both groups grafted with GABA-producing cells had an increased incidence of large antral follicles (>500 micrometer) compared with animals grafted with native BAS-8.1 cells, but that within this category the incidence of steroidogenically more active follicles (i.e. larger than 600 micrometer) was greater in "GAD on" than in "GAD off" rats. These results indicate that a regionally discrete, temporally controlled increase in GABA availability to LHRH nerve terminals in the median eminence of the hypothalamus suffices to disrupt estrous cyclicity in the rat, and raise the possibility that similar local alterations in GABA homeostasis may contribute to the pathology of hypothalamic amenorrhea/oligomenorrhea in humans.