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Helminthiasis is a common disease in which parasite resistance is frequently caused by inadequate administration of anthelmintics in small ruminant production. Since phytotherapy may be an adjuvant for parasite control, we assessed whether the ingestion of cashew apple fiber (Anacardium occidentale) would reduce Haemonchus contortus infection in Santa Inês sheep. Twenty-one male sheep with mean age of 240 ± 9.7 days were dewormed, infected with 4000 L 3 of H. contortus Embrapa2010 (day 0 - D0) and on D28 were divided into three equally sized experimental groups: 1) control (no treatment), 2) treated with anthelmintic (monepantel, 2.5 mg/kg PV) and 3) cashew apple fiber (0.3% BW) for 7 days of adaptation plus 28 days (D63). The animals were weighed weekly for diet adjustment and individual EPGs were performed twice a week. Corn silage was given ad libitum after each animal had eaten all the cashew apple fiber, which always occurred due to its palatable flavor. The silage, cashew apple fiber and leftovers were weighed daily and the samples were analyzed for dry matter. In cashew apple fiber, the total polyphenol contents were determined spectrophotometrically and the phenol compounds were identified by LC-MS. Cashew apple fiber contained 93.6% DM, 13.0% CP, 68.7% NDF, 47.6% FDA, 1.3% MM, 1.9% EE and 22.3% LIG. Twenty phenolic compounds were detected, among them phenolic acids and flavonoids, including glycosylated ones. The general EPG averages were statistically different among control, anthelmintic and cashew groups (3449, 14 and 2070, respectively), while the mean total weight gain did not differ (3.21, 3.20 and 1.94 kg, respectively) (p < 0.05). In relation to the control group, the anthelmintic showed efficacy of 99.6% and the cashew apple fiber 40.8%. Phenolic compounds appear to play an important role in the anthelmintic activity of cashew apple fiber. Thus, its use as an adjuvant in the control of H. contortus can be encouraged in regions where it is available at low cost, mitigating the use of veterinary drugs, reducing environmental contamination by agroindustrial residues and promoting the more sustainable production of small ruminants., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The purpose of this article was to report the translation of the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-89 (QOLIE-89) into a Portuguese-Brazilian version and evaluate its reliability and validity., Methods: This study involved 105 outpatients: 54 patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) and 51 with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME). Reliability and test-retest reliability were assessed. Relationships between QOLIE-89 domains and other questionnaires (Nottingham Health Profile, Beck Depression Inventory, Adverse Event Profile, Neuropsychological Evaluation), and external measures such as demographic and clinical variables were analyzed to examine construct validity., Results: Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.73-0.92) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.60-0.84) for individual domains were acceptable. For construct validity, we verified high correlations between the QOLIE-89 and the Nottingham Health Profile, Beck Depression Inventory, Adverse Event Profile, and Neuropsychological Evaluation. For clinical characteristics, the patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy had better quality-of-life scores on 11 of 17 QOLIE-89 subscales compared with patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (P<0.05)., Conclusion: These results support the reliability and validity of the Portuguese-Brazilian translation of QOLIE-89.

The bilateral intranigral infusion of 1 micromol 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) in adult male Wistar rats caused a specific and partial loss of substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) dopamine neurons, a partial depletion of striatal dopamine, and a deficit to learn the intra-maze cued version of the Morris water maze. Pre-training the SNc rats in the spatial version of the water maze or simply maintaining the animals on the water maze platform reversed this deficit. This improvement was even observed when the order of the extra-maze cues presented to the rats during pre-training of the spatial version was changed during training of the intra-maze cued version. However, this deficit was not reversed either by maintaining the animals on the platform if the spatial cues were surrounded and covered with a curtain or by swimming sessions in the maze without the escape platform and the curtain. These findings suggest that none of the following elements alone, learned during the spatial task pre-training, could help SNc rats learn the intra-maze cued task: improvement of swimming skills or knowledge of the existence of the escape platform; distance between the platform and the border of the pool; location of a particular extra-maze cue; relations among extra-maze cues. However, the simultaneous presence of the escape platform and extra-maze cues (irrespective of their relational configuration) during the pre-training sessions proved to be necessary for this improving effect to occur.

Objective: We assessed the cognitive performance of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) caused by unilateral hippocampal sclerosis (HS), in comparison with that of matched, healthy controls. We report the relationship between cognitive measures and duration of epilepsy, correlating with hippocampal volumes, and the impact of educational level on cognitive decline., Methods: This study involved 61 outpatients (40 with < or = 8 years and 21 with >8 years of formal education) with unilateral HS and 61 controls. Volumetric MRI was performed on all patients and 10 controls. The results (mean, SD) of the neuropsychological tests of healthy subjects and patients were compared using the Student t and Mann-Whitney tests., Results: Patients performed worse than controls in the neuropsychological evaluation. When adjusted z scores were used to calculate the impairment index, patients had a greater percentage of abnormal tests compared with controls. The cognitive decline, assessed through the impairment index, correlated with duration of epilepsy. Higher level of education did not protect against this decline, thus not supporting the hypothesis of cerebral reserve in this population. A significant correlation between hippocampal volumetric measures and duration of epilepsy was observed only in patients with left HS., Conclusion: Patients with TLE caused by HS present with cognitive morbidity that extends beyond memory deficits. Cognitive decline is associated with duration of epilepsy, and in patients with left-sided HS, duration may correlate with volumetric hippocampal loss.

The opossum Didelphis marsupialis is known to be among the most important wild reservoirs of Trypanosoma cruzi and one in which the trypanosome may go through both the usual vertebrate intracellular cycle in its tissues and an extracellular cycle in the lumen of its scent glands. The species is highly resistant to heavy inocula and, depending on the parasite strain, experimental infections may be permanent or self limited. Aiming to understand the mechanisms involved in this parasite-host interaction we made a study of the acute phase of infection with different T. cruzi strains. Strains F, G-49 and G-327 produced durable infections with relatively high parasitemia and invasion of the scent glands, while equivalent inocula of the Y strain resulted in scanty parasitemia of short duration, no invasion of the SG, and no evidence of persistent parasitism. A smaller inoculum of G-49 produced only subpatent though persistent parasitemia and no invasion of the scent glands. The humoral immune response was less marked in the Y group; among the other groups IgM and IgG antibodies increased to high levels, higher in the G-49 group. The increase in IgG coincided with a drop of parasitemia to subpatent levels. Two opossums inoculated directly in the scent glands with culture forms of the Y strain had a short-lived subpatent parasitemia, but the parasites remained in the glands and serum Ig antibodies reached high levels. Immunoblot analysis showed that the sera of the inoculated opossums recognized few T. cruzi antigens (more in the F strain) in comparison with those of mice. However, with the only exception of those subcutaneously inoculated with the Y strain and including two naturally infected specimens, all the opossum's sera recognized a 90-kDa peptide in all T. cruzi strains. Our results confirm that opossums are able to selectively eliminate some strains of T. cruzi and indicate that the mechanism involved in this selection is probably not related to the humoral immune response. In infections by strains that are able to establish a permanent foothold in opossum tissues, there are indications that IgG antibodies participate in the control of the parasite population of the acute phase but are unable to prevent the chronic phase. It was once more demonstrated that the opossum infected scent glands function as diffusion chambers for parasite antigens but that, on the other hand, the parasites are here protected against the mechanisms developed by the host to control their population.

Testicular toxicants have become of increasing importance necessitating a better understanding of the possible role of testicular xenobiotic metabolism. The responsiveness of testicular microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH), cytosolic epoxide hydrolase (cEH), and cytosolic glutathione S-transferase (cGST) to hepatic inducers was studied in sexually mature male F344 rats and CD-1 mice. The hepatic inducers employed were phenobarbital (PB), beta-naphthoflavone (BNF), and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) which are known to induce cytochrome P-450, cytochrome P-448, and cGST, respectively. Hepatic mEH, cEH and cGST activities were assessed as positive controls. Measurable activities of all enzymes studied were present in the testes of both rats and mice. PB, BNF, and BHA produced the expected effects on mEH, cEH, and cGST in rat and mouse livers, whereas the testes were generally nonresponsive to the inducers. Induction of testicular cGST by PB occurred in mice but not rats and was the only testicular effect produced by the hepatic inducers in this study.