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Recently, fish byproducts have been appraised as a source of structurally diverse bioactive compounds. In this context, fish mucus has revealed a myriad of pharmacological activities. This study describes a new bioactive molecule release system composed of protein nanoparticles from pacama ( Lophiosilurus alexandri ) mucus, an endemic fish to the Sao Francisco River (Brazil). The process of obtaining and applying these nanoparticles, composed of proteins present in the pacama mucus, as biocompatible carriers of bioactive molecules is also addressed herein. Therefore, the external mucus of the fish was collected, lyophilized and hydrated in deionized water containing the template molecule. After pH adjustment to 7.5, followed by sonication and centrifugation, the formed nanoparticles were collected in the supernatant. Additionally, the mucus and the particles were characterized, and pharmacological effects were evaluated regarding their antifungal, antibacterial, anticancer, anti or pro-inflammatory and antinociceptive proprieties. NP-Mucus did not exhibit antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Staphylococcus aureus . However, it showed potential effects against Candida albicans with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 1 µg/mL, and significant pro-inflammatory role, reflected by cellular recruitment activity and healing effects. Therefore, future studies are now needed in order to identify specific compounds in NP-mucus responsible for the observed effects in order to provide new pharmacological and therapeutic strategies.

Com a expansao avicola industrial, Alphitobius diaperinus tem se apresentado mundialmente como uma das principais pragas da avicultura moderna. Destacam-se inumeros prejuizos, entre eles, reducao no ganho de peso e veiculacao de agentes potencialmente patogenicos entre as aves. Medidas de controle sanitario envolvendo o manejo correto do substrato utilizado como cama para as aves e tratamento das instalacoes tem sido pesquisadas e aplicadas. Em busca de novas alternativas para o controle de A. diaperinus, avaliou-se, neste estudo, a acao do Spinosad produto da sintese da fermentacao aerobica de um fungo actinomiceto presente no solo, Sacharopolyspora spinosa . Para tanto, dois experimentos “ in vitro ” foram conduzidos, o primeiro utilizando-se tratamento direto dos coleopteros em placas de petri e o segundo, em condicoes simuladas de “cama de aves” utilizando-se a casca de arroz . Os estudos em placas de petri revelaram percentuais de eficacia de 99,67% e 99,33% no controle de adultos 24o dias apos tratamento (DPT), bem como 97,0% e 96,0% no controle de larvas (24oDPT), respectivamente para o tratamento com Spinosad nas concentracoes de 400ppm e 250ppm. A aplicacao do 250 ppm Spinosad na casca de arroz resultou em percentuais de eficacia superiores (74,39%, 76,92% e 77,82% nos 16oDPT, 23oDPT e 30oDPT, respectivamente) quando comparados ao tratamento com 400ppm (68,51%, 68,18% e 70,55% nos 16oDPT, 23oDPT e 30oDPT, respectivamente), apesar de nao ter sido observada diferenca estatistica significativa entre estes achados (P>0,05). Portanto, verificou-se neste estudo que o Spinosad, nas concentracoes de 400ppm e 250ppm, via spray, mostrou-se eficaz tanto aplicado diretamente sobre A. diaperinus (adultos e larvas) ou quando dispersados em casca de arroz parasitada.

In order to search for new alternatives for rapid tests, our research group prospected a strategy to develop a rapid COVID-19 patient detection and tracking kit, using zebrafish model

Seeking alternative strategies for health management to control mealworm in poultry barns, in vitro study evaluated the insecticide effect of Ricinus communis, Baccharis trimera and Chenopodium ambrosioides extracts against adults of Alphitobius diaperinus. The extracts were tested at concentrations of 0, 2, 4 and 8%. To study insecticidal effects was designed an experiment containing groups with 20 adults in 3 replicates for each treatment, evaluating the mortality percentage of 1, 3, 16 and 24 hours after treatment with counting of live and dead adults. Greater insecticidal effect was observed in treated mealworm with 8 % of R. communis aqueous extract (59.0%) compared to C. ambrosioides and B. trimera which had percentages of mortality of 44.6% and 0.0% at the same concentration, respectively. The aqueous extracts of R. communis and C. ambrosioides at 8% showed promising results for the control of adults mealworm. However, pharmacological studies must be designed to determine strategies and formulations for viable application of these extracts in poultry facilities, as well as to determinate the formulations stability, clinical and environmental safety treatments.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the efficacy of cypermethrin 15% and deltamethrin 25% of the cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus, using immersion test of engorged females (ITEF) and impregnated Pasteur pipette (PIPT). The following dilutions were used: T1 =1/1000 mL (v/v), T2 = 2/1000 mL, T3 = 4/1000 mL and T4 = 8/1000 mL, respecting the dosages prescribed by the manufacturers for both pyrethroids. The Experiment I used adult females, and the acaricidal efficacy was tested on engorged females, that were collected separately from ten dairy herds in the Descalvado region, SP. The data revealed that the efficacy for cypermethrin ranged from 0.0 to 95.9% and for deltamethrin was 34.4% to 99.2%. We have observed that the efficacy of deltamethrin and cypermethrin was higher than 95%, in only four farms. Treatment with cypermethrin at 8/1000 mL dilution resulted in 100% of efficacy against larvae after 120 minutes. Deltamethrin at 8/1000 mL dilution resulted in 100% of larvae exhibiting paralysis after 60 minutes. The data revealed that the efficacy for cypermethrin ranged from 0.0% to 95.9% and for deltamethrin was 34.4% to 99.2%. We have observed that the efficacy of deltamethrin and cypermethrin was higher than 95%, in only four farms. The experiment II used the PIPT against larvae and the efficacy of the same products was checked at 5, 10, 20, 30, 60, 120, 360 and 720 min post-treatment. Treatment with cypermethrin at 8/1000 mL dilution, resulted in 100% efficacy against larvae after 60 min and 100% of larvae treated with deltamethrin presented paralysis 30 min post-treatment with the dilution of 8/1000 mL. Although both pyrethroids were 100% efficacious against larvae, the low percentage of adulticidal efficacy confirms the existence of resistant strains of this tick species. However, in four herds cypermethrin and deltamethrin were effective in controlling R. microplus, reinforcing the importance of performing immersion test of engorged females before prescribing treatments to dairy cattle, not only in this region but to the entire country.