RCAAP Repository

Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

CHAPTER 2: This study examined intra-individual variations in salivary lactate (sLac), alpha-amylase (sAA) and chromogranin A (sCgA) with reference to the accumulation of blood lactate (bLac) during progressive maximal exercise in swimmers. Samples of blood and saliva were collected simultaneously from 12 professional athletes during an incremental test that consisted of eight series of 100 m in front crawl with increasing velocity (0.03 m x s-1 each) and 70-sec intervals. The concentration of blood and salivary lactate was determined by an electro-enzymatic assay whereas sAA and CgA were analyzed by western blotting. Inflection point in the concentration of bLAc, sLac, sAA and CgA were found in all subjects. The accumulation of lactate in saliva followed the same pattern observed in blood with a high correlation between the two (r = 0.92). Similar results were observed between the dynamics of sAA (r = 0.81) and sCgA (r = 0.82) when compared to bLac. These findings support the usefulness of saliva for the determination of the anaerobic threshold and provide the first demonstration of sCgA as a novel marker of exercise intensity in well-trained men.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

CHAPTER 2: The aquatic environment is contaminated by toxic chemicals from industrial, agricultural and domestic activities. The environmental toxicology characterizes the effects related by chemical substances present in some species and their biological implications. The genus Rhamdia presents B chromosomes, which appear to be conserved in most species of the genus, and represents character important to the evolutionary process. The study aimed to evaluate the cytogenetic aspects of 45 copies of a population of Rhamdia quelen collected in three areas with different standards of water quality in Uberabinha River, the region of Uberlandia, Minas Gerais. The species were evaluated by the Micronucleus Test, by counting the erythrocytes. The TMN results indicate the significant genotoxic and cytotoxic potential in the points, in agreement with chemical analysis. This way the species Rhamdia quelen can be considered an efficient bioindicator. The chromosome counting showed the modal number 2n=58 with variance between none and one to seven B chromosomes. The higher frequence of B chromosomes and presence of the karyotype with seven chromosomes supernumerary occurred at Point 3, referring to the Local with the highest potentially mutagenic. There was positive correlation between the presence of B chromosomes and the interference on Environmental quality.

Universidade Federal de Uberlândia

Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais

Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico

Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais

In bees, juvenile hormone (JH) is a important factor in determining castes and also has a role in age polyethism. The first steps in the synthesis of JH are known as mevalonate pathway. In this pathway are present, among others, the 3-hydroxy-3- methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR) and farnesoic acid O-methyltransferase (FAMeT) enzymes. Thereafter, in insects occur successive reactions that culminate in JH-III production, in which the last reaction is catalyzed by the methylfarnesoate epoxidase (MFE). There is evidence that JH production is related both to the expression profile of these enzymes - in terms of mRNA production - and enzymatic activities. In this study, we analyzed the hmgr and mfe genes in different tissues, stages and castes of Melipona scutellaris. We also analyzed famet gene in larvae and adults of this species. Our results indicate that HMGR and MFE enzymes, in M. scutellaris, are probably involved in the synthesis of JH. Moreover, the MFE is a candidate for the rate limiting enzyme of this pathway. The FAMeT enzyme shows no evidence of relation to the synthesis of JH. Our results also suggest an inter-regulation between JH and ecdysteroids in M. scutellaris.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico

Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais

A novel DNA electrochemical biosensor to detection of bacterial meningitis, a worldwide endemic human disease, was investigated and is reported in this paper. This device is based in the use as molecular probe of specific DNA fragments of the genome of the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis, incorporated onto graphite electrode modified with poly(4-aminophenol). In this device, the presence of a complementary specific DNA sequence was evaluated monitoring the DNA hybridization reaction by differential pulse voltammetry, using an electroactive intercalator ethidium bromide as hybridization indicator. The proposed DNA biosensor showed that complementary oligonucleotide (NM2) could be quantified with a low detection limit (1.4 × 10 -10 mol.L-1, S/N=3) and good linearity (R=0.995). In addition, the biosensor showed high selectivity, discriminating non-specific targets and retaining more than 90% of its original activity, after 120 days of storage.