Alex Soares Marreiros Ferraz

Alterações morfométricas em músculo respiratório de ratos submetidos à imobilização de pata

Immobilization is a frequently used procedure in clinical practice and common in pain diseases and fractures. This study examined the influence of immobilization in a muscle-related respiratory system, the diaphragm. This experiment was conducted with twelve male rats divided into two groups, control and immobilized with an alternative method of restraining by tape, kept for two weeks. We analyzed the morphometry of the diaphragm muscle fibers with hematoxylin/eosin staining. Statistical difference was found (p < 0.0001) when the average diameter of the diaphragm muscle fibers of immobilized animals (47.15μm ± 0.329μm) was compared to the ones in the control group (54.67μm ± 0.396μm). Considering the results, it can be concluded that the immobilization of the animal paw in the used model was able to produce hypotrophy of respiratory musculature, as well as a general framework for reducing the mass of the animal.

Abordagem Prática de Bioinformática em Evento Acadêmico-Científico na Cidade de Fortaleza-Ce

O objetivo deste estudo foi aplicar e avaliar conteudos teoricos-praticos de Bioinformatica para estudantes participantes do Curso Introducao a Bioinformatica: Da Teoria a Pratica, inserido na programacao da IX Semana da Biologia na Universidade Estadual do Ceara, no ano de 2010. A abordagem teorica consistiu de uma apresentacao de conceitos historicos, basicos e especificos dos atuais avancos das pesquisas envolvidas as areas da biologia Molecular. A pratica de “Construcao de uma Filogenia Molecular in Silico ” foi elaborada para tornar funcional os conceitos apresentados na pratica anterior, com a utilizacao do banco de dados do National Center for Biotechnology Information , NCBI, e sua ferramenta de alinhamento de sequencias, o BLASTp ( Basic Local Alignment Search Tool Protein-Protein.) Os resultados positivos obtidos com a aplicacao da aula teorica de Introducao a Bioinformatica e das atividades praticas foram destacados com as caracterizacoes das filogenias moleculares das sequencias hipoteticas propostas para a execucao dos alinhamentos e pelas falas dos alunos anteriormente citados. Estas atividades foram vistas como essenciais para que os alunos pudessem vivenciar o passo a passo para uma melhor compreensao da emergente area das ciencias da vida: a Bioinformatica.

A compendium of physical exercise-related human genes: an ’omic scale analysis

Regular exercise is an exogenous factor of gene regulation with numerous health benefits. The study aimed to evaluate human genes linked to physical exercise in an ‘omic scale, addressing biological questions to the generated database. Three literature databases were searched with the terms ‘exercise’, ‘fitness’, ‘physical activity’, ‘genetics’ and ‘gene expression’. For additional references, papers were scrutinized and a text-mining tool was used. Papers linking genes to exercise in humans through microarray, RNA-Seq, RT-PCR and genotyping studies were included. Genes were extracted from the collected literature, together with information on exercise protocol, experimental design, gender, age, number of individuals, analytical method, fold change and statistical data. The ‘omic scale dataset was characterized and evaluated with bioinformatics tools searching for gene expression patterns, functional meaning and gene clusters. As a result, a physical exercise-related human gene compendium was created, with data from 58 scientific papers and 5.147 genes functionally correlated with 17 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways. While 50.9% of the gene set was up-regulated, 41.9% was down-regulated. 743 up- and 530 down-regulated clusters were found, some connected by regulatory networks. To summarize, up- and down-regulation was encountered, with a wide genomic distribution of the gene set and up- and down-regulated clusters possibly assembled by functional gene evolution. Physical exercise elicits a widespread response in gene expression.

Effects of intermittent fasting and chronic swimming exercise on body composition and lipid metabolism

Intermittent fasting protocol (IFP) has been suggested as a strategy to change body metabolism and improve health. The effects of IFP seem to be similar to aerobic exercise, having a hormetic adaptation according to intensity and frequency. However, the effects of combining both interventions are still unknown. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of IFP with and without endurance-exercise training on body composition, food behavior, and lipid metabolism. Twenty-week-old Wistar rats were kept under an inverted circadian cycle of 12 h with water ad libitum and assigned to 4 different groups: control group (ad libitum feeding and sedentary), exercise group (ad libitum feeding and endurance training), intermittent fasting group (IF; intermittent fasting and sedentary), and intermittent fasting and exercise group (IFEX; intermittent fasting and endurance training). After 6 weeks, the body weight of IF and IFEX animals decreased without changes in food consumption. Yet, the body composition between the 2 groups was different, with the IFEX animals containing higher total protein and lower total fat content than the IF animals. The IFEX group also showed increases in total high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and increased intramuscular lipid content. The amount of brown adipose tissue was higher in IF and IFEX groups; however, the IFEX group showed higher expression levels of uncoupling protein 1 in this tissue, indicating a greater thermogenesis. The IFP combined with endurance training is an efficient method for decreasing body mass and altering fat metabolism, without inflicting losses in protein content.

Experimental training by swimming or running: influence of body composition in aerobic performance in a ovariectomised model of obesity

The most commonly used aerobic training models for experimental research on animals are running and swimming exercises with moderate intensities and with fixed volumes. In models that mimic human menopause, the omission or simple contempt of body composition and fat redistribution can falsify results in terms of performance and training effects. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify the effect of body composition on the performance of rats submitted to swimming and running training. We used 24 twelve-week old virgin, female Wistar rats and divided them into 4 groups: ovariectomised swimmers (OV-ST) and runners (OV-RT); and sham surgery swimmers (SH-ST) and runners (SH-RT). All animals performed 4 weeks of training in accordance with their respective group. After the experimental period, the ovariectomised animals exhibited an increased relative weight and fat mass compared to SH groups, but their gain of performance data were different according to the kind of training they received; the OV-ST group had ...

A FORMAÇÃO EM SAÚDE À LUZ DO PROJETO PEDAGÓGICO E DAS DIRETRIZES CURRICULARES DA EDUCAÇÃO FÍSICA

A Educacao Fisica tem, tradicionalmente, se pautado em um conceito restrito de saude. O objetivo deste trabalho e analisar, no Projeto Pedagogico do Curso de Educacao Fisica da Universidade Federal do Piaui e nas Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais da area, as competencias a serem desenvolvidas no processo formativo para a atuacao em saude e especificamente no Sistema Unico de Saude; por meio de pesquisa documental. Os pressupostos teoricos hegemonicos do curso e da area apresentam-se distantes dos principios do SUS, reafirmando o alargamento entre as politicas de formacao em Educacao Fisica e as da saude coletiva.