Cláudia Ramos Rhoden

Effects of l-arginine on the kidney levels of malondialdehyde in rats submitted to renal ischaemia-reperfusion

Objective To evaluate the effects of l‐arginine, a nitric oxide donor, on kidney levels of malondialdehyde (MDA, a product of cellular lipid peroxidation), serum creatinine levels, and urinary volume in rats undergoing unilateral renal ischaemia‐reperfusion.

Effects of the chronic use of finasteride on testicular weight and spermatogenesis in Wistar rats

Objective To evaluate spermatogenesis in rats chronically exposed to finasteride, as the recent use of finasteride in young men to prevent hair loss has raised concerns about chronic use and fertility.

Effects of the chronic use of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) on testicular weight and spermatogenesis: experimental study in rats.

Aim: The complete biological effects of chronicuse of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), reportedas a weak androgen, are not completelyunderstood. The aim of the present study is toevaluate the effects of chronic administrationof DHEA on the spermatogenesis in rats.Methods: Male Wistar rats, 4 months old, wereselected for the study. The animals weredivided into two groups. Group 1 (n = 9) receivedplacebo (saline solution) 0.5 ml/day and Group2 (n = 15) received DHEA 5 mg/kg/day. Both thegroups received the respective treatments 5days a week during 10 months. At the end of theexposure, the rats were sacrificed and thetestes removed, weighed and processed forhistologic analysis. Spermatogenesis wasevaluated as the mean number of seminiferoustubules with and without spermatids inmaturation phase in their lumen, in fiverandom fields on the same slide.Results: The median levels of serum totaltestosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfatewas measured in the two groups. Significanthigher concentrations in total testosterone(2.06 ± 0.4 vs. 0.80 ± 0.2; p < 0.05) andDHEAS (222.1 ± 41.5 vs. 2.0 ± 0.3) wereobserved in the group treated with DHEA ascompared to the control group. The mean weightsof the right testes were 1.59 ± 0.3 ingroup 1 and 1.58 ± 0.2 g in group 2(p > 0.05). These values for the left testeswere 1.57 ± 0.3 and 1.55 ± 0.3 g,respectively (p > 0.05). The histologicanalysis showed a mean of 13.5 ± 1.5 and12.8 ± 1.8 seminiferous tubules per field inthe groups 1 and 2, respectively (p > 0.05).The same analysis demonstrated that in thecontrol group 0.06 ± 0.1 of the tubulespresented without spermatids in maturationphase and in the DHEA group this was observedin 0.22 ± 1.2 of the tubules (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Chronic administration of DHEA inthe present dose did not show any detectableeffect on the quantitative and qualitativeanalyses of spermatogenesis in rats.

Nuclear abnormalities in cells from nasal epithelium: a promising assay to evaluate DNA damage related to air pollution in infants

OBJECTIVES This study intends to provide a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to assess nuclear abnormalities such as micronuclei and bud frequencies; binucleated, karyorrhectic, karyolytic, pycnotic, and condensed chromatin cells in nasal scrapings of infants, which are particularly important for conducting genotoxic studies related to the inhaled atmosphere in pediatric populations. METHODS Nasal swab samples were collected from 40 infants under 12 months of age using a small cytobrush. 2,000 cells from each infant sample were analyzed and classified according to the frequency of nuclear abnormalities. RESULTS Rates of nuclear abnormalities found agree with values reported in other studies of neonates and children. This study found 0.13% of cells with micronuclei; 1.20% karyorrhexis; 0.03% pyknosis; 10.85% karyolysis; 1.11% condensed chromatin; 0.54 binucleated cells; and 0.02% nuclear bud. Differences were not observed between genders or environmental passive smoking, nor was any age correlation found. CONCLUSION The assay proposed here is suitable for assessing the frequency of nuclear abnormalities from nasal cells in infants.