Biomedical subjects

M M Souza

Publications and source records attributed to M M Souza.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1999

Pharmacological and phytochemical studies of callus culture extracts from Alternanthera brasiliana.

This work describes the establishment of callus cultures of Alternanthera brasiliana, a Brazilian medicinal plant used to treat several ailments. In addition the two extracts, exhibiting best yields, were chemically analysed and evaluated as antinociceptive agents in two classical models of pain in mice: the writhing test and the formalin test. The results show that the highest biomass accumulation was observed in callus grown in media with higher concentrations of growth regulator of 2,4-D. Both extracts studied exhibited antinociceptive effects in mice, being more effective than the plant extracts. The pharmacological action seems to be related to the presence of steroids and/or terpenes.

Acetic Acid↗

PubMed1980

Inbreeding in a Brazilian general hospital.

A group of 925 adult in-patients of a Brazilian general hospital was matched by race (subdivided in five groups) and age with a group of 925 of their visitors, who were taken as controls. Illiteracy increases from Whites to Blacks and is significantly more prevalent among the patients than among their respective controls. Inbreeding, on the contrary, increases from Blacks to Whites. White patients showed a significantly higher rate of inbreeding than their corresponding controls. The difference is also significant for the fraction Whites plus Light Mulattoes, but not for the other race subgroups. As regards the total, the significance is present only in a one-tailed distribution. It is concluded that the inbreeding load (if any) acting on the total of the patients is negligible; it seems significantly different from 0 only among Whites. No inbreeding effect could be verified, however, on any particular condition among the Whites. Estimates of the number of morbid equivalents per gamete (morbons) revealed values which are both significantly (among Whites and Whites plus Light Mulattoes) and non-significantly (among the other racial subgroups) different from zero. These estimates reflect the situation in the sample which has been artificially organized to contain 50% of patients.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Congenital cytomegalovirus infection in a neonatal intensive care unit in brazil evaluated by PCR and association with perinatal aspects.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the most common congenital infection, affecting 0.4% to 2.3% newborns. Most of them are asymptomatic at birth, but later 10% develop handicaps, mainly neurological disturbances. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of CMV shed in urine of newborns from a neonatal intensive care unit using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and correlate positive cases to some perinatal aspects. Urine samples obtained at first week of life were processed according to a PCR protocol. Perinatal data were collected retrospectively from medical records. Twenty of the 292 cases (6.8%) were CMV-DNA positive. There was no statistical difference between newborns with and without CMV congenital infection concerning birth weight (p=0.11), gestational age (p=0.11), Apgar scores in the first and fifth minutes of life (p=0.99 and 0. 16), mother's age (p=0.67) and gestational history. Moreover, CMV congenital infection was neither related to gender (p=0.55) nor to low weight (<2,500 g) at birth (p=0.13). This high prevalence of CMV congenital infection (6.8%) could be due to the high sensitivity of PCR technique, the low socioeconomic level of studied population or the severe clinical status of these newborns.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Antinociceptive action of extracts and fractions from Rubus imperialis (Rosaceae).

Rubus imperialis is a Brasilian medicinal plant which previously exhibited therapeutical perspectives. This work describes the antinociceptive action of methanolic extracts obtained from different parts of the plant (roots and branches) as well as hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions obtained from branches. Such extracts or fractions caused significative inhibition in the writhing test in mice at 10 mg/kg, given intraperitoneally. They were more active than two reference drugs, aspirin and paracetamol. The fractions also exhibited antinociceptive activity in the writhing test when administered orally at 200 mg/kg. When analyzed in the formalin test, the chloroform fraction was the most active, causing considerable inhibition against both neurogenic and inflammatory phases of pain.

Acetic Acid↗