Pouco se conhece acerca dos aspectos fisiológicos da reprodução de ranfastídeos, sendo estas informações importantes para sua conservação e criação em cativeiro. Métodos não-invasivos permitem análises a longo prazo e em espécies pequenas, além de facilitar estudos em vida livre e minimizar o estresse causado aos animais. Este trabalho teve por intuito a dosagem de metabólitos de testosterona (machos e fêmeas), progesterona e estradiol (somente fêmeas) nas excretas de 3 casais de tucano-toco (Ramphastos toco) e 3 casais de tucano-de-bico-verde (Ramphastos dicolorus), dentro e fora da estação reprodutiva. Dados de observações comportamentais mostraram que os animais foram mais ativos durante a estação reprodutiva, porém comportamentos sociais e proximidade entre o casal se mostraram raros nas duas fases durante as seções de observação. Concentrações de metabólitos de progesterona foram obtidos para as duas espécies na Fase Reprodutiva, mas não foram detectados nos ensaios para a Fase Não-reprodutiva. Metabólitos de testosterona puderam ser dosados em ambas as espécies, nas duas fases, tanto em machos quanto em fêmeas; sendo que os resultados mostraram para a maioria dos indivíduos concentrações maiores na Fase Reprodutiva. Aumentos acima de variações basais de metabólitos de testosterona foram associados à ocorrência de posturas, que ocorreram durante a Fase Reprodutiva numa das fêmeas de R. toco. Não foram obtidos resultados de metabólitos de estradiol em nenhuma das duas espécies, possivelmente pela falha do anticorpo utilizado em reconhecer os metabólitos. No entanto, este trabalho mostrou que a técnica utilizada foi eficaz para dosagem de metabólitos de testosterona e progesterona nas excretas destas espécies, evidenciando variações sazonais nas concentrações hormonais e indicando uma relação entre a concentração de metabólitos de testosterona e as posturas. / Little is known about reproductive physiology in Ranfastidae and this knowledge is needed for the development of conservation programs and for successful captive breeding. Non-invasive methods allow long-term analysis in small animals, facilitate studies with free-living animals and minimize the handling stress. The purpose of this work was to measure the testosterone (males and females), progesterone and oestrogen (females) metabolites concentrations in the droppings of Toco-toucan (Ramphastos toco) and Red-billed-toucan (Ramphastos dicolorus), inside and outside the reproductive season. Three captive couples of each species were studied. Collected behavioural data showed that the animals were more active during reproductive season, but social behaviours and the couple proximity were rare in the two phases during the observation sessions. Progesterone metabolites concentrations could be obtained in the Reproductive Phase for both species, but weren`t detected in the Nonreproductive Phase. Testosterone metabolites could be measured for both species in the two phases, in males and females; and the results showed higher concentrations in most of individuals in the Reproductive Phase. Concentrations of testosterone metabolites above basal levels were associated to egg laying, which occurred during Reproductive Phase in one of the R. toco females. Results of oestrogen metabolites concentrations could not be obtained in both species, probably because the fail of the antibody in detecting these metabolites. However, this work showed that the utilized technique was efficient to measure testosterone and progesterone metabolites in those species droppings, evidencing seasonal variations in hormonal concentrations and indicating a relationship between testosterone concentrations and oviposition.

Nomegestrolacetat (NOMAC) är ett progestin, selektivt till progesteronreceptorn, med antigonadotropiska och antiandrogena egenskaper. Det används bland annat i kombination med det naturligt förekommande östrogenet 17β-estradiol (E2) för antikonception eller vid postmenopausal behandling. Det föreligger alltid en förhöjd trombosrisk vid hormonterapi, men NOMAC/E2 tros medföra en lägre risk jämfört med andra terapier. Syftet med detta arbete var därför att undersöka om trombosrisken är högre med NOMAC/E2 vid hormonterapi jämfört med andra terapier. Metoden för arbetet var litteraturstudier. Sökningar gjordes genom PubMed i databasen Medline och sex studier valdes ut. NOMAC/E2 visade sig påverka hemostatiska biomarkörer och lipider i lägre utsträckning än levonorgestrel/etinylestradiol (LNG/EE). SHBG (könshormonbindande globulin) ökade däremot mer med NOMAC/EE än med LNG/EE. Den fördelaktiga effekt, som E2 har på endotelcellernas kväveoxidbildning, påverkades inte av NOMAC, och LNG visade liknande egenskaper. Medroxiprogesteron hämmade istället denna antitrombotiska effekt. Utifrån detta arbete kan ingen slutsats dras om trombosrisken är större eller mindre med NOMAC/E2 jämfört med andra terapier. För att kunna göra detta krävs det stora epidemiologiska studier. Däremot kan trombosrisken med NOMAC/E2 anses vara jämförbar med dagens förstahandsval vid kombinerad antikonception som är LNG/EE. Trombosrisken med NOMAC jämfört med MPA kan möjligtvis vara lägre, men detta behöver undersökas i större kliniska studier.

Everyone gets frustrated over lack of motivation or focus sometimes, but people with ADHD have struggles of related character every single day in their lives. This struggle may be difficult for people to understand. Another factor not well understood is the large discrepancyin the ADHD prevalence between males and females. The most obvious way to study this sex biased male to female ratio of ADHD is by looking at the correlation between sex hormones and ADHD. Moreover, the biggest difference in hormonal profiles between the sexes is the menstrual cycle. Some research exists on testosterone and ADHD but research is limited on more female associated sex hormones such as estradiol. A systematic literature review is now conducted with search words relating to ADHD and estrogen. The results from this review imply that estrogen may mediate ADHD symptom presentation by interacting with other sex hormones. It is further indicated that estrogen receptors may affect ADHD symptom presentation, but this finding needs to be supported by replicating research.

Orientador: Sergio Ricardo Batlouni / Resumo: Nosso principal objetivo foi testar o uso do extrato bruto de hipófise de lambari (EBHL) na reprodução induzida de Astyanax altiparanae e Prochilodus lineatus. No experimento 1, comparamos as características reprodutivas de lambaris (obtenção do EBHL) amostrados em outubro (OUT) e dezembro (DEZ). Então, fêmeas e machos (n=2500) foram distribuídos aleatoriamente em 10 viveiros escavados (3,08 peixes/m2). Assim, 1 fêmea de cada viveiro foi amostrada em OUT (n=5) e DEZ (n=5). Nos experimentos 2 e 3, foram testados EBHL de OUT e DEZ para indução hormonal de lambari em dose única. Nestes experimentos, 0,9% NaCl (C) e 6 mg. Kg-1 CP (extrato bruto de hipófise de carpa) foram usados como controle negativo e positivo, respectivamente. No experimento 4, fracionamos as doses e adicionamos o controle sem manipulação hormonal (CC). No experimento 5, novos EBHL foram obtidos como no experimento 1. No experimento 6, testamos o EBHL para indução hormonal de curimba. Desta forma, no experimento 1, as características das fêmeas doadoras de OUT e DEZ foram similares (p>0,05) indicando que EBHL pode ser coletado ambos os meses. Nos experimentos 2 e 3 observamos desempenho reprodutivo similar entre os grupos. No experimento 4, o fracionamento das doses diminuiu a heterogeneidade no desempenho (observadas nos experimentos 2 e 3) e apenas neste experimento, pelo menos uma réplica de cada tratamento apresentou desova, exceto CC. No experimento 6, EBHL promoveu a ovulação em P. lineatus. Assim, neste... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Our main goal was to test the lambari pituitary extract (EBHL) in the induced reproduction of Astyanax altiparanae and Prochilodus lineatus. In the experiment 1 we compared the reproductive features of lambari (to obtain the EBHL) sampled at October (OUT) and December (DEZ). Thus, females and males (n = 2500) were distributed in 10 earthen ponds (3.08 fish / m2), and then 1 female from each earthen pond was sampled in OUT (n = 5) and in DEZ (n = 5). In the experiments 2 and 3 we tested the use of EBHL from OUT and DEZ to induce the reproduction of lambari in a single dose. Moreover, 0.9% NaCl (C) and 6 mg. Kg-1 CP (carp pituitary extract) were applied as negative and positive control, respectively. In the experiment 4 we applied the fractioned doses (10% + 90%) and added one control without handling (CC). In the experiment 5 a new batch of EBHL was collected using the same methods as in Experiment 1. In the experiment 6 we tested the use of EBHL to induce the reproduction of curimba. In the experiment 1 we observed that the EBHL’s donor from OUT and DEZ showed similar characteristics (p>0.05), indicating that the EBHL can be collected in both months. In the experiments 2 and 3 the reproductive performance was similar among groups. The application of two doses (experiment 4) decreased the reproductive performance heterogeneity in relation to experiments 2 and 3, and in this experiment at least one replicate of each treatment showed spawning (except for CC). In the experiment 6... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Background/objective: Environmental and dietary exposures alter the levels of homocysteine in the human body; little is known about the effect of smoking status on homocysteine levels. This study aimed to examine the effect of smoking status on homocysteine levels and to determine if the association is modified by estradiol and cholesterol. Methods: National representative data (n=4,580) were obtained for adults aged ≥20 years. The outcome was homocysteine and exposure was smoking status, categorized as current, former or never smoker. Current smoker defined as a person who smoked ≥100 cigarettes in their lifetime and at least once in the last month; former smoker- one who had smoked ≥100 cigarettes and had quit smoking at the time of the interview; never smoker- adult who never smoked cigarettes in their lifetime. General linear models (GLM) were used to examine the associations between smoking status and homocysteine levels; while assessing the impact of estradiol and cholesterol. Estradiol was stratified as low (/ml), normal (10-40 pg/mL), and high (>40 pg/ml). Cholesterol- stratified as normal (<200mg/dl) or high (≥200mg/dl). Results: Adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, education, and income level, smoking status was associated with the levels of serum homocysteine using unadjusted GLM (p0.05). Adjusting for multiple comparisons using Tukey’s method, there were statistically significant differences between former smokers and never smokers (p Conclusion: Homocysteine levels were found to vary among smoking strata. Statistically significant differences exist between former smokers and never smokers. Former smokers may be more prone to having risk factors of elevated homocysteine levels compared to never and current smokers, putting them at risk of cerebrovascular accidents and acute coronary syndromes. These findings suggest that it is vital for people not to initiate smoking. Keywords: Smoking, Homocysteine, Sex hormones, Estradiol, Cholesterol.

Objectives: Breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) confers resistance to certain anticancer drugs such as mitoxantrone, topotecan and SN-38. A putative estrogen response element (ERE) was located in the promoter region of the BCRP gene. The present study aimed to investigate whether human BCRP expression is regulated pretranscriptionally by 17β-estradiol. Methods: Two recombinant plasmids (pcDNA3-promoter-BCRP and pcDNA3-CMV-BCRP) were designed to express the full-length BCRP cDNA enforced driven by its endogenous promoter containing a functional ERE and a control constitutive cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, respectively, which were transfected into estrogen receptor α (ERα)-positive MCF-7 and ERα-negative MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. Results: 17β-Estradiol significantly upregulated BCRP mRNA and protein expression in a dose-dependent manner, and the effect was abolished by the antiestrogen tamoxifen. Furthermore, electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrated that the putative ERE in the promoter region of the BCRP gene and ERα are essential for transcriptional activation of BCRP by 17β-estradiol. Conclusions: Taken together, our findings indicate that BCRP expression is upregulated by 17β-estradiol via a novel pretranscriptional mechanism which might be involved in 17β-estradiol-ER complexes binding to the ERE of BCRP promoter via the classical pathway to activate transcription of the BCRP gene.

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