Replacing a diseased disc with a tissue engineered disc has the potential to restore normal spinal biomechanics. However, recreating the interface between annulus fibrosus (AF) and vertebral bone (VB) will be necessary to facilitate proper function of the implant in vivo. This study characterizes the native bovine AF-VB interface and assesses adult human discs. The AF insertion site in humans and cows is uniquely differentiated from other soft tissue-bone interfaces, as AF collagen fibers anchor into the calcified region of vertebral endplate through a zone of hyaline cartilage and have a different organization in inner and outer AF. Mineralization-associated proteins are present in this region and the chondroid tissue undergoes calcification over time. Based on these observations an in vitro AF culture system was developed and demonstrated that AF cells can induce mineralization. Understanding mechanism(s) regulating AF mineralization will help develop conditions to ensure proper integration of bioengineered AF.

Replacing a diseased disc with a tissue engineered disc has the potential to restore normal spinal biomechanics. However, recreating the interface between annulus fibrosus (AF) and vertebral bone (VB) will be necessary to facilitate proper function of the implant in vivo. This study characterizes the native bovine AF-VB interface and assesses adult human discs. The AF insertion site in humans and cows is uniquely differentiated from other soft tissue-bone interfaces, as AF collagen fibers anchor into the calcified region of vertebral endplate through a zone of hyaline cartilage and have a different organization in inner and outer AF. Mineralization-associated proteins are present in this region and the chondroid tissue undergoes calcification over time. Based on these observations an in vitro AF culture system was developed and demonstrated that AF cells can induce mineralization. Understanding mechanism(s) regulating AF mineralization will help develop conditions to ensure proper integration of bioengineered AF.

This thesis examined effects of dietary supplementations (0.75%) of the prebiotics of retrograded resistant cornstarch, fibersol-2 and inulin, and oat β-glucan in replacing feed antibiotics on growth performance, plasma urea concentrations, total tract dry matter (DM) and lactose digestibility, fecal scores, proximal jejunal and serum alkaline phosphatase (AP) kinetics and large intestinal fermentation in weanling pigs fed corn and soybean meal-based diets. There were no differences (P > 0.05) in the growth performance, plasma urea concentrations, DM and lactose digestibility and the volatile short-chain fatty acid concentrations in the cecal and fecal samples among the treatment diets. Dietary lactose was completely digested in the weanling pigs. Supplementations of fibersol-2, inulin and β-glucan significantly affected some of the jejunal and serum AP kinetics. In conclusion, lactose was a highly digestible carbohydrate and dietary supplementations of the three prebiotic and β-glucan at 0.75% had little effects on growth performance and plasma urea concentration but might affect gut and the whole body health status via influencing the AP detoxification kinetics in the weanling pigs. / Ontario Pork, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Agriculture Adaptation Council

Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Linköpings universitet, 2008. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (PhD.(Physiology)--Faculty of Health Sciences)-University of Pretoria, 2005. / Summary in English and Afrikaans. Also available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Proposição: avaliar histológica e bioquimicamente o efeito de enxerto ósseo autógeno e implante de hidroxiapatita (HA) sintética (HAP 91®), sob influência de campo magnético estático, no reparo ósseo na calvária de ratos. Materiais e métodos: utilizaram-se defeitos críticos de 5 mm realizados na calvária de 60 ratos Wistar. Os animais foram submetidos a quatro diferentes intervenções: enxerto ósseo autógeno ou implante de HA, com e sem a presença de campo magnético estático, sepultado, com intensidade entre 40 e 70 G. Foi realizada análise histológica histométrica e descritiva dos defeitos ósseos em 15, 30 e 60 dias pós-operatórios. Realizou-se análise da atividade sistêmica da enzima fosfatase alcalina nos mesmos tempos operatórios. Para controle bioquímico utilizaram-se cinco animais (Naive). Resultados: o reparo ósseo foi mais acelerado no grupo de enxerto autógeno sob influência de campo magnetico do que no mesmo grupo sem influência magnética. O enxerto ósseo autógeno demonstrou reparo ósseo superior ao implante de HA. A atividade da enzima fosfatase alcalina teve sua maior expressividade em 30 dias pós-operatórios. Neste mesmo tempo operatório, os grupos com aplicação de campo magnético apresentaram atividade enzimática inferior aos grupos sem tal influência. Conclusões: o implante de HA demonstrou ser inferior ao enxerto ósseo autógeno no reparo ósseo. O campo magnético estático não causou influência sobre o reparo ósseo. A enzima fosfatase alcalina teve sua atividade diminuída em 30 dias pós-operatórios pela influência do campo magnético estático. / Purpose: to evaluate histologically and biochemically the effect of autogenous bone graft and synthetic hidroxiapatite (HA) implant (HAP 91®), under static magnetic field influence, on bone healing in rat calvaria. Materials e methods: 5-mm critical-size defects were created in each calvarium of 60 Wistar rats. They were submitted into four different interventions: autogenous bone graft or HA implant, with or without static magnetic field influence with intensity ranging from 40 to 70 G. Histometric and descriptive analysis of the bone defects were performed in 15, 30 and 60 days after surgery. At the same times, the systemic activity of alkalin phosphatase was measured. Five animals (Naive) were used as biochemical control. Results: bone healing was faster in the autogenous bone graft group under magnetic field stimulation than in the same group without the magnetic influence. The autogenous bone graft showed better results for bone healing than the HA implant. Alkalin phosphatase activity had its higher expression in 30 days after surgery. At this time the groups under magnetic stimulation had lower alkalin phosphatase activity than the groups without magnetic field influence. Conclusions: the HA implant showed worse bone healing than the autogenous bone graft. The static magnetic field did not cause any influence on bone healing. alkalin phosphatase had its activity lowered in 30 days after surgery in the groups under magnetic field influence.

Magister Scientiae - MSc (Medical BioSciences) / Central nervous system (CNS) infections are a therapeutic challenge. This is partly due to insufficient drug penetration across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The BBB is a specialized, highly selective, metabolically active physiological barrier that regulates the movement of molecules into-and-out of the brain. As a result, large hydrophilic antibiotics such as colistin poorly penetrate to the CNS. Colistin is an old 'last line of defence'; a gram-negative antibiotic that has seen its clinical re-emergence due to the surge of multidrug resistance (MDR) infections. However, owing to systemic toxicity, increasing the intravenous dosage, in order to obtain higher CNS penetration, is inimical. Chitosan (CS) based nanoparticles (NPs) have been proposed as drug delivery systems across the BBB. CS is a cationic, natural polysaccharide that has the ability to be complexed with multivalent polymers like dextran (DS) thus forming CS-DS NPs. Naturally, CS has remarkable inherent features such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, ability to encapsulate poorly soluble drugs and it is favourable for endothelial cell uptake. However, polymeric NPs (even those derived from natural polysaccharides) have limited use due to toxicity. Considering the vital role of the BBB, toxicity would denote dire effects on CNS functioning. Therefore, treatment of CNS infections fringes on a deeper understanding of the interactions between drug delivery systems and the BBB.

Proposição: avaliar histológica e bioquimicamente o efeito de enxerto ósseo autógeno e implante de hidroxiapatita (HA) sintética (HAP 91®), sob influência de campo magnético estático, no reparo ósseo na calvária de ratos. Materiais e métodos: utilizaram-se defeitos críticos de 5 mm realizados na calvária de 60 ratos Wistar. Os animais foram submetidos a quatro diferentes intervenções: enxerto ósseo autógeno ou implante de HA, com e sem a presença de campo magnético estático, sepultado, com intensidade entre 40 e 70 G. Foi realizada análise histológica histométrica e descritiva dos defeitos ósseos em 15, 30 e 60 dias pós-operatórios. Realizou-se análise da atividade sistêmica da enzima fosfatase alcalina nos mesmos tempos operatórios. Para controle bioquímico utilizaram-se cinco animais (Naive). Resultados: o reparo ósseo foi mais acelerado no grupo de enxerto autógeno sob influência de campo magnetico do que no mesmo grupo sem influência magnética. O enxerto ósseo autógeno demonstrou reparo ósseo superior ao implante de HA. A atividade da enzima fosfatase alcalina teve sua maior expressividade em 30 dias pós-operatórios. Neste mesmo tempo operatório, os grupos com aplicação de campo magnético apresentaram atividade enzimática inferior aos grupos sem tal influência. Conclusões: o implante de HA demonstrou ser inferior ao enxerto ósseo autógeno no reparo ósseo. O campo magnético estático não causou influência sobre o reparo ósseo. A enzima fosfatase alcalina teve sua atividade diminuída em 30 dias pós-operatórios pela influência do campo magnético estático. / Purpose: to evaluate histologically and biochemically the effect of autogenous bone graft and synthetic hidroxiapatite (HA) implant (HAP 91®), under static magnetic field influence, on bone healing in rat calvaria. Materials e methods: 5-mm critical-size defects were created in each calvarium of 60 Wistar rats. They were submitted into four different interventions: autogenous bone graft or HA implant, with or without static magnetic field influence with intensity ranging from 40 to 70 G. Histometric and descriptive analysis of the bone defects were performed in 15, 30 and 60 days after surgery. At the same times, the systemic activity of alkalin phosphatase was measured. Five animals (Naive) were used as biochemical control. Results: bone healing was faster in the autogenous bone graft group under magnetic field stimulation than in the same group without the magnetic influence. The autogenous bone graft showed better results for bone healing than the HA implant. Alkalin phosphatase activity had its higher expression in 30 days after surgery. At this time the groups under magnetic stimulation had lower alkalin phosphatase activity than the groups without magnetic field influence. Conclusions: the HA implant showed worse bone healing than the autogenous bone graft. The static magnetic field did not cause any influence on bone healing. alkalin phosphatase had its activity lowered in 30 days after surgery in the groups under magnetic field influence.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:27:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2005-12-16Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:56:53Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 chavesneto_ah_me_araca.pdf: 216462 bytes, checksum: a077ffffb43a7f52121fc844bcf5ba50 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A saliva é coletada através de métodos simples e não invasivos, além de ser facilmente armazenada. A coleta não-traumática é atrativa especialmente para crianças e quando repetidas coletas são requeridas. A desvantagem da saliva como uma ferramenta de diagnóstico é a variabilidade, que ocorre em decorrência dos fatores fisiológicos e do modo de coleta. Numa primeira etapa o trabalho teve por objetivo estudar as atividades das enzimas fosfatase alcalina (FAlc), fosfatase ácida total (FAT) e fosfatase ácida resistente ao tartarato (TRAP) na saliva total não estimulada de crianças, investigando as influências de fatores como sexo, faixa etária e horário de coleta, bem como a correlação das enzimas com a taxa de fluxo salivar. Nesta etapa, 120 crianças saudáveis de ambos os sexos, nas faixas etárias de 1-5 e 6-12 anos de idade tiveram as amostras de saliva coletada entre 8:00-10:00 horas ou entre 14:00-16:00 horas. A segunda parte do trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar a correlação das atividades enzimáticas da FAT, TRAP, proteína tirosina fosfatase de baixa massa molecular relativa (PTP-BMr) e FAlc na saliva e no soro de crianças, além de analisar a influência do sexo e da faixa etária na atividade das enzimas, no soro e na saliva total. Para tanto 32 crianças de ambos os sexos, nas faixas etárias de 1-5 anos e 6-12 anos de idade tiveram as amostras de saliva e sangue coletadas entre 8:00-10:00 horas. Os resultados da primeira etapa sugerem que as atividades da FAT, TRAP e FAlc são influenciadas, de formas distintas, pelos fatores sexo, faixa etária e horário de coleta e que não existe correlação entre as atividades das enzimas e a taxa de fluxo salivar. / Saliva can be collected by simple, non-invasive methods and is easily stored. The non-traumatic collection is specially appealing for children and when repeated collections are required. The main disadvantage of the saliva as a diagnosis tool is the variability that happens due to the physiologic factors and dependence on mode of the collection. In a first stage the work had for objective to study the activities of the enzymes alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total acid phosphatase (TAP) and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) in the whole unstimulated saliva of children, investigating the influences of factors as sex, age group and time of collection, as well as the correlation of the enzymes with the salivary flow rate. In this stage, 120 healthy children of both sexes, in the age groups of 1-5 and 6-12 years of age had the saliva samples collected between 8:00-10:00 hours or between 14:00-16:00 hours. In a second stage, the work had for objective to evaluate the correlation of the enzymatic activities of TAP, TRAP, low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatase (LMW-PTP) and ALP in the saliva and in the children's serum, besides analyzing the influence of the sex and of the age group in the activity of the enzymes, in the serum and in the whole unstimulated saliva. For so much 32 children of both sexes, in the 1-5 year-old age groups and 6-12 years of age had the saliva samples and blood collected between 8:00-10:00 hours. The results of the first stage suggest that the activities of TAP, TRAP and ALP are influenced, in different ways, for the factors sex, age group and time of collection and that correlation doesn't exist between the activities of the enzymes and the salivary flow rate.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:27:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-01-14Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:07:00Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 shimabucoro_ce_me_araca.pdf: 644965 bytes, checksum: 4c0994e094a9206c065633ccadc5a2cf (MD5) / O osso alveolar, como os demais ossos, é continuamente remodelado por processo que equilibra reabsorção óssea por osteoclastos seguido pela deposição óssea por osteoblastos. A aplicação de forças ortodônticas gera reações locais nos tecidos relacionados com a dentição e oclusão bem como em fatores sistêmicos relacionados com o metabolismo ósseo, como a concentração de cálcio, fósforo e fosfatase alcalina. O nosso objetivo foi identificar, através de marcadores fluorescentes, a deposição de cálcio no ligamento periodontal e analisar a concentração plasmática de cálcio, fósforo e fosfatase alcalina antes e após a movimentação dentária experimental. A movimentação foi realizada com aparelhos instalados no primeiro molar superior em ratos machos (Wistar/250g). Os animais receberam três injeções de marcadores ósseos fluorescentes, na seguinte ordem: calceína, alizarina e oxitetraciclina com intervalo de sete dias entre as injeções para análise de 17 (G1), 28 (G2) ou 35 (G3) dias após instalação do aparelho. Sete dias após a última injeção, o sangue foi coletado e centrifugado para a realização posterior das análises bioquímicas. As maxilas foram retiradas, limpas e submetidas aos procedimentos específicos para o preparo das lâminas e leitura posterior em microscópio de epifluorescência. Foi coletado sangue de oito animais que não receberam intervenção ortodôntica, para controle das concentrações plasmáticas. A análise qualitativa evidenciou diferença entre o lado controle e o submetido à movimentação dentária, entretanto, a análise quantitativa não constatou diferença estatisticamente significante. As leituras espectrofotométricas nas dosagens dos plasmas destes animais mostraram concentração de cálcio sem diferença estatística entre os grupos. / The alveolar bone, as the other bones, continuously is remodelled by process that balances bone resorption by osteoclasts followed by the bone deposition for osteoblasts. The application of orthodontic forces generates local reactions in tissues related to the teeth and occlusion as well as systemic factors related with the bone metabolism, as the concentration of calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase. Our objective was to identify, through fluorescent markers, the calcium deposition in the periodontal ligament and to analyze the plasma concentration of calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase before and after the experimental tooth movement. The movement was performed with apparatus installed on the upper first the molar superior in male rats (Wistar/250g). These animals received three injections of bone fluorescent markers, in the following order: calcein, alizarin and oxytetracycline with interval of seven days between the injections for analysis of 17 (G1), 28 (G2) or 35 (G3) days after installation of the unit. Seven days after the last injection, the blood was collected and centrifuged to the achievement of subsequent biochemical analyses. The jaws had been removed, cleaned and submitted to the specific procedures for the preparation of the slides and posterior reading in the epifluorescence microscopy. Blood of eight animals that had not received intervention orthodontic, for control of the plasmatic concentrations was collected. The qualitative analysis evidenced difference between the side control and the submitted to the tooth movement, however, the quantitative analysis did not evidence significant difference statistical. The spectrophotometric readings in the dosages of plasmas of these animals had shown to calcium concentration without difference statistics between the groups. However, the analysis of the phosphorus evidenced co-relation between the plasmatic concentration and the time of tooth movement.