RESUMO: O objetivo foi avaliar o efeito da inoculação com fungos micorrízicos arbusculares e fósforo no crescimento e produção de capítulos florais da calêndula (Calendula officinalis). O experimento foi conduzido em casa de vegetação, em vasos. Foram feitas inoculações com os fungos micorrízicos arbusculares Glomus clarum, Gigaspora margarita e controle (sem fungo) e adubadas ou não com fósforo (50 mg/dm3). O arranjo foi em fatorial 3 x 2, no delineamento experimental blocos casualizados, com quatro repetições. Em solos sem adição de adubação fosfatada, plantas de lendula officinalis, inoculadas com o fungo micorrízico arbuscular Gigaspora margarita, apresentaram maior altura (27,9 cm), maior massa seca da parte aérea (4,22 g/planta) e da raiz, maior número (16,5) e maior massa seca de capítulos florais (0,51 g/capítulo) em comparação com plantas não micorrizadas (19,8 cm, 3,49 g/planta, 7,0 e 0,22 g/capítulo, respectivamente).

ABSTRACT: An experiment was carried out at greenhouse conditions in order to evaluate the effects of inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and phosphorus on growth and production of capitula of marigold (Calendula officinalis) plants. Inoculation with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi Glomus clarum, Gigaspora margarita and control (without fungus), as well as phosphate fertilization (50 mg/dm3) or no fertilization were made. The experiment design was a randomized complete block, in a 3x2 factorial scheme, with four replications. In soils without addition of phosphate fertilizers, the inoculation of marigold plants with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi Gigaspora margarita resulted in higher plants (27.9 cm), with higher dry weight of the aboveground part (4.22 g/plant) and roots, more units of flowering capitula (16.5) and higher dry mass of flowering capitula (0.51 g/capitula) compared to non-mycorrhizal plants (19.8 cm, 3.49 g/plant, 7.0 and 0.22 g/capitula, respectively).

It is presumed that drugs able to prevent bronchial spasm and/or inflammation may have therapeutic potential to control asthma symptoms. The local anaesthetic lidocaine has recently received increased attention as an alternative form of treatment for asthmatic patients. This paper reviews the major findings on the topic and summarizes the putative mechanisms underlying the airway effects of local anaesthetic agents. We think that lidocaine extends the spectrum of options in asthma therapy, probably by counteracting both spasmogenic and inflammatory stimuli in the bronchial airways. The possibility of development of new anti-asthma compounds based on the synthesis of lidocaine derivatives is also on the horizon.

Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) are responsible for the breakdown of intracellular cyclic nucleotides, from which PDE4 are the major cyclic AMP metabolizing isoenzymes found in inflammatory and immune cells. This generated greatest interest on PDE4 as a potential target to treat lung inflammatory diseases. For example, cigarette smoke-induced neutrophilia in BAL was dose and time dependently reduced by cilomilast. Beside the undesired side effects associated with the first generation of PDE4 inhibitors, the second generation of selective inhibitors such as cilomilast and roflumilast showed clinical efficacy in asthma and chronic obstrutive pulmonary diseases trials, thus re-enhancing the interest on these classes of compounds. However, the ability of PDE4 inhibitors to prevent or modulate the airway remodelling remains relatively unexplored. We demonstrated that selective PDE4 inhibitor RP 73-401 reduced matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 activity and TGF-beta1 release during LPS-induced lung injury in mice and that CI-1044 inhibited the production of MMP-1 and MMP-2 from human lung fibroblasts stimulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines. Since inflammatory diseases of the bronchial airways are associated with destruction of normal tissue structure, our data suggest a therapeutic benefit for PDE4 inhibitors in tissue remodelling associated with chronic lung diseases.

The prevalence of atopic diseases and diabetes is increasing worldwide though the concurrence of these pathologies in individual patients is found less frequent than it would be predicted. Moreover, co-existence of diabetes and allergy is generally marked by attenuation of their respective symptoms, and effective treatment of one disease exacerbates the other. This review gives an update of the state-of-the-art concerning the intercurrence of allergy and diabetes, particularly focusing on the consequences to the allergen-evoked vascular and cellular changes. It is proposed that the reduction in mast cell numbers and reactivity may be a pivotal mechanism behind the mutual exclusion phenomenon.

Conduziu-se um experimento em casa de vegetação para avaliar a importância dos fungos micorrízicos arbusculares (FMA) sobre o processo de transferência de nitrogênio de plantas de caupi para o milho, utilizando-se o isótopo 15N. Foram construídos vasos compartimentalizados, compostos de 3 seções (A, B e C) de 2 dm3 de capacidade. Entre as seções B e C inseriu-se uma tela de nylon com 2 diâmetros de abertura de malha: 1 µm (que atuou como barreira para o micélio fúngico e para as raízes das plantas), ou 40 µm (que atuou como barreira somente para as raízes das plantas). Adicionou-se 25,5 mg/kg de N na forma de (15 NH4)2SO4 na seção A dos vasos. A seguir, 2 plântulas de caupi previamente inoculadas com Rhizobium sp. foram plantadas com seus sistemas radiculares divididos entre as seções A e B. Após 10 dias, duas sementes de milho foram semeadas na seção C, onde se efetuou a inoculação com o fungo Glomus etunicatum no orifício de plantio. O experimento foi coletado 35 dias após, e os resultados demonstraram que a presença do FMA aumentou a matéria seca e o conteúdo de 15 N e P da parte aérea das plantas de milho. A transferência direta de 15 N via hifa fúngica, foi de 21,2%; a transferência indireta mediada pelos FMA, foi de 9,6%; e a indireta não mediada pelos FMA, foi de 69,2%.

An experiment under greenhouse conditions was carried out to evaluate the relative contribuition of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in the process of nitrogen transfer from cowpea to maize plants, using the isotope 15N. Special pots divided in three sections (A, B and C), were constructed and a nylon mesh screen of two diameters: 40µm (which allowed the AMF hyphae to pass but not the plant roots) or 1µm (which acted as a barrier to AM hyphae and plant roots) was inserted between the sections B and C. Section A had 25.5 mg of N/kg using (15NH4)2SO4 as N source. Two cowpea seedlings inoculated with Rhizobium sp. were transplanted with their root systems divided between the sections A and B. Ten days later, 2 seeds of maize were sown into the section C which was inoculated with Glomus etunicatum. Thirty-five days after transplanting, the maize plants were harvested. AMF inoculation increased dry weight and 15N and P content of maize plant shoots. Direct transfer of 15N via AMF hyphae was 21.2%; indirect transfer of 15N mediated by AMF mycelium network, was 9.6%, and indirect transfer not mediated by AM mycelium network , was 69.2%.

Previous studies have evidenced for the existence of interactive regulatory mechanisms between insulin and steroid hormones in different systems. In this study, we have investigated whether endogenous corticosteroids could be implicated in the hyporeactivity to antigen challenge observed in sensitized diabetic rats. Alloxinated rats showed a long-lasting increase in the blood glucose levels and a reduction in the number of pleural mast cells at 48 and 72 hr, but not at 24 hr after alloxan administration. In parallel, they also showed a significant elevation in the plasma levels of corticosterone together with an increase in the adrenal/body weight ratio. Antigen-evoked eosinophil accumulation appeared significantly reduced in rats pretreated with dexamethasone as well as in those rendered diabetic 72 hr after alloxan. In the same way, naive animals treated with dexamethasone also responded with a significant decrease in the number of pleural mast cells. Interestingly, when sensitized diabetic rats were pretreated with the steroid antagonist RU 38486 a reversion of the reduction in the allergen-induced eosinophil accumulation was noted. We conclude that the down-regulation of the allergic inflammatory response in diabetic rats is close-related to reduction in mast cell numbers and over expression of endogenous corticosteroids.

The eosinophilic response has been identified as a key alteration in the pathogenesis of asthma and other allergic diseases. A close-correlation between disease severity and eosinophilia, and the eosinophil ability to provide toxic and pro-inflammatory agents are the major elements supporting the interpretation that there is indeed a causal relationship between these phenomena. Nevertheless, controversy still persists since some studies have clearly demonstrated that eosinophil infiltration is not necessarily accompanied by tissue damage or hyperresponsiveness. In addition, there are some examples in the literature in which such alterations are not modified following abrogation of eosinophil influx. In this review it will be argued, based on a model of IgE-dependent pleurisy, that eosinophil infiltration can be associated with down-regulation of allergic inflammatory response. The potential mechanism by which eosinophils could be acting as a immunomodulatory cells in this particular system will also be assessed.

In the present study, we have performed a comparative analysis of the effect of selective inhibitors of phosphodiesterase (PDE) type III, IV and V on eosinophil chemotaxis triggered by platelet activating factor (PAF) and leukotriene B4 (LTB4) in vitro. The effect of the analogues N6-2'-O-dibutyryladenosine 3':5' cyclic monophosphate (Bt2 cyclic AMP) and N2-2'-O- dibutyrylguanosine 3':5' cyclic monophosphate (Bt2 cyclic GMP) has also been determined. The eosinophils were obtained from the peritoneal cavity of naive Wistar rats and purified in discontinuous Percoll gradients to 85-95% purity. We observed that pre-incubation of eosinophils with the PDE type IV inhibitor rolipram suppressed the chemotactic response triggered by PAF and LTB4, in association with an increase in the intracellular levels of cyclic AMP. In contrast, neither zaprinast (type V inhibitor) nor type III inhibitors milrinone and SK&F 94836 affected the eosinophil migration. Only at the highest concentration tested did the analogue Bt2 cyclic AMP suppress the eosinophil chemotaxis, under conditions where Bt2 cyclic GMP was ineffective. We have concluded that inhibition of PDE IV, but not PDE III or V, was able to block the eosinophil chemotaxis in vitro, suggesting that the suppressive activity of selective PDE IV inhibitors on tissue eosinophil accumulation may, at least, be partially dependent on their ability to directly inhibit the eosinophil migration.