Resumo O tilirosídeo é um flavonóide glicosídico presente em muitas espécies de plantas, incluindo Helicteres velutina K. Schum (Malvaceae sensu lato), conhecida no Brasil como “pitó”. Esta molécula mostrou ter muitas atividades biológicas, porém nenhum estudo foi realizado para investigar a toxicidade dessa substância. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a possível toxicidade celular in silico, in vitro e ex-vivo do kaempferol-3-O-β-D- (6 ”-Ep-coumaroil) glucopiranosídeo (tilirosídeo), por meio de análises de estrutura química, toxicidade avaliação e propriedades bioativas preditivas, utilizando amostras humanas para testes in vitro e ex-vivo. A análise in silico sugere que o tilirosídeo exibe bom índice de absorção para penetrar nas membranas biológicas. Além disso, apresentou considerável potencial de proteção celular contra os radicais livres e com atividades anticarcinogênica, antioxidante, antineoplásica, antiinflamatória, anti-hemorrágica e antitrombótica. A avaliação dos efeitos hemolíticos e genotóxicos do tilirosídeo mostrou baixas taxas de hemólise nas hemácias e ausência de toxicidade em células da mucosa oral. Os dados obtidos indicam que esta molécula pode possuir uma abordagem terapêutica promissora como uma possível nova droga com potencial biotecnológico.

Abstract Tiliroside is a glycosidic flavonoid present in many plants species including Helicteres velutina K. Schum (Malvaceae sensu lato), commonly known in Brazil as “pitó”. This molecule has been shown to have many biological activities, however no study has been carried out to investigate the toxicity of this substance. The present work aimed to evaluate the possible cellular toxicity in silico, in vitro and ex-vivo of the kaempferol-3-O-β-D-(6”-E-p-coumaroyl) glucopyranoside (tiliroside), through chemical structure analysis, toxicity assessment and predictive bioactive properties, using human samples for in vitro and ex-vivo tests. The in silico analysis suggests that tiliroside exhibited great absorption index when penetrating biological membranes. In addition, it also displayed considerable potential for cellular protection against free radicals, and anticarcinogenic, antioxidant, antineoplastic, anti-inflammatory, anti-hemorrhagic and antithrombotic activities. The assessment of the hemolytic and genotoxic effects of tiliroside showed low hemolysis rates in red blood cells and absence of cellular toxicity in the oral mucosa cells. The data obtained indicate that this molecule could be a promising therapeutic approach as a possible new drug with biotechnological potential.

The aim of this study was to determine if bone marrow mononuclear cell (BMMC) transplantation is safe for moderate to severe idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC). Clinical trials have shown that this procedure is safe and effective for ischemic patients, but little information is available regarding non-ischemic patients. Twenty-four patients with IDC, optimized therapy, age 46 ± 11.6 years, 17 males, NYHA classes II-IV, and left ventricular ejection fraction <35% were enrolled in the study. Clinical evaluation at baseline and 6 months after stem cell therapy to assess heart function included echocardiogram, magnetic resonance imaging, cardiopulmonary test, Minnesota Quality of Life Questionnaire, and NYHA classification. After cell transplantation 1 patient showed a transient increase in enzyme levels and 2 patients presented arrhythmias that were reversed within 72 h. Four patients died during follow-up, between 6 and 12 weeks after therapy. Clinical evaluation showed improvement in most patients as reflected by statistically significant decreases in Minnesota Quality of Life Questionnaire (63 ± 17.9 baseline vs 28.8 ± 16.75 at 6 months) and in class III-IV NYHA patients (18/24 baseline vs 2/20 at 6 months). Cardiopulmonary exercise tests demonstrated increased peak oxygen consumption (12.2 ± 2.4 at baseline vs 15.8 ± 7.1 mL·kg-1·min-1 at 6 months) and walked distance (377.2 ± 85.4 vs 444.1 ± 77.9 m at 6 months) in the 6-min walk test, which was not accompanied by increased left ventricular ejection fraction. Our findings indicate that BMMC therapy in IDC patients with severe ventricular dysfunction is feasible and that larger, randomized and placebo-controlled trials are warranted.

A região amazônica, pela sua formação geológica, não dispõe de rochas de fácil acesso para uso na construção civil; devido a isto, o seixo rolado é obtido da dragagem do leito dos rios, sendo o agregado graúdo comercialmente mais utilizado para a produção de concreto. Neste trabalho é apresentado um estudo das características e propriedades tecnológicas de duas massas cerâmicas utilizadas para produção de tijolo, oriundas das cidades de Iranduba e Manacapuru, AM, com a finalidade de se fabricar agregado sintético de argila calcinada para uso em concreto. As massas cerâmicas foram submetidas a ensaios de difração de raios X, determinação de composição química e de distribuição do tamanho das partículas, e plasticidade. Foram confeccionados corpos-de-prova por prensagem uniaxial a 20 MPa para a queima nas temperaturas de 850, 950, 1050, 1150 ºC, sendo as propriedades tecnológicas após queima avaliadas por retração linear, absorção de água, massa específica aparente, massa unitária e temperatura de gresificação. A massa cerâmica que apresentou menor massa específica aparente e o menor percentual de umidade de moldagem foi escolhida como matéria-prima para a fabricação do agregado sintético de argila calcinada. Esse agregado foi usado em substituição ao agregado natural da região amazônica, o seixo rolado, em concreto estrutural.

The amazonic region is geologically mainly composed by sedimentary rocks; by consequence, it is difficult to obtain igneous rocks to use in concrete. Hence, the natural gravel produced by the weathering action of running water on the beds and banks of streams is largely used. Nowadays, the substitution of natural gravel by an aggregate whose production minimizes the environmental impact has been a theme of research. This work presents a study of the characteristics and technological properties of two ceramic pastes from Iranduba and Manacapuru. AM, with the purpose of manufacturing synthetic aggregate of calcined clay for use in concrete. The ceramic pastes were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, evaluation of chemical composition, particle size distribution and plasticity. The samples were prepared by uniaxial pressing at 20 MPa and calcined at 850, 950, 1050 and 1150 ºC. The technological properties evaluated were: linear shrinkage, water absorption, apparent specific mass and vitrification temperature. The ceramic paste that presented the smallest apparent specific mass and smallest percentile of molding humidity was chosen for synthetic aggregate. The results obtained for the concrete produced with the synthetic aggregate of calcined clay show its potential as a substitute of the natural aggregate of the Amazonic region, the natural gravel.