RESUMO Investigaram-se os efeitos locais e sistêmicos da oxigenoterapia hiperbárica em camundongos BALB / C, submetidos a dois tempos de exposição diferentes, sob atmosfera 2,4 (ATM). Quinze animais foram divididos em três grupos (GI, GII e controle) e submetidos à excisão cirúrgica de fragmento de pele de aproximadamente um centímetro quadrado da região dorsal. As feridas foram tratadas e acompanhadas por 21 dias. No grupo controle, a ferida foi limpa uma vez ao dia, com solução estéril de NaCl 0,9%. Camundongos GI e GII foram submetidos à oxigenoterapia hiperbárica diária de 30 ou 60 minutos de sessões, respectivamente. As feridas foram fotografadas a cada três dias, e suas superfícies analisadas por um analisador de imagens. Aos 21 dias, todos os animais foram submetidos à eutanásia para análise histopatológica da pele, do pulmão e do fígado, em busca de eventuais alterações na cicatrização da ferida ou nos órgãos analisados. Animais pertencentes ao GI apresentaram cicatrização mais rápida de feridas cutâneas em comparação aos outros grupos. Já os animais do GII apresentaram retardo na cicatrização da ferida e alterações pulmonares e microcirculatórias. Esses achados permitem concluir que o tempo de exposição ao oxigênio em ambiente hiperbárico é fundamental e pode auxiliar ou atrapalhar a cicatrização de feridas cutâneas ou mesmo ser deletério para outros órgãos.

ABSTRACT We investigated the local and systemic effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in BALB/C mice, exposed to two different exposure times, under 2.4 atmosphere (ATM). Fifteen animals were divided into three groups (GI, GII and Control) and underwent a surgical excision of a skin fragment of approximately one square centimeter of the dorsal region. The wounds were treated and monitored for 21 days. In the control group, the wound was cleaned once a day with sterile 0.9% NaCl solution. GI and GII mice were submitted to daily hyperbaric oxygen therapy of 30 or 60minutes sessions, respectively. The wounds were photographed every three days and their surfaces were analyzed by an image analyzer. At 21 days, all animals were euthanatized for histopathological analysis of the skin, lungs and liver in order to identify eventual alterations in wound healing or in the analyzed organs. Animals belonging to GI showed a faster skin wound healing in comparison to the other groups. Animals from GII, however, showed a delayed wound healing process and exhibited lung and microcirculatory alterations. These findings allow us to conclude that the exposure time to the oxygen in hyperbaric environment is crucial and can help or disturb skin wound healing or even be deleterious to other organs.

Doze casos de tumores do sistema nervoso periférico, sete schwannomas e cinco neurofibromas foram diagnosticados entre 1964 e 2004, em caninos e bovinos. Histologicamente, as células predominantes nos schwannomas eram fusiformes organizavam-se em paliçada ou em feixes aleatórios. Nos neurofibromas as células neoplásicas eram fusiformes e se originavam da periferia dos nervos formando ninhos e feixes. O tecido conjuntivo era mais abundante nos neurofibromas e os colágenos dos tipos I e III eram os principais constituintes desses neoplasmas. Os neurofibromas foram caracterizados por uma concentração alta e difusa de mastócitos, provavelmente devido à origem das células neoplásicas do perineuro e epineuro. A coloração de AgNOR não se mostrou eficiente como indicador de prognóstico nos neoplasmas analisados. Imunoistoquímicamente houve forte marcação para vimentina (100%) e S100 (100%) em ambos os tipos de tumor. A maioria dos schwannomas (75%) foi positiva para a proteína ácida fibrilar glial; os neurofibromas só apresentaram marcação nas células de Schwann dos fascículos nervosos.

A retrospective study of peripheral nerve tumors was made from 1964 to 2004. The tumors summed up 12, being seven schwannomas and five neurofibromas. Schwannomas were composed of spindle-shaped cells either in a palisading pattern or random bundles loosely textured and neurofibromas by spindle cells. The connective tissue components were more prevalent in neurofibromas with a characteristic deployment of collagens type I and III. In AgNOR techniques, both benign and malignant schwannomas and neurofibromas did not show differences. Mast cells stained by toluidine blue were more prevalent in neurofibromas which are rich in reactive endoneurium. Schwannomas (100%) and neurofibromas (100%) were positive for vimentin and S100 protein, so they prove to be reliable for the diagnosis of peripheral nerve tumors. GFAP marked cells were found in three schwannomas and in Schwann cells within neurofibromas.

Antigens of a bovine herpesvirus type 5 (BHV-5), isolated from a cow with a neurological infection in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, were used to immunize BALB/c mice to produce monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Eleven hybridomas secreting mAbs directed at BHV-5 antigens were obtained after two fusions and screening of 356 hypoxanthine-aminopterin-thymidine-resistant clones. The mAbs reacted at dilutions up to 1:500 (hybridoma culture supernatant) and up to >1:10,000 (ascitic fluid) in an indirect fluorescent antibody assay (IFA) and in immunoperoxidase staining of BHV-5-infected cells. Four mAbs (1D12, 2E2, 2G10 and 4E4) showed virus-neutralizing activity against the parental BHV-5 isolate. Five mAbs (1F3, 2A6, 2F9, 2G10 and HB24L) reacted in Western immunoblotting with a protein of approximately 90 kDa. Three other mAbs (2E2, 3D6 and 4E4) reacted in IFA with antigens of a BHV-1 mutant glycoprotein C- negative strain, demonstrating that they are directed at a viral antigen other than glycoprotein C. The eleven mAbs tested reacted with 20 BHV-5 field isolates and nine mAbs reacted with 10 BHV-1 isolates. Two mAbs (1F3 and 2F9) failed to react with BHV-1 field isolates, although they displayed a weak and nonreproducible reaction with the BHV-1 reference strain Los Angeles. These mAbs may be very useful in distinguishing between BHV-1 and BHV-5 infections since most of the traditional reagents and techniques are unable to do so. One mAb (2F9) was shown to bind to viral antigens by immunohistochemistry of histological sections of the brain of a BHV-5-infected calf. These results demonstrate that the mAbs produced here are suitable for use in a variety of immunological techniques and therefore may be useful for diagnostic and research purposes.