Drug Hypersensitivity Quality of Life Questionnaire: validation procedures and first results of the Portuguese version

Background: Hypersensitivity reactions to drugs are unpredictable and can be very complex and severe, even life threatening. Assess its impact on patient’s health related quality of life (HRQoL) is crucial. The Drug Hypersensitivity Quality of Life Questionnaire (DrHy-Q) is the only validated disease-specific HRQoL questionnaire. We aimed to translate and cross-cultural validate the DrHy-Q to the Portuguese population. It was also our purpose to determine the impact of drug hypersensitivity on patients’ HRQoL. Methods: The translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the DrHy-Q to Portuguese was performed according to standards. Reliability of the DrHy-Q Portuguese version was assessed in terms of internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Structural validity, divergent validity (with a generic health related QoLQ-PGWBI) and discriminant validity were also evaluated. Forty patients accepted to participate in the validation phase. The Portuguese version of the DrHy-Q was applied to 260 consecutively adult patients, studied in our Department for suspected drug hypersensitivity. Results: The Portuguese DrHy-Q showed adequate internal consistency (Cronbach’s ¿ = 0.938), good test–retest reliability [ICC = 0.713 (95% CI 0.488–0.850] and one-dimensional structure. No significant correlation was found between the DrHy-Q and the PGWBI total scores (r = - 0.010, p = 0.957). Two hundred of patients completed the study: 78.5% female; mean age = 44 ± 15 years. Mean DrHy-Q score was 36.8 ± 12.6. Two clinical factors significantly predict DrHy-Q total score: clinical manifestations and number of suspected drugs. Patients with anaphylaxis (ß = 11.005; 95% CI 5.523; 16.487), urticaria/angioedema (ß = 7.770; 95% CI 2.600; 12.940) and other manifestations (ß = 7.948; 95% CI 1.933; 13.962) are more likely to have higher DrHy-Q total score than patients with maculopapular exanthema. Patients with = 2 suspected drugs are also more likely to have worse QoL (ß = 7.927; 95% CI 3.687; 12.166). Conclusion: The Portuguese version of DrHy-Q revealed adequate validity and reliability, indicating that it is appropriate to assess the impact of drug hypersensitivity on patients’ HRQoL, providing data for a better comprehension and management of our patients. Moreover, our results highlight that the severity of the drug hypersensitivity reaction and the number of suspected drugs have impact on patient’s DrHy-QoL

Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil: setting the baseline knowledge on the animal diversity in Brazil

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian megadiverse fauna is no exception, and the Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil (CTFB) (http://fauna.jbrj.gov.br/), made public in 2015, represents a database on biodiversity anchored on a list of valid and expertly recognized scientific names of animals in Brazil. The CTFB is updated in near real time by a team of more than 800 specialists. By January 1, 2024, the CTFB compiled 133,691 nominal species, with 125,138 that were considered valid. Most of the valid species were arthropods (82.3%, with more than 102,000 species) and chordates (7.69%, with over 11,000 species). These taxa were followed by a cluster composed of Mollusca (3,567 species), Platyhelminthes (2,292 species), Annelida (1,833 species), and Nematoda (1,447 species). All remaining groups had less than 1,000 species reported in Brazil, with Cnidaria (831 species), Porifera (628 species), Rotifera (606 species), and Bryozoa (520 species) representing those with more than 500 species. Analysis of the CTFB database can facilitate and direct efforts towards the discovery of new species in Brazil, but it is also fundamental in providing the best available list of valid nominal species to users, including those in science, health, conservation efforts, and any initiative involving animals. The importance of the CTFB is evidenced by the elevated number of citations in the scientific literature in diverse areas of biology, law, anthropology, education, forensic science, and veterinary science, among others

Interaction between chlorophyll and silver nanoparticles: A close analysis of chlorophyll fluorescence quenching

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are among the most widely produced and used nanomaterial due to their antimicrobial and antibacterial properties, allowing a wide range of commercial applications. Thereby, the increasing use of Ag NPs should inevitably lead to the release and accumulation of these NPs into the environment, resulting in adverse effects on plants, animals and humans. Chlorophyll fluorescence (ChlF) has been proposed as a non-destructive and accurate tool for detecting the impacts of environmental stress on plants. Little is known about the photophysical behavior of plants when exposed to a metallic NPs-containing environment. The present study evaluated the interaction between chlorophyll (Chl) and Ag NPs, over a wide range of nanoparticle concentrations (from 0 μM to 200.0 μM), by monitoring the ChlF. The results reveal that the ChlF is quenched in the presence of Ag NPs, as a result of the static and dynamic quenching processes. The present results suggest that ChlF has a great potential to be used in the future as an analytical tool for monitoring the interaction of plants and NPs as well as investigating the effects of NPs on plants