Síndrome de "nevo em bolha de borracha azul"

The blue rubber nevus syndrome consists of multiple venous malformations in the skin and gastrointestinal tract associated with intestinal hemorrhage and iron deficiency anemia. Other organs may be involved. The causes of this syndrome are unknown. Its most common presentation is in the form of sporadic cases, but dominant autosomal inheritance has been described. It is a condition that affects both sexes equally, and its occurrence is rare in the black race. We present a case of this syndrome diagnosed in a 11-year-old patient. He had severe anemia and a venous swelling on the trunk. Similar lesions were found in the stomach, bowel, and on his foot. We emphasize the main clinical aspects: intestine, eyes, nasopharynx, parotids, lungs, liver, spleen, heart, brain, pleura, peritoneum, pericardium, skeletal muscles, bladder, and penis lesions, systemic complications that may occur to these patients which are thrombosis and calcification, as well as consumptive coagulopathy and thrombocytopenia that may occur within the nevi.A síndrome do nevo em bolha de borracha azul "blue rubber bled nevus syndrome" é caracterizada por malformações venosas da pele e trato gastrointestinal, associadas a hemorragia intestinal e anemia ferropriva. Outros órgãos podem estar envolvidos. As causas desta síndrome são desconhecidas e sua apresentação mais comum é na forma de casos esporádicos, mas herança autossômica dominante já foi descrita. É uma condição que afeta igualmente ambos os sexos e sua ocorrência é rara na raça negra. Apresentamos um caso desta síndrome diagnosticada em criança de onze anos de idade. Ela apresenta anemia grave e tumoração venosa do tronco. Lesões semelhantes foram encontradas no estômago, intestino e um dos pés. São enfatizados os aspectos clínicos principais - lesões no intestino, olhos, nasofaringe, parótida, pulmões, fígado, baço, coração, cérebro, pleura, peritônio, pericárdio, músculo esquelético, bexiga e pênis - e complicações sistêmicas que podem ocorrer nestes pacientes - trombose e calcificação dos nevus, assim como coagulopatia de consumo e trombocitopenia

Enterotype May Drive the Dietary-Associated Cardiometabolic Risk Factors

Analyses of typical bacterial clusters in humans named enterotypes may facilitate understanding the host differences in the cardiometabolic profile. It stills unknown whether the three previously described enterotypes were present in populations living below the equator. We examined how the identification of enterotypes could be useful to explain the dietary associations with cardiometabolic risk factors in Brazilian subjects. In this cross-sectional study, a convenience sample of 268 adults (54.2% women) reported their dietary habits and had clinical and biological samples collected. In this study, we analyzed biochemical data and metagenomics of fecal microbiota (16SrRNA sequencing, V4 region). Continuous variables were compared using ANOVA, and categorical variables using chi-square test. Vsearch clustered the operational taxonomic units, and Silva Database provided the taxonomic signatures. Spearman coefficient was used to verify the correlation between bacteria abundances within each enterotype. One hundred subjects were classified as omnivore, 102 lacto-ovo-vegetarians, and 66 strict vegetarians. We found the same structure as the three previously described enterotypes: 111 participants were assigned to Bacteroides, 55 to Prevotella, and 102 to Ruminococcaceae enterotype. The Prevotella cluster contained higher amount of strict vegetarians individuals than the other enterotypes (40.0 vs. 20.7 and 20.6, p = 0.04). Subjects in this enterotype had a similar anthropometric profile but a lower mean LDL-c concentration than the Bacteroides enterotype (96 +/- 23 vs. 109 +/- 32 mg/dL, p = 0.04). We observed significant correlations between bacterial abundances and cardiometabolic risk factors, but coefficients differed depending on the enterotype. In Prevotella enterotype, Eubacterium ventriosum (r BMI = -0.33, p = 0.03, and r HDL-c = 0.33, p = 0.04), Akkermansia (r 2h glucose = -0.35, p = 0.02), Roseburia (r BMI = -0.36, p = 0.02 and r waist = -0.36, p = 0.02), and Faecalibacterium (r insulin = -0.35, p = 0.02) abundances were associated to better cardiometabolic profile. The three enterotypes previously described are present in Brazilians, supporting that those bacterial clusters are not population-specific. Diet-independent lower LDL-c levels in subjects from Prevotella than in other enterotypes suggest that a protective bacterial cluster in the former should be driving this association. Enterotypes seem to be useful to understand the impact of daily diet exposure on cardiometabolic risk factors. Prospective studies are needed to confirm their utility for predicting phenotypes in humans.FAPESPUniv Sao Paulo, Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Epidemiol, Sao Paulo, BrazilFundacao Oswaldo Cruz, Rene Rachou Res Ctr, Belo Horizonte, MG, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Prevent Med, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Sch Med, Heart Inst Incor, Lab Genet & Mol Cardiol, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Prevent Med, Sao Paulo, BrazilFAPESP: 2012/12626-9FAPESP: 2012/03880-9Web of Scienc

Síndrome do fígado gorduroso em papagaio verdadeiro (Amazona aestiva)

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Aquaporin-4 Antibodies Are Not Related to HTLV-1\ud Associated Myelopathy

Introduction: The seroprevalence of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is very high among Brazilians (,1:200).\ud HTLV-1 associated myelopathy or tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) is the most common neurological complication of\ud HTLV-1 infection. HAM/TSP can present with an acute/subacute form of longitudinally extensive myelitis, which can be\ud confused with lesions seen in aquaporin-4 antibody (AQP4-Ab) positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD)\ud on MRI. Moreover, clinical attacks in patients with NMOSD have been shown to be preceded by viral infections in around\ud 30% of cases.\ud Objective: To evaluate the frequency of AQP4-Ab in patients with HAM/TSP. To evaluate the frequency of HTLV-1 infection\ud in patients with NMOSD.\ud Patients and Methods: 23 Brazilian patients with HAM/TSP, 20 asymptomatic HTLV-1+ serostatus patients, and 34 with\ud NMOSD were tested for AQP4-Ab using a standardized recombinant cell based assay. In addition, all patients were tested for\ud HTLV-1 by ELISA and Western blotting.\ud Results: 20/34 NMOSD patients were positive for AQP4-Ab but none of the HAM/TSP patients and none of the\ud asymptomatic HTLV-1 infected individuals. Conversely, all AQP4-Ab-positive NMOSD patients were negative for HTLV-1\ud antibodies. One patient with HAM/TSP developed optic neuritis in addition to subacute LETM; this patient was AQP4-Ab\ud negative as well. Patients were found to be predominantly female and of African descent both in the NMOSD and in the\ud HAM/TSP group; Osame scale and expanded disability status scale scores did not differ significantly between the two\ud groups.\ud Conclusions: Our results argue both against a role of antibodies to AQP4 in the pathogenesis of HAM/TSP and against an\ud association between HTLV-1 infection and the development of AQP4-Ab. Moreover, the absence of HTLV-1 in all patients\ud with NMOSD suggests that HTLV-1 is not a common trigger of acute attacks in patients with AQP4-Ab positive NMOSD in\ud populations with high HTLV-1 seroprevalence.This study received financial support from the Brazilian government agencies FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo - www. fapesp.br/en) and CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - www.capes.gov.br). The work of S.J. and B.W. was supported by research grants from Bayer Schering Healthcare and from Merck Serono. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells are increased in cerebrospinal fluid of untreated patients during multiple sclerosis relapse

The plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) express a high level of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR-9), which recognizes viral DNA. Activated via TLR-9, pDCs also secrete large amounts of type I interferon which are involved either in stimulation or down regulation of immune response in multiple sclerosis (MS). In the present study, we determinate pDCs levels by flow cytometry in Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) and Peripheral Blood from MS patients in relapsing and in remitting phases of the disease, comparing with other non-inflammatory diseases (OND). We provide evidence that MS patients in relapse without any treatment have a significantly (p < 0.01) higher percentage of pDCs in CSF than do patients in remission or those with OND. No change in the percentage of pDCs was observed in the peripheral blood of any of these patients. The increase of pDCs in central nervous system during relapse may be explained either by a virus infection or a down regulatory process

Anthelmintic Activity In Vivo of Epiisopiloturine against Juvenile and Adult Worms of Schistosoma mansoni

Schistosomiasis is a serious disease currently estimated to affect more that 207 million people worldwide. Due to the intensive use of praziquantel, there is increasing concern about the development of drug-resistant strains. Therefore, it is necessary to search for and investigate new potential schistosomicidal compounds. This work reports the in vivo effect of the alkaloid epiisopiloturine (EPI) against adults and juvenile worms of Schistosoma mansoni. EPI was first purified its thermal behavior and theoretical solubility parameters charaterised. In the experiment, mice were treated with EPI over the 21 days post-infection with the doses of 40 and 200 mg/kg, and 45 days post-infection with single doses of 40, 100 and 300 mg/kg. The treatment with EPI at 40 mg/kg was more effective in adult worms when compared with doses of 100 and 300 mg/kg. The treatment with 40 mg/kg in adult worms reduced parasite burden significantly, lead to reduction in hepatosplenomegaly, reduced the egg burden in faeces, and decreased granuloma diameter. Scanning electron microscopy revealed morphological changes to the parasite tegument after treatment, including the loss of important features. Additionally, the in vivo treatment against juvenile with 40 mg/kg showed a reduction of the total worm burden of 50.2%. Histopathological studies were performed on liver, spleen, lung, kidney and brain and EPI was shown to have a DL50 of 8000 mg/kg. Therefore EPI shows potential to be used in schistosomiasis treatment. This is the first time that schistosomicidal in vivo activity of EPI has been reported

Phenolic compounds from Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) attenuate oxidative stress and reduce blood cholesterol concentrations in diet-induced hypercholesterolemic rats

Abstract\ud \ud \ud \ud Background\ud \ud Phenolic compounds combine antioxidant and hypocholesterolemic activities and, consequently, are expected to prevent or minimize cardiometabolic risk.\ud \ud \ud \ud Methods\ud \ud To evaluate the effect of an aqueous extract (AQ) and non-esterified phenolic fraction (NEPF) from rosemary on oxidative stress in diet-induced hypercholesterolemia, 48 male 4-week old Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups: 1 chow diet group (C) and 5 hypercholesterolemic diet groups, with 1 receiving water (HC), 2 receiving AQ at concentrations of 7 and 140 mg/kg body weight (AQ70 and AQ140, respectively), and 2 receiving NEPF at concentrations of 7 and 14 mg/kg body weight (NEPF7 and NEPF14, respectively) by gavage for 4 weeks.\ud \ud \ud \ud Results\ud \ud In vitro, both AQ and NEPF had remarkable antioxidant activity in the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH●) assay, which was similar to BHT. In vivo, the group that received AQ at 70 mg/kg body weight had lower serum total cholesterol (−39.8%), non-HDL-c (−44.4%) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) levels (−37.7%) compared with the HC group. NEPF (7 and 14 mg/kg) reduced the tissue TBARS levels and increased the activity of tissular antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase). Neither AQ nor NEPF was able to ameliorate the alterations in the hypercholesterolemic diet-induced fatty acid composition in the liver.\ud \ud \ud \ud Conclusions\ud \ud These data suggest that phenolic compounds from rosemary ameliorate the antioxidant defense in different tissues and attenuate oxidative stress in diet-induced hypercholesterolemic rats, whereas the serum lipid profile was improved only in rats that received the aqueous extract.This investigation was supported by grants 08/51333-1 (Afonso MS) and 08/54319-0 (Mancini-Filho, J) from the Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), Brazil. We would like to thank Gabriela Castilho for helping with the language revision. All authors read and approved the final manuscript

Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests.

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, or Rhizobium nodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors