Genetic and Functional Role of TNF-alpha in the Development Trypanosoma cruzi Infection

TNF-alpha plays an important role in trypanocidal mechanisms and is related to tissue injury. This cytokine has been detected in the heart of human chagasic patients where it is associated with tissue damage. This study investigated whether TNF-alpha levels and the presence of genetic polymorphisms are associated with the presence of T. cruzi infection and/or with the development of the cardiac form in chronic chagasic patients. Genomic DNA of 300 subjects from an endemic area was extracted and analyzed by PCR using specific primers. TNF-alpha was assayed in culture supernatants by ELISA. An association was observed between the absence of the TNF-238A allele and negative serology. Furthermore, seropositive individuals carrying the TNF-238A allele produced significantly higher TNF-alpha levels without stimulation (p = 0.04) and after stimulation with LPS (p = 0.007) and T. cruzi antigens (p = 0.004). The present results suggest that the polymorphism at position -238 influences susceptibility to infection and that this allele is associated with higher TNF-alpha production in seropositive individuals

Tropical Fruit Pulps: Processing, Product Standardization and Main Control Parameters for Quality Assurance

ABSTRACT Fruit pulp is the most basic food product obtained from fresh fruit processing. Fruit pulps can be cold stored for long periods of time, but they also can be used to fabricate juices, ice creams, sweets, jellies and yogurts. The exploitation of tropical fruits has leveraged the entire Brazilian fruit pulp sector due mainly to the high acceptance of their organoleptic properties and remarkable nutritional facts. However, several works published in the last decades have pointed out unfavorable conditions regarding the consumption of tropical fruit pulps. This negative scenario has been associated with unsatisfactory physico-chemical and microbiological parameters of fruits pulps as outcomes of little knowledge and improper management within the fruit pulp industry. There are protocols for delineating specific identity and quality standards (IQSs) and standardized good manufacturing practices (GMP) for fruit pulps, which also embrace standard operating procedures (SOPs) and hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP), although this latter is not considered mandatory by the Brazilian legislation. Unfortunately, the lack of skilled labor, along with failures in complying established protocols have impaired quality of fruit pulps. It has been necessary to collect all information available with the aim to identify the most important hazards within fruit pulp processing lines. Standardizing methods and practices within the Brazilian fruit pulp industry would assurance high quality status to tropical fruit pulps and the commercial growth of this vegetal product towards international markets