Successful Treatment For Chronic Eosinophilic Leukemia (CEL) With Imatinib Mesylate

We report a case of a patient with Chronic Eosinophilic Leukemia (CEL) with mutation in alfa PDGFR gene exhibiting a satisfactory response to treatment with imatinib mesylate. A 25-year-old man presented in a hematology service with a persistent cough and hemogram alterations. His blood count showed a hemoglobin level of 12.5 g/dL and a white blood cell count of 94,030/mm3, eosinophils were 68% of all cells. Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy showed hypercellularity with marked eosinophilia (77%) and erythroid differentiation series was hypocellular with normoblast maturation. The immunohistochemically of the bone biopsy was positive for myeloperoxidase and negative for CD34/CD99, consistent with CEL. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for the beta-fraction of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGFRβ) and Philadelphia chromosome (Ph 1) were negative and the alfa PDGFR (Platelet-Derived Growth Factor) was positive and showed heterozygosis in c.2531T>C on 18 Exon and homozygous in C.2562+1G>A at the region of the splicing site at the 18 intron. Treatment was initiated and maintained by administering 400mg/day imatinib mesylate. Laboratory findings returned to normal ranges, with clinical improvement and a hematological response observed after the second month of therapy. Currently, the patient’s blood count shows the white blood cell count (5,400 total leukocytes), eosinophils (8.6/mm3), hemoglobin (15.5 g/dl), hematocrit (45.4%) and platelets (298,000/mm3) within normal ranges. The mutation search was negative in in peripheral blood one year after the initial treatment. Our work corroborates other studies on the efficacy of imatinib mesylate in the treatment of patients with CSF PDGFR alpha positive. We emphasize the importance of molecular studies, considering its relevance for the correct staging of the disease. Since CEL is a rare disease, it is important to define its etiology and anticipate its treatment, thus minimizing the damage induced by the disease

Implementation of Internal Quality Control in Clinical Laboratories of Portuguese Speaking Countries

ProMeQuaLab (Laboratory Quality Improvement Project for Portuguese Speaking Countries) is an ongoing project started in 2015 aiming to improve the quality of laboratory results in Portuguese Speaking countries ( It focuses on training in laboratory quality control, implementation and monitoring of quality indicators, and the organisation of a biennial congress. In 2023 within the scope of ProMeQuaLab and in collaboration with the National Health Institute Doctor Ricardo Jorge ( and the Faculty of Pharmacy of University of Lisbon, the Master's thesis "Development of tools and documentation for implementation of laboratory Quality Control in Portuguese Speaking countries" is being carried out. AIMS: Development and application tools for implementation of Internal Quality Control in the areas of Clinical Chemistry and Haematology, in PLP laboratories, from February to August 2023info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects of preoperative sarcopenia-related parameters on the musculoskeletal and metabolic outcomes after bariatric surgery: a one-year longitudinal study in females

Abstract Reduced muscle mass and/or strength are risk factors for metabolic and musculoskeletal impairment. The present study evaluated anthropometric, metabolic, and musculoskeletal outcomes in females with and without sarcopenic-obesity parameters who underwent bariatric surgery during a 1-year follow-up. A prospective, single-center cohort study was conducted in females with obesity undergoing preoperative evaluation for surgery. In the preoperative period, females were allocated into obesity with sarcopenic-obesity parameters (SOP group, n = 15) and without sarcopenic-obesity parameters (obesity group, n = 21). Sarcopenic obesity parameters were defined as lower appendicular skeletal mass adjusted for weight (ASM/wt) and/or low handgrip strength (HGS). Anthropometric, metabolic, and musculoskeletal parameters were assessed before surgery and at 3 months, 6 months, and a 1-year after bariatric surgery. Weight loss was similar between groups (p > 0.05). Weight, body mass index, fat mass, body fat percentage, skeletal muscle mass, fat-free mass, fat-free mass index, HGS were reduced in both groups during the 1-year follow-up (p < 0.05). However, when muscle mass and strength were analyzed relative to body size, an improvement after bariatric surgery was found in both groups (p < 0.05). Total cholesterol, LDL-c, triglycerides, fasting glucose, glycated hemoglobin, insulin, and insulin resistance were reduced in both groups during the 1-year follow-up (p < 0.05). In addition, HDL-c serum concentration increased in females with and without sarcopenic-obesity parameters over the 1-year follow-up (p < 0.05). Both groups had decreased bone mineral density (BMD) at all sites (lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total femur) over the 1-year follow-up (p < 0.05). The highest quartile of ASM/wt was positively associated with BMD variables in a longitudinal analysis, suggesting that preserved ASM/wt in pre-surgery may be beneficial for BMD after 1 year of bariatric surgery. The results showed that bariatric surgery promotes similar musculoskeletal and metabolic changes in females with preserved muscle mass and strength or in females with sarcopenia-related parameters

α-Tocopherol influences glycaemic control and miR-9-3 DNA methylation in overweight and obese women under an energy-restricted diet: a randomized, double-blind, exploratory, controlled clinical trial

Abstract Background Excess weight is a strong risk factor for the development of dysglycaemia. It has been suggested that changes in the metabolism microRNAs, small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression, could precede late glycaemic changes. Vitamin E in turn may exert important functions in methylation and gene expression processes. This study aimed to determine the effect of α-tocopherol on glycaemic variables and miR-9-1 and miR-9-3 promoter DNA methylation in overweight women. Methods A randomized, double-blind, exploratory, placebo-controlled study was conducted in overweight and obese adult women (n = 44) who ingested synthetic vitamin E (all-rac-α-tocopherol), natural source vitamin E (RRR-rac-α-tocopherol) or placebo capsules and were followed up for a period of 8 weeks. Supplemented groups also received dietary guidance for an energy-restricted diet. An additional group that received no supplementation and did not follow an energy-restricted diet was also followed up. The intervention effect was evaluated by DNA methylation levels (quantitative real-time PCR assay) and anthropometric and biochemical variables (fasting plasma glucose, haemoglobin A1C, insulin, and vitamin E). Results Increased methylation levels of the miR-9-3 promoter region (P < 0.001) and reduced haemoglobin A1C (P < 0.05) were observed in the natural source vitamin E group after intervention. Increased fasting plasma glucose was observed in the synthetic vitamin E group, despite the significant reduction of anthropometric variables compared to the other groups. Conclusions α-Tocopherol from natural sources increased methylation levels of the miR-9-3 promoter region and reduced haemoglobin A1C in overweight women following an energy-restricted diet. These results provide novel information about the influence of vitamin E on DNA methylation. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02922491. Registered 4 October, 2016

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Núcleos de Ensino da Unesp: artigos 2008

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq