Pacientes com Covid-19 no Centro de Terapia Intensiva: perfil clínico e carga de trabalho da enfermagem

Introdução: A pandemia da COVID-19 causou impacto no cenário mundial nos últimos anos, levando também a implicações para carga de trabalho dos profissionais da saúde, sobretudo os da equipe de enfermagem. Objetivo: Descrever o perfil clínico dos pacientes com COVID-19 internados em uma UTI e a carga de trabalho de enfermagem. Métodos: Estudo descritivo, transversal, de abordagem quantitativa, mediado por análise documental. Foram analisados prontuários de pacientes com diagnóstico de COVID-19 internados em um centro de terapia intensiva durante os meses de março de 2020 a fevereiro de 2022. Resultados: Foram analisados 261 prontuários, evidenciando perfil majoritariamente composto pelo sexo masculino, acima de 50 anos, e com alguma comorbidade. O principal desfecho foi a alta do setor e a complicação mais apresentada foi a lesão renal. A mediana do Nursing Activities Score foi de 94,9 pontos, sendo “muito elevado” o escore mais frequente. Houve correlação significante entre a carga de trabalho e uso de ventilação mecânica invasiva, drogas vasoativas, hemodiálise, lesões de pele, entre outros. Conclusão: O perfil dos pacientes com tal enfermidade corrobora com dados nacionais e internacionais. O suporte de alta complexidade refletiu em uma carga de trabalho elevada pela enfermagem neste período

A trypsin inhibitor from Tecoma stans leaves inhibits growth and promotes ATP depletion and lipid peroxidation in Candida albicans and Candida krusei

Tecoma stans (yellow elder) has shown medicinal properties and antimicrobial activity. Previous reports on antifungal activity of T. stans preparations and presence of trypsin inhibitor activity from T. stans leaves stimulated the investigation reported here. In this work, we proceeded to the purification and characterization of a trypsin inhibitor (TesTI), which was investigated for anti-Candida activity. Finally, in order to determine the potential of TesTI as a new natural chemotherapeutic product, its cytotoxicity to human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was evaluated. TesTI was isolated from saline extract by ammonium sulphate fractionation followed by ion exchange and gel filtration chromatographies. Antifungal activity was evaluated by determining the minimal inhibitory (MIC) and fungicide (MFC) concentrations using fungal cultures containing only yeast form or both yeast and hyphal forms. Candida cells treated with TesTI were evaluated for intracellular ATP levels and lipid peroxidation. Cytotoxicity of TesTI to PBMCs was evaluated by MTT assay. TesTI (39.8 kDa, pI 3.41, Ki 43 nM) inhibited similarly the growth of both C. albicans and C. krusei culture types at MIC of 100 µg/mL. The MFCs were 200 µg/mL for C. albicans and C. krusei. Time-response curves revealed that TesTI (at MIC) was more effective at inhibiting the replication of C. albicans cells. At MIC, TesTI promoted reduction of ATP levels and lipid peroxidation in the Candida cells, being not cytotoxic to PBMCs. In conclusion, TesTI is an antifungal agent against C. albicans and C. krusei, without toxicity to human cells

Evaluation of Antibacterial, Antineoplastic, and Immunomodulatory Activity of Paullinia cupana Seeds Crude Extract and Ethyl-Acetate Fraction

Paullinia cupana (Guarana) is a native plant of Amazon region that has very traditional importance. Its seeds are rich in bioactive compounds, including tannins, which exhibit relevant properties. Objective. This study aimed to evaluate antibacterial, antineoplastic, and immunomodulatory activity of P. cupana seeds crude extract (CE) and ethyl-acetate fraction (EAF). Methods. Antibacterial activity was evaluated by determination of minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC). Antineoplastic activity was evaluated by MTT assays in hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), ductal carcinoma (T47-D), non-Hodgkin’s B cell lymphoma (Toledo), T cell leukemia (Jukart), and Acute Leukemia (HL-60) cell lines. BALB/c mice splenocytes were treated to assess IFN-γ, IL-6, IL-17, and IL-10 levels by sandwich ELISA. Results. CE and EAF were not toxic to peripheral blood cells and splenocytes. CE and EAF fractions showed a bacteriostatic activity (MIC = 250 μg/mL) and presented IC50 values of 70.25 μg/mL and 61.18 μg/mL in HL-60 leukemia cell line. All cytokines evaluated had their levels reduced after treatment, following dose-response model. Discussion and Conclusion. Different biological activities were observed for both CE and EAF, suggesting P. cupana as a source of bioactive substances, especially tannins that may be used for several diseases treatments