Estudo descritivo da infecção pelo HTLV em uma população de gestantes do Estado do Pará, norte do Brasil

INTRODUCTION: In Brazil, studies have shown that HTLV seroprevalence among pregnant women varies from 0 to 1.8%. However, this seroprevalence was unknown in the State of Pará, Brazil. The present study describes, for the first time, the HTLV seroprevalence among pregnant women from the State of Pará, Northern Brazil. METHODS: 13,382 pregnant women were submitted to HTLV screening during prenatal care, and those with non-seronegative results to anti-HTLV were submitted to Western blot (WB) test to confirm and separate HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 carriers. RESULTS: HTLV seroprevalence in the population of pregnant women was 0.3%, and HTLV-1 was identified in 95.3% of patients. The demographic profile of HTLV carriers was as follows: women with age between 20 and 40 years old (78.4%); residing in the metropolitan region of Belém, Pará (67.6%); and with educational level of high school (56.8%). Other variables related to infection were as follows: beginning of sexual intercourse between the age of 12 and 18 years old (64.9%) and have being breastfed for more than 6 months (51.4%). Most of the women studied had at least two previous pregnancies (35.1%) and no abortion (70.3%). Coinfections (syphilis and HIV) were found in 10.8% (4/37) of these pregnant women. CONCLUSIONS: Seroprevalence of HTLV infection in pregnant women assisted in basic health units from the State of Pará, Northern Brazil, was 0.3% similar to those described in other Brazilian studies. The variables related to infection were important indicators in identifying pregnant women with a higher tendency to HTLV seropositivity, being a strategy for disease control and prevention, avoiding vertical transmission.INTRODUÇÃO: No Brasil, estudos mostram que a soroprevalência do HTLV entre gestantes varia de 0 a 1,8%. Contudo, esta soroprevalência era desconhecida no Estado do Pará, Brasil. O presente estudo descreve, pela primeira vez, a soroprevalência do HTLV entre gestantes do Estado do Pará, Norte do Brasil. MÉTODOS: 13,382 gestantes foram submetidas à triagem para HTLV durante o pré-natal, e aquelas com sorologia alterada para anti-HTLV foram submetidas ao teste de Western Blot (WB), para confirmar e discriminar portadoras do HTLV-1 e do HTLV-2. RESULTADOS: A soroprevalência do HTLV na população de gestantes foi de 0,3%, sendo o HTLV-1 identificado em 95,3% das pacientes. O perfil demográfico das portadoras do HTLV foi de: mulheres com idade entre 20-40 anos (78,4%); residentes na região metropolitana de Belém (67,6%) e com nível educacional igual ao ensino médio (56,8%). Outras variáveis relacionadas à infecção foram: início das relações sexuais compreendido entre 12-18 anos (64,9%), e ter sido aleitada mais de 6 meses (51,4%). A maior parte das mulheres estudadas teve ao menos duas gestações anteriores (35,1%); e nenhum aborto (70,3%). Co-infecções (sífilis e HIV) foram descritas em 10,8% (4/37) das gestantes. A soroprevalência da infecção pelo HTLV em gestantes atendidas em Unidades Básicas de Saúde do Estado do Pará, Norte do Brasil foi de 0,3% semelhante à descrita em outros estudos brasileiros. As variáveis relacionadas com a infecção são indicadores importantes na identificação de gestantes com maior tendência a soropositividade pelo HTLV, sendo uma estratégia de controle e prevenção, evitando a transmissão vertical.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Instituto Evandro Chagas Setor de ParasitologiaUniversidade Estadual do Pará Departamento de Saúde IntegradaUniversidade Federal do Pará Instituto de Ciências BiológicasUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de PediatriaUNIFESP, Depto. de PediatriaSciEL

Extraction of subjective properties in image processing

Most of the present digital images processing methods are related with objective characterization of external properties as shape, form or colour. This information concerns objective characteristics of different bodies and is applied to extract details to perform several different tasks. But in some occasions, some other type of information is needed. This is the case when the image processing system is going to be applied to some operation related with living bodies. In this case, some other type of object information may be useful. As a matter of fact, it may give additional knowledge about its subjective properties. Some of these properties are object symmetry, parallelism between lines and the feeling of size. These types of properties concerns more to internal sensations of living beings when they are related with their environment than to the objective information obtained by artificial systems. This paper presents an elemental system able to detect some of the above-mentioned parameters. A first mathematical model to analyze these situations is reported. This theoretical model will give the possibility to implement a simple working system. The basis of this system is the use of optical logic cells, previously employed in optical computing

Avaliação dos fatores de risco associados à transmissão do HTLV-1 e do HTLV-2, em doadores de sangue, na cidade de Belém do Pará

In order to define the epidemiological profile of the Human T-cell Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV-1 and HTLV-2) among inapt blood donors population, at the HEMOPA Foundation, in Belém, state of Pará, we analyzed 113 epidemiological forms, related with risk factors associated with these retrovirus transmission, among carriers and noncarriers of HTLV. We observed that 76% (n=50) of the inapt blood donors were infected by HTLV-1 and 24% (n=16) by HTLV-2; 62% (n=70) of the carriers were male and 38% (n=43) were female, with a tendency of infection in this gender (p=0,007). The risk factors which exhibited significant results were: have received blood transfusion (p=0,0003), more specifically to HTLV-2 (p=0,02); have been breastfeeding from non-mother (p=0,006), more specifically to HTLV-1 (p=0,04); have been submitted to surgery (p=0,01), discriminately to HTLV-1 (p=0,03) and HTLV-2 (p=0,04); share blades/shavers (p=0,02), more specifically to HTLV-1 (p=0,02); do not use condoms during sexual intercourse (p=0,0003), discriminately to HTLV-1 (p=0,001) and HTLV-2 (p=0,002). Despite of the diverse stages existing in the process of selection of blood donors, which the main objective is to eliminate potentials candidates carrying transmissible blood diseases, in special of chronic and asymptomatic course, exist bias that disable an exempt process of fails.CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível SuperiorCom o objetivo de definir o perfil epidemiológico da infecção pelos Vírus linfotrópico de células T humanas (HTLV-1 e HTLV-2), na população de doadores de sangue inaptos, da Fundação HEMOPA, na cidade de Belém do Pará, analisaram-se 113 fichas, em relação a fatores de risco associados à transmissão destes retrovírus, entre portadores e não portadores dos HTLV. Observou-se infecção em 76% (n=50) dos doadores inaptos pelo HTLV-1 e em 24% (n=16) pelo HTLV-2; 62% (n=70) dos portadores eram do sexo masculino e 38% (n=43) do sexo feminino, havendo uma maior tendência da infecção por indivíduos deste sexo (p=0,007). Os fatores de risco que exibiram resultados significativos foram: ter recebido transfusão sangüínea (p=0,0003), mais especificamente para HTLV-2 (p=0,02); ter sido amamentado por ama de leite (p=0,006), mais especificamente para HTLV-1 (p=0,04); ter sido submetido à cirurgia (p=0,01), discriminadamente para HTLV-1 (p=0,03) e HTLV-2 (p=0,04); compartilhar lâmina/barbeador (p=0,02), mais especificamente para HTLV-1 (p=0,02); não usar preservativo nas relações sexuais (p=0,0003), discriminadamente para HTLV-1 (p=0,001) e HTLV-2 (p=0,002). Apesar das diversas etapas existentes no processo de triagem de doadores de sangue, cujo objetivo é eliminar potenciais candidatos portadores de doenças transmissíveis pelo sangue, em especial as de curso crônico e assintomático, existem vieses que impossibilitam um processo isento de falhas

Prevalence of human papillomavirus infection and phylogenetic analysis of HPV-16 E6 variants among infected women from Northern Brazil

Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Instituto Nacional de Câncer. Clinical Research Coordination. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Instituto Nacional de Câncer. Clinical Research Coordination. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Background: The main cause of cervical cancer in the world is high risks human papillomavirus infection (mainlyrepresented by HPV-16 and HPV-18), that are associated to the development of malign transformation of the epithelium. HPV prevalence exhibits a wide geographical variability and HPV-16 variants have been related to an increased risk of developing cervical intraepithelial lesion. The aim of this study was to describe DNA-HPV prevalence and HPV-16 variants among a women population from Northern Brazil. Methods: One hundred and forty three women, during routine cervical cancer screening, at Juruti Project, fulfilled an epidemiological inquiry and were screened through a molecular HPV test. HPV-16 variants were determined by sequencing the HPV-16 E6 open reading frame. Results: Forty two samples were considered HPV positive (29.4 per cent). None of those had abnormal cytology results. HPV prevalence varied between different age groups (Z(U) = 14.62; p = >0.0001) and high-risk HPVs were more frequent among younger ages. The most prevalent type was HPV-16 (14 per cent) and it variants were classified, predominantly, as European (87.5 per cent). Conclusions: HPV prevalence in our population was higher than described by others and the most prevalent HPV types were high-risk HPVs. The European HPV-16 variant was the most prevalent among HPV-16 positive samples. Our study reinforces the fact that women with normal cytology and a positive molecular test for high-risk HPVs should be submitted to continuous follow up, in order to verify persistence of infection, promoting an early diagnosis of cervical cancer and/or its precursors

Association of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor polymorphisms with chronic hepatitis C and responses to therapy in Brazil

Soroprevalence for Hepatitis C virus is reported as 2.12% in Northern Brazil, with about 50% of the patients exhibiting a sustained virological response (SVR). Aiming to associate polymorphisms in Killer Cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptors (KIR) with chronic hepatitis C and therapy responses we investigated 125 chronic patients and 345 controls. Additionally, 48 ancestry markers were genotyped to control for population stratification. The frequency of the KIR2DL2 and KIR2DL2+HLA-C Asp80 gene and ligand was higher in chronic infected patients than in controls (p < 0.0009, OR = 3.4; p = 0.001, OR = 3.45). In fact, KIR2DL3 is a weaker inhibitor of NK activity than KIR2DL2, which could explain the association of KIR2DL2 with chronic infection. Moreover, KIR2DS2 and KIR2DS2+HLA-C Asp80 (p < 0.0001, OR = 2.51; p = 0.0084, OR = 2.62) and KIR2DS3 (p < 0.0001; OR = 2.57) were associated with chronic infection, independently from KIR2DL2. No differences in ancestry composition were observed between control and patients, even with respect to therapy response groups. The allelic profile KIR2DL2/KIR2DS2/KIR2DS3 was associated with the chronic hepatitis C (p < 0.0001; OR = 3). Furthermore, the patients also showed a higher mean number of activating genes and a lower frequency of the homozygous AA profile, which is likely secondary to the association with non-AA and/or activating genes. In addition, the KIR2DS5 allele was associated with SVR (p = 0.0261; OR = 0.184).The ancestry analysis of samples ruled out any effects of population substructuring and did not evidence interethnic differences in therapy response, as suggested in previous studies

Carga proviral do HTLV-1 e HTLV-2: um método simples através da PCR quantitativa em tempo real HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 proviral load: a simple method using quantitative real-time PCR

Os vírus linfotrópicos de células T humanas, quando integrados ao genoma da célula hospedeira, provírus, têm como marcador de replicação seu DNA proviral. A carga proviral parece ser um importante fator no desenvolvimento de patologias associadas a estes retrovírus. Neste estudo foi desenvolvida uma metodologia para quantificação absoluta da carga proviral dos HTLV-1 e HTLV-2 através da PCR em tempo real. Cinqüenta e três amostras de doadores de sangue com teste de ELISA reagente foram submetidas à metodologia, que utilizou o sistema TaqMan® para três seqüências alvo: HTLV-1, HTLV-2 e albumina. A quantificação proviral absoluta foi determinada através da proporção relativa entre o genoma do HTLV e o genoma da célula hospedeira, levando em consideração o número de leucócitos. O método apresentado é sensível (215 cópias/mL), prático e simples para quantificação proviral, além de eficiente e adequado para confirmação e discriminação da infecção pelos tipos virais.<br>When the human T cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) is integrated with the host cell genome (provirus), its proviral DNA is a replication marker. Proviral load appears to be an important factor in the development of diseases related to these retroviruses. In this study, a methodology for absolute quantification of the HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 proviral load using real-time PCR was developed. Fifty-three blood donor samples with positive ELISA test result were subjected to this methodology, which utilized the TaqMan® system for three target sequences: HTLV-1, HTLV-2 and albumin. The absolute proviral load was quantified using the relative ratio between the HTLV genome and the host cell genome, taking into consideration the white blood cell count. The method presented is sensitive (215 copies/ml), practical and simple for proviral quantification, and is efficient and appropriate for confirming and discriminating infections according to viral type