Adequação da técnica da PCR para diagnóstico de infecção de Mansonella ozzardi

Introduction: Mansonelliasis is caused by Mansonella ozzardi. It is widespread in the Amazon region, with a high prevalence. Te common exam of thick blood smears stained with Giemsa shows low efficacy levels and has been an obstacle to diagnosing individuals with low blood parasitemia. Methods: In order to increase diagnosis efcacy, the PCR technique was improved. Results and Conclusions: PCR demonstrated the best performance, with sensitivity and negative predictive values (NPV) of 100%, followed by blood fltration through membrane filters, which showed a sensitivity of 88.9% and a NPV of 84.6%, when compared to thick blood smears

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Efeito do transporte no desenvolvimento de embriões bovinos cultivados in vitro a fresco ou reaquecidos após vitrificação

Avaliou-se a viabilidade de embriões bovinos cultivados in vitro, a fresco ou reaquecidos após vitrificação, depois de transportados por 6 ou 12 horas. Oócitos obtidos de folículos de ovários coletados em matadouro foram maturados, fecundados e cultivados in vitro. Após sete dias de cultivo, blastocistos com grau de qualidade I e II (segundo o manual da IETS-1998) foram selecionados, envasados em OPS (open pulled straws) e vitrificados em nitrogênio líquido. O reaquecimento foi realizado a 39ºC pela passagem em soluções de HM com concentrações decrescentes de sacarose (0,25M - 0,15M) por cinco minutos em cada solução. Foram avaliados três tratamentos - V0: embriões vitrificados, reaquecidos e cultivados in vitro (n=25); V6: embriões vitrificados, transportados por 6 horas (simulação em palhetas), reaquecidos e cultivados in vitro (n=29); e V12: embriões vitrificados, transportados por 12 horas, reaquecidos e cultivados in vitro - comparados, cada um, a um tratamento controle, com embriões a fresco-C0: embriões a fresco cultivados in vitro (n=26); C6: embriões a fresco cultivados in vitro após 6 horas de transporte (n=30); e C12: embriões a fresco cultivados in vitro após 12 horas de transporte (n=30). Os embriões foram co-cultivados com células da granulosa em microgotas de TCM 199 acrescido de SFB. Foram avaliadas as taxas de re-expansão e eclosão após 48 horas de cultivo. A análise foi realizada pelo teste do qui-quadrado. As taxas de re-expansão entre os grupos V0, V6 e V12 não diferiram, assim como as taxas de eclosão entre os embriões vitrificados e os controles. As taxas de eclosão, no entanto, diferiram entre os embriões submetidos à vitrificação e os controles. Embriões bovinos produzidos in vitro podem ser transportados a fresco ou vitrificados por períodos de até 12 horas, pois possibilitam taxas de eclosão satisfatórias

Mapping the Silent Threat: A Comprehensive Analysis of Chagas Disease Occurrence in Riverside Communities in the Western Amazon

Chagas disease (CD) is a typical tropical illness caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of Chagas disease in communities in two states of the Brazilian Amazon. Data collection occurred in July in the Alto Juruá region of Acre and in December in the communities of Humaitá, Amazonas, in 2019. A total of 477 participants were included in the study. In the communities of Alto Juruá, triatomine collections and analyses of T. cruzi infection were also carried out. All confirmed cases were found in the state of Acre, resulting in a total prevalence of 1.67. Of these eight cases, seven underwent ECG, all of which were concluded as normal by the physician team’s cardiologists. Seventeen triatomine bugs, all belonging to the Rhodnius genus, were captured. The natural infection rate by T. cruzi was 25% in the Nova Cintra community and 66.67% in the Boca do Moa community (Alto Juruá). This research found that more than 1% of the studied population exhibited positive serological results for Chagas disease in the riverine communities during the study period, representing a small portion of cases among those who have not yet been diagnosed

miR-18a-5p Is Involved in the Developmental Origin of Prostate Cancer in Maternally Malnourished Offspring Rats: A DOHaD Approach

The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) concept correlates early life exposure to stressor conditions with the increased incidence of non-communicable chronic diseases, including prostate cancer (PCa), throughout the life span. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in this process remain poorly understood. In this study, the deregulation of two miRNAs (rno-miR-18a-5p and rno-miR-345-3p) was described in the ventral prostate VP of old rats born to dams fed with a low protein diet (LPD) (6% protein in the diet) during gestational and lactational periods. Integrative analysis of the (VP) transcriptomic and proteomic data revealed changes in the expression profile of 14 identified predicted targets of these two DE miRNAs, which enriched terms related to post-translational protein modification, metabolism of proteins, protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum, phosphonate and phosphinate metabolism, the calnexin/calreticulin cycle, metabolic pathways, N-glycan trimming in the ER and the calnexin/calreticulin cycle, hedgehog ligand biogenesis, the ER-phagosome pathway, detoxification of reactive oxygen species, antigenprocessing-cross presentation, RAB geranylgeranylation, collagen formation, glutathione metabolism, the metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450, and platinum drug resistance. RT-qPCR validated the deregulation of the miR-18a-5p/P4HB (prolyl 4-hydroxylase subunit beta) network in the VP of older offspring as well as in the PNT-2 cells transfected with mimic miR-18a-5p. Functional in vitro studies revealed a potential modulation of estrogen receptor α (ESR1) by miR-18a-5p in PNT-2 cells, which was also confirmed in the VP of older offspring. An imbalance of the testosterone/estrogen ratio was also observed in the offspring rats born to dams fed with an LPD. In conclusion, deregulation of the miR-18a-5p/P4HB network can contribute to the developmental origins of prostate cancer in maternally malnourished offspring, highlighting the need for improving maternal healthcare during critical windows of vulnerability early in life