Fast venomic analysis of Crotalus durissus terrificus from northeastern Argentina

The complete knowledge of the toxins that make up venoms is the base for the treatment of snake accidents victims and the selection of specimens for the preparation of venom pools for antivenom production. In this work, we used a fast and direct venomics approach to identify the toxin families in the C.d. terrificus venom, a Southern American Neotropical rattlesnake. The RP-HPLC separation profile of pooled venom from adult specimens followed by mass spectrometry analysis revealed that C.d. terrificus’ venom proteome is composed of 12 protein families, which are unevenly distributed in the venom, e.g., there are few major proteins in the venom's composition phospholipase A2, serine proteinase, crotamine and L-amino acid oxidase. At the same time, the proteome analysis revealed a small set of proteins with low quantity (less than 1.5%), both enzymes (metaloprotease, phospholipase B and 5′-nucleotidase) and proteins (Bradykinin potentiating and C-type natriuretic peptides, C-type lectin convulxin and nerve growth factor). To sum up, this research is the first venomic report of C.d.terrificus venom from Argentina. This proved to be crotamine positive venom that has a lower metalloprotease content than C.d. terrificus venoms from other regions. This information could be used in the discovery of future pharmacological agents or targets in antivenom therapy.Fil: Fusco, Luciano Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Naturales y Agrimensura. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino; ArgentinaFil: Neto, Emidio B.. Governo do Estado de Sao Paulo. Secretaria da Saude. Instituto Butantan; BrasilFil: Francisco, Aleff F.. Instituto de Biociencias; BrasilFil: Alfonso, Jorge. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; BrasilFil: Soares, Andreimar. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; BrasilFil: Pimenta, Daniel C.. Governo do Estado de Sao Paulo. Secretaria da Saude. Instituto Butantan; BrasilFil: Leiva, Laura Cristina Ana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Naturales y Agrimensura. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino; Argentin

Quality of Life of Post-MastectomyWomen Living in a Semi-Arid Region of Brazil

Health is the major reference regarding quality of lifewhen it comes to breast cancer in particular, the loss of a breast traumatically affects a woman's life, reflecting on her quality of life. Recognizing this problem, our aim was to investigate the quality of life of women who live in a semi-arid region of Brazil after breast cancer mastectomy. In this exploratory, transversal and observational study, a Brazilian variantof the shorter version of the original instrument from the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF), applied in the study population, was analyzed and their socio-demographic profile was obtained. The sample was composed of 50 mastectomized women. The 50 included patients comprised women at a mean age of 54 years. Most of them had finished elementary school, and their average income was one Brazilian minimum monthly wage. Regarding the data related to quality of life, the highest score was found in the social relationships domain (4.29) followed by the psychological (4.09) and environmental (3.88) domains. The lowest score observed was for the physical domain (3.48). With these findings we can say that social and psychological parameters are driving factors of the quality of life in post-mastectomy women. Therefore, these results are useful to establish strategies to improve the quality of life of breast cancer mastectomy patients.Fac Med ABC, Lab Anal Clin, Ave Principe Gales 821, BR-09060650 Santo Andre, Brazil|Univ Fed Sao Paulo, UNIFESP, Dept Ciencias Biol, Rua Professos Artur Riedel 275, BR-09972270 Diadema, BrazilFac Med ABC, Lab Epidemiol, Ave Principe Gales 821, BR-09060650 Santo Andre, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, UNIFESP, Dept Ciencias Biol, Rua Professos Artur Riedel 275, BR-09972270 Diadema, BrazilWeb of Scienc