Identification of the major active ingredients in illegal pesticide seized by Brazilian Federal Police and quantification of metsulfuron-methyl and tebuconazole

A compilação de relatórios forenses de agrotóxicos, objetos de apreensões pela Polícia Federal no Brasil, mostrou que metsulfurom-metílico, imidacloprido, fipronil, tebuconazol, clorimurom-etílico e glifosato são os principais ingredientes ativos (IA) importados ilegalmente. Apesar destes IA não estarem entre os agrotóxicos mais comercializados no país, o alto preço das formulações correspondentes legalmente registradas pode estimular esta atividade ilegal. Com base neste estudo, amostras de agrotóxicos contrabandeados apreendidos contendo tebuconazol e metsulfurom-metílico foram analisadas quantitativamente utilizando cromatografia a gás e líquida, respectivamente. Tebuconazol, em apresentações líquidas e sólidas, apresentou concentrações concordantes com as informações dos rótulos, enquanto que a maioria das amostras de metsulfurom-metílico, rotuladas como 600 g kg-1, apresentaram concentrações mais baixas nas análises químicas (média de 337,0 g kg-1 + 2,0).The compilation of forensic reports from pesticides seized by the Federal Police in Brazil showed that metsulfuron-methyl, imidacloprid, fipronil, tebuconazole, clorimuron-ether and glyphosate were the dominant active ingredients (AI) illegally imported. Despite these AI were not among the most traded pesticides in Brazil, high prices of corresponding legal formulations may stimulate this illegal activity. Based on this study, smuggled pesticides containing tebuconazole and metsulfuron-methyl were seized and quantitatively analyzed using gas and liquid chromatography, respectively. Tebuconazole results, in liquid and solid presentations, were in accordance with the information on the label, while most metsulfuron-methyl samples, labeled as 600 g kg-1, showed lower concentrations in chemical analysis (mean of 337.0 g kg-1 + 2.0)

An overview of cancer/testis antigens expression in classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (cHL) identifies MAGE-A family and MAGE-C1 as the most frequently expressed antigens in a set of Brazilian cHL patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cancer/testis antigens are considered potential targets for immunotherapy due to their tumor-associated expression pattern. Although recent studies have demonstrated high expression of CT45 in classical Hodgkin's lymphomas (cHL), less is known about the expression pattern of other families of CTAs in cHL. We aim to evaluate the expression of MAGE-A family, MAGE-C1/CT7, MAGE-C2/CT10, NY-ESO1 and GAGE family in cHL and to correlate their expression with clinical and prognostic factors in cHL.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Tissue microarray was generated from 38 cHL archival cases from Pathology Department of Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was done using the following panel of antibodies: MAGE-A family (MA454, M3H67, 57B and 6C1), GAGE (#26), NY-ESO-1 (E978), MAGE-C1/CT7 (CT7-33) and MAGE-C2/CT10 (CT10#5).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found CTA expression in 21.1% of our cHL series. Among the tested CTAs, only MAGE-A family 7/38 (18.4%) and MAGE-C1/CT7 5/38 (13.2%) were positive in our cHL samples. We found higher CTA positivity in advanced stage (28.6%) compared to early stage (11.8%) disease, but this difference was not statistically significant. Analysis of other clinicopathological subgroups of cHL including histological subtypes, EBV status and response to treatment also did not demonstrate statistical significant differences in CTA expression.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We found CTA expression in 21.1% of cHL samples using our panel. Our preliminary findings suggest that from all CTAs included in this study, MAGE-A family and MAGE-C1/CT7 are the most interesting ones to be explored in further studies.</p

USE OF THE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF ASYMPTOMATIC Leishmania INFECTION IN A VISCERAL LEISHMANIASIS-ENDEMIC AREA

The diagnosis of asymptomatic infection with Leishmania (Leishmania) chagasi has become more important over recent years. Expansion of visceral leishmaniasis might be associated with other routes of transmission such as transfusion, congenital or even vector transmission, and subjects with asymptomatic infection are potential reservoirs. Moreover, the identification of infection may contribute to the management of patients with immunosuppressive conditions (HIV, transplants, use of immunomodulators) and to the assessment of the effectiveness of control measures. In this study, 149 subjects living in a visceral leishmaniasis endemic area were evaluated clinically and submitted to genus-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR), serological testing, and the Montenegro skin test. Forty-nine (32.9%) of the subjects had a positive PCR result and none of them developed the disease within a follow-up period of three years. No association was observed between the results of PCR, serological and skin tests. A positive PCR result in subjects from the endemic area did not indicate a risk of progression to visceral leishmaniasis and was not associated with a positive result in the serological tests