Analysis of R213R and 13494 g→a polymorphisms of the p53 gene in individuals with esophagitis, intestinal metaplasia of the cardia and Barrett’s Esophagus compared with a control group

Protein p53 is the tumor suppressor involved in cell cycle control and apoptosis. There are several polymorphisms reported for p53 which can affect important regions involved in protein tumor suppressor activity. Amongst the polymorphisms described, R213R and 13949 g→a are rarely studied, with an estimate frequency not yet available for the Brazilian population. The purpose of this study was to investigate the genotype and allele frequencies and associations of these polymorphisms in a group of patients with altered esophageal tissue from South Brazil and compare with the frequency observed for a control population. A total of 35 patients for R213R and 45 for 13494 g→a polymorphisms analysis with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms diagnosed by upper digestive endoscopy and confirmed by biopsy were studied. For both groups, 100 controls were used for comparison. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) was also analyzed for a selected group of patients where normal and affected tissue was available. There was one patient with Barrett’s Esophagus (BE) showing LOH for R213R out of two heterozygous samples analyzed and two patients (esophagitis and BE) for 13494 g→a polymorphism. We also aimed to build a haplotype for both polymorphisms collectively analyzed with R27P polymorphism, previously reported by our group. There were no significant differences in allele and genotype distribution between patients and controls. Although using esophagitis, intestinal metaplasia of the cardia and BE samples, all non-neoplastic lesions, we can conclude that these sites do not represent genetic susceptibility markers for the development and early progression of GERD to BE and esophageal cancer. Additional studies are required in order to investigate other determiners of early premalignant lesions known to predispose to esophageal cancer

Avaliação do perfil de mulheres atendidas em centros de referência em saúde de Porto Alegre/RS e relação de alterações citológicas detectadas no exame citopatológico e a presença do HPV

Justificativas e Objetivos: Câncer de colo de útero é considerado um problema de saúde pública mundial. Seu diagnóstico é realizado através do exame citopatológico (EC) e seu desenvolvimento relacionado à infecção pelo papilomavírus humano (HPV). Este estudo objetiva avaliar o perfil de mulheres atendidas em centros de referência em saúde de Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, assim como a relação de alterações observadas ao EC com presença do HPV. Métodos: Estudo transversal realizado em mulheres atendidas em unidades básicas de saúde e um ambulatório de referência de hospital público terciário, no período de julho de 2014 a janeiro de 2017. Coletaram-se amostras representativas da endo/ectocérvice para realização do EC e investigadas quanto à presença molecular do HPV. Resultados: Foram analisadas 169 mulheres com idade média entre 31 e 40 anos, das quais 125 (74%) informaram que a sexarca ocorreu na faixa de 15-20 anos e 37,9% relatou ter tido de três a cinco parceiros sexuais. Em relação ao EC, 71 (42%) apresentaram resultado negativo para lesão intraepitelial ou malignidade e 98 (58%) alguma anormalidade de células escamosas: 20 (11,8%) atipias; 22 (13%) lesão intraepitelial escamosa de baixo grau e 56 (32,6%) lesão intraepitelial de alto grau (HSIL). Cinquenta (29,6%) apresentaram positividade para HPV, destas 56,4% foram diagnosticadas com HSIL (

Detection of human bocavirus and human metapneumovirus by real-time PCR from patients with respiratory symptoms in Southern Brazil

The introduction of newer molecular methods has led to the discovery of new respiratory viruses, such as human metapneumovirus (hMPV) and human bocavirus (hBoV), in respiratory tract specimens. We have studied the occurrence of hMPV and hBoV in the Porto Alegre (PA) metropolitan area, one of the southernmost cities of Brazil, evaluating children with suspected lower respiratory tract infection from May 2007-June 2008. A real-time polymerase chain reaction method was used for amplification and detection of hMPV and hBoV and to evaluate coinfections with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza A and B, parainfluenza 1, 2 and 3, human rhinovirus and human adenovirus. Of the 455 nasopharyngeal aspirates tested, hMPV was detected in 14.5% of samples and hBoV in 13.2%. A unique causative viral agent was identified in 46.2% samples and the coinfection rate was 43.7%. For hBoV, 98.3% of all positive samples were from patients with mixed infections. Similarly, 84.8% of all hMPV-positive results were also observed in mixed infections. Both hBoV and hMPV usually appeared with RSV. In summary, this is the first confirmation that hMPV and hBoV circulate in PA; this provides evidence of frequent involvement of both viruses in children with clinical signs of acute viral respiratory tract infection, although they mainly appeared as coinfection agents