Padrão de resistência antimicrobiana em culturas ambulatoriais de urina em mulheres no sul do Brasil – comunicação breve de um estudo transversal

Objetivo: O aumento da resistência aos antibióticos (AR) é um fenômeno global com variações regionais. Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo descrever a AR em culturas de urina de mulheres oriundas da comunidade em uma cidade sul-brasileira.Métodos: Um estudo de centro único, transversal e retrospectivo em culturas de urina oriundas da comunidade. O principal desfecho foi o perfil de AR de bactérias isoladas de uroculturas ambulatoriais.Resultados: De 4.011 culturas de urina, 524 foram positivas (91% de mulheres). As bactérias mais frequentemente isoladas em mulheres foram Escherichia coli (67,0%) e Klebsiella spp. (19,4%). E. coli apresentou baixa resistência à nitrofurantoína (3,7%), moderada a levofloxacina (15,6%), amoxacilina-clavulonato (16,4%) e ciprofloxacina (17,4%) e alta ao trimetoprim-sulfametoxazol (26,9%) entre mulheres.Conclusões: A nitrofurantoína parece ser a melhor escolha para o tratamento empírico das infecções do trato urinário inferior em mulheres, enquanto as sulfonamidas não são mais uma opção, uma vez que a resistência de E. coli a essa droga é superior a 20%. Palavras-chave: Infecções urinárias. Infecções comunitárias adquiridas. Resistência microbiana a medicamentos. Brasil. Escherichia coli

TLR5-dependent immunogenicity of a recombinant fusion protein containing an immunodominant epitope of malarial circumsporozoite protein and the FliC flagellin of Salmonella Typhimurium

Recently, we described the improved immunogenicity of new malaria vaccine candidates based on the expression of fusion proteins containing immunodominant epitopes of merozoites and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium flagellin (FliC) protein as an innate immune agonist. Here, we tested whether a similar strategy, based on an immunodominant B-cell epitope from malaria sporozoites, could also generate immunogenic fusion polypeptides. A recombinant His6-tagged FliC protein containing the C-terminal repeat regions of the VK210 variant of Plasmodium vivax circumsporozoite (CS) protein was constructed. This recombinant protein was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli as soluble protein and was purified by affinity to Ni-agarose beads followed by ion exchange chromatography. A monoclonal antibody specific for the CS protein of P. vivax sporozoites (VK210) was able to recognise the purified protein. C57BL/6 mice subcutaneously immunised with the recombinant fusion protein in the absence of any conventional adjuvant developed protein-specific systemic antibody responses. However, in mice genetically deficient in expression of TLR5, this immune response was extremely low. These results extend our previous observations concerning the immunogenicity of these recombinant fusion proteins and provide evidence that the main mechanism responsible for this immune activation involves interactions with TLR5, which has not previously been demonstrated for any recombinant FliC fusion protein.FAPESPCNPq - INCTVCoordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES

AVALIAÇÃO DA ATIVIDADE GENOTÓXICA DO ICRF-187 ATRAVÉS DE TESTE SMART EM Drosophila melanogaster - ESTUDO PILOTO

O presente trabalho procurou avaliar a toxicidade genética do medicamento Cardioxane® (ICRF-187) através do Teste para a detecção de Mutação e Recombinação (SMART) em células somáticas deDrosophila melanogaster. Dados preliminares, obtidos em um teste piloto, indicaram que: (i) a taxa desobrevivência em cinco das sete concentrações utilizadas (5; 2,5; 1,25; 0,6; 0,3 mM) foi de 0% enquantoque nas concentrações de 0,01 e 0,005 mM este valor foi de 96 e 93%, respectivamente, e (ii) apenas naconcentração de 0,01 mM o ICRF-187 mostrou-se capaz de induzir danos genéticos tanto no cruzamentopadrão, quanto no cruzamento aprimorado, que apresenta altos níveis constitutivos de enzimas demetabolização. Estes resultados, ainda que preliminares, apontam para um risco associado ao uso destemedicamento em pacientes sob tratamento quimioterápico.Palavras-chave: ICRF-187, genotoxicidade, Drosophila melanogaster, recombinação, topoisomerase

Predictors of the risk of falls among elderly with chronic atrial fibrillation

OBJECTIVES: Though elderly persons with chronic atrial fibrillation have more comorbidities that could limit indications for the chronic use of anticoagulants, few studies have focused on the risk of falls within this particular group. To evaluate the predictors of the risk of falls among elderly with chronic atrial fibrillation, a cross-sectional, observational study was performed. METHODS: From 295 consecutive patients aged 60 years or older with a history of atrial fibrillation who were enrolled within the last 2 years in the cardiogeriatrics outpatient clinic of the Instituto do Coracao do Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo, 107 took part in this study. Their age was 77.9 +/- 6.4 years, and 62 were female. They were divided into two groups: a) no history of falls in the previous year and b) a history of one or more falls in the previous year. Data regarding the history of falls and social, demographic, anthropometric, and clinical information were collected. Multidimensional assessment instruments and questionnaires were applied. RESULTS: At least one fall was reported in 55 patients (51.4%). Among them, 27 (49.1%) presented recurrent falls, with body lesions in 90.4% and fractures in 9.1% of the cases. Multivariate logistic regression showed that self-reported difficulty maintaining balance, use of amiodarone, and diabetes were independent variables associated with the risk of falls, with a sensitivity of 92.9% and a specificity of 44.9%. CONCLUSION: In a group of elderly patients with chronic atrial fibrillation who were relatively independent and able to attend an outpatient clinic, the occurrence of falls with recurrence and clinical consequences was high. Difficulty maintaining balance, the use of amiodarone and a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus were independent predictors of the risk for falls. Thus, simple clinical data predicted falls better than objective functional tests

Scent-marking and maintenance behaviour of captive red brocket males (Mazama rufa) kept eight hours in a new environment: Marcação de odor e comportamento de manutenção de machos veado-mateiros (Mazama rufa) mantidos oito horas em um novo ambiente

Wild animals in captivity are often transferred to other facilities when cleaning or maintenance of the facilities where they live is carried out. The aim of this study was to assess the behavioural response of five red brocket males (Mazama rufa) after being moved to a new environment. The animals are kept in individual stalls, being eventually moved to an unfamiliar stall, previously occupied by other individuals. The latencies and frequencies of scent-marking and maintenance behaviours were recorded for eight hours after moving each animal to the new stall. Licking behaviour was the behaviour most frequently displayed (20 to 62 times), with latencies ranging from 0,02 to 12,17min. It was followed by urinating/defecating with a frequency of 24 to 56 times (latency 2,13-46 min) and flehmen, with a frequency of 11 to 24 times (latency 0,1-21,08 min). Rubbing was observed in only two deer. The Pearson´s correlation coefficients showed a positive association between flehmen and licking latencies and urinating/defecating and sleeping latencies (P<0,05, for both). It also showed that flehmen and urinating/defecating frequencies are inversely related (P<0,05). The behaviour of M. rufa males after being moved to an unfamiliar stall were characterized by common exploratory and scent-marking behaviours

Comparison of methods to estimate lake-surface-water temperature using Landsat 7 ETM+ and MODIS imagery : case study of a large shallow subtropical lake in southern Brazil

Water temperature regulates many processes in lakes; therefore, evaluating it is essential to understand its ecological status and functioning, and to comprehend the impact of climate change. Although few studies assessed the accuracy of individual sensors in estimating lake-surface-water temperature (LSWT), comparative analysis considering different sensors is still needed. This study evaluated the performance of two thermal sensors, MODIS and Landsat 7 ETM+, and used Landsat methods to estimate the SWT of a large subtropical lake. MODIS products MOD11 LST and MOD28 SST were used for comparison. For the Landsat images, the radiative transfer equation (RTE), using NASA’s Atmospheric Correction Parameter Calculator (AtmCorr) parameters, was compared with the single-channel algorithm in different approaches. Our results showed that MOD11 obtained the highest accuracy (RMSE of 1.05 C), and is the recommended product for LSWT studies. For Landsat-derived SWT, AtmCorr obtained the highest accuracy (RMSE of 1.07 C) and is the recommended method for small lakes. Sensitivity analysis showed that Landsat-derived LSWT using the RTE is very sensitive to atmospheric parameters and emissivity. A discussion of the main error sources was conducted. We recommend that similar tests be applied for Landsat imagery on different lakes, further studies on algorithms to correct the cool-skin effect in inland waters, and tests of different emissivity values to verify if it can compensate for this effect, in an effort to improve the accuracy of these estimates

Occupational exposure of workers to pesticides: Toxicogenetics and susceptibility gene polymorphisms

Farm workers are often exposed to pesticides, which are products belonging to a specific chemical group that affects the health of agricultural workers and is mostly recognized as genotoxic and carcinogenic. The exposure of workers from Piauí, Brazil, to these hazardous chemicals was assessed and cytogenetic alterations were evaluated using the buccal micronucleus assay, hematological and lipid parameters, butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activity and genetic polymorphisms of enzymes involved in the metabolism of pesticides, such as PON1, as well as of the DNA repair system (OGG1, XRCC1 and XRCC4). Two groups of farm workers exposed to different types of pesticides were evaluated and compared to matched non-exposed control groups. A significant increase was observed in the frequencies of micronuclei, kariorrhexis, karyolysis and binucleated cells in the exposed groups (n = 100) compared to controls (n = 100). No differences were detected regarding the hematological parameters, lipid profile and BChE activity. No significant difference was observed either regarding DNA damage or nuclear fragmentation when specific metabolizing and DNA repair genotypes were investigated in the exposed groups