First report of the <i>in vitro</i> antileishmanial properties of extremophile plants from the Algarve Coast

<p>This work reports for the first time the <i>in vitro</i> anti <i>Leishmania infantum</i> activity of acetone and dichloromethane (DCM) extracts from 25 extremophile plants from Southern Portugal. DCM extracts from <i>Inula chritmoides</i> and <i>Spergularia rubra</i> were active against axenic promastigotes and intracellular amastigotes, had anti-inflammatory properties on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages, inhibited acetylcholinesterase and had no haemolytic activity on human erythrocytes. Eleven phenolics were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (HPLC-DAD) in <i>I. crithmoides</i> and one phenolic in <i>S. rubra</i>. Isolation and identification of the active molecules is in progress.</p

Comparison of diagnostic performance of RT-qPCR, RT-LAMP and IgM/IgG rapid tests for detection of SARS-CoV-2 among healthcare workers in Brazil

Background: COVID-19 has become a major public health problem after the outbreak caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus. Great efforts to contain COVID-19 transmission have been applied worldwide. In this context, accurate and fast diagnosis is essential. Methods: In this prospective study, we evaluated the clinical performance of three different RNA-based molecular tests – RT-qPCR (Charité protocol), RT-qPCR (CDC (USA) protocol) and RT-LAMP – and one rapid test for detecting anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG antibodies. Results: Our results demonstrate that RT-qPCR using the CDC (USA) protocol is the most accurate diagnostic test among those evaluated, while oro-nasopharyngeal swabs are the most appropriate biological sample. RT-LAMP was the RNA-based molecular test with lowest sensitivity while the serological test presented the lowest sensitivity among all evaluated tests, indicating that the latter test is not a good predictor of disease in the first days after symptoms onset. Additionally, we observed higher viral load in individuals who reported more than 3 symptoms at the baseline. Nevertheless, viral load had not impacted the probability of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2. Conclusion: Our data indicates that RT-qPCR using the CDC (USA) protocol in oro-nasopharyngeal swabs samples should be the method of choice to diagnosis COVID-19