46 research outputs found
Proteins selected in Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis by an immunoproteomic approach with potential serodiagnosis applications for tegumentary leishmaniasis
The serodiagnosis of human tegumentary leishmaniasis (TL) presents some problems, such as the low level of antileishmanial antibodies found in most of the patients, as well as the cross-reactivity in subjects infected by other trypanosomatids. In the present study, an immunoproteomic approach was performed aimed at identification of antigens in total extracts of stationaryphase promastigote and amastigote-like forms of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis using sera from TL patients. With the purpose of reducing the cross-reactivity of the identified proteins, spots recognized by sera from TL patients, as well as those recognized by antibodies present in sera from noninfected patients living in areas where TL is endemic and sera from Chagas disease patients, were discarded. Two Leishmania hypothetical proteins and 18 proteins with known functions were identified as antigenic. The study was extended with some of them to validate the results of the immunoscreening. The coding regions of five of the characterized antigens (enolase, tryparedoxin peroxidase, eukaryotic initiation factor 5a, β-tubulin, and one of the hypothetical proteins) were cloned in a prokaryotic expression vector, and the corresponding recombinant proteins were purified and evaluated for the serodiagnosis of TL. The antigens presented sensitivity and specificity values ranging from 95.4 to 100% and 82.5 to 100%, respectively. As a comparative antigen, a preparation of Leishmania extract showed sensitivity and specificity values of 65.1 and 57.5%, respectively. The present study has enabled the identification of proteins able to be employed for the serodiagnosis of TLThis work was supported by grants from Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Nano-biofarmacêutica (INCT-Nanobiofar), FAPEMIG (CBB-APQ-00496-11 and CBB-APQ-00819-12), and CNPq (APQ- 472090/2011-9, APQ-482976/2012-8, and APQ-488237/2013-0). In addition, this study was partially funded in Madrid by a Spanish grant from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad-FEDER (FISPI14/00366 from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III). M.A.C.F. is a grant recipient of FAPEMIG/CAPES. E.A.F.C., A.P.F., and M.O.C.R. are recipients of grants from CNP
Sensitive and specific serodiagnosis of Leishmania infantum infection in dogs by using peptides selected from hypothetical proteins identified by an immunoproteomic approach
In Brazil, the percentage of infected dogs living in areas where canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) is endemic ranges from 10 to
62%; however, the prevalence of infection in dogs is probably higher than figures reported from serological studies. In addition,
problems with the occurrence of false-positive or false-negative results in the serodiagnosis of CVL have been reported. The
present work analyzed the potential of synthetic peptides mapped from hypothetical proteins for improvement of the serodiagnosis
of Leishmania infantum infection in dogs. From 26 identified leishmanial proteins, eight were selected, considering that no
homologies between these proteins and others from trypanosomatide sequence databases were encountered. The sequences of
these proteins were mapped to identify linear B-cell epitopes, and 17 peptides were synthesized and tested in enzyme-linked immunosorbent
assays (ELISAs) for the serodiagnosis of L. infantum infection in dogs. Of these, three exhibited sensitivity and
specificity values higher than 75% and 90%, respectively, to differentiate L. infantum-infected animals from Trypanosoma cruziinfected
animals and healthy animals. Soluble Leishmania antigen (SLA) showed poor sensitivity (4%) and specificity (36%) to
differentiate L. infantum-infected dogs from healthy and T. cruzi-infected dogs. Lastly, the three selected peptides were combined
in different mixtures and higher sensitivity and specificity values were obtained, even when sera from T. cruzi-infected
dogs were used. The study’s findings suggest that these three peptides can constitute a potential tool for more sensitive and specific
serodiagnosis of L. infantum infection in dogsThis work was supported by grants from the Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa
from UFMG (Edital 07/2012), Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia
em Nano-biofarmacêutica (INCT-NANOBIOFAR, Fundação de Amparo
à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) (CBB-APQ-02364-08,
CBB-APQ-00356-10, CBB-APQ-00496-11, and CBB-APQ-00819-12),
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
(CNPq) (APQ-472090/2011-9), and the Instituto Nacional de Ciência e
Tecnologia em Vacinas (INCT-V). E.A.F.C. and A.P.F. are CNPq grant
recipients. M.A.C.-F. is a FAPEMIG/CAPES grant recipient. This study
was supported in Spain, in part, by grants from the Ministerio de Ciencia
e Innovación (FIS/PI1100095)
Effects of orofacial myofunctional therapy on masticatory function in individuals submitted to orthognathic surgery: a randomized trial
Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences
The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported
by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on
18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based
researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016
Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research
Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4
While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge
of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In
the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of
Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus
crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced
environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian
Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by
2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status,
much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial
Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials.
Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure.
Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen.
Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049