Asymptomatic Leishmania infection in blood donors from a major blood bank in Northeastern Brazil: a cross-sectional study

This study has estimated the risk of Leishmania transmission via blood transfusion in one of the largest blood banks in Northeastern Brazil, where visceral leishmaniasis is endemic. Five hundred blood samples from donors were tested for circulating Leishmania spp. DNA by real-time PCR. Positive samples were tested by a species-specific conventional PCR targeting Leishmania infantum . Overall, 6.2% (95% CI: 4.1–8.3%) of the samples carried Leishmania DNA and in one sample the species was confirmed as L. infantum . No statistically significant differences were found in relation to gender, sex, education level, incomeas well as the place of residence between positive and negative blood donors. Our results confirm the presence of asymptomatic Leishmania carriers among blood donors in a large blood bank in Northeastern Brazil. Considering the studied population, we estimate that for every 1,000 blood donors screened, 41 to 83 will be positive for Leishmania DNA. This finding reinforces the urgent need for elaborating specific Blood bank guidelines to allow the early detection of asymptomatic Leishmania carriers among blood donors before their blood products are transfused to uninfected individuals

Influência dos eventos de vida estressores em grupos com predisposição genética para transtorno de humor

Os transtornos de humor estão dentre os transtornos psiquiátricos mais prevalentes, sendo a Depressão Maior, a Distimia e o Transtorno Bipolar os quadros mais freqüentemente diagnosticados e estudados. É um grupo de doenças de grande importância mundial, pois acometem milhões de pessoas em todo o mundo, afetando a qualidade de vida e sendo responsável por elevadas taxas de suicídio. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar o efeito da influência dos eventos de vida estressores (EVEs) e da predisposição genética nos transtornos de humor (Depressão maior, Transtorno afetivo bipolar e Distimia). Foram selecionados 52 pacientes do ambulatório de saúde mental do Hospital das Clínicas, submetidos a dois questionários, para avaliação dos EVEs e do histórico familiar e por último para correlacionar as variáveis foi utilizado o Teste de Spearman. Para fazer uma comparação entre os gêneros, dentro de cada grupo de transtorno foi utilizado o teste de Mann-Whitney e o programa utilizado foi o SPSS. Em todos os grupos a correlação entre o número total dos EVEs e o número total dos episódios se mostrou positiva e a análise feita entre o número de EVEs do primeiro episódio com o risco genético para o grupo de Depressão Maior não se mostrou significativa, porém existiu uma tendência a correlação negativa. Esses resultados preliminares mostraram que existe uma relação entre os EVE s e as três patologias estudadas. No entanto, é preciso mais estudos para melhor esclarecer essa interação entre meio e indivídu

Acute coronary syndrome: Relationship between genetic variants and TIMI risk

Submitted by Ana Maria Fiscina Sampaio ([email protected]) on 2018-12-20T17:02:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Carvalho VC Acute coronary syndrome...2018.pdf: 311171 bytes, checksum: 9342df9a9a9a1db032cd7ded8c8d9386 (MD5)Approved for entry into archive by Ana Maria Fiscina Sampaio ([email protected]) on 2018-12-20T17:15:08Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Carvalho VC Acute coronary syndrome...2018.pdf: 311171 bytes, checksum: 9342df9a9a9a1db032cd7ded8c8d9386 (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-20T17:15:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carvalho VC Acute coronary syndrome...2018.pdf: 311171 bytes, checksum: 9342df9a9a9a1db032cd7ded8c8d9386 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018Proep APQ 1620 4.01/15.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Aggeu Magalhães. Laboratório de Imunologia e Biologia Molecular. Departamento de Imunologia. Recife, PE, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Aggeu Magalhães. Laboratório de Imunologia e Biologia Molecular. Departamento de Imunologia. Recife, PE, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Aggeu Magalhães. Laboratório de Imunologia e Biologia Molecular. Departamento de Imunologia. Recife, PE, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Aggeu Magalhães. Laboratório de Imunologia e Biologia Molecular. Departamento de Imunologia. Recife, PE, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Aggeu Magalhães. Laboratório de Imunologia e Biologia Molecular. Departamento de Imunologia. Recife, PE, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Aggeu Magalhães. Laboratório de Imunologia e Biologia Molecular. Departamento de Imunologia. Recife, PE, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Aggeu Magalhães. Laboratório de Imunologia e Biologia Molecular. Departamento de Imunologia. Recife, PE, Brasil.Real Hospital Português. Real Hospital do Coração. Recife, PE, Brazil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Aggeu Magalhães. Laboratório de Imunologia e Biologia Molecular. Departamento de Imunologia. Recife, PE, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Gonçalo Moniz. Laboratório de Biologia Parasitária. Salvador, BA, Brasil.Universidade de Pernambuco. Faculdade de Ciências Médicas. Recife, PE, Brazil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Aggeu Magalhães. Laboratório de Virologia e Terapia Experimental. Departamento de Virologia. Recife, PE, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Aggeu Magalhães. Laboratório de Imunologia e Biologia Molecular. Departamento de Imunologia. Recife, PE, Brasil.Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) is a multifactorial disease, including the genetic factor, caused by coronary artery obstruction by atheroma. Some genetic variants have been described as risk factors for this disease. Its early diagnosis and stratification of risk of death by Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) are important. Therefore, we evaluated variants in the IL6R (c950-1722C>T), TNFa (c.-488G>A), LEPR (c.2673+1118C>T) and IL1b (c.-598T>C) genes in relation to TIMI risk, cytokine serum levels, and risk factors for ACS. We selected 200 patients with ACS, 50 without ACS from the Real Hospital Português, Recife - PE, and 295 blood donors at the Fundação de Hematologia e Hemoterapia de Pernambuco (Hemope). Variants were determined by DNA sequencing or enzymatic cleavage. Cytokine levels were measured by ELISA. The most frequent risk factors found in the patients were dyslipidemia and hypertension, this latter associated with high TIMI risk (p = 0.003). Genotype frequencies of IL6R and TNFa differed between patients with ACS and the blood donors (p = 0.0002 and p = 0.01, respectively), and TNF-α levels differed between genotypes. The TT genotype of the IL6R gene is as a possible protective factor for ACS because it was significantly more present in blood donors (32.2%) than in patients with ACS (18.0%), and was more frequent in low TIMI risk (22.9%) than in the intermediate (20.2%) or high (4.9%). In patients with ACS, the TT genotype in IL6R was related to a lower concentration of c-reactive protein (p = 0.03) and troponin (p = 0.02), showing a less inflammatory reaction and tissue damage. The differences in the frequencies of variants in genes of medical interest among the groups show the importance of studies in specific populations groups to establish the relationship between genes and diseases

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

The surgical safety checklist and patient outcomes after surgery: a prospective observational cohort study, systematic review and meta-analysis

© 2017 British Journal of Anaesthesia Background: The surgical safety checklist is widely used to improve the quality of perioperative care. However, clinicians continue to debate the clinical effectiveness of this tool. Methods: Prospective analysis of data from the International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS), an international observational study of elective in-patient surgery, accompanied by a systematic review and meta-analysis of published literature. The exposure was surgical safety checklist use. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality and the secondary outcome was postoperative complications. In the ISOS cohort, a multivariable multi-level generalized linear model was used to test associations. To further contextualise these findings, we included the results from the ISOS cohort in a meta-analysis. Results are reported as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals. Results: We included 44 814 patients from 497 hospitals in 27 countries in the ISOS analysis. There were 40 245 (89.8%) patients exposed to the checklist, whilst 7508 (16.8%) sustained ≥1 postoperative complications and 207 (0.5%) died before hospital discharge. Checklist exposure was associated with reduced mortality [odds ratio (OR) 0.49 (0.32–0.77); P\u3c0.01], but no difference in complication rates [OR 1.02 (0.88–1.19); P=0.75]. In a systematic review, we screened 3732 records and identified 11 eligible studies of 453 292 patients including the ISOS cohort. Checklist exposure was associated with both reduced postoperative mortality [OR 0.75 (0.62–0.92); P\u3c0.01; I2=87%] and reduced complication rates [OR 0.73 (0.61–0.88); P\u3c0.01; I2=89%). Conclusions: Patients exposed to a surgical safety checklist experience better postoperative outcomes, but this could simply reflect wider quality of care in hospitals where checklist use is routine