Maternal mortality at a tertiary health care: a retrospective study

Background: Maternal mortality is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy irrespective of the duration and site of pregnancy from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy, but not from accidental or incidental causes. The aim of this study is to find out the causes of maternal mortality and the complications leading to maternal death.Methods: A retrospective study was conducted by reviewing the hospital records to study the maternal deaths and complication leading to maternal death over the period of one year from July 2016 June 2017 in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bundelkhand Medical College, and associated hospital Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. All the maternal deaths were scrutinized for various aspects likely to be related to death such as age, locality of residence, antenatal care, admission death interval and the cause of death.Results: The maternal mortality ratio in the present study is 292.33/100,000 live births. There were 28 maternal deaths out of 9578 live birth during the study period. The majority of deaths occurred in the 20-30 age group. hemorrhage (32.14%) and hypertensive disorders (14.28%) are two most common direct cause of maternal deaths. 42.85% of maternal deaths occurred within the first twenty-four hours of admission. Post-operative and post abortal sepsis, amniotic fluid embolism and pulmonary embolism are other direct causes. Indirect causes of maternal deaths account for 21.42%. Severe anemia was the leading indirect causes of maternal deaths.Conclusions: Hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, and anaemia remain the major cause of maternal deaths. Delay in decision making, provision of treatment and referral to tertiary centre contributed higher maternal mortality. This requires more efforts to recognize the direct and indirect causes of maternal deaths

Are nanobiosensors an improved solution for diagnosis of Leishmania?

Leishmaniasis is one of the deadliest neglected tropical diseases affecting 1215 million people worldwide, especially in middle- and low-income countries. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of the disease is important for its adequate management and treatment. Several techniques are available for the diagnosis of leishmaniasis. Among these, parasitological and immunological tests are most widely used. However, in most cases, the utilized diagnostic techniques are not good enough, showing cross-reactivity and reduced accuracy. In recent years, many new methods have been reported with potential for improved diagnosis. This review focuses on the diagnosis of Leishmania exploring the biosensors and nanotechnology-based options for their detection. New developments including the use of nanomaterials as fluorophores, fluorescence quenchers as reducing agents and as dendrimers for signal improvement and amplification, together with the use of aptamers to replace antibodies are described. Future research opportunities to overcome the current limitations on the available diagnostic approaches are also discussed.This work was supported by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) (2010/17.721-4), Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) through the projects M-ERA-NET/0004/2015 (PAIRED) and UIDB/04469/2020 (strategic fund) funded by national funds, and co-financed Educa tion (FCT/MEC) from national funds and FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT202info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Biosurfactants: properties and applications in drug delivery, biotechnology and ecotoxicology

Surfactants are amphiphilic compounds having hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties in their structure. They can be of synthetic or of microbial origin, obtained respectively from chemical synthesis or from microorganisms activity. A new generation of ecofriendly surfactant molecules or biobased surfactants is increasingly growing, attributed to their versatility of applications. Surfactants can be used as drug delivery systems for a range of molecules given their capacity to create micelles which can promote the encapsulation of bioactives of pharmaceutical interest; besides, these assemblies can also show antimicrobial properties. The advantages of biosurfactants include their high biodegradability profile, low risk of toxicity, production from renewable sources, functionality under extreme pH and temperature conditions, and long-term physicochemical stability. The application potential of these types of polymers is related to their properties enabling them to be processed by emulsification, separation, solubilization, surface (interfacial) tension, and adsorption for the production of a range of drug delivery systems. Biosurfactants have been employed as a drug delivery system to improve the bioavailability of a good number of drugs that exhibit low aqueous solubility. The great potential of these molecules is related to their auto assembly and emulsification capacity. Biosurfactants produced from bacteria are of particular interest due to their antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties with therapeutic and biomedical potential. In this review, we discuss recent advances and perspectives of biosurfactants with antimicrobial properties and how they can be used as structures to develop semisolid hydrogels for drug delivery, in environmental bioremediation, in biotechnology for the reduction of production costs and also their ecotoxicological impact as pesticide alternative.This work was supported by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT/MCT) and from European Funds (PRODER/COMPETE) through the grants M-ERA-NET/0004/2015 (PAIRED), UIDB/04469/2020 (strategic fund), and UIDB/04033/2020 (CITAB), cofinanced by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT2020. T. Pashirova acknowledges the financial support received from the government assignment for FRC Kazan Scientific Center of Russian Academy of Sciences.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Exploring innovative Leishmaniasis treatment: drug targets from pre-clinical to clinical findings

Leishmaniasis is a group of tropical diseases caused by parasitic protozoa belonging to the genus Leishmania. The disease is categorized in cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), mucocutaneous leishmaniasis (MCL), and visceral leishmaniasis (VL). The conventional treatment is complex and can present high toxicity and therapeutic failures. Thus, there is a continuing need to develop new treatments. In this review, we focus on the novel molecules described in the literature with potential leishmanicidal activity, categorizing them in pre-clinical (invitro, invivo), drug repurposing and clinical research.This research was funded by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico for the Scientific grants (CNPq 301964/2019-0 Chamada No. 06/2019, Chamada CNPq No. 01/2019) and Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation, Ministry of Science and Education (FCT/MEC) through the sponsorship of the project M-ERA-NET-0004/2015-PAIRED (strategic fund), co-financed by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT2020. We would like to thank Tiago Branquinho Oliveira for the help provided in drawing Figure 3.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Risk of local extinction and genetic diversity of Melipona quadrifasciata (Apidae: Meliponini) in a possible Northeastern limit of its distribution in Brazil

Rapid loss of genetic diversity among eusocial bees, and extinction of their local population has become a major world concern. Populations of M. quadrifasciata have increasingly declined due to predatory extractivism and destruction of their habitat. Knowledge of their local population could give insights on the strategies for monitoring and conservation of this species. In this study, initially, 14 colonies (140 workers) from the Northern limit of the Northeastern sandbank of the Atlantic Forest were analyzed employing geometric morphometrics techniques. Then the cytochrome b gene sequences and ISSR primers were utilized for molecular analysis. The results were compared with the results of 30 M. quadrifasciata colonies (300 workers) found in the semiarid Caatinga region. The morphometrics and the molecular analysis suggested the formation of disjunct populations between the studied geographical zones. All the 14 colonies analyzed from the river São Francisco region were found on the Southern margin of the river São Francisco and they all belonged to one single haplotype. No colonies were found on the Northern bank of the river. We suggest that the river São Francisco is an effective georgraphical barrier for the distribution of this species and propose an urgent need for the development of a conservation program for the population of M. quadrifasciata as it represents a unique haplotype in the region. Also their nesting habit exclusively in the diseased coconut trees which probably will be replaced by new trees, create the risk of population extinction due to the lack of nesting site

High prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in oral mucosal lesions of patients at the Ambulatory of Oral Diagnosis of the Federal University of Sergipe, Northeastern Brazil

The role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in oral carcinogenesis is still controversial as detection rates of the virus in oral cavity reported in the literature varies greatly. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of HPV infection and its genotypes in patients with oral lesions at the Ambulatory of Oral Diagnosis of the Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil. Material and Methods We conducted a molecular study with 21 patients (15 females) aged from two to 83 years with clinically detectable oral lesions. Samples were collected through exfoliation of lesions and HPV-DNA was identified using MY09/11 and GP5+/6+ primers. Genotyping was performed by multiplex PCR. Results Benign, premalignant and malignant lesions were diagnosed by histopathology. HPV was detected in 17 samples. Of these, HPV-6 was detected in 10 samples, HPV-18 in four and HPV-16 in one sample. When samples were categorized by lesion types, HPV was detected in two papilloma cases (2/3), five carcinomas (5/6), one hyperplasia (1/1) and nine dysplasia cases (9/11). Conclusion Unlike other studies in the literature, we reported high occurrence of HPV in oral lesions. Further studies are required to enhance the comprehension of natural history of oral lesions

β-cyclodextrin/isopentyl caffeate inclusion complex: synthesis, characterization and antileishmanial activity

Isopentyl caffeate (ICaf) is a bioactive ester widely distributed in nature. Our patented work has shown promising results of this molecule against Leishmania. However, ICaf shows poor solubility, which limits its usage in clinical settings. In this work, we have proposed the development of an inclusion complex of ICaf in -cyclodextrin (-CD), with the aim to improve the drug solubility, and thus, its bioavailability. The inclusion complex (ICaf:-CD) was developed applying three distinct methods, i.e., physical mixture (PM), kneading (KN) or co-evaporation (CO) in different molar proportions (0.25:1, 1:1 and 2:1). Characterization of the complexes was carried out by thermal analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and molecular docking. The ICaf:-CD complex in a molar ratio of 1:1 obtained by CO showed the best complexation and, therefore, was selected for further analysis. Solubility assay showed a marked improvement in the ICaf:-CD (CO, 1:1) solubility profile when compared to the pure ICaf compound. Cell proliferation assay using ICaf:-CD complex showed an IC50 of 3.8 and 2.7 µg/mL against L. amazonesis and L. chagasi promastigotes, respectively. These results demonstrate the great potential of the inclusion complex to improve the treatment options for visceral and cutaneous leishmaniases.This research was funded by Banco do Nordeste (grant FUNDECI/2016.0015), Coordenação Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES) and Fundação de Ámparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Sergipe (FAPITEC) (PROCESSO: 88887.159533/2017-00 extração, encapsulação e caracterização de bioativos para o interesse biotecnologico). Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq 301964/2019-0 Chamada 06/2019, and Chamada CNPq nº 01/2019) and from the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) project UIDB/04469/2020 (strategic fund).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio