First report of an Onchocercidae worm infecting Psychodopygus carrerai carrerai sandfly, a putative vector of Leishmania braziliensis in the Amazon

Sandflies are insects of public health interest due to their role as vectors of parasites of the genus Leishmania, as well as other pathogens. Psychodopygus carrerai carrerai is considered an important sylvatic vector of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis in Amazonia. In this study, sandflies were collected in a forested area in the Xapuri municipality, in the State of Acre (Northern Brazil). Two Ps. carrerai carrerai females were found parasitized with a larval form of a filarial worm, one in the labium of the proboscis, the other after the head was squashed, suggesting they were infective larvae. Sandflies were identified through morphological characters as well as amplification and sequencing of the cytochrome oxidase gene (COI). This was the first sequence obtained for Ps. carrerai carrerai for this marker. The obtained nematodes were also characterized through direct sequencing of a fragment of COI and 12S genes, both mitochondrial, and ITS1, a nuclear marker. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the filarial nematodes belong to a species without sequences for these markers in the database, part of family Onchocercidade and closely related to genus Onchocerca (12S tree). Although sandfly infection with nematodes including members of the Onchocercidae has been reported in the Old World, this is the first report of sandfly infection by a member of the Onchocercidae family in the New World, to the best of our knowledge. Considering that the phylogenetic relationships and location in the insect, it can be expected that this is a parasite of mammals and the transmission cycle should be clarified.publishersversionpublishe

O efeito da bomba de insulina nos portadores de Diabetes Mellitus tipo I

diabetes mellitus (DM) é um distúrbio metabólico caracterizado por hiperglicemia persistente, ocasionando diversas complicações a longo prazo. Estima-se que 415 milhões de pessoas sejam portadoras de DM, sendo o Brasil, em 2013 considerado o quarto país com maior número de pessoas diabéticas. De acordo com sua etiologia, pode ser classificada em DM tipo1, tipo 2 ou gestacional. O DM tipo 1 é uma condição em que a resposta autoimune do organismo destrói as células beta pancreáticas e há o comprometimento da produção de insulina. Há necessidade de reposição de insulina, que pode ser feita através da insulinoterapia com múltiplas aplicações diárias, ou com o uso de perfusão subcutânea contínua de insulina, a bomba infusora de insulina. O objetivo do estudo é identificar a eficácia do uso da bomba de insulina em pacientes portadores de DM tipo 1. Este é um estudo observacional, transversal e quantitativo baseado na análise de prontuários de pacientes atendidos no Ambulatório de Bombas da prefeitura de Goiânia, sendo que a amostra é composta por 198 pacientes portadores de DM tipo 1 e tem como critérios de inclusão ter aceito participar do estudo, ter assinado o Termo de Consentimento Livre e Esclarecido (TCLE), ser maior de 18 anos, e ser atendido no ambulatório em questão. Almeja-se ao final deste trabalho, verificar a eficácia do uso da bomba infusora de insulina nesses pacientes, a partir da análise de seus prontuários e de índices laboratoriais. Espera-se ainda, analisar a adesão e a desistência dos pacientes ao tratamento

Temas de investigação em direitos humanos para o século XXI

Edição comemorativa do 10.º aniversário do Mestrado em Direitos Humanos da Universidade do Minho.Este livro é uma celebração do ensino e da investigação em direitos humanos que têm vindo a ser desenvolvidos, na Escola de Direito da Universidade do Minho, há já mais de uma década. A sua publicação num momento em que se avolumam os riscos para valores fundamentais subjacentes à proteção dos direitos humanos – como a igualdade e a não discriminação, a proibição da escravatura e de tratamentos cruéis, desumanos e degradantes, a liberdade de religião ou crença, entre muitos outros –, torna-o especialmente oportuno. Os sinais de aparente retrocesso no consenso das nossas sociedades a respeito desses valores – visíveis no triunfo político de discursos abertamente racistas, xenófobos, sexistas, etc. – recordam-nos que, também no mundo ocidental, os direitos humanos são um work in progress, não um dado adquirido. Os novos riscos para a dignidade da pessoa humana associados aos avanços tecnológicos andam de par com velhas formas de subalternização e de opressão. O campo para a reflexão crítica é muito vasto. Os temas que hoje (pre)ocupam académicos, decisores políticos e ativistas de direitos humanos são também aqueles que estruturam o plano de estudos do Mestrado em Direitos Humanos da Universidade do Minho. Todos estes temas surgem ao longo do presente livro, que reúne contributos de muitos dos membros da comunidade científica e académica que o Mestrado em Direitos Humanos mobilizou e ajudou a dinamizar ao longo da última década, entre docentes do Mestrado, colaboradores em júris de provas públicas e/ou na orientação de mestrandos, oradores convidados e estudantes. Os textos aqui reunidos refletem bem as sinergias interdisciplinares, interinstitucionais e inter-nacionais que o Mestrado em Direitos Humanos foi capaz de criar, não apenas pela variedade de campos disciplinares representados – Direito, Filosofia, Relações Internacionais, Antropologia –, mas também pela participação de autores que são docentes e/ou investigadores em diversas instituições nacionais e estrangeiras, como a Faculdade de Direito da Universidade do Porto, a Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra, a Universidade Federal da Paraíba e a Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Diabetes mellitus in HIV-infected patients: fasting glucose, A1c, or oral glucose tolerance test – which method to choose for the diagnosis?

Abstract Background Antiretroviral therapy dramatically reduced HIV-related morbidity and mortality, prolonging the lifespan of HIV-infected patients. Greater duration of infection and exposure to antiretroviral therapy makes these patients susceptible to traditional cardio-metabolic risk factors and pathologies. The optimal diagnostic protocol for Diabetes Mellitus in these patients is still controversial. Haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) has been shown to underestimate glycaemia levels and the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) has been shown to reveal cases of glucose metabolism disturbances in patients with normal fasting glucose. Thus, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of prediabetes and diabetes in a population of HIV-infected patients undergoing combined antiretroviral therapy, using three different diagnostic methods (fasting glucose, OGTT and HbA1c), to determine the agreement between the different methods and the characteristics associated with each one. Methods This study analyzed 220 HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy. Patient characteristics were collected using a standardized protocol. Disturbances of glucose homeostasis were defined by the ADA 2017 criteria. Patients were characterized according to the presence or absence of clinical lipodystrophy, and distributed into four different categories, according to the presence, or absence of either clinical lipoatrophy, or abdominal prominence. Insulin resistance was assessed by HOMA-IR and QUICKI indexes. Agreement between the diagnostic methods was assessed by Cohen’s kappa coefficient. Results There were no patients diagnosed with diabetes with HbA1c. 5.9% prevalence was obtained when OGTT was used, and 3.2% prevalence when fasting glucose was used. Prediabetes had a prevalence of 14.1% when using HbA1c, 24.1% when using OGTT, and 20% when using fasting glucose. In all three methods, glucose homeostasis disturbances were associated with older age and higher resistance to insulin. Regarding other characteristics, associations varied between the three methods. The agreement between them was fair, or slight. Conclusions We observed that HbA1c was the method that diagnosed the least amount of cases and that OGTT was the one that diagnosed the most cases. Accordingly, our results indicate that HbA1c underestimated glycaemia levels in this population and that the use of OGTT might allow an earlier diagnosis of glucose homeostasis disturbances, potentially making it possible to avoid severe complications of DM

Performance of Hitchens-Pike-Todd-Hewitt medium for group B streptococcus screening in pregnant women.

Group B streptococcus (GBS), which commonly colonizes the female genital tract and rectum, can cause infections in newborns with varying severity, possibly leading to death. The aim of the present study was to evaluate Hitchens-Pike-Todd-Hewitt (HPTH) medium performance for GBS screening in pregnant women. A descriptive analytical cross-sectional study was performed with 556 pregnant women, of which 496 were at 35-37 weeks of gestation and 60 were at ≥ 38 weeks of gestation. The study was conducted from September 2011 to March 2014 in northern Paraná, Brazil. Vaginal and anorectal clinical specimens from each pregnant woman were plated on sheep blood agar (SBA) and seeded on HPTH medium and Todd-Hewitt enrichment broth. Of the 496 pregnant women at 35-37 weeks of gestation, 141 (28.4%) were positive for GBS, based on the combination of the three culture media and clinical specimens. The GBS colonization rates that were detected by each medium were 22.2% for HPTH medium, 21.2% for SBA, and 13.1% for Todd-Hewitt enrichment broth. Of the 60 pregnant women at ≥ 38 weeks of gestation, seven (11.7%) were positive for GBS. These results demonstrate that HPTH medium and SBA were more sensitive than Todd-Hewitt enrichment broth for GBS screening in pregnant women and good GBS recovery in culture, indicating that the two media should be used together for vaginal and anorectal specimens

Number of <i>Streptococcus agalactiae</i> positive pregnant women (35–37 weeks of gestation) detected by HPTH medium, Todd-Hewitt enrichment broth (TODD), and sheep blood agar (SBA) plating in anorectal samples.

<p>Number of <i>Streptococcus agalactiae</i> positive pregnant women (35–37 weeks of gestation) detected by HPTH medium, Todd-Hewitt enrichment broth (TODD), and sheep blood agar (SBA) plating in anorectal samples.</p

Comparison of <i>Streptococcus agalactiae</i> detection by Todd-Hewitt enrichment broth (TODD), sheep blood agar (SBA), and Hitchens-Pike-Todd-Hewitt (HPTH) culture media in pregnant women at 35–37 weeks of gestation.

<p>Comparison of <i>Streptococcus agalactiae</i> detection by Todd-Hewitt enrichment broth (TODD), sheep blood agar (SBA), and Hitchens-Pike-Todd-Hewitt (HPTH) culture media in pregnant women at 35–37 weeks of gestation.</p

Prevalence of <i>Streptococcus agalactiae</i> in pregnant women at 35–37 weeks of gestation, based on clinical specimens tested with Todd-Hewitt enrichment broth (TODD), sheep blood agar (SBA), and Hitchens-Pike-Todd-Hewitt (HPTH) culture media.

<p>Prevalence of <i>Streptococcus agalactiae</i> in pregnant women at 35–37 weeks of gestation, based on clinical specimens tested with Todd-Hewitt enrichment broth (TODD), sheep blood agar (SBA), and Hitchens-Pike-Todd-Hewitt (HPTH) culture media.</p