Randomized clinical trial comparing the efficacy of the vaginal use of metronidazole with a Brazilian pepper tree (Schinus) extract for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis

A 7.4 percent vaginal extract of the Brazilian pepper tree (Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi) was compared with 0.75 percent vaginal metronidazole, both manufactured by the Hebron Laboratory, for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis, used at bedtime for 7 nights. The condition was diagnosed using the combined criteria of Amsel and Nugent in two groups of 140 and 137 women, aged between 18 and 40 years. Intention-to-treat analysis was performed. Women were excluded from the study if they presented delayed menstruation, were pregnant, were using or had used any topical or systemic medication, presented any other vaginal infections, presented hymen integrity, or if they reported any history suggestive of acute pelvic inflammatory disease. According to Amsel’s criteria separately, 29 patients (21.2 percent) treated with the extract and 87 (62.1 percent) treated with metronidazole were considered to be cured (P < 0.001). According to Nugent’s score separately, 19 women (13.9 percent) treated with the extract and 79 (56.4 percent) treated with metronidazole were considered to be cured (P < 0.001). Using the two criteria together, the so-called total cure was observed in 17 women (12.4 percent) treated with the extract and in 79 women (56.4 percent) treated with metronidazole (P < 0.001). In conclusion, the cure rate for bacterial vaginosis using a vaginal gel from a pepper tree extract was lower than the rate obtained with metronidazole gel, while side effects were infrequent and non-severe in both groups.

Rapid molecular diagnosis of tuberculosis and other mycobacteriosis in smear-negative clinical specimens

Delay in diagnosis of pulmonary and other forms of tuberculosis (TB) can be fatal, particularly in HIV-infected patients. Hence, techniques based on nucleic acid amplification, which are both rapid and of high specificity and sensitivity, are now widely used and recommended for laboratories that diagnose TB. In the present study, diagnostic methods based on mycobacterial DNA amplification were evaluated in comparative trials alongside tradicional bacterial methods, using negative smear samples from patients with clinically-suspected TB (sputum samples from 25 patients with suspected pulmonary TB, urine samples from two patients with suspected renal TB and cerebrospinal fluid samples from one patient with suspected meningeal TB). A specificity of 100% was achieved with DNA amplification methods and tradicional culture/identification methods, in relation to clinical findings and treatment results. For the smear-negative sputa, conventional PCR for M.tuberculosis was positive in 62% of suspected lung TB case, showing the same sensitivity as bacterial identification. Both techniques failed in the detection of extra-pulmonary samples. Nested PCR showed, after species-specific amplification, a sensitivity of 100% for M. avium and 85% for M. tuberculosis. For extra-pulmonary smear-negative samples, only Nested PCR detected M. tuberculosis and all cases were confirmed clinically. Nested PCR, in which two-step amplification reactions are performed, can identify the two most important mycobacteria in human pathology quickly and directly from clinical spicimens

Inhibition of bovine brain acetylcholinesterase by aluminum

We report the in vitro inhibitory effect of very low concentrations of aluminum salts (IC50 = 4.1 x 10-12M) on bovine brain acetylcholinesterase (AChE). The enzymatic assays were performed using acetylcholine bromide in a buffered pH 7.4 solution at 37§C. The relevant enzyme interacting species is the Al3+ ion, whose concentrations were fixed at pM levels by a citrate metal ion buffer system. The IC50 demonstrates that Al3+ is a potent inhibitor of AChE

Crises epilepticas evocadas pela ingestao de alimentos: registro de um caso. / Epileptic crisis evoked by food intake: report of a case

E relatado o caso de uma jovem de 23 anos que apresentava manifestacoes epilepticas; inicialmente, crises tonicas, generalizadas e, a seguir, ataques evocados pela ingestao de alimentos. Nos EEG destacam-se os sinais de disfuncao do lobo temporal esquerdo. Os esquemas terapeuticos nao obtiveram sucesso.Ate a presente data, o que tem melhorado as crises e a associacao de valproato de sodio, clonazepan e fenobarbital. Alguns comentarios sao feitos a clinica da doenca e no concernente a etiopatogenia. Os autores acreditam na hipotese de hiperatividade cronica de certas estruturas nervosas. Segundo Walker tal hiperatividade e alcancada pela producao de hormonios que estao sob o controle neural de centros cerebrais especificos. O bombardeio reiterado da descarga epileptica sobre os centros hipotalamicos, talvez, seja o responsavel pela epilepsia evocada no ato da alimentacao