ABSTRACT
Abstract Hydrogels are used for wound treatment, as they may contain one or more active components and protect the wound bed. Papain is one of the active substances that have been used with this purpose, alongside urea. In this paper, carboxypolymethylene hydrogels containing papain (2% and 10% concentrations) and urea (5% concentration) were produced. Physical-chemical stability was performed at 0, 7, 15 and 30 days at 2-8ºC, 25ºC and 40ºC, as well as the rheological aspects and proteolytic activity of papain by gel electrophoresis. Clinical efficacy of the formulations in patients with lower limb ulcers was also evaluated in a prospective, single-center, randomized, double-blind and comparative clinical trial. The results showed 7-day stability for the formulations under 25ºC, in addition to approximately 100% and 15% of protein activity for 10% and 2% papain hydrogel, respectively. The rheological profile was non-Newtonian for the 10% papain hydrogel tested. There were no significant differences regarding the mean time for healing of the lesions, although 10% papain presented a better approach to be used in all types of tissue present in the wound bed.
Subject(s)
Urea/adverse effects , Wound Healing/drug effects , Papain/adverse effects , Hydrogels/analysis , Wounds and Injuries/classification , Electrophoresis/instrumentationABSTRACT
A esporotricose é uma doença micótica, infecciosa e crônica, que envolve o tecido cutâneo e subcutâneo, e que pode afetar seres humanos e animais. Esta micose sempre foi atribuída a um único patógeno, o Sporothrix schenckii, um fundo termodimórfico, que cresce como levedura a 37 oC e como micélio à temperatura ambiente. No entanto, nos últimos anos, foi demonstrado que isolados identificados como S. schenckii apresentavam grande variabilidade genética, sugerindo que esta táxon consiste em um complexo de espécies. Esta doença é causada pela implantação traumática do patógeno fúngico, porém os mecanismos de invasão e disseminação deste microorganismo, bem como as moléculas envolvidas nestes processos, ainda são pouco conhecidos. Com base nessas informações, este trabalho visa identificar moléculas de superfície deste patógeno envolvidas na interação deste fungo com proteínas matriciais, bem como analisar diferenças fenotípicas entre espécies do denominado complexo Sporothrix. Foram utilizados, neste estudo, cinco isolados de Sporothrix spp., sendo três isolados clínicos, um isolado ambiental e um isolado de gato. A virulência de cada isolado foi comparada à capacidade adesiva à proteína matricial fibronectina. Foi observado que os isolados com amior capacidade infectiva eram os que apresentavam maior capacidade adesiva à fibronectina. Verificamos então a expressão de adesinas para fibronectina na superfície de cada isolado, por Western blot, e observamos que os isolados mais virulentos e com maior capacidade adesiva expressavam mais adesinas para fibronectina. Bandas reativas com o anticorpo monoclonal contra adesina gp70 (mAb P6E7) foram reveladas nos extratos de parede celular dos isolados estudados. Análises por microscopia confocal revelaram a colocalização da gp70 com a adesina para fibronectina na superfície dos isolados. Análises filogenéticas demonstraram que os isolados estudados possuíam diferenças genotípicas capazes de agrupá-los em duas espécies...
Sporotrichosis is a chronic and infectious diseases that involves the cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue, which can affect humans and animals. This mycosis has always been attributed to a single pathogen, the Sporothrix schenckii, a dimorphic fungus, that grows as yeast at 37 oC and as mycelia at room temperature. However, in recent years, some isolates identifies as S. schenckii showed considerable genetic variability, sugesting that this taxon consists of a complex of species. This disease is caused by the traumatic inoculation of the fungal pathogen, however, the molecules involved in the invasion and dissemination of this microorganism are still poorly understood. The aim of this study is to identify surface molecules involved in the interaction of this fungus with extracellular matrix proteins and to examine phenotypic differences between species in the Sporothrix complex. Five isolates were used throughout this study, three clinical isolates, an environmental and one cat isolate. The virulence of each isolate was compared to the adhesive capacity to fibronectin. We observed that the most virulent isolates exhibited the higher capacity to interact with fibronectin. The expression of adhesins for fibronectin on the surface of each isolate was verified by Western blot. This analysis showed that the most virulent isolates expressed more fibronectin adhesins than the avirulent ones. Positive bands for the monoclonal antibody raised against gp70 adhesin (mAb P6E7) were revealed in cell wall extracts of the isolates studied. Confocal microscopy confirmed the colocalization of fibronectin and mAb P6E7 on the yeast cell surface. Molecular analysis showed genotypic differences between isolates used in this study, that can cluster than them into two species, S. schenckii and S. brasiliensis. This phylogenetic analysis revealed that the avirulent isolate was S. brasiliensis and not S. schenckii as previously thought. This new data led us o determine whether...