Representações sociais da terapia antirretroviral para pessoas vivendo com HIV / Las representaciones sociales de la terapia antirretroviral para las personas que viven con el VIH / Social representations of antiretroviral therapy for people living with HIV

Objetivo: analisar a representação social da terapia antirretroviral para pessoas vivendo com HIV. Método: estudo qualitativo, com a utilização da teoria das representações sociais. A coleta de dados incluiu 50 participantes, sendo realizada de fevereiro a setembro de 2020, utilizando um questionário de caracterização sociodemográfica e um formulário para evocações livres. O cenário do estudo foi uma unidade de tratamento de HIV na região metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro. A análise dos dados foi realizada pelo software EVOC. Resultados: o núcleo central da representação da terapia antirretroviral reforça o controle do HIV e a imagem do medicamento como algo bom. Conclusão: a estrutura representacional sugere que o grupo tende à normalização da terapia antirretroviral, fazendo referência a um medicamento que controla o HIV. O estudo possibilitou reconhecer os diferentes conteúdos representacionais da terapia antirretroviral para o grupo estudado, além da variada complexidade entre as imagens identificadas.

Objective: analyzing the social representation of antiretroviral therapy for people living with HIV. Method: a qualitative study using the Theory of Social Representations. Data collection included 50 participants, being performed from February to September 2020 using a sociodemographic characterization questionnaire and a form for free evocations. The study scenario was an HIV treatment unit in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. Data analysis was performed by the EVOC software. Results: the central nucleus of the representation of antiretroviral therapy reinforces HIV control and the image of the drug as something good. Conclusion: the representational structure suggests that the group tends to normalize antiretroviral therapy, referring to a drug that controls HIV. The study made it possible to recognize the different representational contents of antiretroviral therapy for the studied group, in addition to the varied complexity among the images identified.

Objetivo: analizar la representación social de la terapia antirretroviral para las personas que viven con el VIH. Método: un estudio cualitativo utilizando la Teoría de las Representaciones Sociales. La recolección de datos incluyó a 50 participantes, realizándolos de febrero a septiembre de 2020 utilizando un cuestionario de caracterización sociodemográfica y un formulario para evocaciones libres. El escenario del estudio fue una unidad de tratamiento del VIH en la región metropolitana de Río de Janeiro. El análisis de los datos fue realizado por el software EVOC. Resultados: el núcleo central de la representación de la terapia antirretroviral refuerza el control del VIH y la imagen del fármaco como algo bueno. Conclusión: la estructura representacional sugiere que el grupo tiende a normalizar la terapia antirretroviral, refiriéndose a un fármaco que controla el VIH. El estudio ha permitido reconocer los diferentes contenidos representacionales de la terapia antirretroviral para el grupo estudiado, además de la variada complejidad entre las imágenes identificadas.

Monitoring of Phenylalanine Levels in Patients with Phenylketonuria Using Dried Blood Spots: a Comparison of Two Methods

Abstract Phenylketonuria (PKU) is caused by deficient activity of phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH), responsible for the conversion of phenylalanine (Phe) to tyrosine (Tyr). Monitoring of patients with PKU requires the measurement of Phe in plasma using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) or in dried blood spots (DBS) using different techniques to adjust treatment strategy. The objective of this study was to evaluate Phe levels in DBS measured by two different methods and compare them with Phe levels measured in plasma by HPLC. We analyzed 89 blood samples from 47 PKU patients by two different methods: fluorometric method developed in-house (method A) and the commercially available PerkinElmer® Neonatal Phenylalanine Kit (method B) and in plasma by HPLC. The mean Phe levels by method A, method B, and HPLC were 430.4±39.9μmol/L, 439.3±35.4μmol/L, and 442.2±41.6μmol/L, respectively. The correlation values between HPLC and methods A and B were 0.990 and 0.974, respectively (p < 0.001 for both). Our data suggest that methods A and B are useful alternatives for monitoring Phe levels in patients with PKU, with method A being in closer agreement with the reference standard (HPLC).

Profile of total IgG, IgG1, IgG2, IgG3 and IgG4 levels in sera of patients with paracoccidioidomycosis: treatment follow-up using Mexo and rPb27 as antigens in an ELISA

The levels of total of IgG, IgG1, IgG2, IgG3 and IgG4 were evaluated in 54 patients with chronic paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) before, during and after treatment using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with Mexo and recombinant Pb27 (rPb27) as the antigens. Mexo was effective in distinguishing PCM patients from individuals in the negative control group (NC) based on total IgG and rPb27 performed worse than Mexo when these two groups were compared. IgG1, IgG2, IgG3 and IgG4 could not be used to clearly distinguish PCM patients from those in the NC group using either antigen. There was no clear relationship between antibody levels and the period of treatment. The majority of patients presented with decreased antibody levels during treatment, with no statistically significant differences among the different periods of treatment. Only IgG4 presented a negative correlation between its levels and clinical improvement during treatment. In total, 65 percent of untreated PCM patients showed reactivity against IgG4 when the Mexo antigen was used and this reactivity decreased over the course of treatment. There was a tendency towards decreasing antibody levels during treatment, but these antibody levels did not necessarily clear after the treatment was stopped. Mexo was useful for PCM diagnosis using total IgG; however, more studies are necessary before this antigen can be used in measuring the levels of total IgG and its subclasses for monitoring patients during treatment.

Simultaneous quantitation of serum HBV DNA and HBeAg can distinguish between slow and fast viral responses to antiviral therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis B / A quantificação simultânea do DNA VHB e do AgHBe séricos podem distinguir entre resposta viral lenta e rápida à terapêutica anti-viral em pacientes com hepatite crônica B

BACKGROUND: The quantitation of serum HBeAg is not commonly used to monitor viral response to therapy in chronic hepatitis B. METHODS: In this study, 21 patients receiving varying therapies were followed and their viral response monitored by concomitant viral load and HBeAg quantitation in order to study the meaning and the kinetics of both parameters. RESULTS: It was possible to distinguish between three different patterns of viral response. The first was characterized by a simultaneous decrease in serum HBV DNA and HBeAg. The second pattern was characterized by a decrease in serum HBeAg but persistent detection of HBV DNA. The third pattern was characterized by undetectable HBV DNA with persistent HBeAg positivity, which points to a non-response (Pattern III-B) except when HBeAg levels showed a slow but steady drop, characterizing a "slow responder" patient (Pattern III-A). CONCLUSIONS: The first pattern is compatible with a viral response. A long-term HBeAg seropositivity with a slow and persistent decrease (Pattern III-A) is also compatible with a viral response and calls for a prolongation of anti-viral treatment.

INTRODUÇÃO: A quantificação do AgHBe sérico não é habitualmente utilizada para monitorizar a resposta viral ao tratamento da hepatite crônica B. MÉTODOS: Neste estudo, 21 pacientes sob tratamento com diferentes terapias foram acompanhados e a resposta viral monitorizada pela quantificação concomitante da carga viral e do AgHBe a fim de investigar o significado e a cinética de ambos os parâmetros. RESULTADOS: Distinguiram-se três diferentes padrões de resposta viral. O primeiro caracterizou-se pela redução simultânea do HBV DNA e AgHBe séricos. O segundo padrão caracterizou-se por uma redução do AgHBe porém com detecção persistente do HBV DNA. O terceiro padrão caracterizou-se por HBV DNA indetectável com positividade persistente do AgHBe, sugerindo ausência de resposta (Padrão III-B), exceto quando os níveis de AgHBe mostraram uma queda lenta porém persistente, caracterizando um "respondedor lento" (Padrão III-A). CONCLUSÕES: O primeiro padrão é compatível com resposta viral. Uma seropositividade prolongada do AgHBe porém com uma redução lenta e persistente (Padrão III-A) é também compatível com resposta viral, sugerindo o prolongamento do tratamento anti-viral.

Clinical features and follow-up of patients with myocardial bridge / 中国实用内科杂志

Objective To investigate the clinical features and the findings of coronary angiography,the treatment and prognosis of patients with myocardial bridge.To increase our knowledge on myocardial bridge.Methods Fifty two patients were diagnosed as myocardial bridge by coronary angiography in our hospital from January 2001 to December 2004. Angiographically,systolic compression of the arterial lumen that disappears during diastole was considered diagnostic of a myocardial bridge.Analyse the clinical features and therapy condition.Follow patients by telephone or clinical visits.Results Our study included fifty two patients.Male patients were more than female ones and the average age was 53?12 years old.Myocardial bridge was the most common in the middle segment of the left anterior descending artery.Majority of the patients took medication,and 2 of them were treated with intracoronary stent implantation.Forty patients were followed.During a mean 1.9?1.1 years follow-up period,there was no cardiac death.25 of the patients required medication,and 1 of 2 patients who underwent stent implantation had in-stent restenosis at 3.3 years.Conclusion Patients with myocardial bridge may present with atypical chest pain.Major patients with myocardial bridge are treated with medication,and stent implants may improve patients' symptoms.The prognosis of the patients with myocardial bridge is usually good.