Antioxidant factors, nitric oxide levels, and cellular damage in leprosy patients

Introduction The immune response caused by Mycobacterium leprae is a risk factor for the development of oxidative stress (OS) in leprosy patients. This study aimed to assess OS in leprosy patients before the use of a multidrug therapy. Methods We evaluated the nitric oxide (NO) concentration; antioxidant capacity; levels of malondialdehyde, methemoglobin and reduced glutathione; and the activity of catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in leprosy patients. Results We observed lower SOD activity in these leprosy patients; however, the NO levels and antioxidant capacity were increased. Conclusions The infectious process in response to M. leprae could primarily be responsible for the OS observed in these patients. .

Incidência dos genótipos 16 e 18 do HPV em mulheres de cidade da região amazônica. / Incidence of HPV genopypes 16 and 18 in women in city amazon region

OBJETIVO: estudar a incidência dos genótipos 16 e 18 do HPV em mulheres, com ou sem citologia associada a efeito citopático compatível com HPV, provenientes do município de Barcarena - Pará. MÉTODO: participaram deste estudo 50 voluntarias, através de coleta cérvico-vaginal para realização de PCR-RT para HPV 16 e 18, e citologia convencional. RESULTADOS: a citologia mostrou prevalência de 02/50 casos de LSIL/NICI, associadas ao efeito citopático compatível com HPV. O genótipo 16 do HPV ocorreu em 04/05 casos e os genótipos 16/18 ocorreram em 01/05 casos, principalmente em mulheres que apresentavam lesões do tipo ASC-US ou LSIL/NIC I. CONSIDERAÇÕES FINAIS: a presença de alterações citológicas do tipo ASC-US ou LSIL/NIC I (p=0,0166) representou um importante alerta para a possível infecção pelos tipos 16 e 18 do HPV.

OBJECTIVE: studying the incidence of HPV genotypes 16 and 18 in women, with or without cytology associated with HPV, living in the municipality of Barcarena, Pará. METHOD: fiftyvolunteers participated in the study through cervicovaginal sampling for PCR-RT to test for HPV 16 and 18 and for conventional cytology of smears. RESULTS: cytology showed an incidence of 02/50 cases of LSIL/CINI associated with a cytopathic effect compatible with HPV. Genotype 16 of HPV occurred in 04/05 cases and genotype 16/18 in 01/05 cases, mainly in women who showed lesions of the ASC-US or LSIL/CINI type. CONCLUSIONS: the presence of cytological changes of the ASC-US or LSIL/CINI type (p=0.0166) represents an important flag for possible infection by HPV types 16 and 18.

High rates of undiagnosed leprosy and subclinical infection amongst school children in the Amazon Region

Leprosy in children is correlated with community-level factors, including the recent presence of disease and active foci of transmission in the community. We performed clinical and serological examinations of 1,592 randomly selected school children (SC) in a cross-sectional study of eight hyperendemic municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon Region. Sixty-three (4%) SC, with a mean age of 13.3 years (standard deviation = 2.6), were diagnosed with leprosy and 777 (48.8%) were seropositive for anti-phenolic glycolipid-I (PGL-I). Additionally, we evaluated 256 house-hold contacts (HHCs) of the students diagnosed with leprosy; 24 (9.4%) HHC were also diagnosed with leprosy and 107 (41.8%) were seropositive. The seroprevalence of anti-PGL-I was significantly higher amongst girls, students from urban areas and students from public schools (p < 0.0001). Forty-five (71.4%) new cases detected amongst SC were classified as paucibacillary and 59 (93.6%) patients did not demonstrate any degree of physical disability at diagnosis. The results of this study suggest that there is a high rate of undiagnosed leprosy and subclinical infection amongst children in the Amazon Region. The advantages of school surveys in hyperendemic areas include identifying leprosy patients at an early stage when they show no physical disabilities, preventing the spread of the infection in the community and breaking the chain of transmission.

Methemoglobinemia and dapsone levels in patients with leprosy

The objective of this work was to determine the methemoglobinemia and correlate with dapsone levels in multibacillary leprosy patients under leprosy multi-drug therapy. Thirty patients with laboratory and clinical diagnosis of multibacillary leprosy were enrolled. Dapsone was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography and methemoglobinemia by spectrophotometry. The mean dapsone concentrations in male was 1.42 g/mL and in female was 2.42 g/mL. The mean methemoglobin levels in male was 3.09 µg/mL; 191 percent, and in female was 2.84 ± 1.67 percent. No correlations were seen between dapsone levels and methemoglobin in male and female patients. Our results demonstrated that the dosage of dapsone in leprosy treatment does not promote a significant methemoglobinemia.

Isolation of Fonsecaea pedrosoi from thorns of Mimosa pudica, a probable natural source of chromoblastomycosis

Este trabalho demonstra o isolamento de Fonsecaea pedrosoi de espinhos da planta Mimosa pudica L., a partir do local de suposta infecção identificado pela paciente infectada. O diagnóstico clínico de cromoblastomicose foi estabelecido pelo achado de corpos fumagóides no exame microscópico direto e pelas culturas de F. pedrosoi do material obtido da lesão da paciente. A mesma espécie foi isolada da paciente e da planta. A microscopia eletrônica de transmissão da superfície dos espinhos evidenciou a disposição conidial característica de F. pedrosoi. Estes dados indicam que a planta M. pudica deve ser uma fonte natural de infecção do fungo F. pedrosoi.