Detection of respiratory viruses in primary cholesteatoma tissues.

Cholesteatomas are frequent middle ear benign tumors of unknown etiology. Infectious agents have been considered as possible contributing factors in the pathogenesis of cholesteatomas. Aiming to investigate the presence of respiratory viruses in primary cholesteatoma tissues, 26 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded primary cholesteatoma tissues obtained from patients seen at the of the Clinical Hospital of the University of São Paulo School of Medicine, in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil were tested by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Considering the PCR results, 35% of the tissues were positive for human rhinovirus (HRV), 15.3% for human enterovirus (EV), 3.8% for human metapneumovirus (HMPV), and 3.8% for human bocavirus (HBoV). Serial immunohistochemistry for virus antigens and cell surface markers evidenced that the viruses were associated with fibroblasts, dendritic cells, macrophages, B lymphocytes, CD4+ , and CD8+ T lymphocytes. These findings indicate for the first time the presence of active respiratory virus infection in primary cholesteatoma tissues, suggesting that persisting virus infection in the middle could play a role in the pathogenesis and evolution of cholesteatomas.

As novas facetas e a ameaça da gripe aviária no mundo globalizado / New aspects and the threat of an avian flu epidemic in a globalized world

A influenza ou, como é conhecida comumente, a gripe, é uma doença infecciosa aguda causada por um grupo de vírus (com mesmo nome) que acomete várias espécies de animais, desde felinos até aves, passando por humanos. Há cerca de 10 anos têm sido descritos, inicialmente em Hong Kong, surtos de gripe causados por vírus aviários em populações humanas. A seguir, foram descritos surtos na Holanda e no Canadá. Portanto, indaga-se: o mundo corre o risco de um novo surto semelhante ao de 1918, porém com uma população mundial quatro a cinco vezes maior? Qual a velocidade de disseminação desse vírus, visto que as viagens internacionais já não são feitas em navios lentos, mas sim em jatos supersônicos que dão a volta ao mundo em algumas horas? Antes de tudo, o que torna esse vírus tão problemático? Para nós, profissionais de laboratório, é preocupante a questão do diagnóstico etiológico dessas infecções. Como ressaltamos, os quadros de gripe podem ser causados por vários agentes. Portanto, o diagnostico etiológico, básico para intervenções terapêuticas e para que se defina a ocorrência da epidemia, passa a ter relevância ainda maior.

Influenza, or as it is best known, "flu", is an acute respiratory infection caused by a virus that affects many different animal species from felines to birds, including humans.Ten years ago, initialy in Hong Kong and after that in Holand and Canada, outbreaks of avian flu have been increasingly reported in human beings. The question is innevitable: are we in the surge of a new flu pandemic like the one we had in 1918? The perspective is even worse now that we have five times the world population and the international travels are no longer made in slow-going ships but instead in super fast jet planes. For us, laboratory professionals, the question of the laboratory diagnosis is crucial. Considering that so many different viruses are associated with respiratory infections and therapeutic measures depend on this definition, this subject assumes an even greater interest.