Project REENCONTRO: ethical aspects of genetic identification in families separated by the compulsory isolation of leprosy patients in Brazil.

In this paper, we discuss the experience of a team of geneticists, working in partnership with a Brazilian social movement aimed at promoting the rights of victims of Hansen's disease. These university researchers propose to use DNA test results to ascertain kinship connections and thereby reunite families that were sundered apart by draconian state policies of the mid-twentieth century that decreed the forced segregation of leprosy patients and the institutionalization of their children. The team's aim is to help revert stigma and reinforce positive group identity as well as to facilitate judicial claims to moral and financial reparation from the Brazilian state. We will discuss how, notwithstanding the voluntary nature of tests, mediated at all times through the social movement, the geneticists take care to follow clear ethical guidelines in the collection and stocking of DNA samples as well as in the devolution of test results. The subsequent inclusion of anthropologists in the team brings to the fore new ethical dilemmas ranging from procedures in field research to the possible consequences of research results.

Infrared ocular thermography in dogs with and without keratoconjunctivitis sicca.

Infrared thermography was used to measure temperature differences of the corneal surface between nasal and temporal limbus regions and central cornea of normal dogs and dogs with keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS), in order to establish temperature values in normal canine eyes and in patients with decreased Schirmer tear tests (STT) values. Dogs investigated were all either patients seen at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of Federal University of Paraná or normal dogs that belonged to the same institution. STT were performed in all eyes. A total of 40 control eyes (STT ≥15 mm/min) and 20 eyes with low STT values (STT ≤14 mm/min) were examined. The mean STT value for eyes with normal STT values was 22.9 ± 3.9 mm/min (mean ± standard deviation), and the mean STT value for eyes with low STT value was 7.2 ± 4.8 mm/min. The mean corneal temperature was significantly lower in eyes with low STT values than in control eyes (P < 0.0001). The following significant correlations were found: (i) Schirmer and breakup time (BUT) (P = 0.0001, r = 0.5); (ii) STT values and corneal surface temperature (P = 0.001, r = 0.256); (iii) STT values and age (P = 0.0001, r = -0.448); (iv) age and corneal surface temperature (P = 0.0001, r = -0.281); and (v) BUT and corneal surface temperature (P = 0.0001, r = 0.36). Thermography is a method that can differentiate between eyes with normal and abnormal STT values. In the future, thermography might be incorporated as part of the ophthalmic examination and perhaps become a popular ancillary test for the diagnoses of ocular surface disorders.

Polymorphisms in the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene in thalidomide embryopathy.

Thalidomide is one of the most potent teratogens known to humans. It is currently used for many clinical situations such as treatment of leprosy reactions and multiple myeloma. However, the teratogenic mechanisms by which it produces morphological defects still remain unclear. One of the hypotheses is the blockage of angiogenesis by reduction of nitric oxide (NO). In this study, we evaluated two functional polymorphisms of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene which is a constitutively expressed enzyme responsible for production of NO. The promoter -786T>C exon 7 (896G>T) polymorphisms were genotyped using real-time PCR for 28 individuals with thalidomide embryopathy (TE), 27 first-degree relatives of these individuals, and 68 individuals from the general population. Their allele, genotypic, and haplotypic frequencies were compared. A significant difference was observed in the -786T>C polymorphism genotypes (p=0.03) between the groups affected by TE and those unaffected (non-relatives). The TT genotype of the 896G>T polymorphism was observed in 10.7% of those affected and 2.9% of those unaffected, but the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.09). The haplotypic analysis indicated that the wild haplotype -786T/896G was distributed differently in the affected and unaffected groups (p=0.004). These results indicate that the individuals with TE have a higher frequency of alleles associated with lower expression of eNOS, indicating that this may be a genotype susceptible to TE.

Cinética da maturaçäo nuclear in vitro de oócitos bubalinos / Nulear maturation kinetcs in vitro of buffalo oocytes

Com o objetivo de avaliar a cinética da maturaçäo in vitro de oócitos bubalinos, foram cultivados 1.619 oócitos com cumulus oophorus compacto em quatro diferentes tratamentos: T1 - TCM 199 com 10 por cento de Soro Fetal Bovino (SFB) (meio base); T2 - Meio base e células da granulosa (CG); T3 - Meio base, CG, 10 UI de gonadotrofina coriônica equina (eCG) e 10 UI de gonadotrofina coriônica humana (hCG); T4 - Meio base, 10 UI de eCG, 10UI de hCG e 1 µg de 17b-estradiol / ml, em tempos de 14 a 17h, 20 a 22h, 23 a 25h, 26 a 28h, 29h e 32h de cultivo em estufa de CO2 a 5 por cento e temperatura de 38,5ºC. No tratamento 1, observou-se que 81,83 por cento, 69,61 por cento, 65,88 por cento, 60,28 por cento, 64,98 por cento e 67,67 por cento dos ovócitos reiniciaram a meiose. No tratamento 2, as taxas de reinicio da meiose foram de 76,06 por cento, 72,06 por cento, 69,78 por cento, 68,12 por cento,74,97 por cento e 89,96 por cento, no tratamento 3 estes percentuais foram de 83,59 por cento, 78,86 por cento, 77,49 por cento, 82,4 por cento, 72,92 por cento e 81,06 por cento e com o tratamento 4 os índices foram de 95,0 por cento, 91,82 por cento, 93, 17 por cento, 91,65 por cento, 92,09 por cento e 74,99 por cento nos tempos de 14 a 17h, 20 a 22h, 23 a 25h, 26 a 28h, 29h e 32h de cultivo, respectivamente, podendo-se concluir que o meio com maior suplementaçäo proporciona maior taxa de reinício da meiose em menor tempo, assim como o aumento no tempo de cultivo pode levar a maiores índices de degeneraçäo