Conhecimento dos profissionais de saúde sobre precauções específicas / Knowledge of health professionals about specific precautions / Conocimiento de profesionales de la salud sobre precauciones específicas

Objetivo: apresentar um diagnóstico situacional sobre o conhecimento dos profissionais de saúde sobre precauções específicas. Métodos: estudo transversal, realizado em um hospital filantrópico mineiro, com 127 profissionais de saúde de nível superior. Para a coleta de dados, utilizou-se o instrumento "Conhecimento dos profissionais de saúde sobre Precauções Específicas" com 29 questões de múltipla escolha, distribuídas em cinco eixos temáticos. Para a análise dos dados, foram executados procedimentos descritivos e diferentes testes estatísticos. Resultados: a média geral de acertos das questões foi 64,7%. O eixo temático "Acomodação e estrutura" apresentou mediana de acertos (43,6%) significativamente menor (p<0,001) que os demais eixos. O eixo "Cadeia epidemiológica de transmissão de microrganismos" apresentou mediana de 60% e os eixos "Cuidado com ambiente" e "Comunicação" tiveram mediana de 66,7%. A maior mediana de acertos ocorreu no eixo "Equipamento de proteção individual (80%)". Conclusão: a assertividade foi baixa em todos os eixos temáticos, o que pode comprometer a qualidade e a segurança da assistência prestada. Assim, verifica-se a necessidade de promover ações educativas com estratégias inovadoras, sensibilizando estes profissionais quanto à adesão dessas medidas de precaução. (AU)

Objective: to present a situational diagnosis about the knowledge of health professionals about specific precautions. Methods: cross-sectional study, conducted in a philanthropic hospital in Minas Gerais, with 127 health professionals of higher education. For data collection, was used the instrument "Knowledge of health professionals on Specific Precautions" with 29 multiple choice questions, distributed in five thematic axes. Descriptive procedures and different statistical tests were performed for the analysis of the data. Results: the overall average number of correct answers was 64.7%. The thematic axis "Accommodation and structure" presented a significantly lower median number of correct answers (p<0.001) than the other axes. The axis "Epidemiological chain of transmission of microorganisms" presented a median of 60% and the axes "Environment Care" and "Communication" had a median of 66.7%. The highest median of correct answers occurred in the axis "Personal protective equipment (80%)". Conclusion: assertiveness was low in all thematic axes, which can compromise the quality and safety of the care provided. Thus, there is a need to promote educational actions with innovative strategies, sensitizing these professionals about the adoption of these precautionary measures. (AU)

Objectivo: presentar un diagnóstico situacional sobre el conocimiento de los profesionales de la salud sobre precauciones específicas. Métodos: estudio transversal realizado en un hospital filantrópico de Minas Gerais, con 127 profesionales de la salud de nivel superior. Para la recopilación de datos, se utilizó el instrumento "Conocimiento de los profesionales de la salud sobre Precauciones Específicas", con 29 preguntas objetivas de múltiple elección, distribuidas en cinco ejes temáticos. Para el análisis de los datos, se realizaron procedimientos descriptivos y diferentes pruebas estadísticas. Resultados: la media general de respuestas correctas fue del 64,7%. El eje temático "Acomodación y estructura" mostró una mediana de respuestas correctas (43,6%) significativamente menor (p<0,001) que los otros ejes. El eje "Cadena epidemiológica de transmisión de microorganismos" tuvo una mediana del 60% y los ejes "Cuidado del medio ambiente" y "Comunicación" tuvieron una mediana del 66,7%. La mediana más alta de respuestas correctas se dio en el eje "Equipo de protección personal (80%)". Conclusión: el asertividad fue baja en todos los ejes temáticos, lo que puede comprometer la calidad y la seguridad de la atención prestada. Así, se comprueba la necesidad de promover acciones educativas con estrategias innovadoras, sensibilizando a estos profesionales en cuanto a la aplicación de las medidas de precaución. (AU)

Antioxidant and Cytoprotective Properties of Cyanobacteria: Potential for Biotechnological Applications.

Antioxidant compounds from cyanobacteria may constitute a natural alternative to current synthetic antioxidants, which contain preservatives and suspected toxicity. In this work, we evaluate the antioxidant potential of cyanobacterial strains of distinct species/genus isolated from freshwater (n = 6), soil (n = 1) and wastewater (n = 1) environments. Lyophilized biomass obtained from in-vitro cultures of those strains was extracted with ethanol and methanol. The antioxidant potential was evaluated by chemical (DPPH scavenging method, ß-carotene bleaching assay, determination of total phenolic and total flavonoid compounds) and biological (H2O2-exposed HEK293T cell line model) approach. Some strains showed high yields of antioxidant activity by the DPPH assay (up to 10.7% IP/20.7 TE µg/mL) and by the ß-carotene bleaching assay (up to 828.94 AAC), as well as significant content in phenolic (123.16 mg EAG/g DW) and flavonoid (900.60 mg EQR/g DW) compounds. Normalization of data in a "per cell" or "per cell volume" base might facilitate the comparison between strains. Additionally, most of the cyanobacterial extracts conferred some degree of protection to HEK293T cells against the H2O2-induced cytotoxicity. Freshwater Aphanizomenon gracile (LMECYA 009) and Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (LMECYA 088), terrestrial Nostoc (LMECYA 291) and wastewater Planktothrix mougeotii (LEGE 06224) seem to be promising strains for further investigation on cyanobacteria antioxidant potential.

Isolation and Characterization of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii Strains from Finished Drinking Water.

In the summer of 2015, an intense cyanobacterial bloom producing geosmin/2-methylisoborneol (MIB) occurred in the Roxo freshwater reservoir in Alentejo, Portugal. The drinking water supplied from the Roxo water treatment plant (WTP) exhibited an unpleasant odor/taste and a significant cyanobacteria density was detected in the finished water at the exit of the WTP. Cyanobacteria were not evaluated downstream of the WTP, namely, at the city reservoir. The aim of this work was to isolate and characterize viable cyanobacteria present in finished water (exit of the WTP and city reservoir) that withstand conventional water treatment. Treated water samples collected at both sites were inoculated in Z8 culture medium to provide the conditions for putative cyanobacterial growth. After 30 days, filamentous cyanobacteria were observed in cultures inoculated with samples from the exit point of the WTP. Viable trichomes were isolated and identified as Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii by morphometric and molecular analysis. None of the isolates were cylindrospermopsin/microcystin producers, as confirmed by ELISA and amplification of corresponding genes (PS/PKS and mcyA-cd/mcyAB/mcyB). ELISA results were positive for saxitoxin, but saxitoxin and derivatives were not detected by liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (LC-FLD), nor were their related genes (sxtA/sxtA4/sxtB/sxtM/sxtPer/sxtI). To our knowledge, this is the first report on the establishment of cultures of C. raciborskii that resisted water treatment processes.

Risk Levels of Toxic Cyanobacteria in Portuguese Recreational Freshwaters.

Portuguese freshwater reservoirs are important socio-economic resources, namely for recreational use. National legislation concerning bathing waters does not include mandatory levels or guidelines for cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins. This is an issue of concern since cyanotoxin-based evidence is insufficient to change the law, and the collection of scientific evidence has been hampered by the lack of regulatory levels for cyanotoxins in bathing waters. In this work, we evaluate the profile of cyanobacteria and microcystins (MC) in eight freshwater reservoirs from the center of Portugal, used for bathing/recreation, in order to determine the risk levels concerning toxic cyanobacteria occurrence. Three of the reservoirs did not pose a risk of MC contamination. However, two reservoirs presented a high risk in 7% of the samples according to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for MC in bathing waters (above 20 µg/L). In the remaining three reservoirs, the risk concerning microcystins occurrence was low. However, they exhibited recurrent blooms and persistent contamination with MC up to 4 µg/L. Thus, the risk of exposure to MC and potential acute and/or chronic health outcomes should not be disregarded in these reservoirs. These results contribute to characterize the cyanobacterial blooms profile and to map the risk of toxic cyanobacteria and microcystins occurrence in Portuguese inland waters.

Involvement of endoplasmic reticulum and autophagy in microcystin-LR toxicity in Vero-E6 and HepG2 cell lines.

This work investigates the involvement of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and autophagy in microcystin-LR (MCLR) toxicity in Vero-E6 and HepG2 cell lines. Additionally, morphological alterations induced by MCLR in lysosomes and mitochondria were studied. Cytotoxicity evaluation showed that pure MCLR and MCLR from LMECYA110 extract induce concentration dependent viability decays after 24h exposure. HepG2 cells showed an increased sensitivity to MCLR than Vero cells, with lower cytotoxic thresholds and EC(50) values. Conversely, LC3B immunofluorescence showed that autophagy is triggered in both cell lines as a survival response to low MCLR concentrations. Furthermore, MCLR induced a MCLR concentration-dependent decrease of GRP94 expression in HepG2 cells while in Vero cells no alteration was observed. This suggests the involvement of the ER in HepG2 apoptosis elicited by MCLR, while in Vero cells ER destructuration could be a consequence of cytoskeleton inflicted damages. Additionally, in both cell lines, lysosomal destabilization preceded mitochondrial impairment which occurred at high toxin concentrations. Although not an early cellular target of MCLR, mitochondria appears to serve as central mediators of different signaling pathways elicited by the organelles involved in MCLR toxicity. As a result, kidney and hepatic cell lines exhibit cell type and dose-dependent mechanisms to overcome MCLR toxicity.