Prevalence of migraine in patients with fibromyalgia / Prevalência de enxaqueca em pacientes com fibromialgia

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of migraine in patients with fibromyalgia and the impacts of these comorbidities on the daily life of patients. Methods: Questionnaires were applied to fibromyalgia patients. The questionnaires were applied through a Google forms application link and in person, printed. We used FIQ, PHQ-9, and ID migraine. And for patients with a positive ID migraine, we applied the Midas subsequently. Results: Seventy fibromyalgia patients were recruited, age of 47.31 ± 14.5 years. Sixty-five (92.86%) were female and 5 (7.14%) were male. We obtained a prevalence of 60% (n = 42) of migraine associated with fibromyalgia. Among the analyzed variables, severity of depression (p = 0.007), aggregate severity of depression (p = 0.004), and impact of fibromyalgia (p = 0.008) were significantly associated. Among the migraine patients, the vast majority, 34/42 (80.95%), were classified as having severe disability. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of migraine in patients with fibromyalgia that has an associated impact on patients' lives, which makes clinical and psychosocial management of these patients necessary.

Objetivo: Avaliar a prevalência de enxaqueca em pacientes com fibromialgia e os impactos dessas comorbidades no cotidiano dos pacientes. Métodos: Questionários foram aplicados a pacientes com fibromialgia. Os questionários foram aplicados por meio de link de aplicativo Google Forms e presencialmente, impressos. Usamos FIQ, PHQ-9 e enxaqueca ID. E para pacientes com enxaqueca ID positiva, aplicamos o Midas posteriormente. Resultados: Foram recrutados 70 pacientes com fibromialgia, idade de 47,31 ± 14,5 anos. Sessenta e cinco (92,86%) eram do sexo feminino e 5 (7,14%) do sexo masculino. Obtivemos uma prevalência de 60% (n = 42) de enxaqueca associada à fibromialgia. Entre as variáveis ​​analisadas, a gravidade da depressão (p = 0,007), a gravidade agregada da depressão (p = 0,004) e o impacto da fibromialgia (p = 0,008) foram significativamente associadas. Entre os pacientes com enxaqueca, a grande maioria, 34/42 (80,95%), foi classificada como portadora de incapacidade grave. Conclusão: Existe uma elevada prevalência de enxaqueca em pacientes com fibromialgia que tem impacto associado na vida dos pacientes, o que torna necessário o manejo clínico e psicossocial destes pacientes.

Scale-Up of Capsular Polysaccharide Production Process by Haemophilus influenzae Type b Using kLa Criterion.

Polyribosyl-ribitol-phosphate (PRP) from Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) is an active immunizing molecule used in the production of the vaccine against H. influenzae, and industrial production could contribute to satisfying a world demand especially in developing countries. In this sense, the aim of this study was to establish a scale-up process using the constant oxygen mass transfer coefficient (kLa) such as the criterion for production of PRP in three different sizes of bioreactor systems. Three different kLa values (24, 52 and 80 h-1) were evaluated in which the biological influence in a 1.5 L bioreactor and 52 h-1 was selected to scale-up the production process until a 75 L pilot-scale bioreactor was achieved. Finally, the fed-batch phase was started under a dissolved oxygen concentration (pO2) at 30% of the saturation in the 75 L bioreactor to avoid oxygen limitation; the performance of production presented high efficiency (9.0 g/L DCW-dry cell weight and 1.4 g/L PRP) in comparison with previous scale-up studies. The yields, productivity and kinetic behavior were similar in the three-size bioreactor systems in the batch mode indicating that kLa is possible to use for PRP production at large scales. This process operated under two stages and successfully produced DCW and PRP in the pilot scale and could be beneficial for future bioprocess operations that may lead to higher production and less operative cost.

Scale-up of capsular polysaccharide production process by Haemophilus influenzae type b using kLa criterion

Polyribosyl-ribitol-phosphate (PRP) from Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) is an active immunizing molecule used in the production of the vaccine against H. influenzae, and industrial production could contribute to satisfying a world demand especially in developing countries. In this sense, the aim of this study was to establish a scale-up process using the constant oxygen mass transfer coefficient (kLa) such as the criterion for production of PRP in three different sizes of bioreactor systems. Three different kLa values (24, 52 and 80 h−1) were evaluated in which the biological influence in a 1.5 L bioreactor and 52 h−1 was selected to scale-up the production process until a 75 L pilot-scale bioreactor was achieved. Finally, the fed-batch phase was started under a dissolved oxygen concentration (pO2) at 30% of the saturation in the 75 L bioreactor to avoid oxygen limitation; the performance of production presented high efficiency (9.0 g/L DCW-dry cell weight and 1.4 g/L PRP) in comparison with previous scale-up studies. The yields, productivity and kinetic behavior were similar in the three-size bioreactor systems in the batch mode indicating that kLa is possible to use for PRP production at large scales. This process operated under two stages and successfully produced DCW and PRP in the pilot scale and could be beneficial for future bioprocess operations that may lead to higher production and less operative cost.

Synthesis of poly (N-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) nanogels by gamma irradiation using different saturation atmospheres

Nanogels are internally crosslinked particles of nanometric size used in various fields e.g. as such as carriers in drug delivery systems. They can be produced using ionizing radiation in dilute aqueous solutions. This method is carried out in a pure polymer-solvent system, avoiding the addition of any additives such as monomers, surfactants, catalysts and crosslinking agents and no further purification step is necessary. Poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP K-90) nanogels were prepared by gamma irradiation in an aqueous solution. The samples were prepared in triplicate in multipurpose cobalt-60 gamma irradiator using 1, 10, 25 and 100 mM PVP solutions. Samples were irradiated in argon and nitrous oxide conditions with doses from 1 kGy up to 25 kGy with 10 kGy/h dose rate. The mean particle size (Rh) was determined by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and radius of gyration (Rg) and weight-average molecular weight (Mw) by Static Light Scattering (SLS). These samples were morphologically characterized using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Samples prepared with 100 mM PVP K-90 solution formed macroscopic gels, in the samples obtained with 25 mM PVP K-90 solution there was a prevalence of intermolecular crosslinking. On the other hand, in the samples generated with 10 mM PVP K-90 solution, there was a predominance of intramolecular crosslinking demonstrated in the tendency to: decrease in the radius of gyration (Rg), in the constancy of the weight-average molecular weight (Mw), in the increase in polymer coil density (ρcoil), in the Rg/Rh ratio (shape factor) around 1.0 indicating homogenous, internally cross-linked spheres, in the high relief spherical structures observed in the AFM images and in the spherical particles with high contrast observed in the TEM images. The saturation of the samples with nitrous oxide doubled formation of hydroxyl radicals, favoring the generation of polymeric radicals. Higher average number of radicals in each macromolecule contributed to the higher number of intramolecular crosslinks.

Evaluation of capsular Polysaccharide production by Haemophilus Influenzae type B in different culture media

Haemophilus influenzae b (Hib), an encapsulated Gram-negative coccobacillus, is one of the most common agents of meningitis worldwide. The Hib vaccine is included in the routine immunization schedule of several countries. The capsular polysaccharide, Poliribosyl-Ribitol-Phosphate (PRP), conjugated to a carrier protein is the antigen of the vaccine against Hib. Currently in industrial processes, Hib is cultivated in a soy peptone and yeast-extract based complex medium (MMP). This work aimed to evaluate whether a chemically defined medium could replace the MMP medium in the PRP production. The use of a defined media could offer several advantages in the whole process and would be of great interest to the industrial PRP production in vaccination programs. The PRP production ranged from 100 to 290 mg L-1 in the studied semi-defined and defined media. The formulation of several chemically defined media based on literature led to a promising composition as is the case of medium G which presented a production of 295 mg PRPL-1 with a lower biomass value of 4.8 UA (O.D.540 nm) when compared to MMP medium with 395 mg PRPL-1 and 6.45 UA respectively.

Purification of a phosphated biopolymer by selective ethanol precipitation in presence of surfactant and sodium acetate

Bacteria have the ability to produce biopolymers with different chemical properties, for different purposes and vary according to the bacterial strains and their physiological status, and these can be used as vaccine antigens. Haemophilus influenzae type b is a microorganism pathogenic to humans, which causes several types of infections. It is classified into six serotypes, the biopolymer of serotype b (Hib) being the most virulent, known as Poly Ribosylribitolphosphate (PRP). The aim of this work was to evaluate different candidate surfactants to be used in the PRP purification step, as well as the effects of ethanol in combination with sodium acetate. From all the surfactants used, 0.5% SDS proved to be potent in eliminating protein impurities and nucleic acids and in accordance with criteria of regulatory agencies. Regarding the combination of ethanol and sodium acetate to precipitate impurities, in the first fractionation step and polysaccharide, in the second fractionation step; the best conditions were: 40% ethanol without sodium acetate in the first stage and 60% ethanol containing 7% sodium acetate in the second stage. This improved condition resulted in nearly 100% polysaccharide recovery with relative purities higher than 100 for both protein and nucleic acid. In the traditional PRP purification process the final polysaccharide recovery was around 20% at the end of the process, while the new condition will result in at least 80% and within the purity criteria established by WHO for this polysaccharide.