Microbiological characteristics and inflammatory cytokines associated with preterm labor

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Correlation of Atopobium vaginae Amount With Bacterial Vaginosis Markers

Objective. The purpose of this study was to test the correlation of the amount of Atopobium vaginae with the most commonly used markers for bacterial vaginosis (BV).Materials and Methods. We enrolled 103 nonpregnant and premenopausal women that were positive for BV by Amsel criteria and with a Nugent score higher than 3. All women were negative for yeast, Chlamydia trachomatis, Trichomonas vaginalis, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. A. vaginae concentration was determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction from samples of vaginal rinsings with 2 mL of sterile saline.Results. There was no difference in the median values of A. vaginae concentration when comparing samples with presence or absence of each individual Amsel criterion. In the case of a higher pH cutoff value of 4.9, greater amounts of this microorganism (p = .02) were found. In addition, correlation tests showed that A. vaginae concentration is positively correlated with pH (p < .001) and with Nugent scores (p = .003).Conclusions. The quantification of A. vaginae is useful for identification of the most severe cases of BV.

Usefulness of catheter tip culture in the diagnosis of neonatal infections

Objective: To determine the number of colony-forming units (CFU) that best correlates with catheter-related infections (CRI) in newborns.Methods: This was a prospective study of semiquantitative cultures of catheter tips obtained from newborns in the neonatal unit at Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu, state of São Paulo, Brazil. The microorganisms isolated from catheter and peripheral blood cultures were identified and submitted to a drug susceptibility test. The optimal cutoff point was determined by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.Results: A total of 85 catheters obtained from 63 newborns were studied. Staphylococcus epidermidis was the predominant species in the catheters (75%). Eight of 11 (72.7%) CRI episodes were associated with coagulase-negative staphylococci, six of which were of the S. epidermidis type. ROC curve analysis indicated that the optimal cutoff point for the diagnosis of CRI was 122 CFU.Conclusions: The cutoff point of 122 CFU correlated best with the diagnosis of CRI in newborns.

Correlation between API 50 CH and multiplex polymerase chain reaction for the identification of vaginal lactobacilli in isolates

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Biomarkers for oxidative stress in acute lung injury induced in rabbits submitted to different strategies of mechanical ventilation

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Uso de imunomoduladores nas enfermidades infecciosas dos animais domésticos

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Rabies virus distribution in tissues and molecular characterization of strains from naturally infected non-hematophagous bats

Bats are main reservoirs for Lyssavirus worldwide, which is an important public health issue because it constitutes one of the big challenges in rabies control. Yet, little is known about how the virus is maintained among bats, and the epidemiological relationships remain poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to investigate the distribution of the rabies virus (RABV) in bat tissues and organs and to genetically characterize virus isolates from naturally infected non-hematophagous bats. The heminested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (hnRT-PCR) and sequencing using primers to the nucleoprotein coding gene were performed. The results showed a dissemination of the RABV in different tissues and organs, particularly in the salivary glands, tongue, lungs, kidneys, bladder, intestine and feces, suggesting other possible forms of RABV elimination and the possibility of transmission among these animals. The phylogenetic analysis confirmed that different variants of RABV are maintained by non-hematophagous bats in nature and have similar tissue distribution irrespective of bat species and phylogenetic characterization. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Desempenho, características de carcaça e qualidade da carne de bovinos superprecoces das raças Canchim, Nelore e seus mestiços

Oitenta e seis machos jovens, não-castrados, divididos em quatro grupos raciais - Nelore (n=20), Canchim (n=17), ½ Canchim ×Nelore (CN) (n=25) e ¾ Canchim ×Nelore (TQ) (n=24) - foram pesados a cada 28 dias para avaliação de ganho de peso (kg/dia), ingestão de matéria seca (kg/dia) e conversão alimentar. Ao atingirem peso de abate médio de 450 kg e espessura de gordura subcutânea superior a 4 mm, os animais foram abatidos para avaliação do peso e do rendimento de carcaça e de cortes comerciais do traseiro, área de olho-de-lombo, espessura de gordura subcutânea (mm), marmorização, força de cisalhamento, extrato etéreo (%) e perdas por cocção. O grupo Nelore apresentou-se adequado ao sistema de produção proposto, revelando desempenho similar ao dos animais CN quanto ao ganho de peso (1,18 e 1,29 kg para Nelore e CN, respectivamente) e conversão alimentar (6,90 e 7,04 para Nelore e CN, respectivamente). A ingestão de matéria seca (kg/dia) diferiu entre os grupos raciais (11,82; 9,39; 8,90 e 8,31 para Canchim, TQ, CN e Nelore, respectivamente). O peso da carcaça (kg) dos Canchim (291,14) foi maior e diferiu dos outros grupos (250,74; 246,64 e 244,18 para TQ, CN e Nelore, respectivamente). Apesar de o rendimento de carcaça ter sido maior no grupo Nelore (58,75%), os animais desse grupo apresentaram menor rendimento de cortes nobres que de traseiro, com diferença para o contrafilé (10,22; 11,55; 11,64 e 11,18 para Nelore, Canchim, TQ e CN, respectivamente). Os valores de força de cisalhamento comprovam que o abate de animais jovens garante carne macia, independentemente do grupo genético estudado.

Fecal specimens preparation methods for PCR diagnosis of human taeniosis

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

A novel in situ Polymerase chain reaction hybridisation assay for the direct detection of bovine herpesvirus type 5 in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Visual detection of turkey coronavirus RNA in tissues and feces by reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) with hydroxynaphthol blue dye

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)