Frequency of class I anti-HLA alloantibodies in patients infected by HIV-1

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a presença de aloanticorpos anti-HLA classe I em pacientes infectados pelo HIV-1 e relacioná-la aos diferentes cursos clínicos da doença. Amostras de sangue de 145 indivíduos HIV positivo foram coletadas em tubos com EDTA. A infecção pelo HIV-1 foi confirmada por teste ELISA e a presença de aloanticorpos anti-HLA classe I determinada em seguida. A evolução clínica foi definida como rápida (<1 ano entre diagnóstico e morte), moderada (1-3 anos) ou lenta (>3 anos). A presença de aloanticorpos anti-HLA classe I foi menor em indivíduos saudáveis em relação aos infectados pelo HIV-1 (4,2% contra 32,4%). Porém, a distribuição destes aloanticorpos entre os indivíduos infectados foi igual, independente da evolução clínica. Deste modo, a presença de aloanticorpos anti-HLA classe I não é um fator determinante na piora clínica do paciente.

Avaliação do polimorfismo no gene da metilenotetrahidrofolato redutase e concentração de folato e vitamina B12 em pacientes portadores do HIV-1 em tratamento com anti-retrovirais

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Análise quantitativa das células CD4 e sua importância no diagnóstico de lesões orais em pacientes HIV positivos

The oral manifestations due to HIV infection are, a lot of times, the first clinical signs of the disease. These injuries may also function as beepers and sentries of the curse and progression of the HIV infection and AIDS. The objective of this work was to evaluate the prevalence of the oral injuries in HIV positive patients, relating them with the CD4+ cells counting and the viral load in patients from the Hospital of Infected contagious Gizelda Trigueiro in Natal-RN. One hundred and one patients were evaluated, where after the clinical exam of the oral cavity, these ones were conducted to the peripheral blood collection for the counting of CD4+ lymphocytes. We observed a prevalence of 25,6%, that is, 31 cases. The Oral Candidiasis was the most commum injure, followed by Oral Hairy Leukoplakia, linear gingival erytema, lips herpes, gingivitis and periodontitis - HIV. The average counting of cells CD4+ of the injury carrying patients was of 250 cells/mm3. We did not observe relation between the presence of injuries and the viral load of the individuals

Terceiro setor em HIV/AIDS: mapeando o ativismo social na contemporaneidade

The struggle against AIDS is a kind of action in favor of life and the organized Brazilian civil society incorporated it in a meaningful dimension. This struggle matured the creation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and advanced with the discoveries about the disease. Since the very early 90 s, the consolidation of the partnership involving the movement anti-aids with State came up with a dilemma for the entities of civil society: are they just executors of governmental policies or do they take up the role of effective demands concerning public policies? Since then, activism against aids started to stand for execution of projects and one considers that the institutional way of anti-aids work has problems because it constructs a basic strategy to take off the political aspect of the third sector. The NGOs/aids consolidate the reconfiguration of capital and get far from street activities. This is important to be studied because the relationship between society and aids, contemporarily, can prevent them from accomplishing their agenda referring to political mobilization and collective resistance. This research started to be carried after some visits, previously arranged, to an institutional life support group called Grupo de Apoio à Vida-GAV, in Campina Grande. A semi-structured interview was applied to 31 users and to 6 technicians of the entity mentioned. One aimed at investigating the activist anti-aids practice, identifying the conceptions of activism and knowing how social actors assess those practices. Preliminary results indicate that one of the conceptions on activism among the interviewees refers to the execution of projects through partnership of NGOs and supporting institutions, governmental or non-governmental. Although this new conception on activism consolidates a non-political aspect, there are other ways of executing projects and participating actively, according to some users, such as: meetings, lectures and other sorts of events promoted by the group, which are also legitimate actions representing anti-aids activism at the present context

Cartografia de uma intervenção comunitária para prevenção de DST/HIV/AIDS

Community-based interventions have been presented as a proposal of operationalization of the concept of vulnerability to STD/Aids prevention. This study aimed to analyze the Community intervention developed through the project Strengthening of Community action networks for STD/Aids prevention: know and intervenein, at Mãe Luiza neighborhood, in the city of Natal, State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The study was conducted in the same location where intervention occurs and took as time reference the first 30 months of construction and deployment process, from April 2010 until December 2012. This is research with qualitative approach, participatory character, developed from the immersion of the researcher in the field, being this community intervention itself. In this perspective, the study approximates to the Cartographic method in which the researcher-researched is engendered in the acts and effects research. The data-generating sources were the memories of the researcher from the field notes, written narratives of subjects involved in the intervention and documents pertaining to the project. In the methodological path of cartography, the image of the rhizome by Deleuze and Guattari (1995) has accompanied the immersion in the field given the nature of research-intervention which approach to the concept of object-Rhizome. The presentation of results was composed for the attempted rhizomatic and a hypertext representation, based on the descriptive narrative taken from the documentary analysis and the multi-faceted narratives with the voices, the looks and the affections narrated by the subject involved, respectively. On the path taken, three lanes were drawn as synthesis of learning produced by experience-that can contribute to understanding the process under study, in his singular character, and reflections on other experiences of community intervention: track 1- Community intervention as active-reflective space and a cause; track 2 Inclusion as power and challenge of community involvement; track 3 Sustainability as A challenge of Community intervention. The study indicates that community intervention is presented as a potential producer of health as also produces practical and creative skills, subjects and inventive in the daily life of the community with a view to reinventing knowledge and practices for the prevention of STD/HIV/Aids

Prevalência e fatores associados à testagem para HIV em homens que fazem sexo com homens

A infecção por HIV/Aids (vírus da imunodeficiência humana/síndrome da imunodeficiência adquirida) constitui um importante problema mundial de Saúde Pública. Dados do último boletim apresentado pela UNAIDS (Organização das Nações Unidas para Aids) em 2013, apontam que mais de 35 milhões de pessoas vivem com HIV em todo mundo. No Brasil, a epidemia é concentrada, com prevalência de infecção menor que 1% na população de 15 a 49 anos, porém chegando a 10,5% entre homens que fazem sexo com homens (HSH). O diagnóstico precoce do HIV se associa a uma redução da morbidade, mortalidade e também da transmissão desta infecção. O presente estudo tem o objetivo de avaliar a prevalência e fatores associados à testagem prévia para HIV na população de HSH dos municípios de Natal/RN e Parnamirim/RN. Os participantes respondiam a um questionário contendo perguntas referentes a dados sociodemográficos, padrões de relacionamento sexual, conhecimentos sobre HIV/Aids, uso de preservativo, consumo de álcool, drogas e busca de testagem para HIV e sífilis. Em seguida, os que desejassem poderiam realizar teste rápido para HIV e sífilis. No total, foram pesquisados 101 sujeitos, destes, 70 foram recrutados com a utilização da técnica Respondent Driving Sample, e 31 com uma amostra de conveniência. O teste de HIV havia sido realizado por 63,3% dos homens pelo menos uma vez na vida. A testagem prévia para HIV foi associada à idade (27 anos ou mais), realização prévia do teste para sífilis, conhecimento sobre locais onde o teste de HIV é feito gratuitamente e resultado positivo para sífilis no momento da pesquisa. A prevalência de testagem para HIV na amostra foi baixa, semelhante ao verificado em outros estudos com a população HSH. Ações que priorizem a divulgação de locais onde o anti-HIV pode ser realizado gratuitamente e direcionadas para o público jovem parecem ser as mais adequadas para a ampliação da testagem entre os HSH na nossa realidade

O Serviço Social e a exclusão/inclusão social dos portadores de HIV/AIDS :demandas e desafios nos hospitais públicos

This research presents the labors developed by the Social Service unto socially excluded HIV/Aids positives at public hospitals in Rio Grande do Norte (RN). It purposes to identify and to analyze the demands brought by the holder onto the Social Service professional as well as the challenges the latter face to minister to the former. It privileges, from the methodological viewpoint, the qualitative and quantitative analysis with the application of questionnaires, direct observation, semi-structured interviews and bibliographic references. Data were collected from 12 (twelve) social assistants who work at Giselda Trigueiro Hospital in Natal (7) and Rafael Fernandes Hospital in Mossoró (5). The central hypothesis that guided this study is that the social inclusion/exclusion process experienced by the HIV/Aids positive on society implies a demand for the Social Service that is inserted in the public health context (specially in HIV-referred public hospitals), whose agents, however, when attempting to answer those demands, meet obstacles due to both the precariousness of public health services and the social complexity that concerns the HIV/Aids epidemic. Results point out that, de facto, the HIV/Aids epidemic, because of the social exclusion/inclusion process to which the holder is subject results a demand for the social agents at hospitals. Demands rise principally from the patient s life condition, considering the increasing pauperization in the epidemic context. As to what it is concerned, social assistants, responding to the needs, come across concrete twofold challenges: the illness in itself, for all social, negative aspects that make part of quotidian life of holders; and the precarious state of the public health service in RN State, since that working conditions are unsatisfactory

Variability of the conserved V3 loop tip motif in HIV-1 subtype B isolates collected from Brazilian and French patients

The diversity of the V3 loop tip motif sequences of HIV-1 subtype B was analyzed in patients from Botucatu (Brazil) and Montpellier (France). Overall, 37 tetrameric tip motifs were identified, 28 and 17 of them being recognized in Brazilian and French patients, respectively. The GPGR (P) motif was predominant in French but not in Brazilian patients (53.5% vs 31.0%), whereas the GWGR (W) motif was frequent in Brazilian patients (23.0%) and absent in French patients. Three tip motif groups were considered: P, W, and non-P non-W groups. The distribution of HIV-1 isolates into the three groups was significantly different between isolates from Botucatu and from Montpellier (P < 0.001). A higher proportion of CXCR4-using HIV-1 (X4 variants) was observed in the non-P non-W group as compared with the P group (37.5% vs 19.1%), and no X4 variant was identified in the W group (P < 0.001). The higher proportion of X4 variants in the non-P non-W group was essentially observed among the patients from Montpellier, who have been infected with HIV-1 for a longer period of time than those from Botucatu. Among patients from Montpellier, CD4+ cell counts were lower in patients belonging to the non-P non-W group than in those belonging to the P group (24 cells/µL vs 197 cells/µL; P = 0.005). Taken together, the results suggest that variability of the V3 loop tip motif may be related to HIV-1 coreceptor usage and to disease progression. However, as analyzed by a bioinformatic method, the substitution of the V3 loop tip motif of the subtype B consensus sequence with the different tip motifs identified in the present study was not sufficient to induce a change in HIV-1 coreceptor usage.

Corpo, doença e biomedicina: uma análise antropológica de práticas corporais e de tratamento entre pessoas com HIV/AIDS

A epidemia do HIV/AIDS tem desafiado tanto a biomedicina como a ciência de modo geral. Tecnologias vêm sendo exploradas a fim de criar uma base terapêutica consistente às pessoas infectadas. Se os tratamentos exigem o consumo diário de medicamentos, os exames laboratoriais contemplam uma rotina a ser sempre mantida. Levam a um processo de mudança e adaptação pessoal junto de uma reorganização intensiva das formas de cuidado do corpo. As práticas clínico-terapêuticas devem ser entendidas, porém, como elementos particulares de processos culturais de grande alcance. Partindo de pesquisa etnográfica no Rio de Janeiro, discuto os efeitos sociais da biomedicina como um saber e uma cultura global sobre práticas sociais locais.

Apropriações, conflitos e negociações de gênero, classe e sorologia: etnografando situações e performances no mundo social do HIV/AIDS (Rio de Janeiro)

Considerando o caráter multifacetado e socialmente heterogêneo da epidemia do HIV/AIDS, gostaria de refletir sobre as formas pragmáticas de apropriação, negociação e conflito de gênero em termos das disposições possíveis de masculinidade e feminilidade ou, ainda, suas amplas combinações entre homens e mulheres de diferentes identidades sexuais e diversos status sorológicos. Os contextos a serem explorados e descritos são aqueles particulares ao mundo social da AIDS, incluindo tanto o cotidiano de uma ONG AIDS específica, bem como os que se apresentam em situações tanto públicas como privadas na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Pretendo discutir como novas subjetividades podem se constituir a partir dos usos de categorias sexuais e sorológicas, valores morais e de expressões performativas de gênero.

A first case of protease codon 35 amino acid insertion in a HIV-1 subtype B sequence detected in the Bauru region, state of São Paulo, Brazil: case report

Inserções de aminoácidos na protease têm sido raramente descritas em pacientes infectados pelo HIV. Uma destas inserções foi, recentemente, descrita no codon 35, embora seu impacto na resistência mantém-se pouco conhecido. Este trabalho apresenta um caso de uma variante viral com inserção no codon 35 da protease, descrita pela primeira vez em Bauru, São Paulo, Brasil, circulante em um homem, caucasiano, com 38 anos, o qual apresenta infecção assintomática pelo HIV desde 1997. A variante isolada mostrou uma inserção no codon 35 da protease de dois aminoácidos: uma treonina e um ácido aspártico, resultando na sequência de aminoácidos E35E_TD.

Paracoccidioidomycosis: an unusual presentation in a young girl disclosing an unnoted HIV-infection

The association of paracoccidioidomycosis with AIDS is apparently less frequent than expected. The authors present an unusual case of paracoccidioidomycosis in a 13-year-old female student which was later found to be the first opportunistic infection in the course of the patient's HIV-infection. The clinical presentation followed an accidental incised wound on the palmar region initially described as a 'sporotrichotic-chancre'. After good response under sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprin, the patient relapsed and presented an associated oral candidiasis. HIV-infection was documented and additional investigation showed CD4(+) T-cells=22/mm(3), CD8(+)=280 cell/mm(3) and viral load=4,043 log. This case report presents an uncommon dermatological-clinical picture in the youngest patient in which such association has been reported to date.

Prevalence and antifungal susceptibility of Candida parapsilosis complex isolates collected from oral cavities of HIV-infected individuals

At present, few data are available on the prevalence and antifungal susceptibility of Candida parapsilosis complex isolates from HIV-infected individuals. The C. parapsilosis complex comprises three species, C. parapsilosis sensu stricto, C. metapsilosis and C. orthopsilosis. Fifteen of 318 Candida isolates were identified as members of the C. parapsilosis complex by PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The prevalence of C. parapsilosis complex isolates was 4.7 %, 2.2 % being identified as C. parapsilosis sensu stricto and 2.5% as C. metapsilosis, while no C. orthopsilosis was isolated. This is believed to be the first study that has identified isolates of C. metapsilosis obtained from the oral cavity of HIV-infected individuals. Antifungal susceptibility tests indicated that all the isolates were susceptible to amphotericin B (AMB), fluconazole (FLC), ketoconazole (KTC), itraconazole (ITC), voriconazole (VRC) and caspofungin (CASPO). Although isolates of C. parapsilosis sensu stricto and C. metapsilosis were susceptible to FLC, isolates of C. metapsilosis showed a tendency for higher MICs (>= 1.0 mu g ml(-1)). Based upon the frequency of candidiasis and the fact that certain isolates of the C. parapsilosis complex respond differently to FLC therapy, our data may be of therapeutic relevance with respect to susceptibility and potential resistance to specific antifungal agents. Our data suggest that C. metapsilosis can be a human commensal; its importance as a pathogen has yet to be confirmed.

Assessment of cytokine values in serum by RT-PCR in HIV-1 infected individuals with and without highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART)

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