ANTS AS POTENTIAL VECTORS OF PATHOGENS IN HOSPITALS IN THE STATE OF SAO-PAULO, BRAZIL

Baiting studies performed in large, medium and small hospitals in Brazil revealed the presence of 14 ant species, with up to nine recorded in one hospital. Dominant species were exotic ants, and in the large hospital, Tapinoma melanocephalum was the most prevalent. Ants were not uniformly spread through the hospitals, but tended to be found in the more critical areas, particularly in nursery, intensive care, obstetrics, neurology and dermatology units. Bacteriological studies using specific media for bacteria associated with intra-hospital infections indicated the potential for the mechanical vectoring of species of Staphylococcus, Serratia, Klebsiella, Acinetobacter, Enterobacter, Candida and Enterococcus by ants. Although T. melanocephalum did not have the highest rate of association with these bacteria, its ubiquitous occurrences resulted in the highest overall potential as a vector of these bacteria. Because of a large number of ant species occurring in Brazilian hospitals, ants pose a potential problem to the spread of diseases in hospitals. Because of the number of associated ant species in hospitals, the control of this potential problem is much more difficult than in registered temperate areas.

Levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and metalloproteinase-9 in the cerebrospinal fluid of dogs with visceral leishmaniasis

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

Dog culling and replacement in an area endemic for visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil

Measures employed to control visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil have focused on vector control by residual insecticide spraying and diagnosis of infection with elimination of positive dogs. We describe dog culling and replacement in a Brazilian endemic area (the Alvorada District, Aracatuba, SP) in order to better understand dog population dynamics when elimination of the dog reservoir is adopted as the main control measure. From August 2002 to July 2004, 60.9% of the estimated dog population for the area was culled with a mean age of 34 months old. The presence of anti-Leishmania sp. antibodies was recorded for only 26.7% of the euthanized canines. Replacement was observed in 38.8% of the cases, some of them by 2 or more dogs and in a mean time of 4 months. Dogs were replaced mostly by puppies of both sexes with a mean age of 6.8 months. From August 2002 to April 2005 we were able to follow-up 116 of these dogs, during a mean time of 8.7 months. Canine visceral leishmaniasis seropositivity by ELISA was observed in 42.2% of the followed dogs, 30.6% of which were already positive at the first evaluation. By the end of the follow-up period 37% of the dogs were submitted to euthanasia, with a mean age of 18.3 months. In the studied CVL endemic area of Brazil, euthanasia and the subsequent replacement ratio were high, increasing the dog population turnover and leading to a younger population that might be more susceptible to a variety of other infectious diseases in addition to CVL. Dog culling as a control strategy for VL should be reassessed. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Potential role for dog fleas in the cycle of Leishmania spp.

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

Effect of different tannery sludge compost amendment rates on growth, biomass accumulation and yield responses of Capsicum plants

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Cytotoxicity of monocrotaline in isolated rat hepatocytes: Effects of dithiothreitol and fructose

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

Isoniazid acetylating phenotype in patients with paracoccidioidomycosis and its relationship with serum sulfadoxin levels, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and glutathione reductase activities

The authors evaluated the isoniazid acetylating phenotype and measured hematocrit, hemoglobin, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and glutathione reductase activities plus serum sulfadoxin levels in 39 patients with paracoccidioidomycosis (33 males and 6 females) aged 17 to 58 years. Twenty one (53.84%) of the patients presented a slow acetylating phenotype and 18 (46.16%) a fast acetylating phenotype. Glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase (G6PD) activity was decreased in 5(23.80%) slow acetylators and in 4 (22.22%) fast acetylators. Glutathione reductase activity was decreased in 14 (66.66%) slow acetylators and in 12(66.66%) fast acetylators. Serum levels of free and total sulfadoxin were higher in slow acetylator (p _ 0.02). Analysis of the results permitted us to conclude that serum sulfadoxin levels are related to the acetylator phenotype. Furthermore, sulfadoxin levels were always above 50 μg/ml, a value considered therapeutic. Glutathione reductase deficiency observed in 66% of patients may be related to the intestinal malabsorption of nutrients, among them riboflavin, a FAD precursor vitamin, in patients with paracoceidioidomycosis.

Alterações histológicas de glândulas submandibulares e testículos induzidas por dietas à base de soja e dieta zinco deficiente em ratos.

The purpose of this study was to examine in rats the histologic alterations of the submandibular glands and testicles induced by soy diets and zinc deficient diet. The zinc deficiency produced testicles alterations including seminiferous tubulus atrophy, germinative epithelium degeneration, spermatogenesis alterations and a significant atrophy of the submandibular glands which presented no much delimitated acines. The soy diet without complementations also compromised the spermatogenesis by showing seminiferous tubulus atrophied and a reduction of the germinative epithelium. The soy diet complemented by saline and vitaminic mixtures didn't produced testicles alterations but its induced in the submandibular glands a hypertrophy of the ductal component mainly in relation to the granular component.

Epidemiology of neurocysticercosis in Brazil

A revision of literature was done with the objective of tracing an epidemiologic profile of neurocysticercosis (NCC) in Brazil. The prevalence was 0.12-9% in autopsies. The frequency was 0.03-7.5% in clinical series and 0.68-5.2% in seroepidemiological studies. The disease corresponds to 0.08-2.5% of admissions to general hospitals. Patient origin was rural in 30 63% of cases. The most involved age range (64-100%) was 11 to 60 years, with a predominance (22-67%) between 21 and 40 years. The male sex was the most affected (51-80%). In the severe forms there was a predominance of urban origin (53-62%) and of the female sex (53-75%). The period of hospitalization ranges from 1 to 254 days and 33 to 50% of patients suffer 1.7 ± 1.4 admissions. The clinical picture was variable, with a predominance of epileptic syndrome (22-92%) and intracranial hypertension (19-89%). Psychiatric manifestations were associated in 9-23% of patients. Lethality was 0.29% in terms of all diseases in general and 4.8-25.9% in terms of neurologic diseases. The asymptomatic form was detected in 6% of patients in clinical serie and in 48.5% of case from autopsies The racemose form and ventricular localization also was observed as asymptomatic form. Among the patients with cutaneous cysticercosis 65% of them showed neurologic manifestations.

N-glycosylation in sugarcane

The N-linked glycosylation of secretory and membrane proteins is the most complex posttranslational modification known to occur in eukaryotic cells. It has been shown to play critical roles in modulating protein function. Although this important biological process has been extensively studied in mammals, much less is known about this biosynthetic pathway in plants. The enzymes involved in plant N-glycan biosynthesis and processing are still not well defined and the mechanism of their genetic regulation is almost completely unknown. In this paper we describe our first attempt to understand the N-linked glycosylation mechanism in a plant species by using the data generated by the Sugarcane Expressed Sequence Tag (SUCEST) project. The SUCEST database was mined for sugarcane gene products potentially involved in the N-glycosylation pathway. This approach has led to the identification and functional assignment of 90 expressed sequence tag (EST) clusters sharing significant sequence similarity with the enzymes involved in N-glycan biosynthesis and processing. The ESTs identified were also analyzed to establish their relative abundance.

The phenomenon of photoinhibition of photosynthesis and its importance in reforestation

Photoinhibition, defined as the inhibition of photosynthesis caused by excessive radiance, affects field production to a great extent. This phenomenon is particularly relevant in reforestation practices, when one deals with forests of rapid growth such as Eucalyptus. The imposition of additional stress factors during exposure to high radiance increases the potential for photoinhibitory effects, so the inhibition of photosynthesis indicates that the plant is submitted to stressful conditions. Photoinhibition can be reversible, playing a protective role for the photosynthetic systems, but it can also reflect damage that has already occurred in the photosynthetic apparatus, being irreversible in this case. In this review, we present the physiological and molecular mechanisms of photoinhibition and discuss the interaction between light and other stress factors and its effects on plants destined for reforestation. In addition, the present work analyzes some of the features and strategies that help plants avoid or restrict the occurrence of photoinhibition. For instance, pigments and enzymes which naturally occur in plants can prevent photoinhibition, while preadaptation to nonideal conditions can enhance tolerance to a certain stress factor. Most of these morphological, metabolic, and biochemical mechanisms of defense are related to the dissipation of excessive energy such as heat. Understanding these mechanisms can help improve cultivation procedures, avoid the plants' death, and increase productivity in the field.