El tractament de les malalties en l'antic Egipte

El tema central d'aquest treball és identificar i descriure els diferents aspectes que incidien en la malaltia i el seu tractament en l'antic Egipte.

Prevalence of infection with hantavirus in rodent populations of central Argentina

We studied hantavirus seroprevalence and virus variability in rodent populations in Diego Gaynor, northwest of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. Rodent samplings were conducted in railroads and cropfield borders in March and July 1999, September and December 2000, and March 2001. Antibody detection was performed by an enzyme link immunosorbent assay (ELISA), using the recombinant nucleoprotein of Andes (AND) virus as antigen. Tissue samples were taken from positive antibody individuals in order to confirm the presence of hantavirus genomic material and to identify virus genotypes. Akodon azarae was the most abundant species, followed by Oligoryzomys flavescens, while Calomys laucha and C. musculinus were rarely caught. We found a rate of seroprevalence of 9.3% for a total sample of 291 A. azarae and 13.5% for 37 O. flavescens. After molecular analyses of hantavirus, we confirmed the presence of hantavirus genomic material in 16 individuals with ELISA (+) results and two individuals with ELISA (-). Four amplimers for each species were sequenced and compared to the corresponding sequences of representative hantaviruses. We identified the AND Cent Lec from three O. flavescens, and the Pergamino virus from four A. azarae and from one O. flavescens. A. azarae males had higher seroprevalence than females, and heavier individuals showed higher seroprevalence than lighter ones. We did not find seroprevalence differences according to sex in O. flavescens, although this result may have been produced by the low sample size. The lowest seroprevalence was found in a period of high rodent density, when juveniles prevailed in the population. We found higher seroprevalences than those detected in previous studies for other localities of central Argentina where cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) have been reported. The presence of AND Cent Lec virus in rodent populations of the study area, which is responsible of HPS cases in central Argentina, suggests that human populations are at risk of HPS disease, although there were not reported cases of this disease until today.

Central and peripheral metabolic changes induced by gamma-hydroxybutyrate.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) was originally introduced as an anesthetic but was first abused by bodybuilders and then became a recreational or club drug.1 Sodium salt of GHB is currently used for the treatment of cataplexy in patients with narcolepsy. The mode of action and metabolism of GHB is not well understood. GHB stimulates growth hormone release in humans and induces weight loss in treated patients, suggesting an unexplored metabolic effect. In different experiments the effect of GHB administration on central (cerebral cortex) and peripheral (liver) biochemical processes involved in the metabolism of the drug, as well as the effects of the drug on metabolism, were evaluated in mice. DESIGN: C57BL/6J, gamma-aminobutyric acid B (GABAB) knockout and obese (ob/ob) mice were acutely or chronically treated with GHB at 300 mg/kg. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Respiratory ratio decreased under GHB treatment, independent of food intake, suggesting a shift in energy substrate from carbohydrates to lipids. GHB-treated C57BL/6J and GABAB null mice but not ob/ob mice gained less weight than matched controls. GHB dramatically increased the corticosterone level but did not affect growth hormone or prolactin. Metabolome profiling showed that an acute high dose of GHB did not increase the brain GABA level. In the brain and the liver, GHB was metabolized into succinic semialdehyde by hydroxyacid-oxoacid transhydrogenase. Chronic administration decreased glutamate, s-adenosylhomocysteine, and oxidized gluthathione, and increased omega-3 fatty acids. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate large central and peripheral metabolic changes induced by GHB with important relevance to its therapeutic use.

From central Atlantic continental rift to Neogene uplift - western Anti-Atlas (Morocco)

P>To put constraints on the Mesozoic to recent growth of the Anti-Atlas system, we investigated the temperature-time history of rocks by applying extensive low-temperature thermochronological analysis to three Precambrian inliers along the coast and 250 km into the interior. Bedrocks yield old U-Th/He ages on zircon (248-193 Ma) and apatite (150-50 Ma) and also fission-track ages of 173-121 Ma on apatite. These datasets are interpreted as recording passive margin upward movements from central Atlantic rifting until the Early Cretaceous. A phase of sedimentary burial was evidenced for the Cretaceous-Eocene. The extension of this thin (1.5 km) basin is loosely constrained but can be extended to the western regions of northern Africa. Effects of the existing thermal perturbation of lithospheric origin 100 km below the Atlas show that the 120-60 degrees C isotherms are not much deflected. Large-scale uplift has possibly occurred in the western Anti-Atlas since c. 30 Ma and is associated with a mean denudation rate of 0.08 km Ma-1.

Simulium lobatoi, new species of blackfly (Diptera: Simuliidae) from the states of Mato Grosso and Goiás, Central Brazil

During studies on the taxonomy of the Simuliidae of Brazil, a new species of Simulium was found. Full descriptions of the adults and pupae of this species are described here, its affinities with other species are discussed and its distribution, biology, and medical importance in Brazil are recorded.

Activity of oil-formulated Beauveria bassiana against Triatoma sordida in peridomestic areas in central Brazil

Field tests were carried out during the rainy season of 2001/2002 in São Luís de Montes Belos, Goiás, Brazil, to evaluate the potential of the entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana, against peridomestic Triatoma sordida. An oil-water formulation of the isolate CG 14 (Embrapa) was applied in triatomine infested hen houses of four farms at a final concentration of 10(6) conidia/cm². Numbers of T. sordida decreased over the next 25 days, after application of the fungus, and B. bassiana developed on dead insects in one hen house. A high number of B. bassiana colonies was detected in substrates collected in treated hen houses 24 h after application of CG 14. In the following three months the presenceof B. bassiana declined to values found before treatment.

Prevalence of human papillomavirus type 16 variants in the Federal District, Central Brazil

We report the prevalence of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) variants in women with cervical lesions from the Federal District, Central Brazil. We analyzed 34 HPV-16 samples, identifying the sequence variations of E6 and L1 genes and correlating variant frequency with disease status. The most prevalent HPV-16 variant was the European (50%), followed by Asian-American (41.2%), African-1 (5.9%), and African-2 (2.9%). European and non-European variants appeared in equal frequencies among the cytological types of lesions - atypical squamous or glandular cells of undetermined significance, cytological alterations suggesting HPV infection, cervical intraepithelial neoplasias, squamous cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma.

GB virus C/hepatitis G virus infection in dialysis patients and kidney transplant recipients in central Brazil

In order to investigate the prevalence of GB virus C (GBV-C)/hepatitis G virus (HGV) infection in dialysis patients and kidney transplant recipients in Central Brazil and also to analyze the virus genotypes distribution, a total of 123 patients including 98 on hemodialysis, 13 on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis treatment, and 12 who received kidney transplantation were interviewed in one unit of dialysis treatment in Goiânia city. Blood samples were collected and serum samples tested for GBV-C/HGV RNA by polymerase chain reaction. Genotypes were determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. Eighteen samples were GBV-C/HGV RNA-positive, resulting in an overall prevalence of 14.6% (95% CI: 9.2-21.7). A high positivity for GBV-C/HGV RNA was observed in patients who had received kidney transplant (16.7%), followed by those on hemodialysis (15.3%), and peritoneal dialysis (7.7%). RFLP analysis revealed the presence of genotypes 1, 2, and 3 of GBV-C/HGV; more precisely, 9 (50%) samples were found belonging to the 2b subtype, 4 (22%) to the 2a subtype, 3 (17%) to genotype 1, and 2 (11%) to genotype 3. The present data indicate an intermediate prevalence of GBV-C/HGV infection among dialysis patients and kidney transplant recipients in Central Brazil. Genotype 2 (subtype 2b) seems to be the most prevalent GBV-C/HGV genotype in our region.

Multi-ethnic fine-mapping of 14 central adiposity loci.

The Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) consortium identified 14 loci in European Ancestry (EA) individuals associated with waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) adjusted for body mass index. These loci are wide and narrowing the signals remains necessary. Twelve of 14 loci identified in GIANT EA samples retained strong associations with WHR in our joint EA/individuals of African Ancestry (AA) analysis (log-Bayes factor >6.1). Trans-ethnic analyses at five loci (TBX15-WARS2, LYPLAL1, ADAMTS9, LY86 and ITPR2-SSPN) substantially narrowed the signals to smaller sets of variants, some of which are in regions that have evidence of regulatory activity. By leveraging varying linkage disequilibrium structures across different populations, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with strong signals and narrower credible sets from trans-ethnic meta-analysis of central obesity provide more precise localizations of potential functional variants and suggest a possible regulatory role. Meta-analysis results for WHR were obtained from 77 167 EA participants from GIANT and 23 564 AA participants from the African Ancestry Anthropometry Genetics Consortium. For fine mapping we interrogated SNPs within ± 250 kb flanking regions of 14 previously reported index SNPs from loci discovered in EA populations by performing trans-ethnic meta-analysis of results from the EA and AA meta-analyses. We applied a Bayesian approach that leverages allelic heterogeneity across populations to combine meta-analysis results and aids in fine-mapping shared variants at these locations. We annotated variants using information from the ENCODE Consortium and Roadmap Epigenomics Project to prioritize variants for possible functionality.

Antiretroviral resistance and genetic diversity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 isolates from the Federal District, Central Brazil

In the context of universal access to antiretroviral therapy, the surveillance of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genetic diversity and resistance becomes pivotal. In this work our purpose was to describe the genetic variability; prevalence of drug-resistance mutations; and genotypic resistance profiles in HIV-1 infected individuals under antiretroviral treatment, from the Federal District, Brasília, Central Brazil. The entire viral protease and codons 19 to 234 of the reverse transcriptase gene from 45 HIV-1 isolates were amplified and sequenced for subtyping and genotyping. By phylogenetic analysis, 96% of the samples clustered with subtype B and the remaining 4% with HIV-1 subtype F sequences. One major protease inhibitor resistance-associated mutation, I50V, was detected in 38% of the samples. Minor mutations were also found at the protease gene: L10I/V (7%), K20M (2%), M36I (11%), L63P (20%), A71T (2%), and V77I (7%). Many mutations associated with reduced susceptibility to nucleoside or non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors were detected: M41L (11%), E44D (4%), D67N (11%), T69D (2%), K70R (11%), L74V (2%), L100I (4%), K103N (18%), V118I (9%), Y181C (11%), M184V (18%), G190A (4%), T215Y (4%), and K219E (4%). This study has shown that 84% of the studied population from the Federal District, showing evidences of therapy failure, presented viral genomic mutations associated with drug resistance. The main antiretrovirals to which this population showed resistance were the PI amprenavir (38%), the NNRTIs delavirdine, nevirapine (31%), and efavirenz (24%), and the NRTIs lamivudine (18%), abacavir, and zidovudine (13%).

Hepatitis C virus genotypes in blood donors from the Federal District, Central Brazil

The objective of this study was to characterize hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes in blood donors from the Federal District, Central Brazil, and to compare HCV screening by serological assays and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Plasma samples from 57 individuals with reactive or indeterminate results in serological anti-HCV screening assays (ELISA or EIA) were tested for HCV RNA by RT-PCR. The results from a confirmatory LIA serological assay were also evaluated. The 5' non-coding region of the HCV genome was amplified from 41 PCR positive samples (71.9%), which were further characterized by nucleotide sequencing analysis. Of these, 60.9% were of HCV genotype 1 and 39.1% of genotype 3.

The UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot Tox-Prot program: A central hub of integrated venom protein data.

Animal toxins are of interest to a wide range of scientists, due to their numerous applications in pharmacology, neurology, hematology, medicine, and drug research. This, and to a lesser extent the development of new performing tools in transcriptomics and proteomics, has led to an increase in toxin discovery. In this context, providing publicly available data on animal toxins has become essential. The UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot Tox-Prot program (http://www.uniprot.org/program/Toxins) plays a crucial role by providing such an access to venom protein sequences and functions from all venomous species. This program has up to now curated more than 5000 venom proteins to the high-quality standards of UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot (release 2012_02). Proteins targeted by these toxins are also available in the knowledgebase. This paper describes in details the type of information provided by UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot for toxins, as well as the structured format of the knowledgebase.

Involvement of central nervous system in the schistosomiasis

The involvement of the central nervous system (CNS) by schistosomes may or may not determine clinical manifestations. When symptomatic, neuroschistosomiasis (NS) is one of the most severe presentations of schistosomal infection. Considering the symptomatic form, cerebral involvement is almost always due to Schistosoma japonicum and the spinal cord disease, caused by S. mansoni or S. haematobium. Available evidence suggests that NS depends basically on the presence of parasite eggs in the nervous tissue and on the host immune response. The patients with cerebral NS usually have the clinical manifestations of increased intracranial pressure associated with focal neurological signs; and those with schistosomal myeloradiculopathy (SMR) present rapidly progressing symptoms of myelitis involving the lower cord, usually in association with the involvement of the cauda esquina roots. The diagnosis of cerebral NS is established by biopsy of the nervous tissue and SMR is usually diagnosed according to a clinical criterion. Antischistosomal drugs, corticosteroids and surgery are the resourses available for treating NS. The outcome is variable and is better in cerebral disease.

Antiretroviral resistance mutations in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infected patients enrolled in genotype testing at the Central Public Health Laboratory, São Paulo, Brazil: preliminary results

Antiretroviral resistance mutations (ARM) are one of the major obstacles for pharmacological human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) suppression. Plasma HIV-1 RNA from 306 patients on antiretroviral therapy with virological failure was analyzed, most of them (60%) exposed to three or more regimens, and 28% of them have started therapy before 1997. The most common regimens in use at the time of genotype testing were AZT/3TC/nelfinavir, 3TC/D4T/nelfinavir and AZT/3TC/efavirenz. The majority of ARM occurred at protease (PR) gene at residue L90 (41%) and V82 (25%); at reverse transcriptase (RT) gene, mutations at residue M184 (V/I) were observed in 64%. One or more thymidine analogue mutations were detected in 73%. The number of ARM at PR gene increased from a mean of four mutations per patient who showed virological failure at the first ARV regimens to six mutations per patient exposed to six or more regimens; similar trend in RT was also observed. No differences in ARM at principal codon to the three drug classes for HIV-1 clades B or F were observed, but some polymorphisms in secondary codons showed significant differences. Strategies to improve the cost effectiveness of drug therapy and to optimize the sequencing and the rescue therapy are the major health priorities.