RESUMO:A doença de Chagas, uma zoonose causada por Trypanosoma cruzi, afeta em todo o mundo cerca de 16 a 18 milhões de pessoas. Sua transmissão ocorre através das fezes de triatomíneos, insetos hematófagos conhecidos como barbeiro. Atualmente, a principal forma de transmissão da doença de Chagas em áreas urbanas é por meio de transfusão de sangue contaminado. A violeta de genciana é o único agente que pode ser empregado na quimioprofi laxia de sangue destinado à transfusão. No entanto, existem algumas restrições ao seu uso. A quimioterapia disponível para a doença de Chagas não é efi caz uma vez que as drogas disponíveis nifurtimox e benznidazol são ativas apenas na fase aguda da doença e apresentam sérios efeitos colaterais. Várias substâncias isoladas de plantas foram avaliadas como agentes anti-T. cruzi, objetivando encontrar drogas com menos efeitos colaterais e maior efi cácia para a quimioprofi laxia e quimioterapia da doença de Chagas. Nesta revisão são apresentadas as substâncias de origem natural com atividade anti-T. cruzi.

BackgroundVisceral leishmaniasis is the most severe form of leishmaniasis. Approximately 20% of zoonotic human visceral leishmaniasis worldwide is caused by Leishmania infantum, which is also known as Leishmania chagasi in Latin America, and disease incidence is increasing in urban and peri-urban areas of the tropics. In this form of disease, dogs are the main reservoirs. Diagnostic methods used to identify Leishmania infected animals are not able to detect all of the infected ones, which can compromise the effectiveness of disease control. Therefore, to contribute to the improvement of diagnostic methods for canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL), we aimed to identify and test novel antigens using high-throughput analysis.Methodology/Principal FindingsImmunodominant proteins from L. infantum were mapped in silico to predict B cell epitopes, and the 360 predicted peptides were synthesized on cellulose membranes. Immunoassays were used to select the most reactive peptides, which were then investigated with canine sera. Next, the 10 most reactive peptides were synthesized using solid phase peptide synthesis protocol and tested using ELISA. The sensitivity and specificity of these peptides were also compared to the EIE-LVC Bio-Manguinhos kit, which is recommended by the Brazilian Ministry of Health for use in leishmaniasis control programs. The sensitivity and specificity of the selected synthesized peptides was as high as 88.70% and 95.00%, respectively, whereas the EIE-LVC kit had a sensitivity of 13.08% and 100.00% of specificity. Although the tests based on synthetic peptides were able to diagnose up to 94.80% of asymptomatic dogs with leishmaniasis, the EIE-LVC kit failed to detect the disease in any of the infected asymptomatic dogs.Conclusions/SignificanceOur study shows that ELISA using synthetic peptides is a technique with great potential for diagnosing CVL; furthermore, the use of these peptides in other diagnostic methodologies, such as immunochromatographic tests, could be beneficial to CVL control programs.

BackgroundVisceral leishmaniasis is the most severe form of leishmaniasis. Worldwide, approximately 20% of zoonotic human visceral leishmaniasis is caused by Leishmania infantum, also known as Leishmania chagasi in Latin America. Current diagnostic methods are not accurate enough to identify Leishmania-infected animals and may compromise the effectiveness of disease control. Therefore, we aimed to produce and test two recombinant multiepitope proteins as a means to improve and increase accuracy in the diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL).Methodology/Principal FindingsTen antigenic peptides were identified by CVL ELISA in previous work. In the current proposal, the coding sequences of these ten peptides were assembled into a synthetic gene. Furthermore, other twenty peptides were selected from work by our group where good B and T cell epitopes were mapped. The coding sequences of these peptides were also assembled into a synthetic gene. Both genes have been cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, producing two multiepitope recombinant proteins, PQ10 and PQ20. These antigens have been used in CVL ELISA and were able to identify asymptomatic dogs (80%) more effectively than EIE-LVC kit, produced by Bio-Manguinhos (0%) and DPP kit (10%). Moreover, our recombinant proteins presented an early detection (before PCR) of infected dogs, with positivities ranging from 23% to 65%, depending on the phase of infection in which sera were acquired.Conclusions/SignificanceOur study shows that ELISA using the multiepitope proteins PQ10 and PQ20 has great potential in early CVL diagnosis. The use of these proteins in other methodologies, such as immunochromatographic tests, could be beneficial mainly for the detection of asymptomatic dogs.

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ObjetivoO objetivo da pesquisa foi determinar a perda de massa corporal magra em pacientes após cirurgia bariátrica. MétodosO estudo retrospectivo foi conduzido com 17 prontuários de mulheres obesas submetidas à Derivação Gástrica em Y de Roux com anel de contenção gástrica, incluindo dados obtidos no período pré-operatório imediato e no 1º, 3º, 6º e 12º meses após a cirurgia. Os dados obtidos no prontuário incluíram a idade, medidas de peso, de altura e massa corporal magra e gorda, calculados pela impedância bioelétrica. ResultadosA média de idade das pacientes foi de 43,1, DP=7,7 anos e durante o seguimento houve diminuição significativa do índice de massa corporal [51,2 (40,2-74,1) para 33,7 (24,8-53,4)kg/m 2 ] e da massa corporal gorda [67,5 (51,2-67,4) para 32,1 (16,4-61,9)kg] em 12 meses de seguimento. No primeiro mês após a cirurgia, houve diminuição da massa corporal magra (M=65,3, DP=7,6 para M=59,7, DP=8,1kg), que representou 8,5% em relação aos valores iniciais, sendo que a partir daí, os dados mantiveram-se constantes. ConclusãoA perda de massa corporal magra pode refletir uma alteração no metabolismo proteico durante o pós-operatório imediato da cirurgia bariátrica, que pode implicar em evolução clínica e nutricional desfavoráveis.Termos de indexação: Cirurgia bariátrica. Composição corporal. Impedância elétrica. Nutrição em saúde pública. Perda de peso.