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Introduction: Saliva is the most promising biofluid to monitor the physiological state of athletes, because this method is not invasive and has low contamination risks. The characterization of saliva by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) has been studied as an alternative technique to the standard clinical analysis. However, methodological procedures for saliva analysis are not completely clear, especially in terms of influence of storage conditions and sample preparations for infrared analysis. Thawed saliva includes a precipitate, which may influence the infrared spectral analysis. Thus, the purpose of this study was to show the spectral differences of the precipitate, supernatant, and a combo, as well as the best way to classify the physiological state of the athletes by FT-IR. Methods: The saliva collection was performed before, immediately after, and two hours after a handball match. After the storage of samples at -20 ○ C, it was possible to identify two phases (precipitate and supernatant) and to determine the biochemical differences between the spectra of each phase, which were distinctly analyzed by the second derivative and deconvolution bands. Results: The precipitate and supernatant results showed characteristic bands, especially in the protein regions. All FT-IR spectra were also statistically classified by linear discriminant analysis (LDA), using principal component analysis (PCA). The LDA precipitate and supernatant had lower value when compared to combo spectra (Combination of precipitate and supernatant) with 82%, showing that this combination is the best way to discriminate spectra of saliva samples collected before, immediately after, and 2 h after physical effort. Discussion: The results showed that it is possible to differentiate biochemically the two salivary phases, as well as the importance of the homogenization process of saliva samples to classify the physiological status of athletes using FT-IR.

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Breast cancer is most fatal cancer among women worldwide. The high mortality can be attributed to late detection and low treatment efficacy. Treatment is difficult owing to the multitude of breast cancer subtypes and making decisions on therapeutic strategy difficult. A tool to predict treatment prognosis may greatly aid this decision making. Currently available prediction methods have low accuracy in addition to several other disadvantages. Of the several new techniques being investigated for prognosis prediction, Raman spectroscopy (RS) has the advantage of high sensitivity, rapidity, and amenability to in vivo applications, making it ideal for clinical translation. In this study, we have evaluated the biochemical changes posttherapy with respect to pretherapy using RS. In vivo Raman spectra acquired from live rat breast tumors (skin removed) without treatment, 24 hr postphotosensitizer injection and 24 hr after photodynamic therapy, were analyzed using multivariate principal component—linear discriminant analysis. Relative increase in some spectral signatures associated with nucleic acids, amino acids, and proteins, especially collagen, were observed posttherapy; and pretherapy and posttherapy spectra could be classified with 100% efficiency. The ability of RS to detect these changes suggests possibility of deciphering spectral markers for prognostic applications in future.

Gelatin nanoparticles have recently been receiving considerable attention because they offer a good option as release systems due to their low cost, biocompatibility, biodegradability and its application in several types of formulations. This study aim was to evaluate the potential application of gelatin nanoparticles entrapping a photosensitizer in Photodynamic Therapy. Gelatin nanoparticles were studied by steady-state techniques and the biological activity evaluated by in vitro MTT assay. The particles were spherical in shape exhibiting a 273 nm diameter with a low tendency to aggregate. The loading efficiency was 76%. Photosensitizer photophysical properties were shown to be preserved after GN encapsulation. The cells viability obtaining 85% cells death compared with control. The results demonstrate that gelatin nanoparticles can be successfully applied for photosensitizers encapsulation or other active drugs and be used as an optimal medium for a variety of bioactive materials, which can also be encapsulated by the proposed method.

Staphylococcus aureus are multiresistant pathogens that causes superficial and systemic infections. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (APDT) is an alternative in the treatment of diseases caused by these bacteria. Aim: In this study the APDT response on growth, viability, formation of reactive oxygen species and adhesion of methicillin-sensitive strains of Staphylococcus aureus, strains of methicillin-resistant S. aureus and American-type culture collection (ATCC) of S. aureus were evaluated in vitro, after incubation with curcumin for 20 min, and irradiated with LED. Materials & methods: Bacterial growth was assessed by the number of colony-forming units, viability and adhesion were evaluated by confocal microscopy and ROS quantification was performed by fluorimetry. Results: Was observed increase in the production of ROS in APDT groups, besides a decrease in the 4 log growth and loss of the bacterial adhesion. Conclusion: APDT with Curcumin may be an interesting therapeutic alternative, due to its in vitro response, in the control multiresistant clinical S. aureus strains.

Introduction: Rheumatic diseases are considered public health problems affecting millions of people worldwide resulting in high and rising health-care costs. In this work, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy associated to Partial Least Square regression (PLS) analysis was used to diagnose rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from human serum. Methods: The sera of 94 individuals were collected, which included 47 from rheumatic patients and 47 from healthy individuals. The results from PLS analysis were compared to standard clinical trials such as anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies, C-Reactive protein, and Rheumatoid factor. Results: For clinical diagnosis, the anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies of second generation proved to be the most specific to diagnosis rheumatoid arthritis even after long periods of drug therapy. Conclusions: The qualitative PLS analysis has shown higher values of IgM of RA group, but the difference was very small. The RA patients were under medication, which interfered with the IgM concentration.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is an infectious disease caused by the Leishmania protozoan. The conventional treatment is long-lasting and aggressive, in addition to causing harmful effect. Photodynamic therapy has emerged as a promising alternative treatment, which allows local administration with fewer side effects. This study investigated the photodynamic activity of curcumin on Leishmania major and Leishmania braziliensis promastigote. Both species were submitted to incubation with curcumin in serial dilutions from 500 μg/ml up to 7.8 μg/ml. Control groups were kept in the dark while PDT groups received a fluency of 10 J/cm(2) at 450 nm. Mitochondrial activity was assessed by MTT assay 18 h after light treatment, and viability was measured by Trypan blue dye exclusion test. Morphological alterations were observed by Giemsa staining. Confocal microscopy showed the uptake of curcumin by both tested Leishmania species. Mitochondrial activity was inconclusive to determine viability; however, Trypan blue test was able to show that curcumin photodynamic treatment had a significant effect on viability of parasites. The morphology of promastigotes was highly affected by the photodynamic therapy. These results indicated that curcumin may be a promising alternative photosensitizer, because it presents no toxicity in the dark; however, further tests in co-culture with macrophages and other species of Leishmania should be conducted to determine better conditions before in vivo tests are performed.