To analyze the eco-epidemiologic aspects of Histoplasma capsulatum in Brazil, we tested 83 bats for this fungus. Although H. capsulatum was not isolated, Coccidioides posadasii was recovered from Carollia perspicillata bat lungs. Immunologic studies detected coccidioidal antibodies and antigens in Glossophaga soricina and Desmodus rotundus bats.
This study evaluated in vitro interactions of antituberculosis drugs and triazoles against Histoplasma capsulatum. Nine drug combinations, each including an antituberculosis drug (isoniazid, pyrazinamide, or ethambutol) plus a triazole (itraconazole, fluconazole, or voriconazole), were tested against both growth forms of H. capsulatum. Stronger synergistic interactions were seen in isoniazid or pyrazinamide plus triazoles for the mold form and ethambutol plus voriconazole for the yeast-like form. Further studies should evaluate these combinations in vivo.Previously we demonstrated the inhibitory effect of some antituberculosis drugs alone or combined with antifungals against the pathogen Coccidioides posadasii (5, 6). Stronger synergistic interactions were seen in the combinations including ethambutol (ETB) plus triazoles as well as pyrazinamide (PZA) plus itraconazole (ITR). Based on these results, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of these combinations against the dimorphic pathogen Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum-the etiological agent of American histoplasmosis, regarded as the most frequent systemic fungal infection worldwide (1, 7) and an important opportunistic infection among AIDS patients (7,8,13,14). The emergence of resistance to fluconazole (FLC) as a cause of failure during treatment of histoplasmosis in patients with AIDS indicates a need for studies seeking new therapeutic options for this mycosis (13).A total of 18 strains of Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum (henceforth called H. capsulatum) isolated in Brazil were included in the study. Most of the strains were recovered from AIDS patients with histoplasmosis and were isolated from bone marrow puncture (n ϭ 10) and peripheral blood (n ϭ 6). Two strains isolated from cutaneous ulcers of domestic felines with disseminated histoplasmosis were also tested. The strains belong to the fungal collection of the Specialized Medical Mycology Center (CEMM) of the Federal University of Ceará, Brazil. All procedures were performed inside a biosafety level 3 laboratory.For macrobroth testing, inoculum preparation was carried out as described by Li et al. (9) with minor modifications. First, the H. capsulatum strains were grown on brain heart infusion agar (BHI; BD Diagnostics) at 28°C for 7 days. Sterile 0.9% saline was added to the agar slant, and the cultures were gently scraped with cotton swabs. The suspensions were read at 530 nm and adjusted to 90 to 95% transmittance. The suspension was then diluted 1:10 with RPMI 1640 medium (Sigma Chemical Co.) containing L-glutamine and without sodium bicarbonate and buffered to pH 7.0 with 0.165 M MOPS (morpholinepropanesulfonic acid; Sigma Chemical Co.) to obtain an inoculum of approximately 0.5 ϫ 10 3 to 2.5 ϫ 10 4 CFU ⅐ ml Ϫ1 . Inoculum preparation for microbroth tests was performed as described by Brilhante et al (3). The suspensions were diluted with RPMI medium buffered to pH 7.0 with MOPS to obtain an inoculum of approximately 0.5 ϫ 10 3 to 2.5 ϫ 10 4 CFU ⅐ ml Ϫ1 . The densit...
A Microbiologia é um ramo da Biologia que está intimamente relacionada à saúde humana e ao bom funcionamento do meio ambiente. O presente trabalho foi desenvolvido com alunos e professores de quatro turmas do 7º ano do Ensino Fundamental, em quatro escolas públicas de educação básica da cidade de Jaguaribe/CE, e objetivou analisar como os temas relacionados à Microbiologia têm sido ensinados. Foram feitas observações em sala de aula e aplicação de questionário a alunos e professores. As observações e os dados coletados nos permitiram inferir que, embora haja uma avaliação satisfatória do grupo (professores e alunos) sobre como os temas relacionados à Microbiologia vem sendo ensinados, existe por parte deles o anseio de que sejam realizadas melhorias no ensino de Microbiologia. Esses resultados confirmam a necessidade de aproximação entre os conteúdos ensinados em Microbiologia e as diferentes estratégias de ensino-aprendizagem, tais como a realização de atividades práticas e lúdicas, tendo em vista que essas possibilitarão uma dinamização das aulas, fomentando nos alunos o desejo de atuarem juntamente com o professor, como agentes na construção do conhecimento.
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