The objective of the present study was to assess infections and cytologic abnormalities in cervicovaginal smears from 153 HIV-positive women and 169 HIV-negative followed up at the UFTM School of Medicine between May 1999 and May 2002. The medical records and cervicovaginal smears were reviewed and the HIV-positive group was classified according to CD4 cell count, HIV viral load, antiretroviral therapy and HIV subgroups (with or without disease; with or without therapy) and compared to HIV-negative group. We conclude that the frequency of Candida sp, Trichomonas vaginalis and bacterial vaginosis in cervicovaginal smear, is not different between HIV-positive and HIV-negative women, even if the HIV-group is subdivided according to CD4 cell count, HIV viral load, antiretroviral therapy and HIV subgroups. The frequency of LSIL, in cervicovaginal smears, was greater in the HIV-group (17.6%) than in the HIV-negative (4.1%); there was no difference between the two groups according to frequency of HSIL (4.6% versus 1.8%), ASCUS/AGUS (7.8% versus 3.5%) and invasive carcinoma (1.3% versus 0.6%). The frequency of LSIL was greater in the HIV positive group with CD4 cell count < 350 cells/mm(3). The viral load, therapeutic regimen and HIV subgroups (HIV-positive without therapy, HIV-positive with therapy, AIDS by immunological criteria and AIDS by clinical criteria) have not shown relationship with LSIL frequency, until now.

Background Blood groups and anti‐A isohemagglutinin may be involved in susceptibility to SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Materials and Methods We retrospectively studied 268 COVID‐19 convalescent plasma donors and 162 COVID‐19 inpatients (total 430 subjects, confirmed by RT‐PCR) and 2,212 healthy volunteer first‐time blood donors as a control group. These were further divided into two groups: those with anti‐A (blood types O and B) and those without it (types A and AB). Titres of nucleoproteins, and neutralizing SARS‐CoV‐2 antibody were measured in the convalescent plasma donors and inpatients. Multivariate logistic regression and non‐parametric tests were applied. Results Persons having types O or B showed less infection prevalence than those of types A or AB (OR = 0·62, 95% CI 0·50–0·78; P < 0·001), but there was no difference when COVID‐19 inpatients were analysed. Immunoglobulins M, G and A were lower in COVID‐19 subjects of types O or B group than those of A or AB (0·16 vs. 0·19; P = 0·03, 2·11 vs. 2·55; P = 0·02, 0·23 vs. 0·32; P = 0·03, respectively). Conclusion In this retrospective cohort, COVID‐19 individuals were less likely to belong to blood types O and B, and also had lower SARS‐CoV‐2 antibody titres than A and AB individuals. COVID‐19 severity did not associate with the blood groups.

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Objective and design The heterogeneity of response to SARS-CoV-2 infection is directly linked to the individual genetic background. Genetic variants of inflammasome-related genes have been pointed as risk factors for several inflammatory sterile and infectious disease. In the group of inflammasome receptors, NLRP1 stands out as a good novel candidate as severity factor for COVID-19 disease. Methods To address this question, we performed an association study of NLRP1 , DPP9 , CARD8 , IL1B , and IL18 single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in a cohort of 945 COVID-19 patients. Results The NLRP1 p.Leu155His in the linker region, target of viral protease, was significantly associated to COVID-19 severity, which could contribute to the excessive cytokine release reported in severe cases. Conclusion Inflammasome genetic background contributes to individual response to SARS-CoV-2. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00011-022-01670-3.

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Herein we present the pathological findings of different tuberculosis stages in Old and New World monkeys kept under human care in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and naturally infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex. Fifteen nonhuman primates from five different colonies were incorporated into the study. There are 60% (9/15) Old World Monkeys and 40% (6/15) New World Monkeys. According to the gross and histopathologic findings, the lesions in nonhuman primates of this study are classified into the chronic-active, extrapulmonary, early-activation or latent-reactivation tuberculosis stage. Among the Old World Monkey, 66.7% (6/9) of nonhuman primates, all rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), showed severe granulomatous pneumonia. In all Old World Monkeys cases, typical granulomas were seen in at least one organ regardless of the stage of the disease. In the New World Monkeys, the typical pulmonary granulomas were seen in 16.7% (1/6) of the cases, just in the latent-reactivation stage in Uta Hick’s Bearded Saki (Chiropotes utahickae). In this study, 66.7% (6/9) of Old World Monkeys (OWM) and 83.3% (5/6) of New World Monkeys (NWM) showed pulmonary changes at the histological evaluation. The tuberculosis diagnosis in the nonhuman primates in this study was based on pathological, immunohistochemical, molecular, and bacteriological culture. Although the typical presentation was observed in some cases, the absence of pulmonary granuloma did not exclude the tuberculosis occurrence in nonhuman primates of the Old and New World. Tuberculosis should be included as a cause of interstitial pneumonia with foamy macrophages infiltration in the New World nonhuman primates. Due to the high sensitivity of immunohistochemistry with Anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis, we suggest the addition of this technique as a diagnostic tool of tuberculosis in the nonhuman primates even when the typical changes are not seen.