No abstract

No abstract

Os objetivos deste trabalho foram identificar a principal categoria profissional exposta a risco biológico e os principais tipos de acidentes ocorridos entre trabalhadores da área de saúde, em Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ. A partir da análise das fichas de notificação de acidentes biológicos dos 183 profissionais acidentados entre janeiro de 2005 e setembro de 2005, observamos que a categoria profissional mais exposta foi a dos auxiliares/técnicos de enfermagem (54,1%), seguida pela dos acadêmicos de medicina e odontologia (10,4%). A ocorrência de acidentes com materiais perfurocortantes foi relacionada à manipulação frequente desses objetos e ao comportamento dos profissionais que utilizam práticas que oferecem riscos de acidentes com agulhas, tais como o descarte inadequado de objetos perfurocortantes.

Lithium salts have a well-established role in the treatment of major affective disorders. More recently, experimental and clinical studies have provided evidence that lithium may also exert neuroprotective effects. In animal and cell culture models, lithium has been shown to increase neuronal viability through a combination of mechanisms that includes the inhibition of apoptosis, regulation of autophagy, increased mitochondrial function, and synthesis of neurotrophic factors. In humans, lithium treatment has been associated with humoral and structural evidence of neuroprotection, such as increased expression of anti-apoptotic genes, inhibition of cellular oxidative stress, synthesis of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), cortical thickening, increased grey matter density, and hippocampal enlargement. Recent studies addressing the inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK3B) by lithium have further suggested the modification of biological cascades that pertain to the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A recent placebo-controlled clinical trial in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) showed that long-term lithium treatment may actually slow the progression of cognitive and functional deficits, and also attenuate Tau hyperphosphorylation in the MCI-AD continuum. Therefore, lithium treatment may yield disease-modifying effects in AD, both by the specific modification of its pathophysiology via inhibition of overactive GSK3B, and by the unspecific provision of neurotrophic and neuroprotective support. Although the clinical evidence available so far is promising, further experimentation and replication of the evidence in large scale clinical trials is still required to assess the benefit of lithium in the treatment or prevention of cognitive decline in the elderly.

The complete genomic sequence of hepatitis A virus (HAV) CF53/Berne strain was determined. Pairwise comparison with other complete HAV genomic sequences demonstrated that the CF53/Berne isolate is most closely related to the single genotype VII strain, SLF88. This close relationship was confirmed by phylogenetic analyses of different genomic regions, and was most pronounced within the capsid region. These data indicated that CF53/Berne and SLF88 isolates are related more closely to each other than are subtypes IA and IB. A histogram of the genetic differences between HAV strains revealed four separate peaks. The distance values for CF53/Berne and SLF88 isolates fell within the peak that contained strains of the same subtype, showing that they should be subtypes within a single genotype. The complete genomic data indicated that genotypes II and VII should be considered a single genotype, based upon the complete VP1 sequence, and it is proposed that the CF53/Berne isolate be classified as genotype IIA and strain SLF88 as genotype IIB. The CF53/Berne isolate is cell-adapted, and therefore its sequence was compared to that of two other strains adapted to cell culture, HM-175/7 grown in MK-5 and GBM grown in FRhK-4 cells. Mutations found at nucleotides 3889, 4087 and 4222 that were associated with HAV attenuation and cell adaptation in HM175/7 and GMB strains were not present in the CF53/Berne strain. Deletions found in the 59UTR and P3A regions of the CF53/Berne isolate that are common to cell-adapted HAV isolates were identified, however.

A retrospective study on the prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV)

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) isolates from around the world have been classified into seven genotypes (I-VII). Most human strains belong to genotype I, which has been divided into two subgenotypes, A and B. South America has provided a small number of strains studied at the genome level. In the present study, IgM anti-HAV antibodies were detected in 116 out of 250 (46%) serum samples collected from consecutive patients with acute hepatitis referred to the Brazilian Reference Center for Viral Hepatitis, Rio de Janeiro. Viral RNA were extracted from all 250 samples and submitted to a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay designed to amplify a genome segment in the VP1/2A junction region. HAV RNA was detected in 54/116 (47%) and 17/134 (13%) IgM anti-HAV-positive and -negative sera, respectively. In addition, HAV RNA was detected in 17/35 (49%) IgM anti-HAV-positive sera that had been collected at a day care center where cases of acute hepatitis were being observed for 3 months. Nucleotide sequences (168 bp) of PCR products were determined for 30 HAV isolates. Phylogenetic analysis showed that 21 belonged to subgenotype IB, while 9 were of subgenotype IA. Interestingly, a concomitant circulation of isolates from subgenotypes IA and IB was observed in the day care center.

No abstract