Cohort study protocol of the Brazilian collaborative research network on COVID-19: strengthening WHO global data.

Introduction: With the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals in low-income countries were faced with a triple challenge. First, a large number of patients required hospitalisation because of the infection's more severe symptoms. Second, there was a lack of systematic and broad testing policies for early identification of cases.

Analysis of the impact of coronavirus disease 19 on hospitalization rates for chronic non-communicable diseases in Brazil.

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted health services and healthcare systems worldwide. Studies have shown that hospital admissions for causes related to chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have decreased significantly during peak pandemic periods. An analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital admissions for NCDs is essential to implement disability and mortality mitigation strategies for these groups.

Age and experience with dental operating microscope: Do these factors influence on the post space preparation and adhesion of glass fiber posts?

This study evaluated the influence of operator's age and experience with dental operating microscope (DOM) on the cleaning of post space walls and on bond strength of glass fiber posts associated with self-adhesive resin cement. Sixty bovine roots were selected. Root canal preparation was performed and roots were filled using gutta-percha/AH Plus.

Implementation of a Brazilian Cardioprotective Nutritional (BALANCE) Program for improvement on quality of diet and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events: A randomized, multicenter trial.

Background: Appropriate dietary recommendations represent a key part of secondary prevention in cardiovascular disease (CVD). We evaluated the effectiveness of the implementation of a nutritional program on quality of diet, cardiovascular events, and death in patients with established CVD.

Methods: In this open-label, multicenter trial conducted in 35 sites in Brazil, we randomly assigned (1:1) patients aged 45 years or older to receive either the BALANCE Program (experimental group) or conventional nutrition advice (control group).

An update on the epigenetics of glioblastomas.

Glioblastomas, also known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), are the most aggressive and malignant type of primary brain tumor in adults, exhibiting notable variability at the histopathological, genetic and epigenetic levels. Recently, epigenetic alterations have emerged as a common hallmark of many tumors, including GBM. Considering that a deeper understanding of the epigenetic modifications that occur in GBM may increase the knowledge regarding the tumorigenesis, progression and recurrence of this disease, in this review we discuss the recent major advances in GBM epigenetics research involving histone modification, glioblastoma stem cells, DNA methylation, noncoding RNAs expression, including their main alterations and the use of epigenetic therapy as a valid option for GBM treatment.

Nutritional screening in hospitalized pediatric patients: a systematic review.

Objective: This systematic review aimed to verify the available scientific evidence on the clinical performance and diagnostic accuracy of nutritional screening tools in hospitalized pediatric patients.

Data Source: A search was performed in the Medline (National Library of Medicine United States), LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences), PubMed (US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health), in the SCIELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online), through CAPES portal (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior), bases Scopus e Web of Science. The descriptors used in accordance with the Descriptors in Health Sciences (DeCS)/Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list were "malnutrition", "screening", and "pediatrics", as well as the equivalent words in Portuguese.

The Brazilian Cardioprotective Nutritional Program to reduce events and risk factors in secondary prevention for cardiovascular disease: study protocol (The BALANCE Program Trial).

This article reports the rationale for the Brazilian Cardioprotective Nutritional Program (BALANCE Program) Trial. This pragmatic, multicenter, nationwide, randomized, concealed, controlled trial was designed to investigate the effects of the BALANCE Program in reducing cardiovascular events. The BALANCE Program consists of a prescribed diet guided by nutritional content recommendations from Brazilian national guidelines using a unique nutritional education strategy, which includes suggestions of affordable foods.

What determines therapeutic choices for elderly patients with DLBCL? Clinical findings of a multicenter study in Portugal.

Background: Age is a negative prognostic factor in lymphomas, and elderly patients are often undertreated because of toxicity concerns. The pattern of treatment in elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in Portugal has not been previously described.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective study including 378 elderly patients with DLBCL receiving alkylating agent-containing regimens between 2003 and 2010.

Prespecified candidate biomarkers identify follicular lymphoma patients who achieved longer progression-free survival with bortezomib-rituximab versus rituximab.

Purpose: Identify subgroups of patients with relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma deriving substantial progression-free survival (PFS) benefit with bortezomib-rituximab versus rituximab in the phase III LYM-3001 study.

Experimental Design: A total of 676 patients were randomized to five 5-week cycles of bortezomib-rituximab or rituximab. The primary end point was PFS; this prespecified analysis of candidate protein biomarkers and genes was an exploratory objective.

A prospective, international phase 2 study of bortezomib retreatment in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma (MM) typically follows a relapsing course with many patients requiring multiple therapies. This single-arm phase 2 study prospectively evaluated the efficacy and safety of bortezomib retreatment in MM patients who had relapsed after achieving at least a partial response (≥ PR) to prior bortezomib-based therapy. Patients aged ≥ 18 years, with measurable, secretory MM, who relapsed ≥ 6 months after prior bortezomib treatment were eligible.

A possible role for oxidation stress in lymphoid leukaemias and therapeutic failure.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of oxidative stress in the pathobiology of lymphoid leukaemias and its involvement in leukaemic relapse. For this purpose the generation of peroxides by mononuclear cells, the erythrocyte activity of superoxide-dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GL-PX), and the plasma levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) and vitamin E (VIT E) were determined in 52 patients with two different types of lymphoid leukaemias, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), 36 prior to chemotherapy and 16 treated patients. A decrease in SOD and GL-PX activities was observed in ALL patients prior to therapy, while a decrease in GSH and VIT E plasma levels was observed in untreated CLL, as compared to age-matched controls.

Bortezomib plus rituximab versus rituximab alone in patients with relapsed, rituximab-naive or rituximab-sensitive, follicular lymphoma: a randomised phase 3 trial.

Background: Bortezomib and rituximab have shown additive activity in preclinical models of lymphoma, and have been shown to be active and generally well tolerated in a randomised phase 2 study in patients with follicular and marginal zone lymphoma. We compared the efficacy and safety of rituximab alone or combined with bortezomib in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma in a phase 3 setting.

Methods: In this multicentre phase 3 trial, rituximab-naive or rituximab-sensitive patients aged 18 years or older with relapsed grade 1 or 2 follicular lymphoma were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive five 35-day cycles consisting of intravenous infusions of rituximab 375 mg/m(2) on days 1, 8, 15, and 22 of cycle 1, and on day 1 of cycles 2-5, either alone or with bortezomib 1·6 mg/m(2), administered by intravenous injection on days 1, 8, 15, and 22 of all cycles.

[Economic analysis of rituximab in combination with cyclophosphamide, vincristine and prednisolone in the treatment of patients with advanced follicular lymphoma in Portugal].

Objective: Evaluate costs and benefits of rituximab in combination with cyclophosphamide/vincristine/prednisolone chemotherapy regimen (R-CVP), in previously untreated patients with indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), compared to CVP alone from a Portuguese National Health System (NHS) perspective.

Methods: Cost-effectiveness (Life Years Gained--LYG) and cost-utility analysis (Quality Adjusted Life Years--QALYs) were performed for a time horizon of 10 years, according to a Markov economic model with three health states (progression free survival, progression and death) and monthly cycles for a population of previously untreated patients with indolent NHL. Data from a phase III clinical trial was used and expanded to include unpublished 53-month median follow-up data.

[Biosimilars in oncology].

The development of biotechnology drugs represents one of the great advances in medical therapy and it was observed an exponential growth in its use. The resource to these drugs in Oncology and Hematology is no exception and it soon became an essential element of an integrated and directed therapy strategy. The expiry of the first biotechnology drugs patents has opened the door for the development and marketing of biosimilars, which entry in the Portuguese market was recently approved.

Multicentricity in the thyroid differentiated carcinoma.

Unlabelled: The treatment of choice for the well differentiated thyroid carcinoma has always been controversial.

Aim: to analyze tumor invasion of the thyroid gland's contralateral lobe in cases of differentiated carcinoma, correlating risk/benefit with the complications of a second surgical approach.

Materials And Methods: Retrospective study, from 1998 to 2006, of 27 patients undergoing less than total thyroidectomy: lobectomy (21), subtotal thyroidectomy (5) or isthmusectomy (1).

[Use of granulocyte growth factors: recommendations of the Portuguese Society of Hematology].

The administration of cytotoxic chemotherapy may be complicated by the emergence of neutropenia and febrile neutropenia, frequently determining hospital admission and intravenous treatment with broad spectrum antibiotics. Frequently, it is necessary to reduce the dose or to delay the administration of the cytotoxic drugs reducing the relative dose intensity of the chemotherapy regimen. Granulocyte growth factors stimulate the proliferation and differentiation of neutrophils and reduce the number of days of severe neutropenia and febrile neutropenia associated with cytotoxic chemotherapy.

Cerebellar thiol status and motor deficit after lactational exposure to methylmercury.

This study examined the exclusive contribution of methylmercury (MeHg) exposure through maternal milk on biochemical parameters related to the thiol status (glutathione (GSH) levels, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GR) activities) in the cerebellums of suckling mice. The same biochemical parameters were also evaluated in the cerebellums of mothers, which were submitted to a direct oral exposure to MeHg (10 mg/L in drinking water). With regard to the relationship between cerebellar function and motor activity, the presence of signs of motor impairment was also evaluated in the offspring exposed to MeHg during lactation.

Relationship between the action of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species on bilayer membranes and antioxidants.

Membrane lipid peroxidation (LPO) induced by hydroxyl (*OH) and ascorbyl (*Asc) radicals and by peroxynitrite (ONOO-) was investigated in asolectin (ASO), egg phosphatidylcholine (PC) and PC/phosphatidic acid mixtures (PC:PA) liposomes and rat liver microsomes (MC). Enthalpy variation (DeltaH) of PC:PA at different molar ratios were obtained by differential scanning calorimetry. It was also evaluated the LPO inhibition by quercetin, melatonin and Vitamin B6.

Melatonin protects against pro-oxidant enzymes and reduces lipid peroxidation in distinct membranes induced by the hydroxyl and ascorbyl radicals and by peroxynitrite.

We have investigated the action of melatonin against lipid peroxidation in membranes including brain homogenates (BH), brain and liver microsomes (MIC), and phosphatidylcholine (PC) liposomes, as well as its effect on the activity of pro-oxidant enzymes such as constitutive neuronal nitric oxide synthase (cnNOS), xanthine oxidase (XO) and myeloperoxidase (MPO). The liposomes were reconstituted by a dialysis method, lipid peroxidation was monitored using the thiobarbituric reactive substances (TBARS) method and enzyme activities were measured spectrophotometrically. The ascorbyl and hydroxyl free radicals were generated by the reaction of ascorbic acid + FeSO4 and H2O2 + FeCl2, respectively, and peroxynitrite using a mixture of NaNO2 in an alkaline medium.