Açaí () Seed Oil and Its Nanoemulsion: Chemical Characterisation, Toxicity Evaluation, Antioxidant and Anticancer Activities.

This study explores a nanoemulsion formulated with açaí seed oil, known for its rich fatty acid composition and diverse biological activities. This study aimed to characterise a nanoemulsion formulated with açaí seed oil and explore its cytotoxic effects on HeLa and SiHa cervical cancer cell lines, alongside assessing its antioxidant and toxicity properties both in vitro and in vivo. Extracted from fruits sourced in Brazil, the oil underwent thorough chemical characterization using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Prophylactic use of standardized extract of propolis of Apis mellifera (EPP-AF®) reduces lung inflammation and improves survival in experimental lethal sepsis.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Sepsis poses one of the biggest public health problems, necessitating the search for new therapeutic alternatives. For centuries, propolis has been widely used in folk medicine to treat various inflammatory and infectious diseases. Given its extensive use, it has excellent potential as an adjuvant treatment for patients with sepsis.

Effects of blood flow restriction therapy in patients with knee osteoarthritis: protocol for an overview of systematic reviews.

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common and prevalent musculoskeletal disease associated with population aging, negatively impacting function and quality of life. A consequence of knee OA is quadriceps muscle weakness. Musculoskeletal rehabilitation using low load exercises, associated with Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) may be a useful alternative to high load exercises when those cannot be tolerated.

MIR-376A-2-5P as a potential prognostic marker for advanced penile squamous cell carcinomas trough HPV-dependent pathways.

Penile cancer (PeCa) is a rare tumor, generally associated with socioeconomic conditions in low-income countries. Hence, a delay in diagnosis and treatment leads in more advanced tumors, to higher comorbidity, and mortality. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has been identified as one of the major risk factors for PeCa.

Long-term recruitment of peripheral immune cells to brain scars after a neonatal insult.

Although brain scars in adults have been extensively studied, there is less data available regarding scar formation during the neonatal period, and the involvement of peripheral immune cells in this process remains unexplored in neonates. Using a murine model of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and confocal microscopy, we characterized the scarring process and examined the recruitment of peripheral immune cells to cortical and hippocampal scars for up to 1 year post-insult. Regional differences in scar formation were observed, including the presence of reticular fibrotic networks in the cortex and perivascular fibrosis in the hippocampus.

The anti-infective and immunologic effect of babassu (Attalea speciosa, Mart. ex Spreng) reduces mortality induced by MRSA-Staphylococcus aureus.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Babassu mesocarp, derived from the Attalea speciosa fruits, is used in folk medicine for infections, inflammatory diseases, and skin wounds.

Aim Of The Study: To investigate the antimicrobial and immunological effect of babassu mesocarp aqueous extract (BAE) in Swiss mice lethally infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Materials And Methods: The animals (n = 14/group) received an overload of MRSA (3.

The Immunomodulatory Activity of L. Peel Extract Increases the Lifespan of Mice with Lethal Sepsis.

Sepsis is an organ dysfunction syndrome associated with high mortality. To date, no effective treatment is available to combat this disease. L.

Oligosymptomatic long-term carriers of SARS-CoV-2 display impaired innate resistance but increased high-affinity anti-spike antibodies.

The vast spectrum of clinical features of COVID-19 keeps challenging scientists and clinicians. Low resistance to infection might result in long-term viral persistence, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we studied the immune response of immunocompetent COVID-19 patients with prolonged SARS-CoV-2 infection by immunophenotyping, cytokine and serological analysis.

Antitumor Effect of Açaí ( Mart.) Seed Extract in LNCaP Cells and in the Solid Ehrlich Carcinoma Model.

(açaí) fruit has approximately 15% pulp, which is partly edible and commercialized, and 85% seeds. Although açaí seeds are rich in catechins-polyphenolic compounds with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor effects-almost 935,000 tons/year of seeds are discarded as industrial waste. This work evaluated the antitumor properties of in vitro and in vivo in a solid Ehrlich tumor in mice.

Humoral response in Leishmaniasis.

Leishmaniasis presents different types of clinical manifestations that can be divided into cutaneous leishmaniasis and visceral leishmaniasis. The host's immune system, associated with genetic and nutritional factors, is strongly involved in the evolution of the disease or parasite escape. Humoral immunity is characterized by the production of antibodies capable of promoting neutralization, opsonization, and activation of the complement system.

Leaf Lectin (SteLL) Reduces the Bacterial and Inflammatory Burden of Wounds Infected by Promoting Skin Repair.

Staphylococcus aureus is commonly found in wound infections where this pathogen impairs skin repair. The lectin isolated from leaves of Schinus terebinthifolius (named SteLL) has antimicrobial and antivirulence action against S. aureus.

The major role of junctional diversity in the horse antibody repertoire.

The antibody repertoire (Rep-seq) sequencing revolutionized the diversity of antigen B cell receptor studies, allowing deep and quantitative analysis to decipher the role of adaptive immunity in health and disease. Particularly, horse (Equus caballus) polyclonal antibodies have been produced and used since the century XIX to treat and prophylaxis diphtheria, tuberculosis, tetanus, pneumonia, and, more recently, COVID-19. However, our knowledge about the horse B cell receptors repertories is minimal.

COVID-19 diverse outcomes: Aggravated reinfection, type I interferons and antibodies.

SARS-CoV-2 infection intrigued medicine with diverse outcomes ranging from asymptomatic to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and death. After more than two years of pandemic, reports of reinfection concern researchers and physicists. Here, we will discuss potential mechanisms that can explain reinfections, including the aggravated ones.

Intradermal Immunization of SARS-CoV-2 Original Strain Trimeric Spike Protein Associated to CpG and AddaS03 Adjuvants, but Not MPL, Provide Strong Humoral and Cellular Response in Mice.

Despite the intramuscular route being the most used vaccination strategy against SARS-CoV-2, the intradermal route has been studied around the globe as a strong candidate for immunization against SARS-CoV-2. Adjuvants have shown to be essential vaccine components that are capable of driving robust immune responses and increasing the vaccination efficacy. In this work, our group aimed to develop a vaccination strategy for SARS-CoV-2 using a trimeric spike protein, by testing the best route with formulations containing the adjuvants AddaS03, CpG, MPL, Alum, or a combination of two of them.

From a recombinant key antigen to an accurate, affordable serological test: Lessons learnt from COVID-19 for future pandemics.

Serological tests detect antibodies generated by infection or vaccination, and are indispensable tools along different phases of a pandemic, from early monitoring of pathogen spread up to seroepidemiological studies supporting immunization policies. This work discusses the development of an accurate and affordable COVID-19 antibody test, from production of a recombinant protein antigen up to test validation and economic analysis. We first developed a cost-effective, scalable technology to produce SARS-COV-2 spike protein and then used this antigen to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 Trimeric Spike Protein Associated to Poly(I:C) Plus Alum.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had a social and economic impact worldwide, and vaccination is an efficient strategy for diminishing those damages. New adjuvant formulations are required for the high vaccine demands, especially adjuvant formulations that induce a Th1 phenotype. Herein we assess a vaccination strategy using a combination of Alum and polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid [Poly(I:C)] adjuvants plus the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in a prefusion trimeric conformation by an intradermal (ID) route.

Plasma and memory antibody responses to Gamma SARS-CoV-2 provide limited cross-protection to other variants.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to be a global problem in part because of the emergence of variants of concern that evade neutralization by antibodies elicited by prior infection or vaccination. Here we report on human neutralizing antibody and memory responses to the Gamma variant in a cohort of hospitalized individuals. Plasma from infected individuals potently neutralized viruses pseudotyped with Gamma SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, but neutralizing activity against Wuhan-Hu-1-1, Beta, Delta, or Omicron was significantly lower.

Unusual dimeric flavonoids (brachydins) induce ultrastructural membrane alterations associated with antitumor activity in cancer cell lines.

Notwithstanding the advances in molecular target-based drugs, chemotherapy remains the most common cancer treatment, despite its high toxicity. Consequently, effective anticancer therapies with fewer adverse effects are needed. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the anticancer activity of the dichloromethane fraction (DCMF) isolated from roots, whose components are three unusual dimeric flavonoids.

Mature Naive B Cells Regulate the Outcome of Murine Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease in an IL-10-Independent Manner.

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is the main complication of bone marrow transplantation (BMT). CD4 T lymphocytes are the main effector cells for disease development, but other cell types can determine disease outcome through cytokine production and antigen presentation. B cells are abundant in BMT products and are involved in chronic GVHD immunopathogenesis.

Time-dependent decay of detectable antibodies against SARS-CoV-2: A comparison of ELISA with two batches of a lateral-flow test.

Background: Large-scale epidemiological studies of seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 often rely on point-of-care tests that provide immediate results to participants. Yet, little is known on how long rapid tests remain positive after the COVID-19 episode, or how much variability exists across different brands and even among batches of the same test.

Methods: In November 2020, we assessed the sensitivity of three tests applied to 133 individuals with a previous positive PCR result between April and October.

The immunodominant antibody response to Zika virus NS1 protein is characterized by cross-reactivity to self.

Besides antigen-specific responses to viral antigens, humoral immune response in virus infection can generate polyreactive and autoreactive antibodies. Dengue and Zika virus infections have been linked to antibody-mediated autoimmune disorders, including Guillain-Barré syndrome. A unique feature of flaviviruses is the secretion of nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) by infected cells.

Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte and Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratios in Nondialysis Chronic Kidney Patients.

Background: The Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) and the Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (PLR) are inflammatory biomarkers for several diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular morbidities; however, there are currently few studies on kidney diseases. We aimed to evaluate nondialysis patients and determine the association of NLR and PLR with inflammation in these patients.

Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted with 85 patients at different stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD), treated at the Kidney Disease Prevention Center of the University Hospital of the Federal University of Maranhão.

Genetic Evidence and Host Immune Response in Persons Reinfected with SARS-CoV-2, Brazil.

The dynamics underlying severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reinfection remain poorly understood. We identified a small cluster of patients in Brazil who experienced 2 episodes of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in March and late May 2020. In the first episode, patients manifested an enhanced innate response compared with healthy persons, but neutralizing humoral immunity was not fully achieved.