CFAM 521 Isolated From the Amazon Region: A Novel Source of a Fibrinolytic Enzyme.

Fibrinolytic agents are essential in treating thrombosis, playing a critical role in improving survival rates in cardiovascular diseases. Microbial fibrinolytic proteases have emerged as promising alternatives due to their affordability, specificity, lower toxicity, and reduced side effects. Consequently, the search for microorganisms capable of producing these enzymes has gained significant economic importance in the pharmaceutical industry.

Bone mass, fracture risk, and associated factors in postmenopausal women living with HIV.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of low bone mass (osteopenia/osteoporosis), the factors associated with low bone mass, and the risk of fractures in Brazilian postmenopausal women living with HIV (WLH) in the Amazon region.

Methods: This is a cohort study with a cross-sectional assessment at baseline conducted between March 2021 to August 2022 with 100 postmenopausal WLH undergoing antiretroviral therapy (ART) between 45 and 60 years of age and 100 age-matched HIV-negative women. Data on bone mineral density in the lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) were collected using dual x-ray absorptiometry and the 10-year risk of hip and major osteoporotic fractures was assessed using the Fracture Risk Assessment tool (FRAX).

Photobiomodulation Therapy to Treat Snakebites Caused by Bothrops atrox: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Bothrops venom acts almost immediately at the bite site and causes tissue damage.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility and explore the safety and efficacy of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) in reducing the local manifestations of B atrox envenomations.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This was a double-blind randomized clinical trial conducted at Fundação de Medicina Tropical Doutor Heitor Vieira Dourado, in Manaus, Brazil.

Relationship between the colours of the rivers in the Amazon and the incidence of malaria.

Background: Malaria is transmitted by different Anopheles species. In Brazil, the disease is concentrated in the Amazon region. Rivers play an important role in the life cycle of malaria since the vector reproduces in aquatic environments.

Short-Time Recurrences of Malaria as a Public Health Proxy for Chloroquine-Resistance Surveillance: A Spatio-Temporal Study in the Brazilian Amazon.

In Brazil, malaria caused by presents control challenges due to several reasons, among them the increasing possibility of failure of treatment due to chloroquine-resistance (CQR). Despite limited reports of CQR, more extensive studies on the actual magnitude of resistance are still needed. Short-time recurrences of malaria cases were analyzed in different transmission scenarios over three years (2005, 2010, and 2015), selected according to malaria incidence.

Increased platelet distribution width and reduced IL-2 and IL-12 are associated with thrombocytopenia in Plasmodium vivax malaria.

Background: Thrombocytopenia in malaria involves platelet destruction and consumption; however, the cellular response underlying this phenomenon has still not been elucidated.

Objective: To find associations between platelet indices and unbalanced Th1/Th2/Th17 cytokines as a response to thrombocytopenia in Plasmodium vivax infected (Pv-MAL) patients.

Methods: Platelet counts and quantification of Th1/Th2/Th17 cytokine levels were compared in 77 patients with uncomplicated P.

Cardiovascular risk factors: differences between ethnic groups.

Objectives: to compare the metabolic, anthropometric, tobacco and alcohol consumption indicators considered as risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, as well as the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics between indigenous from Rio Negro, Sateré-Mawé, mixed-race/black and white people living in the city of Manaus.

Methods: a cross-sectional observational study guided by the STROBE tool. There was a sample of 191 adults of both sexes.

Effect of High vs Low Doses of Chloroquine Diphosphate as Adjunctive Therapy for Patients Hospitalized With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Infection: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: There is no specific antiviral therapy recommended for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In vitro studies indicate that the antiviral effect of chloroquine diphosphate (CQ) requires a high concentration of the drug.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of 2 CQ dosages in patients with severe COVID-19.

Chicken eggs as a surveillance tool for malaria and leishmaniasis vector presence.

Introduction: Malaria and leishmaniases are transmitted by vectors during blood-feeding. Vector-infected animals develop antibodies against the vector's saliva. This study evaluated IgY antibody detection in the chicken eggs exposed to bites from Migonemyia migonei, Lutzomyia longipalpis and Anopheles aquasalis.

[Visceral leishmaniasis and its relationship with climate and environmental factors in the State of Tocantins, Brazil, from 2007 to 2014].

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) may be influenced by climate and environmental factors. Tocantins is the state with the highest incidence in Brazil, contributing to the increase in the number of cases in the North macro-region. This study seeks to identify the correlation between VL incidence rates and climate and environmental factors in the municipalities of the State of Tocantins between 2007 and 2014.

Multidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa survey in a stream receiving effluents from ineffective wastewater hospital plants.

Background: Multi-drug resistant forms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MDRPA) are a major source of nosocomial infections and when discharged into streams and rivers from hospital wastewater treatment plants (HWWTP) they are known to be able to persist for extended periods. In the city of Manaus (Western Brazilian Amazon), the effluent of three HWWTPs feed into the urban Mindu stream which crosses the city from its rainforest source before draining into the Rio Negro. The stream is routinely used by Manaus residents for bathing and cleaning (of clothes as well as domestic utensils) and, during periods of flooding, can contaminate wells used for drinking water.

Virulence factors associated with pediatric shigellosis in Brazilian Amazon.

Shigellosis is a global human health problem and the incidence is highest among children. In the present work, main Shigella virulence genes was examined by PCR and compared to symptoms of pediatric shigellosis. Thirty Shigella isolates were identified from an etiologic study at which 1,339 children ranging 0-10 years old were enrolled.