Expression of metalloproteinases (MMP-2, MMP-9, and TACE) and TNF-alpha in the nerves of leprosy patients.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) play important and related roles in the pathogenesis of nerve injury. MMP-dependent and TNF-alpha-dependent processes of neurodegeneration, such as blood-nerve breakdown and immune cell recruitment, are characteristic of leprosy nerve damage. Our work has contributed to the understanding of the role of cytokines in the process, but the role of MMPs in the pathogenesis of neuritic leprosy has not been investigated.

Contribution for tier 1 of the ecological risk assessment of Cunha Baixa uranium mine (Central Portugal): II. soil ecotoxicological screening.

This study presents the first ecotoxicological data concerning the soils of the area surrounding the Cunha Baixa uranium mine. Our main goal was to categorise soils from the area based on their toxicity profiles using a battery of cost- and time-effective bioassays (elutriate approach - Microtox and Daphnia acute tests; whole-soil approach - Microtox and avoidance assays with Eisenia andrei), as a part of tier 1 of an ongoing Environmental Risk Assessment. No acute toxicity was found for any of the 10 sites/soils using Microtox or Daphnia.

Acute and chronic toxicity of effluent water from an abandoned uranium mine.

Inactive or abandoned mines represent a significant source of environmental, chemical, physical, and aesthetic impact. Among concerning situations, the occurrence of abandoned or semi-abandoned mine-associated ponds (for sedimentation of solids, for effluent neutralization, or for washing the ore) is a common feature in this type of system. These ponds are a source of contamination for the groundwater resources and adjacent soils, because they lack appropriate impermeabilization.

Evaluation of water column and sediment toxicity from an abandoned uranium mine using a battery of bioassays.

Uranium mining activities in Cunha Baixa, Mangualde (Portugal), were extensive between 1967 and 1993, with high production of poor ore. Ore exploitation left millions of tons of tailings in the surrounding area, close to human houses. Contamination of the area (water and soil compartment) presently represents a serious hazard to humans and wildlife.

[Psychiatric reform in a local context in Brazil: A qualitative analysis].

This study focuses on the daily institutional activities in a Center for Psychosocial Care (CAPS), a municipal mental health service in Andradas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The study specifically analyzes the social representations by health care professionals regarding the social rehabilitation of their patients, vis-à-vis new proposals approved under the Brazilian psychiatric reform. The study adopts a historical and conjunctural analysis, based on the premise that to evaluate the new process of institutional intervention contributes to both its implementation and improvement.

An immunohistochemical, clinical and electroneuromyographic correlative study of the neural markers in the neuritic form of leprosy.

The nerve biopsies of 11 patients with pure neuritic leprosy were submitted to routine diagnostic procedures and immunoperoxidase staining with antibodies against axonal (neurofilament, nerve growth factor receptor (NGFr), and protein gene product (PGP) 9.5) and Schwann cell (myelin basic protein, S-100 protein, and NGFr) markers. Two pairs of non-adjacent histological cross-sections of the peripheral nerve were removed for quantification.

Role of PGL-I antibody detection in the diagnosis of pure neural leprosy.

Pure neural leprosy (PNL) is difficult to diagnose because skin lesions and acid-fast bacilli (AFB) in slit smears are absent. At present, the gold standard for PNL diagnosis is the histopathological examination of a peripheral nerve biopsy. Even so, detection of bacteria is difficult and histological findings may be non-specific.

Electromyographical, ultrasonographical and morphological modifications in semitendinous muscle after transposition as ventral perineal muscle flap.

The aim of this study was to evaluate modifications occurring in semitendinous muscle after transposition as a ventral perineal muscle flap using electromyography, ultrasonography, and morphological studies. Ten male crossbreed dogs of 3-4 year old were used. The left semitendinous muscle was cut close to the popliteus lymph node, rotated and sutured at the perineal region.

Mapping the laminin-binding and adhesive domain of the cell surface-associated Hlp/LBP protein from Mycobacterium leprae.

Binding of Mycobacterium leprae to and invasion of Schwann cells (SC) represent a crucial step that initiates nerve damage in leprosy. We and others have described that M. leprae colonization of the peripheral nerve system may be mediated in part by a surface-exposed histone-like protein (Hlp), characterized as a laminin-binding protein (LBP).

Microscopic leprosy skin lesions in primary neuritic leprosy.

The histologic diagnosis of primary neuritic leprosy (PNL) remains a public health care concern, especially when nerve biopsies cannot be performed. As such, some authors emphasize the importance of performing a skin biopsy of a hypoesthetic area even without clinically visible lesions. In this study, an attempt was made to define the histologic changes in the sensory altered skin of 42 clinically diagnosed PNL patients.

Acquired hemoglobin H disease in a patient with aplastic anemia evolving into acute myeloid leukemia.

Context: The prognosis of severe aplastic anemia has improved since the introduction of bone marrow transplantation and treatment with antithymocyte globulin. In contrast to the success of these protocols, studies with long term follow-up have shown the occurrence of clonal diseases such as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, myelodysplastic syndrome and acute leukemia in aplastic anemia.

Case Report: We report the first case of a Brazilian patient with aplastic anemia who developed myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia showing acquired hemoglobin H and increased fetal hemoglobin.

Inhibitors in haemophilia: clinical aspects.

Inhibitor development continues to be a severe complication worldwide of haemophilia therapy. Given the difficulties associated with the treatment of inhibitors in both the developed and the developing world, prediction and prevention of inhibitors following exposure to factor VIII or IX in the young child has become a management priority. Two different clinical approaches to minimizing or delaying inhibitor development are highlighted in this manuscript.

Effect of food level on the acute and chronic responses of daphnids to lindane.

The toxic effects of lindane on the zooplankton communities may be strongly related to the population fitness, which is highly dependent on food availability. In order to test this hypothesis, acute (immobilisation) and chronic (life-history) responses of Daphnia longispina and Daphnia magna, reared at different food levels (low, normal, and high), were assessed in laboratorial exposures to several concentrations of lindane. A bifactorial design was employed (food level versus lindane concentration) for both species.

Intracranial haemorrhage among a population of haemophilic patients in Brazil.

Intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in haemophilic patients. The overall incidence of ICH has been reported to range from 2.2% to 7.

The expression of NGFr and PGP 9.5 in leprosy reactional cutaneous lesions: an assessment of the nerve fiber status using immunostaining.

The effects of reactional episodes on the cutaneous nerve fibers of leprosy patients was assessed in six patients (three with reversal reactions and three with erythema nodosum leprosum). Cryosections of cutaneous biopsy of reactional lesions taken during the episode and of another sample during the remission period were immunostained with anti-NGFr and anti-PGP 9.5 (indirect immunofluorescence).

Criteria for diagnosis of pure neural leprosy.

The clinical diagnosis of pure neural leprosy (PNL) remains a public health care problem mainly because skin lesions-the cardinal features of leprosy-are always absent.Moreover, the identification of the leprosy bacillus is not easily achieved even when a nerve biopsy can be performed. In an attempt to reach a reliable PNL diagnosis in patients referred to our Leprosy Outpatient Clinic, this study employed a variety of criteria.

Mast cell subsets and neuropeptides in leprosy reactions.

The immunohistochemical identification of neuropeptides (calcitonin gene-related peptide, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, substance P, alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone and gamma-melanocyte stimulating hormone) quantification of mast cells and their subsets (tryptase/chymase-immunoreactive mast cells = TCMC and tryptase-immunoreactive mast cells = TMC) were determined in biopsies of six patients with leprosy reactions (three patients with type I reaction and three with type II). Biopsies were compared with those taken from the same body site in the remission stage of the same patient. We found a relative increase of TMC in the inflammatory infiltrate of the reactional biopsies compared to the post-reactional biopsy.

Haemophilia in the developing world: the Brazilian experience.

The success of haemophilia treatment is based on well-established criteria, and the use of clotting factor concentrates is fundamental. These strategies are seen in the developed world when measures of quality of life are studied or when disabilities are evaluated among haemophilic patients. At the same time, countries in the developing world, with almost 80% of the haemophilia population, are making tremendous efforts to change their diagnosis and treatment methods, in order to improve their healthcare and therefore be able to promote better life for haemophiliacs.

Acute promyelocytic leukemia: the study of t(15;17) translocation by fluorescent in situ hybridization, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and cytogenetic techniques.

Acute promyelocytic leukemia (AML M3) is a well-defined subtype of leukemia with specific and peculiar characteristics. Immediate identification of t(15;17) or the PML/RARA gene rearrangement is fundamental for treatment. The objective of the present study was to compare fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and karyotyping in 18 samples (12 at diagnosis and 6 after treatment) from 13 AML M3 patients.

Distinct patterns of microvasculature in the cutaneous lesions of leprosy.

This work is an investigation on the microvasculature of the cutaneous infiltrates of leprosy with the immunohistochemical staining of endothelial cells in cutaneous biopsies. Anti-Factor VIII-related antigen antibody (anti-FVIII-ra) and Ulex Europaeus-1 lectin (UEA-1) binding were utilized as endothelial cell markers. Thirty-nine patients grouped according to the Ridley-Jopling classification (14 borderline tuberculoid, 18 borderline lepromatous, 6 lepromatous, and 1 indeterminate leprosy) were selected for this study.

The diagnosis of leprosy among patients with symptoms of peripheral neuropathy without cutaneous lesions: a follow-up study.

Forty-four patients with neuritic leprosy were individually followed for periods ranging from 4 months to almost 4 years for the purpose of ascertaining the presence and/ or absence of leprosy. The neural symptoms presented were sensory impairment (41), parasthesia (28), nerve enlargement (22), nerve tenderness (20), paresia (20), amyotrophy (8). Leprosy was diagnosed in ten out of the total number of patients studied.

Dermal extracellular matrix in cutaneous leprosy lesions.

Thirty-eight biopsies of cutaneous lesions from leprosy patients [borderline tuberculoid (BT) 14, borderline lepromatous (BL) 18, lepromatous (LL) 6] were processed for staining of some extracellular matrix (ECM) components (collagen, proteoglycans, elastic fibers and fibronectin). Specific histological staining and the indirect immunofluorescence method with antibodies to collagen and fibronectin were utilized. The ECM of the normal dermis was strikingly modified in the inflammatory infiltrate.

The common marmoset: a new world primate species with limited Mhc class II variability.

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is a New World primate species that is highly susceptible to fatal infections caused by various strains of bacteria. We present here a first step in the molecular characterization of the common marmoset's Mhc class II genes by nucleotide sequence analysis of the polymorphic exon 2 segments. For this study, genetic material was obtained from animals bred in captivity as well as in the wild.