Publications by authors named "Barbara de Oliveira Baptista"

Article Synopsis
  • Malaria, caused by Plasmodium spp. and transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes, remains a significant global health threat, with 249 million cases and 608,000 deaths reported in 2022.
  • The study evaluated the GENEYE® ERA Plasmodium detection kit for rapid and accurate malaria diagnosis in the Brazilian Amazon, comparing it with traditional methods like microscopy and rapid diagnostic tests (RDT).
  • Results indicated that the ERA test demonstrated 100% sensitivity alongside qPCR, while microscopy and RDT had lower sensitivity, highlighting the need for improved diagnostic tools in malaria-endemic regions.
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Article Synopsis
  • Plasmodium vivax causes millions of malaria cases worldwide, highlighting the urgent need for effective vaccine development, especially given the lack of studies on specific vaccine candidates for this species.
  • The merozoite protein CyRPA has shown promise as a vaccine candidate due to its essential role in the growth and invasion of P. falciparum, and preliminary studies suggest that PvCyRPA is better at providing protection compared to traditional malaria vaccine candidates.
  • Research in Brazilian malaria-endemic areas indicates that PvCyRPA is immunogenic, eliciting a strong immune response with important B and T cell epitopes, supporting its potential inclusion in future malaria vaccine formulations targeting P. vivax
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(1) Background: Malaria remains a significant global public health issue. Since parasites quickly became resistant to most of the available antimalarial drugs, treatment effectiveness must be constantly monitored. In Brazil, up to 10% of cases of vivax malaria resistant to chloroquine (CQ) have been registered.

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The PvCelTOS, PvCyRPA, and Pvs25 proteins play important roles during the three stages of the lifecycle. In this study, we designed and expressed a recombinant modular chimeric protein (PvRMC-1) composed of the main antigenic regions of these vaccine candidates. After structure modelling by prediction, the chimeric protein was expressed, and the antigenicity was assessed by IgM and IgG (total and subclass) ELISA in 301 naturally exposed individuals from the Brazilian Amazon.

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The GMZ2.6c malaria vaccine candidate is a multi-stage chimeric protein that contains a fragment of the sexual-stage s48/45-6C protein genetically fused to GMZ2, an asexual-stage vaccine construction consisting of the N-terminal region of the glutamate-rich protein (GLURP) and the C-terminal region of the merozoite surface protein-3 (MSP-3). Previous studies showed that GMZ2.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study examined genetic diversity in Plasmodium vivax metacaspase 1 (PvMCA1) in Brazil's Juruá Valley, finding the complete genetic sequence identical among field isolates and a reference strain.
  • Analysis of PvMCA1 across different global genomic sequences showed high conservation, with very few changes to critical amino acids related to its catalytic function.
  • The genetic stability of PvMCA1 suggests it could be a viable target for drug development against vivax malaria.
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Circumsporozoite protein (CSP) variants of P. vivax, besides having variations in the protein repetitive portion, can differ from each other in aspects such as geographical distribution, intensity of transmission, vectorial competence and immune response. Such aspects must be considered to P.

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Thrombospondin-related adhesive protein (TRAP) is essential for sporozoite motility and the invasion of mosquitoes' salivary gland and vertebrate's hepatocyte and is, thus, considered a promising pre-erythrocytic vaccine candidate. Despite the existence of a few reports on naturally acquired immune response against TRAP (PvTRAP), it has never been explored so far in the Amazon region, so results are conflicting. Here, we characterized the (IgG and IgG subclass) antibody reactivity against recombinant PvTRAP in a cross-sectional study of 299 individuals exposed to malaria infection in three municipalities (Cruzeiro do Sul, Mâncio Lima and Guajará) from the Acre state of the Brazilian Amazon.

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Background: The central repetitive region (CRR) of the Plasmodium vivax circumsporozoite surface protein (CSP) is composed of a repetitive sequence that is characterised by three variants: VK210, VK247 and P. vivax-like. The most important challenge in the treatment of P.

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The Plasmodium vivax Ookinete Surface Protein (Pvs25) is one of the leading malaria Transmission-Blocking Vaccine candidates based on its high immunogenicity in animal models, transmission-blocking activity of antibodies elicited in clinical trials and high conservation among P. vivax isolates from endemic areas. However, the polymorphism in gene encoding Pvs25 in endemic areas from South America has been poorly studied so far.

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