Use of the Screening for Occult Renal Disease (SCORED) Questionnaire to Screen Diabetic Nephropathy in Asymptomatic Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction: The 2007 Screening for Occult Renal Disease (SCORED) questionnaire accesses risk factors for chronic kidney disease (CKD) and makes it possible to screen high-risk patients, being adapted and validated for the Brazilian culture in 2012. The present study evaluated the questionnaire's ability to predict the occurrence of CKD in asymptomatic patients, as well as identify a high risk for developing the disease.

Methods: This was an analytical observational study with a cross-sectional design carried out in two stages: answering the SCORED and performing fasting blood glucose and creatinine tests.

New developments of RNAi in Paracoccidioides brasiliensis: prospects for high-throughput, genome-wide, functional genomics.

Background: The Fungal Genome Initiative of the Broad Institute, in partnership with the Paracoccidioides research community, has recently sequenced the genome of representative isolates of this human-pathogen dimorphic fungus: Pb18 (S1), Pb03 (PS2) and Pb01. The accomplishment of future high-throughput, genome-wide, functional genomics will rely upon appropriate molecular tools and straightforward techniques to streamline the generation of stable loss-of-function phenotypes. In the past decades, RNAi has emerged as the most robust genetic technique to modulate or to suppress gene expression in diverse eukaryotes, including fungi.

Selection of peptidoglycan-specific aptamers for bacterial cells identification.

Peptidoglycan is a highly complex and essential macromolecule of bacterial outer cell wall; it is a heteropolymer made up of linear glycan strands cross-linked by peptides. Peptidoglycan has a particular composition which makes it a possible target for specific bacterial recognition. Aptamers are single-stranded DNA or RNA oligonucleotides that bind to target molecules with high affinity and specificity.

Aptamers directly radiolabeled with technetium-99m as a potential agent capable of identifying carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in tumor cells T84.

Aptamers are small oligonucleotides that are selected to bind with high affinity and specificity to a target molecule. Aptamers are emerging as a new class of molecules for radiopharmaceutical development. In this study a new method to radiolabel aptamers with technetium-99m ((99m)Tc) was developed.

Osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells of ovariectomized and non-ovariectomized female rats with thyroid dysfunction.

The objective of this study was to verify the osteogenic potential of the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) of ovariectomized and non-ovariectomized female rats with hypo- and hyperthyroidism. Sixty two-month-old female rats were assigned to the following groups: (1) control (sham-operated), (2) ovariectomized (OVX'd), (3) hypothyroid sham-operated (Hypo-), (4) hypothyroid OVX'd, (5) hyperthyroid sham-operated (Hyper-) and (6) hyperthyroid OVX'd. After 135 days of treatment, the female rats were euthanized.

Identification and characterization of immune complexes in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with spinal cord schistosomiasis.

The pathogenesis of neuroschistosomiasis is largely unknown. Available evidence suggests that it depends on the presence of parasite eggs in the nervous tissue and on the host's immune response. We investigated the presence of immune complexes (ICs) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of four patients with spinal cord schistosomiasis (SCS), and performed their characterization.

Effect of radiation treatment on newly established human breast cancer cell lines MACL-1 and MGSO-3.

The characterization of new cell lines is an important tool to understand the biological processes involved in cancer treatments. In the present study, we used two newly established epithelial human breast cancer cell lines from primary sites MACL-1 and MGSO-3 and compared their susceptibility to the treatment with ionizing radiation (IR) with the commercial cell line MDA-MB-231. In the doses used (10 or 20 Gy), IR induced a reduction in cell viability and cell death, measured as DNA fragmentation, at 48 and 72 h after treatment.