Knowledge of Hepatitis C virus vertical transmission and subsequent pregnancy outcome in virus-positive female blood donors.

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) can be vertically transmitted from mother to fetus. We evaluated knowledge about HCV vertical transmission in female blood donors who became pregnant following detection of HCV in their donated blood.

Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study of females seen at a single blood bank in Sao Paulo, Brazil who were diagnosed with HCV infection in their donated blood.

Prospecting for new catechol--methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors as a potential treatment for Parkinson's disease: a study by molecular dynamics and structure-based virtual screening.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative, chronic, and progressive disease, common in the elderly. The catechol--methyltransferase (COMT) is a monomeric enzyme involved in dopamine (DA) degradation, the neurotransmitter in deficit in patients with PD. The reference treatment of PD consists of levodopa (L-dopa) administration, which is the precursor of DA.