Publications by authors named "Maria Cristina Silva Lourenco"

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious disease that still affects humanity, despite being old, caused by the bacterium . The emergence of drug-resistant strains has alarmed governments and international organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO). The need for research on new drugs that are effective in a shorter treatment time and active against resistant strains still persists.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study in Pará, Northern Brazil, identified a unique strain of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) called SIT2517/T1, with a focus on its transmission dynamics.
  • Researchers utilized various genetic testing methods, including whole-genome sequencing, to analyze 28 isolates, confirming their distinct sublineage and highlighting discrepancies in drug resistance testing for some antibiotics.
  • The findings indicated a high probability of direct transmission among these isolates in urban areas, emphasizing the necessity for increased tuberculosis genomic surveillance in the Brazilian Amazon.
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Tuberculosis (TB) and infectious diseases caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are global concerns. The development of a rapid and accurate diagnostic method, capable of detecting and identifying different mycobacteria species, is crucial. We propose a molecular approach, the BiDz-TB/NTM, based on the use of binary deoxyribozyme (BiDz) sensors for the detection of (Mtb) and NTM of clinical interest.

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Male cat, 2 years old, with a refractory infection by Sporothrix brasiliensis, presents a single nodular lesion in the left auricular pavilion. To confirm the diagnosis, cytology, fungal culture, antifungal susceptibility test, molecular analysis, and, to aid in the differential diagnosis, bacterial culture, antibiogram, and histopathology of the lesion were performed. In the absence of therapeutic success with conventional antifungals, photodynamic therapy (PDT) was introduced, demonstrating a satisfactory response in the sixth treatment session.

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Five mycobacterial isolates from sewage were classified as members of the genus but presented inconclusive species assignments. Thus, the isolates (MYC017, MYC098, MYC101, MYC123 and MYC340) were analyzed by phenotypical, biochemical, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and genomic features to clarify their taxonomic position. Phenotypic analysis and biochemical tests did not distinguish these isolates from other non-pigmented mycobacteria.

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Chromoblastomycosis (CBM) is a neglected human implantation mycosis caused by several dematiaceous fungal species. Currently available therapy is usually associated with physical methods, especially surgery, and with high refractoriness. Therefore, drug discovery for CBM is essential.

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Objectives: The emergence of resistant strain has aggravated the tuberculosis situation in the world, running out of control and hard to fight. We evaluate forty new quinoline analogues against sensitive and resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb).

Methods: The compounds were obtained via synthesis and evaluated against sensitive strain ATCC 27294.

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Objectives: Mycobacterium kansasii (M. kansasii) pulmonary infection can cause disease with clinical and radiological features similar to tuberculosis. Failure to treat M.

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Background: Tuberculosis is the most frequent opportunistic infection and the leading cause of death among persons living with HIV in several low and middle-income countries. Mortality rates during tuberculosis treatment and death causes among HIV-1/TB co-infected patients may differ based on the immunosuppression severity, timing of diagnosis and prompt initiation of tuberculosis and antiretroviral therapy.

Methods: This was a retrospective observational study conducted in the clinical cohort of patients with HIV-1/Aids of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases Evandro Chagas, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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Both sonochemical and classical methodologies have been employed to convert camphor, 1,7,7-trimethylbicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-2-one, C₉HC=O, into a number of derivatives including hydrazones, C₉HC=N-NHAr , imines, C₉HC=N-R , and the key intermediate nitroimine, C₉HC=N-NO₂ .

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Introduction: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based techniques to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in respiratory specimens have been increasingly used to diagnose pulmonary tuberculosis. Their use in non-respiratory specimens to diagnose extrapulmonary tuberculosis is, however, controversial. In this study, we estimated the accuracy of three in-country commercialized PCR-based diagnostic techniques in pleural fluid samples for the diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis.

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A series of 32 L-serinyl hydrazone derivatives have been synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv, being also evaluated their cell viabilities in non infected and infected macrophages with Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG). The compounds 8c, 8e, 8h and 8i, were non-cytotoxic and exhibited an important minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) activity between 25 and 100 μg/mL, which can be compared with that of the tuberculostatic drug D-cicloserine (5-20 μg/mL).

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Eleven new amino alcohol derivatives have been synthesized from reactions of lopinavir intermediate and heteroaromatic aldehyde in good yields. These compounds, the antiretrovirals (lopinavir and ritonavir) and lopinavir key intermediate were evaluated as antibacterial agents against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv using the Alamar Blue susceptibility test and their activity expressed as the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) in μM. Ten amino alcohols evaluated displayed significant activity (MIC between 6.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to determine if a specific mycobacterial strain was responsible for clusters of postsurgical infections reported in Brazil from 2004 to 2008.
  • - Researchers analyzed information from 929 surgical patients and performed genetic testing on 152 isolates to identify and compare the mycobacteria involved.
  • - Results indicated a single strain of Mycobacterium abscessus ssp. massiliense was linked to the infections, suggesting it is prevalent and particularly suited to cause surgical-site infections in Brazil.
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An epidemic of infections after video-assisted surgery (1,051 possible cases) caused by rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM) and involving 63 hospitals in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, occurred between August 2006 and July 2007. One hundred ninety-seven cases were confirmed by positive acid-fast staining and/or culture techniques. Thirty-eight hospitals had cases confirmed by mycobacterial culture, with a total of 148 available isolates recovered from 146 patients.

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The present article describes a series of 21 N-(aryl)-2-thiophen-2-ylacetamides, which were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and the activity expressed as the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) in mug/mL. The compounds 2, 3, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16, and 20 exhibited activity between 25 and 100 microg/mL and could be a good start point to find new lead compounds in the fight against multidrug resistant tuberculosis.

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Mono- and diacylated derivatives of galactopyranosyl amines were obtained from d-galactose, via aminated intermediates prepared by reaction of 6-deoxy-6-iodo-1,2:3,4-di-O-isopropylidene-alpha-d-galactopyranose with 1,3-propanediamine, 1,2-ethanediamine or ethanolamine. Monoacylated derivatives displayed antitubercular activity.

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