Potential of an Isolated Bacteriophage to Inactivate : Preliminary Studies to Control Urinary Tract Infections.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by resistant can lead to severe clinical complications and even death. An alternative treatment option for infected patients is using bacteriophages. In the present study, we isolated phage VB_KPM_KP1LMA (KP1LMA) from sewage water using a strain as a host.

Estimated glomerular filtration rate in Brazilian adults with sickle cell disease: results from the REDS-III multicenter cohort study.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has a significant impact on sickle cell disease (SCD) morbidity and mortality. Early identification of individuals at highest risk of developing CKD may allow therapeutic intervention to prevent worse outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors for reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) among adults with SCD in Brazil.

Factors Associated with Leg Ulcers in Adults with Sickle Cell Disease in Brazil.

Objective: To define the prevalence of leg ulcers and identify the clinical and laboratory factors associated with leg ulcers in adult participants.

Methods: The authors conducted a cross-sectional study of 1,109 patients who were 18 years or older with SS or Sβ0-thalassemia genotypes from a Brazilian cohort. Investigators assessed the prevalence of factors associated with leg ulcers from 2013 to 2017.

Is Severity Score Associated With Indication for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Individuals With Sickle Cell Anemia?

Manifestations of sickle cell disease (SCD) begin early in childhood and cause morbidity and decreased life expectancy. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is curative but associated with risk of mortality attributable to the transplant. This risk should be counterbalanced with SCD morbidity and mortality.

Effects of low-level laser photobiomodulation on the masticatory function and mandibular movements in adults with temporomandibular disorder: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Purpose: To review the effects of low-level laser photobiomodulation on masticatory function and mandibular movements in adults with temporomandibular disorder.

Research Strategies: Search in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, EMBASE, Cochrane, LILACS, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar, using the following descriptors: "temporomandibular joint disorders", "low-level light therapy", "low-level laser therapy", "mastication", and "mandible".

Selection Criteria: Randomized clinical trials in adults with temporomandibular disorder, using low-level laser and assessing the mastication and mandibular movements.

Clonal hematopoiesis in sickle cell disease.

BACKGROUNDCurative gene therapies for sickle cell disease (SCD) are currently undergoing clinical evaluation. The occurrence of myeloid malignancies in these trials has prompted safety concerns. Individuals with SCD are predisposed to myeloid malignancies, but the underlying causes remain undefined.

How Ancestry Influences the Chances of Finding Unrelated Donors: An Investigation in Admixed Brazilians.

A match of HLA loci between patients and donors is critical for successful hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. However, the extreme polymorphism of HLA loci - an outcome of millions of years of natural selection - reduces the chances that two individuals will carry identical combinations of multilocus HLA genotypes. Further, HLA variability is not homogeneously distributed throughout the world: African populations on average have greater variability than non-Africans, reducing the chances that two unrelated African individuals are HLA identical.

Characterization of HIV risks in a Brazilian sickle cell disease population.

Background: A low prevalence of HIV in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients has been reported in the literature though mechanisms for this are not understood.

Methods: HIV risk behaviors were compared between SCD cases and non-SCD controls using a self-administered audio computer-assisted self-interview. SCD cases were recruited from a multi-center SCD cohort established in Brazil; controls were recruited from SCD social contacts.

Association of HIV infection with clinical and laboratory characteristics of sickle cell disease.

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a multisystem disorder characterized by a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations and severity. Studies investigating potential effects of co-morbid human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and SCD have produced conflicting results, and additional investigations are needed to elucidate whether the interaction between the two disease states might impact both HIV and SCD clinical outcomes. The association of HIV infection with clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with SCD was assessed.

Blood utilization and characteristics of patients treated with chronic transfusion therapy in a large cohort of Brazilian patients with sickle cell disease.

Background: Red blood cell (RBC) transfusions are used in sickle cell disease (SCD) to treat acute complications or as chronic transfusion therapy (CTT) to prevent severe manifestations. The objectives of this study were to describe blood utilization and adverse events (AEs) associated with RBCs in the Brazilian SCD population and compare characteristics of patients treated or not with CTT.

Study Design And Methods: A SCD cohort was established at six Brazilian centers.

Hb S/-Thalassemia in the REDS-III Brazil Sickle Cell Disease Cohort: Clinical, Laboratory and Molecular Characteristics.

We described the clinical, laboratory and molecular characteristics of individuals with Hb S (: c.20A>T)/β-thalassemia (Hb S/β-thal) participating in the Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation Study (REDS-III) Brazil Sickle Cell Disease cohort. gene sequencing was performed to genotype each β-thal mutation.

Use of an automated pyrosequencing technique for confirmation of sickle cell disease.

Background: The diagnosis of sickle cell disease (SCD) is made by hemoglobin assays such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), isoelectric focusing and cellulose acetate or citrate agar electrophoresis. These assays are easy to perform and used in large-scale newborn screening in many countries. These tests however may not easily differentiate Sβ0 thalassemia from SS or identify other hemoglobin variants, and in this case, hemoglobin (HBB) gene sequencing may be necessary.

Prevalence of serologic markers of transfusion and sexually transmitted infections and their correlation with clinical features in a large cohort of Brazilian patients with sickle cell disease.

Background: Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) often require red blood cell (RBC) transfusion for clinical complications, so may be exposed to transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs). The prevalence of markers for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and B (HBV), human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV-1/2), Chagas disease, and syphilis in an SCD cohort in Brazil were studied.

Study Design And Methods: Clinical history, interview data, blood samples, and medical chart review data were collected during cohort enrollment from November 2013 to May 2015.

Exosomes and STUB1/CHIP cooperate to maintain intracellular proteostasis.

Deregulation of proteostasis is a main feature of many age-related diseases, often leading to the accumulation of toxic oligomers and insoluble protein aggregates that accumulate intracellularly or in the extracellular space. To understand the mechanisms whereby toxic or otherwise unwanted proteins are secreted to the extracellular space, we inactivated the quality-control and proteostasis regulator ubiquitin ligase STUB1/CHIP. Data indicated that STUB1 deficiency leads both to the intracellular accumulation of protein aggregates and to an increase in the secretion of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs), including exosomes.

Quality of life in pre-adolescent children with sickle cell disease in Brazil.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) affects more than 13 million people and can have a significant impact on the quality of life (QoL) of those persons. We performed a cross-sectional study to evaluate the QoL in SCD children 8-12 years old enrolled from November 2014 to March 2016 in a large multicenter cohort study in Brazil. The PedsQL™ SCD Module was used to evaluate QoL in 412 children from six Brazilian health centers.

Identification and Characterization of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Candidates in a Sickle Cell Disease Cohort.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is associated with significant morbidity, and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) remains the primary curative treatment. Recently, the Brazilian Ministry of Health released a regulation that required the publically funded healthcare system to pay for HSCT for SCD patients with defined indications. We used an existing 2794-member SCD cohort established during 2013 to 2015 to characterize candidates for HSCT and estimate the number of possible donors.

Clinical and genetic ancestry profile of a large multi-centre sickle cell disease cohort in Brazil.

Approximately 3500 children with sickle cell disease (SCD) are born in Brazil each year, but the burden of SCD morbidity is not fully characterised. A large, multi-centre cohort was established to characterise clinical outcomes in the Brazilian SCD population and create the infrastructure to perform genotype-phenotype association studies. Eligible patients were randomly selected from participating sites and recruited at routine visits.

Patterns of care and burden of chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in Brazil.

Aims: Although several therapeutic options are available for chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (cITP), little is known about the treatment of cITP in Brazil.

Materials And Methods: A multi-center, retrospective chart review, observational study was designed to describe the treatment patterns, clinical burden, resources use, and associated costs for adult patients diagnosed with cITP and treated in public and private institutions in Brazil. Patient charts were screened in reverse chronological order based on their last visit post January 1, 2012.

RNA sequencing and transcriptome arrays analyses show opposing results for alternative splicing in patient derived samples.

Background: RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and microarrays are two transcriptomics techniques aimed at the quantification of transcribed genes and their isoforms. Here we compare the latest Affymetrix HTA 2.0 microarray with Illumina 2000 RNA-seq for the analysis of patient samples - normal lung epithelium tissue and squamous cell carcinoma lung tumours.

Amputations in Sickle Cell Disease: Case Series and Literature Review.

In this study, we describe four new patients with sickle cell disease who had limb amputations. Two of the patients had sickle cell anemia [Hb S (HBB: c.20A > T) (β(S)/β(S))] with refractory leg ulcers that required amputations.

Atomic lighthouse effect.

We investigate the deflection of light by a cold atomic cloud when the light-matter interaction is locally tuned via the Zeeman effect using magnetic field gradients. This "lighthouse" effect is strongest in the single-scattering regime, where deviation of the incident field is largest. For optically dense samples, the deviation is reduced by collective effects, as the increase in linewidth leads to a decrease in magnetic field efficiency.

Clinical evolution of mediastinitis in patients undergoing adjuvant hyperbaric oxygen therapy after coronary artery bypass surgery.

Objective: To evaluate the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy as an adjunctive treatment in mediastinitis after coronary artery bypass surgery.

Methods: This is a retrospective descriptive study, performed between October 2010 and February 2012. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy was indicated in difficult clinical management cases despite antibiotic therapy.

Comparison of diagnostic criteria for acute kidney injury in cardiac surgery.

Background: There is considerable controversy regarding the diagnosis of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI), and there are over 30 different definitions.

Objective: To evaluate the incidence and risk factors for the development of AKI following cardiac surgery according to the RIFLE, AKIN and KDIGO criteria, and compare the prognostic power of these criteria.

Methods: Cross-sectional study that included 321 consecutively patients (median age 62 [53-71] years; 140 men) undergoing cardiac surgery between June 2011 and January 2012.