Publications by authors named "Melina Barros Pinheiro"

The oral cavity may play a role as a reservoir and in the transmission and colonization of Helicobacter pylori. The route of transmission for H. pylori is not fully understood.

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Objective: This study aimed to evaluate inflammatory biomarkers in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis and investigate their association with all-cause mortality or transfer to hemodialysis.

Methods: This prospective cohort study included 43 patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis. Plasma levels of cytokines were measured using flow cytometry and capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

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Helicobacter pylori infection is a significant global health concern. It cannot be diagnosed based solely on the patient's medical history and symptoms, and laboratory and imaging tests are often required to confirm the diagnosis. Both noninvasive and invasive methods are available for diagnosing H.

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Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disease of pregnancy associated with intense inflammatory and pro-coagulant responses. Neuroserpin is a serine protease inhibitor that has been involved in neurological and immune processes and has not yet been investigated in preeclampsia. Herein, we evaluated neuroserpin levels in association with other inflammatory mediators (IL-17A, IL-33, and CXCL-16) during severe preeclampsia.

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Studies about oxidative stress biomarkers revealed different phenotypes between early and late preeclampsia (PE). Despite that, there is extensive evidence of oxidative stress in investigations that combinate forms different of preeclampsia. This study reviews the oxidative stress profile in the PE subtypes and evaluates which markers are altered in the blood and placental tissue.

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In the present work, the impact of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) degrees of severity, as well hydroxyurea treatment on the systemic immunological signatures of patients was evaluated. Based on a high-throughput chemokine, cytokine and growth factor multiplex analysis, it was possible to obtain the systemic immunological profile of patients with SCD (n = 40), treated or not with hydroxyurea, as compared to healthy controls (n = 40). Overall, SCD patients with severe disease displayed increased levels of almost all biomarkers analyzed.

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Hydroxyurea (HU) is a low-cost, low-toxicity drug that is often used in diseases, such as sickle cell anemia and different types of cancer. Its effects on the red blood cells (RBC) are still not fully understood. The in vitro effects of HU were evaluated on the biochemical parameters of the RBC from healthy individuals that were treated with 0.

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COVID-19, a disease caused by a coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), has worried health authorities in Brazil and worldwide because of its high infectivity and rapid spread. Within this context, health care workers are at greater risk of infection for being in close contact with patients, which is inherent to their work activities. To reduce the risk, protective measures must be adopted and personal protective equipment is essential.

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Sickle cell disease (SCD) comprises a group of genetic disorders characterized by the presence of the hemoglobin (Hb) S in homozygosis or in heterozygosis with some other Hb variant or in interaction with thalassemia. SCD is characterized by a very complex pathophysiology, which determines a wide variability of clinical manifestations, including a chronic state of hypercoagulability responsible for the increased risk of thromboembolic events. ADAMTS13 and von Willebrand factor (VWF) play an important role in arterial and venous thrombosis.

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The molecular and serological methods available for Discrete Typing Units (DTU)-specific diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi in chronic Chagas disease present limitations. The study evaluated the performance of Human Chagas-Flow ATE-IgG1 for universal and DTU-specific diagnosis of Chagas disease. A total of 102 sera from Chagas disease patients (CH) chronically infected with TcI, TcVI or TcII DTUs were tested for IgG1 reactivity to amastigote/(A), trypomastigote/(T) and epimastigote/(E) antigens along the titration curve (1:250-1:32,000).

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In the last decades, coronaviruses have been a major threat to public health worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 is the third known coronavirus that causes fatal respiratory diseases in humans. The initial clinical features of SARS-CoV-2 infection are quite nonspecific and not all suspected patients can be tested to exclude or confirm the diagnosis.

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Hemodialysis is a modality of blood filtration in which accumulated toxins and water are removed from the body. This treatment is indicated for patients at the end stage of renal disease. Vascular access complications are responsible for 20-25% of all hospitalizations in dialyzed patients.

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Background: A common complication in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a chronic inflammatory state and anemia that can be treating by recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO). Higher required dose of rHuEPO could be expected in patients with higher cytokine levels. Additionally, it is known that peritoneal inflammation can be correlated with systemic inflammation and this could contribute to the compromised rHuEPO required dose in anemic patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD).

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Preeclampsia (PE) is a multifactorial pregnancy-specific syndrome which represents one of the leading causes of maternal mortality worldwide. Inherited thrombophilia have been investigated as risk factor for the development of PE and it is currently known that ABO blood group may impact haemostatic balance, having the non-O blood groups (A, B or AB) subjects increased risk for thrombus formation, as compared to those of group O. We performed a systematic review of the literature for published studies investigating whether ABO blood groups could influence PE developing.

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For decades thimerosal has been used as a preservative in the candidate vaccine for cutaneous leishmaniasis, which was developed by Mayrink et al. The use of thimerosal in humans has been banned due to its mercury content. This study addresses the standardization of phenol as a new candidate vaccine preservative.

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