Biomedicines
November 2024
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is an aggressive neoplasm derived from B and/or T cell lineage (B-ALL; T-ALL). For the first time, this study describes, cytogenetically, the karyotypic alterations in adults with ALL in the northern region of Brazil and their relationship with hematological and biochemical characteristics. Through banding analyses, immunophenotyping, as well as hematological and biochemical examination data obtained directly from patients' records, we found that chromosome 21 aneuploidy was the most frequent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdaptation to chronic hypoxia occurs through changes in protein expression, which are controlled by hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) and are necessary for cancer cell survival. However, the mechanisms that enable cancer cells to adapt in early hypoxia, before the HIF1α-mediated transcription programme is fully established, remain poorly understood. Here we show in human breast cancer cells, that within 3 h of hypoxia exposure, glycolytic flux increases in a HIF1α-independent manner but is limited by NAD availability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChanges in circadian rhythms have been observed in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and evidence suggests that these changes can have a negative impact on health. This study aimed to investigate the existence of hemodialysis-induced chronodisruption, the chronotype distribution, and their association with sleep quality and quality of life (QoL). This was a cross-sectional study that enrolled 165 patients (mean age: 51.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEndocr Metab Immune Disord Drug Targets
December 2023
Introduction: The adult unit of the Reference Center for Hereditary Metabolism Diseases of the Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte was created in 2002. The team that supports this unit is made up of several specialists, including 2 Internal Medicine Doctors and 2 Nutritionists. The unit carries out its activity mainly in an outpatient clinic on Fridays.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFViruses
September 2023
Along with the increasing demand for complex formulations comes the need for appropriate in vitro methodologies capable of predicting their corresponding in vivo performance and the mechanisms controlling the drug release which can impact on in vivo drug absorption. In vitro dissolution-permeation (D/P) methodologies that can account for the effects of enabling formulations on the permeability of drugs are increasingly being used in performance ranking during early development stages. This work comprised the application of two different cell-free in vitro D/P setups: BioFLUX™ and PermeaLoop™ to evaluate the dissolution-permeation interplay upon drug release from itraconazole (ITZ)- HPMCAS amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) of different drug loads.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlong with the increasing demand for candidate-enabling formulations comes the need for appropriate in vitro bioavailability forecasting. Dissolution/permeation (D/P) systems employing cell-free permeation barriers are increasingly gaining interest, due to their low cost and easy application as passive diffusion bio-predictive profiling in drug product development, as this accounts for nearly 75% of new chemical entities (NCEs) absorption mechanism. To this end, this study comprises theoretical considerations on the design and experimental work towards the establishment and optimization of a PermeaLoop™ based dissolution/permeation assay to simultaneously evaluate the drug release and permeation using Itraconazole (ITZ)-based amorphous solid dispersions (ASD) formulations, with different drug loads, based on a solvent-shift approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFT-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (T-ALL) is a hematological malignancy in need of novel therapeutic approaches. Here, we identify the ATP-citrate lyase ACLY as overexpressed and as a novel therapeutic target in T-ALL. To test the effects of ACLY in leukemia progression, we developed an isogenic model of NOTCH1-induced conditional knockout leukemia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDietary nutrient availability and gene expression, together, influence tissue metabolic activity. Here, we explore whether altering dietary nutrient composition in the context of mouse liver cancer suffices to overcome chronic gene expression changes that arise from tumorigenesis and western-style diet (WD). We construct a mouse genome-scale metabolic model and estimate metabolic fluxes in liver tumors and non-tumoral tissue after computationally varying the composition of input diet.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To understand differences in antimicrobial use between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. To compare two metrics commonly used for antimicrobial use: Defined Daily Dose (DDD) and Days of Therapy (DOT). To analyse the order in which antimicrobials were prescribed to COVID-19 patients using process mining techniques.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To investigate the epidemiology of tobacco use and nicotine dependence in a sample of truck drivers in Brazil.
Methods: Between 2015 and 2016, a cross-sectional study was conducted on 624 truck drivers who operate on the BR-050 highway in Brazil. Participants were interviewed about sociodemographic data, occupational characteristics, mental health, behavioral data, and tobacco use.
Unlabelled: T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a NOTCH1-driven disease in need of novel therapies. Here, we identify a NOTCH1-SIRT1-KAT7 link as a therapeutic vulnerability in T-ALL, in which the histone deacetylase SIRT1 is overexpressed downstream of a NOTCH1-bound enhancer. SIRT1 loss impaired leukemia generation, whereas SIRT1 overexpression accelerated leukemia and conferred resistance to NOTCH1 inhibition in a deacetylase-dependent manner.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFα-ketoglutarate (αKG) is a central metabolic node with a broad influence on cellular physiology. The αKG analogue N-oxalylglycine (NOG) and its membrane-permeable pro-drug derivative dimethyl-oxalylglycine (DMOG) have been extensively used as tools to study prolyl hydroxylases (PHDs) and other αKG-dependent processes. In cell culture media, DMOG is rapidly converted to MOG, which enters cells through monocarboxylate transporter MCT2, leading to intracellular NOG concentrations that are sufficiently high to inhibit glutaminolysis enzymes and cause cytotoxicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPortugal's first Mobile Drug Consumption Room (MDCR) has been operating for over three years in two Lisbon neighborhoods. This qualitative study first creates a baseline understanding of community perceptions concerning the acceptability of and expectations surrounding drug consumption rooms in the communities of intervention. Then, at least six months after the initial interviews, it determines how these perceptions changed and what changes participants perceive in the neighborhoods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Pharmacol
June 2022
The consumption of antibiotics is one of the metrics used to evaluate the impact of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASP). The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of antibiotic consumption in Brazilian intensive care units (ICUs) and estimate the deviation of the prescribed daily dose (PDD) from the defined daily dose (DDD). This is a multicenter, observational, point-prevalence study carried out in adult ICUs of 8 Brazilian hospitals from August 2019, to February 2020.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHepatitis B and C are the most common causes of liver disease worldwide. The two infections share many similarities such as a global distribution, the same routes of transmission, hepatotropism, and the ability to cause chronic infection. The consequences of HBV/HCV coinfection are still being studied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the present work, the microbiological quality of sesame, flaxseed, chia, pumpkin sunflower seeds, a mix of seeds, as well as flaxseed flour, marketed in southern Portugal, were studied through the counting of aerobic microorganisms at 30 °C (AM), molds and yeast (M&Y), (β-glucuronidase positive) (β-GP ), coagulase positive, and detection of spp. The persistence of AM and M&Y populations were also counted in organic and non-organic flaxseed at 20 °C for 11 months. The seeds with the highest average of AM were flaxseed (1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Philadelphia (Ph+) chromosome, t(9;22)(q34;q11.2), originates from a chimeric gene called and is present in more than 90% of CML patients. Most patients with CML express the protein p210 and, with a frequency lower than 5%, express rare isoforms, the main one being p190.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) is a heterogeneous group of rare, chronic, progressive and systemic inherited disorders resulting from deficiency or lack of lysosomal enzymes responsible for the degradation of glycosaminoglycans. Products of nitrosative stress have been previously detected in blood and urine samples of patients with MPS. However, it is unclear whether they are present in the saliva of MPS patients and also if they correlate with salivary parameters such as flow and pH.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderstanding the dissolution mechanisms of amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) and being able to link enhanced drug exposure with process parameters are key when formulating poorly soluble compounds. Thus, in this study, ASDs composed by itraconazole (ITZ) and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose acetate succinate (HPMCAS) were formulated with different polymer grades and drug loads (DLs) and processed by spray drying with different atomization ratios and outlet temperatures. Their performance and the ability to form drug-rich colloids were then evaluated by a physiologically relevant dissolution method.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Infect Dis
October 2021
Background: More than 5 years after the Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic, Zika infection remains a major concern in regions with high Aedes infestation. The objectives of this study were (i) to identify clusters of ZIKV infection and microcephaly, and/or central nervous system (CNS) alterations associated with congenital infection during the epidemic peak in 2016 and subsequently, in 2017 and 2018; (ii) to measure the non-spatial correlation between ZIKV infection and microcephaly and/or CNS alterations associated with congenital infection; and (iii) to analyse the sociodemographic/economic, health, and environmental determinants associated with the incidence of ZIKV in a region of high infestation by Aedes aegypti in the Central-West Region of Brazil.
Methods: This ecological study analysed 246 municipalities in the state of Goiás (6.
People who use crack-cocaine (PWUCC) have numerous vulnerabilities and pose a challenge to health and social assistance services. The exposure to pathogens and risk situations occur differently according to each individual, region and social group. This study identified the presence, genotypes and factors associated with hepatitis E virus (HEV) exposure among a community-recruited cohort of 437 PWUCC in northern Brazil.
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