Biomedica最新文献

Introduction: Anti-inflammatories, immunosuppressants, and immunobiological are commonly used in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. However, some patients do not present an adequate response or lose effective response during the treatment. A recent study found a potential anti-inflammatory effect of the hydroalcoholic extract of Mimosa caesalpiniifolia on trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced colitis in Wistar rats.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of M. caesalpiniifolia pre-formulation on the intestinal barrier using dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis model.

Materials and methods: Leaf extracts were prepared in 70% ethanol and dried with a Buchi B19 Mini-spray dryer using 20% Aerosil® solution. Thirty-two male Wistar rats were randomized into four groups: basal control, untreated colitis, pre-formulation control (125 mg/kg/day), and colitis treated with pre-formulation (125 mg/kg/day). Clinical activity index was recorded daily and all rats were euthanized on the ninth day. Colon fragments were fixed and processed for histological and ultrastructural analyses. Stool samples were collected and processed for analysis of the short-chain fatty acid.

Results: Treatment with the pre-formulation decreased the clinical activity (bloody diarrhea), inflammatory infiltrate, and the ulcers. Pre-formulation did not repair the epithelial barrier and there were no significant differences in the goblet cells index. There was a significant difference in butyrate levels in the rats treated with the pre-formulation.

Conclusions: The pre-formulation minimized the clinical symptoms of colitis and intestinal inflammation, but did not minimize damage to the intestinal barrier.

Introduction. Dengue is a public health problem in La Guajira region. Control has focused on the vector using insecticides, including organophosphates.Objective. To evaluate the state of susceptibility to organophosphates insecticides in fifteen Aedes aegypti (L.) populations in La Guajira, Colombia.Materials and methods. We collected samples of third-instar larvae and adult mosquitoes of Ae. aegypti in the municipalities of Albania, Barrancas, Dibulla, Distracción, El Molino, Fonseca, Hatonuevo, La Jagua del Pilar, Maicao, Manaure, Riohacha, San Juan del Cesar, Uribia, Urumita, Villanueva. Bioassays for temefos, malathion, and pirimiphos-methyl were carried out following the methodology of the World Health Organization, and the bottle technique using the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Susceptibility to temefos was determined through the resistance ratio between lethal concentration 50 and lethal concentration 95; for the compounds temefos, malathion and pirimiphos-methyl, susceptibility was calculated using diagnostic dose and diagnostic time in the populations evaluated. Rockefeller susceptible strain was used as a control.Results: All evaluated populations of Ae. aegypti from La Guajira were found to be susceptible to temefos (ratio resistance to CL50<5.0; ratio resistance to CL95<5.0; 98 - 100 % mortality); pirimiphosmethyl (99 - 100 % mortality), and malathion (100 % mortality).Conclusion. Based on the results, the use of temefos, malathion, and pirimiphosmethyl is feasible for the control of Ae. aegypti in the evaluated populations.

Introduction: The identity of Staphylococcus aureus virulence factors involved in chronic osteomyelitis remains unresolved. SapS is a class C non-specific acid phosphatase and a well-known virulence factor that has been identified in S. aureus strain 154 but in protein extracts from rotting vegetables.

Objective: To identify the SapS gene and characterize the activity of SapS from S. aureus strains: 12 isolates from bone infected samples of patients treated for chronic osteomyelitis and 49 from a database with in silico analysis of complete bacterial genomes.

Materials and methods: The SapS gene was isolated and sequenced from 12 S. aureus clinical isolates and two reference strains; 49 S. aureus strains and 11 coagulase-negative staphylococci were tested using in silico PCR. Culture media semi-purified protein extracts from the clinical strains were assayed for phosphatase activity with p-nitro-phenylphosphate, O-phospho-L-tyrosine, O-phospho-L-serine, and OphosphoL-threonine in conjunction with various phosphatase inhibitors.

Results: SapS was detected in the clinical and in-silico S. aureus strains, but not in the in silico coagulase-negative staphylococci strains. Sec-type I lipoprotein-type N-terminal signal peptide sequences; secreted proteins, and aspartate bipartite catalytic domains coding sequences were found in the SapS nucleotide and amino acid sequence analysis. SapS dephosphorylated with p-nitro-phenyl-phosphate and ophosphoLtyrosine were selectively resistant to tartrate and fluoride, but sensitive to vanadate and molybdate.

Conclusion: SapS gene was found in the genome of the clinical isolates and the in silico Staphylococcus aureus strains. SapS shares biochemical similarities with known virulent bacterial, such as protein tyrosine phosphatases, suggesting it may be a virulence factor in chronic osteomyelitis.

We documented two stages of bone involvement due to syphilis in two adult patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus. Bony lesions of secondary versus tertiary syphilis cannot be differentiated on clinical or radiologic grounds alone. Given the rarity of this clinical presentation, there is no consensus on treatment duration and related outcomes.

Introduction: In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, information on factors associated with adherence to antituberculosis treatment in areas with high prevalence of tuberculosis is scarce.

Objetive: To evaluate whether there is an association between social support, concern about COVID-19 infection and knowledge about tuberculosis, and non-adherence to antituberculosis treatment.

Materials and methodos: A cross-sectional study was carried out on patients under antituberculosis treatment, from January to March, 2022, in centers located in areas with a high prevalence of tuberculosis in Lima. We used the Morisky Green-Levine questionnaire to assess adherence to treatment as the dependent variable; the independent variables were evaluated using the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey for perceived social support and concern about COVID-19 infection, and the Battle Test to assess patients’ knowledge about their disease. We used Poisson regression with robust variance to evaluate the association between the independent variables and the dependent one.

Results: Out of 101 participants (73.3% male with an average age of 35.1 ± 16 years), 51.5% were non-adherent to antituberculosis treatment. Medium or high level of concern about getting COVID-19 was associated with a higher prevalence of non-adherence to treatment (odds ratio: 1.68; 95 % confidence interval: 1.09-2.57) (adjusted for considered confounding variables).

Conclusions: Non-adherence is a frequent condition among patients living in an area with a high prevalence of tuberculosis in Lima, especially among those with a higher concern for COVID-19 infection.

Copper deficiency can present as myelopathy by the manifestation of sensory ataxia, secondary to demyelination of the posterior cords of the spinal cord, accompanied by cytopenia, mainly anemia, and leukopenia.Case series study of three patients with myelopathy due to copper deficiency, diagnosed and managed from 2020 to 2022 in a highly complex university hospital in Colombia.Regarding gender, two cases were female patients. The age range was between 57 and 68 years. In all three cases serum copper levels were decreased, and in two of these, different causes of myelopathy affecting the posterior cords of the spinal cord were ruled out, such as vitamin B12, vitamin E and folic acid deficiency, tabes dorsalis, myelopathy due to human immunodeficiency virus, multiple sclerosis and infection by the human lymphotropic virus type I and II, among others. However, at the moment of the myelopathy diagnosis, one patient had vitamin B12 deficiency associated with copper insufficiency. All three cases presented sensory ataxia, and in two, paraparesis was the initial motor deficit.The diagnostic approach must include copper levels assessment in every case of patients with chronic gastrointestinal pathology, chronic diarrhea, malabsorption syndrome, or significant reduction in dietary intake; and the development of neurological symptoms that may suggest cord involvement. It has been reported that a delay in diagnosis can lead to poor neurological outcomes.

Introduction: Workplace bullying and sexual harassment are concerns among general surgery residents in Colombia.

Objetive: To explore the prevalence and impact of workplace bullying and sexual harassment incidents among general surgery residents in Colombia.

Materials and methods: This nationwide study was conducted in 2020. Residents selfrated their exposure to workplace bullying and to sexual harassment in the forms of gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, and sexual coercion. We analyzed demographic variables, perpetrator’s characteristics, and differences between victims and non-victims.

Results: The study included 302 residents. It found that 49% of general surgery residents in Colombia suffered from workplace bullying and 14.9% experienced sexual harassment. The main forms of sexual harassment were gender harassment (47%) and unwanted sexual attention (47%). Women reported significantly higher rates of being sexually harassed. Surgeons were the main perpetrators of sexual harassment.

Conclusions: Workplace bullying and sexual harassment are frequent events in general surgery residency in Colombia. These findings suggest the need for interventions to improve the educational culture of surgical departments and decrease the prevalence of these behaviors.

The importance of intraoperative consultation through frozen sections can hardly be over-emphasized. The overall accuracy of frozen section diagnosis falls within the range of 92% to 97.98%; however, in brain tissues, the diagnostic accuracy is debatable, considering the artifacts due to ice crystal formation, crushing, and overstretching resulting in impaired histomorphology. On the other hand, reliance on immunohistochemistry on a frozen brain section is even more challenging because of reported interpretational problems. Hence, preserving the histomorphology of brain tissues and optimizing preanalytical variables is crucial for the accurate diagnosis of the patients.

Background and Objective: Thyroid specimens constitute a major bulk of the head and neck surgical specimens received at the Pathology Departments. Careful handling of the specimens in the grossing room will result in an efficient reporting of useful histological parameters required for patient management and prognosis. The objective of this study was to analyze different errors and near-miss events in the grossing of thyroid specimens in the surgical pathology gross room of a Tertiary Care Hospital in Lahore, Pakistan.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was done on different thyroid specimens received at the Pathology reception of Lahore General Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, from January 2022 to April 2023. Different types of errors involved in standard gross examinations were studied. Data were entered using SPSS version 23.0.

Results: Errors observed in the preanalytical phase included the use of inappropriate fixative (15.2%), insufficient clinical information (76.5), mislabeled jar/request form (7.6%), and loss of specimen (8%). Grossing errors included insufficient grossing notes (12.2%), cutting thick slices (10.7%), missing lesions on gross examination (9.9%), inappropriate inking (6.9%), overfilling cassette with large tissue sections (6.9%), mislabeled cassettes (93.8%), and incomplete submission of capsule (2.3%).

Conclusion: This study concludes that errors and near-miss events in handling thyroid specimens can be avoided by effective training of the handling staff and grossing residents. Collaboration between clinical wards and histopathology laboratories can also be helpful in this regard.