- Trypanosoma cruzi infection diagnosed in dogs in nonendemic areas and results from a survey suggest a need for increased Chagas disease awareness in North America. [Journal Article]J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2023 Feb 02 [Online ahead of print]JA
- CONCLUSIONS: Results highlight the potential for encountering dogs with T cruzi infection in nonendemic areas and need for raising awareness about Chagas disease in North America.
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Outbreak of Chagas disease in Brazil: Validation of a molecular diagnostic method. [Journal Article]Exp Parasitol. 2023 Jan 30 [Online ahead of print]EP
- Chagas disease (CD), caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), affects millions of people worldwide. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) have been used as tools to monitor parasitic levels in the bloodstream of individuals exposed to infection, thus enabling the monitoring of relapses and the effectiveness of therapy, for example. The aim of this stud…
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Epoxy-α-lapachone (2,2-Dimethyl-3,4-dihydro-spiro[2H-naphtho[2,3-b]pyran-10,2'-oxirane]-5(10H)-one): A promising molecule to control infections caused by protozoan parasites. [Review]Braz J Infect Dis. 2023 Jan 30 [Online ahead of print]BJ
- Natural products and their derivatives have been sources of search and research for new drugs for the treatment of neglected diseases. Naphthoquinones, a special group of quinones, are products of natural metabolites with a wide spectrum of biological activities and represent a group of interesting molecules for new therapeutic propositions. Among these compounds, lapachol stands out as a molecul…
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Circulation of Vaccine-Derived Rotavirus G1P[8] in a Vulnerable Child Cohort in Rio de Janeiro. [Journal Article]Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2022 Nov 29 [Online ahead of print]PI
- CONCLUSIONS: In vaccinated children, there were no breakthrough infections with G1P[8] RV1 and ADD was rare supporting high vaccine effectiveness. We observed G1P[8] RV1 virus shedding among neonates and infants before the first vaccine dose, providing evidence of transmission of the vaccine strain from immunized children to those who are not yet vaccinated.
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Plasmodium vivax vaccine: What is the best way to go? [Review]
- Malaria is one of the most devastating human infectious diseases caused by Plasmodium spp. parasites. A search for an effective and safe vaccine is the main challenge for its eradication. Plasmodium vivax is the second most prevalent Plasmodium species and the most geographically distributed parasite and has been neglected for decades. This has a massive gap in knowledge and consequently in the d…
- PMC Free PDF
- Structural Insight into Privileged Heterocycles as Anti-Trypanosoma cruzi and brucei Agents. [Journal Article]Curr Top Med Chem. 2023 Feb 01 [Online ahead of print]CT
- Trypanosomiasis is caused by parasitic protozoan trypanosomes in vertebrates. T. cruzi and T. brucei are causative agents of Chagas disease (CD) and Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), respectively. These life-threatening diseases are a serious threat to public health, with considerable incidence in sub-Saharan African and continental Latin America countries. Although WHO validated mitigated num…
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- The 1H, 15N and 13C resonance assignments of dengue virus capsid protein with the deletion of the intrinsically disordered N-terminal region. [Journal Article]Biomol NMR Assign. 2023 Feb 01 [Online ahead of print]BN
- Dengue virus belongs to the Flaviviridae family, being responsible for an endemic arboviral disease in humans. It is an enveloped virus, whose genome is a positive-stranded RNA packaged by the capsid protein. Dengue virus capsid protein (DENVC) forms homodimers in solution organized in 4 α-helices and an intrinsically disordered N-terminal region. The N-terminal region is involved in the binding …
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Enzymatic synthesis of amlodipine amides and evaluation of their anti-Trypanosoma cruzi activity. [Journal Article]Org Biomol Chem. 2023 Jan 26 [Online ahead of print]OB
- Advancing with our project about the development of new antiparasitic agents, we have enzymatically synthesized a series of amides derived from amlodipine, a calcium channel blocker used as an antihypertensive drug. Through lipase-catalyzed acylation with different carboxylic acids, nineteen amlodipine derivatives were obtained, eighteen of which were new compounds. To optimize the reaction condi…
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Brain damage serum biomarkers induced by COVID-19 in patients from northeast Brazil. [Journal Article]
- Neurological symptoms have been often reported in COVID-19 disease. In the present study, we evaluated brain damage associated with the increase of serum levels of neurological biomarkers S100B and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection, in a population from Northeastern Brazil. Thirty-six healthy control (G1) individuals and 141 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were enroll…
- PMC Free PDF
- Receptor autoantibodies: Associations with cardiac markers, histology, and function in human non-ischaemic heart failure. [Journal Article]ESC Heart Fail. 2023 Jan 30 [Online ahead of print]EH
- CONCLUSIONS: GPCR autoantibodies are markedly altered in HF. However, they are correlated poorly or even inversely to haemodynamic, metabolic, and functional markers of disease severity, myocardial histology, and myocardial mitochondrial efficiency. These observations do not hint towards a specific cardio-pathogenic role of GPCR autoantibodies and suggest that further investigations are required before specific therapies directed at GPCR autoantibodies can be clinically tested in non-ischaemic HF.
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Risk of adverse outcomes in offspring with RT-PCR confirmed prenatal Zika virus exposure: An individual participant data meta-analysis of 13 cohorts in the Zika Brazilian Cohorts Consortium. [Journal Article]
- Knowledge regarding the risks associated with Zika virus (ZIKV) infections in pregnancy has relied on individual studies with relatively small sample sizes and variable risk estimates of adverse outcomes, or on surveillance or routinely collected data. Using data from the Zika Brazilian Cohorts Consortium, this study aims, to estimate the risk of adverse outcomes among offspring of women with RT-…
- PMC Free PDF
- Statins change the cytokine profile in Trypanosoma cruzi-infected U937 macrophages and murine cardiac tissue through Rho-associated kinases inhibition. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the statin modulation of the inflammatory response due to ROCK inhibition is a potential pharmacological strategy to prevent cardiac inflammation in CCC.
- PMC Free PDF
- Localized cardiac metabolic trajectories and post-infectious metabolic sequelae in experimental Chagas disease. [Preprint]Res Sq. 2023 Jan 20RS
- Post-infectious conditions, where clinical symptoms fail to resolve even after pathogen clearance, present major health burdens. However, the mechanisms involved remain poorly understood. In Chagas disease (CD), caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, antiparasitic agents can clear T. cruzi but late-stage treatment does not improve clinical cardiac outcomes. In this study, we revealed different…
- PMC Free PDF
- Identification of compounds with activity against Trypanosoma cruzi within a collection of synthetic nucleoside analogs. [Journal Article]
- Chagas disease is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, and it is the most important neglected tropical disease in the Americas. Two drugs are available to treat the infection, but their efficacy in the chronic stage of the disease, when most cases are diagnosed, is reduced. Their tolerability is also hindered by common adverse effects, making the development of safer and efficaciou…
- PMC Free PDF
- MorphoMacro for in vivo and ex vivo quantitative morphometric analysis of microglia. [Journal Article]Methods Cell Biol. 2023; 174:75-92.MC
- Microglia cells dynamically survey the central nervous system microenvironment and, in response to tissue damage inflicted by radiation therapy, disease or infection, undergo morphological and functional changes that culminate in microglia activation. Cell shape transformation can be assessed descriptively or, alternatively, it can be quantified as a continuous variable for parameters including t…
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- mTOR signaling inhibition decreases lysosome migration and impairs the success of Trypanosoma cruzi infection and replication in cardiomyocytes. [Journal Article]Acta Trop. 2023 Jan 26 [Online ahead of print]AT
- Chagas disease is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) and, among all the chronic manifestations of the disease, Chronic Chagas Cardiomyopathy (CCC) is the most severe outcome. Despite high burden and public health importance in Latin America, there is a gap in understanding the molecular mechanisms that results in CCC development. Previous studies showed that T. cruzi uses the hos…
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Effects of propolis on inflammation markers in patients undergoing hemodialysis: A randomized, double-blind controlled clinical trial. [Journal Article]Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2023 Jan 26; 51:101732.CT
- CONCLUSIONS: Short-term EPP-AF® propolis dry extract 400 mg/day supplementation seems to mitigate inflammation, reducing the plasma levels of TNFα and MIP-1β in patients with CKD on HD. This study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04411758).
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Intestinal permeability evaluation in patients with chronic Chagas heart failure. [Journal Article]ESC Heart Fail. 2023 Jan 28 [Online ahead of print]EH
- CONCLUSIONS: The present study could not show a disturbance of the intestinal barrier in CCC patients with LVEF <55%, measured by lactulose/mannitol urinary excretion ratio. Further investigations are needed to verify if in patients with LVEF <40% intestinal permeability is increased.
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Steroid and triterpenoid compounds with antiparasitic properties. [Journal Article]Curr Top Med Chem. 2023 Jan 26 [Online ahead of print]CT
- Parasitic diseases affect millions of people and animals, predominantly in the tropics, including visitors to tropical countries and other areas. Efficient and low-cost treatments for infections caused by various parasites are not yet available. Antiparasitic drugs have some drawbacks, such as toxicity and the development of resistance by parasites. This has motivated many researchers to focus on…
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Integrative taxonomy for the traditional coccidians (Chromista: Miozoa: Eimeriidae) from island canaries (Aves: Passeriformes: Fringillidae): Worldwide distribution, morphological and molecular characterization, revaluations and establishment of junior synonyms. [Journal Article]Syst Parasitol. 2023 Jan 26 [Online ahead of print]SP
- Island canaries Serinus canaria (Linnaeus) are finches native to the North Atlantic Islands, however, they have a worldwide distribution in captivity due to their relevance as a pet bird. Coccidians are the most reported parasites of passerines worldwide, both in the wild and in captivity, being frequently associated with disease in passerines kept in rehabilitation centers and commercial breeder…
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Scientometric review of research on Neglected Tropical Diseases: a 31-year perspective from the Journal of the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Despite the proportional reduction in publications, JBSTM remains an important vehicle for disseminating research on NTDs during this period. There is a need to strengthen the research and subsequent publications on specific NTDs. Institutions working and publishing on NTDs in the country were concentrated in the South and Southeast regions, requiring additional investments in institutions in other regions of the country.
- PMC Free PDF
- Tolerance and Adherence of Patients with Chronic Chagas Disease Treated with Benznidazole. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: This information is important for preventing non-medical-related withdrawals and for removing baseless fears. Better knowledge of patients could help us provide better care.
- PMC Free PDF
- Epidemiology and control of trachoma in the state of Ceará, Northeast Brazil, 2007-2021. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Trachoma remains in the state of Ceará and is likely underreported. Despite recent advances, the fragility of health surveillance activities compromises the recognition of the actual magnitude and distribution of trachoma in the state. Accurate information is fundamental for planning, monitoring, and evaluating surveillance and disease control.
- PMC Free PDF
- Genomic surveillance: a potential shortcut for effective Chagas disease management. [Journal Article]
- Chagas disease is an enduring public health issue in many Latin American countries, receiving insufficient investment in research and development. Strategies for disease control and management currently lack efficient pharmaceuticals, commercial diagnostic kits with improved sensitivity, and vaccines. Genetic heterogeneity of Trypanosoma cruzi is a key aspect for novel drug design since pharmacol…
- PMC Free PDF
- In vitro anti-Leishmania activity of triclabendazole and its synergic effect with amphotericin B. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Considering that TCBZ has the advantage of being inexpensive and administrated orally, our results suggest that TCBZ, combined with AmpB, is a promising candidate for treating leishmaniasis with reduced toxicity.
- PMC Free PDF
- Activity of the genus Zanthoxylum against diseases caused by protozoa: A systematic review. [Systematic Review]Front Pharmacol. 2022; 13:873208.FP
- Neglected diseases (NDs) are treated with a less varied range of drugs, with high cost and toxicity, which makes the search for therapeutic alternatives important. In this context, plants, such as those from the genus Zanthoxylum, can be promising due to active substances in their composition. This study evaluates the potential of species from this genus to treat NDs. Initially, a protocol was de…
- PMC Free PDF
- Brain FNDC5/irisin expression in patients and mouse models of major depression. [Journal Article]eNeuro. 2023 Jan 25 [Online ahead of print]E
- Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a major cause of disability in adults. MDD is both a co-morbidity and a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), and regular physical exercise has been associated with reduced incidence and severity of MDD and AD. Irisin is an exercise-induced myokine derived from proteolytic processing of fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5 (FNDC5). FNDC5/irisin i…
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Delayed Activation of T Cells at the Site of Infection Facilitates the Establishment of Trypanosoma cruzi in Both Naive and Immune Hosts. [Journal Article]mSphere. 2023 Jan 25 [Online ahead of print]M
- Although parasite entry through breaks in the skin or mucosa is one of the main routes of natural transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi, little is known about the host cell types initially invaded nor the ability of those host cells to initiate immune responses at the site of infection. To gain insights into these early events, we studied the fate of fluorescently tagged T. cruzi delivered subcutaneo…
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)
- Gold nanoparticles reduce tubule-interstitial injury and proteinuria in a murine model of subclinical acute kidney injury. [Journal Article]Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj. 2023 Jan 21; 1867(4):130314.BB
- Subclinical acute kidney injury (subAKI) is characterized by tubule-interstitial injury without significant changes in glomerular function. SubAKI is associated with the pathogenesis and progression of acute and chronic kidney diseases. Currently, therapeutic strategies to treat subAKI are limited. The use of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has shown promising benefits in different models of diseases.…
- Publisher Full Text (DOI)