RESUMO
A cross-sectional study was performed in 60 Cuban women of child-bearing age who were seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and 60 controls. Human papillomavirus (HPV) was identified most frequently, with oncogenic HPV serotypes 16, 33 and 58 detected in HIV-positive patients, and serotypes 11, 33 and 51 in the controls (relative risk 4.41; 95% CI 2.21-8.29). Syphilis and hepatitis B and C viruses were detected exclusively in HIV-seropositive women (p<0.05). Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) appeared to pose a substantial health problem, especially for HIV-positive women. Clinics should consider screening and treatment for STDs as part of their HIV prevention programmes.
Assuntos
Papillomaviridae , Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis/epidemiologia , Adolescente , Adulto , Comorbidade , Estudos Transversais , Cuba/epidemiologia , Feminino , Soropositividade para HIV/epidemiologia , Hepatite B/epidemiologia , Hepatite C/epidemiologia , Humanos , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Infecções por Papillomavirus/epidemiologia , Prevalência , Sífilis/epidemiologiaRESUMO
We have expressed a recombinant Dengue 4 virus envelope glycoprotein (E4rec), truncated at its C-terminus by 53 amino acids, in Pichia pastoris. The presence of E4rec was confirmed by Western-blot using anti-DEN 4 hyper immune mouse ascitic fluid. E4rec migrated during SDS-PAGE as a 64 kDa protein. Treatment with endoglycosidases showed that the E protein was modified by the addition of short mannose chains and the absence of hyperglycosylation. When administered to BALB-C mice, E4rec elicited a DEN 4 neutralizing antibody response haemagglutination inhibition antibodies and specific memory T cell response. Mice immunized were also significantly protected against lethal DEN 4 virus challenge (86.6%, p < 0.001).
Assuntos
Anticorpos Antivirais/sangue , Vírus da Dengue/imunologia , Vacinas Sintéticas/imunologia , Proteínas do Envelope Viral/imunologia , Vacinas Virais/imunologia , Animais , Dengue/prevenção & controle , Imunização , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos BALB C , Testes de Neutralização , Pichia/genética , Proteínas Recombinantes/imunologiaRESUMO
Nine Adenovirus (Ad) strains isolated in Cuba, from 128 nasopharingeal swab specimens of children below five years old, with acute respiratory diseases, during 1996 and 1997, were studied by restriction enzyme analysis of genomic DNA with two endonucleases BamH I and Sma I. All different fragment patterns were compared with the respective prototypes. The identified adenoviruses were Ad 1 (n=4), Ad 2 (n=1) and Ad 6 (n=4). Males were more frequently infected than females. The analysis of the occurrence of these Adenovirus strains of subgenus C revealed that Ad 1 and Ad 6 were the predominant serotypes in 1996 and in 1997, respectively.
Assuntos
Adenovírus Humanos/isolamento & purificação , Infecções Respiratórias/virologia , Doença Aguda , Infecções por Adenovirus Humanos/diagnóstico , Pré-Escolar , Cuba , Enzimas de Restrição do DNA , Desoxirribonuclease BamHI , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Masculino , Infecções Respiratórias/diagnósticoRESUMO
A functional skeletal criterion, as an extension of the van der Klaauw's cranial theory, was adopted in the present study. The null hypothesis tested was: "The major skeletal components of the platyrrhine body grow linearly, regardless of their functional dependence to different demands." The acceptance of the hypothesis will imply that all Saimiri skeletal growth may be satisfactorily explained by independent variables in a single equation. The rejection will suggest that such skeletal growth patterns have to be explained by variables in several different equations, and perhaps these equations may vary with the effect of sex and undernutrition. Control and undernourished squirrel monkeys were radiographed monthly for 2 years; they were also measured; and their volumetric and morphometric neurocranial, facial, and pelvic indices were calculated. The curves that best described each of the 24-point sequences were obtained. Three main growth patterns were observed: 1) Simple linear (femur length for all groups, and pelvic index for control and undernourished females), for which the simple regression equation explained more than 95% of the variation; 2) Complex linear (pelvic index for control and undernourished males, and neurocranial and facial indices for all of the groups), for which more than 95% of the variation was explained by one of the four four-function type equations; and 3) Noncorrelated with age (neurofacial index for undernourished males, and pelviofemoral index for control females and undernourished males and females), which showed nonsignificant correlations with respect to age. The food intake and the oscillations of the environmental temperature might help to explain the undulating growth trajectory observed in the complex linear components.
Assuntos
Desenvolvimento Ósseo , Distúrbios Nutricionais/veterinária , Saimiri/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Animais , Feminino , Fêmur/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Modelos Teóricos , Pelve/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Saimiri/anatomia & histologia , Fatores SexuaisRESUMO
A longitudinal study with eighty-six rats (Rattus norvegicus albinus var. Wistar) of both sexes was made. The aim was to express adaptability to malnutrition in terms of Age-of-Fitness Point (AFP) and Trend-to-Fitness Stage (TFS). The AFP means the age in which both control and malnourished animals show the same Relative Food Intake (RFI) value, expressed in mg of food intake per g of body weight. The TFS means the percent of RFI reached by the malnourished animals at a given age stage. A TFS=70 for example, means that the animals have to gain 30% of RFI to reach its AFP. Growing animals were submitted to one of the following treatments: control (fed on a stock diet ad libitum), moderate malnutrition (fed on 1/2 of the daily stock diet of a control of the same age and sex) and severe malnutrition (fed on 1/3 of the mentioned diet). Body weight and food intake of all of the animals were registered every ten days, when they were from 20 to 80 days old. Relative Food Intake (RFI) was calculated dividing the food intake (mg) of each animal/day by its respective body weight (g). The RFI data series belonging to each sex and treatment was obtained. The significance of the three independent variables (age, sex, and nutrition) was tested by multiple regressions. Covariation and degree of linearity between RFI and age were tested by simple correlation and simple regression tests. The intercepts of the regressions were all significant. For both sexes they were greater in controls than in the moderately malnourished group, in the latter being greater than in the severely malnourished group. The slopes were significant and negative in all of the groups. While, in males and females, control and moderately malnourished rats showed little differences, the severely malnourished slopes were, respectively, 3.2 and 2.4 times lower than in controls. In controls there were sexual differences for RFI correlated with age which were not present in the malnourished groups. The AFP was calculated by extrapolation: 80-90 days of age in males, with RFI of 80 mg/g, and 100-110 days of age in females, with RFI of 70 mg/g. In males TFS was 29.5% and 88.6 % in moderate and severe malnutrition, respectively. In females these values were 9.1% and 63.2%, respectively. Sexual dimorphism in TFS was significant in the moderately malnourished animals and nonsignificant in the severely malnourished ones.
Assuntos
Ingestão de Alimentos , Crescimento , Distúrbios Nutricionais/patologia , Distúrbios Nutricionais/fisiopatologia , Adaptação Fisiológica , Animais , Peso Corporal , Feminino , Modelos Lineares , Masculino , Modelos Biológicos , Ratos , Ratos Wistar , Caracteres SexuaisRESUMO
The environmental effect on growth and sexual dimorphism is mediated by endocrinological dysfunctions. It was shown that malnutrition acts on the hypotalamus-pituitary-glandular axis. An experiment was made in Wistar rats to determine the effect of some gonadic hormones on the functional components of the skull to which sex dimorphism was alterated by a postnatal undernutrition. The effects of these hormones in restoring sexual cranial dimorphism was tested. Four treatments were applied: control, with food intake ad-libitum; undernutrition (50% of the control food intake); undernutrition plus periodic injections of testosterone and estradiol to males and females, respectively and sham-operated animals, which were injected with oil vehicle only. A radiological longitudinal study was performed between 20 and 80 days of postnatal age. The length width and height of the neural and facial components were measured on each radiograph. Data were processed by ANOVA and Mann-Whitney statistical tests were performed by means of the SYSTAT 7.0 statistical package. Results showed that gonadic hormones restored the sexual cranial dimorphism by stimulating (testosterone) or suppressing (estradiol) the growth of the cranial components.
Assuntos
Estradiol/análogos & derivados , Distúrbios Nutricionais/complicações , Caracteres Sexuais , Testosterona/análogos & derivados , Análise de Variância , Animais , Estradiol/farmacologia , Feminino , Masculino , Radiografia , Ratos , Crânio/anatomia & histologia , Crânio/diagnóstico por imagem , Crânio/efeitos dos fármacos , Estatísticas não Paramétricas , Testosterona/farmacologia , Fatores de TempoAssuntos
DNA Viral/genética , Neoplasias Laríngeas/virologia , Neoplasias de Células Escamosas/virologia , Papillomaviridae/genética , Papillomaviridae/isolamento & purificação , Infecções por Papillomavirus/diagnóstico , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase , Infecções Tumorais por Vírus/diagnóstico , Adulto , Formaldeído , Humanos , Neoplasias Laríngeas/diagnóstico , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Neoplasias de Células Escamosas/diagnósticoRESUMO
Many experimental studies of the effects of placental blood flow on growth exist. Nevertheless, few of them deal with the relationship between impaired uterine blood supply, and cranial growth and sex differentiation. The object of the present study was to investigate the impact of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) on sexual cranial dimorphism in the newborn rat. Three experimental groups were employed: (a) control; (b) operated (IUGR), in which both uterine vessels were partially bent in the 15th day of gestation; and (c) sham-operated, identical to (b) but without vessel bending. At birth, pups were weighed, and their bodies and craniums, measured. In the cases of asymmetric distributions, data were logarithmically transformed. A multi-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and LSD post-hoc tests were used to find out differences between experimental groups and sex. Controls had significant sex differences in body and cranial variables. The prenatal growth of IUGR pups was significantly inhibited. Body and facial variables were more affected than the neurocranial ones. Undernutrition produced body and cranial size changes. Since IUGR affected male more than female growth, sex dimorphism was clearly reduced in all variables which were dimorphic in controls.
Assuntos
Retardo do Crescimento Fetal/fisiopatologia , Caracteres Sexuais , Crânio/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Útero/irrigação sanguínea , Animais , Animais Recém-Nascidos , Feminino , Masculino , Ratos , Ratos WistarRESUMO
The polymerase chain reaction technique was applied to detect sequences of human Papillomavirus (HPV) by controls of cellular lines of cervical cancer and of tissues obtained through biopsy with a HPV-positive clinical diagnosis. A set of consensus oligonucleotides, which are complementary to a highly conserved region within the open reading frame E1 of the viral genome of HPV affecting the cervical mucosa, was used. With these primers it was possible to amplify DNA sequences corresponding to HPV 6 and 11, considered in the low risk group, and to HPV 16, 18, 31 and 33, included in the high risk group. The study of the sensitivity of the amplification technique showed a level of detection of 3,5 viral particles per each cellular diploid genome.
Assuntos
Papillomaviridae/genética , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase/métodos , DNA Viral/análise , DNA Viral/genética , DNA Viral/isolamento & purificação , Genoma Viral , Humanos , Sondas de Oligonucleotídeos , Mapeamento por Restrição , Sensibilidade e Especificidade , Análise de Sequência de DNA , Células Tumorais Cultivadas , Cultura de Vírus/métodosRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the possibility of a viral agent in the central nervous system of patients with epidemic neuropathy. DESIGN: Virus isolation attempts, in cell cultures and suckling mice, from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of neuropathy patients and controls undergoing lumbar puncture for unrelated reasons. Serologic studies in patients, contacts, and controls. SETTING: An epidemic of optic and peripheral neuropathy affected more than 50,000 people in Cuba in 1991 through 1993. Illness was associated with dietary limitations and increased physical demands accompanying the shortages of food and fuel experienced in Cuba since 1989. Most patients responded to parenteral vitamin therapy, and the epidemic began to subside when oral vitamin supplementation was begun for the entire Cuban population. RESULTS: Coxsackievirus A9 (five isolates) and a similar, less cytopathic virus (100 isolates) were recovered from 105 (84%) of 125 CSF specimens from neuropathy patients. The strains with light cytopathic effect were antigenically related to Coxsackieviruses A9 and B4 by cross-neutralization and immunoblotting assays. Virus persisted in CSF of some patients for 1 to 12 months. Cerebrospinal fluid from patients and both types of virus from cell culture produced illness, including complete posterior flaccid paralysis, in newborn mice, and virus was reisolated from the mice. Mouse tissues and sural nerve biopsy specimens from patients were stained by immunoperoxidase and colloidal gold techniques using hyperimmune rabbit antisera against the virus with light cytopathic effect. CONCLUSIONS: Coxsackievirus A9 or an antigenically related agent with a light cytopathic effect was present in CSF of 84% of 125 patients with epidemic neuropathy. The role of these agents, probably in combination with nutritional factors, in the pathophysiology of the disease requires further investigation.