Life Sciences Commons^™

Serological Proteomic Screening And Evaluation Of A Recombinant Egg Antigen For The Diagnosis Of Low-Intensity Schistosoma Mansoni Infections In Endemic Area In Brazil, Vanessa Silva-Moraes, Lisa Marie Shollenberger, William Castro-Borges, Ana Lucia Teles Rabello, Donald A. Harn, Lia Carolina Soares Medeiros, Wander De Jesus Jeremias, Liliane Maria Vidal Siqueira, Caroline Stephane Salviano Pereira, Maria Luysa Camargos Pedrosa, Nathalie Bonatti Franco Almeida, Aureo Almeida, Jose Roberto Lambertucci, Nidia Francisca De Figueiredo Carneiro, Paulo Marcos Zech Coelho, Refaella Fortini Queiroz Grenfell

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background

Despite decades of use of control programs, schistosomiasis remains a global public health problem. To further reduce prevalence and intensity of infection, or to achieve the goal of elimination in low-endemic areas, there needs to be better diagnostic tools to detect low-intensity infections in low-endemic areas in Brazil. The rationale for development of new diagnostic tools is that the current standard test Kato-Katz (KK) is not sensitive enough to detect low-intensity infections in low-endemic areas. In order to develop new diagnostic tools, we employed a proteomics approach to identify biomarkers associated with schistosome-specific immune responses in hopes of developing …

Diagnosis Of Schistosoma Mansoni Infections: What Are The Choices In Brazilian Low-Endemic Areas?, Vanessa Silva-Moraes, Lisa M. Shollenberger, Liliane Maria Vidal Siqueira, William Castro-Borges, Donald A. Harn, Rafaella Fortini Queiroz E. Grenfell, Ana Lucia Teles Rabello, Paulo Marcos Zech Coelho

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The population of Brazil is currently characterised by many individuals harbouring low-intensity Schistosoma mansoni infections. The Kato-Katz technique is the diagnostic method recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to assess these infections, but this method is not sensitive enough in the context of low egg excretion. In this regard, potential alternatives are being employed to overcome the limits of the Kato-Katz technique. In the present review, we evaluated the performance of parasitological and immunological approaches adopted in Brazilian areas. Currently, the diagnostic choices involve a combination of strategies, including the utilisation of antibody methods to screen individuals and then …

Phaeophleospora Vochysiae Savi & Glienke Sp. Nov. Isolated From Vochysia Divergens Found In The Pantanal, Brazil, Produces Bioactive Secondary Metabolites, Daiani C. Savi, Khaled A. Shaaban, Francielly M. W. Gos, Larissa V. Ponomareva, Jon S. Thorson, Chirlei Glienke, Jürgen Rohr

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Microorganisms associated with plants are highly diverse and can produce a large number of secondary metabolites, with antimicrobial, anti-parasitic and cytotoxic activities. We are particularly interested in exploring endophytes from medicinal plants found in the Pantanal, a unique and widely unexplored wetland in Brazil. In a bio-prospecting study, strains LGMF1213 and LGMF1215 were isolated as endophytes from Vochysia divergens, and by morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses were characterized as Phaeophleospora vochysiae sp. nov. The chemical assessment of this species reveals three major compounds with high biological activity, cercoscosporin (1), isocercosporin (2) and the new compound 3-(sec-butyl)-6-ethyl-4,5-dihydroxy-2-methoxy-6-methylcyclohex-2-enone (3). …

Prehistoric Pathoecology As Represented By Parasites Of A Mummy From The Peruaçu Valley, Brazil, Karl Reinhard, Adauto Araújo

Karl Reinhard Publications

Paleopathologists have begun exploring the pathoecology of parasitic diseases in relation to diet and environment. We are summarizing the parasitological findings from a mummy in the site of Lapa do Boquete, a Brazilian cave in the state of Minas Gerais. These findings in context of the archaeology of the site provided insights into the pathoecology of disease transmission in cave and rockshelter environments. We are presenting a description of the site followed by the evidence of hookworm, intestinal fluke, and Trypanosoma infection with resulting Chagas disease in the mummy discovered in the cave. These findings are used to reconstruct the …

The Emergence Of The Zika, Chikungunya, And Dengue Viruses In Brazil, The Dominican Republic, And Puerto Rico, Nelson Xavier Del Pilar

Honors Scholar Theses

The Zika, Chikungunya, and Dengue viruses are three emerging viral infections of the 21st century. Outbreaks have occurred in twenty countries, including areas of South America, and territories in the Caribbean. These viral diseases are mosquito-borne infections transmitted primarily by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. The origins of the diseases, viral morphology, and vector transmission will be described in this review as well as symptoms that humans experience, medical testing procedures, and preventative measures. This study will focus on three locations: Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. There are many similarities between the three viruses to emphasize, but …

Street Drug Markets Beyond Favelas In Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Elenice De Souza De Souza Oliveira, Braulio Figueiredo Alves Silva, Marcos Oliveira Prates

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This study examines whether social disorganization mechanisms that explain clusters of street drug markets in socially disorganized neighborhoods in developed countries can also help explain geographical patterns of drug dealing across neighborhoods in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Data for this study includes drug arrests from 2007 to 2011 and socio demographic data from the 2010 Census. To examine the influence of exploratory variables on drug market locations, the Negative Binominal regression model was used at two levels of analysis—the Belo Horizonte city center and other neighborhoods including favelas. The findings show that a high hot spot of street drug markets located …

Establishing Tobacco Origin From Pollen Identification: An Approach To Resolving The Debate, Shane Williams, Shelby Hubbard, Karl Reinhard, Sérgio Augusto De Miranda Chaves

Karl Reinhard Publications

Previous research into pollen content of tobacco resulted in a debate. We address this debate and determine that pollen analysis may be able to assist with identifying geographical origin of tobacco. However, the value of any results should be assessed on a case-by-case regional basis until sufficient database information is available for an objective interpretation to be undertaken on a global basis. As a first step toward developing comparative data for South America, we analyzed a tobacco sample from Brazil in an effort to identify signature taxa from the state of Minas Gerais. We also assessed the role of honey …

Delivering Genetic Education And Genetic Counseling For Rare Diseases In Rural Brazil, A.X. Acosta, K Abe-Sandes, R Giugliani, Alan H. Bittles

Research outputs 2013

Brazil is the largest country in Latin America, with an ethnically diverse, Portuguese-speaking and predominantly Roman Catholic population of some 194 million. Universal health care is provided under the Federal Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde) but, as in many other middle and low income countries, access to medical genetics services is limited in rural and remote regions of the country. Since there is no formally recognized Genetic Counseling profession, genetic counseling is provided by physicians, trained either in medical genetics or a related clinical discipline. A comprehensive medical genetics program has been established in Monte Santo, an inland …