Pessoas vivendo com o vírus da imunodeficiência humana: percepção sobre atendimento odontológico / People living with the human immunodeficiency virus: perception of dental care / Personas que viven con el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana: percepción de la atención odontológica

Objetivo: Avaliar a percepção da pessoa vivendo com o vírus da imunodeficiência humana sobre a ocorrência de atitudes discriminatórias em atendimento odontológico. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo qualitativo, realizado com pessoas vivendo com o vírus da imunodeficiência humana e em tratamento em um centro de referência, na cidade de Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, Brasil, no período de janeiro a julho de 2019. Foram incluídos 25 participantes no estudo, tendo sido realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas. Os dados coletados foram submetidos à análise de conteúdo temática e, a partir daí, as categorias que emergiram incluíram o receio da informação do diagnóstico ao profissional de saúde e a recusa de atendimento por profissionais da saúde. Resultados: Entre os entrevistados, houve percepção de confiança para informação de sua condição sorológica ao profissional, embora também tenha ocorrido omissão dela. Foi percebida certa insegurança relacionada ao cirurgião-dentista na realização do tratamento odontológico, incluindo atitudes discriminatórias no consultório e até recusa de atendimento. Conclusão: Entre as pessoas vivendo com o vírus da imunodeficiência humana investigadas no presente estudo, houve percepção de condutas discriminatórias e dificuldades para conseguirem atendimento odontológico, além do receio de informar seu diagnóstico ao cirurgião-dentista, omitindo-o.

Objective: To assess the perception people living with the human immunodeficiency virus have in relation to the occurrence of discriminatory attitudes during dental care. Methods: This is a qualitative study conducted with people living with the human immunodeficiency virus undergoing treatment in a reference center in the city of Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, Brazil, from January to July 2019. The study included 25 participants, and semi-structured interviews were carried out. The collected data were subjected to Thematic Content Analysis and the categories that emerged included fear of disclosing the diagnosis to the health care professional and health care professionals' refusal to provide care. Results: Among the interviewees, there was a perception of trust in disclosing serological status to the professional, but there were also some who hid it. Certain insecurity was noted in dentists while delivering dental treatment, and there were some discriminatory attitudes in the office and even refusal to deliver care. Conclusion: There was a perception of discriminatory behavior and difficulties in obtaining dental care among the people living with the human immunodeficiency virus analyzed in the present study. In addition, there was fear of disclosing the diagnosis to the dentist, and some hid it.

Objetivo: Evaluar la percepción de la persona que vive con el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana sobre la ocurrencia de actitudes de discriminación durante la atención odontológica. Métodos: Se trata de un estudio cualitativo realizado con personas que viven con el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana y en tratamiento en un centro de referencia de la ciudad de Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, Brasil, en el periodo entre enero y julio de 2019. Se ha incluido 25 participantes en el estudio utilizándose de entrevistas semiestructuradas. Se ha realizado el análisis de contenido temático de los datos recogidos de los cuales emergieron las categorías que han incluido el miedo de la información del diagnóstico para el profesional sanitario y el rechazo de la atención de parte de los profesionales sanitarios. Resultados: Entre los entrevistados, hubo la percepción de confianza para dar la información de su condición serológica al profesional aunque también haya ocurrido la omisión de información. Se ha percibido cierta inseguridad relacionada al cirujano-odontólogo para la realización del tratamiento lo que incluye las actitudes de discriminación en el consultorio hasta el rechazo de la atención. Conclusión: Entre las personas que viven con el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana investigadas en el estudio, hubo la percepción de conductas de discriminación y dificultades para conseguir la atención odontológica además del miedo para informar su diagnóstico al cirujano-odontólogo, omitiéndolo.

Immunohistochemical and Molecular Diagnosis of Mucocutaneous and Mucosal Leishmaniasis.

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic infection transmitted by the bite of infected female sandflies. It principally affects the skin, and the frequency of mucosal involvement is about 5% to 20%. Considering the rarity of leishmaniasis affecting the upper aerodigestive tract mucosa, we evaluated the characteristics of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis and mucosal leishmaniasis and the diagnostic difficulty when the parasites are scarce in tissue samples. The clinical, histopathological, histochemical, immunohistochemical, and molecular features of 17 cases of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis and mucosal leishmaniasis were assessed. Mucosal disease was principally found in the soft palate, oropharynx, and nose, manifesting mainly as a solitary ulcer. In hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections, 10 cases revealed abundant amastigotes within the macrophages. Giemsa staining was not shown to be helpful to confirm the diagnosis in 6 cases with scarce or nondetectable amastigotes. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) showed high sensitivity by positive staining in 14 out of 17 cases (82.3%). Polymerase chain reaction was shown to be more sensitive than IHC with 13 out of 14 (92.8%) positive cases, including the 3 IHC negative cases; however, this technique is not available in many endemic regions. In summary, we suggest that the IHC is a simple technique with rapid results and relatively low cost, when compared with other laboratorial procedures; thus, IHC is a helpful tool that should be implemented in the routine diagnosis of leishmania.

Isolation and characterization of myofibroblast cell lines from oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) invasion is followed by several stromal events such as inflammatory and immune cell infiltration, neo-vascularization, fibroblast activation and occasionally myofibroblast emergence. Our previous studies demonstrated that myofibroblasts in the stroma of OSCC are associated with a more aggressive behavior, leading to shorter patient overall survival. Therefore, we evaluated whether OSCC-associated myofibroblasts have different characteristics compared to OSCC-associated fibroblasts. OSCC myofibroblast cell lines were isolated, cultured and characterized on the basis of the expression of specific isoform α of smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and of the excessive production of type I collagen. To assess the proliferative potential of the cell lines, growth curves were constructed, whereas the production and activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) were analyzed by ELISA and enzymography, respectively. Myofibroblast clones were positive for α-SMA and vimentin, and negative for pan-cytokeratin and CD34. In long time cultures, western blotting, flow cytometry and ELISA analysis revealed constant α-SMA expression and elevated production of type I collagen. There were no differences on proliferative potential between fibroblast and myofibroblast clones, but myofibroblast cells secreted significantly higher levels of MMP-1, -2, -9 and -13. Furthermore, MMP-2 gelatinolytic activity was significantly higher in myofibroblast clones. The results of this study suggest that myofibroblasts may contribute to OSCC invasion through elevation of MMP synthesis.

Maternal polymorphisms in folic acid metabolic genes are associated with nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or palate in the Brazilian population.

BACKGROUND: Polymorphisms in genes that are involved in folic acid metabolism may be important maternal risk factors for the birth of a child with nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or palate (NSCL/P). The aim of this study was to determine the involvement of polymorphic variants in four genes (MTHFR, MTHFD1, MTR, and SLC19A1) that encode proteins related to folic acid metabolism in the women with susceptibility for having a child with NSCL/P. METHODS: DNA samples from 106 mothers of children with NSCL/P (case group) and from 184 mothers of healthy children (control group) were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction associated with restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). RESULTS: One of 29 polymorphisms was associated with significantly increased maternal risk for NSCL/P. Mothers exhibiting the A variant allele (GA genotype) of the MTHFR rs2274976 polymorphism demonstrated a ~6 times increased risk for having a child with NSCL/P compared to G allele carriers (OR, 5.76; 95% CI, 3.32-9.99, p = 0.000001). Among mothers who did not use vitamins, the OR of NSCL/P was increased to 8.34 (95% CI, 3.75-18.55, p = 0.000001) in the presence of the GA genotype of the MTHFR rs2274976 polymorphism compared to those with the GG genotype. Gene-gene interaction analysis showed that the combination of MTHFR rs2274976, MTHFD1 rs2236225, and SLC19A1 rs1051266 was the best model for prediction of maternal risk for NSCL/P. CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study suggested that genetic variants of folic acid metabolic genes may modulate maternal susceptibility for having an offspring with NSCL/P.