Adherence to non-pharmacological preventive measures among healthcare workers in a middle-income country during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: Hospital and community setting.

This study assessed, using a self-reported questionnaire, the adherence to PPE (mask, gowns, and gloves) at the workplace, as well as to non-pharmacological preventive measures (NPPM) (physical distance defined as hardly ever and/or never approaches other people within 1.5 meters, social isolation as leaving home less than once a week, hand hygiene was defined as performing hand hygiene ≥ 6 times per period, and adherence to the use of a mask outside of the workplace was defined as on all outings and hardly ever and/or never removes the mask) outside of the workplace among 1,296 health care workers (HCWs), including if NPPM adherence was associated with COVID-19 in HCWs. High adherence to PPE was independently associated with younger age, professional category, work in an area of direct patient assistance; use of public transportation, or adherence to NPPM outside of the workplace.

A simple automated procedure for thiol measurement in human serum samples

Thiol groups have been described as the main responsible for antioxidative effects of plasmatic proteins. Also, thiol serum levels have shown a positive correlation with total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in many studies. Measurement of TAC by substract oxidation-based methods have been widely used as a reference to measure antioxidant status; however, in many cases these methods are inexact or imprecise, usually when performed by manual procedures. In this paper we describe a simple automated procedure for the determination of total thiols in serum, which was based on EllmanÆs method. It was correlated with several markers of oxidative/antioxidative status, such as TAC and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance test (TBARs). Serum thiol levels were correlated positively with TAC (r = 0.298, p < 0.001) and negatively with TBARs levels (r = -0.330, p < 0.001). The novel automated procedure for thiol groups measurement can be a great tool in estimation of antioxidant status together with TAC assay. This procedure makes the determination of total thiol groups in large scale possible in clinical chemistry or research laboratories where this approach is necessary.

Os tióis são descritos como os principais responsáveis pelos efeitos antioxidantes das proteínas plasmáticas. Além disso, diversos estudos mostram uma correlação positiva entre os níveis séricos de tióis e a capacidade antioxidante total (CAT). A medida da CAT por métodos baseados na oxidação de substratos tem sido amplamente usada como referência na estimativa da capacidade antioxidante em amostras biológicas; porém, em muitos casos esses métodos são inexatos e imprecisos, principalmente quando realizados por procedimentos não-automatizados. Neste artigo descrevemos um procedimento automatizado simples para a determinação de tióis totais no soro, com base no conhecido método de Ellman. A dosagem dos tióis foi correlacionada com diversos marcadores da capacidade oxidante/antioxidante, como a CAT, o teste das substâncias reativas ao ácido tiobarbitúrico (TBARs) e os níveis de peróxidos totais. Os tióis correlacionaram-se positivamente com a CAT (r = 0,298; p < 0,001) e negativamente com os níveis de TBARs (r = - 0,330; p < 0,001). O procedimento aqui descrito para a dosagem de tióis pode ser uma ferramenta importante na medida da capacidade antioxidante juntamente com a dosagem da CAT. A utilização desse novo procedimento possibilita a determinação dos tióis totais em larga escala por laboratórios clínicos e de pesquisa onde essa demanda é necessária.