ABSTRACT
The limited availability of antivirals for new highly pathogenic strains of virus has become a serious public health. Therefore, news products against these pathogens has become an urgent necessity. Among the multiple sources for news antibiotics and antivirals, insect exudates or their products has become an increasingly frequent option. Insects emerged 350 million years ago and have showed a high adaptability and resistance to the most varied biomes. Their survival for so long, in such different environments, is an indication that they have a very efficient protection against environmental infections, despite not having a developed immune system like mammals. Since the ancient civilizations, the products obtained from the bee have been of great pharmacological importance, being used as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antitumor and several other functions. Investigations of biological activity of propolis have been carried out, mainly in the species Apis mellifera, and its product have showed activity against some important viruses. However, for the Meliponini species, known as stingless bees, there are few studies, either on their chemical composition or on their biological activities. The importance of studying these bees is because they come from regions with native forests, and therefore with many species of plants not yet studied, in addition to which they are regions still free of pesticides, which guarantees a greater fidelity of the obtained data. Previous studies by our group with crude hydroalcoholic extract of propolis demonstrated an intense antiviral activity against Herpes, influenza, and rubella viruses. In this work, we chose to use aqueous extracts, which eliminates the presence of other compounds besides those originally present in propolis, in addition to extracting substances different from those obtained in alcoholic extracts. Therefore, this study aimed to identify, isolate and characterize compounds with antiviral effects from aqueous propolis extracts from Scaptotrigona aff postica, in emerging viruses such as zicavirus, chikungunya, and mayaro virus. The evaluation of the antiviral activity of the crude and purified material was performed by reducing infectious foci in VERO cell cultures. The results obtained with crude propolis, indicate a high reduction of zica virus (64×) and mayaro (128×) when was used 10% v/v of propolis. The reduction of chikungunya virus was of 256 fold, even when was used 5% v/v of propolis. The chemical characterization of the compounds present in the extracts was performed by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Through the purification of propolis by HPLC and mass spectrometry, it was possible to identify and isolate a peak with antiviral activity. This substance showed activity against all viruses tested. When purified fraction was used, the reduction observed was of 16 fold for zicavirus, 32 fold for mayaro virus and 512 fold for chikungunya virus. Likewise, it was observed that the antiviral response was concentration dependent, being more intense when propolis was added 2 h after the viral infection. Now we are carrying out the chemical characterization of the purified compounds that showed antiviral action.
Subject(s)
Antiviral Agents , Propolis , Propolis/pharmacology , Propolis/chemistry , Animals , Antiviral Agents/pharmacology , Antiviral Agents/chemistry , Bees , Chikungunya virus/drug effects , Chlorocebus aethiops , Vero CellsABSTRACT
Parasitism caused by protozoa and helminths is a serious public health problem, affecting millions of individuals worldwide, especially in underdeveloped and developing countries. From this perspective, a parasitological survey was conducted in 37 cities in the interior of the state of São Paulo. This study focused mainly on old places such as schools and rural and urban health units in the interior of the State of São Paulo between 1957 and 1986. The objective of this study was to conduct a comprehensive survey on the data found to diagnose the occurrence of parasitic diseases in the city. Population at that time, according to their rural and urban origin, age and gender. Thus, the proposal is to make the generated data available to all interested parties in an organized and systematized manner and to discuss the reality faced by the population regarding the current public policies in Brazil relating the sanitary conditions with the occurrence of endoparasites. According to the survey conducted in the municipalities studied, 274,487 occurrences of individuals positive for endoparasites were obtained from 391,633 samples collected. The highest frequency was found in children aged 1 to 10 years with 146,090 cases, accounting for 37,302% of the infected population. The percentage of parasitized individuals decreases with increasing age.
Os quadros de parasitismos causados por protozoários e helmintos constituem sérios problemas de saúde pública, por afetarem milhões de indivíduos em todo o mundo, sobretudo, nos países subdesenvolvidos e em desenvolvimento. Sob esta perspectiva foi realizado um levantamento parasitológico em 37 cidades do interior do Estado de São Paulo. Este estudo contemplou principalmente antigos locais como as escolas e unidades de saúde rurais e urbanas do interior do Estado de São Paulo entre os anos de 1957 e 1986. O objetivo deste trabalho foi realizar um levantamento abrangente nos dados encontrados para diagnosticar a ocorrência de parasitoses na população da época, segundo sua origem rural e urbana, a faixa etária e o gênero. Dessa forma, a proposta é tornar os dados gerados disponíveis a todos os interessados de forma organizada e sistematizada e discutir a realidade enfrentada pela população frente às políticas públicas vigentes no Brasil relacionando as condições sanitárias com a ocorrência de endoparasitoses. Segundo o levantamento realizado nos municípios estudados, obteve-se 274.487 ocorrências de indivíduos positivos para endoparasitas a partir de 391.633 amostras coletadas. A maior frequência foi encontrada em crianças de 1 a 10 anos com 146.090 casos, sendo estes responsáveis por 37.302% da população infectada. A porcentagem de indivíduos parasitados diminui de acordo com o aumento da idade.
ABSTRACT
As vantagens da drenagem vesical suprapúbica sobre a sonda transuretral reside no menor índice de infecçåo urinária e traumatismo uretral. Este estudo avaliou dados de 50 pacientes submetidas a colpoperineoplastia com drenagemvesical suprapúbica comparativamente a um grupo de controle de outras 50 pacientes submetidas ao mesmo procedimento cirúrgico e com drenagem trasuretral, no període de fevereiro de 1991 a maio de 1993, no serviço de ginecologia da Universidade Federal do Paraná. Na primeira micçåo espontânea do grupo com sondagem suprapúbica, 42,9 por cento das pacientes tiveram volume residual menor que 50ml e esta ocorreu 11,2 horas antes que no grupo controle com sonda transuretral. A permanência hospitalar foi menor (3,9 dias frente a 4,5 dias); a incidência de infecçåo urinária foi claramente menor frente ao grupo controle (15 por cento para 20,5 por cento). Apenas 20,4 por cento apresentaram dor e desconforto com a sonda suprapúbica mostrando uma boa tolerância. A hematúria tanto macro como microscópica ocorreu com maior freqüência no grupo com sonda suprapúbica. Observamos apens dois casos de complicaçåo que exigiram a retirada imediata da sonda. O custo elevado da sonda suprapúbica mostrou ser compensado pela precocidade da alta hospitalar e morbidade infecciosa reduzida