Reflexões de profissionais da enfermagem sobre cuidados paliativos / Reflections of nursing professionals on palliative care / Reflexiones de profesionales de enfermería sobre cuidados paliativos

Resumo Os cuidados paliativos visam proporcionar qualidade de vida ao paciente e à família, buscando atenuar problemas e sintomas, com foco em aliviar sofrimento. A equipe de enfermagem participa amplamente destes cuidados, que podem sobrecarregar emocionalmente o profissional. Portanto, este estudo buscou esclarecer os sentimentos de profissionais da enfermagem que atuam nesta área. Trata-se de estudo descritivo, qualitativo e de caráter exploratório, utilizando roteiro semiestruturado como instrumento de coleta de dados. Participaram do estudo dez profissionais da equipe de enfermagem do setor de cuidados paliativos de um hospital. Observou-se sobrecarga emocional nos entrevistados e dificuldades em lidar com alguns sentimentos. Percebeu-se a carência de estratégias que amenizem estas sobrecargas no ambiente de trabalho e da abordagem da paliatividade nos currículos de saúde. Alguns sentimentos descritos pelos entrevistados foram difíceis de administrar, principalmente por profissionais menos experientes.

Abstract Palliative care aims to provide quality of life for patients and family, seeking to alleviate problems and symptoms, focusing on relieving suffering. The nursing team extensively participates in this care, which can emotionally overload the professional. Hence, this descriptive, qualitative, and exploratory study sought to clarify the feelings of nursing professionals working in palliative care. Data was collected by a semi-structured script applied to ten nursing professionals from the palliative care sector of a hospital. Emotional overload and difficulties in addressing certain feelings were observed in the interviewees. Results show a lack of strategies to mitigate these overloads in the work environment and the lack of palliative care in the health curricula. Some of the feelings described were difficult to manage, especially by less experienced professionals.

Resumen Los cuidados paliativos tienen como objetivo proporcionar calidad de vida al paciente y a su familia, tratando de atenuar los problemas y síntomas, centrándose en aliviar el sufrimiento. El equipo de enfermería participa ampliamente en estos cuidados, lo que puede sobrecargar emocionalmente al profesional. Por lo tanto, este estudio buscó aclarar los sentimientos de los profesionales de enfermería que actúan en este ámbito. Se trata de un estudio descriptivo, cualitativo y de carácter exploratorio, que utiliza un guion semiestructurado como instrumento para recopilar los datos. Participaron en el estudio diez profesionales del equipo de enfermería del sector de cuidados paliativos de un hospital. Se observó una sobrecarga emocional en los entrevistados y dificultades para enfrentar algunos sentimientos. Se percibió la falta de estrategias que amenicen estas sobrecargas en el entorno laboral, así como de un abordaje de los cuidados paliativos en los currículos de los cursos de salud. Algunos de los sentimientos descritos por los entrevistados fueron difíciles de gestionar, especialmente por parte de los profesionales con menos experiencia.

In vitro assessment of cytotoxic, genotoxic and mutagenic effects of antimalarial drugs artemisinin and artemether in human lymphocytes.

Artemisinin is a substance extracted from the Chinese plant Artemisia annua L. widely used in natural medicine for the treatment of various diseases. Artemether is a substance synthesized from artemisinin, and both drugs are commonly administered in the treatment of malaria. Although considered effective antimalarial drugs, very little is known about the genotoxic, cytotoxic and mutagenic effects of these drugs. Therefore, in the present study, we evaluated the genotoxic, mutagenic and cytotoxic effects of artemisinin (12.5, 25 and 50 µg/mL) and artemether (7.46; 14.92 and 29.84 µg/mL) in cultured human lymphocytes using the comet assay, the micronucleus test and the cytotoxicity assay for detection of necrosis and apoptosis by acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining. Our results showed a significant increase (p < 0.05) in the rate of DNA damage measured by comet assay and in the micronucleus frequency after treatment with both drugs. It was also observed that only artemisinin induced a statistically significant increase (p < 0.05) in the number of lymphocytes with death by necrosis 48 h after treatment. The results demonstrated that these two drugs induce mutagenic, genotoxic and cytotoxic effects in cultured human lymphocytes. Our data indicate the need for caution in the use of such drugs, since genotoxic/mutagenic effects may increase the risk of carcinogenesis.

Cytotoxic and Genotoxic Effects of Fluconazole on African Green Monkey Kidney (Vero) Cell Line.

Fluconazole is a broad-spectrum triazole antifungal that is well-established as the first-line treatment for Candida albicans infections. Despite its extensive use, reports on its genotoxic/mutagenic effects are controversial; therefore, further studies are needed to better clarify such effects. African green monkey kidney (Vero) cells were exposed in vitro to different concentrations of fluconazole and were then evaluated for different parameters, such as cytotoxicity (MTT/cell death by fluorescent dyes), genotoxicity/mutagenicity (comet assay/micronucleus test), and induction of oxidative stress (DCFH-DA assay). Fluconazole was used at concentrations of 81.6, 163.2, 326.5, 653, 1306, and 2612.1µM for the MTT assay and 81.6, 326.5, and 1306µM for the remaining assays. MTT results showed that cell viability reduced upon exposure to fluconazole concentration of 1306µM (85.93%), being statistically significant (P<0.05) at fluconazole concentration of 2612.1µM (35.25%), as compared with the control (100%). Fluconazole also induced necrosis (P<0.05) in Vero cell line when cells were exposed to all concentrations (81.6, 326.5, and 1306µM) for both tested harvest times (24 and 48 h) as compared with the negative control. Regarding genotoxicity/mutagenicity, results showed fluconazole to increase significantly (P<0.05) DNA damage index, as assessed by comet assay, at 1306µM versus the negative control (DI=1.17 vs DI=0.28, respectively). Micronucleus frequency also increased until reaching statistical significance (P<0.05) at 1306µM fluconazole (with 42MN/1000 binucleated cells) as compared to the negative control (13MN/1000 binucleated cells). Finally, significant formation of reactive oxygen species (P<0.05) was observed at 1306µM fluconazole vs the negative control (OD=40.9 vs OD=32.3, respectively). Our experiments showed that fluconazole is cytotoxic and genotoxic in the assessed conditions. It is likely that such effects may be due to the oxidative properties of fluconazole and/or the presence of FMO (flavin-containing monooxygenase) in Vero cells.