Advancing Global Health Surveillance of Mycotoxin Exposures using Minimally Invasive Sampling Techniques: A State-of-the-Science Review.

Mycotoxins are a heterogeneous group of toxins produced by fungi that can grow in staple crops (e.g., maize, cereals), resulting in health risks due to widespread exposure from human consumption and inhalation. Dried blood spot (DBS), dried serum spot (DSS), and volumetric tip microsampling (VTS) assays were developed and validated for several important mycotoxins. This review summarizes studies that have developed these assays to monitor mycotoxin exposures in human biological samples and highlights future directions to facilitate minimally invasive sampling techniques as global public health tools. A systematic search of PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase (Elsevier), and CINAHL (EBSCO) was conducted. Key assay performance metrics were extracted to provide a critical review of the available methods. This search identified 11 published reports related to measuring mycotoxins (ochratoxins, aflatoxins, and fumonisins) using DBS/DSS and VTS assays. Multimycotoxin assays adapted for DBS/DSS and VTS have undergone sufficient laboratory validation for applications in large-scale population health and human biomonitoring studies. Future work should expand the number of mycotoxins that can be measured in multimycotoxin assays, continue to improve multimycotoxin assay sensitivities of several biomarkers with low detection rates, and validate multimycotoxin assays across diverse populations with varying exposure levels. Validated low-cost and ultrasensitive minimally invasive sampling methods should be deployed in human biomonitoring and public health surveillance studies to guide policy interventions to reduce inequities in global mycotoxin exposures.

A state-of-the-science review and guide for measuring environmental exposure biomarkers in dried blood spots.

BACKGROUND: Dried blood spot (DBS) sampling is a simple, cost-effective, and minimally invasive alternative to venipuncture for measuring exposure biomarkers in public health and epidemiological research. DBS sampling provides advantages in field-based studies conducted in low-resource settings and in studies involving infants and children. In addition, DBS samples are routinely collected from newborns after birth (i.e., newborn dried blood spots, NDBS), with many states in the United States permitting access to archived NDBS samples for research purposes. OBJECTIVES: We review the state of the science for analyzing exposure biomarkers in DBS samples, both archived and newly collected, and provide guidance on sample collection, storage, and blood volume requirements associated with individual DBS assays. We discuss recent progress regarding analytical methods, analytical sensitivity, and specificity, sample volume requirements, contamination considerations, estimating extracted blood volumes, assessing stability and analyte recovery, and hematocrit effects. METHODS: A systematic search of PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase (Elsevier), and CINAHL (EBSCO) was conducted in March 2022. DBS method development and application studies were divided into three main chemical classes: environmental tobacco smoke, trace elements (including lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic), and industrial chemicals (including endocrine-disrupting chemicals and persistent organic pollutants). DBS method development and validation studies were scored on key quality-control and performance parameters by two members of the review team. RESULTS: Our search identified 47 published reports related to measuring environmental exposure biomarkers in human DBS samples. A total of 28 reports (37 total studies) were on methods development and validation and 19 reports were primarily the application of previously developed DBS assays. High-performing DBS methods have been developed, validated, and applied for detecting environmental exposures to tobacco smoke, trace elements, and several important endocrine-disrupting chemicals and persistent organic pollutants. Additional work is needed for measuring cadmium, arsenic, inorganic mercury, and bisphenol A in DBS and NDBS samples. SIGNIFICANCE: We present an inventory and critical review of available assays for measuring environmental exposure biomarkers in DBS and NDBS samples to help facilitate this sampling medium as an emerging tool for public health (e.g., screening programs, temporal biomonitoring) and environmental epidemiology (e.g., field-based studies).

Condutas clínicas e barreiras no tratamento da polineuropatia amiloidótica familiar associada à transtirretina (PAF-TTR) no Brasil / Clinical practice and barriers in familial transthyretinrelated amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) care in Brazil

Objetivo: Identificar as condutas terapêuticas e a variabilidade na prática clínica, assim como necessidades não atendidas e barreiras para a adequada assistência a pacientes com polineuropatia amiloidótica familiar relacionada à transtirretina (PAF-TTR), no Brasil. Métodos: Estudo transversal, por meio de questionário semiestruturado on-line enviado por e-mail. Foram incluídos médicos com experiência no manejo clínico-assistencial de pacientes com PAF-TTR no Brasil. O questionário foi composto por 30 questões envolvendo características gerais da população brasileira com PAF-TTR, características das escolhas terapêuticas e da falha, definições de progressão de doença e estadiamento, e métodos para mensuração do impacto na qualidade de vida. Resultados: Seis profissionais responderam ao inquérito. Quanto ao diagnóstico e à classificação da doença, houve consenso quanto ao uso de quadro clínico associado a testagem genética para o diagnóstico, e foram considerados adequados os critérios de Coutinho e do Ministério da Saúde, apesar de serem pouco úteis na avaliação da progressão da doença. Entre os especialistas, 83,3% entendem que a terapia atualmente disponível no Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) atende às necessidades dos pacientes no estágio I da doença, entretanto todos os especialistas apontam necessidades assistenciais não atendidas, uma vez que esse medicamento não possui benefício definido para os estágios II e III da doença. A progressão da doença é definida como qualquer novo sintoma ou piora daqueles preexistentes, não sendo necessária modificação no estágio da doença para caracterizar tal evento. Conclusões: A condução deste estudo permitiu a identificação de aspectos importantes para auxiliar no entendimento da prática clínico-assistencial no país e das necessidades em saúde desses pacientes

Objective: To identify therapeutic approaches and variability in clinical practice, as well as unmet needs and barriers to adequate care for patients with familial transthyretin-related amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) in Brazil. Methods: Cross-sectional study using an online semi-structured questionnaire sent by email. Physicians with experience in the clinical-care management of patients with FAP in Brazil were included. The questionnaire consisted of 30 questions involving general characteristics of the Brazilian population with FAP; characteristics of therapeutic choices and failure; definitions of disease progression and staging; and methods for measuring the impact on quality of life. Results: Six professionals responded to the survey. As for the diagnosis and classification of the disease, there was a consensus regarding the use of a clinical picture associated with genetic testing for the diagnosis and, as appropriate, the criteria proposed by Coutinho and the Ministry of Health, although not very useful in evaluating the progression of the disease. 83.3% of experts understand that the therapy currently available in the SUS meets the needs of patients in stage I of the disease, however, all experts point out unmet care needs, since this drug has no defined benefit for stages II and III of the disease. Disease progression is defined as any new symptom or worsening of pre-existing ones, and no change in the stage of the disease is necessary to characterize such an event. Conclusions: The conduction of this study allowed to identify important aspects to a better understanding of the clinical care practice in the country and unmet needs of these patients

Filling analysis of artificial lateral canals after main canal obturation through three different endodontic sealers

Introduction and Objective: This study aimed to evaluate, in vitro, the filling ability of lateral canals after main canal obturation through three different endodontic sealers. Material and methods: Thirty single-rooted pre-molars were used and, six lateral canals were constructed on proximal surfaces and arranged in pairs at 3, 5 and 7 mm from the apex. After chemo-mechanical preparation, with size #40 memory instrument, the teeth were randomly assigned to three experimental groups, according to the root canal sealer applied: Endofill® (group A), Sealer 26® (group B) and MTA Fillapex® (group C). In all groups, we used active lateral condensation technique with gutta-percha associated with sealer. After obturation, the teeth were radiographed at buccolingual direction and the images were digitized. The analysis of endodontic sealer plug near the lateral canals was performed by calculating the area through Image Tool® software. Results and Conclusion: The data were subjected to parametric (Anova), and nonparametric (Kruskal-Wallis) tests, with significance level of 5%. There was no difference among the tested sealers for filling the lateral canals. Concerning to the positions of lateral canals, no differences were also found among sealer types, except at 7 mm from the apex, where MTA Fillapex® showed a significantly greater filling than Sealer 26®.

Diagnóstico clínico e histopatológico do câncer de pênis: a importância da biópsia pelo cirurgião geral / Clinical and histological diagnosis of penis cancer: the importance of biopsy by the surgeon

O câncer de pênis é uma afecção que ainda possui alta incidência, principalmente nos países em desenvolvimento. A maior parte dos pacientes que procuram o cirurgião geral ou os serviços de urgência é triada inadequadamente. Com base nessas observações, este artigo pretende sugerir uma sistematização de atendimento e fornecer fundamentação teórica, sob revisão de literatura. Acredita-se que, com o conhecimento e prática adequados, o cirurgião ou qualquer profissional de urgência serão capazes de diagnosticar essa neoplasia, utilizando o exame clínico e executando a biópsia na primeira consulta, e assim poderão encaminhar o paciente à terapêutica no momento mais oportuno.

Penis cancer has a significant incidence rate, especially in underdeveloped country. Most patients who seek a general surgeon or an urgency service are not properly assisted. With adequate knowledge and practice, the surgeon or another physician will be able of diagnose this neoplasm through clinical examination and make the biopsy on first visit referring the patient to a specialist.