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Schistosomiasis is still a public health problem in Brazil. The infection is widespread in southeast and northeast. The laboratorial diagnosis of schistosome infection has been based on direct coproscopic examination and by indirect methods for detection of antigen, antibodies and specific DNA fragments that are associated with Schistosoma mansoni infection. The aim of the present study was to evaluate polymerase chain reaction (PCR) designed for detection of Schistosoma mansoni DNA in individuals from a low endemic area in Ceará state. The study was conducted in the Planalto do Cajueiro, Maranguape, Ceará, Brazil. In the laboratory performed the ELISA for detection of IgG antibodies against adult worms antigen of S. mansoni, and stool examinations (Kato-Katz, Lutz, Saline gradient and Helmintex® methods), considering the results obtained, for distribution of 56 stool samples selected among the 125 examined, in the following groups: Group I - ELISA reactive / Others parasites (+ ), Group II- ELISA reactive / Others parasites (-), Group III- ELISA non reactive / Others parasites (+), Group IV- ELISA non reactive / Others parasites (-), Group V- ELISA reactive / Coproscopic examination S. mansoni (+).The PCR was carried out according to a protocol described by Pontes et al.(2002) . Group I, 02 of 10 samples were positive in PCR; Group II, 04 of 10 samples were positive by PCR and in Group III, 01 of 07 samples were positive in PCR. Among the 10 samples of Group IV, 01 was positive in PCR and Group V, 13 of 19 samples were positive in PCR. Among the 39 individuals who showed reactivity by ELISA, 06 samples were positive in coproscopic examination and PCR was reactive in 19 samples. Comparing the results in Group V, with the Kato-Katz, this method detected 06 individuals, while PCR detected 13 individuals were positive. By comparing the PCR of Saline gradient, it is observed that the Saline gradient detected 09 individuals, while PCR detected 11. When comparing PCR to Helmintex®, we found that the Helmintex® detected 10, while PCR detected 08 samples. We conclude that PCR is an important tool to improve the sensitivity in detecting S. mansoni infection in low endemic areas. We emphasize that is very important associate the exams in order to achieve the real diagnosis of the disease.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory, chronic and auto-immune disease that develops in degrees of articular destruction and extra-articular changes being able to lead to functional disability. Besides clinical assessment the diagnosis is based on the determination of the rheumatoid factor being this one also positive in healthy people as well as in other infectious and auto-immune diseases. Anticyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies have been used in diagnosis of rheumaoid arthritis (RA) and seen to be superior to rheumatoid factor (RF) in early onset RA diagnosis. The target of the study is to demonstrate the presence of anticitrulline antibodies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis diagnostic comparing with laboratory, clinical parameters and with the assessment of the quality of life of these patients. The “Health Assessment Questionnaire” has been used to assess the quality of life. We performed an immunoturbidimetry test for detection of RF (Roche,Indianopolis, USA) and an ELISA for anti-CCP antibodies (Inova, San Diego, USA) in 69 patients presenting, at least, 4 of the American College of Rheumatology criteria for classification of RA and in 20 healthy controls. For statistical analysis we used thr Fisher exact test and the Spearmann test Significance was reached wuth P<0.05. RA patients were aged between 18-75 years (mean = 43.9 years), 66 (95.7%) of then were female, controls age ranged between 20-60 years.The period of RA onset varied from 4 to 384 months (mean = 74.0 and median = 48.0). RF was positive in 48 (69.6%) patients and in 1 (0,5%) control. The anti-CCP was positive in 36 (52.2%) patients and in 2 (10%) controls. A significant correlation of RF and anti-CCP tests was observed with P< 0,0001 and this study suggests that anti-CCP was not superior to RF in diagnosis of established RA.

Previous studies have shown that individuals exposed to Leishmania amazonensis respond differentially with regard to interferon gamma (IFN)_ production. Individuals who have a low production of IFN_ develop a Th2 response, while those who produce high amounts of this cytokine during the early stages of infection show the Th1 response. In order to evaluate the mechanism of suppression induced by L. amazonensis, the profile and kinetics of chemokines and theirs receptors were determined, as also the cytokines in the cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from healthy individuals, stimulated with live promastigotes of L. amazonensis. A semiquantitative analysis of mRNA expression for the chemokines and their receptor was performed by RT-PCR, and the cytokines were quantified by ELISA, at 12, 48 and 120 hours after infection. The two patterns of IFN_ response were studied. Individuals with a production higher than 145,8 pg/mL were classified as high responders (HR), and those with lower levels of production were considered as low responders (LR). Individuals in the HR group developed a mixed response, with a predominance of Th1, which was associated with the expression of relevant quantities of MIP-1_, RANTES, MCP-1, IP-10, IL-8, CCR1, CCR2 and CXCR3, within 12 and 48 hours after infection. IL-12, IL-13 and IL-10 were observed in significant quantities. In the LR group, the suppression of expression of MIP-1_, RANTES, MCP-1, I-309, CCR2, CXCR3 and CCR5 during the entire period of study, and that of IP-10 during the first 48 hours of infection, was observed. IL-10 and IL-13 were found in elevated concentrations from 12 hours of infection onwards, with a peak production at 48 hours. These results suggest that the pattern of response apparently is defined around 48 hours of infection. IL-10 and IL-13 appear to exercise a relevant role in the modulation of suppression of IFN_, induced in the LR group by L. amazonensis.

The human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is the major agent of lower respiratory tract in children under two years old. HRSV is characterized antigenically into two groups: A and B, and each group has several subgroups. Glycoprotein G is primarily responsible for the antigenic variation between and within groups of viruses. The aims of this study were to characterize the epidemic periods and the antigenic and genomic diversity of circulating HRSV in Fortaleza, Ceará - Brazil, for five consecutive epidemic periods (2004-2008). The screening of positive samples to HRSV and other viruses analyzed, as the antigenic characterization of HRSV was carried out by indirect immunofluorescence. RT-nested-PCR followed by partial sequencing of the gene G was used for genomic characterization of HRSV. The HRSV was detected in 456 of 2885 samples (15.8%). The peak of the epidemic periods of HRSV occurred from March to May related to rainfall. A total of 282 HRSV (62.8%) were characterized antigenically, with 170 HRSVA (60.3%) and 112 HRSVB (39.7%). Both groups circulated throughout the period analyzed with a predominance of HRSVA in all years of study. A total of 250 HRSV (54.8%) were submitted to RT-nested-PCR with amplification of 133 and sequencing of 86. The genomic characterization of HRSV identified subgroups GA2 and GA5 for HRSVA and subgroups GB3 and BA for HRSVB. In the years 2004, 2005 and 2007 both subgroups of HRSVA circulated. In 2008 only GA2 circulated. In 2004, 2007 and 2008 only the subgroup BA was present. In 2005 only the GB3 circulated. The HRSV A showed a higher variability in nucleotide sequences, indicating a possible positive selective pressure. There were variations in the beginning, end and duration of each epidemic period of HRSV, as well as in the occurrence of groups and subgroups.

Although several efforts from Ministry of Health have been made in order to eliminate leprosy, Brazil is still the second country with the highest number of cases in world after India and is responsible for 80% of the cases in the American continent, the Ceara state situated in the Norheastern region is considered to have high incidence rates of leprosy cases. According to Ridley and Jopling classification, the clinical forms of leprosy can be divided in lepromatous leprosy, borderline lepromatous leprosy, borderline borderline leprosy, borderline tuberculoid leprosy, and tuberculoid leprosy. This work was done with 87 patients with leprosy, being 51.72 % of the female gender and 48.3% of the male gender; from the total of patients, 77.0% had been vaccinated with BCG once in life. All the patients enrolled in the study were not treated (n=23) or in treatment (n=64). Most of the patients had suffered from leprosy for the first time and some (n=11) had suffered from leprosy recidive. The anti-PGL1 serum IgG serology has been performed in 83 patients, and the most significant differences were found comparing the tuberculoid leprosy and borderline tuberculoid leprosy groups with the borderline lepromatous leprosy group. All DNA samples (n=87) were amplified in respect to the 171 bp highly conserved sequence of the aminoacids 671-692 from the C-terminal intra-cellular domain of Toll-like 2 receptor, and they were submitted to a Single Strain Conformation Polymorphism Technique (SSCP). The eletrophoretic profile found of the samples showed two and three bands, it is essential to the sequencing, this showed heterozygosis at position C2029T, and in addition two other sections of heterozygosity at positions C2006T (found in all four sequenced samples) and 2008 (sample 82). The work showed that the heterozygosity found in the gene exon 3 of the tool-like receptor type 2, unlike the one found by Kang and Chae (2001) which may mean that the susceptibility profile from our population is distinct from those found in India and Korea.

The HIV infection and the tuberculosis (TB) are together the main causes of death for infectious agents in the world, being approximately 13 million people infected with both causative agents. The HIV-infected individuals show increased susceptibility for active tuberculosis, being the imunosupression caused by the virus the main risk factor for the development for active TB. This study investigated the profile of Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug resistance and evaluated the factors related to the development of TB in HIV infected patients who were treated at HSJ, which is a reference hospital in infectious diseases in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. During the period of July 2003 until June 2006, 208 patients with clinical and/or laboratorial diagnosis of micobacteriosis or tuberculosis and infection for the HIV were taken care in this hospital. The TB/HIV co-infected patients were older (average: 40 years, p= 0.0025) than the control group, being approximately 4 years older. The majority of the patients were male (80.8%, p= 0.0005) and they had shown a risk to develop TB of 43.0% greater compared to the female sex. The risk to develop the TB disease was two times higher in the patients with lower educational levels (less than eight years of schooling) and they represented 85.9% of the patients (p=0.000). The history of previous contact with TB patients and previous treatment for TB were also found to be risk factors for TB. The imunosupression level was higher in TB-HIV coinfected patients being the CD4+ lymphocytes count average of 169 cells/mm ³(p=0.000) and the viral load logarithm average of 4,36 (p=0.0013). The clinical forms most frequents were pulmonary (45.7%), extrapulmonary (28.4%) and disseminated (25.9%). Of the samples that were submitted to identification, 81.2% were M. tuberculosis and 12.8% were not M. tuberculosis. The resistance frequency to one drug and multi-resistance were the same (5.9%). Overall, these observations are important for establishing political strategies of public health to improve the conditions at the regional level.

VIRGINIO, Camila Gomes.

This paper deals with the welfare and long run allocation impacts of privatization. There are two types of capital in this model economy, one exclusively private and the other has public good features, denominated infrastructure, which is o¤ered by both public and private sectors. A positive externality due to infrastructure capital is assumed. So the government can improve upon decentralized allocations by way of internalizing the externality. Public investment is nanced through distortionary taxation. It is shown that the welfare net gains of privatization depend on the quality and quantity of the private infrastructure supply. Furthermore, those net gains are strongly related to the quality control of the new private infrastructure supply that emerges after the privatization policy.

Helicobacter pylori is a bacteria that infects about 50% of the world population constituting one of the principal risk factors for the development of gastric cancer. The emergence of this cancer type is associated to the presence of the bacteria and risk elements, such as the alimentary habits, the genetic predisposition and environmental factors. The present work had as objective evaluates the effect of components of the Northeastern diet (salt, vinegar, pepper and potato juice), extracts and essential oils on H. pylori growth. In the study a reference and a clinic strain were used. The chosen method for the accomplishment of the screening test was the inhibitory-zone testing and for determination of the Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) it was used the agar dilution method as described by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). The strains were inoculated in appropriate culture medium containing different concentrations of the tested substances. The reading was determined macroscopically and the growth confirmed through the accomplishment of the microscopy by the Gram method and biochemical tests. It was verified that the salt did not inhibit the growth and morphology of H. pylori, however, it was able to influence the antimicrobial effect, in vitro. The vinegar and the pepper did not show antimicrobial activity. The potato juice was shown to promote the bacterial growth. The ethanolic extracts of Lippia alba Mill. N.E.B chemotypes I, II, III) and Egletes viscosa L. were active against the bacteria. The essential oils of Ocimum gratissimum L., Ocimum sp, Myracrodruom urundeuva All., L. alba Mill. N.E.B chemotypes I, II, III and E. viscosa L. were also active against H. pylori. The chemical characterization confirmed the majority constituents of the plants. H. pylori constitute, today, a vast research source in several areas. Related studies the transmission prevalence, resistance antimicrobial, new therapeutic alternatives and development of vaccines they are necessary and plenty promising.

BEZERRA, Cristianne Sousa.

The systemic infections caused by yeasts of the genus Candida are considered opportunist mycoses of high risk in hospital environments. These infections represent important therapeutical challenge, by reason of arising of species resistent to some antifungals, associated with high rate of mortality. Therefore, this work sought: To verify the frequency of fungemias at Dr. César Cals Hospital and Albert Sabin Children Hospital; identify the etiological agents implicated; determine the sensitivety profile to antifulgal and evaluate the genotypical profile of the species isolated from patients with recurrency. For this, were recuperated from 4627 hemcultures, 55 yeast-positive hemocultures at HGCC and from 5316 hemocultures 87 yeast-positive hemocultures at HIAS. From them, 23 patients at HGCC and from 43 at HIAS that had clinical histories with complet data entered this study. The mycological diagnosis was performed through biochemical and morphological characteristics of the etiological isolated. The test of sensitivety to antifungal- amphotericin B, fluconazole, itraconazole and cetoconazole- utilized the microdilution method in broth, reported in the document M27-A2 of the NCCLS. The genotyping techniques were performed through PFGE (Pulsed Field Gel Electrophresis), RAPD (Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis). Within the period from june of 2000, to june of 2002 at HGCC, were analysed 4627 hemocultures, being positives 1051, of which 55 (5,2%) were positive for yeast of the genus Candida. On the other hand, in the period from june of 2001 to july of 2002 at HIAS, were analysed 5316 hemocultures, of which 87 (5,72%) were yeast-positive of the genus Candida and Rhodotorula.The main specie involved in the genus Candida, was C. parapsilosis with 36% and 42% of the cases at HGCC and HIAS respectively. The main risk factors associated with candidemia, were: the previous antibiotic therapy, central venous catheter, parenteral nutrition, gastric probe, mechanical ventilation, surgery and prematurity. About the resistance to antifungals drugs was observed that amphotericin B showed a resistance level of 4%, fluconazole-56%, itraconazole-52% and cetoconazole- 86%. The PFGE technique caracterized a cromossomic profile of 6 bands for C. parapsilosis and 4 for C. tropicalis. This technique permited the diferentiation of one cepa with changed pattern of bands for the last episode of the patient 4. The technique of RAPD chacacterized a distribution pattern of predominant bands for C. parapsilosis and was capable of characterize 4 genetical profiles, denoting reinfection in 3 patients and 2 genomic profiles were found for C. tropicalis. This assay shows the emergency of the non- albicans Candida, specially the C. parapsilosis, as main responsible for the cases of candidemia in the two hospitals of tertiary indication of Fortaleza, associated with a high resistance in vitro to antifungals. The genetical variability found in C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis through the PFGE and RAPD techniques, revealed reinfection pictures, which rises the possibility that these be due to a contamination among patients or indirectly through the healthy workers.

Coccidioidomycosis and histoplasmosis are systemic mycoses that occur in humans and other animals and are caused by the dimorphic fungi Coccidioides posadasii and Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum, respectively. They are considered important deep mycoses that can lead to several secondary complications. In the past years, the improvement of the techniques applied in mycological diagnosis and the increase in the occurrence of immunocompromising diseases have caused a great impact in the incidence of deep and opportunistic mycoses in the world. In spite of the existence of effective antifungal therapy against coccidioidomycosis and histoplasmosis, the pursue of new drugs to treat theses diseases is necessary. Ciprofloxacin is a classic antibacterial drug that belongs to the group of fluoroquinolones, which inhibit the catalytic activity of DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV, which are essential in bacterial DNA replication and transcription. Some studies have shown that ciprofloxacin can act on fungal DNA gyrase. Thus, the present study aimed at evaluating the in vitro inhibitory effect of ciprofloxacin (CIP), when associated with amphotericin B (AMB), itraconazole (ITC), voriconazole (VRC) or caspofungina (CAS), on C. posadasii and H. capsulatum var. capsulatum. Sixteen strains of C. posadasii in the filamentous phase and 16 and 9 strains of H. capsulatum in the filamentous and yeast-like phase, respectively, were used. Broth macrodilution and microdilution assays were performed, as described in the documents M38-A and M27-A2, respectively, of the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). Drug interaction was analyzed by calculating the fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI), which is defined as the sum of the ratios between the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of each combined drug and the MIC of the same drug isolatedly. Values of FICI smaller or equal to 0.5 indicate the occurrence of synergy. Concerning the isolates of C. posadasii, synergistic interactions were observed for all combinations, especially for the associations of CIP (3.125≤CIM≤12.5 ug mL-1) with ITC (0.0078≤CIM≤0.125 ug mL-1) (n=13/16), CIP (3.125≤CIM≤12.5 ug mL-1) with VRC (0.0078≤CIM≤0.0312 ug mL-1) (n=13/16) and CIP (3.125≤CIM≤12.5 ug mL-1) with CAS (2≤CIM≤8 ug mL-1) (n=14/16). For the isolates of H. capsulatum in the filamentous phase synergistic interactions were also observed for all combinations, with emphasis to the associations of CIP (3.906≤CIM≤62.5 ug mL-1) with ITC (0.00006≤CIM≤0.0078 ug mL-1) (n=14/16) and CIP (31.25≤CIM≤125 ug mL-1) with VRC (0.0156≤CIM≤0.125 ug mL-1) (n=16/16). For H. capsulatum in yeast-like phase, few synergistic interactions were observed for the tested drug combinations. None of the tested combinations presented antagonism. The obtained data may point at a new alternative for the treatment of coccidioidomycosis and histoplasmosis. Thus, it is necessary to investigate the mechanisms of action of these drug combinations on the fungal cellular metabolism and to perform in vivo experiments to confirm the relevance of these findings.

In the past years, the improvement of mycological diagnosis methods and immunosuppressive diseases have caused a great impact in the incidence of opportunistic and deep mycoses all around the world, which motivated the performance of new antifungal drugs prospective studies. Histoplasmosis is a systemic mycosis caused by the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum, which may mimic tuberculosis, in healthy individuals, concerning clinical and radiological aspects.ome cases of histoplasmosis that are refractory to the treatment with conventional antifungal drugs have been described. The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro inhibitory effect of the antituberculosis drugs: isoniazid (INH), pyrazinamide (PZA) and ethambutol (EMB); antifungal drugs: amphotericin B (AMB), fluconazole (FLC), itraconazole (ITC) and voriconazole (VRZ) and chemical analogs of isoniazid against strains of H. capsulatum (n=30), as well as to evaluate the use of different culture media for the performance of the susceptibility tests. For such, first, the antituberculosis agents INH, PZA and EMB and the analogs of isoniazid were tested isolatedely, and then, in association with the antifungal drugs FLC, ITC and VRZ, against 18 strains of H. capsulatum, previously grown onto BHI agar, through broth macrodilution technique. Each of the 12 remaining strains grown onto potato agar, BHI agar, 2% malt extract agar and lactritmel agar were microscopically analyzed, concerning the presence of tuberculate macroconidia, which were quantified as follows: 0-10, 10-50 and >50 macroconidia/field. Fungal cultures were used to determine the susceptibility of H. capsulatum to the antifungal agents AMB, FLC, ITC and VRZ, through broth microdilution methodology. The antituberculosis drugs inhibited the in vitro growth of the fungal strains, with MICs ranging from 0.04 to 0.30 mg/mL for INH; 0.55 to 3.13 mg/mL for PZA and 1.56 to 6.25 mg/mL for EMB. Concerning antifungal drugs, all the strains were susceptible, with MIC values ranging from 0.0625 to 0.25 µg/mL for AMB; 15.62 to 62.5 µg/mL for FLC; 0.0039 to 0.0312 µg/mL for ITC, and 0.00156 to 0.25 µg/mL for VRZ. When associating antituberculosis drugs with azole derivatives, all associations inhibited the in vitro growth of H. capsulatum strains, and synergy was observed for the nine combinations tested. Analogs of isoniazide presented MICs of 2, 4, 8 and 15-fold better than the standard antituberculosis drug. Basing on micromorphological analysis, the lowest quantification of macroconidia/field (0-10) was observed for 11, 10, 6 and 7 strains previously grown onto potato agar, BHI agar, malt agar and lactritmel agar, respectively. Malt agar was the most adequate medium for the production of macroconidia, 10-50 and >50/field, with a total of six strains; followed by lactritmel agar, with 5 strains. Concerning the relationship between MIC and culture medium used during the test, it was observed that inoculum from strains grown onto malt agar and BHI agar allowed the detection of the MIC for 11 strains. On the other hand, for those inocula grown onto potato agar and lactritmel agar, the MIC values were not detected for 8 and 5 strains, respectively. The results of this study provide additional data on the antifungal potential of antituberculosis drugs and their interactions with azole derivatives. However, new studies are necessary in order to determine the mechanism of action of these compounds on fungal cellular metabolism.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is detached as an important pathogen of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) in children, mainly in the first year of life. This study had as purposes: to determine the prevalence of RSV in cases of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in children served in Albert Sabin Children Hospital, in Fortaleza – CE, over the period of January 2001 to July 2004; describe the seasonality pattern of RSV circulation along the study period; observe characteristics clinical-epidemiological of these infections; characterize antigenically the circulating RSV in the epidemic period from 2003 to 2004 and determine the isolation rate of RSV in HEp-2 cells culture from samples collected in 2002, 2003, and 2004 and stored at –20ºC. Aspirated from nasopharynx were collected from children with up to seven days from the beginning of ARIs symptoms and submitted to the reaction of indirect immunofluorescence (IIF). Samples collected in 2002, 2003, and 2004, and stored at –20ºC, were inoculated in monolayers of HEp-2 cells. During the 43 months of study, RSV was identified in 21.0% (409/1950) of the clinical specimens collected. Virus circulation was initially observed during the months of January or February and the last cases were recorded in July or August of each year of study. The peak of these infections was observed from March to July, associated with the rainy season of the city. The infections caused by RSV were more frequent in male children and those with up to two years of age. Bronchiolitis and pneumonia were the clinical syndromes more associated with the virus. Dyspnea, throat pain, coryza, sneezes and cyanosis were the significant clinical signs and symptoms in ARIs caused by RSV. About 9.5 % (39/409) of the infected children presented problems associated, such as prematurity, heart diseases and congenital pulmonary diseases. Among the risk factors associated with these infections, was pointed out the exposure to ARIs in the domicile. Strains of RSV A and B co-circulated during the epidemical periods analyzed, without a significant predominance of any antigenical group. About 29.8 % (122/409) of the positive samples for RSV, stored at –20ºC, were inoculated in monolayers of HEp-2 cells. The isolation percentage varied from 0.0 %, in samples collected in 2002, to 36.8 %, in 2004. Our results confirm the importance of the RSV as etiological agent of ARIs, especially LRTI, in young children. The occurrence of RSV in the city of Fortaleza showed a regular seasonal pattern associated with the rains. The conservation of samples at –20ºC did not make impossible the isolation in cells culture up to one year after freezing.

Gastric cancer is the most deadly malignant neoplasia worldwide, with high incidence in Brazil and Helicobacter pylori infection is a well-established risk factor. Depending on the presence of virulence genes such as cagA, cagE, vacA and virB11, H. pylori can cause differentiated inflammatory responses, with large amounts of nitric oxide (NO) generated primarily by iNOS. High amount of NO resulting in accumulation of reactive oxygen species can cause DNA oxidative damage. The genomic integrity is guaranteed by important repair enzymes as: APE-1, OGG-1 and PARP-1. Genetic polymorphisms that modify the activity of these enzymes may influence the ability to repair and therefore the host susceptibility to the development of gastric cancer H.pylori associated. Therefore, the goal of this study was to evaluate the association of the C150T polymorphism in iNOS, T2197G in APE-1, C1245G in OGG -1 and A40676G in PARP-1 with H.pylori genotype in 109 cases of patients with gastric adenocarcinoma from hospitals in Fortaleza, Ceará. The identification of polymorphisms was performed by PCR-RFLP and the detection and genotyping of H.pylori were performed by PCR. The studied polymorphisms showed the following frequencies: iNOS 78% CC, 21.1% CT and 0.9% TT; PARP-1 69.7% AA 26.6% AG and 3.7% GG to OGG -1 56% CC, 39.4% CG and 4.6% GG and APE-1 38.5% TT, 47.7% TG and 13.8% GG. Valuable to note the low frequency of the homozygous polymorphic (TT) of iNOS and the high frequency of heterozygous (TG) from APE-1. The variant alleles of iNOS and PARP-1 were correlated with subjects ≤ 55 years, suggesting that these polymorphisms were associated with early development of the neoplasia. Intestinal tumors located in the non-antrum were correlated with heterozygous genotype of OGG-1 (CG), while diffuse, located on the body with the AA genotype of PARP-1. H. pylori was detected in 92.6% of cases. The genes cagA, cagE and virB11 were detected in 65.3%, 50.4% and 60.3% of cases respectively and vacAs1m1 was detected in 72.2%. The cases were also grouped considering the alleles of vacA and the integrity of the cag-pathogenicity island. Thus, the groups A1 and A2, consist of more pathogenic strains, were observed in 33.6% and 13.8% of patients, respectively. In the individual analysis of each enzyme, we observed that individuals carrying the variant alleles of APE-1 (TG+GG) were infected with low pathogenic strains (p=0.0422). These low pathogenic strains were also associated with patients carrying the wild genotype (AA) of PARP-1 (p=0.0396). These data were confirmed when patients infected with more virulent strains were compared to those infected with less virulent strains (p = 0.046). Analyzing only the group A1, it was also observed a correlation of APE-1 (TG) with OGG-1 (CC). When genotypes were combined by considering only the repair enzymes studied or two by two, it was found that most patients infected with the wild-type of PARP-1 were carriers of the variant allele for at least one of the enzymes and that most patients infected with less pathogenic strains possess a polymorphic allele of APE-1, independent of the genotype associated with the repair enzyme. Taken together, these data indicate the relevance of the APE-1 polymorphism in the development of gastric cancer in individuals infected with less virulent strains and corroborate the importance of the bacterial genotype, since; in general, individuals with wild-type for enzymes repair studied developed gastric cancer when infected with virulent strains.

Adenoviruses (Ad) are important etiological agents of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in children, particularly between six months and five years old. This was a retrospective study, whose objectives were: to perform clinical and epidemiologic profile of adenoviral respiratory infections in children attended in Hospital Infantil Albert Sabin, in the city of Fortaleza, from January 2001 to December 2006; to observe the detection frequency of Ad in cases of ARI in children attended in that hospital; to describe the main clinical features of adenoviral respiratory infections; to search for the existence of a seasonal pattern of adenoviral infections in the city of Fortaleza; to determine the isolation rate of Ad in HEp-2 cell lines inoculated with samples of nasopharyngeal secretions (NPS) considered positive to Ad by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF); and to create a collection of Ad strains for future studies on antigenic and genomic diversity of these agents. NPS samples of 3,070 children with ARI up to seven days of the onset of symptoms were collected. IIF was applied to all of the samples, and among them, 54 were positive to Ad. Forty one of those positive samples were inoculated into HEp-2 cells, resulting in 32 viral isolations. Other 103 randomly choosen negative samples were also inoculated, resulting in more three isolations, reaching the number of 57 confirmed cases of Ad infections. The detection frequency of Ad was 1.86% of total number of cases of ARI and 6.1% of cases of viral ARI. It was not observed any seasonal pattern or correlation to rainy or dry season. Most cases of adenoviral ARI occurred in children aged seven to 24 months, representing 63.15% of cases. Ad ARI was observed mainly in children attended in the out-patient facility (50.88%), and the predominant diagnosis was upper respiratory tract infection (70.18%). The main clinical features in Ad patients were fever, cough, rhinorrhea, anorexia, vomiting or diarrhea, nasal obstruction, and dyspnea. The main therapeutic management for Ad patients was use of nebulization (about 42% of patients)

Analise o mercado de microcrédito sob o foco da demanda. Busca identificar a forma de atuação dos pequenos empresários e sua rotatividade no mercado. Sobre a decisão de ingressar neste mercado, há o contraponto entre as características pessoais do tomador em avaliar suas necessidades empresariais e as condições das agências fornecedoras de microcrédito. Foram elaborados modelos que atendessem a tríplice condição de um microempresário vir a ser, ser ou deixar de ser um usuário de microcrédito. Para tanto, foram desenvolvidos, inicialmente, dois modelos de escolha discreta multinomiais que contemplassem e mensurassem os fatores determinantes na decisão do tomador em ser usuário de microcrédito, dadas as suas características pessoais em face das condições do micronegócio. O terceiro modelo, de escolha discreta binária, objetivou estimar a chance de o tomador deixar de ser usuário de microcrédito levando-se em conta a oferta e o desempenho do próprio micronegócio. Os resultados obtidos a partir de dados primários e secundários permitiram concluir de uma forma geral que os pequenos empresários procuram manter-se no mercado buscando expandir seus negócios, tendo o microcrédito como um dos instrumentos iniciais para este fim.

SILVA, Jéssica Soares. Entre toadas, leis e cachês: as práticas das bandas cabaçais do Cariri cearense e as ressignificações do conceito de culturas populares. 2011. 96f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Sociologia) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Departamento de Ciências Sociais, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sociologia, Fortaleza-CE, 2011.

Chronic hepatitis C has been associated with non-organ-specific autoantibodies (NOSA) production. Despite of increasing number of researches about this subject, there is no agreement among the authors of which autoantibodies are produced during combinated therapy of interferon and ribavirin or the clinical relevance of NOSA in patient’s organism. Our aim was to evaluate the profile of NOSA in patients with chronic hepatitis C who attended to Walter Cantídio Hospital (HUWC) and received combinated antiviral therapy (interferon-ribavirin). A total of 34 patients with hepatitis C were studied. Anti-nuclear antibody (ANA), anti-smooth muscle antibody (SMA), anti-liver/kidney microsomal antibody type 1 (LKM-1) and anti-mitochondrial antibody (AMA) were detected by indirect immunofluorescence. The presence of NOSA was related to clinical and epidemiological variables and to the outcome of antiviral combination therapy with interferon-alfa and ribavirin. Patients were classified as nonresponders, relapsers or long-term responders depending on the outcome of treatment. In our study, before therapy, 23 patients were NOSA positive (SMA was detected in 6 patients, SMA and AMA in 10 and SMA, AMA and ANA in 7). On the 24th week of treatment, 24 patientes were NOSA positive (SMA was detected in 4 patients, SMA and AMA in 10, ANA and SMA in 1, ANA and AMA in 1 and SMA, AMA and ANA in 8). NOSA behavior did not show significant variation during treatment. The overall rate of long-term response was 26,5% (9/34). Long-term response occurred in 17,4% (4/23) of NOSA positive patients and 45,5% (5/11) of NOSA negative patients. Positivity of autoantibodies was not associated with gender, age, viral genotype or aminotransferase levels. In conclusion, ANA was the only NOSA associated with treatment outcome. The absence of NOSA might indicate a significantly higher chance for viral clearance in response to combination therapy for chronic hepatitis C infection.