Josana de Castro Peixoto

EVALUATION OF THE THERAPEUTIC EFFICACY OF LEVAMISOLE HYDROCHLORIDE ON THIRD-STAGE LARVAE OF Lagochilascaris minor IN EXPERIMENTALLY INFECTED MICE

Lagochilascariosis, a disease caused by Lagochilascaris minor, affects the neck, sinuses, tonsils, lungs, the sacral region, dental alveoli, eyeballs and the central nervous system of humans. A cycle of autoinfection may occur in human host tissues characterized by the presence of eggs, larvae and adult worms. This peculiarity of the cycle hinders therapy, since there are no drugs that exhibit ovicidal, larvicidal and vermicidal activity. Given these facts, we studied the action of levamisole hydrochloride on third-stage larvae in the migration phase (G1) and on encysted larvae (G3) of L. minor. To this end, 87 inbred mice of the C57BL/6 strain were divided into test groups comprising 67 animals (G1-37; G3-30) and a control group (G2-10; G4-10) with 20 animals. Each animal was inoculated orally with 2,000 infective eggs of the parasite. The animals of the test groups were treated individually with a single oral dose of levamisole hydrochloride at a concentration of 0.075 mg. The drug was administered either 30 minutes prior to the parasite inoculation (G1 animals) or 120 days after the inoculation (G3 animals). The mice in the control groups were not treated with the drug. After the time required for the migration and the encysting of L. minor larvae, all the animals were euthanized and their tissues examined. The data were analyzed using the Students unpaired t-test and the Levene test. The groups showed no statistically significant difference. Levamisole hydrochloride was ineffective on third-stage larvae of L. minor. These findings explain the massive expulsion of live adult worms, as well as the use of long treatment schemes, owing to the persistence of larvae and eggs in human parasitic lesions.

APRESENTAÇÃO - Biotecnologia e Inovação: dos laboratórios de ensino e pesquisa às políticas públicas

A biotecnologia e uma inovacao tecnologica que esta revolucionando setores distintos da economia, ja que fornece novos processos, produtos e servicos mais eficientes e, muitas vezes, menos impactantes ao meio ambiente. No entanto, para que ocorra inovacao, consubstanciada em novos produtos e processos e necessario algo que transcenda o nivel de pesquisa nas universidades. Em virtude do carater revolucionario da biotecnologia e, portanto prioritario para o desenvolvimento de qualquer nacao, o Estado brasileiro por meio de politicas publicas, amplamente difundidas em economias mais desenvolvidas, busca induzir a inovacao e o desenvolvimento na area, atraves de instrumentos como compras exclusivas, linhas especiais de financiamento, transferencia de tecnologia, entre outros, os quais visam uma interacao mais proficua entre universidades, instituicoes de pesquisa e empresas.