José Ivan Aguiar

Paracoccidioidomicose: estudo clínico e epidemiológico de 422 casos observados no Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul

Clinical and epidemiological features of 422 cases of paracoccidioidomycosis attended at University Hospital of Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil) from January 1980 to August 1999, were analysed. The mean age was 43.4 years old and the male: female ratio was 10:1. Nearly half (45.5%) of the patients were agricultural workers at the moment of diagnosis. In the acute/subacute form (juvenile type) the phagocytic-monocytic system was very much impaired and mainly marked by lymphadenopathy (95.4%), hepatomegaly (40%), splenomegaly (23.1%). The chronic form (adult type) presents more lesions in oropharynx (66.4%), dysphonia (31.4%) and cough (50.7%). Mycological diagnosis was obtained by direct microscopy of wet mounts in 185/365 (50.7%) patients and by histopathological examination of biopsies in 294/302 (97.3%) patients. The treatment of choice was Sulfamethoxazole/ trimethoprim (Co-trimoxazole), used in 90.3% patients. Sequelae occurred in 30.3% and death in 7.6% of the cases.

Revisiting the Genetic Ancestry of Brazilians Using Autosomal AIM-Indels

There are many different studies that contribute to the global picture of the ethnic heterogeneity in Brazilian populations. These studies use different types of genetic markers and are focused on the comparison of populations at different levels. In some of them, each geographical region is treated as a single homogeneous population, whereas other studies create different subdivisions: political (e.g., pooling populations by State), demographic (e.g., urban and rural), or ethnic (e.g., culture, self-declaration, or skin colour). In this study, we performed an enhanced reassessment of the genetic ancestry of ~ 1,300 Brazilians characterised for 46 autosomal Ancestry Informative Markers (AIMs). In addition, 798 individuals from twelve Brazilian populations representing the five geographical macro-regions of Brazil were newly genotyped, including a Native American community and a rural Amazonian community. Following an increasing North to South gradient, European ancestry was the most prevalent in all urban populations (with values up to 74%). The populations in the North consisted of a significant proportion of Native American ancestry that was about two times higher than the African contribution. Conversely, in the Northeast, Center-West and Southeast, African ancestry was the second most prevalent. At an intrapopulation level, all urban populations were highly admixed, and most of the variation in ancestry proportions was observed between individuals within each population rather than among population. Nevertheless, individuals with a high proportion of Native American ancestry are only found in the samples from Terena and Santa Isabel. Our results allowed us to further refine the genetic landscape of Brazilians while establishing the basis for the effective application of an autosomal AIM panel in forensic casework and clinical association studies within the highly admixed Brazilian populations.

Intestinal protozoa and helminths among Terena Indians in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul: high prevalence of Blastocystis hominis

A parasitological survey was carried out among Terena Indians living in the Tereré settlement in the municipality of Sidrolândia, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Single samples of feces from 313 Indians were processed by means of the spontaneous sedimentation method. In the population studied, 73.5% were infected with at least one intestinal parasite or commensal. Protozoa predominated. Blastocystis hominis (40.9%), Entamoeba coli (33.2%) and Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba dispar (31.6%) were the most common. Bivariate analysis showed that females were generally more infected and presented higher rates of infection by Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba dispar and Entamoeba coli. Males were more infected by hookworms and Strongyloides stercoralis than females. The precarious sanitary conditions of the Tereré settlement are probably a contributory factor towards the high prevalence of intestinal protozoa.

Prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen in blood donors in the middle west region of Brazil

The prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen in 552 prime blood donors was of 9.4%. The majority (71.2%) has antibodies to hepatitis B surface antigen. The hepatitis B surface antigen was present in 0.7%, all of them antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen positive.

Low prevalence of hepatitis B and C markers in a Non-Amazonian indigenous population

In Brazil, there is a high prevalence of markers ofinfection with the hepatitis B virus among groups livingin the Western Amazon. Neighboring countries andindigenous peoples should also be included in thatcontext [1-6].There are virtually no data available on theprevalence of viral hepatitis markers among indigenousgroups living outside the Amazon region or aboutparenterally transmitted hepatitis.Figueiredo et al. [7] reported the prevalence of HBVand HCV markers among the native Xacriaba peopleliving in the northern part of the State of Minas Gerais;they found 0.5%, 2.9%, 62.5, and 0.5% for HBsAg,anti-HBc, anti-HBs and anti-HCV, respectively. Thisgroup is just as acculturated as the Terena and has along history of contact with modern Brazilian society.To assess this situation, a sero-epidemiological studywas conducted in August 1999, involving 312Amerindians from the Buriti, Corrego do Meio andAgua Azul reservations, located in the municipalities ofSidrolândia and Dois Irmaos do Buriti, 100km fromCampo Grande, the state capital of Mato Grosso doSul (Brazil). The samples were randomly selected, andfamily groups were included.This study included all age groups, from childrenunder 1 year to individuals older than 65. Each agegroup was stratified according to gender (Table 1).The material was collected, centrifuged, andseparated into varying aliquots. Tests for anti-HBc, antiHBs and anti-HCV markers were conducted at theOswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz-RJ) National ViralHepatitis Center. There were small differences in thenumber of tests for each marker due to limitations inthe quantity of material.None of the samples were positive for HBsAg oranti-HCV. Anti-HBc gave positive results in 2.2% ofthe samples and anti-HBs in 13.6%. The highpercentage found for anti-HBs positivity could be aresult of immunity that was artificially acquired throughvaccination.We found very low positivity rates for the abovemarkers in this population. There are discrepanciesbetween our data and findings previously reported forthe same region. Aguiar et al. [8] found prevalencerates of 0.7%, 9.4% and 2.5% for HBsAg, anti-HBcand anti-HCV, respectively among first-time donors inCampo Grande. In a study of people of African descentliving 65 km from Campo Grande and 40 km from themunicipality of Jaraguari (Mato Grosso do Sul), Castro[9] found rates of 9% and 43% for HBsAg and anti-HBc, respectively.These variations in prevalence need to be betterexplained; it may be necessary to use an approachinvolving other components. Authors such as Brabinet al. [10], Passos et al. [11], and Coimbra et al. [12]have suggested that other variables can influence HBVprevalence rates, which would mean that a simpleepidemiological model of this disease is not realistic.It is sometimes necessary to take into accountpecularities of certain population groups in whichdifferent values, norms and cultural standards may beinvolved in health/illness processes [13].

Terena Amerindian group autosomal STR data: comparison studies with other Brazilian populations

Allele frequencies for the high polymorphic short tandem repeats (STR) loci PentaE, PentaD, D18S51, D21S11, TH01, D3S1358, FGA, D16S539, D7820, D13S317, vWA and D81179 were analysed in an native Amerindian population from Mato Grosso do Sul state named Terena. Deviations from Hardy–Weinberg expectations were evaluated and the results showed no differences from equilibrium in all loci. The combined power of discrimination and the combined power of exclusion for the 12 tested STR loci were 0.99999999 and 0.999999 respectively. The Terena population data were compared to other from 11 Brazilian populations (Amazônia, Pernambuco, Mato Grosso do Sul, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Alagoas, Sergipe, Rio Grande do Norte, Santa Catarina, Rondônia and Rio de Janeiro) representing the major Brazilian geographic regions. The FST comparative analysis showed no significant differences between all those populations except when comparing Terena with the remained ones.