Lorena Rocha Ayres

L‐Amino Acid Oxidase Isolated from Bothrops pirajai Induces Apoptosis in BCR‐ABL‐Positive Cells and Potentiates Imatinib Mesylate Effect

Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative disorder characterized by the presence of Philadelphia chromosome and by BCR‐ABL1, which encodes the BCR‐ABL oncoprotein. Although imatinib mesylate (IM) is effective for CML treatment, patients in accelerated and blastic phases of the disease are often refractory to this therapy, and there are also cases of IM resistance in patients in the chronic phase. Therefore, potential new drugs are being investigated to improve the efficiency of the therapy of CML such as snake venoms and their compounds. In this investigation, Bothrops pirajai L‐amino acid oxidase (BpirLAAO‐I) effect on normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and on BCR‐ABL+ cell line was assessed to explore its potential against leukaemic cells. MTT viability assay, lymphocyte subsets quantification and cell activation markers expression were performed to evaluate BpirLAAO‐I effect on normal PBMC. The effect of BpirLAAO‐I on HL‐60 and HL‐60.BCR‐ABL cell lines was assessed by apoptosis detection. BpirLAAO‐I was able to induce apoptosis in HL‐60 and HL‐60.BCR‐ABL cell lines in a dose‐dependent manner, promoted caspases 3, 8 and 9 activation and enhanced IM effect while not affecting the viability of normal cells. In addition, BpirLAAO‐I promoted immune cells activation and lymphocytes subsets changes on normal PBMC. The results indicate that BpirLAAO‐I induces apoptosis and potentiates IM effect on BCR‐ABL+ cells.

Pharmacoepidemiological profile and polypharmacy indicators in elderly outpatients

This cross-sectional study was carried out with 1000 elderly outpatients assisted by a Basic Health District Unit (UBDS) from the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS) in the municipality of Ribeirao Preto. We analyzed the clinical, socioeconomic and pharmacoepidemiological profile of the elderly patients in order to identify factors associated with polypharmacy amongst this population. We used a truncated negative binomial model to examine the association of polypharmacy with the independent variables of the study. The software SAS was used for the statistical analysis and the significance level adopted was 0.05. The most prevalent drugs were those for the cardiovascular system (83.4%). There was a mean use of seven drugs per patient and 47.9% of the interviewees used >7 drugs. The variables that showed association with polypharmacy (P value 75 years, self-medication, number of health problems, number of medical appointments, presence of adverse drug events, use of over-the-counter drugs, use of psychotropic drugs, lack of physical exercise and use of sweeteners. The exposition to all these factors justified the high prevalence of polypharmacy amongst the interviewees. These results showed the need to adopt clinical intervention and educational and managerial measures to analyze and promote rationality in the use of drugs amongst the elderly users of SUS.