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Objectives: This study aims to quantify collagen deposition in the desmoplasia of pancreatic and colonial tumors. Methods: Samples of colon and pancreas tumors were selected from the Hospital das Clínicas de Pernambuco and submitted to trichomy with Gomori's Trichrome. Photomicrographic analysis was performed using the integrated Panthera imaging analysis system L. Results: It was identified that 31 colon tumors and 22 pancreatic tumors presented desmoplasia with the visualization of fibrillar collagen distributed irregularly around the tumor. There was a statistically significant difference (p = 0.0031) between collagen fiber deposition in desmoplastic and non-desmoplastic pancreatic tumors, as well as for colonic tumors (p < 0.001). Conclusion: It was observed that more than half of the tumors analyzed presented desmoplasia with a difference of density of collagen fibrils statistically significant.

Despite increased screening rates and advances in targeted therapy, colorectal cancer (CRC) remains the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality. Classic in vitro models used in CRC research, the cells lines show phenotype and genotype distinct profiles that could induce significant differences in response to chemical treatment. This systematic review is coordinated by Professor Antônio Felix and intends to answer some specific questions: What are the main cell lines used for in vitro CRC assays? What are the main features that differentiate them? Do these features impact in the results from in vitro 5FU therapy? With an unprecedented point of view, we desire to provide a full picture of information about the pattern of response to chemotherapy presented by these cells and consequently improve the CRC research.

Arthrospira, a genus of blue-green cyanobacteria, is known for its great biological activity due to the presence of a large number of substances that are potentially active against tumor cells. This review aimed to evaluate the potential of Arthrospira spp. for the treatment or reduction of several types of cancer, in addition to elucidating the mechanism of action by which their compounds act on tumor cells. A systematic review was carried out in PubMed, Science Direct, LILACS, and SciELO databases, including original studies from 2009 to 2020. A total of 1306 articles were independently assessed according to the eligibility criteria, of which 20 articles were selected and assessed for the risk of bias using seven criteria developed by the authors. Arthrospira spp. of cyanobacteria have been evaluated against eight different types of cancer, mainly colon cancer. Among all the compounds, phycocyanin was the most used, followed by peptides and photosensitizers. In general, compounds from Arthrospira spp. act as anticancer agents by inhibiting the proliferation of tumor cells, triggering cell cycle arrest, and inducing apoptosis via different signaling pathways. In addition, these compounds also exhibited antioxidant, antiangiogenic, and antimetastatic activities. Phycocyanin demonstrated better efficacy against several types of cancer via different activities and therapeutic targets. Furthermore, it was the only molecule that functioned in synergy with other drugs that are already well established for the treatment of cancer.

Introdução: A dengue é uma doença viral, transmitida pelo vetor Aedes aegypti, intimamente relacionada a mudanças demográficas e saneamento básico. Objetivo: Este estudo tem como objetivo traçar um perfil epidemiológico dos casos de dengue nos anos de 2017 a 2021 no município de Garanhuns, estado de Pernambuco, a partir da realização de uma pesquisa descritiva, retrospectiva e transversal, utilizando as variáveis de faixa etária, sexo e raça, com exposição do número de casos por variável. Material e métodos: Os dados epidemiológicos foram coletados do sistema TABNET, desenvolvido pelo Departamento de Informática do Sistema Único de Saúde (DATASUS). Para o cálculo da taxa de incidência foram utilizados os dados populacionais obtidos da plataforma IBGE Cidades. Resultados: No período estudado foram notificados 2.196 casos no município, tendo o ano de 2020 a maior taxa de incidência. Casos foram mais frequentes na faixa etária de 20 a 39 anos (39,60%), idade em que há maior circulação e movimentação de indivíduos, em pessoas do sexo feminino (58,31%), visto que há maior permanência feminina no ambiente domiciliar e na raça parda (51,06%) o qual não possui dados na literatura que justifiquem essa predominância. Nos cinco anos do estudo, foi observada uma maior incidência nos meses de março a junho, momento em que o clima se torna mais propício para a reprodução do mosquito. Conclusão: Com este estudo, foi constatado que a dengue ainda configura uma doença desafiadora, visto que para sua erradicação é necessário que ações contínuas de diversos eixos sejam tomadas, englobando tanto o poder público, quanto a população, dada sua alta incidência somadas aos períodos epidêmicos.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is one of the most common emergencies causes of hospitalization for gastrointestinal diseases. Many studies in different countries have been performed to identify the etiology, pathomechanisms and therapeutic strategies for AP treatment. This systematic review perform a global analysis of knowledge production about AP. The SCOPUS database using for our systematic review. The study considers the period between 2016 and 2020 and considered scientific journals with respect to the subject of publications, quantity of studies published, citations and leading countries in this area of research. A total of 75 publications were eligible among 16,563 records in the database. The subjects most discussed in the articles is the search for new drugs and therapies for the treatment of AP is a central concern of the researchers involved in the study of AP (26.6%). The etiology of AP corresponded to n = 11 articles (14.6%), highlighting the recent focus on the causes of AP such as hypertriglyceridemia (HTG). The results show that AP is becoming a globalized subject. Altogether, institutions from 36 countries contributed to the knowledge of pancreatitis over the period considered. The USA has the most publications (20) and occupies the vanguard position on the subject. China is the second largest center in AP knowledge production (17). The recent evidence in the form of systematic reviews represent a viable tool to understand the patterns in knowledge production about AP and to identify gaps in the networks about the subject. La pancreatitis aguda (PA) es una de las causas de urgencia más frecuentes de hospitalización por enfermedades gastrointestinales. Se han realizado muchos estudios en diferentes países para identificar la etiología, los mecanismos patológicos y las estrategias terapéuticas para el tratamiento de la PA. Esta revisión sistemática realiza un análisis global de la producción de conocimiento sobre PA. La base de datos SCOPUS utilizada para nuestra revisión sistemática. El estudio considera el período comprendido entre 2016 y 2020 y consideró las revistas científicas en cuanto al tema de las publicaciones, número de estudios publicados, citas y países líderes en esta área de investigación. Un total de 75 publicaciones fueron elegibles entre 16.563 registros en la base de datos. El tema más discutido en los artículos es la búsqueda de nuevos fármacos y terapias para el tratamiento de la PA es una preocupación central de los investigadores implicados en el estudio de la PA (26,6%). La etiología de la PA correspondió a n = 11 artículos (14,6%), destacando el enfoque reciente sobre las causas de la PA como la hipertrigliceridemia (HTG). Los resultados muestran que la PA se está convirtiendo en un tema globalizado. En total, instituciones de 36 países contribuyeron al conocimiento de la pancreatitis en el período considerado. Estados Unidos es el que más publica (20) y ocupa una posición de liderazgo en el tema. China es el segundo mayor centro de producción de conocimiento de PA (17). La evidencia reciente en forma de revisiones sistemáticas representa una herramienta viable para comprender los patrones de producción de conocimiento sobre PA e identificar brechas en las redes sobre el tema. A pancreatite aguda (PA) é uma das causas emergenciais mais comuns de internação por doenças gastrointestinais. Muitos estudos em diferentes países têm sido realizados para identificar a etiologia, os mecanismos patológicos e as estratégias terapêuticas para o tratamento da PA. Esta revisão sistemática realiza uma análise global da produção de conhecimento sobre PA. O banco de dados SCOPUS usado para nossa revisão sistemática. O estudo considera o período entre 2016 e 2020 e considerou periódicos científicos no que diz respeito ao assunto de publicações, quantidade de estudos publicados, citações e países líderes nesta área de pesquisa. Um total de 75 publicações foram elegíveis entre 16.563 registros na base de dados. O assunto mais discutido nos artigos é a busca por novos medicamentos e terapias para o tratamento da PA é uma preocupação central dos pesquisadores envolvidos no estudo da PA (26,6%). A etiologia da PA correspondeu a n = 11 artigos (14,6%), destacando-se o foco recente nas causas da PA como a hipertrigliceridemia (HTG). Os resultados mostram que a PA está se tornando um assunto globalizado. Ao todo, instituições de 36 países contribuíram para o conhecimento da pancreatite no período considerado. Os EUA são os que mais publicam (20) e ocupam a posição de vanguarda no assunto. A China é o segundo maior centro de produção de conhecimento de PA (17). As evidências recentes na forma de revisões sistemáticas representam uma ferramenta viável para compreender os padrões de produção de conhecimento sobre PA e identificar lacunas nas redes sobre o assunto.

A oferta de um sistema de saúde eficiente na prevenção, no diagnóstico e no tratamento de infecções em emergências públicas, como a pandemia da COVID-19, em regiões do Brasil com recursos limitados é uma tarefa desafiadora, principalmente nas comunidades vulneráveis. O objetivo do presente estudo foi sistematizar aspectos sobre a transmissão e contágio do coronavírus, e suas implicações na saúde física e no tratamento de grupos considerado de risco, como os idosos e os doentes crônicos, pessoas mais pobres e comunidades tradicionais, de Pernambuco. Por fim, foram adicionalmente abordados os impactos na saúde mental e no trabalho, no contexto desta fragilidade durante a pandemia. As populações vulneráveis são especialmente mais susceptíveis ao novo coronavírus devido à imunodeficiência, modos de vida tradicionais mais coletivos, com pouco acesso a serviços de saúde e hospitais. Ausência de políticas públicas efetivas, falta de recursos do SUS, medo do contágio, o isolamento social, a falta de informação e de tratamento, o luto e a perda de pessoas são os principais problemas confrontados por essa parcela da população.

In order to characterize the affinity between specific carbohydrate-binding proteins such as lectins, a model is proposed to study these interactions using a polysaccharide membrane to simulate such adsorption. Here, lectin-carbohydrate interactions were chemiluminescently investigated using lectins conjugated to acridinium ester (AE) and polysaccharides composed of their respective specific carbohydrates. The lectin-AE conjugates were incubated with discs (0.0314–0.6358 cm2) of phytagel, chitosan and carrageenan. The complex formation chemiluminescently detected followed the Langmuir isotherm from which constants were estimated. The association constant (Ka) and maximum binding sites on the membranes were 2.4 × 10−7 M−1 ± 0.8 × 10−7 M−1 and 1.3 × 10−3 mol. mg−1 ± 0.3 × 10−3 mol. mg−1 (Con A); 0.9 × 10−6 M−1 ± 0.4 × 10−6 M−1 and 0.021 × 10−3 mol. mg−1 ± 0.003 × 10−3 mol. mg−1 (WGA) and 2.0 × 10−6 M−1 ± 0.9 × 10−6 M−1 and 0.069 × 10−3 mol. mg−1 ± 0.010 × 10−3 mol. mg−1 (PNA). The proposed model might be useful to study binding affinity and estimate the amount of binding not limited by the sugar content in the membrane.

Fluorescent compounds have been widely used for biomolecule labeling in cytochemistry and histochemistry analysis. Here, it is described the optical properties of dimethyl 2-[(acridin-9-yl)methylidene]-malonate (LPSF/IP-81), an acridine derivative. This compound was conjugated to Concanavalin A (Con A) lectin and applied as sugar probe in lectin histochemistry. Evaluation of luminescent properties showed that LPSF/IP-81 is photoluminescent with excitation at 360 nm and emission at 428 nm. Con A hemagglutinating activity and LPSF/IP81 photoluminescence were unaltered after conjugation. Circular dichroism of Con A-LPSF/IP81 conjugate showed the maintenance of the Con A structure. Lectin histochemistry with Con A-LPSF/IP81 conjugate demonstrated different pattern recognition studying normal, fibroadenoma, and invasive ductal carcinoma of human breast. These findings indicate that LPSF/IP-81 can be proposed as an alternative probe for histochemical analysis.

Post-translational and co-translational enzymatic addition of glycans (glycosylation) to proteins, lipids, and other carbohydrates, is a powerful regulator of the molecular machinery involved in cell cycle, adhesion, invasion, and signal transduction, and is usually seen in both in vivo and in vitro cancer models. Glycosyltransferases can alter the glycosylation pattern of normal cells, subsequently leading to the establishment and progression of several diseases, including cancer. Furthermore, a growing amount of research has shown that different oxygen tensions, mainly hypoxia, leads to a markedly altered glycosylation, resulting in altered glycan-receptor interactions. Alteration of intracellular glucose metabolism, from aerobic cellular respiration to anaerobic glycolysis, inhibition of integrin 3α1β translocation to the plasma membrane, decreased 1,2-fucosylation of cell-surface glycans, and galectin overexpression are some consequences of the hypoxic tumor microenvironment. Additionally, increased expression of gangliosides carrying N-glycolyl sialic acid can also be significantly affected by hypoxia. For all these reasons, it is possible to realize that hypoxia strongly alters glycobiologic events within tumors, leading to changes in their behavior. This review aims to analyze the complexity and importance of glycoconjugates and their molecular interaction network in the hypoxic context of many solid tumors.

Gastric cancer (GC) is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the world. This study aims to investigate the differential tissue expression of ppGalNAc-T15 and to evaluate its possible association with clinical-pathological parameters and outcome of gastric adenocarcinoma patients. For these 70 patients were evaluated the expression by immunohistochemistry to ppGalNAc-T15. Our results showed that 33 (47.1%) patients were ppGalNAC-T15+ positive and 37 (52.9%) negative. Positive staining for ppGalNAc-T15 was significantly present in patients older than 60 years (P=0.0306) and submitted to total gastrectomy (P=0.0087). Also, some results remained at the limit of significance as surgical standing (P=0.0562) and histological grade (P=0.0549). Therefore, the ppGalNAc-T15 immunoreactivity can be useful to understand the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.

This work describes the glycophenotype evaluation of mice liver granulomatous lesion caused by infection of Schistosoma mansoni by using lectins labeled to acridinium ester (AE). The employed lectins were Concanavalin A (Con A), wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) and Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA) that specifically recognize α-D-glucose/mannose, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and α-NeuNAc-[2→6]-Gal/GalNAc. The chemiluminescence expressed in relative light unit (RLU) obtained from the hepatic granuloma tissues (0.25 cm(2)) treated with the lectins-AE was compared with control tissues. Con A-AE infected tissues showed higher statistically significant values (1,501,182 ± 163,450 RLU) compared with the control tissue (575,280 ± 97,216 RLU). WGA-AE results also showed higher values (189,654 ± 20,686 RLU) than that found for the controls (82,878 ± 24,411). SNA-AE results did not present statistical difference between granulomatous tissues (198,990 ± 15,131) and controls (167,290 ± 25,194). There is a significant increase in glucose/mannose residues and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine in hepatic granuloma caused by S. mansoni, while the sialic acid remains virtually unchanged. The understanding of schistosome glycophenotype is relevant for the development of new diagnostic methods for schistosomiasis, design of new drug targets and preparation of glycan-based vaccines.

Background. Tumor cells show alterations in their glycosylation patterns when compared to normal cells. Lectins can be used to evaluate these glycocode changes. Chemiluminescence assay is an effective technique for quantitative analysis of proteins, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates due to its high sensitivity, specificity, and rapid testing.Objective. To use histochemiluminescence based on lectin conjugated to acridinium ester (AE) for the investigation of glycophenotype changes in cutaneous tumors.Methods. Concanavalin A (Con A), Peanut agglutinin (PNA),Ulex europaeusagglutinin-I (UEA-I), andMaackia amurensisagglutinin (MAA) were conjugated to acridinium ester. Biopsies of cutaneous tumors and normal skin were incubated with the lectins-AE, and chemiluminescence was quantified and expressed as Relative Light Units (RLU).Results. Actinic keratosis (AK), keratoacanthoma (KA), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) showed lower expression ofα-D-glucose/mannose andα-L-fucose residues compared to normal tissue. Cutaneous tumors displayed higher expression of Gal-β(1-3)-GalNAc residues than normal tissue. AK and SCC exhibited higher expression of Neu5Ac-α(2,3)Gal residues than normal epidermis. KA and BCC showed equivalent RLU values compared to normal tissue.Conclusions. Lectin histochemiluminescence allowed quantitative assessment of the carbohydrate expression in cutaneous tissues, contributing to eliminate the subjectivity of conventional techniques used in the histopathological diagnosis.

The aim of the present study was to investigate ultrastructural changes induced by (Z)-2-(acridin-9-ylmethylene)-N-phenylhydrazinecarbothioamide (APHCA) treatment on human breast adenocarcinoma cancer cells MCF-7, besides the evaluation of phosphatidylserine externalization and DNA fragmentation in treated cells. Cell viability analysis demonstrated concentration and time-manner cytotoxicity. Treated MCF-7 cells did not expose phosphatidylserine residues to the external plasma membrane surface and DNA fragmentation was not visualized by electrophoresis. Light microscopy showed compromised cell density and presence of vacuolization after APHCA treatment with 60μM. Scanning and transmission electron microscopies revealed hallmarks of autophagy, namely the presence of membrane bebbling and autophagosomes, besides shrunken cells and cell debris in treated MCF-7 cells. However, more specific tests such as the quantification of mammalian autophagy proteins are necessary to determine the kind of death that is trigged by APHCA.

This work aimed to evaluate the glycophenotype in normal prostate, bening prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostatic adenocarcinoma (PCa) tissues by a chemiluminescent method. Concanavalin A (Con A), Ulex europaeus agglutinin (UEA-I) and Peanut agglutinin (PNA) lectins were conjugated to acridinium ester (lectins-AE). These conjugates remained capable to recognize their specific carbohydrates. Tissue samples were incubated with lectins-AE. The chemiluminescence of the tissue-lectin-AE complex was expressed in relative light units (RLU). Transformed tissues (0.25 cm(2) by 8 µm of thickness) showed statistical significant lower α-D-glucose/mannose (BPH: 226,931 ± 17,436; PCa: 239,520 ± 12,398) and Gal-β(1-3)-GalNAc (BPH: 28,754 ± 2,157; PCa: 16,728 ± 1,204) expression than normal tissues (367,566 ± 48,550 and 409,289 ± 22,336, respectively). However, higher α-L-fucose expression was observed in PCa (251,118 ± 14,193) in relation to normal (200,979 ± 21,318) and BHP (169,758 ± 10,264) tissues. It was observed an expressive decreasing of the values of RLU by inhibition of the interaction between tissues and lectins-AE using their specific carbohydrates. The relationship between RLU and tissue area showed a linear correlation for all lectin-AE in both transformed tissues. These results indicated that the used method is an efficient tool for specific, sensitive and quantitative analyses of prostatic glycophenotype.

Immobilized lectins are a powerful biotechnological tool for separation and isolation of glycoconjugates. In the present study, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and glutaraldehyde (GA) were used as a support for Concanavalin A (Con A) covalent immobilization and for entrapment of Parkia pendula seed gum (PpeG). Con A immobilization yielded approximately 30% and 0.6 M glucose solution was the minimum concentration able to elute fetuin from column. PVA-GA-PpeG column was efficiently recognized by pure P. pendula lectin (PpeL). These findings indicate that PVA-GA interpenetrated network showed to be an efficient support for lectin covalent immobilization and as affinity chromatography matrix after trapping of PpeG.