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Rath M, Wellnitz J, Martin HJ, Melo-Filho C, Hochuli JE, Silva GM, Beasley JM, Travis M, Sessions ZL, Popov KI, Zakharov AV, Cherkasov A, Alves V, Muratov EN, Tropsha A. Pharmacokinetics Profiler (PhaKinPro): Model Development, Validation, and Implementation as a Web Tool for Triaging Compounds with Undesired Pharmacokinetics Profiles. J Med Chem 2024; 67:6508-6518. [PMID: 38568752 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c02446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/05/2024]
Abstract
Computational models that predict pharmacokinetic properties are critical to deprioritize drug candidates that emerge as hits in high-throughput screening campaigns. We collected, curated, and integrated a database of compounds tested in 12 major end points comprising over 10,000 unique molecules. We then employed these data to build and validate binary quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models. All trained models achieved a correct classification rate above 0.60 and a positive predictive value above 0.50. To illustrate their utility in drug discovery, we used these models to predict the pharmacokinetic properties for drugs in the NCATS Inxight Drugs database. In addition, we employed the developed models to predict the pharmacokinetic properties of all compounds in the DrugBank. All models described in this paper have been integrated and made publicly available via the PhaKinPro Web-portal that can be accessed at https://phakinpro.mml.unc.edu/.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marielle Rath
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - James Wellnitz
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Holli-Joi Martin
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Cleber Melo-Filho
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Joshua E Hochuli
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Guilherme Martins Silva
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Jon-Michael Beasley
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Maxfield Travis
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Zoe L Sessions
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Konstantin I Popov
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Alexey V Zakharov
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health, 9800 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850, United States
| | - Artem Cherkasov
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6H3Z6, Canada
| | - Vinicius Alves
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Eugene N Muratov
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Alexander Tropsha
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
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Dornelles G, Araújo GRDS, Rodrigues M, Alves V, Almeida-Paes R, Frases S. Comparative Analysis of Capsular and Secreted Polysaccharides Produced by Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Cryptococcus neoformans. J Fungi (Basel) 2023; 9:1124. [PMID: 37998929 PMCID: PMC10672113 DOI: 10.3390/jof9111124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2023] [Revised: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Fungal infections are a global public health challenge, especially among immunocompromised patients. Basidiomycetous yeasts, such as Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, have emerged as opportunistic pathogens, but have received less attention than Cryptococcus neoformans. This study aimed to characterize the polysaccharides of R. mucilaginosa and compare them with those of C. neoformans, analyzing their clinical implications. Comprehensive physicochemical, mechanical, and ultrastructural analyses of polysaccharides from both species were performed, revealing correlations with virulence and pathogenicity. R. mucilaginosa cells are surrounded by a capsule smaller than that produced by C. neoformans, but with similar polysaccharides. Those polysaccharides are also secreted by R. mucilaginosa. Cross-reactivity with R. mucilaginosa was observed in a diagnostic C. neoformans antigen test, using both in vitro and in vivo samples, highlighting the need for more reliable tests. Some R. mucilaginosa strains exhibited virulence comparable to that of C. neoformans in an invertebrate experimental model (Tenebrio molitor). This study contributes to a deeper understanding of yeast pathogenicity and virulence, highlighting the need for more accurate diagnostic tests to improve the differential diagnosis of infections caused by basidiomycetous yeasts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gustavo Dornelles
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil; (G.D.); (G.R.d.S.A.); (M.R.); (V.A.)
| | - Glauber R. de S. Araújo
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil; (G.D.); (G.R.d.S.A.); (M.R.); (V.A.)
| | - Marcus Rodrigues
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil; (G.D.); (G.R.d.S.A.); (M.R.); (V.A.)
| | - Vinicius Alves
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil; (G.D.); (G.R.d.S.A.); (M.R.); (V.A.)
| | - Rodrigo Almeida-Paes
- Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, Brazil;
- Rede Micologia RJ, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), Rio de Janeiro 21040-360, Brazil
| | - Susana Frases
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil; (G.D.); (G.R.d.S.A.); (M.R.); (V.A.)
- Rede Micologia RJ, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), Rio de Janeiro 21040-360, Brazil
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de Andrade IB, Alves V, Pereira L, Miranda B, Corrêa-Junior D, Galdino Figueiredo-Carvalho MH, Santos MV, Almeida-Paes R, Frases S. Effect of rapamycin on Cryptococcus neoformans: cellular organization, biophysics and virulence factors. Future Microbiol 2023; 18:1061-1075. [PMID: 37721517 DOI: 10.2217/fmb-2023-0097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that causes infections mainly in immunosuppressed individuals, such as transplant recipients. Aims: This study investigated the effects of rapamycin, an immunosuppressant drug, on the cellular organization, biophysical characteristics, and main virulence factors of C. neoformans. Methods: Morphological, structural, physicochemical and biophysical analyses of cells and secreted polysaccharides of the reference H99 C. neoformans strain were investigated under the effect of subinhibitory concentrations of rapamycin. Results: Rapamycin at a minimum inhibitory concentration of 2.5 μM reduced C. neoformans cell viability by 53%, decreased capsule, increased cell size, chitin and lipid body formation, and changed peptidase and urease activity. Conclusion: Further studies are needed to assess how rapamycin affects the virulence factors and pathogenicity of C. neoformans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iara Bastos de Andrade
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Vinicius Alves
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Luiza Pereira
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Bruna Miranda
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Dario Corrêa-Junior
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | - Marcos Vinicius Santos
- Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Almeida-Paes
- Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Rede Micologia - FAPERJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Susana Frases
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Rede Micologia - FAPERJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Alves V, Martins PH, Miranda B, de Andrade IB, Pereira L, Maeda CT, de Sousa Araújo GR, Frases S. Assessing the In Vitro Potential of Glatiramer Acetate (Copaxone ®) as a Chemotherapeutic Candidate for the Treatment of Cryptococcus neoformans Infection. J Fungi (Basel) 2023; 9:783. [PMID: 37623554 PMCID: PMC10455304 DOI: 10.3390/jof9080783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2023] [Revised: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Cryptococcosis is a systemic mycosis affecting immunosuppressed individuals, caused by various Cryptococcus species. The current treatment utilizes a combination of antifungal drugs, but issues such as nephrotoxicity, restricted or limited availability in certain countries, and resistance limit their effectiveness. Repurposing approved drugs presents a viable strategy for developing new antifungal options. This study investigates the potential of glatiramer acetate (Copaxone®) as a chemotherapy candidate for Cryptococcus neoformans infection. Various techniques are employed to evaluate the effects of glatiramer acetate on the fungus, including microdilution, XTT analysis, electron and light microscopy, and physicochemical measurements. The results demonstrate that glatiramer acetate exhibits antifungal properties, with an IC50 of 0.470 mg/mL and a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 2.5 mg/mL. Furthermore, it promotes enhanced cell aggregation, facilitates biofilm formation, and increases the secretion of fungal polysaccharides. These findings indicate that glatiramer acetate not only shows an antifungal effect but also modulates the key virulence factor-the polysaccharide capsule. In summary, repurposing glatiramer acetate as a potential chemotherapy option offers new prospects for combating C. neoformans infection. It addresses the limitations associated with current antifungal therapies by providing an alternative treatment approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinicius Alves
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil; (V.A.); (P.H.M.); (B.M.); (I.B.d.A.); (L.P.); (G.R.d.S.A.)
| | - Pedro Henrique Martins
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil; (V.A.); (P.H.M.); (B.M.); (I.B.d.A.); (L.P.); (G.R.d.S.A.)
| | - Bruna Miranda
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil; (V.A.); (P.H.M.); (B.M.); (I.B.d.A.); (L.P.); (G.R.d.S.A.)
| | - Iara Bastos de Andrade
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil; (V.A.); (P.H.M.); (B.M.); (I.B.d.A.); (L.P.); (G.R.d.S.A.)
| | - Luiza Pereira
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil; (V.A.); (P.H.M.); (B.M.); (I.B.d.A.); (L.P.); (G.R.d.S.A.)
| | - Christina Takiya Maeda
- Laboratório de Fisiopatologia, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil;
| | - Glauber Ribeiro de Sousa Araújo
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil; (V.A.); (P.H.M.); (B.M.); (I.B.d.A.); (L.P.); (G.R.d.S.A.)
| | - Susana Frases
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil; (V.A.); (P.H.M.); (B.M.); (I.B.d.A.); (L.P.); (G.R.d.S.A.)
- Rede Micologia RJ, FAPERJ, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
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Corrêa-Junior D, de Andrade IB, Alves V, Avellar-Moura I, Rodrigues-Alves T, de Souza Rabello VB, de S Araújo GR, Borba-Santos LP, Zancopé-Oliveira RM, Almeida-Paes R, Frases S. Metabolic Plasticity and Virulence-Associated Factors of Sporothrix brasiliensis Strains Related to Familiar Outbreaks of Cat-to-Human Transmitted Sporotrichosis. J Fungi (Basel) 2023; 9:724. [PMID: 37504713 PMCID: PMC10381138 DOI: 10.3390/jof9070724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2023] [Revised: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Sporothrix brasiliensis is the main agent of zoonotic sporotrichosis transmitted by domestic cats in South America. In humans, sporotrichosis commonly presents with cutaneous or lymphocutaneous lesions, and in cats, with multiple ulcerated skin lesions associated with enlarged lymph nodes and respiratory signs. Fungal virulence factors may affect the clinical presentation of the mycoses. Sporothrix spp. present some virulence factors. This study aims to compare 24 S. brasiliensis strains from 12 familiar outbreaks of cat-to-human transmitted sporotrichosis. Fungal growth in different substrates, thermotolerance, resistance to oxidative stress, and production of enzymes were evaluated. An invertebrate model of experimental infection was used to compare the virulence of the strains. The strains grew well on glucose and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine but poorly on lactate. Their thermotolerance was moderate to high. All strains were susceptible to hydrogen peroxide, and the majority produced hemolysins but not phospholipase and esterase. There was no significant difference in the putative virulence-associated factors studied among the different hosts. Moreover, strains isolated from a human and a cat from four familiar outbreaks presented a very similar profile of expression of these factors, reinforcing the zoonotic transmission of S. brasiliensis in Brazil and demonstrating the plasticity of this species in the production of virulence factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dario Corrêa-Junior
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Iara Bastos de Andrade
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Vinicius Alves
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Igor Avellar-Moura
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Tânia Rodrigues-Alves
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Vanessa Brito de Souza Rabello
- Laboratório de Biologia Celular de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 24020-141, Brazil
| | - Glauber R de S Araújo
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Luana Pereira Borba-Santos
- Laboratório de Biologia Celular de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 24020-141, Brazil
| | - Rosely Maria Zancopé-Oliveira
- Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Almeida-Paes
- Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, Brazil
- Rede Micologia RJ, FAPERJ, Rio de Janeiro 20020-000, Brazil
| | - Susana Frases
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
- Rede Micologia RJ, FAPERJ, Rio de Janeiro 20020-000, Brazil
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Corrêa-Junior D, Bastos de Andrade I, Alves V, Avellar-Moura I, Brito de Souza Rabello V, Valdez AF, Nimrichter L, Zancopé-Oliveira RM, Ribeiro de Sousa Araújo G, Almeida-Paes R, Frases S. Unveiling the Morphostructural Plasticity of Zoonotic Sporotrichosis Fungal Strains: Possible Implications for Sporothrix brasiliensis Virulence and Pathogenicity. J Fungi (Basel) 2023; 9:701. [PMID: 37504690 PMCID: PMC10381685 DOI: 10.3390/jof9070701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Revised: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Sporotrichosis is a fungal infection caused by Sporothrix species, with Sporothrix brasiliensis as a prevalent pathogen in Latin America. Despite its clinical importance, the virulence factors of S. brasiliensis and their impact on the pathogenesis of sporotrichosis are still poorly understood. This study evaluated the morphostructural plasticity of S. brasiliensis, a fungus that causes sporotrichosis. Three cell surface characteristics, namely cell surface hydrophobicity, Zeta potential, and conductance, were assessed. Biofilm formation was also analyzed, with measurements taken for biomass, extracellular matrix, and metabolic activity. In addition, other potential and poorly studied characteristics correlated with virulence such as lipid bodies, chitin, and cell size were evaluated. The results revealed that the major phenotsypic features associated with fungal virulence in the studied S. brasiliensis strains were chitin, lipid bodies, and conductance. The dendrogram clustered the strains based on their overall similarity in the production of these factors. Correlation analyses showed that hydrophobicity was strongly linked to the production of biomass and extracellular matrix, while there was a weaker association between Zeta potential and size, and lipid bodies and chitin. This study provides valuable insights into the virulence factors of S. brasiliensis and their potential role in the pathogenesis of sporotrichosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dario Corrêa-Junior
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-853, Brazil
| | - Iara Bastos de Andrade
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-853, Brazil
| | - Vinicius Alves
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-853, Brazil
| | - Igor Avellar-Moura
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-853, Brazil
| | - Vanessa Brito de Souza Rabello
- Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, Brazil
| | - Alessandro Fernandes Valdez
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, Brazil
| | - Leonardo Nimrichter
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, Brazil
- Rede Micologia RJ, FAPERJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Rosely Maria Zancopé-Oliveira
- Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, Brazil
| | - Glauber Ribeiro de Sousa Araújo
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-853, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Almeida-Paes
- Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, Brazil
- Rede Micologia RJ, FAPERJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Susana Frases
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-853, Brazil
- Rede Micologia RJ, FAPERJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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de Andrade IB, Corrêa-Junior D, Alves V, Figueiredo-Carvalho MHG, Santos MV, Almeida MA, Valdez AF, Nimrichter L, Almeida-Paes R, Frases S. Cyclosporine Affects the Main Virulence Factors of Cryptococcus neoformans In Vitro. J Fungi (Basel) 2023; 9:jof9040487. [PMID: 37108941 PMCID: PMC10140927 DOI: 10.3390/jof9040487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Revised: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effects of cyclosporine on the morphology, cell wall structure, and secretion characteristics of Cryptococcus neoformans. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of cyclosporine was found to be 2 µM (2.4 µg/mL) for the H99 strain. Yeast cells treated with cyclosporine at half the MIC showed altered morphology, including irregular shapes and elongated projections, without an effect on cell metabolism. Cyclosporine treatment resulted in an 18-fold increase in chitin and an 8-fold increase in lipid bodies, demonstrating changes in the fungal cell wall structure. Cyclosporine also reduced cell body and polysaccharide capsule diameters, with a significant reduction in urease secretion in C. neoformans cultures. Additionally, the study showed that cyclosporine increased the viscosity of secreted polysaccharides and reduced the electronegativity and conductance of cells. The findings suggest that cyclosporine has significant effects on C. neoformans morphology, cell wall structure, and secretion, which could have implications for the development of new antifungal agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iara Bastos de Andrade
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Dario Corrêa-Junior
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Vinicius Alves
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
| | | | - Marcos Vinicius Santos
- Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Marcos Abreu Almeida
- Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Alessandro Fernandes Valdez
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Leonardo Nimrichter
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
- Rede Micologia RJ, FAPERJ, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Almeida-Paes
- Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
- Rede Micologia RJ, FAPERJ, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Susana Frases
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
- Rede Micologia RJ, FAPERJ, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
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Alves V, Araújo GR, Frases S. Off-label treatments as potential accelerators in the search for the ideal antifungal treatment of cryptococcosis. Future Microbiol 2023; 18:127-135. [PMID: 36688321 DOI: 10.2217/fmb-2022-0122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Cryptococcosis is an opportunistic mycosis that mainly affects immunosuppressed patients. The treatment is a combination of three antifungal agents: amphotericin B, 5-flucytosine and fluconazole. However, these drugs have many disadvantages, such as high nephrotoxicity, marketing bans in some countries and fungal resistance. One of the solutions to find possible new drugs is pharmacological repositioning. This work presents repositioned drugs as an alternative for new antifungal therapies for cryptococcosis. All the studies here were performed in vitro or in animal models, except for sertraline, which reached phase III in humans. There is still no pharmacological repositioning approval for cryptococcosis in humans, though this review shows the potential of repurposing as a rapid approach to finding new agents to treat cryptococcosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinicius Alves
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941902, Brazil
| | - Glauber Rs Araújo
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941902, Brazil
| | - Susana Frases
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941902, Brazil
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Silva I, Szmul A, Cantwell J, Lim P, D’Souza D, Moinuddin S, Alves V, Gains J, Veiga C. PO-1616 Evaluation of deep learning-based OAR segmentation in paediatric radiotherapy settings. Radiother Oncol 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/s0167-8140(22)03580-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Dornelles G, Araújo GRS, Rodrigues M, Alves V, Costa RC, Abreu J, Figueiredo-Carvalho MHG, Almeida-Paes R, Frases S. The Harris’ hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus) as a source of pathogenic human yeasts: a potential risk to human health. Future Microbiol 2022; 17:169-175. [DOI: 10.2217/fmb-2021-0166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Aim: Invasive human fungal infections have been a serious public health problem among immunocompromised patients. Wild bird species are related to the eco-epidemiology of some infectious diseases, mainly Cryptococcosis, Histoplasmosis, Aspergillosis, Chlamydiosis, Salmonellosis and allergic diseases. Falconry is the art of training predators for hunting. Nowadays, birds of prey are used as pets, which brings new sources of infections to humans. Materials & methods: We identified fungal pathogenic yeasts, Candida parapsilosis, Debaryomyces hansenii and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa. Conclusion: Study new environmental niches of human pathogens is vitally important to establish preventive actions with the purpose of minimizing the risks of human contamination. Our work describes yeast microbiota from the excreta of Parabuteo unicinctus as a potential hazard for human disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gustavo Dornelles
- Laboratório de Biofísica de fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Glauber RS Araújo
- Laboratório de Biofísica de fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Marcus Rodrigues
- Laboratório de Biofísica de fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Vinicius Alves
- Laboratório de Biofísica de fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo C Costa
- Centro de Preservação de Aves de Rapina (CePAR). R. I, 99-59 – Galeão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Junior Abreu
- Centro de Preservação de Aves de Rapina (CePAR). R. I, 99-59 – Galeão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Maria HG Figueiredo-Carvalho
- Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Almeida-Paes
- Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Susana Frases
- Laboratório de Biofísica de fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Jesus D, Larosa M, Henriques C, Matos A, Zen M, Tomé P, Alves V, Costa N, Le Guern V, Iaccarino L, Costedoat-Chalumeau N, Doria A, Inês L. OP0297 THE SLE-DAS ENABLES ACCURATE AND USER-FRIENDLY DEFINITIONS OF REMISSION AND CATEGORIES OF LUPUS DISEASE ACTIVITY: DERIVATION AND VALIDATION STUDY IN 1190 SLE PATIENTS. Ann Rheum Dis 2021. [DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-eular.1677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Background:Treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is tailored according to the intensity of SLE disease activity and aims to achieve remission. Current definitions of remission and disease activity categories are mostly based on the SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI), which has important limitations. The SLE Disease Activity Score (SLE-DAS) is a validated continuous disease activity score with higher accuracy in measuring SLE activity and higher sensitivity-to-change as compared to SLEDAI1. SLE-DAS is user-friendly with its online calculator.Objectives:To derive and validate the SLE-DAS cut-off values for defining SLE disease activity categories and SLE clinical remission state.Methods:Derivation study was conducted at the Padova Lupus Clinic. Validation was performed prospectively in patients from the Cochin Lupus Clinic and by post-hoc analysis of BLISS-76 (NCT00410384) trial. Gold-standard for clinical remission state was fulfillment of Definition Of Remission In SLE (DORIS). In Padova and Cochin Clinics, at time of inclusion, a senior clinician classified each patient as presenting: (i) remission, (ii) mild, or (iii) moderate/severe disease activity. Derivation of the SLE-DAS cut-offs for disease activity categories was performed using ROC curve analysis against this expert clinical classification. Performance of these SLE-DAS categories of disease activity was assessed as compared with: (i) expert classification (in Cochin cohort); (ii) British Isles Lupus Assessment Group (BILAG) index (in BLISS-76). An index-based and a Boolean definition of remission were tested applying decision trees, using CHAID (chi-square automatic interaction detection) algorithm and their performance estimated.Results:We included 1190 SLE patients (221 in Padova, 150 in Cochin and 819 from BLISS-76 cohorts). In the derivation cohort, best SLE-DAS cut-off values for disease activity categories were: (i) remission, SLE-DAS≤2.08; (ii) mild activity, 2.08<SLE-DAS≤7.10; (iii) moderate/severe activity, SLE-DAS>7.10. Table 1 shows the performance of these SLE-DAS cut-offs. The SLE-DAS Boolean-based definition of remission (all SLE-DAS clinical items scores = 0 and prednisone ≤5mg/day) showed sensitivity and specificity of 100% in the derivation (Padova) and validation (Cochin) clinical cohorts. The SLE-DAS index-based definition of remission (SLE-DAS ≤2.08 and prednisone ≤5mg/day) presented sensitivity =100% and specificity =97.4% in the derivation and validation clinical cohorts. The SLE-DAS definitions of remission were fully substantiated by CHAID.Table 1.Performance of SLE-DAS cut-offs for remission and disease activity categories compared to physician’s classification and BILAG (n =1190).Disease activity categorySensitivity (%)Specificity (%)Accuracy (%)DerivationPadova CohortRemission(SLE-DAS≤2.08)99.397.198.6Mild Disease Activity(2.08<SLE-DAS≤7.10)74.298.995.5Moderate and Severe Disease Activity(SLE-DAS>7.10)97.496.796.8ValidationCochin CohortRemission(SLE-DAS≤2.08)99.193.998.0Mild Disease Activity(2.08<SLE-DAS≤7.10)82.699.296.7Moderate and Severe Disease Activity(SLE-DAS>7.10)100.098.698.7ValidationBLISS-76Remission and Mild Disease Activity§vs. Moderate and Severe Disease Activity§§ (SLE-DAS≤7.10 vs. >7.10)91.484.190.8§ Remission/Mild: No BILAG B or A scores§§ Moderate/severe: ≥1 BILAG B or A scoresConclusion:The SLE-DAS is an accurate and easy to use tool for defining clinical remission state and SLE disease activity categories, validated with both the expert assessment and BILAG.References:[1]Jesus D, et al. Derivation and validation of the SLE Disease Activity Score (SLE-DAS): a new SLE continuous measure with high sensitivity for changes in disease activity. Ann Rheum Dis 2019;78:365-71.Acknowledgements:The authors would like to thank GlaxoSmithKline (Uxbridge, UK) for granting access to the data from the BLISS-76 trial through the Clinical Study Data Request consortium.Disclosure of Interests:None declared
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Araújo GRDS, Alves V, Martins-de-Souza PH, Guimarães AJ, Honorato L, Nimrichter L, Takiya CM, Pontes B, Frases S. Dexamethasone and Methylprednisolone Promote Cell Proliferation, Capsule Enlargement, and in vivo Dissemination of C. neoformans. Front Fungal Biol 2021; 2:643537. [PMID: 37744119 PMCID: PMC10512211 DOI: 10.3389/ffunb.2021.643537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
Cryptococcus neoformans is a fungal pathogen that causes life-threatening infections in immunocompromised individuals, who often have some inflammatory condition and, therefore, end up using glucocorticoids, such as dexamethasone and methylprednisolone. Although the effects of this class of molecules during cryptococcosis have been investigated, their consequences for the biology of C. neoformans is less explored. Here, we studied the effects of dexamethasone and methylprednisolone on the metabolism and on the induction of virulence factors in C. neoformans. Our results showed that both glucocorticoids increased fungal cell proliferation and surface electronegativity but reduced capsule and secreted polysaccharide sizes, as well as capsule compaction, by decreasing the density of polysaccharide fibers. We also tested whether glucocorticoids could affect the fungal virulence in Galleria mellonella and mice. Although the survival rate of Galleria larvae increased, those from mice showed a tendency to decrease, with infected animals dying earlier after glucocorticoid treatments. The pathogenesis of spread of cryptococcosis and the interleukin secretion pattern were also assessed for lungs and brains of infected mice. While increases in the spread of the fungus to lungs were observed after treatment with glucocorticoids, a significant difference in brain was observed only for methylprednisolone, although a trend toward increasing was also observed for dexamethasone. Moreover, increases in both pulmonary and cerebral IL-10 production, reduction of IL-6 production but no changes in IL-4, IL-17, and INF-γ were also observed after glucocorticoid treatments. Finally, histopathological analysis confirmed the increase in number of fungal cells in lung and brain tissues of mice previously subjected to dexamethasone or methylprednisolone treatments. Together, our results provide compelling evidence for the effects of dexamethasone and methylprednisolone on the biology of C. neoformans and may have important implications for future clinical treatments, calling attention to the risks of using these glucocorticoids against cryptococcosis or in immunocompromised individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Glauber R. de S. Araújo
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Cellular Hertha Meyer, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Vinicius Alves
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Cellular Hertha Meyer, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Pedro H. Martins-de-Souza
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Cellular Hertha Meyer, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Allan J. Guimarães
- Laboratório de Bioquímica e Imunologia das Micoses, Depto. de Microbiologia e Parasitologia, Instituto Biomédico, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Brazil
| | - Leandro Honorato
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Leonardo Nimrichter
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Christina Maeda Takiya
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia. Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Bruno Pontes
- Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Centro Nacional de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem (CENABIO), Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Susana Frases
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Cellular Hertha Meyer, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Laboratório de Biofísica de Fungos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Neves B, Moreira-Filho J, Silva A, Borba J, Mottin M, Alves V, Braga R, Muratov E, Andrade C. Automated Framework for Developing Predictive Machine Learning Models for Data-Driven Drug Discovery. J BRAZIL CHEM SOC 2021. [DOI: 10.21577/0103-5053.20200160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
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Abdallah E, Souzae Silva V, Aguiar S, Takahashi R, Flores B, Braun A, Alves V, Rodríguez Tarazona J, Chinen L, Mello C. Circulating tumor cells levels correlate with carcinoembryonic antigen in patients with high-risk colon cancer who experienced disease progression. Ann Oncol 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/annonc/mdz155.150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Sobral Torres L, Alves V, Martins E, Oliveira A, Pereira J. P301Diagnostic value of myocardial perfusion SPECT in left bundle branch block and associated artifacts. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/ehjci/jez148.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- L Sobral Torres
- Centro Hospitalar Universitário São João, EPE, Nuclear Medicine, Porto, Portugal
| | - V Alves
- Centro Hospitalar Universitário São João, EPE, Nuclear Medicine, Porto, Portugal
| | - E Martins
- Centro Hospitalar Universitário São João, EPE, Nuclear Medicine, Porto, Portugal
| | - A Oliveira
- Centro Hospitalar Universitário São João, EPE, Nuclear Medicine, Porto, Portugal
| | - J Pereira
- Centro Hospitalar Universitário São João, EPE, Nuclear Medicine, Porto, Portugal
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Ferreira G, Alves V, Martins E, Pereira J. P286Left ventricular dyssynchrony according to phase analysis from myocardial perfusion imaging in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/ehjci/jez148.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- G Ferreira
- Instituto Português de Oncologia do Porto, Nuclear Medicine, Porto, Portugal
| | - V Alves
- Centro Hospitalar Universitário de S. João, Nuclear Medicine, Porto, Portugal
| | - E Martins
- Centro Hospitalar Universitário de S. João, Nuclear Medicine, Porto, Portugal
| | - J Pereira
- Centro Hospitalar Universitário de S. João, Nuclear Medicine, Porto, Portugal
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Monteiro L, Ramos R, Silva J, Sofia A, Pereira C, Alves V, Silva C, Paranhos S, Raposo S, Lerias C, Nave C. 267 OncoSexology clinic in Portugal. J Sex Med 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2018.04.232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Russo S, Alves V, Raposo S, Lérias C, Matos P. 254 Vaginal stenosis prevention program: The evidence of practice. J Sex Med 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2018.04.219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Rollin-Pinheiro R, de Meirelles JV, Vila TVM, Fonseca BB, Alves V, Frases S, Rozental S, Barreto-Bergter E. Biofilm Formation by Pseudallescheria/Scedosporium Species: A Comparative Study. Front Microbiol 2017; 8:1568. [PMID: 28868050 PMCID: PMC5563321 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.01568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2017] [Accepted: 08/02/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Pseudallescheria/Scedosporium species are medically important fungi that are present in soil and human impacted areas and capable of causing a wide spectrum of diseases in humans. Although little is known about their pathogenesis, their growth process and infection routes are very similar to those of Aspergillus species, which grow as biofilms in invasive infections. All nine strains tested here displayed the ability to grow as biofilms in vitro and to produce a dense network of interconnected hyphae on both polystyrene and the surfaces of central venous catheters, but with different characteristics. Scedosporium boydii and S. aurantiacum clinical isolates were able to form biofilms faster than the corresponding environmental strains, as evidenced in kinetic assays for S. boydii and CLSM for S. aurantiacum. Biofilms formed by Pseudallescheria/Scedosporium species had significantly higher resistance to the class of antifungal azole than was observed in planktonic cells, indicating a protective role for this structure. In addition, the clinical S. aurantiacum isolate that formed the most robust biofilms was also more virulent in a larvae Galleria mellonella infection model, suggesting that the ability to form biofilms enhances virulence in Pseudallescheria/Scedosporium species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Rollin-Pinheiro
- Laboratório de Química Biológica de Microrganismos, Departamento de Microbiologia Geral, Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Goes, Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Jardel V de Meirelles
- Laboratório de Química Biológica de Microrganismos, Departamento de Microbiologia Geral, Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Goes, Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Taissa V M Vila
- Laboratório de Biologia Celular de Fungos, Departamento de Parasitologia e Biologia Celular, Instituto de Biofísica, Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Beatriz B Fonseca
- Laboratório de Biologia Celular de Fungos, Departamento de Parasitologia e Biologia Celular, Instituto de Biofísica, Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Vinicius Alves
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Departamento de Parasitologia e Biologia Celular, Instituto de Biofísica, Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Susana Frases
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Departamento de Parasitologia e Biologia Celular, Instituto de Biofísica, Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Sonia Rozental
- Laboratório de Biologia Celular de Fungos, Departamento de Parasitologia e Biologia Celular, Instituto de Biofísica, Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Eliana Barreto-Bergter
- Laboratório de Química Biológica de Microrganismos, Departamento de Microbiologia Geral, Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Goes, Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Carneiro S, Alves V, Camargo C, Arnóbio A, Mendonça L, Madeira M, Farias M, Ramos‐e‐Silva M. AVALIAÇÃO DA DENSIDADE MINERAL ÓSSEA EM PACIENTES COM DOENÇA PSORIÁSICA. Revista Brasileira de Reumatologia 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.rbr.2017.07.108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
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Alves V, Muratov E, Capuzzi S, Politi R, Low Y, Braga R, Zakharov AV, Sedykh A, Mokshyna E, Farag S, Andrade C, Kuz'min V, Fourches D, Tropsha A. Alarms about structural alerts. Green Chem 2016; 18:4348-4360. [PMID: 28503093 PMCID: PMC5423727 DOI: 10.1039/c6gc01492e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Structural alerts are widely accepted in chemical toxicology and regulatory decision support as a simple and transparent means to flag potential chemical hazards or group compounds into categories for read-across. However, there has been a growing concern that alerts disproportionally flag too many chemicals as toxic, which questions their reliability as toxicity markers. Conversely, the rigorously developed and properly validated statistical QSAR models can accurately and reliably predict the toxicity of a chemical; however, their use in regulatory toxicology has been hampered by the lack of transparency and interpretability. We demonstrate that contrary to the common perception of QSAR models as "black boxes" they can be used to identify statistically significant chemical substructures (QSAR-based alerts) that influence toxicity. We show through several case studies, however, that the mere presence of structural alerts in a chemical, irrespective of the derivation method (expert-based or QSAR-based), should be perceived only as hypotheses of possible toxicological effect. We propose a new approach that synergistically integrates structural alerts and rigorously validated QSAR models for a more transparent and accurate safety assessment of new chemicals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinicius Alves
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling and Design, Department of Pharmacy, Federal University of Goias, Goiania, GO, 74605-170, Brazil
| | - Eugene Muratov
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Department of Chemical Technology, Odessa National Polytechnic University, Odessa, 65000, Ukraine
| | - Stephen Capuzzi
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Regina Politi
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Yen Low
- Netflix, San Francisco, CA 94123, USA
| | - Rodolpho Braga
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling and Design, Department of Pharmacy, Federal University of Goias, Goiania, GO, 74605-170, Brazil
| | - Alexey V. Zakharov
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD 20850, USA
| | | | - Elena Mokshyna
- Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry, A.V. Bogatsky Physical-Chemical Institute NAS of Ukraine, Odessa, 65080, Ukraine
| | - Sherif Farag
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Carolina Andrade
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling and Design, Department of Pharmacy, Federal University of Goias, Goiania, GO, 74605-170, Brazil
| | - Victor Kuz'min
- Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry, A.V. Bogatsky Physical-Chemical Institute NAS of Ukraine, Odessa, 65080, Ukraine
| | - Denis Fourches
- Department of Chemistry and Bioinformatics Research Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Alexander Tropsha
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
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Alves LFA, Oliveira DGP, Lambkin T, Bonini AK, Alves V, Pinto FGS, Scur MC. Beauveria Bassiana Applied to Broiler Chicken Houses as Biocontrol of Alphitobius Diaperinus Panzer (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), an Avian Pathogens Vector. Rev Bras Cienc Avic 2015. [DOI: 10.1590/1516-635x1704459-466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- LFA Alves
- State University of Western Paraná, Brazil
| | | | - T Lambkin
- Entomologist at Ensource Consulting Pty Ltd, Australia
| | - AK Bonini
- State University of Western Paraná, Brazil
| | - V Alves
- State University of Western Paraná, Brazil
| | - FGS Pinto
- State University of Western Paraná, Brazil
| | - MC Scur
- State University of Western Paraná, Brazil
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Neves I, Alves V, Duraes A, Abreu RC, Jordão S, Guimaraes M, Soares MJ, Peres D, Vieira F, Devesa I. Implementation of a hospital antibiotic stewardship program: first results. Antimicrob Resist Infect Control 2015. [PMCID: PMC4475119 DOI: 10.1186/2047-2994-4-s1-p180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
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Rosa-Gonçalves D, Bernardes M, Vieira T, Magro F, Macedo G, Oliveira A, Faria T, Alves V, Perez M, Pinto A, Ramos I, Pereira J, Costa L. AB0891 Prevalence of Osteoporosis and Vitamin D Deficiency in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Ann Rheum Dis 2015. [DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2015-eular.4129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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Santos P, Alves V, Couto M, Ferreira M, Alves O, Moreira C, Abreu S, Santos R, Mota J. Physical activity during pregnancy and its effects on fetal parameters in the second trimester. Appetite 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2014.12.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Gonçalves AC, Cortesão E, Oliveiros B, Alves V, Espadana AI, Rito L, Magalhães E, Lobão MJ, Pereira A, Nascimento Costa JM, Mota-Vieira L, Sarmento-Ribeiro AB. Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction play a role in myelodysplastic syndrome development, diagnosis, and prognosis: A pilot study. Free Radic Res 2015; 49:1081-94. [PMID: 25968944 DOI: 10.3109/10715762.2015.1035268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and their elimination by antioxidants leads to oxidative stress. Depending on their concentration, ROS can trigger apoptosis or stimulate cell proliferation. We hypothesized that oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction may participate not only in apoptosis detected in some myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients, but also in increasing proliferation in other patients. We investigated the involvement of oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in MDS pathogenesis, as well as assessed their diagnostic and prognostic values. Intracellular peroxides, superoxide, superoxide/peroxides ratio, reduced glutathione (GSH), and mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψ(mit)) levels were analyzed in bone marrow cells from 27 MDS patients and 12 controls, by flow cytometry. We observed that all bone marrow cell types from MDS patients had increased intracellular peroxide levels and decreased GSH content, compared with control cells. Moreover, oxidative stress levels were MDS subtype- and risk group-dependent. Low-risk patients had the highest ROS levels, which can be related with their high apoptosis; and intermediate-2-risk patients had high Δψ(mit) that may be associated with their proliferative potential. GSH levels were negatively correlated with transfusion dependency, and peroxide levels were positively correlated with serum ferritin level. GSH content proved to be an accurate parameter to discriminate patients from controls. Finally, patients with high ROS or low GSH levels, as well as high superoxide/peroxides ratio had lower overall survival. Our results suggest that oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction are involved in MDS development, and that oxidative stress parameters may constitute novel diagnosis and/or prognosis biomarkers for MDS.
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Affiliation(s)
- A C Gonçalves
- Laboratory of Oncobiology and Hematology, FMUC - Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra , Coimbra , Portugal
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Areia A, Vale-Pereira S, Alves V, Rodrigues-Santos P, Moura P, Mota-Pinto A. Membrane progesterone receptors in human regulatory T cells: a reality in pregnancy. BJOG 2015; 122:1544-50. [PMID: 25639501 DOI: 10.1111/1471-0528.13294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/06/2014] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To provide evidence of the existence of membrane progesterone receptor alpha (mPRα) on regulatory T cells (Treg) in peripheral blood during pregnancy, postulating a possible explanation for the effect of progesterone on preterm birth. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Tertiary Obstetric Department in a University Hospital. POPULATION Healthy pregnant women. METHODS Treg cells from peripheral blood samples were studied by flow cytometry using multiple monoclonal antibody expression. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Evaluate the number and percentage of CD4(+) CD25(high) CD127(low) , the number and percentage of Treg cells among the total CD4(+) T cells, and the percentage and mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of mPRα in that population, using several gating strategies. RESULTS 43 peripheral blood samples were collected from healthy women during pregnancy, whose median gestational age was 28.7 ± 7.1 (16-40) weeks. The percentage of CD4(+) in the total lymphocytes was 43% (32-51) and the percentage of CD4(+) CD25(high) CD127(low) was 4.8% (1.6-5.9), with only 45% (16-72) of those cells expressing the intracellular marker FoxP3 (Treg cell pool). We confirmed the existence of mPRα in that specific population because 8.0% (2.02-33) of the Treg cells were marked with the specific monoclonal antibody, with an mPRα(+) MFI of 719 (590-1471). CONCLUSIONS This research shows that Treg cells express mPRα during pregnancy, which might play an important role in immune modulation by progesterone.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Areia
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra and Obstetric Unit, Coimbra University Hospital Centre, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - S Vale-Pereira
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - V Alves
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | | | - P Moura
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra and Obstetric Unit, Coimbra University Hospital Centre, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - A Mota-Pinto
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
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Alves V, Meixedo A, Ribeiro D, Calçada R, Cury A. Evaluation of the Performance of Different Damage Indicators in Railway Bridges. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.proeng.2015.08.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Braga R, Alves V, Silva A, Nascimento M, Silva F, Liao L, Andrade C. Virtual Screening Strategies in Medicinal Chemistry: The State of the Art and Current Challenges. Curr Top Med Chem 2014; 14:1899-912. [DOI: 10.2174/1568026614666140929120749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2013] [Revised: 11/01/2013] [Accepted: 11/14/2013] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Braga R, Alves V, Silva M, Muratov E, Fourches D, Tropsha A, Andrade C. Tuning hERG Out: Antitarget QSAR Models for Drug Development. Curr Top Med Chem 2014; 14:1399-415. [DOI: 10.2174/1568026614666140506124442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2013] [Revised: 02/10/2014] [Accepted: 02/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Neves I, Alves V, Peres D, Vieira F, Devesa I. P047: Fighting MRSA in an high endemic level hospital. Antimicrob Resist Infect Control 2013. [PMCID: PMC3688446 DOI: 10.1186/2047-2994-2-s1-p47] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
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Neves I, Vieira F, Peres D, Devesa I, Alves V. P186: Infection control plan management in primary care. Antimicrob Resist Infect Control 2013. [PMCID: PMC3688116 DOI: 10.1186/2047-2994-2-s1-p186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
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Costa M, Espirito-Santo H, Simões S, Correia A, Almeida R, Ferreira L, Conde Â, Alves V, Ferreira F, Caldas L, Pena I, Costa A, Simões D, Daniel F, Lemos L. 1549 – Correlates of elderly loneliness. Eur Psychiatry 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/s0924-9338(13)76559-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
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Albuquerque C, Martins R, Alves V, Cruz C. 1991 – Burnout syndrome in nurses specialists rehabilitation. Eur Psychiatry 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/s0924-9338(13)76928-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
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Almeida R, Marques M, Espírito Santo H, Moitinho S, Vigário V, Pena I, Matreno J, Rodrigues F, Antunes E, Simões D, Costa A, Correia A, Pimentel A, Alves V, Nascimento T, Costa M, Tomaz M, Caldas L, Ferreira L, Simões S, Guadalupe S, Lemos L, Daniel F. 1230 – Selective attention and cognitive decline in institutionalized elderly. Eur Psychiatry 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/s0924-9338(13)76308-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
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Gomes G, Hallal P, Alves V. Barriers to engagement in physical activity among adults and elderly non-participants of a physical activity intervention in primary health care. J Sci Med Sport 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2012.11.400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Machado M, Pires P, Dinis AM, Santos-Rosa M, Alves V, Salgueiro L, Cavaleiro C, Sousa MC. Monoterpenic aldehydes as potential anti-Leishmania agents: activity of Cymbopogon citratus and citral on L. infantum, L. tropica and L. major. Exp Parasitol 2012; 130:223-31. [PMID: 22227102 DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2011.12.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2011] [Accepted: 12/20/2011] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
In order to contribute for the search of new drugs for leishmaniasis, we study the susceptibility of Leishmania infantum, Leishmania tropica and Leishmania major to Cymbopogon citratus essential oil and major compounds, mrycene and citral. C. citratus and citral were the most active inhibiting L. infantum, L. tropica and L. major growth at IC(50) concentrations ranging from 25 to 52 μg/ml and from 34 to 42 μg/ml, respectively. L. infantum promastigotes exposed to essential oil and citral underwent considerable ultrastructural alterations, namely mitochondrial and kinetoplast swelling, autophagosomal structures, disruption of nuclear membrane and nuclear chromatin condensation. C. citratus essential oil and citral promoted the leishmanicidal effect by triggering a programmed cell death. In fact, the leishmanicidal activity was mediated via apoptosis as evidenced by externalization of phosphatidylserine, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, and cell-cycle arrest at the G(0)/G(1) phase. Taken together, ours findings lead us to propose that citral was responsible for anti-Leishmania activity of the C. citratus and both may represent a valuable source for therapeutic control of leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Machado
- Faculdade de Farmácia/CEF, Universidade de Coimbra, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, 3030-548 Coimbra, Portugal
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Todo-Bom A, Mota-Pinto A, Alves V, Santos-Rosa M. Aging and asthma - changes in CD45RA, CD29 and CD95 T cells subsets. Allergol Immunopathol (Madr) 2012; 40:14-9. [PMID: 21507549 DOI: 10.1016/j.aller.2011.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2010] [Revised: 01/11/2011] [Accepted: 01/18/2011] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Aging is associated with thymus involution leading to a reduction in naive T cells and to an accumulation of effector-memory cells. Apoptosis is a key mechanism to clear the immune system from activated and harmful cells. In asthma the stimulation of T cells by environmental antigens can decrease naive cells and sustain activated cells. The aim of this work was to evaluate the imbalance between CD45RA and CD29 cells during the aging process and their changes in elderly asthma and to evaluate how elderly and chronic diseases like asthma can affect susceptibility to apoptosis. METHODS Elderly and young adult healthy volunteers and elderly asthmatic patients were submitted to skin prick tests, immunoglobulin determination and flow cytometry analyses of CD3, CD4, CD8, CD45RA, CD29, and CD95. RESULTS Serum IgE was increased in allergic patients (p=0.0001). Asthmatics presented an increase in CD4 cells (p<0.05). CD45RA was significantly decreased in elderly individuals (p<0.05) and this decrease was higher in asthmatics (p<0.05). CD29 was increased in elderly healthy individuals compared to the control young group (p=0.0001). A negative correlation between CD29 and CD45RA (p<0.05) was observed. CD95 lymphocytes increased in elderly (p=0.0001) and a positive correlation between age and CD95 (p<0.05) was found. Asthmatic patients showed significant decreases in CD95 (p=0. 0001). CONCLUSIONS Naive cells are key cells in the defence against infections and their decrease in the elderly and in asthma is a bad prognosis factor. The reduction of apoptosis markers can promote the persistence of activated cells involved in chronic conditions.
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Faria-Campos A, Fernandes-Rausch H, Val C, Thorun P, Abreu V, Batista PH, Mendonça PH, Alves V, Rodrigues MR, Pimenta A, Franco G, Campos SVA. PRODIS: a proteomics data management system with support to experiment tracking. BMC Genomics 2011; 12 Suppl 4:S15. [PMID: 22369043 PMCID: PMC3287584 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-12-s4-s15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background A research area that has greatly benefited from the development of new and improved analysis technologies is Proteomics and large amounts of data have been generated by proteomic analysis as a consequence. Previously, the storage, management and analysis of these data have been done manually. This is, however, incompatible with the volume of data generated by modern proteomic analysis. Several attempts have been made to automate the tasks of data analysis and management. In this work we propose PRODIS (Proteomics Database Integrated System), a system for proteomic experimental data management. The proposed system enables an efficient management of the proteomic experimentation workflow, simplifies controlling experiments and associated data and establishes links between similar experiments through the experiment tracking function. Results PRODIS is fully web based which simplifies data upload and gives the system the flexibility necessary for use in complex projects. Data from Liquid Chromatography, 2D-PAGE and Mass Spectrometry experiments can be stored in the system. Moreover, it is simple to use, researchers can insert experimental data directly as experiments are performed, without the need to configure the system or change their experiment routine. PRODIS has a number of important features, including a password protected system in which each screen for data upload and retrieval is validated; users have different levels of clearance, which allow the execution of tasks according to the user clearance level. The system allows the upload, parsing of files, storage and display of experiment results and images in the main formats used in proteomics laboratories: for chromatographies the chromatograms and lists of peaks resulting from separation are stored; For 2D-PAGE images of gels and the files resulting from the analysis are stored, containing information on positions of spots as well as its values of intensity, volume, etc; For Mass Spectrometry, PRODIS presents a function for completion of the mapping plate that allows the user to correlate the positions in plates to the samples separated by 2D-PAGE. Furthermore PRODIS allows the tracking of experiments from the first stage until the final step of identification, enabling an efficient management of the complete experimental process. Conclusions The construction of data management systems for Proteomics data importing and storing is a relevant subject. PRODIS is a system complementary to other proteomics tools that combines a powerful storage engine (the relational database) and a friendly access interface, aiming to assist Proteomics research directly at data handling and storage.
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Mota-Pinto A, Todo A, Alves V, Santos A, Santos M. Regulatory T cells in elderly patients with asthma. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol 2011; 21:199-206. [PMID: 21548448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Airway walls in asthma present an accumulation of activated cells that determine bronchial structural changes and disease progression and severity. During the aging process, the immunoinflammatory response changes as a consequence of chronic antigenic stress. OBJECTIVE To evaluate T-cell subsets with regulatory functions associated with asthma in elderly patients METHODS A group of 153 individuals (95 with controlled asthma and 58 healthy controls) aged over 65 years was studied. Blood samples were collected for flow cytometry analyses of CD3, CD4, CD8, CD56, CD56CD8, CD3CD4CD25, CD3CD4CD25CD127, CD4HLA-DR and TCRgamma delta. RESULTS Asthmatic patients showed a statistically significant increase in CD4+ T cells. CD3CD4CD25high and CD3CD4CD25highCD127high cells were also significantly increased in asthmatic patients, while CD3CD4CD25highCD127low cells had similar values in asthmatics and in the control group. CD4HLA-DR cells were within the normal range in both groups. A positive correlation between CD3CD4CD25highCD127low and CD4HLA-DR was observed and gamma delta T cells were significantly decreased in the asthmatic patients compared to the controls. CONCLUSIONS Since T cells with regulatory functions were within normal ranges or reduced in asthmatic patients compared to healthy controls, at least in basal conditions, it can be speculated that they probably play a limited role in chronic asthma in elderly patients.These data suggest an absence of a modulatory effect on the inflammatory response that characterizes asthma and allergy, which in turn would facilitate the persistence of disease in this population. Underlying inflammatory processes that are involved in chronic diseases associated with aging could provide an additional explanation for the attenuated differences observed between asthmatic and nonasthmatic individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Mota-Pinto
- Institute of Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Portugal.
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Freitas F, Torres C, Alves V, Cruz M, Oliveira R, Reis M. Conversion of glycerol into a new high-value fucose-containing bacterial exopolysaccharide. J Biotechnol 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2010.08.226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Sousa M, Monteiro M, Alves V, Granja C. Viral infections in the ICU: should we search for them? Crit Care 2010. [PMCID: PMC2934564 DOI: 10.1186/cc8300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
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Freitas F, Alves V, Torres C, Oliveira R, Reis M. Conversion of glycerol byproduct into value-added bacterial polysaccharides. N Biotechnol 2009. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nbt.2009.06.167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Mota Pinto A, Todo-Bom A, Vale Pereira S, Alves V, Santos Rosa M. The evaluation of neopterin and antioxidants in long lasting asthma. Rev Port Pneumol 2007; 12:669-82. [PMID: 17301930 DOI: 10.1016/s2173-5115(06)70428-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Asthma is a condition characterised by a chronic immunoinflammatory response to different triggers. Neopterin (NPT) is synthesised by human macrophages upon stimulation with interferon-gamma and is also capable of enhancing the oxidative potential of reactive oxygen species. NPT is useful for the monitoring of cell-mediated (Th1-type) immune activation. This study analysed the behaviour of NPT in long lasting asthma, considering its role as a marker of Th1 environment. Allergic parameters (skin prick tests, Immunoglobin E (IgE), and eosinophil count) and NPT were evaluated in an asthmatic group and in a control group. We also analysed the C Reactive Protein (CRP) concentration, Total Antioxidant Status (TAS) and Superoxide Dismutase Enzyme (SOD) in both groups. A group of individuals aged over 65 years old was selected. It included 64 asthmatic patients (72+/-5 years) and 41 healthy individuals (79+/-7 years). Blood cell counts showed statistically different median values of eosinophils (5.42+/-4.7 vs 2.8+/-2.8;p<.04), IgE (493.2+/-549.8 vs 85.3+/-194.UI/ml; p=.000) and NPT was non-statistically decreased (2.4+/-2.8 vs 4.0+/-4.7 ng/ml) in allergic asthmatic patients when compared with non-allergic asthmatic patients. Both allergic and non-allergic asthmatic patients presented a statistically significant decreased expression of TAS (0.84+/-0.14/0.86+/-0.11 vs 0.91+/-0.10 mM) and SOD (584.8+/-108.7/595.6+/-235.9 vs 822.9+/-179.5) when compared with normal control subjects. Our results suggest macrophage involvement in asthma pathogenesis. The deficit in antioxidant defence impacts negatively on this disease. The increase of NPT values in non-allergic asthma consolidates these affirmations and mapping this parameter should be part of the work of an analytical study panel as it may lead to allergic asthma being distinguished from non- allergic asthma.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Mota Pinto
- Institute of General Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Rua Larga, 3004-504 Coimbra
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Todo-Bom A, Mota Pinto A, Alves V, Vale Pereira S, Santos Rosa M. Apoptosis and asthma in the elderly. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol 2007; 17:107-12. [PMID: 17460949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways. The persistence of airway inflammation depends on a decrease in apoptosis of T lymphocytes and eosinophils and survival of these activated cells. T lymphocytes expressing gamma delta receptors can be identified in human lungs and play an important role in immune defence against pathogens and in the regulation of chronic inflammation. Aging is associated with evidence of some immune dysregulation. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to analyze the apoptosis receptors of T lymphocytes in long-lasting asthma, to establish their correlation with activation markers such as CD25+ and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR+, and to analyze the gama delta T cell expression in this disease. METHODS A group of 64 individuals (group A) who had had asthma for more than 30 years (mean age [+/-SD] 72 +/- 5 years) and 61 healthy individuals acting as controls--group B with 41 individuals (mean age 79 +/- 7 years) and group C with 20 individuals (mean age 38 +/- 12 years) were included in the study. All subjects underwent clinical evaluation and spirometric testing. Peripheral blood cells were stained with monoclonal antibodies anti-CD3, anti-CD4, anti-CD8, anti-CD25, anti-TCR gamma delta, anti-HLA-DR and anti-CD95. Statistical comparisons were performed between the asthmatics and the elderly control group and between the elderly control group and the adult control group. RESULTS The average percentage of predicted forced expiratory volume in the first second was 73.6 gamma delta 25.3. The mean values of T cell receptors for asthma group A vs elderly control group B vs adult control group C respectively, were the following: CD3, 74.9+/-7 vs. 74.8 +/- 8.8 (P=ns) vs. 76.7 +/- 4.2 (P=ns); CD4, 48.8 +/- 8.7 vs. 43.5 +/- 10.2 (P=ns) vs. 44.8 +/- 3.8 (P=ns); CD8, 23.3 +/- 7.9 vs. 25.7 +/- 10.2 (P=ns) vs. 25.6 +/- 4.5 (P=ns); CD25, 14.3 +/- 5.9 vs. 22.4 +/- 7.8 (P = .0001) vs. 5.5 +/- 2.4 (P = .0001); TCR gamma delta, 2.8 +/- 2.1 vs. 4.1 +/- 3.3 (P < .05) vs. 4.6 +/- 2.1 (P=ns); HLA-DR, 18.4 +/- 9.2 vs. 17.8 +/- 5.9 (P=ns) vs. 15.4 +/- 5.1 (P=ns) and CD95, 49.3 +/- 13.7 vs. 52.6 +/- 12.1 (P=ns) vs. 13.8 +/- 10.8 (P = .0001). CONCLUSIONS The immunological and inflammatory changes related to ageing may cause an increase in CD95 and CD25 T cell expression. In asthma, blood cells may express increased activation and apoptosis markers but in elderly patients taking steroids, these receptors remain within normal ranges. The number of gamma delta T cells may be lower in long-lasting asthma, and have a limited modulatory effect on allergic inflammatory reactions. The evaluation of patients with long-lasting asthma should take into account the immunological and inflammatory changes present in the elderly in order to avoid results being misinterpreted.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Todo-Bom
- ImmunoAlergology Department, Coimbra University Hospital, Portugal.
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Mota Pinto A, Todo Bom A, Vale Pereira S, Alves V, Santos Rosa M. Elevated neopterin levels in non-allergic asthma. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006; 14:35-9. [PMID: 17113763 DOI: 10.1016/j.pathophys.2006.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2006] [Revised: 10/01/2006] [Accepted: 10/11/2006] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Neopterin is synthesized by human monocyte-derived macrophages upon stimulation with interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma). Measurement of neopterin concentration is useful to monitor cell-mediated (Th1-type) immune activation. In this study, we aimed to analyze the behaviour of neopterin in long lasting asthma considering its role as a marker of the Th1 environment and to establish the distinction between patients belonging either to the allergic or the non-allergic population, particularly in the elderly where asthma is often under diagnosed. Therefore we evaluated allergic parameters such as skin prick tests, IgE and hemogram (eosinophils count), and we compared our findings with neopterin values found in an age-matched control population. A group of individuals older than 65 was selected. It included 64 asthmatic patients (mean age 72+/-5 years) and 41 healthy individuals (mean age 79+/-7 years). In our study population, 42 patients presented positive skin tests, mainly to house dust mites. All patients were clinically stable and presented an average percentage of predicted forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) of 73.6+/-25.3 and predicted median expiratory flow percentage (MEF50) of 38.8+/-26.7. Blood cell counts showed statistically different mean values of eosinophils between allergic and non-allergic controls (5.42+/-4.7% versus 2.8+/-2.8%; p<0.04). IgE values were increased in allergic asthmatic patients when compared with non-allergic asthmatic patients (493.2+/-549.8IU/ml versus 85.3+/-194.4IU/ml; p=0.000). Allergic asthmatic patients presented mean neopterin levels similar to those found in the control group (2.4+/-2.8ng/ml versus 2.1+/-1.9ng/ml). In contrast, in non-allergic asthmatic patients these values were higher when compared with the control group (4.0+/-4.7ng/ml versus 2.1+/-1.9ng/ml). Neopterin levels were lower in allergic asthmatic patients when compared with non-allergic asthmatic patients (2.4+/-2.8ng/ml versus 4.0+/-4.7ng/ml). Within asthmatic patients, those with higher neopterin values (>2.1ng/ml) presented lower mean IgE values (IgE</=336.58IU) than those with lower neopterin values (</=2.1ng/ml) who presented mean IgE values of 402.70IU. Our initial findings may lead to a better understanding of the immunoinflammatory pathways in asthma. Further studies will probably show that serum neopterin could became a useful marker for asthma classification including in elderly patients with long lasting disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Mota Pinto
- General Pathology Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Coimbra University, Portugal
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Mota Pinto A, Todo-Bom A, Vale Pereira S, Alves V, Santos Rosa M. Determinação da neopterina e de defesas antioxidantes na asma de evolução arrastada. Revista Portuguesa de Pneumologia 2006. [DOI: 10.1016/s0873-2159(15)30459-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
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