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Biomedical subjects

A M Lima

Publications and source records attributed to A M Lima.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Direct analysis of mannitol, lactulose and glucose in urine samples by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulse amperometric detection. Clinical evaluation of intestinal permeability in human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Clinically, the ratio of lactulose/mannitol excretion in urine after administration of these non-metabolized sugars has been used to evaluate the extent of malabsorption and intestinal permeability disruption in several infections and nutritional diseases, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. A range of methodologies have been reported to determine the lactulose/mannitol ratio, including enzymatic assay, gas-liquid chromatography (GC), thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Most published methods involve tedious sample preparations, rendering them unsuitable for routine or automated clinical laboratory testing. We describe in this paper a method in which weak anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography in conjunction with a pulsed amperometric detector was used. It requires very simple sample preparation and avoids interference by other components present in the urine. The linear range of determination for mannitol, lactulose and glucose are up to 10 nmol, in a single injection. The limits of detection are 8, 12, 47 and 52 pmol, respectively, for mannitol, glucose, lactose and lactulose. The separation and quantification using this method are highly reproducible, yielding standard errors of less than 2.5% for retention times and less than 3.5% for quantitation. The ratios of lactulose/mannitol recovery in controls and in HIV-infected subjects with and without diarrhea showed striking differences, which are in close agreement with the published results derived with similar HPLC methods.

Calibration↗
PubMed1995

Familial aggregation of Leishmania chagasi infection in northeastern Brazil.

A sample of 1,604 individuals belonging to 243 nuclear families from an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis (Jacobina, Bahia State, Brazil) was studied to disclose the intrafamilial pattern of infection. Significant father to offspring, mother to offspring, and sibling to sibling associations, in contrast a with nonsignificant father to mother association, clearly indicate a familial aggregation of the infection, with a strong suggestion of at least partial genetic involvement.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Process assessment in the care for patients with chronic degenerative disease in a basic health unit].

The efficacy of health actions, related to arterial hypertension and used as a strategy to decrease morbimortality due to cardiovascular diseases, in accordance with the "risk approach" and carried out in a Primary Health Care Clinic is assessed. These actions are based on the detection of arterial hypertension in the adult population attended at the Clinic and on the control of blood pressure levels in hypertensive individuals in which other known risk factors continue to be controlled, as well as on further treatment of eventual complications. Data relating to the 3,793 patients who were attended at least once by doctors of the adult sector of a training health-center located in S. Paulo county (Brazil) during the period from June 1990 to May 1991, inclusive, were evaluated. This evaluation was made according to each diagnosis undertaken as well as to the concentration of each type of consultation whether occasional, or follow-up. Of these 3,793 patients analysed, 839 presented arterial hypertension and/or diabetes, and were grouped into four categories: the exclusively hypertensive, the hypertensive with other associated chronic diseases (except diabetes), the diabetic and the diabetic with arterial hypertension. The results of this study brought the following aspects to light: 1) The low coverage of hypertensive individuals and diabetics being attended by the health service when only the population attended by the health service is taken into consideration. 2) The incidence of patients diagnosed as hypertensive in occasional consultations who did not return to the health service for medical follow-up indicates the difficulties involved in attracting such individuals permanently.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Factor VIII:C, ABO blood groups, and black admixture in a Brazilian sample.

The effects of ABO blood groups and black admixture on the level of factor VIII:C are studied in healthy adults from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. A racially mixed sample of 125 males was selected as follows: 25 whites, 25 light mulattoes, 25 medium mulattoes, 25 dark mulattoes, and 25 blacks. Levels of both factor VIII:C and K-PTT followed normal distributions. O blood group subjects showed lower factor VIII:C levels (110.20 +/- 30.76%) than non-O blood group members (135.24 +/- 31.42%) (t123 = 4.47; p less than 0.0001) and higher K-PTT levels (37.69 +/- 4.57 s) than non-O blood group subjects (35.25 +/- 3.82 s) (t123 = 3.24; p less than 0.01). By holding ABO blood type constant, there is a significant racial effect (white) on lowering the factor VIII:C level within both blood group O (t43 = 2.23; p less than 0.05) and non-O (t36 = 3.44; p less than 0.002). There is no interaction effect of race and blood group (F = 0.19; p greater than 0.6) on the factor VIII:C levels.

ABO Blood-Group System↗
PubMed1981

Genetic and anthropological studies in the island of Itaparica, Bahia, Brazil.

The ongoing racial admixture was studied in the island of Itaparica off the coast of the State of Bahia, in Brazil. The following gene frequencies were observed: Hb S = 0.039; Hb C = 0.022; PGD C = 0.024; Gd A = 0.217 and Gd A = 0.052, among 293 mixed school children whose black phenotype index (medium mulatto + dark mulatto + black/total) was 0.457. Data on racial groups, obtained from 898 death certificates of three periods (1889-1890, 1934-1937 and 1975-1980) showed that in about 90 years (three generations) the proportion of mulattoes had doubled, the whites had decreased to one third, and the blacks showed no variation. Changes in the frequencies of surnames within the whites over the same 90 years indicated a growing proportion of individuals with black ancestry flowing into the white group. Higher reproductive rates among the more negroid individuals is probably the leading force directing the racial admixture in the island.

Black People↗
PubMed1979

Human aconitase polymorphism in three samples from northeastern Brazil.

Human aconitase (ACONS) polymorphism was studied in three samples from northeastern Brazil. Two of the samples were collected in the State of Bahia and one in the State of Sergipe. The main characteristic of the samples was given by different degrees of Black admixture. The results showed that the more negroid the samples the higher the frequencies of the alleles ACONS4, ACONS2 and ACONS6. These findings fit well with the known ACONS gene frequencies in present-day Nigerians and with the past history of Yoruba slaves in Bahia.

Aconitate Hydratase↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The proliferative response of T cells against cruzipain in chronic chagasic cardiopathy].

In this paper, we sought to determine if chronic chagasic patients with cardiopathy could be distinguished from those displaying non-chagasic cardiopathy on the basis of T cell proliferative responses to cruzipain (GP57/51), a major antigen of T. cruzi. Assays were performed with peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 24 individuals classified as follows: normal donors (n = 8), patients with non-chagasic cardiopathy (n = 8), patients with chronic chagasic cardiopathy without morbid associations (n = 8). The analysis of variance indicated that the proliferative responses stimulated by cruzipain were significantly higher in the group of chagasic patients (p = 0.0001). Turkey's multiple comparison test showed that the proliferative index medium from normal and non-chagasic cardiopathy was not significantly different from each other. We conclude that the T cell responses against T. cruzipain, as measured by proliferative indices of cells found in peripheral blood, are exclusively associated with Chagas, disease. In view of the abundance of cruzipain antigen in amastigotes it is possible that these T cell specificities contribute to the heart tissue damage observed in chronic Chagas, disease patients.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Low blood glucose levels and other complications during growth hormone supplementation in sepsis.

Blood glucose levels in the high normal range or even moderate hyperglycemia is the expected profile in septic postoperative patients receiving high-calorie enteral alimentation. The addition of growth hormone as an anabolic agent should additionally reinforce this tendency. In a cancer patient undergoing partial gastrectomy with lymphadenectomy and suffering from postoperative subphrenic abscess and prolonged sepsis, tube feeding (38.3 kcal/kg/day) and growth hormone (0.17 IU/kg/day) were simultaneously administered for 25 days. Blood glucose levels were in the lower limits of the normal range before growth hormone introduction, and continued with a similar tendency during most of the therapeutic period. Two additional complications, namely heart arrest and peripheral edema, were documented during the same period. It is concluded that sepsis was the most likely mechanism for low glucose values, and that high-calorie enteral diet and growth hormone supplementation did not prevent that result. It is uncertain whether heart arrest was due to the drug, but its association with peripheral edema is well documented in clinical series.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

PGM3 polymorphism in human placenta samples from Bahia, Brazil.

PGM3 polymorphism was studied in 301 placenta samples from the Negroid population of Northeastern Brazil. The following gene frequencies were encountered: PGM3*1 = 0.545 and PGM3*2 = 0.455. They lie between European and African gene frequencies. The prevalent Black and White admixture of Northeastern Brazil populations fits well with the observed gene frequencies. Two samples exhibited variant electrophoretic patterns.

Black People↗