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When Brazilian immunologist Helder Nakaya visited Evandro Chagas Institute in Belém (the capital of Pará state, Brazil) in 2017, there was a commotion because one of its best microscopists was retiring and much of the knowledge used for fast and accurate identification of the protozoan Leishmania would be lost. “I was dismayed by the waste of losing all that expertise, which it had taken decades to acquire. We began researching and trying to train a computer program to [...]

A synthetic substance analogous to cannabidiol prevents the neuropathic pain caused by chemotherapy. Neuropathy is a relatively common adverse effect of chemotherapy drugs and can lead to the interruption of clinical cancer treatment. A study that reached this conclusion was conducted in Brazil involving paclitaxel, a widely used chemotherapy drug available to patients with various types of cancer via Brazil’s national health system (SUS). An article on the study is published in the [...]

Torquetenovirus (TTV) is one of the viruses most frequently found in the human organism. It is also common in monkeys and domestic animals. Its presence has not been associated with any known disease, but its excessive replication is a sign that something is wrong with the immune system. The correlation between high TTV load and immunosuppression has been used in medicine in certain contexts, such as monitoring transplant patients who take medication to prevent rejection of the transplanted [...]

A study published this May in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases suggests that people who have had dengue in the past are twice as likely to develop symptoms of COVID-19 if they are infected by the novel coronavirus. The findings of the study were based on an analysis of blood samples from 1,285 inhabitants of Mâncio Lima, a small town in the state of Acre, part of Brazil’s Amazon region. The principal investigator was Marcelo Urbano Ferreira, a professor at the University of [...]

Tityus serrulatus, the Yellow scorpion, causes more deaths than any other venomous animal in Brazil. Its sting can induce heart attack and pulmonary edema, especially in children and the elderly. According to the Brazilian Health Ministry, more than 156,000 cases of scorpion envenomation, 169 fatal, were reported in the country in 2019. Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) have demonstrated for the first time that in severe cases of scorpion envenomation a systemic [...]

Well-known for its bactericidal and anti-fungal properties, Brazilian red propolis has now been found to act powerfully against the parasite that causes schistosomiasis, reducing the number of eggs and killing the helminths (worms). In experiments performed at Universidade Guarulhos (UnG) in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, with FAPESP’s support, 400 milligrams per kilogram of body weight was a sufficient dose of red propolis to reduce the parasite load by more than 60% in mice [...]

A group led by a researcher affiliated with the University of São Paulo’s São Carlos Chemistry Institute (IQSC-USP) in Brazil has developed a novel palladium compound that acts against ovarian tumor cells without affecting healthy tissues. Palladium is a silvery white metal belonging to the same group as platinum. The molecule acts more selectively and powerfully in vitro than cisplatin, a platinum-based chemotherapy medication that is used to treat several types of cancer [...]

Evaluating body composition, especially appendicular muscle mass, can be an effective strategy for predicting longevity in people over 65 years of age, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of São Paulo’s Medical School (FM-USP) in Brazil. The appendicular muscles are the muscles that move the appendages or extremities—the arms and legs. They also play a key role in stabilizing the shoulders and hips. The researchers studied a group of 839 men and [...]

Curcumin is widely used to impart color and flavor to food, but scientists have discovered that this yellow powder derived from the roots of the turmeric plant (Curcuma longa) can also help prevent or combat stomach cancer. The study by researchers at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) and the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) in Brazil identified possible therapeutic effects of this pigment and of other bioactive compounds found in food on stomach cancer, the third [...]