HEITOR FRANCO DE ANDRADE JUNIOR
Projetos de Pesquisa
Unidades Organizacionais
Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina - Docente
LIM/49 - Laboratório de Protozoologia, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina - Líder
LIM/49 - Laboratório de Protozoologia, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina - Líder
5 resultados
Resultados de Busca
Agora exibindo 1 - 5 de 5
- Early high avidity specific IgG production in experimental hamster visceral leishmaniasis(2020) CARVALHO, Camila Aparecida de; FERRAO, Thiago Fidelis; CAVALCANTE, Fernanda Siqueira; FREITAS, Flavia Regina Novais de; MEIRELES, Luciana Regina; ANDRADE JUNIOR, Heitor Franco deVisceral leishmaniasis (VL) byLeishmania (Leishmania) infantumis epidemic in Brazil. Hypergammaglobulinemia appears early in patients with VL and is ineffective. Usually, high-affinity IgG B cells are selected during most infections, a critical step for an effective humoral response. The avidity of IgG antibodies in VL is unexplored due to the absence of temporal parameters in most patients, associated to low clinical significance. Experimental infection models overcome this fact, allowing the monitoring of the disease temporal evolution. In this study, the avidity of IgG antibodies was evaluated in experimental models, in infection in hamsters, and in immunization in rabbits. Specific IgG antibodies were detected by ELISA, using chaotropic solution to determine avidity, as reported for viral infections. The levels of IgG antibodies correlated with the progression of experimental infection in hamsters or antigenic stimulation in immunized rabbits. However, IgG avidity was high early in infected animals, even in early periods (> 80%), while in immunized rabbits, they had early antibodies of low avidity with progressive maturation, similar as other infections. These data suggest that the affinity maturation of the avidity of anti-LeishmaniaIgG antibodies promoted at an early stage, influencing the appropriate interaction between antigens and affecting the disease progression. This fact could be associated to monovalent immune complexes, as reported in human and experimental VL. This scenario may be related to an independent process of immune cell activation by the parasite but absent in antigen preparation used as immunogens.
- Natural versus Recombinant Viral Antigens in SARS-CoV-2 Serology: Challenges in Optimizing Laboratory Diagnosis of COVID-19(2020) MEIRELES, Luciana Regina; SILVA, Angelica Moura Freixeira da; CARVALHO, Camila Aparecida; KESPER, Norival; GALISTEO JR., Andres Jimenez; SOARES, Camila Pereira; ARAUJO, Danielle Bastos; DURIGON, Edison Luiz; OLIVEIRA, Danielle Bruna Leal; MORGANTI, Ligia; CHURA-CHAMBI, Rosa Maria; ANDRADE JR., Heitor Franco deOBJECTIVES: COVID-19 is a public health emergency of international concern whose detection in recovered asymptomatic patients is dependent on accurate diagnosis as it enables the estimation of the susceptibility of the population to the infection. This demand has resulted in the development of several commercial assays employing recombinant proteins, but the results of these assays are not reliable as they do not involve comparison with natural viral antigens. We independently used the SARS-CoV-2 whole viral antigen (WVA) and recombinant nucleocapsid protein (rNP) to develop in-house ELISAs for IgG detection; the results of these ELISAs were then compared to obtain reliable results. METHODS: WVA and rNP ELISAs were performed on COVID-19 negative sera from patients before the pandemic in Brazil, and on RT-qPCR-positive or SARS-CoV-2-IgG against rNP and IgG against WVA-positive samples from recently infected patients in Sao Paulo, Brazil. RESULTS: Both ELISAs detected a large fraction of infected patients but exhibited certain drawbacks. Higher signals and lower numbers of false-negatives were observed in rNP ELISA; however, a higher fraction of false-ositives was observed in control groups. A high number of false-negatives was observed with WVA ELISA. Correlating the results of rNP and WVA ELISAs resulted in improved performance for COVID-19 diagnosis. CONCLUSION: The choice of antigen is an important aspect in optimizing the laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19. The use of rNP ELISA for the detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies seems promising, but comparison of the results with those of WVA ELISA is crucial for accurate test development prior to commercialization. IgG serology using several assays, and with the spectral patterns of SARS-CoV-2, resulted in confusing information that must be clarified before the establishment of diagnostic serology criteria.
- Radiation effects on Toxoplasma antigens: different immune responses of irradiated intact tachyzoites or soluble antigens in experimental mice models(2020) COSTA, Andrea da; NASCIMENTO, Nanci do; GALISTEO JR., Andres Jimenez; PASSOS, Aline Bastos Dias dos; ANDRADE JR., Heitor Franco dePurpose: Purpose: Protein irradiation causes aggregation, chain breakage, and oxidation, enhancing its uptake by antigen-presenting cells. To evaluate if irradiated proteins participate on the protection, we studied the immune response induced in mice immunized with irradiated soluble extracts of T. gondii tachyzoites (STag) or irradiated intact T. gondii RH tachyzoites (RH0.25 kGy). Material and Methods: Soluble extracts of Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites (STag) were irradiated at different dose by Cobalt-60 source. By polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-Page) we evaluated the effects on primary structures of protein STags induced by irradiation. By Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) we evaluated the difference between humoral immune response induced by irradiated STag or RH tachyzoites in immunized mice from the detection of specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies in the serum of immunized mice. From challenge with viable RH strain of T. gondii we evaluated the protection induced in the immunized animals. By cytometry we performed the phenotyping of T and B lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of the immunized animals. Results: Irradiation dose of 1.5 kGy induced minimal changes in most proteins, without affecting their antigenicity or immunogenicity. Immunization showed saturation at the dose of 10 mu g/mice, with worst response at higher doses. STag irradiated at 1.5 kGy (STag(1.5 kGy)) induced higher survival and protection similar to T. gondii RH strain irradiated at 0.25 kGy (RH0.25 kGy), with higher serum levels of high affinity IgG compared to STag native. Blood immune memory cells of mice immunized with STag(1.5 kGy) had higher proportions of CD19(+) (cluster of differentiation 19) and CD4(+) (cluster of differentiation 14) cells, whereas mice RH0.25 kGy had high proportion of memory CD8(+) (cluster of differentiation 8) cells. Conclusions: Our data suggest that major histocompatibility complex type I (MHCI) pathway, appears seem to be used by RH0.25 kGy to generate cytotoxic cells while STag1.5 kGy uses a major histocompatibility complex type II (MHCII) pathway for B-cell memory, but both induce sufficient immune response for protection in mice without any adjuvant. Irradiation of soluble protein extracts enhances their immune response, allowing similar protection against T. gondii in mice as compared to irradiated intact parasites.
- Measles, rubella, mumps and Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in saliva of vaccinated students of schools and universities in Sao Paulo City, Brazil(2020) SAMPAIO, Barbara Carvalho Fialho; RODRIGUES, Jaqueline Polizeli; MEIRELES, Luciana Regina; ANDRADE JUNIOR, Heitor Franco deIntroduction: Vaccines are well-established public health interventions with major impact on the prevalence of infectious diseases, but outbreaks are occurring frequently due to primary and secondary failures, despite high coverage. Surveillance of efficacy and duration of induced immunity is a difficult task as it requires invasive blood sampling in children and teenagers. Saliva can be an acceptable alternative source of IgG to assess vaccine efficacy and toxoplasmosis incidence. We investigated IgG response for measles, mumps, rubella, and T. gondii in saliva samples of vaccinated young people. Methods: Saliva was collected from 249 public schools students from Sao Paulo, Brazil, aged 7 to 13 years old, during an interactive exhibition on hygiene. We used S. aureus protein A solid phase capture assay for IgG reactive to biotinylated purified proteins. Paired saliva and serum (47) were tested from young adults with serum evidence of T. gondii infection and from negative children less than 12 month old for standardization. Reproducibility was greater than 98% and sensitivity and specificity of the saliva assays were greater than 95%, as well as the concordance of paired saliva and serum samples. Results: Saliva from high school students showed a prevalence of 8.5% (95% CI: 5.0-11.9%) for anti T. gondii IgG; 96.8% (94.6-99%) of anti-measles IgG; 59.1% (53-65%) of anti-rubella IgG, and 57.5% (51.3-63.6%) of anti-mumps IgG. Discussion: The prevalence of antibodies against mumps and rubella after 6-8 years of vaccination was lower than against measles among students. The findings of this study demonstrate the feasibility of saliva sampling for follow-up of vaccine immune status in teenagers. This useful approach allows for IgG detection for vaccine control or epidemiological studies. (C) 2019 Sociedade Brasileira de Infectologia.
- Paratrygon aiereba irradiated anti-mucus serum reduce edematogenic activity induced in experimental model(2020) THOMAZI, Gabriela Ortega Coelho; COSTA, Andrea; RODRIGUES, Jaqueline Polizeli; ALVES, Glaucie Jussilane; PREZOTTO NETO, Jose Pedro; TURIBIO, Thompson de Oliveira; ROCHA, Andre Moreira; AIRES, Raquel da Silva; SEIBERT, Carla Simone; SPENCER, Patrick Jack; GALISTEO JUNIOR, Andres Jimenez; ANDRADE JUNIOR, Heitor Franco de; NASCIMENTO, Nanci doAccidents by freshwater stingrays are common in northern Brazil, there is no specific therapy for high morbidity and local tissue destruction. The irradiation of venoms and toxins by ionizing radiation has been used to produce appropriate immunogens for the production of antisera. We planned to study the efficacy of stinging mucus irradiation in the production of antisera, with serum neutralization assays of edematogenic activity and quantification of cytokines performed in animal models of immunization with native and irradiated mucus of Paratrygon aiereba, a large freshwater stingray. Antiserum potency and its cross-reactivity with mucus from other freshwater stingrays were detected by ELISA. Immunization models demonstrated the ability to stimulate a strong humoral response with elevated levels of serum IgG detectable by ELISA, and both native and irradiated mucus were immunogenic and capable of recognizing mucus proteins from other freshwater neotropical stingrays. Mucus P. aiereba causes cellular and humoral adaptive immune responses in cells of immunized mice producing antibodies and cytokines such as TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL-17. Rabbit antisera immunized with mucus from P. aiereba irradiated at 2 kGy showed a significant reduction of mucus-induced edematogenic activity in mice. Our data suggest that the use of antisera against freshwater stingray mucus show the possibility of specific therapy for these accidents.