Browsing by Author "Silva, Regina Augusta"
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- CINtec PLUS cytology as a cervical cancer screening test at the IPO of PortoPublication . Alves, Ana; Lopes, Ana Paula; Granja, Sara; Quintela Vieira, Filipa; Silva, Regina AugustaCervical squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix is the fourth most common cancer between women and seventh globally. There are many women undergoing colposcopy without real need, so more effective screening tests are needed to decide who among HPV-positive women should receive additional diagnostic evaluation to avoid unnecessary colposcopies. So, this study is intended to evaluate CINtec PLUS cytology as a screening test for cervical cancer in the IPO-FG of the Port of women with hpv test positive other than 16/18, improving the referral for colposcopy. CINtec PLUS cytology is an immunocytochemistry kit that simultaneously detects p16 and Ki-67 proteins. The presence of these proteins in the same cell indicates a deregulation of the cell cycle, and may be a marker of the persistence of HPV infections, their greater probability of progression and the severity of lesions secondary to the infection. An experimental research was carried out, in which the immunostaining of 73 non-16/18 HPV cervico-vaginal hpv samples was performed from 73 women integrated in cervical cancer screening in the North region carried out at the IPO-FG of Porto. The results obtained in CINtec PLUS were compared with those of cytology. 2 samples present unsatisfactory cytology for evaluation, being excluded. Cintec Plus cytology would reduce by 17% the number of women sent for colposcopy (7 (about 10%) by Cintec Plus vs 19 (about 27%) by cytology). Of the 52 NILM samples, 3 (about 6%) were positive for Cintec Plus, so they should have been referred for colposcopy and were not. Of the 10 ASC-US samples 100% are negative for Cintec Plus, as well as 5 LSIL 4 (80%) are negative, of the 3 HSIL 2 (about 67%) are negative. So, 16 women (about 23%) made colposcopy unnecessarily. In conclusion, Cintec Plus cytology would be an interesting tool as a second screening test in non-16/18 hpv cases in place of cytology, decreasing the number of women sent for colposcopy.
- Optimisation of a molecular methodology for the detection of virulence factors of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli for the diagnosis of swine colibacillosisPublication . Campos, Ana; Oliveira, Ricardo; Almeida, Carina; Vieira, Filipa Quintela; Silva, Regina AugustaThe most common bacterial pathogen causing enteric infections in pigs is enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC). Since pigs represent the largest livestock category in the European Union, ETEC-associated diseases, better known as swine colibacillosis leading to acute diarrhea and eventual death of the animal, result in significant costs to the pig industry. These diseases are traditionally prevented or treated with antibiotics, and this has had a huge impact on the emergence of resistant bacteria, correlating with the emergence of resistant infections in humans. Recognition of this problem has led the authorities to set ambitious goals for the reduction of this type of drug in animal husbandry, leading to the creation of a national project, APTAcoli, which aims to select aptamers (consisting of small single-stranded oligonucleotides capable of binding to target molecules with great affinity and specificity, due to the specific secondary and/ or tertiary structures they can acquire) as an alternative in the treatment of colibacillosis. The present experimental study, which is on the APTAcoli agenda, focused on the optimization of a molecular methodology - Multiplex PCR - for the detection of the main virulence factors of ETEC to be used in an epidemiological study to characterize fecal samples from pigs in Portuguese farms. After using different optimization techniques, the results were two multiplex PCR amplification sets, one for amplification of the main toxigenic factors of ETEC (STa, STb, LT and STx2e) and another for amplification of the main adhesion factors (F4, F5, F6, F18 and F41).