A collaborative study led by Dr. Estefanía Nova-Lamperti of the Universidad de Concepción, Dr. Gonzalo Labarca of Harvard University, and Mauricio Hernández, of MELISA Institute, and which included the participation of researchers from leading academic institutions, sought to identify the sequelae associated with long-term pulmonary dysfunction (L-PDD) in patients with COVID-19. The study was published in Frontiers in Medicine.

Fragments of hemorrhagic toxins that may help treat high blood pressure were found in the venom of the pit viper Cotiara, which inhabits the South of Brazil, and that of the South American bushmaster, a denizen of tropical rainforests. The molecules might one day be used in drugs with fewer adverse side effects. The researchers were particularly interested in a novel metalloproteinase-derived peptide called Lm-10a, a fragment of a hemorrhagic toxin that inhibits ACE and could potentially be used in a drug to treat blood pressure. 

Surveys conducted in the Cerrado since the 1990s show falling biodiversity as the agricultural frontier advances in the vicinity of Emas National Park. Species with biotechnological potential are dwindling and even disappearing.

Researchers at São Paulo State University tested the action of nanoparticles loaded with antibiotics and other antimicrobial compounds on cells infected by the bacillus that causes tuberculosis. The results suggest the strategy can overcome multidrug bacterial resistance.

The map is derived from a study conducted by researchers at Brazil’s space research institute and collaborators, and combined airborne laser scanning, satellite imagery and forest inventories. The results will support planning, conservation and sustainable management decisions.

The study is the first-ever demonstration of the anatomical substrate for the cardiac arrhythmias that occur in human yellow fever. The YF virus affects the liver most of all; other organs besides the liver, however, are also affected, including the kidneys, brain, lungs, spleen, pancreas and heart.