Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. It is known for its great disfiguring capacity and is considered an extremely serious disease to public health worldwide. The state of Ceará ranks 13th in number of cases of leprosy in Brazil, and fourth in Northeastern region, with an average of 2,149 new cases diagnosed every year. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge of leprosy patients regarding treatment, and to assess the level of treatment adherence and its possible barriers. The study was conducted in the reference center for dermatology, from September 2010 to October 2010, in Fortaleza, Ceará. The study data were collected by means of a structured interview, along with the Morisky-Green test, in order to assess treatment adherence and barriers to adherence. A total of 70 patients were interviewed, out of whom 66 were new cases. The majority of patients were between 42 and 50 years old, and 37 (52.9%) were male. Most patients were clinically classified as presenting multibacillary leprosy (80%), and 78.6% of them were from Fortaleza, Brazil. The Morisky-Green test indicated that 62.9% of patients presented a low level of adherence (p < 0.005), despite claiming to aware of the disease risks. However, it was observed that 57.1% of the patients had no difficulty adhering to treatment, while 38.6% reported little difficulty. This study shows that despite the patients claiming to be familiar with leprosy and its treatment, the Morisky-Green test clearly demonstrated that they actually were not aware of the principles of therapy, which is evidenced by the low degree of treatment adherence.

O presente estudo teve como objetivo testar os extratos hexânico e metanólico das sementes do abacate, a fim de determinar sua toxicidade em Artemia salina, avaliar a atividade larvicida frente ao Aedes aegypti, bem como verificar o potencial antifúngico in vitro contra cepas de Candida spp, Cryptococcus neoformans e Malassezia pachydermatis, através da técnica de microdiluição. Os extratos hexânico e metanólico das sementes de abacate apresentaram no teste de toxicidade frente à Artemia salina, valores de LC50 2,37 e 24,13mg L-1, respectivamente; contra as larvas do Aedes aegypti os resultados obtidos foram LC50 16,7mg L-1 para o extrato hexânico e 8,87mg L-1 para o extrato metanólico das sementes do abacate. Os extratos testados também foram ativos contra todas as cepas de leveduras, testadas in vitro, apresentando diferentes resultados, onde o MIC do extrato hexânico variou de 0,625 a 1,25mg mL-1, de 0,312 a 0,625mg mL-1 e de 0,031 a 0,625mg mL-1 para as cepas de Candida spp., Cryptococcus neoformans e Malassezia pachydermatis, respectivamente. O intervalo de MIC para o extrato metanólico foi de 0,125 a 0,625mg mL-1, 0,08 a 0,156mg mL-1 e de 0,312 a 0,625mg mL-1, para as exemplares de Candida spp., Cryptococcus neoformans e Malassezia pachydermatis, respectivamente.

The present study had the aim of testing the hexane and methanol extracts of avocado seeds, in order to determine their toxicity towards Artemia salina, evaluate their larvicidal activity towards Aedes aegypti and investigate their in vitro antifungal potential against strains of Candida spp, Cryptococcus neoformans and Malassezia pachydermatis through the microdilution technique. In toxicity tests on Artemia salina, the hexane and methanol extracts from avocado seeds showed LC50 values of 2.37 and 24.13mg mL-1 respectively. Against Aedes aegypti larvae, the LC50 results obtained were 16.7mg mL-1 for hexane extract and 8.87mg mL-1 for methanol extract from avocado seeds. The extracts tested were also active against all the yeast strains tested in vitro, with differing results such that the minimum inhibitory concentration of the hexane extract ranged from 0.625 to 1.25mg L-¹, from 0.312 to 0.625mg mL-1 and from 0.031 to 0.625mg mL-1, for the strains of Candida spp, Cryptococcus neoformans and Malassezia pachydermatis, respectively. The minimal inhibitory concentration for the methanol extract ranged from 0.125 to 0.625mg mL-1, from 0.08 to 0.156mg mL-1 and from 0.312 to 0.625mg mL-1, for the strains of Candida spp., Cryptococcus neoformans and Malassezia pachydermatis, respectively.