RESUMO Alpaida venger sp. nov. é descrita baseada em machos e fêmeas do Parque Estadual da Pedra Branca, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Esta espécie parece relacionada a Alpaida scriba (Mello-Leitão, 1940) e Alpaida alticeps (Keyserling, 1879) devido a similaridades no formato e cor do corpo, mas é facilmente distinguida pela apófise média muito alongada, ao particular lobo do tégulo e ao paracímbio em forma de gancho do palpo do macho. Fêmeas apresentam epígino alongado como A. scriba, mas podem ser diferenciadas pelos lábios mais largos e escapo mais curto.

ABSTRACT Alpaida venger sp. nov. is described based on males and females from Pedra Branca State Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This species seems to be related to Alpaida scriba (Mello-Leitão, 1940) and Alpaida alticeps (Keyserling, 1879) due to similar body shape and color, but is easily distinguished by the very elongated median apophysis, the massive lobe of tegulum and the hooked paracymbium of male palp. Females have elongated epigyne as A. scriba, but can be distinguished by the wider lips and shorter scape.

A revision of the currently known distribution of Onychophora (velvet worms) in Brazil is presented. Twenty-four morphospecies (half of them undescribed) belonging to four genera of the Peripatidae (Peripatus Guilding, 1826, Epiperipatus Clark, 1913, Macroperipatus Clark, 1913 and Oroperipatus Cockerell, 1908) are recorded. This high number of "unidentified" morphospecies is due to three major reasons: the poor quality of the characters used in species-level identification, the inadequate specimen conservation in ethanol, and, in most cases, the lack of additional specimens for analysis of intra- and inter-specific variation. The morphological characters currently used to separate Peripatidae species present a large degree of variation and may not be sufficient to allow accurate identification. There are records of these animals from 16 states, located in four political regions of the country (North, Center-West, Northeast and Southeast). Oroperipatus balzani is recorded for the first time from Brazil. The southernmost record for Onychophora is Itacuruçá island, Mangaratiba, Rio de Janeiro State (E. edwardsii) and the northernmost is Vila Tepequém, Amajari, Roraima State (Epiperipatus sp. 4). Considering the large territorial area of Brazil and the paucity of localities where Onychophora have been collected, we may expect a total diversity of these animals much larger than the currently known one.

Hepatitis C (HCV) is not an uncommon feature in hemodialysis (HD) patients and may be a cause of systemic inflammation. Plasma cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) is mainly produced by circulating and peripheral cells and induces the hepatic synthesis of C-reactive protein (CRP), which is the main acute phase reactant. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of HCV on two markers of systemic inflammation, serum CRP and IL-6, in HD patients. The study included 118 HD patients (47% males, age 47 ± 13 years, 9% diabetics) who had been treated by standard HD for at least 6 months. The patients were divided into two groups depending on the presence (HCV+) or absence (HCV-) of serum antibodies against HCV. Serum albumin (S-Alb), plasma high sensitivity CRP (hsCRP), IL-6, and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were measured and the values were compared with those for 22 healthy controls. Median hsCRP and IL-6 values and hsCRP/IL-6 ratio were: 3.5 vs 2.1 mg/l, P < 0.05; 4.3 vs 0.9 pg/ml, P < 0.0001, and 0.8 vs 2.7, P < 0.0001, for patients and controls, respectively. Age, gender, S-Alb, IL-6 and hsCRP did not differ between the HCV+ and HCV- patients. However, HCV+ patients had higher ALT (29 ± 21 vs 21 ± 25 IU/l) and had been on HD for a longer time (6.1 ± 3.0 vs 4.0 ± 2.0 years, P < 0.0001). Moreover, HCV+ patients had a significantly lower median hsCRP/IL-6 ratio (0.7 vs 0.9, P < 0.05) compared to the HCV- group. The lower hsCRP/IL-6 ratio in HCV+ patients than in HCV- patients suggests that hsCRP may be a less useful marker of inflammation in HCV+ patients and that a different cut-off value for hsCRP for this population of patients on HD may be required to define inflammation.