Abstract Fibromyalgia (FM) is a nonarticular rheumatic syndrome that leads to diffuse myalgia, sleep disturbances and morning stiffness. Balneotherapy has been shown an effective strategy to improve the health conditions of patients; however, the treatment follow-up is based on patient report due to the lack of biomarkers. Thus, this study evaluated the application of cytokines and phosphoglycerate mutase I (PGAM-I) to monitoring FM patient underwent to balneotherapy treatment. Eleven healthy and eleven women with FM were submitted to daily sessions of balneotherapy during 10 days. Clinical and quality of life parameters were assessed through a FIQ questionnaire. Blood levels of TNF-(, interleukins (IL-1, IL-2 and IL-10) and PGAM-I expression in patients’ saliva were also evaluated. Patients with FM showed significant improvements in their clinical status after treatment. Also, FM patients has IL-10 levels lower than healthy women and the balneotherapy increased the expression of this cytokine in both groups, concomitantly to pain relief. Although inflammatory cytokines (IL-1, IL-2 and TNF-() were more expressed in FM patients than healthy patients their levels did not reduce after treatment. A slight increase of PGAM-I expression was observed. In conclusion, IL-10 levels could be a useful biomarker to balneotherapy follow-up of FM patients. However, these findings must be analyzed in a larger number of patients in order to validate IL-10 as an effective biomarker.

O estudo de dípteros de importância médica em áreas afetadas pelas construções de barragens é muito importante, devido à possibilidade de ocorrência de doenças transmitidas por essas espécies. As coletas foram realizadas entre 2010 e 2011 em uma área sob o impacto de uma barragem no Rio Uruguai, na fronteira entre os estados do Rio Grande do Sul e Santa Catarina. Os insetos foram coletados através de tubos de sucção e armadilha Shannon, também foram coletadas manualmente formas aquáticas de imaturos. Oitocentos e sessenta e um dípteros foram capturados, incluindo Haemagogus leucocelaenus (Culicidae), Aedes albopictus (Culicidae), três espécies de Anopheles spp. (Culicidae), duas espécies de Plebotominae e três espécies de Simuliidae. A fauna de dípteros na área é diversificada e foram identificadas espécies com importância médica antes e após o enchimento do reservatório.

The study of Diptera of medical importance in areas affected by dam constructions is very important due to the possibility of the occurrence of diseases transmitted by these species. Collections were performed during 2010 and 2011 in an area under impact of a dam on the Uruguai River in the borderland of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina states. Insects were collected using suction tubes and Shannon trap, also immature live forms were obtained by manual collect. Eight-hundred sixty-one Diptera insects were captured, including Haemagogus leucocelaenus (Culicidae), Aedes albopictus (Culicidae), three species of Anopheles spp. (Culicidae), two of Plebotominae and three distinct Simuliidae species. The Diptera fauna in the area is diversified and species with medical importance were identified before and after reservoir filling.

Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) play an essential role in the regulation of cell differentiation in pathogenic trypanosomatids. In this study, we describe a PTP expressed by the non-pathogenic protozoan Trypanosoma rangeli (TrPTP2). The gene for this PTP is orthologous to the T. brucei TbPTP1 and Trypanosoma cruzi (TcPTP2) genes. Cloning and expression of the TrPTP2 and TcPTP2 proteins allowed anti-PTP2 monoclonal antibodies to be generated in BALB/c mice. When expressed by T. rangeli epimastigotes and trypomastigotes, native TrPTP2 is detected as a ~65 kDa protein associated with the parasite's flagellum. Given that the flagellum is an important structure for cell differentiation in trypanosomatids, the presence of a protein responsible for tyrosine dephosphorylation in the T. rangeli flagellum could represent an interesting mechanism of regulation in this structure.