No abstract

The first study about radioimmunoassay was published in 1960 by 2 scientists, who created this new method to quantify human insulin, at a time when studies on diabetes and its pathophysiology were beginning to stand out. Years later, due to its strong relevance to the scientific world, such work was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology in 1977. Thus, the present study aims to expose the historical context of the discovery, the initial studies on diseases whose immunological origin was still unknown, the beginning of radioimmunoassay techniques and their potential benefits and effects for science. Therefore, a narrative review of the literature was carried out using the PubMed, Scielo and Google Scholar databases in order to find the theoretical bases that underlie the objective of the present study. The study revealed that through the use of radioisotopes for insulin labeling and the use of antibodies from animals, it was possible to quantify hormones at low blood concentrations, based on the graphic of the proportion between free marked insulin and insulin combined with antibodies. Such discovery was important to understand the pathophysiology of many diseases, although on the other hand it presents its risks because it involves radioactive material and because it is now in disuse due to the creation of methods such as ELISA. It is concluded that due to the historical and scientific importance of the RIA, this method proved to be worthy of the most renowned scientific award in the world.

O conteúdo expresso neste artigo é de inteira responsabilidade dos/as seus/as autores/as.

This integrative literature review aimed to analyze the findings about the SARS-CoV-2 action on the male genital tract. The database used in the search was PubMed, Scielo and Google Scholar with the following descriptors: “Male fertility”, “COVID-19”, “Infertility”, in addition to the use of the Boolean operator (AND). The final sample was 25 baseline studies. The entry of the coronavirus takes place through the interaction of its proteins with ACE-2 and TMPRSS2. Such proteins were identified in the male reproductive system, which explains several clinical findings in patients who were infected. This interaction of the virus with cells prevents the formation of Ang 1-7, which has anti-inflammatory properties, so its reduction would cause local tissue damage in the testicular tissue. Such findings ranged from histological changes with the formation of an inflammatory infiltrate to possible autoimmune orchitis. In addition, there are controversies on certain topics, such as the carriage of the virus in semen and its potential to cause embryological damage. The study showed the different pathophysiological possibilities of the virus in causing changes in male fertility, through the inflammatory effect, direct cytopathological action of the virus, fever, infections of other structures of the reproductive system, direct alterations in the hypothalamic pituitary axis and use of drugs as a treatment. All these results show the complexity of this virus in other systems and its mechanisms, which requires further studies for its full understanding.

No abstract