Intestinal parasites present close relationship with sanitary conditions water supply and hygiene habits which pose an important problem of public health with high prevalence among individuals with low socioeconomic status, especially in the younger population. In the present paper the authors performed the diagnostic of intestinal parasites in stool examination of children aged up to six years of age assisted by three public education facilities between September 2011 and July 2012 by using the new method of Mariano & Carvalho. Positivity observed for intestinal parasites reached 77.2 %, with rates ranging from 78.0 %, 72.3 and 84.2 % for the institution A, B and C respectively. Among the positive samples, there was higher frequency of contamination by protozoa (51.2 %), especially for Giardia lamblia (31.2 %). Among the helminthes, the most common were Ascaris lumbricoides (28.8 %) and Trichuris trichiura (17.6 %). The high prevalence of intestinal parasites, both protozoa and helminthes, was significantly associated with eating raw foods without proper hygiene. These results demonstrate the need for improved hygiene habits in parasitism prevention and adequate learning resources to teach preschoolers better habits of hygiene before the consumption of raw foods.

The antibody response against the antigen sheep red blood cells (SRBC) was investigated in mice pre-treated with formalin-killed Paracoccidioides brasiliensis or with cell wall fractions of the fungus. Pre-treatment with P. brasiliensis, as well as with the Fl fraction and beta-glucan significantly increased the anti-SRBC antibody response in the experimental groups as compared to the control group that received only SRBC. This immunomodulatory effect varied with the different doses employed and with pre-treatment time. We conclude that the cell wall fractions of P. brasiliensis might play an important role in the hypergammaglobulinemia associated with Paracoccidioidomycosis.

OBJETIVO: Neste trabalho, analisa-se o efeito de dieta hiperlipídico-proteica com baixo teor de carboidrato sobre o peso corporal, peso de órgãos, consumo de ração, parâmetros bioquímicos e alterações histopatológicas no fígado de ratos. MÉTODOS: Foram utilizados 24 animais - 12 no grupo-controle e 12 no grupo-experimental - com peso médio de 160 gramas no início do experimento. Semanalmente, foram verificados o peso corporal e o consumo de ração, e ao final de oito semanas foram feitas as dosagens bioquímicas sanguíneas, pesagem de órgãos e análise histopatológica dos fígados. RESULTADOS: Os animais do grupo-experimental tiveram maior ganho de peso corporal e acumularam mais tecido adiposo que os animais do grupo-controle. Fígado, rins e baço não sofreram alterações quanto ao peso. Os animais que receberam dieta hiperlipídico-proteica tiveram um aumento na ingestão energética acumulada nas oito semanas do estudo. O grupo-experimental desenvolveu hiperglicemia e hipertrigliceridemia, aumento da fração lipoproteína de alta densidade do colesterol e da creatinina sérica quando comparado ao grupo-controle. Foi detectada esteatose hepática no grupo-experimental. CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados demonstraram que dietas pobres em carboidratos e ricas em gordura e proteínas podem acarretar alterações metabólicas prejudiciais ao organismo.

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