Categoria: Blog

Blue November is a worldwide movement that reinforces the importance of prevention and early diagnosis of prostate cancer. Like the Pink October, the campaign aims to raise public awareness and promote the practice of healthy habits. Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer among Brazilian men, and the main victims are men over 50 years old. In addition, people with first-degree relatives diagnosed with the disease, such as father, brother or son, are also at risk.

Understand the subject better

Prostate

It is a male gland, walnut shaped. It is below the bladder and in front of the rectum. The organ surrounds the initial portion of the urethra, and this tube is the one that eliminates urine from the bladder.

Symptoms

The man should look for a doctor if he notes signs or symptoms such as: difficulty to urinate, decreased urine flow, need to urinate more often during the day or night and presence of blood in the urine.

Diagnosis

Prostate cancer can be clinically, laboratory or radiologically diagnosed (early diagnosis). There is also the PSA test. It should be done annually to monitor changes in the prostate. The result may indicate inflammation, infections, hyperplasia (benign growth) and prostate cancer. Rectal examination and PSA measurement indicate the need for prostate biopsy.

Be forewarned

Healthy habits decrease the risk of prostate câncer.

• Maintain a healthy and balanced diet;
• Do not smoke;
• Identify and treat high blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol problems;
• Practice physical activities.

Goal:

• Differential culture medium for the presumptive identification of negative Enterobacteria oxidase.

Important details:

• Colonies must be freshly obtained (maximum of 24 hours) from Gram negative bacilli in suitable isolation media, such as MacConkey Agar, CLED etc.;
• Colonies should be analyzed whether they are lactose fermenters or not;
• If the strain is lactose negative, it must be subjected to the oxidase test. If it is positive oxidase, another identification methodology must be verified;
• The rugai medium is indicated only for fermenting bacteria;
• The colonies to be identified are sown by deep pricking and surface streaking in a tube;
• The procedure is followed by incubation at 35ºC for 18-24h.
• After incubation, the Modified Rugai medium is read, and the data can be checked directly online using the “Rugai test” tool on the RenyLab website: renylab.ind.br

Evidences:

Apex medium

• L-Tryptophan deamination: positive test when there is development of green bottle coloring at the apex of the tube.
• Sucrose fermentation: positive test when yellow color develops at the apex of the tube.
• Glucose fermentation: the appearance of yellow color in the lower portion of medium.
• Gas production from glucose: if the bacteria under study produces gas from glucose.
• Production of hydrogen sulphide (H2S): the production of hydrogen sulphide is observed by the appearance of black coloring.
• Urea hydrolysis: the test is considered positive when there is the formation of a bluish color in the lower portion of the medium.

Lysine medium

• Lysine decarboxylation: glucose fermentation reduces the pH changing the lysine medium to yellow. When the activity of the lysine decarboxylase enzyme occurs, the pH will increase, due to the transformation of lysine into a primary amine: cadaverine, and the medium will turn to purple again.
• Motility: when bacterial growth is restricted to the inoculation point, negative motility is considered, for positive motility there is diffuse growth with partial or complete turbidity of the medium.

Cotton plug

• Indole: the appearance of red color characterizes the positive test.

OBS: The Rugai medium with lysine does not allow a definitive and precise identification of the Enterobacteria species, being the use of a more specific methodology required.

Pink October is an international movement to raise awareness about the importance of prevention in the fight against breast cancer. The date is celebrated annually since the early 1990s and aims to share information about the disease, from preventive care to cure. Thus, it aims to contribute to the reduction of mortality resulting from the disease.

In 2010, INCA, the National Cancer Institute (in Brazil), adopted the campaign. Since then, it promotes events and creates educational materials to contribute to spread information and news about protective factors and the importance of early diagnosis. In addition to the foundation, in Brazil and worldwide, the Pink October is adopted by several entities and brands, including Renylab!

With a work that converts technology into health, we believe that wellness is everyone’s right. Encouraging physical self-care, self-knowledge and ensuring acess to information is also one of our goals. After all, the commitment to the individuals development is part of the company’s practice.

How to prevent breast cancer?

The risk of developing breast cancer can be reduced with simple habits, which make a difference in everyday life. Maintain a healthy weight and practice physical activities, are forms of prevention. In addition, it is recommended to avoid drinking alcoholic beverages in excess. Another protective factor is breastfeeding, as it decreases hormones levels in the body.

Finally, as well as keep attention to their own bodies, it is essential that women keep routine exams up to date. The most common exam is mammography, an x-ray of the breasts that allows the visualization of suspicious changes, recommended after the age of 40. Self-examination, also essential, can be performed by all women over 20.

Ready to embrace this cause? Take care of yourself, love yourself and prevent cancer! Now and ever.

What is BrCAST?

BrCAST is a national committee composed by indicated representatives by the Brazilian Society of Clinical Analyzes, Infectious Diseases, Microbiology and Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

What is the purpose of BrCAST?

The main objective of BrCAST is to act in the standardization of antimicrobial sensitivity tests in accordance with the international standards of the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EuCAST) and the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI).

Why change to BrCAST?

According to BrCAST documentation, this change was adopted due to the need for a standardization of interpretation on antimicrobial sensitivity tests. These actions contribute to the proper prescription of antimicrobials and will assist in preventive and control measures for infectious and contagious diseases

When does BrCAST become mandatory?

The deadline for laboratories to adapt to the BrCAST methodology is 12 months, counting from the date of publication of Ordinance No. 64 of 12/11/2018 (deadline 12/18/2019) that “Determines the laboratories of the public and private network of all Federated Units, the use of interpretation standards for antimicrobial sensitivity tests (TSA), based on the Brazilian documents of the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing ”.

Where can I find the BrCAST documentation?

All the necessary documentation for the implementation of BrCAST is available for free on the website www.BrCAST.org.br, translated to Portuguese and with pertinent observations to assist in the implementation.

Below are the main changes with the implementation of BrCAST:

• Standardized culture media for TSA:

Mueller-Hinton Agar;

Mueller-Hinton agar supplemented with defibrinated horse blood and β-NAD (MH-F);

Means for determining MIC by the micro-dilution method in cation-adjusted Mueller-Hinton broth (MHB);

MHB supplemented with horse lysed blood and β-NAD (MH-F broth).

Change in antibiotics concentration, as shown in the table below:

• Halo size measures:

The Mueller Hinton Agar plates (not supplemented) must be placed on a dark surface with light positioned directly under the plate, and determine the inhibition halos with a calibrated (regular or caliper) ruler posicioned on the bottom of the plate;

Media with blood in its composition should be read after cover removal and the halo of inhibition, not the hemolysis, should be measured under the reflected light.

In the BrCAST diffusion disk manual there is more information relevant to the interpretation of the halos of antibiograms.

Steps for the implementation:

What does it take to start the implementation?

How should the validation process of the new inputs be implemented?

Recommended strains for routine quality control

Escherichia coli ATCC 25922

Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853

Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213

Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212

Streptococcus pneumoniae ATCC 49619

Haemophilus influenzae ATCC 49766

Campylobacter jejuni ATCC 33560

For the validation of new inputs, BrCAST defines an initial evaluation of 20 tests for each antimicrobial with a maximum of 10% unexpected results so the control can be carried out weekly.

RenyLab Diagnostics In Vitro wishes all customers and laboratories success in the implementation of BrCAST.

We sell the BRCAST Antibiogram Discs and Culture Media. Our technical team is available for inquiries.

Yellow September is an awareness campaign on suicide prevention. The WHO, World Health Organization, indicates that nine out of ten suicides can be prevented. Therefore, the movement is fundamental not only to change this situation, but also to properly guide the population on the subject.

After all, the first preventive measure, according to the Life Appreciation Center — Centro de Valorização à Vida (CVV) —, is education. CVV, in addition to being a mobilizing entity for the Yellow September, provides emotional support, offering free and voluntary assistance to all who need to talk.

The contact is confidential and can be made by phone, email or chat at any time of the day. Just call 188 or access www.cvv.org.br.

The month and the color: understanding the Yellow September

September was chosen for the campaign due to the World Suicide Prevention Day. The date, organized by the International Association for the Prevention of Suicide and supported by WHO, is celebrated on the 10th September. Like the Yellow September, the objective here is to raise awareness about how to prevent and avoid new cases.

The color, for CVV, represents life, light and the sun. Thus, it reflects the movement’s proposal to preserve and care for our lifes. Further, the Associação Catarinense de Psiquiatria (Psychiatry Catarinence Association) says that yellow was chosen in honor of a young american man, Mike Emme, who took his own life driving his yellow car. Mike was only 17 years old.

With the campaign, over the years, public and private sector entities and the population in general use yellow in actions to raise awareness for suicide prevention. And CVV still remembers: the movement is scheduled in September, but talking about it is essential throughout all year.

Streptococcus agalactiae is a Gram-positive Cocci, which was isolated for the first time in 1887, and for decades it was recognized as an etiological agent of bovine mastitis, however, it was not considered as a cause for humans infections (SILVEIRA, 2006). In 1933, Rebecca Lancefield developed a classification for these bacteria based on the antigenic characteristics of carbohydrate C in the cell wall. In 1934, she differentiated serologically the bovine hemolytic streptococcus, classifying it as belonging to Group B. From there, Streptococcus agalactiae was also called Lancefield Group B Streptococcus (EGB) (CASTELLANO FILHO, 2008).

Streptococcus agalactiae can cause mild infections, as vaginal and urinary or even serious infections such as cellulitis and fascitis; in pregnancy, in addition it can cause puerperal endometritis, amnionitis and infection wounds in the mother. Its highest incidence is septicemia and meningitis in newborns, in addition to premature births or birth of children with low weight. Many newborns, specially premature ones, born from mothers infected by Group B Streptococcus that were, perhaps, infected in the womb, may be critically ill at birth, with a mortality incidence of 15% to 20% (BORGER, 2005).

To prevent newborn infection, chemoprophylaxis is recommended for pregnant women who are infected by Streptococcus agalactiae or who are in risk  of contamination; however, several studies have shown that B Streptococcus detection in the genital/anal tract in the final period of pregnancy is the most effective way to prevent diseases than procedures based only on risk factors, thus avoiding possible complications for the child and elevated costs for hospitals (BORGER, 2005).

It is important that the investigation of this microorganism is done at the end of pregnancy, between 35th and 37th week, as infection can be intermitente in this period. Therefore, pregnant women who were not infected in the middle of pregnancy, may have a positive culture at the end of the pregnancy and vice versa; colonized and treated women at the beginning or middle of pregnancy can be infected again at the end of pregnancy (CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PRESENTION Conduct Guide, 2002).

The isolation incidence of the microorganism depends on the laboratory method and the anatomical sites from which the samples are collected. About the biological material, the collect performed at both sites, the lower vagina region and anus, increases the chances of identifying Streptococcus agalactiae by 5% to 27% when compared to the collect only from the lower vagina region (ALMEIDA, 2009 ; BORGER, 2005; POGERE, 2005; SILVEIRA, 2006). The collect must be made with swabs and they must be put in transport medium for a period of up to 4 days. After collect, the swab must be removed from the transport medium case and incubated in Todd Hewitt Broth for 18-24h at 35-37ºC. After this period, perform the subculture on Chromogenic Agar for Strepto B. The characteristic of the colonies must be evaluated after 24-48 hours.

At Renylab you will find all the necessary material for the diagnosis of Streptococcus agalactiae:

• Swab with transport medium (code 3739,3740,3741);
• Todd Hewitt broth (code 1266);
• Chromogenic agar for Strepto B (code 3471).

References:

1. https://www.portaleducacao.com.br/conteudo/artigos/moda/pesquisa-de-streptococcus-agalactiae-em-gestantes-como-rotina-laboratorial/29013
2. SILVEIRA, J. L. S. Prevalence of Streptococcus agalactiae in pregnant women detected by the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique. Master’s thesis, Pontifícia Universidade do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, 2006.
3. CASTELLANO FILHO, D. S.; TIBIRIÇÁ, S. H. C.; DINIZ, C. G. Perinatal disease associated with Group B streptococci: clinical-microbiological aspects and prevention. HU Magazine (Juiz de Fora). 2008; v.34: p.127-134.
4. POGERE, A.; ZOCCOLI, C. M.; TOBOUTI, N. R.; FREITAS, P. F.; D’ACAMPORA, A. J., ZUNINO, J. N. Prevalence of colonization by group B streptococcus in pregnant women attended at the prenatal clinic. Brazilian Journal of Obstetrics Gynecology 2005; 27(4): p. 174-180.
5. BORGER, I. L. Study of colonization by Streptococcus agalactiae in pregnant women attended maternity school at UFRJ. Master’s thesis, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, 2005.
6. COSTA, H. P. F.; BRITO, A. S. Prevention of Perinatal Disease by Group B Streptococcus. Educação Médica Continuada, Sociedade de Pediatria (Continuing Medical Education, Pediatric Society), 2009.
7. MIURA, E; MARTIN, M. C. Group B streptococcal neonatal infections in Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Revista do inst. de Med. Trop. de SP. São Paulo, 2001; v.43, n.5, p.243-246.
8. BERALDO, C.; BRITO, A. S.; SARIDAKIS, H. O.; MATSUO, T. Prevalence of vaginal and anorectal colonization by group B streptococcus in pregnant women in the third trimester. Brazilian Journal of Obstetrics Gynecology. 2004; 26(7): p. 543-549.
9. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION. Prevention of Perinatal Group B Streptococcal Disease. – Revised Guidelines from CDC. Morbidity and Mortality and Mortality Weekly Report, Atlanta, 2002; v. 51, n. RR-11, p. 01-22.
10. COSTA, A. L. R.; FILHO, F. L.; CHEIN, M. B. C.; BRITO, L. M. O.; LAMY, Z. C.; ANDRADE, K. L. Prevalence of colonization by group B streptococci in pregnant women attended at a public maternity hospital in Northeastern Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Obstetrics Gynecology. 2008; v.30, p. 274-280.
11. ALMEIDA, A.; AGRO, J.; FERREIRA, L. Group B Hemolytic Streptococcus – Perinatal Disease Screening and Prevention Protocol. Consensus in Neonatology. Portuguese Society of Neonatology, 2009, p.191-197.
12. Ministry of Health. Health Care Secretariat. Department of Strategic Programmatic Actions. Prenatal and Puerperium – Qualified and Humanized Care – Technical Manual. 3º ed. Brasília: MS Publishing company, 2006.

In the past, it was believed that the lungs were organs only responsible for breathing and, therefore, there was the concept that only Oxygen (O₂) and Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) could be measured in the exhaled air. Currently, however, it is known that the exhaled air from the lungs contains more than 2000 different substances, and that the lungs have an additional function, the excretion of volatile substances, therefore the lungs are considered as “excretory organs” of dissolved gases in blood. One of these numerous volatile substances excreted by the lungs is Hydrogen (H₂), which can be easily measured with manual breathing test equipment.

The healthy human being in fasting and at rest does not eliminate H₂ because his metabolism does not produce this gas, it is only generated during anaerobic metabolism. As the resting human organism does not have anaerobic metabolism, the H₂ produced and excreted by the lungs originates from the action of anaerobic bacteria, which are natural colonizers of undigested substrates on the large intestine. Thus, under normal conditions, the H₂ measured in exhaled air refers to the amount of metabolic activity of anaerobic bacteria present in the ileum and the large intestine. However, in pathological situations, for example, in the syndrome of “Bacterial Overgrowth in the Small Intestine“, the concentration of anaerobic bacteria becomes predominant in the small intestine and can reach values ​​over 10⁴ colonies/ml. Anaerobic bacteria have the ability to metabolize carbohydrates as a source of energy for their nutrition, which, due to this chemical fermentation reaction, are “broken” resulting in the formation of short-chain fatty acids, CO₂ and H₂. A significant portion of the CO₂ that remains in the intestinal lumen is responsible for the flatulence, while the short-chain fatty acids attract, by osmotic effect, water into the intestinal lumen, causing diarrhea. The H₂ produced permeates the gastrointestinal wall, enters the systemic blood circulation, from where it is transported to the lungs and is finally eliminated by breathing. The concentration of expired H₂ can therefore be easily measured in parts per million (ppm) using a non-invasive hand-held device. The H₂ concentration measured at exhaled breath is always in function of the mass of bacteria and the bacterial metabolic activity in the digestive tract. The moment when the H₂ concentration in the exhaled breath rises during the breath test provides an indication in which region of the he fermentation took place.

Types of Hydrogen Breath Tests

Any carbohydrate, such as monosaccharides, Glucose, Fructose and Galactose, disaccharides, Sucrose, Maltose and Lactose, and even polysaccharides, alcohol-sugars, and the synthetic disaccharide Lactulose, non-absorbable (Galactose-Fructose), can be used for the performance of the Hydrogen Breath Test. The types of sugar most used for the test are: Glucose, Lactose, Fructose and Lactulose.

The main indications for performing the Hydrogen Breath Test are:

• Malabsorption syndrome;
• Irritable bowel syndrome;
• Fructose intolerance;
• Lactose intolerance;
• Investigation of meteorism and flatulence;
• Monitoring of celiac disease;
• Inflammatory bowel disease;
• Lactase deficiency;
• Bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine.

At Renylab you will find the complete line of substrates for carrying out Hydrogen Breath Test.

Get in touch and receive more information.

Source: www.igastroped.com.br

Renylab took part in the Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab (AACC) Expo 2018, in Chicago, IL – USA, from July 29th to August 2nd. The AACC is considered the most importante global event in the diagnostics segment and brings together the main industries and suppliers of the sector.

The fair is the most important in laboratory and diagnostic sector in the USA. It is seen as a great platform for connecting industry and global players. Therefore, for RenyLab, as an exporter industry, it was an excelente opportunity to expand the international market and advertise about its products quality.

The event is already scheduled for 2019: it will be held from August 4-8, in Anaheim, California.

Due to health technical and theoretical advances, several medical procedures are gradually becoming less invasive. This is the case of endoscopy, which, through new products available on the market, becomes an increasingly safe and simple test for patients, as well as clinics and gastroenterologists.

In this process, studies of superior quality becomes essential. Renylab was founded in 1995, and since the beginning of our activities, we work with products for endoscopy. Variety and technical rigor in production are reported to our products.

Following the evolution of medical examinations and diagnoses, we invested in innovation by creating the Uretest, a qualitative colorimetric test, in liquid form, for the identification of the Helicobacter pylori bacteria in gastric mucosa, collected through biopsy.

The test, which is a pioneer in Brazil, gives us recognition and leadership in the market. Moreover: the exam gives doctors the certainty of an accurate diagnosis and, to patients, reliability on their health care.

We also have substrates for hydrogen breath test, dyes, cleaner for endoscope lenses, colonoscopy and endoscopy gels and biological indicator to monitor steam sterilization cycles.

Renylab established a partnership with Leisegang and brings to health brazilian professionals the colposcope, a specific device to perform a gynecological exam, of gold standard quality and a global leader for over 60 years.

From this partnership, we are looking for a sales representative to sell the equipment in Brazil. See the job requirements:

• Self-employed sales representative with professional history in the medical-hospital area – specifically medical equipment.
• CORE registration.
• Availability to travel.

Interested? Send your curriculum to: [email protected]