Leptospirosis in humans usually involves hypokalaemia and hypomagnesaemia and the putative mechanism underlying such ionic imbalances may be related to nitric oxide (NO) production. We previously demonstrated the correlation between serum levels of NO and the severity of renal disease in patients with severe leptospirosis. Methylene blue inhibits soluble guanylyl cyclase (downstream of the action of any NO synthase isoforms) and was recently reported to have beneficial effects on clinical and experimental sepsis. We investigated the occurrence of serum ionic changes in experimental leptospirosis at various time points (4, 8, 16 and 28 days) in a hamster model. We also determined the effect of methylene blue treatment when administered as an adjuvant therapy, combined with late initiation of standard antibiotic (ampicillin) treatment. Hypokalaemia was not reproduced in this model: all of the groups developed increased levels of serum potassium (K). Furthermore, hypermagnesaemia, rather than magnesium (Mg) depletion, was observed in this hamster model of acute infection. These findings may be associated with an accelerated progression to acute renal failure. Adjuvant treatment with methylene blue had no effect on survival or serum Mg and K levels during acute-phase leptospirosis in hamsters.

Este é um trabalho de pesquisa coletiva que vem sendo construído por várias mãos no espaço da parceria. O texto apresenta a revisão de literatura, metodologia e resultados parciais de uma investigação que entende Avaliação Participativa (AP) em seu acoplamento com Tecnologias da Informação e da Comunicação (TICs), um tema sobre o qual as pedagogias ainda não produzem respostas suficientes e adequadas. Mostra como foram captadas (observação e mini-estudos etnográficos), registradas (protocolos e estudos de caso) e analisadas (referenciais) as formas de avaliação que foram praticadas em cenários universitários, educação presencial e não presencial, educação a distância (EAD) e em cenários de ações sociais e educação não formal, praticadas em periferias urbanas (ONG).

This is a collective research that has been constructed collaboratively by many hands. The text presents the literature research, the methodology and the partial results of an investigation that understands Participative Evaluation (PE) in its connection with the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), a topic about which the pedagogies still do not produce sufficient or adequate answers. It shows how the kinds of evaluation that were practiced in university settings, presential and distance education and; and in social action and non-formal education settings, practiced in urban peripheries (NGO) are collected (observation and mini ethnographic studies), registered (protocols and case studies) and analyzed (referentials).