👤 Débora Ferreira de Assis

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected healthcare workers, increasing vulnerability to neuropsychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and depression. Psychological distress may be shaped by resilience, coping behaviours, and immune dysregulation. We investigated psychological distress symptoms, resilience, alcohol use, and cytokine profiles in 1440 workers from four hospitals in Fortaleza, Brazil. Participants were classified as frontline or second-line workers and assessed with the SRQ-20, CD-RISC, and AUDIT. Blood samples were analysed for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and cytokines. Data were collected at two time points (August-October 2021; March-April 2022). Frontline workers reported higher distress, with decreased vital energy and somatic symptoms most prominent. Lower resilience scores correlated with all SRQ-20 domains, while higher alcohol use was linked to decreased energy and depressive thoughts. Reduced anti-spike antibody levels were also associated with greater distress. COVID-19 infection and symptom severity were associated with more persistent mental distress symptoms. Sex-specific immune signatures emerged: in women, lower interleukin (IL)-7 and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 9 (CXCL-9) and higher IL-27 correlated with depressive-anxious mood and energy depletion; in men, IL-18, IL-9, and tumour necrosis factor beta (TNF-β) were positively associated with distress. This study demonstrates that psychological distress among healthcare workers during COVID-19 was shaped by resilience, alcohol use, infection severity, and sex-dependent immune alterations. Strengthening resilience and targeting inflammatory pathways may help mitigate the long-term mental health burden in this workforce during future public health crises. Show less

Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by the structural and functional loss of neurons, which impacts populations worldwide. Enzymes such as acetylcholinesterase (AChE), beta-site APP cleaving enzyme-1 (BACE1), and glycogen synthase kinase 3-beta (GSK3β) are implicated in their progression. Therefore, developing compounds that inhibit these enzymes is relevant for treating these conditions. This study investigated the potential of quinoline analogs as multitarget enzyme inhibitors through in silico and in vitro assays. In silico analyses highlighted one of the derivatives as the most potent inhibitor for all proteins. In vitro assays confirmed that the quinoline derivatives modulated the activity of the three targets. The best derivative in silico also exhibited significant AChE inhibition of 94.6 %. For GSK3β and BACE1, four derivatives, with quinoline linked to the sulfonamide nitrogen, showed inhibition values above 40 %. Two of them demonstrated no cytotoxicity for human glioblastoma cell proliferation, and the most potent was noncytotoxic at 7.8 and 3.9 μg mL Show less

Plasma cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) activity diminishes HDL-cholesterol levels and thus may increase atherosclerosis risk. Experimental evidence suggests CETP may also exhibit anti-inflammatory properties, but local tissue-specific functions of CETP have not yet been clarified. Since oxidative stress and inflammation are major features of atherogenesis, we investigated whether CETP modulates macrophage oxidant production, inflammatory and metabolic profiles. Comparing macrophages from CETP-expressing transgenic mice and non-expressing littermates, we observed that CETP expression reduced mitochondrial superoxide anion production and H Show less