There are people who know from a very young age the scientific path they intend to follow. And there are those whose research projects find them. This last example includes the case of Jacqueline Sachett, 46, professor at UEA (University of the State of Amazonas), recently awarded the For Women in Science prize.
The prize, awarded by L’Oréal with the ABC (Brazilian Academy of Sciences) and UNESCO, aims to promote and encourage research carried out by women with grants of R$50,000. Jacqueline’s project investigates accidents involving venomous animals, particularly jararacas (snakes of the genus Bothropes), and whether laser therapies can help reduce infections and speed tissue recovery at the bite site.
“People who are a reference in the study of tropical diseases, who study the same subject as my research, know my name, cite me in their research, and that is priceless,” she said. Leaf after the awards ceremony, at the Palácio da Cidade, in Rio de Janeiro, earlier this month.
“Honestly, I never saw myself in the situation I am in today. My father had no higher education, my mother never studied. I wanted to get married, to have children, and today I have a collaborative network that bears my name. There are renowned poisoning researchers from the United Kingdom, France, who know me, places where I have gone to speak and where I have been applauded. I can win a thousand prizes, but that will not overcome the greatness of it all.”
The scientific career of Conselheiro Lafaiete of Minas Gerais is unusual. With a degree in nursing, her work initially focused on clinical care, particularly for patients with kidney failure undergoing dialysis. Until he decided to go beyond assistance with a master’s project in nephrology (study of the kidneys), at the UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais), in Belo Horizonte.
After a few years, the opportunity to migrate to the Northern region presented itself: the opening of nursing positions at the UEA Tropical Medicine Foundation. Her father had already moved to Amazonas and she decided to take the exam. It happened. Once there, the triptych of teaching, research and extension motivated her to pursue a doctorate, but there was a problem: the program did not include postgraduate courses in nursing.
“I looked at the list and said, ‘I’m going to do a PhD in what (field) here? There’s no nephrology research.’ I looked at the list: leishmaniasis, malaria… they don’t have that in Minas Gerais, I don’t have this knowledge, how am I going to study something I’ve never seen?”, she thought. “The (topic) of animal poisoning came up, and it was sort of related, first because there are several cases in Minas Gerais, then because some of the dialysis patients I treated had been bitten and said recovery was slower, so I thought about following that line.”
Last year, until November, Minas Gerais was the second unit in the Federation in terms of total notifications of accidents with snakes, according to data from the Ministry of Health: 3,450, behind only Pará (5,016). Nationwide, there have been 32,425 notifications, with 128 deaths – two more are under investigation. This is a high amount, considering that the only treatment available today for snake bites is antivenom, produced by the Butantan Institute, in São Paulo.
The main genera of snakes involved in accidents in Brazil are the jararacas, of the genus Bothropesand rattlesnakes (genus Rattlesnake), excluding cases in which the causative agent is unknown or the snakes are not venomous.
Jacqueline’s thesis aimed to understand the effectiveness of antibiotics in preventing secondary infections resulting from snake bites. She received advice from Luiz Carlos de Lima Ferreira, now a retired researcher at the Tropical Medicine Foundation, and co-supervision from Wuelton Monteiro, deputy head of her laboratory at UEA.
Jacqueline says she then found herself “poisoned” by the subject.
“My entry into the doctorate reopened the line of research into accidents with venomous animals (like snakes and scorpions). And until today it is flourishing. A research center was created, Cepclam (Clinical Research Center on Animal Poisoning), where Wuelton and I are a reference.”
Consequences of the bite
Even with the adoption of serum, whose effectiveness is total when applied correctly, there is damage to local tissues that can take time to recover, in addition, in some cases, to other after-effects, even neurological.
“When a person is poisoned and takes the serum, it neutralizes the circulating poison, but those who have already suffered (tissue) damage do not benefit from local treatment. We have launched a line of research to try to improve the patient’s quality of life and reduce local complications. One of the possibilities is the use of photobiomodulation (low-intensity laser therapy), already used in dentistry, but not yet tested in poisonous bites,” explains Jacqueline.
Laboratory experiments on rats and clinical studies carried out by the professor’s group suggest a reduction of up to 50% in tissue damage after the use of phototherapy. Cepclam is today the only center in the world where clinical poisoning trials are carried out within a hospital.
The recent award, according to Jacqueline, can help give visibility to the subject, since snake envenomation is a neglected tropical disease, classified by the WHO (World Health Organization) for conditions that occur mainly in places with little assistance and in vulnerable populations.
“I hope that the subject is now more widespread and that research that addresses this subject will benefit from more funding,” says the professor.
The journalist went to Rio de Janeiro at the invitation of the L’Oréal Group in Brazil
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