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Resumo O objetivo deste trabalho é propor sugestões práticas para a atuação no atendimento à população em situação de rua diante da pandemia da COVID-19 no Brasil. Com base numa pesquisa qualitativa contendo entrevistas com profissionais da área, análise de informações levantadas num portal de notícias de amplitude nacional e levantamento de artigos, relatórios de pesquisa e documentos informativos de outros países, sugerimos algumas estratégias que podem contribuir para a atuação da gestão municipal, sobretudo no âmbito da assistência social e nos equipamentos de assistência às pessoas em situação de rua no Brasil. Nossos resultados são parciais, embora incluam um panorama comparativo que permite inclusão de estratégias, ao que parece, ainda não implementadas no país. Destacamos também algumas questões que precisam ser repensadas pelos governos federal, estadual e municipal diante da urgência da implementação de políticas durante a pandemia da COVID-19.

Human cutaneous leishmaniasis is caused by distinct species, including Leishmania amazonensis. Treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis is far from satisfactory due to increases in drug resistance and relapses, and toxicity of compounds to the host. As a consequence for this situation, the development of new leishmanicidal drugs and the search of new targets in the parasite biology are important goals.In this study, we investigated the mechanism of death pathway induced by the calpain inhibitor MDL28170 on Leishmania amazonensis promastigote forms. The combined use of different techniques was applied to contemplate this goal. MDL28170 treatment with IC50 (15 µM) and two times the IC50 doses induced loss of parasite viability, as verified by resazurin assay, as well as depolarization of the mitochondrial membrane, which was quantified by JC-1 staining. Scanning and transmission electron microscopic images revealed drastic alterations on the parasite morphology, some of them resembling apoptotic-like death, including cell shrinking, surface membrane blebs and altered chromatin condensation pattern. The lipid rearrangement of the plasma membrane was detected by Annexin-V labeling. The inhibitor also induced a significant increase in the proportion of cells in the sub-G0/G1 phase, as quantified by propidium iodide staining, as well as genomic DNA fragmentation, detected by TUNEL assay. In cells treated with MDL28170 at two times the IC50 dose, it was also possible to observe an oligonucleossomal DNA fragmentation by agarose gel electrophoresis.The data presented in the current study suggest that MDL28170 induces apoptotic marker expression in promastigotes of L. amazonensis. Altogether, the results described in the present work not only provide a rationale for further exploration of the mechanism of action of calpain inhibitors against trypanosomatids, but may also widen the investigation of the potential clinical utility of calpain inhibitors in the chemotherapy of leishmaniases.