[leish-l] Fwd: Articles found by RefScout 2005/11/23 - 2005/47
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Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 00:59:53
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This is RefScout-Newsletter 47/2005.
REQUEST: [ leishmaniasis ]
(17 articles match this request)
PMID: 16203020
TITLE: Field evaluation of a fast anti-Leishmania antibody detection assay in
Ethiopia.
AUTHORS: A Hailu, G J Schoone, E Diro, A Tesfaye, Y Techane, T Tefera, Y Assefa,
A Genetu, Y Kebede, T Kebede, H D F H Schallig
AFFILIATION: Institute for Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, Jimma Road,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia.
REFERENCE: Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 2006 Jan 100(1):48-52
A fast agglutination screening test (FAST) for the detection of
Leishmania antibodies in human serum samples was evaluated under harsh
field conditions in northern Ethiopia. Test performance was compared
with a standard serological test, namely the direct agglutination test (
DAT), and with parasitology. In total, 103 suspected cases were
recruited for the study. Based on parasitological examination, 49
patients were confirmed of having visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and the
other 54 suspected cases were parasitologically negative. Field
evaluation of FAST was possible in blood samples of 89 patients. FAST
had 4 false negative results and 13 false positive results. DAT had 2
false negative results and 20 false positive results. A good degree of
agreement (86.9%) was observed between FAST and DAT (kappa value 0.73).
In this field-based evalauation, the sensitivity and specificity of FAST
were found to be 91.1% (95% CI 77.9-97.1) and 70.5% (95% CI 54.6-82.8
), respectively, compared with 95.3% (95% CI 82.9-99.2) and 62.3% (95%
CI 47.9-74.9) for DAT. FAST had a high predictive value of a negative
test, demonstrating that FAST could be utilised to exclude rapidly non-
VL patients from a large population of suspects with fever and
splenomegaly in endemic areas.
PMID: 16198385
TITLE: Atypical American visceral leishmaniasis caused by disseminated
Leishmania amazonensis infection presenting with hepatitis and adenopathy.
AUTHORS: J A Aleixo, E T Nascimento, G R Monteiro, M Z Fernandes, A M O Ramos, M
E Wilson, R D Pearson, S M B Jeronimo
AFFILIATION: Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do
Norte, CP 1624, Natal, RN, 59072-970, Brazil.
REFERENCE: Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 2006 Jan 100(1):79-82
Leishmania amazonensis is widely recognised as a cause of cutaneous
leishmaniasis in Latin America, but it can also disseminate to produce
atypical visceral leishmaniasis with hepatitis and lymphadenopathy. The
patient, an 8-year-old Brazilian boy, presented with a febrile illness
and hepatosplenomegaly, elevated liver enzymes and generalised
adenopathy. Serological tests using antigens of L. chagasi, the typical
cause of visceral leishmaniasis in Latin America, were inconclusive.
Leishmania amazonensis was eventually isolated in a culture of a lymph
node. The patient recovered fully after treatment with meglumine
antimoniate. As this case illustrates, L. amazonensis produces a
spectrum of disease that includes atypical American visceral
leishmaniasis with evidence of hepatocellular injury and generalised
lymphadenopathy.
PMID: 16154167
TITLE: Isolation of Leishmania tropica from an Ethiopian cutaneous leishmaniasis
patient.
AUTHORS: Asrat Hailu, Trentina Di Muccio, Tamrat Abebe, Mesfin Hunegnaw, Piet A
Kager, Marina Gramiccia
AFFILIATION: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and
Parasitology (DMIP), Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 9086, Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.
REFERENCE: Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 2006 Jan 100(1):53-8
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in the Old World is caused mainly by three
species of Leishmania: L. major, L. tropica and L. aethiopica, and
sporadically by L. infantum and L. donovani. In Ethiopia, zoonotic
cutaneous leishmaniasis, caused by L. aethiopica, is a major public
health problem affecting thousands of people in the highlands. By
contrast, little is known about the existence and epidemiology of CL due
to L. tropica. In this report, we provide the first well-documented
case of CL in Ethiopia caused by L. tropica. The patient acquired the
infection in Awash valley of the Ethiopian Rift Valley (northeastern
Ethiopia), where Phlebotomus sergenti and P. saevus have previously been
found infected by L. tropica. Using the isoenzyme electrophoresis
technique, the isolate was found to belong to a variant of L. tropica
zymodeme MON-71, one of the new zymodemes found in Ethiopia from P.
sergenti in the same region so far. The epidemiological implications of
the finding are discussed.
PMID: 16297295
TITLE: HIV-1 infection, visceral leishmaniasis, Koch's chest and tuberculous
meningitis in the same patient - a case report.
AUTHORS: K Pandey, P K Sinha, V N R Das, N Kumar, S M Hassan, N Verma, C S Lal,
S Bimal, P Das, S K Bhattacharya
AFFILIATION: Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (ICMR),
Agam Kuan, P.O. Gulzarbagh, Patna - 800007, Bihar, India.
REFERENCE: Ann Trop Med Parasitol 2005 Dec 99(8):807-11
PMID: 16299292
TITLE: Chronic Leishmania donovani Infection Promotes Bystander CD8+-T-Cell
Expansion and Heterologous Immunity.
AUTHORS: Rosalind Polley, Stephanie L Sanos, Sara Prickett, Ashraful Haque, Paul
M Kaye
AFFILIATION: Immunology and Infection Unit, Department of Biology, University of
York, PO Box 373, York YO10 5YW, United Kingdom. pmk2 at york.ac.uk.
REFERENCE: Infect Immun 2005 Dec 73(12):7996-8001
It has been proposed that long-lived memory T cells generated by
vaccination or infection reside within a memory compartment that has a
finite size. Consequently, in a variety of acute infection models
interclonal competition has been shown to lead to attrition of
preexisting memory CD8(+) T cells. Contrary to expectations, therefore,
we found that chronic Leishmania donovani infection of Listeria-immune
mice results in heightened protection against subsequent Listeria
challenge. This protection was associated with bystander expansion of
Listeria-specific CD8(+) T cells and a bias in these cells toward a
central memory T-cell phenotype with an enhanced capacity for gamma
interferon production. We propose that splenomegaly, which is
characteristic of visceral leishmaniasis and other tropical infections,
may help promote heterologous immunity by resetting the size of the
memory compartment during chronic infection.
PMID: 16299331
TITLE: Regulation of Impaired Protein Kinase C Signaling by Chemokines in Murine
Macrophages during Visceral Leishmaniasis.
AUTHORS: Ranadhir Dey, Arup Sarkar, Nivedita Majumder, Suchandra Bhattacharyya
Majumdar, Kaushik Roychoudhury, Sandip Bhattacharyya, Syamal Roy, Subrata
Majumdar
AFFILIATION: Department of Microbiology, Bose Institute, P1/12, C.I.T. Scheme
VII-M, Kolkata-700 054, India. subrata at boseinst.ernet.in.
REFERENCE: Infect Immun 2005 Dec 73(12):8334-44
The protein kinase C (PKC) family regulates macrophage function involved
in host defense against infection. In the case of Leishmania donovani
infection, the impairment of PKC-mediated signaling is one of the
crucial events for the establishment of parasite into the macrophages.
Earlier reports established that C-C chemokines mediated protection
against leishmaniasis via the generation of nitric oxide after 48 h. In
this study, we investigated the role of MIP-1alpha and MCP-1 in the
regulation of impaired PKC activity in the early hours (6 h) of
infection. These chemokines restored Ca(2+)-dependent PKC activity and
inhibited Ca(2+)-independent atypical PKC activity in L. donovani-
infected macrophages under both in vivo and in vitro conditions.
Pretreatment of macrophages with chemokines induced superoxide anion
generation by activating NADPH oxidase components in infected cells.
Chemokine administration in vitro induced the migration of infected
macrophages and triggered the production of reactive oxygen species. In
vivo treatment with chemokines significantly restricted the parasitic
burden in livers as well as in spleens. Collectively, these results
indicate a novel regulatory role of C-C chemokines in controlling the
intracellular growth and multiplication of L. donovani, thereby
demonstrating the antileishmanial properties of C-C chemokines in the
disease process.
PMID: 16236549
TITLE: Response to Silva et al.: Usefulness of PCR-based methods for screening
Leishmania in epidemiological studies.
AUTHORS: Fernanda S Oliveira, Reginaldo P Brazil, Raquel S Pacheco
AFFILIATION: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Instituto Oswaldo
Cruz, Fiocruz, 21040-900 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
REFERENCE: Trends Parasitol 2005 Dec 21(12):552-3
The detection of Leishmania in naturally infected rodents in endemic
areas is of fundamental importance for defining these rodents as
possible reservoir hosts of infection. The use of polymerase chain
reaction in conjunction with molecular hybridization has provided
important results that could lead to a better understanding of the
natural history of leishmaniasis.
PMID: 16297287
TITLE: Usefulness of the direct agglutination test in the early detection of
subclinical Leishmania donovani infection: a community-based study.
AUTHORS: S Bimal, V N R Das, P K Sinha, A K Gupta, N Verma, A Ranjan, S K Singh,
A Sen, S K Bhattacharya, P Das
AFFILIATION: Division of Immunology, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of
Medical Sciences, Agamkuan, Patna - 800007, India.
REFERENCE: Ann Trop Med Parasitol 2005 Dec 99(8):743-9
The value of a direct agglutination test (DAT) in the detection of
subclinical infections with Leishmania donovani has recently been
investigated in the Indian state of Bihar, after the sensitivity and
specificity of the test had been determined. When used to screen sera
from 108 parasitologically confirmed cases of visceral leishmaniasis, 50
patients with active, non-leishmanial infection, and 641 healthy
controls living close to, or distant from, an endemic area, the test was
found to be 91.7% sensitive and 100% specific if a titre of 1 : 800 was
used as the threshold for seropositivity.During a longitudinal clinical
study in a rural, VL-endemic area of the Indian state of Bihar, the
test was used, with 1 : 800 set as the threshold titre, to determine the
baseline prevalence of infection with L. donovani among villagers who,
though showing no symptoms of VL, had recently been febrile for at least
2 weeks. The 234 subjects of this study were either VL-case contacts [i
.e. members of households in which there were active or cured VL cases (
N=78)] or the members of control households with no cases or history of
the disease (N=156). The results of DAT at the start of the study
indicated that 49 (20.9%) of the subjects - 29 (37.2%) of the VL-case
contacts and 20 (12.8%) of the other subjects - were seropositive and
therefore probably had subclinical infections with L. donovani. During
the subsequent 9 months of follow-up, however, only eight of the
subjects found seropositive at the start of the study - seven (24.1%) of
the seropositive case contacts but only one (5.0%) of the other
seropositives - developed symptomatic VL, all by month 6 of the follow-
up. Compared with their neighbours, therefore, individuals who shared
households with active or cured cases of VL appeared at greater risk not
only of L. donovani infection (indicating focal transmission) but also
of developing symptomatic disease once infected. Curiously, among the
seropositive case contacts, those from the households that harboured
active cases of VL at the baseline survey were less likely to develop
symptomatic VL during the 9 months of follow-up than those from
households that harboured only cured cases (18.8% v. 30.8%). The wide-
spread use of DAT could allow the detection and early treatment of
latent L. donovani infections and so contribute to the elimination of VL
, at least as a public-health problem, from India.
PMID: 16249065
TITLE: Rapid diagnosis and genotyping of Leishmania isolates from cutaneous and
visceral leishmaniasis by microcapillary cultivation and polymerase chain
reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism of miniexon region.
AUTHORS: Mehmet S Serin, Kenan Daglioglu, Melahat Bagirova, Adil Allahverdiyev,
Soner Uzun, Zeynep Vural, Begum Kayar, Seda Tezcan, Mesut Yetkin, Gonul Aslan,
Gurol Emekdas, Fatih Koksal
AFFILIATION: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mersin University,
Mersin 33343, Turkey.
REFERENCE: Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 2005 Nov 53(3):209-14
We have performed a combination of microcapillary cultivation method and
restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of amplified
products by 1 single PCR of miniexon region of Leishmania for molecular
diagnosis and genotyping of different Leishmania species isolated from
cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and visceral leishmaniasis. We have
analyzed 10 microcapillary cultivated isolates from cutaneous cases and
5 microcapillary cultivated isolates from visceral cases (totally 15) by
polymerase chain reaction-RFLP (PCR-RFLP). Of 10 isolates, 3 (30%) were
genotyped as Leishmania infantum and 7 (70%) of 10 isolates were
genotyped as Leishmania tropica from the microcapillary cultivated
isolates of cutaneous cases. On the other hand, all 5 isolates (100%)
were genotyped as L. infantum from microcapillary cultivated visceral
cases. Our most interesting finding is the presence of 3 L. infantum
isolates in CL cases without kala-azar history. Therefore, we suggest
that further investigations must be done about this subject. On the
other hand, we suggest the combination of microcapillary culture method
and PCR-RFLP of miniexon region of leishmaniae can be used in routine
laboratory experimentation because of their simple, cheap, and rapid
benefits (within a week), whereas other different approaches offer a
multitude of valid taxonomic characters for species identification.
PMID: 16027022
TITLE: TGF-beta-associated enhanced susceptibility to leishmaniasis following
intramuscular vaccination of mice with Leishmania amazonensis antigens.
AUTHORS: Roberta Olmo Pinheiro, Eduardo Fonseca Pinto, Janaina Ribeiro Correia
Lopes, Herbert Leonel Matos Guedes, Regina Ferro Fentanes, Bartira
Rossi-Bergmann
AFFILIATION: Instituto de BiofÃsica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal
do Rio de Janeiro, 21949-900 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
REFERENCE: Microbes Infect 2005 Oct 7(13):1317-23
Leishmania amazonensis and Leishmania braziliensis are the main causal
agents of anergic diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis and hyperergic mucosal
leishmaniasis in man, respectively. In this work we demonstrate that
intramuscular vaccination of BALB/c mice with whole antigens of L.
amazonensis (LaAg) but not L. braziliensis (LbAg) results in increased
susceptibility to cutaneous leishmaniasis. LaAg vaccination resulted in
an increased capacity of the draining lymph nodes to produce IL-10 and
TGF-beta during antigen recall responses. In vitro cultivation with LaAg
but not LbAg induced increased apoptosis of CD8+ T cells. Following
infection with L. amazonensis, LaAg-vaccinated mice produced
significantly more TGF-beta and a higher serum IgG1/IgG2a antibody ratio
compared with LbAg-vaccinated and non-vaccinated animals. The
association of TGF-beta with enhanced susceptibility to infection was
confirmed in mice co-vaccinated with LaAg and neutralizing anti-TGF-beta
antibodies. Upon parasite challenge, these animals developed much
smaller lesion sizes and parasite burdens, comparable with non-
vaccinated controls. The disease-promoting effect of LaAg vaccination is
not a general event, as in contrast to BALB/c, the disease outcome in
C57Bl/6 mice was unaltered. Together, these findings indicate that
species-specific components of L. amazonensis activate overt TGF-beta
production that predisposes more susceptible individuals to aggravated
disease following vaccination.
PMID: 16046170
TITLE: Visceral leishmaniasis in organ transplant recipients: 11 new cases and a
review of the literature.
AUTHORS: Didier Basset, Françoise Faraut, Pierre Marty, Jacques Dereure, Eric
Rosenthal, Charles Mary, Francine Pratlong, Laurence Lachaud, Patrick Bastien,
Jean-Pierre Dedet
AFFILIATION: Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie and Centre National de
Référence des Leishmania, CHU de Montpellier, 163, rue Auguste-Broussonet,
34090 Montpellier, France.
REFERENCE: Microbes Infect 2005 Oct 7(13):1370-5
Eleven new cases of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) are reported in organ
transplant patients in France. The epidemiological, clinical, biological
, diagnostic and therapeutic features are reviewed, based on these cases
and 46 cases reported in the literature. VL was most commonly
associated with renal transplantation (77% of the cases). Most patients
were from Southern European countries. The main clinical symptom was
fever. Leucopoenia and anaemia were the most frequent haematological
disorders. Diagnosis was by direct finding of the parasite in smears of
bone marrow (85.2%) or, by positive serology (90.9%). Without
antileishmanial treatment, VL in transplant recipients was fatal.
Treatment using either antimonials or amphotericine B gave similar cure
rates of around 80% of the cases. But toxicity was higher for
antimonials. Relapses occurred in 14.3%.
PMID: 16294187
TITLE: [Visceral leishmaniasis and sarcoidosis.]
AUTHORS: P Mulliez, C Croxo, J L Demory
AFFILIATION: Service de Pneumologie, Hôpital Saint Philibert, Lomme, France.
REFERENCE: Rev Mal Respir 2005 Sep 22(4):681-2
PMID: 16251521
TITLE: Polymorphism of slc11a1 (nramp1) gene and canine leishmaniasis in a
case-control study.
AUTHORS: E Sanchez-Robert, L Altet, A Sanchez, O Francino
AFFILIATION: the Servei Veterinari de Genètica Molecular, Facultat de VeterinÃ
ria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
REFERENCE: J Hered 2005 Nov-Dec 96(7):755-8
The prevalence of canine leishmaniasis infection in an endemic area such
as the Mediterranean basin (67%) is higher than the prevalence of the
disease (10%), suggesting a role of host genetics related to the outcome
of the disease. Because Slc11a1 gene affects susceptibility and
clinical outcome of autoimmune and infectious diseases, we analyzed five
polymorphisms of the Slc11a1 gene in a case-control study with 97 dogs
: three new single nucleotide polymorphisms and a G-stretch in the
promoter and a microsatellite in intron 1. Haplotype frequency
distributions showed significant differences between case and control
populations (P = .01), most likely owing to the single nucleotide
polymorphisms in the promoter region that were associated to case dogs.
The most frequent haplotypes included TAG-8-141, which was present in
all the breeds, in both case and control animals; and TAG-9-145, which
was overrepresented in the control population and mostly found in boxer
dogs. Within the boxer breed, 81% of the healthy dogs were homozygous
TAG-9-145, whereas TAG-8-141 was significantly associated to case boxers
(P = .02). The special genotype distribution for the Slc11a1
polymorphism associated with the prevalence of the illness in the boxer
breed emphasizes the potential importance that breed genetic background
has in canine leishmaniasis susceptibility.
PMID: 16295448
TITLE: Acute fulminant visceral leishmaniasis in children--a report of two
cases.
AUTHORS: Ruma Pahwa, Sanjeev K Gupta, Tejinder Singh, Sonu Nigam
AFFILIATION: Departments of Pathology, Maulana Azad Medical College and
associated L.N., G.B. Pant Hospitals, New Delhi. rumaarora1 at rediffmail.com
REFERENCE: Indian J Pathol Microbiol 2004 Jul 47(3):428-30
Kala-azar usually presents in older children and young adults with
insidious onset of fever, splenomegaly and pancytopenia. Characteristic
L.D. bodies in bone marrow or splenic aspirates are diagnostic of kala-
azar. We report two cases of visceral leishmaniasis in children-1 1/2
and 10 year old with unusual presentation and fulminant course. In case
1 a female presented with fever, jaundice and bleeding manifestations.
Peripheral smear revealed L.D. bodies in neutrophils as well as
monocytes. The liver function tests were deranged. The child died within
three days due to respiratory arrest. Case 2 was a boy who presented
with fever and altered sensorium with deranged liver function tests. The
patient expired within three days due to hepatic encephalopathy. Thus,
it is important to consider the diagnosis of Kala-azar even when the
presenting complaints are atypical and institute diagnostic and
therapeutic measures early to prevent mortality.
PMID: 16295422
TITLE: Myxomatous stromal changes and necrosis of bone marrow--a retrospective
study of 3 years.
AUTHORS: Nalini Gupta, Vijay Kumar, Neelam Varma, Gurjeevan Garewal, Reena Das,
Jasmina Ahluwalia, Sumitra Dash
AFFILIATION: Department of Hematology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical
Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh.
REFERENCE: Indian J Pathol Microbiol 2004 Jul 47(3):351-3
Myxomatous stromal changes and bone marrow necrosis (BMN) are uncommon
histologic findings. These changes have been found in various conditions
like disseminated carcinomatosis, postchemotherapy cases, chronic
infections, infiltrative disorders of the marrow etc. The present study
is a retrospective study of 3 years (Jan, 1999 to Dec. 2001) from Deptt
. Of Hematology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and
Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh (India). During this period, 3740 bone
marrow samples were examined. Myxomatous stromal changes and bone marrow
necrosis were noted in 0.43% (16/3740) and 0.45% (17/3740) samples
respectively. In addition to common causes of myxomatous stromal changes
and bone marrow necrosis as described in the literature, this study
highlights the association of these conditions with some of the rarer
entities like hyperoxalosis, leishmaniasis, parvovirus induced marrow
aplasia and cryptococcal infection. There is paucity of such
associations in the literature.
PMID: 16295673
TITLE: Kala-Azar at high altitude.
AUTHORS: Sanjay K Mahajan, Prem Machhan, Anil Kanga, Surinder Thakur, Ashok
Sharma, Bhupal Singh Prasher, Lal Singh Pal
AFFILIATION: Department of Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla.
REFERENCE: J Commun Dis 2004 Jun 36(2):117-20
Kala-azar or Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a disease of low altitude (
approximately 500 meters mean sea level). In India, however cases have
been reported from sub-Himalayan region (350-960 meters MSL) of Kumaon
region of Uttaranchal. We present two patients of VL, natives of tribal
district of Kinnnaur (2000-3000 meters MSL), Himachal Pradesh, who had
never visited known endemic area for Leishmaniasis. These are probably
first indigenous cases of VL being reported from an area situated at an
altitude of 3000 meters and 2300 meters MSL.
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PMID: 15911851
TITLE: Treating HIV/AIDS and leishmaniasis coinfection in Ethiopia.
AUTHORS: Aranka Anema, Koert Ritmeijer
AFFILIATION: British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's
Hospital, Vancouver, BC.
REFERENCE: CMAJ 2005 May 172(11):1434-5
REQUEST: [ leishmania ]
(18 articles match this request. 9 articles matching other requests removed)
PMID: 16212955
TITLE: Leishmanin skin test in guinea pig with a single purified protein of
Leishmania major.
AUTHORS: A R Khabiri, F Bagheri, M H Alimohammadian, M Assmar, S R Nadaf
AFFILIATION: Department of Parasitology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran,
Iran.
REFERENCE: Exp Parasitol 2005 Dec 111(4):239-43
A series of hybridomas was produced by fusion of SP2/0 myeloma cells
with spleen cells of mice immunized with Leishmania major (L. major).
The reactivity of secreted monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) was evaluated
against available leishmanin antigen by enzyme linked immunosorbent
assay. Only one hybridoma designated as 7F9 secreted IgG1 mAb which was
shown to be reactive with leishmanin. This mAb was further tested
against four species of Leishmania (L. donovani, L. tropica, L. infantum
, L. major) and a recombinant gp63. Among the four species tested it was
shown to be only reactive with promastigotes of L. major. The antigen
recognized by this mAb was purified and analyzed from both sonicated and
supernatant cultures of L. major by immunoaffinity chromatography and
reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography. The purified
antigen, which gave a single band of 56kDa on sodium dodecyl sulfate
polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis elicited a strong delayed-type
hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction in guinea pigs sensitized with L. major
. It was almost of the same degree as that produced by leishmanin. These
results suggest that an L. major-specific antigen is an alternative as
a specific diagnostic skin test reagent, which could lead to a better
understanding of the mechanism of DTH in L. major.
PMID: 16198340
TITLE: Antiproliferative and ultrastructural effects of BPQ-OH, a specific
inhibitor of squalene synthase, on Leishmania amazonensis.
AUTHORS: Juliany C F Rodrigues, Julio A Urbina, Wanderley de Souza
AFFILIATION: Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Instituto de
BiofÃsica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade, Federal do Rio de Janeiro,
CCS-Bloco G, Ilha do Fundão, 21949-900 Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brazil.
REFERENCE: Exp Parasitol 2005 Dec 111(4):230-8
Parasites of the Leishmania genus require for the growth and viability
the de novo synthesis of specific sterols as such as episterol and 5-
dehydroepisterol because cholesterol, which is abundant in their
mammalian hosts, does not fulfill the parasite sterol requirements.
Squalene synthase catalyzes the first committed step in the sterol
biosynthesis and has been studied as a possible target for the treatment
of high cholesterol levels in humans. In this work we investigated the
antiproliferative and ultrastructural effects induced by 3-(biphenyl-4-
yl)-3-hydroxyquinuclidine (BPQ-OH), a specific inhibitor of squalene
synthase, on promastigote and amastigote forms of Leishmania amazonensis
. BPQ-OH had a potent dose-dependent growth inhibitory effect against
promastigotes and amastigotes, with IC(50) values 0.85 and 0.11muM,
respectively. Ultrastructural analysis of the treated parasites revealed
several changes in the morphology of promastigote forms. The main
ultrastructural change was found in the plasma membrane, which showed
signs of disorganization, with the concomitant formation of elaborated
structures. We also observed alterations in the mitochondrion-
kinetoplast complex such as mitochondrial swelling, rupture of its
internal membrane and an abnormal compaction of the kinetoplast. Other
alterations included the appearance of multivesicular bodies, myelin-
like figures, alterations of the flagellar membrane and presence of
parasites with two or more nuclei and kinetoplasts. We conclude that the
BPQ-OH was a potent growth inhibitor of L. amazonensis, which led to
profound changes of the parasite's ultrastructure and might be a
valuable lead compound for the development of novel anti-Leishmania
agents.
PMID: 16037487
TITLE: Cloning and characterization of the phosphoglucomutase of Trypanosoma
cruzi and functional complementation of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae PGM null
mutant.
AUTHORS: Luciana L Penha, Lucia Mendonça-Previato, Jose O Previato, Julio
Scharfstein, Norton Heise, Ana Paula C de A Lima
AFFILIATION: Instituto de BiofÃsica Carlos Chagas Filho, Centro de Ciências da
Saúde - Bloco G, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21944-970, Cidade
Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
REFERENCE: Glycobiology 2005 Dec 15(12):1359-67
Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent of Chagas' disease, a chronic
illness characterized by progressive cardiomyopathy and/or denervation
of the digestive tract. The parasite surface is covered with
glycoconjugates, such as mucin-type glycoproteins and
glycoinositolphospholipids (GIPLs), whose glycans are rich in
galactopyranose (Galp) and/or galactofuranose (Galf) residues. These
molecules have been implicated in attachment of the parasite to and
invasion of mammalian cells and in modulation of the host immune
responses during infection. In T. cruzi, galactose (Gal) biosynthesis
depends on the conversion of uridine diphosphate (UDP)-glucose (UDP-Glc
) into UDP-Gal by an NAD-dependent reduction catalyzed by UDP-Gal 4-
epimerase. Phosphoglucomutase (PGM) is a key enzyme in this metabolic
pathway catalyzing the interconversion of Glc-6-phosphate (Glc-6-P) and
Glc-1-P which is then converted into UDP-Glc. We here report the cloning
of T. cruzi PGM, encoding T. cruzi PGM, and the heterologous expression
of a functional enzyme in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. T. cruzi PGM is a
single copy gene encoding a predicted protein sharing 61% amino acid
identity with Leishmania major PGM and 43% with the yeast enzyme. The 59
-trans-splicing site of PGM RNA was mapped to a region located at 18
base pairs upstream of the start codon. Expression of T. cruzi PGM in a
S. cerevisiae null mutant-lacking genes encoding both isoforms of PGM (
pgm1nu/pgm2nu) rescued the lethal phenotype induced upon cell growth on
Gal as sole carbon source.
PMID: 16299330
TITLE: Leishmania pifanoi Amastigotes Avoid Macrophage Production of Superoxide
by Inducing Heme Degradation.
AUTHORS: Nam-Kha Pham, Jennifer Mouriz, Peter E Kima
AFFILIATION: Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Building 981, Box
110700, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. pkima at ufl.edu.
REFERENCE: Infect Immun 2005 Dec 73(12):8322-33
Whereas infections of macrophages by promastigote forms of Leishmania
mexicana pifanoi induce the production of superoxide, infections by
amastigotes barely induce superoxide production. Several approaches were
employed to gain insight into the mechanism by which amastigotes avoid
eliciting superoxide production. First, in experiments with nitroblue
tetrazolium, we found that 25% of parasitophorous vacuoles (PVs) that
harbor promastigotes are positive for the NADPH oxidase complex, in
contrast to only 2% of PVs that harbor amastigotes. Second, confocal
microscope analyses of infected cells labeled with antibodies to gp91(
phox) revealed that this enzyme subunit is found in PVs that harbor
amastigotes. Third, in immunoblots of subcellular fractions enriched
with PVs from amastigote-infected cells and probed with antibodies to
gp91(phox), only the 65-kDa premature form of gp91(phox) was found. In
contrast, subcellular fractions from macrophages that ingested zymosan
particles contained both the 91- and 65-kDa forms of gp91(phox). This
suggested that only the immature form of gp91(phox) is recruited to PVs
that harbor amastigotes. Given that gp91(phox) maturation is dependent
on the availability of heme, we found that infections by Leishmania
parasites induce an increase in heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1), the rate-
limiting enzyme in heme degradation. Infections by amastigotes performed
in the presence of metalloporphyrins, which are inhibitors of HO-1,
resulted in superoxide production by infected macrophages. Taken
together, we propose that Leishmania amastigotes avoid superoxide
production by inducing an increase in heme degradation, which results in
blockage of the maturation of gp91(phox), which prevents assembly of
the NADPH oxidase enzyme complex.
PMID: 16288354
TITLE: [Parasitic diseases in pediatric cancer patients.]
AUTHORS: R Bialek
AFFILIATION: Institut für Tropenmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen.
ralf.bialek at med.uni-tuebingen.de.
REFERENCE: Klin Padiatr 2005 Nov 217 Suppl 1():85-90
Absract. Parasitic infections are rare events in pediatric oncology.
Transmission routes and diseases of most parasites do not differ
significantly from those seen in otherwise healthy children. However,
latent asymptomatic infections with Cryptosporidium spp., Leishmania spp
., Strongyloides stercoralis and Toxoplasma gondii might exacerbate
during immunosuppression. Screening in asymptomatic patients is often
unsuccessful due to the low sensitivity of available assays except in
toxoplasmosis. This article provides the recommendations of the
Infectious Diseases Working Party of the German Society for Pediatric
Infectious Diseases (DGPI) and the German Society for Pediatric
Hematology/Oncology (GPOH) for the appropriate diagnostic procedures and
antiparasitic treatment immunocompromised patients.
PMID: 16162503
TITLE: Higher plant plastids and cyanobacteria have folate carriers related to
those of trypanosomatids.
AUTHORS: Sebastian M J Klaus, Edmund R S Kunji, Gale G Bozzo, Alexandre Noiriel,
RocÃo DÃaz de la Garza, Gilles J C Basset, Stéphane Ravanel, Fabrice
Rébeillé, Jesse F Gregory, Andrew D Hanson
AFFILIATION: Horticultural Sciences and Food Science and Human Nutrition
Departments, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611.
REFERENCE: J Biol Chem 2005 Nov 280(46):38457-63
Cyanobacterial and plant genomes encode proteins with some similarity to
the folate and biopterin transporters of the trypanosomatid parasite
Leishmania. The Synechocystis slr0642 gene product and its closest
Arabidopsis homolog, the At2g32040 gene product, are representative
examples. Both have 12 probable transmembrane domains, and the At2g32040
protein has a predicted chloroplast transit peptide. When expressed in
Escherichia coli pabA pabB or folE, mutants, which are unable to produce
or take up folates, the slr0642 protein and a modified At2g32040
protein (truncated and fused to the N terminus of slr0642) enabled
growth on 5-formyltetrahydrofolate or folic acid but not on 5-
formyltetrahydrofolate triglutamate, demonstrating that both proteins
mediate folate monoglutamate transport. Both proteins also mediate
transport of the antifolate analogs methotrexate and aminopterin, as
evidenced by their ability to greatly increase the sensitivity of E.
coli to these inhibitors. The full-length At2g32040 polypeptide was
translocated into isolated pea chloroplasts and, when fused to green
fluorescent protein, directed the passenger protein to the envelope of
Arabidopsis chloroplasts in transient expression experiments. At2g32040
transcripts were present at similar levels in roots and aerial organs,
indicating that the protein occurs in non-green plastids as well as
chloroplasts. Insertional inactivation of At2g32040 significantly raised
the total folate content of chloroplasts and lowered the proportion of
5-methyltetrahydrofolate but did not discernibly affect growth. These
findings establish conservation of function among folate and biopterin
transporter family proteins from three kingdoms of life.
PMID: 16054271
TITLE: Aluminium phosphate potentiates the efficacy of DNA vaccines against
Leishmaniamexicana.
AUTHORS: Miguel Rosado-Vallado, Mirza Mut-Martin, Maria Del Rosario
GarcÃa-Miss, Eric Dumonteil
AFFILIATION: Laboratorio de ParasitologÃa, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales
"Dr. Hideyo Noguchi", Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Ave. Itzáes #490 x 59,
97000 Mérida, Yucatán, México.
REFERENCE: Vaccine 2005 Nov 23(46-47):5372-9
DNA vaccines have been able to induce partial protection against
infection with Leishmania in mice, but it is still necessary to increase
their efficacy. In the present study we evaluated aluminium phosphate
as an adjuvant of different formulations and doses of DNA vaccines
against L. mexicana in BALB/c mice. Aluminium phosphate had no effect on
the humoral response induced by a high dose (100mug) DNA vaccine, but
slightly increased the cellular response and the protection against
infection. It also allowed a non-immunoprotective low dose (20mug) DNA
vaccine encoding L. mexicana GP63 and Leishmania donovani NH36 to become
protective. Aluminium phosphate may thus be an effective, low cost and
safe adjuvant for DNA vaccines, and the vaccine formulation described
here may be an excellent candidate for further vaccine development
against Leishmania.
PMID: 16252191
TITLE: A case of visceral leishmaniasis misdiagnosed as autoimmune hepatitis.
AUTHORS: Buket Dalgiç, Ismail Dursun, Gülen Akyol
REFERENCE: Turk J Gastroenterol 2005 Mar 16(1):52-3
PMID: 16295510
TITLE: Amastigote forms of Leishmania donovani in peripheral blood.
AUTHORS: Mona Anand, Rajive Kumar, O P Malhotra, Sarika Singh
REFERENCE: Indian J Pathol Microbiol 2004 Apr 47(2):307
REQUEST: [ sand fly ]
(0 articles match this request)
REQUEST: [ sandfly ]
(1 article matches this request)
PMID: 16226273
TITLE: (1S,3S,7R)-3-methyl-alpha-himachalene from the male sandfly Lutzomyia
longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae) induces neurophysiological responses and
attracts both males and females.
AUTHORS: C N Spiegel, P Jeanbourquin, P M Guerin, A M Hooper, S Claude, R
Tabacchi, S Sano, K Mori
AFFILIATION: Institute of Zoology, University of Neuchâtel, Rue Emile Argand
11, Case postale 2, CH- 2007 Neuchâtel, Switzerland; Depto. Ultra-estrutura e
Biologia Celular/Instituto Oswaldo Cruz-FIOCRUZ, 21040-900 Rio de Janeiro, RJ,
Brazil.
REFERENCE: J Insect Physiol 2005 Dec 51(12):1366-75
Lutzomyia longipalpis adult males form leks on or near hosts and release
(1S,3S,7R)-3-methyl-alpha-himachalene from their tergal glands to lure
females to the same site for mating and feeding. Here we have examined
whether the male-produced attractant could also serve as a male
aggregation stimulus. High resolution chiral capillary gas
chromatography analysis of male tergal gland extracts, synthetic (1S,3S,
7R)-3-methyl-alpha-himachalene, and a synthetic mixture of all isomers
of 3-methyl-alpha-himachalene, was coupled to electrophysiological
recordings from ascoid sensillum receptor cells in antennae of male and
female sandflies. Receptor cells of both sexes responded only to the
main component of the male tergal gland extract that eluted at the same
retention time as (1S,3S,7R)-3-methyl-alpha-himachalene. Furthermore, of
the eight 3-methyl-alpha-himachalene isomers in the synthetic mixture
only the fraction containing (1S,3S,7R)-3-methyl-alpha-himachalene, co-
eluting with an isomer of (1S*,3S*,7S*)-3-methyl-alpha-himachalene,
elicited an electrophysiological response from male and female ascoid
sensillum receptor cells. Both males and females flew upwind in a wind
tunnel towards a filter paper disk treated with either 4-6 male
equivalents of the tergal gland extract, pure (1S,3S,7R)-3-methyl-alpha-
himachalene or the synthetic mixture of eight isomers. This indicates
that (1S,3S,7R)-3-methyl-alpha-himachalene derived from L. longipalpis
males may have a dual function in causing male aggregation as well as
serving as a sex pheromone for females.
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