Toxoplasmosis in Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins (Sousa chinensis) from Queensland

Objective: To describe the clinical signs, gross pathology, serology, bacteriology, histopathology, electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry findings associated with toxoplasmosis in four Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins (Sousa chinensis) that stranded in Queensland in 2000 and 2001. Design: Clinical assessment, gross necropsy, and laboratory examinations. Procedure: Necropsies were performed on four S chinensis to determine cause of death. Laboratory tests including serology, bacteriology, histopathology and transmission electron microscopy were done on the four dolphins. lmmunohistochemistry was done on the brain, heart, liver, lung, spleen and adrenal gland from various dolphins to detect Toxoplasma gondii antigens. Results: Necropsies showed all of four S chinensis that stranded in Queensland in 2000 and 2001 had evidence of predatory shark attack and three were extremely emaciated. Histopathological examinations showed all four dolphins had toxoplasmosis with tissue cysts resembling T gondii in the brain. Tachyzoite stages of T gondii were detected in the lungs, heart, liver, spleen and adrenal gland, variously of all four dolphins. Electron microscopy studies and immunohistochemistry confirmed the tissues cysts were those of Tgondii. All four dolphins also had intercurrent disease including pneumonia, three had peritonitis and one had pancreatitis. Conclusion: Four S chinensis necropsied in Queensland in 2000 and 2001 were found to be infected with toxoplasmosis. It is uncertain how these dolphins became infected and further studies are needed to determine how S chinensis acquire toxoplasmosis. All four dolphins stranded after periods of heavy rainfall, and coastal freshwater runoff may be a risk factor for T gondii infection in S chinensis. This disease should be of concern to wildlife managers since S chinensis is a rare species and its numbers appear to be declining.

Systemic toxoplasmosis in captive flying-foxes

Systemic toxoplasmosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii was diagnosed in two juvenile, captive flying-foxes (Pteropus conspicillatus and P. scapulatus), which died following respiratory distress. One animal displayed clinical signs suggestive of neurological disease. This is the first report of this disease in megachiropteran bats and adds to the list of differential diagnoses for both systemic and neurological disease in these animals. The role of captivity in the exposure and development of the disease is discussed.

Reactivación de agregados proteicos por chaperonas moleculares

ClpB es una chaperona hexamérica que solubiliza y reactiva agregados proteicos con la colaboración del sistema Hsp70/Dnak. Cada monómero de la proteína contiene dos dominios de unión a nucleótido, NBDs, que unen e hidrolizan ATP. La inserción de subunidades mutantes inactivas, es decir, incapaces de hidrolizar ATP, en el hexámero de ClpB inhibe la actividad replegadora de esta chaperona porque bloquean la comunicación alostérica que se establece entre los NBDs de los protómeros. Con el fin de conocer qué dominios de la proteína se encuentran implicados en dicha comunicación intermonomérica, se preparan híbridos de ClpB que contienen subunidades inactivas sin dominio N-terminal o dominio M. Asimismo, se estudia el efecto de DnaK en la actividad ATPasa de ClpB.

Toxoplasmosis during pregnancy and infancy. A new approach for Switzerland.

In recent years it has become evident that screening for and treatment of acute toxoplasmosis during pregnancy may have no measurable impact on vertical transmission and neonatal morbidity and mortality. A broad lack of evidence with regard to many aspects of congenital toxoplasmosis has been recognised in a common European initiative (EUROTOXO) which reviewed several thousand published papers on the subject of toxoplasmosis during pregnancy and childhood. It was therefore clear that the strategies currently implemented in our country would, on closer inspection, no longer withstand the claim for evidence-based procedures. The arguments and call for a change of paradigm in Switzerland which follow here are the result of a national consensus-finding process involving experts from various specialities, including gynaecology/obstetrics, paediatrics/neonatology, infectiology, ophthalmology and laboratory medicine, together with representatives of the public health authorities.

Liquidación de sociedades comerciales: la contravención y el silencio de las normas sobre capacidad como mecanismo de reactivación empresarial

En este trabajo se demuestra que por medio de continuación de la explotación del objeto social durante un proceso liquidatorio, es posible reactivar las empresas en Colombia. Todo lo anterior a pesar de contravenirse el artículo 222 del código de comercio, el cual afirma que dentro de una liquidación, las sociedades únicamente podrán ejecutar actos encaminados a la liquidación misma.

Reactivación Vinos de Naranja Nazabel como una alternativa para el desarrollo microempresarial, económico y social de Nocaima, provincia del Gualivá-Cundinamarca

La Facultad de Administración de la Universidad de Rosario se ha vinculado al programa de Municipio Saludable con el fin aportar todas aquellas herramientas necesarias para reactivar actividades microempresariales que necesiten de una planeación estratégica para su buen funcionamiento y perdurabilidad en el tiempo. En Nocaima existen importantes actividades económicas como el cultivo de la caña, la elaboración de la panela procesada artesanalmente y la actividad porcina; pero también se han venido desarrollando otras actividades como la elaboración de artesanías y calzado en calceta de plátano y la producción de vino de naranja que podrían alcanzar una mayor estabilidad y rentabilidad a largo plazo. Estas actividades son ejecutadas por grupos familiares pequeños, que han desarrollado nuevos productos a partir de los recursos que tienen y caracterizándose por la producción artesanal de los mismos. Sin embargo algunas de estas prácticas han tenido que ser suspendidas por la falta de recursos (especialmente financieros) y por la poca o ninguna asesoría que tienen estos microempresarios. Es por ello, que como estudiantes de Administración de Negocios Internacionales, vemos importante aportar nuestro conocimiento adquirido en la academia para reactivar la microempresa Nazabel, la cual se encarga de la producción de vino de naranja en la provincia de Gualivá, mediante la aplicación de las diferentes ramas administrativas enfocándonos en un marco estratégico, mediante la aplicación de modelos que nos permita aportar las condiciones necesarias para que el municipio de Nocaima y la región del Gualivá, logren un mayor desarrollo económico y social, con una mayor generación de empleo y crecimiento en el nivel y la calidad de vida de la población a partir del valor agregado que se puede obtener con esta producción.

Toxoplasma gondii in the peripheral blood of patients with acute and chronic toxoplasmosis

Background and aims Toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis may recur months or years after the primary infection. Rupture of dormant cysts in the retina is the accepted hypothesis to explain recurrence. Here, the authors present evidence supporting the presence of Toxoplasma gondii in the peripheral blood of immunocompetent patients. Methods Direct observation by light microscopy and by immunofluorescence assay was performed, and results were confirmed by PCR amplification of parasite DNA. Results The authors studied 20 patients from Erechim, Brazil, including acute infected patients, patients with recurrent active toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis, patients with old toxoplasmic retinal scars, and patients with circulating IgG antibodies against T gondii and absence of ocular lesions. Blood samples were analysed, and T gondii was found in the blood of acutely and chronically infected patients regardless of toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis. Conclusions The results indicate that the parasite may circulate in the blood of immunocompetent individuals and that parasitaemia could be associated with the reactivation of the ocular disease.

A Community-based Survey of Human Toxoplasmosis in Rural Amazonia: Seroprevalence, Seroconversion Rate, and Associated Risk Factors

IgG antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii were detected in, March-April 2004, in 65.8% (95% confidence interval, 60.8-70.8%) of 342 systematically sampled subjects 5-90 years of age (87.5% of the eligible) living in a rural settlement in Amazonia, with a seroconversion rate of 9% over I year of follow-up of 99 seronegative subjects. Multiple logistic regression analysis identified age as the only significant independent predictor of seropositivity at the baseline. Each additional year of age increases the odds of being seropositive by 6%, and 76.8% of the subjects are expected to be seropositive at 30 years of age. A single high-prevalence spatial cluster, comprising 11.9% of the seropositive subjects, was detected in the area; households in the cluster were less likely to have dogs as pets and their heads had a lower education level, when compared with households located outside the cluster. The challenges for preventing human toxoplasmosis in tropical rural settings are discussed.

Experimental toxoplasmosis in pregnant bitches

Three Toxoplasma gondii free bitches (No, 3-5) were fed 15 000 sporulated T. gondii oocysts at 56, 40 and 32 day of gestation and the outcome of the pregnancy was monitored. Two of the three dogs infected during pregnancy showed evidence of congenital infection and one aborted. Two control bitches not fed oocysts delivered eight uninfected healthy pups. This study demonstrated that I gondii can be congenitally transmitted in dogs when bitches are infected during pregnancy. (C) 1999 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Does toxoplasmosis cause DNA damage? An evaluation in isogenic mice under normal diet or dietary restriction

Toxoplasmosis is an anthropozoonotic widespread disease, caused by the coccidian protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Since there are no data regarding the genotoxicity of the parasite in vivo, this study was designed to evaluate the genotoxic potential of the toxoplasmosis on isogenic mice with normal diet or under dietary restriction and submitted to a treatment with sulfonamide (375 mug/kg per day). DNA damage was assessed in peripheral blood, liver and brain cells using the comet assay (tail moment). The results for leucocytes showed increases in the mean tail moment in mice under dietary restriction; in infected mice under normal diet; in infected, sulfonamide-treated mice under normal diet; in infected mice under dietary restriction and in infected sulfonamide-treated mice under dietary restriction. In liver and brain cells, no statistically significant difference was observed for the tail moment. These results indicated that dietary restriction and T. gondii were able to induce DNA damage in peripheral blood cells, as detected by the comet assay. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Environmental risk factors for canine toxoplasmosis in a deprived district of Botucatu, SP, Brazil

Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide zoonosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii that can infect a large variety of animals, including humans. The present study aimed to evaluate the frequency of anti-T. gondii antibodies in dogs from a peripheral district of Botucatu and to establish the association among some epidemiological variables in order to evaluate risk factors for toxoplasmosis infection. Serum samples from dogs were screened using an indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) test. Anti-T. gondii antibody prevalence was 56%. The highest titer was 1024 (1.79%) and the most frequent titers were 16 (57.14%) and 64 (33.93%). The chi-square (X-2) test revealed significant association among variables such as dog access to street, ingestion of raw meat and presence of synantropic animals in the domestic environment. These results demonstrate that toxoplasmosis is present in dogs from Jardim Santa Elisa district.

Epidemiological and Serological Aspects in Canine Toxoplasmosis in Animals with Nervous Symptoms

The presence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii IgM and IgG antibodies was studied in samples of blood serum taken from eighty dogs with nervous symptoms at the Serviço de Enfermidades Infecciosas dos Animais, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Unesp, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil. The frequency of IgG titers were 16 (13.7%), 64 (13.7%), and 256 (5%), and for IgM titers were 16 (7.5%), 64 (15%), and 256 (8.7%). Positive reactions were more frequent in the older animals, males, from a rural environment, in constant contact with small animals, principally birds and rodents. There was a higher frequency of a positive reaction in dogs fed with kitchen food, especially in those fed with raw ingredients. The most common neurological pictures were alterations in consciousness, in movement, and in the hand-cart test. The percentage of reagents with specific IgM antibodies was high, indicating active infections, but the possibility of co-infection with the distemper virus can not be discarded, and this may be a predisposing factor for toxoplasmosis infection, once the distemper virus has a potent immunosupressive action.

Clinical, parasitological and obstetric observations in pregnant bitches with experimental toxoplasmosis

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)