Neoparaseuratum travasssosi, n. g., n. sp. (Nematoda: Quimperiidae), a new parasite from thorny catfish Pterododas granulosus in Brazil

A new nematode genus and species. Neoparaseuratum travassosi n. g., n. sp., is described from the intestine of the freshwater thorny catfish, Pterodoras granulosus (Valenciennes), from the Paraná River, Brazil. This seuratoid nematode species represents a new genus of the family Quimperiidae, being characterized mainly by the presence of numerous narrow longitudinal bands of inflated cuticle extending along the cephalic region of the body, small deirids, postoesophageal position of the excretory pore, relatively short (0.159-0.303 mm), equal spicules and a gubernaculum, the absence of caudal alae and preanal sucker in the male, and by some other features.

On Machadosentis travassosi n. g., n. sp. (Eoacanthocephala: Quadrigyridae) parasite of a moray Gymnothorax ocellatus in Brazil

Machadosentis travassosi n. g., n. sp. an acanthocephalan parasite of a moray are proposed after comparison with the related genera in Quadrigyridae VVan Cleave, 1920. The new genus differs from the other related by the arrangement of proboscis hooks (five circles of rows with five hooks each, with well developed roots) besides the distribution of cuticular spines.

Diagnostic accuracy of G-CSF, IL-8, and IL-1ra in critically ill children with suspected infection.

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the diagnostic accuracy of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) in identifying patients with sepsis among critically ill pediatric patients with suspected infection. DESIGN AND SETTING: Nested case-control study in a multidisciplinary neonatal and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) PATIENTS: PICU patients during a 12-month period with suspected infection, and plasma available from the time of clinical suspicion (254 episodes, 190 patients). MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Plasma levels of G-CSF, IL-8, and IL-1ra. Episodes classified on the basis of clinical and bacteriological findings into: culture-confirmed sepsis, probable sepsis, localized infection, viral infection, and no infection. Plasma levels were significantly higher in episodes of culture-confirmed sepsis than in episodes with ruled-out infection. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was higher for IL-8 and G-CSF than for IL-1ra. Combining IL-8 and G-CSF improved the diagnostic performance, particularly as to the detection of Gram-negative sepsis. Sensitivity was low (<50%) in detecting Staphylococcus epidermidis bacteremia or localized infections. CONCLUSIONS: In this heterogeneous population of critically ill children with suspected infection, a model combining plasma levels of IL-8 and G-CSF identified patients with sepsis. Negative results do not rule out S. epidermidis bacteremia or locally confined infectious processes. The model requires validation in an independent data-set.

The effect of subminimal inhibitory concentrations of penicillin on growth rate and haemolysin activity of group G Streptococcus

The influence of the subminimal inhibitory concentrations (1/3 and 1/4 of the MIC) of penicillin on growth rate and on haemolysin production of a strain of group G Streptococcus was studied. It was shown that 1/3 of the MIC almost completely inhibited the bacterial growth, but it was not able to inhibit haemolysin activity in the culture supernate. The generation time of bacteria grown in 1/4 of the MIC was approximately twice longer than that of the control culture. In all cultures, the haemolysin, after being produced (or liberated), reached a peak and decreased to low levels, which could suggest that group G Streptococcus produces some end products of metabolism that are able to inhibit haemolysin activity.

La littérature apocryphe peut-elle être comprise comme une "littérature au second degré" (G. Genette)

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) La Bible restitue au lecteur des écrits qui n'y figurent parfois pas explicitement, mais qui ont baigné les auteurs jusqu'à ressortir quasi intacts dans les textes canoniques. Tout texte appelle donc à la mémoire du lecteur d'autres textes, et, dans la Bible, leur identification reste pour l'heure relativement difficile à effectuer. Les auteurs de cet ouvrage ont l'ambition de fournir et d'illustrer une méthode pour identifier l'héritage littéraire dont la Bible se fait le témoin. Que ce soit sur l'Ancien Testament, le Nouveau Testament ou les textes apocryphes, les contributions s'attachent à exposer des relations de co-présence entre deux ou plusieurs textes (par le biais de la citation, de la référence ou de l'allusion) ou la relation de dérivation d'un texte à un autre.

Selección de péptidos sintéticos del Virus de la Hepatitis G (GBV-C/HGV) inhibidores del Péptido de Fusión HIV-I

El GB virus C (GBV-C) o virus de l'hepatitis G (HGV) es un virus format per una única cadena de RNA que pertany a la familia Flaviviridae. En els últims anys, s'han publicat nombrosos treballs en els quals s'associa la coinfecció del GBV-C i del virus de la immunodeficiència humana (VIH) amb una menor progressió de l'esmentada malaltia així com amb una major supervivència dels pacients una vegada que la SIDA s'ha desenvolupat. El mecanisme pel qual el virus GBV-C/HGV exerceix un “efecte protector” en els pacients amb VIH encara no està descrit. L’estudi de la interacció entre els virus GBVC/HGV i VIH podria donar lloc al desenvolupament de nous agents terapèutics per al tractament de la SIDA.Treballs recents mostren com la capacitat inhibitòria del virus del GBV-C/HGV és deguda a la seva glicoproteina estructural E2. S’ha vist que aquesta proteina seria capaç d’inhibir la primera fase de replicació de VIH, així com la unió i la fusió amb les membranes cel•lulars. Sobre la base d’aquests estudis, l’objectiu d’aquest treball ha estat seleccionar inhibidors del pèptid de fusió del VIH utilitzant pèptids sintètics de la proteina E2 del GBV-C/HGV. El treball realitzat ha consistit en estudiar, utilitzant assajos biofísics de leakage i de lipid mixing, la capacitat dels pèptids de la proteina estructural del virus del GBV-C/HGV per inhibir la interacció i el procés de desestabilització de membranes induïdes pel pèptid de fusió de la glicoproteina de l’embolcall, GP41, del VIH. Aquests assajos, com es descriu en treballs anteriors, han resultat útils per a la selecció i la identificació de compostos amb activitat específica anti-GP41. Es pot afirmar que efectivament els pèptids seleccionats de la proteina E2 del virus del GBV-C/HGV inhibeixen l’activitat del pèptid de fusió del VIH probablement com a consequència d’un canvi conformacional en aquest darrer.

Rotaviruses as a cause of nosocomial, infantile diarrhoea in Northern Brazil: pilot study

Faecal samples were obtained from 190 children, aged 0 to 5 years, admitted to a public hospital in Belém, Pará, Brazil. These patients were placed in a pediatric ward with 40 beds distributed in six rooms. Case were classified into three groups: (a) nosocomial: children who developed gastroenteritis 72 hr or later after admission; (b) community-acquired: patients admitted either with diarrhoea or who had diarrhoea within 72 hr following admission; (c) non-diarrhoeic: those children who had no diarrhoea three days before and three days after collection of formed faecal sample. Specimens were routinely processed for the presence of rotaviruses, bacteria and parasites. Rotaviruses were detected through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and subsequently serotyped/electrophoretyped. Rotaviruses were the most prevalent enteropathogens among nosocomial cases, accounting for 39 % (9/23) of diarrhoeal episodes; on the other hand, rotaviruses ocurred in 8.3 % (11/133) and 9 % (3/34) of community-acquired and non-diarrhoeic categories, respectively. Mixed infections involving rotavirus and Giardia intestinalis and rotavirus plus G. intestinalis and Entamoeba histolytica were detected in frequencies of 8.6 and 4.3 %, respectively, in the nosocomial group. The absence of bacterial pathogens in this category, and the unusual low prevalence of these agents in the other two groups may reflect the early and routine administration of antibiotics following admission to this hospital. Rotavirus serotype 2 prevailed over the other types, accounting for 77.8 % of isolates from nosocomial diarrhoeal episodes. In addition, at least five different genomic profiles could be observed, of which one displayed an unusual five-segment first RNA cluster. Dehydration was recorded in all cases of hospital-acquired, rotavirus-associated diarrhoea, whereas in only 57 % of nosocomial cases of other aetiology. It was also noted that nosocomial, rotavirus-associated diarrhoeal episodes occur earlier (7 days), following admission, if compared with those hospital-acquired cases of other aetiology (14 days).

Paraorientatractis semiannulata n. g., n. sp. (Cosmocercoidea: Atractidae) from the Large Intestine of the SideNecked Turtle, Podocnemis unifilis Troschel, 1848 (Testudines: Pelomedusidae) in Brazil

Specimens collected from the large intestine of the sidenecked turtle Podocnemis unifilis Troschel, 1848 in the region of Cuminá and Trombetas rivers near Pará, Brazil are assigned to a new genus and new species of the nematode superfamily Cosmocercoidea and family Atractidae and named Paraorientatractis semiannulata. The new genus is separated from the nearest genus Orientatractis by the funnelshaped mouth opening, the presence of 4 distinct lips, 4 papillae in the internal cycle, one on each lip margin, 2 lateral amphids with large amphidial pores and absence of submedian papillae. It is also separated from Orientatractis and Proatractis by the presence of striated lateral alae which curve dorsally extending from mid oesophagus to mid tail, the difference in size of the vulvar opening and the presence of large transverse ridges or semiannules on the dorsal surface. The new species can be separated from the species of the genera Orientatractis and Proatractis by the characters that distinguish the genera and the arrangement of the caudal papillae on the male. A host/parasite list for Podocnemis spp. is included

Mitochondrial tRNA(Leu(UUR)) mutation m.3302A > G presenting as childhood-onset severe myopathy: threshold determination through segregation study.

Mitochondrial tRNA(Leu(UUR)) mutation m.3302A > G is associated with respiratory chain complex I deficiency and has been described as a rare cause of mostly adult-onset slowly progressive myopathy. Five families with 11 patients have been described so far; 5 of them died young due to cardiorespiratory failure. Here, we report on a segregation study in a family with an index patient who already presented at the age of 18 months with proximal muscular hypotonia, abnormal fatigability, and lactic acidosis. This early-onset myopathy was rapidly progressive. At 8 years, the patient is wheel-chair bound, requires nocturnal assisted ventilation, and suffers from recurrent respiratory infections. Severe complex I deficiency and nearly homoplasmy for m.3302A > G were found in muscle. We collected blood, hair, buccal swabs and muscle biopsies from asymptomatic adults in this pedigree and determined heteroplasmy levels in these tissues as well as OXPHOS activities in muscle. All participating asymptomatic adults had normal OXPHOS activities. In contrast to earlier reports, we found surprisingly little variation of heteroplasmy levels in different tissues of the same individual. Up to 45% mutation load in muscle and up to 38% mutation load in other tissues were found in non-affected adults. The phenotypic spectrum of tRNA(Leu(UUR)) m.3302A > G mutation seems to be wider than previously described. A threshold of more than 45% heteroplasmy in muscle seems to be necessary to alter complex I activity leading to clinical manifestation. The presented data may be helpful for prognostic considerations and counseling in affected families.

Aotus infulatus monkey is susceptible to Plasmodium falciparum infection and may constitute an alternative experimental model for malaria

Aotus is one of the WHO-recommended primate models for studies in malaria, and several species can be infected with Plasmodium falciparum or P. vivax. Here we describe the successful infection of the species A. infulatus from eastern Amazon with blood stages of P. falciparum. Both intact and splenectomized animals were susceptible to infection; the intact ones were able to keep parasitemias at lower levels for several days, but developed complications such as severe anemia; splenectomized monkeys developed higher parasitemias but no major complications. We conclude that A. infulatus is susceptible to P. falciparum infection and may represent an alternative model for studies in malaria.

Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and tropical diseases: a Brazilian perspective

The paper summarizes recent findings on the epidemiology and pathogenesis of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/Aids), highlighting the role of co-infections with major tropical diseases. Such co-infections have been studied in the Brazilian context since the beginning of the Aids epidemic and are expected to be more frequent and relevant as the Aids epidemic in Brazil proceeds towards smaller municipalities and the countryside, where tropical diseases are endemic. Unlike opportunistic diseases that affect basically the immunocompromised host, most tropical diseases, as well as tuberculosis, are pathogenic on their own, and can affect subjects with mild or no immunossuppression. In the era of highly active anti-retroviral therapies (HAART), opportunistic diseases seem to be on decrease in Brazil, where such medicines are fully available. Benefiting from HAART in terms of restoration of the immune function, putative milder clinical courses are expected in the future for most co-infections, including tropical diseases. On the other hand, from an ecological perspective, the progressive geographic diffusion of Aids makes tropical diseases and tuberculosis a renewed challenge for Brazilian researchers and practitioners dealing with HIV/Aids in the coming years.

L'autochtonie en pays de nappes: réponse à G. Fuchs

From the detai1ed examination of four key areas of Ladakh and Zanskar (NW Himalaya), the autochtonist hypothesis of the Tibetan zone is absolutely refuted. The nappes and thrusts are reality in Zanskar as well as in other areas to the N of the main Himalayan Range. The new Zangla, Zumlung and Khurna nappes are confirmed. A partir de l'examen de quatre régions clés du Ladakh et du Zanskar (NW Himalaya), la théorie de l'autochtonie de la zone tibétaine est réfutée. La tectonique de nappes est une réalité aussi bien au Zanskar que dans les autres régions au N de l'Himalaya. Les nouvelles nappes de Zangla, Zumlung et Khurna précédemment découvertes (Baud et al., 1983) son confirmées.