Therapy of the experimental infection by Strongyloides venezuelensis in rats with injectable ivermectin or levamizole

For the therapy of human strongyloidiasis, are necessary effective drugs to eliminate both larvae and adult worm parasitism, which may also be used by parenteral route, to obviate the particular conditions presented by many patients. A study based on the experimental infection by Strongyloides venezuelensis in rats was done, administering injectable ivermectin or levamizole. Both drugs were shown to be active, when used in single doses of 0.2 to 0.5 mg/kg of ivermectin, or 26 mg/kg for levamizole. Ivermectin was slightly more effective as far as larval stage of the infection is concerned, and the same happened for levamisole for the adult worm stage. Promising perspectives are visualized to improve the therapy of patients with serious disseminated infection by Strongyloides stercoralis.

Mediastinal and pulmonary entomophthoromycosis with superior vena cava syndrome: case report

The first case of mediastinal and pulmonary entomophthoromycosis with supe rior vena cava syndrome is reported. The patient presented with a history of edema of the face, neck and upper limbs as well as collateral circulation in the anterior wall of the chest. Histological examination of tissue from mediastinum revealed a granulomatous reaction with microabscesses surrounded by eosinophilic amorphous material and with broad hyphae in the center. Culture was not performed because a preliminary diagnosis of nonHodgkin's malignant lymphoma was made. Surgical correction of the obstructed area was performed and the patient was sucessfully treated with potassium iodide. The authors propose that mediastinal entomoph thoromycosis must be considered in the differential diagnosis of diseases causing superior vena cava syndrome in tropical and sub-tropical regions. This case enlarges the spectrum of clinical manifestations of the zigomycosis caused by Entomoph-thoraceae.

Antibody to human T-lymphotropic virus in a patient with Guillain-Barré syndrome (case report)

Serum sample obtained from a male, 12 year old patient suffering from Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) was positive for human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV-I) antibody by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the Western Blot analysis (WB). Attempts to isolate enteroviruses (including poliovirus) from faecal material in both tissue culture and suckling mice were unsuccessful; in addition, acute and convalescent paired serum samples did not show any evidence of recent poliovirus infection when tested against the three serotypes. Specific tests for detection of Epstein-Barr virus infection were not performed; however, the Paul-Bunnel test yielded negative results. ELISA for detection of anti-cytomegalovirus IgM was also negative. The concomitant occurrence of either adult T cell leukemia (ATL) or lymphoma was not recorded in this case.