What's new for 'Trypanosomatids' in PubMed

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Sent on Thursday, 2010 Jun 24
Search kinetoplastids OR kinetoplastid OR Kinetoplastida OR "trypanosoma brucei" OR leishmania OR brucei OR leishmaniasis OR "African trypanosomiasis"
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PubMed Results

Items 1 - 4 of 4

1.	Indian J Med Res. 2010 Jun;131:793-8. Low serum zinc levels in an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis in Bihar, India. Mishra J, Carpenter S, Singh S. Department of Laboratory Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. Abstract BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: India carries approximately 50 per cent of the global burden of visceral leishmaniasis and majority of patients from the poor, rural communities of Bihar State. Zinc is an essential trace element and its relevance for proper functioning of the entire immune system is already well documented. Though low serum zinc levels have been reported in many parasitic diseases, limited information is available regarding zinc status in human leishmaniasis. We investigated to define the relationship between zinc level in visceral leishmaniasis (VL) patients in endemic and non-endemic regions. METHODS: Venous blood was collected from 88 patients, 16 parasitologically confirmed VL, 35 healthy controls from endemic area (Bihar) and 37 healthy urban controls from non-endemic area, Delhi. In all the three groups, levels of serum albumin, total protein (markers of nutritional status) and zinc were estimated by colorimetric methods. RESULTS: Serum zinc levels were found to be significantly lower (P<0.001) in VL patients than non-endemic controls. The serum zinc levels in VL endemic controls were also significantly lower (P<0.001) than non- endemic controls, but these values were not statistically significantly different from VL patients. However, all samples from Bihar (VL patients and controls) had lower serum zinc levels than non-endemic controls from Delhi. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: Low serum Zn levels, in healthy subjects from Bihar and more significantly in VL patients of this region, are possibly associated with vulnerability and endemicity of visceral leishmaniasis in the region. Further studies need to be done to assess the role of oral zinc supplementation in better management and prevention of VL, particularly in endemic areas.
	PMID: 20571168 [PubMed - in process]

2.	Exp Parasitol. 2010 May 27. [Epub ahead of print] First report on isolation of Leishmania tropica from sandflies of a classical urban Cutaneous leishmaniasis focus in southern Iran. Oshaghi MA, Rasolian M, Shirzadi MR, Mohtarami F, Doosti S. Dept. of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran. Abstract Shiraz district in south of Iran is a classical focus of Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and previous research has consistently documented the etiologic agent to be Leishmania tropica and Leishmania major in urban and rural areas, respectively. However, none of the Phlebotomus sergenti, a known vector for L. tropica, of the region has been found infected. We report the first isolation of L. tropica from sandflies in urban community of southern part of Shiraz city. Parasite polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and gene sequencing analyses indicate CL cases in this community were caused by either L. major or L. tropica. Sandflies of P. sergenti were infrequent, however, three out of 10 (30.0%) females captured in urban area were found infected with L. tropica. But, no human cases were found to be infected with L. tropica. Phlebotomus papatasi were found the most dominant and infected species where 41 out of 207 (20%) tested individuals harboring L. major in suburb area of the city. Patients have been lived in the suburb area of the city where people keep normally domestic animals in their houses which provide appropriate environment for completion of sandfly life cycle and expansion of CL disease in the region. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
	PMID: 20570590 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

3.	Bioorg Med Chem. 2010 May 7. [Epub ahead of print] 16-Bromoepiandrosterone, an activator of the mammalian immune system, inhibits glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase from Trypanosoma cruzi and is toxic to these parasites grown in culture. Cordeiro AT, Thiemann OH. Laboratório Nacional de Biociências, Centro de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais, R. Giuseppe Máximo Scolfaro, 10000 Campinas, Brazil. Abstract Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) catalyzes the first step of the pentose-phosphate pathway which supplies cells with ribose 5-phosphate (R5P) and NADPH. R5P is the precursor for the biosynthesis of nucleotides while NADPH is the cofactor of several dehydrogenases acting in a broad range of biosynthetic processes and in the maintenance of the cellular redox state. RNA interference-mediated reduction of G6PDH levels in bloodstream-form Trypanosoma brucei validated this enzyme as a drug target against Human African Trypanosomiasis. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a human steroidal pro-hormone and its derivative 16alpha-bromoepiandrosterone (16BrEA) are uncompetitive inhibitors of mammalian G6PDH. Such steroids are also known to enhance the immune response in a broad range of animal infection models. It is noteworthy that the administration of DHEA to rats infected by Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Human American Trypanosomiasis (also known as Chagas' disease), reduces blood parasite levels at both acute and chronic infection stages. In the present work, we investigated the in vitro effect of DHEA derivatives on the proliferation of T. cruzi epimastigotes and their inhibitory effect on a recombinant form of the parasite's G6PDH (TcG6PDH). Our results show that DHEA and its derivative epiandrosterone (EA) are uncompetitive inhibitors of TcG6PDH, with K(i) values of 21.5+/-0.5 and 4.8+/-0.3muM, respectively. Results from quantitative inhibition assays indicate 16BrEA as a potent inhibitor of TcG6PDH with an IC(50) of 86+/-8nM and those from in vitro cell viability assays confirm its toxicity for T. cruzi epimastigotes, with a LD(50) of 12+/-8muM. In summary, we demonstrated that, in addition to host immune response enhancement, 16BrEA has a direct effect on parasite viability, most likely as a consequence of TcG6PDH inhibition. Crown Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
	PMID: 20570159 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

4.	BMC Immunol. 2010 Jun 22;11(1):31. [Epub ahead of print] Duplex real-time reverse transcriptase PCR to determine cytokine mRNA expression in a hamster model of New World cutaneous leishmaniasis. Espitia CM, Zhao W, Saldarriaga OA, Osorio Y, Harrison LM, Cappello M, Travi BL, Melby PC. Abstract ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The Syrian hamster, Mesocricetus auratus, has distinct immunological features and is uniquely susceptible to intracellular pathogens. Studies in hamsters are limited by the relative unavailability of tools to conduct immunological studies. To address this limitation we developed duplex real-time reverse transcriptase (RT) PCR assays for the relative quantification of the mRNAs of hamster cytokines, chemokines, and related immune response molecules. RESULTS: Real-time RT-PCR primers and probes were synthesized for analysis of interleukin (IL)-4, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, IL-10, IL-12p40, TGF-beta, IL-13, IL-21, chemokine ligand (CCL) 22, CCL17, Chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 4 and FoxP3 expression. Standard curves and validation experiments were performed for each real-time RT-PCR assay, allowing us to use the comparative Ct (2e-deltadeltaCt) method to calculate changes in gene expression. Application of the real-time RT PCR assays to a biological model was demonstrated by comparing mRNA expression in skin and lymph node tissues between uninfected and Leishmania panamensis infected hamsters. CONCLUSIONS: The duplex real-time RT PCR assays provide a powerful approach for the quantification of cytokine transcription in hamsters, and their application to a model of cutaneous leishmaniasis suggests that a balanced type 1 and type 2 cytokine response contributes to the chronic, nonprogressive course of disease. These new molecular tools will further facilitate investigation into the mechanisms of disease in the hamster, not only for models of leishmaniasis, but also for other viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic infections.
	PMID: 20569429 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]