RESUMEN
The pig is a vital link in the transmission cycle of Taenia solium, the cestode responsible for human-porcine cysticercosis. Infected pigs also represent an important source of economic loss to farmers in developing countries. Past efforts to find an adequate therapeutic regimen to treat this parasite disease in swine have failed because of low efficacy, high cost, side effects, or the need for multiple doses. In this randomized, no treatment-controlled study, the efficacy and safety of oxfendazole and praziquantel for the treatment of porcine cysticercosis were evaluated in 16 naturally infected pigs. Four groups of four pigs were treated with oxfendazole, praziquantel, oxfendazole plus praziquantel, or untreated. The pigs were humanely killed 12 weeks post-treatment, the number of cyst was counted, and parasite viability was assessed by cyst evagination. No detectable side effects were seen in any of the pigs. Praziquantel treatment alone appeared to reduce the number of cysts, but did not decrease the viability of the remaining parasites. Treatment with oxfendazole alone or oxfendazole plus praziquantel killed all of the parasites, and left only microcalcifications in the meat. Oxfendazole provides, for the first time, a practical, effective, inexpensive, and single-dose therapy for porcine cysticercosis.
Asunto(s)
Antihelmínticos/uso terapéutico , Bencimidazoles/uso terapéutico , Cisticercosis/veterinaria , Praziquantel/uso terapéutico , Enfermedades de los Porcinos/tratamiento farmacológico , Animales , Antihelmínticos/farmacología , Bencimidazoles/farmacología , Encéfalo/parasitología , Cisticercosis/tratamiento farmacológico , Cysticercus/efectos de los fármacos , Cysticercus/aislamiento & purificación , Quimioterapia Combinada , Corazón/parasitología , Músculo Esquelético/parasitología , Praziquantel/farmacología , Porcinos , Lengua/parasitologíaRESUMEN
The Gram-positive transposon Tn916 was introduced into two strains of Haemophilus paragallinarum by electroporation of the suicide plasmid pAM120 (pGL101::Tn916). Tetracycline resistant mutants of H. paragallinarum strains Tw-1 and 221 were recovered at frequencies of 2.1 x 10(-6) and 4.5 x 10(-7) per viable cell electroporated, respectively. Tn916 generates stable single insertions within different sites of the H. paragallinarum chromosome. One Tw-1::Tn916 mutant had the Tn916 insertion in the cryptic plasmid p250. This study indicates the potential use of Tn916 as a genetic tool for insertional mutagenesis of H. paragallinarum.
Asunto(s)
Elementos Transponibles de ADN , Haemophilus/genética , Mutagénesis Insercional , Southern Blotting , Cromosomas Bacterianos , ADN Bacteriano/biosíntesis , ADN Bacteriano/aislamiento & purificación , Electroforesis en Gel de Agar , Electroporación , Bacterias Grampositivas/genética , Plásmidos , Mapeo Restrictivo , Resistencia a la Tetraciclina/genéticaRESUMEN
To determine the prevalence of cysticercosis in a rural area where the disease is endemic, the authors studied the seroepidemiology of human and porcine cysticercosis in a Peruvian jungle community (Maceda, Peru) in 1988 using an enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot (EITB) assay. Of the 371 sampled inhabitants, 30 (8%) were seropositive, most of whom were asymptomatic. After niclosamide therapy, four Taenia species worms were identified in the seropositive group, compared with one in the control group (p = 0.06). Pigs were frequently infected: 44 of 133 (33%) were found positive for Taenia by tongue examination and 57 of 133 (43%) were positive by EITB. In 69% of the sampled households that had pigs, there was at least one seropositive pig. The number of pigs diagnosed positive by the tongue examination was significantly greater in households that had latrines than in those that did not. Cysticercosis is a common but usually asymptomatic infection that affects both humans and pigs in the high jungle areas of Peru.
Asunto(s)
Cisticercosis/epidemiología , Cisticercosis/veterinaria , Enfermedades del Sistema Nervioso/parasitología , Enfermedades de los Porcinos/epidemiología , Teniasis/epidemiología , Teniasis/veterinaria , Adolescente , Adulto , Animales , Niño , Preescolar , Análisis por Conglomerados , Estudios Transversales , Cisticercosis/complicaciones , Cisticercosis/diagnóstico , Ambiente , Heces/parasitología , Femenino , Humanos , Técnicas para Inmunoenzimas , Lactante , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Enfermedades del Sistema Nervioso/epidemiología , Perú/epidemiología , Pruebas Serológicas/métodos , Porcinos , Enfermedades de los Porcinos/diagnóstico , Enfermedades de los Porcinos/parasitología , Teniasis/complicaciones , Teniasis/diagnósticoRESUMEN
Patients with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) exhibit antithrombin III deficiency and several other coagulation abnormalities. In view of increasing recognition of protein C (PC) as an important, naturally occurring anticoagulant and fibrinolytic factor, we studied plasma PC in this population. PC antigen concentration and its anticoagulant activity were measured in nine SCI men with ESRD maintained on hemodialysis and in a control group of ten normal able-bodied men. The results showed a significant increase in PC anticoagulant activity in the SCI group. Consequently, the ratio of the PC activity to its concentration, which is a measure of the functional integrity of PC molecule, was markedly depressed. These findings are indicative of the presence of inactive or abnormal PC in SCI-ESRD patients and may suggest its in vivo activation. The combination of impaired PC activity shown in this study, with previously demonstrated antithrombin III deficiency and other coagulation abnormalities, is suggestive of a hypercoagulable state.