RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Triatomine bugs are vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease. METHODS: Triatomine bugs were collected and identified following established protocols. In addition, infection with T. cruzi was detected by microscopic and molecular analysis. RESULTS: We captured an adult male specimen of the Eratyrus cuspidatus species that has not been reported in the state of Campeche. CONCLUSIONS: This finding provides new information on the distribution of E. cuspidatus in Mexico. However, more studies are needed to determine their epidemiological significance.
Asunto(s)
Insectos Vectores/anatomía & histología , Insectos Vectores/clasificación , Triatominae/anatomía & histología , Triatominae/clasificación , Animales , Enfermedad de Chagas/transmisión , Masculino , MéxicoRESUMEN
Abstract INTRODUCTION: Triatomine bugs are vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease. METHODS: Triatomine bugs were collected and identified following established protocols. In addition, infection with T. cruzi was detected by microscopic and molecular analysis. RESULTS: We captured an adult male specimen of the Eratyrus cuspidatus species that has not been reported in the state of Campeche. CONCLUSIONS: This finding provides new information on the distribution of E. cuspidatus in Mexico. However, more studies are needed to determine their epidemiological significance.
Asunto(s)
Animales , Masculino , Triatominae/anatomía & histología , Triatominae/clasificación , Insectos Vectores/anatomía & histología , Insectos Vectores/clasificación , Enfermedad de Chagas/transmisión , MéxicoRESUMEN
Murine typhus is a flea-borne disease caused by Rickettsia typhi, which was first detected in Mexico in 1927. It was not until 1996 that the first systematized study involving this pathogen was conducted in two coastal states of Mexico. We now report the first confirmed case of murine typhus in the state of Campeche, which occurred in a male patient who exhibited fever, thrombocytopenia, hyperbilirubinemia, and a rash. Furthermore, the patient reported having had previous contact with Rickettsia reservoirs.
Asunto(s)
Tifus Endémico Transmitido por Pulgas/diagnóstico , Adulto , Ceftriaxona/uso terapéutico , Doxiciclina/uso terapéutico , Exantema , Fiebre , Humanos , Masculino , México , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa , Rickettsia typhi , Trombocitopenia , Tifus Endémico Transmitido por Pulgas/sangre , Tifus Endémico Transmitido por Pulgas/tratamiento farmacológicoRESUMEN
Abstract Murine typhus is a flea-borne disease caused by Rickettsia typhi, which was first detected in Mexico in 1927. It was not until 1996 that the first systematized study involving this pathogen was conducted in two coastal states of Mexico. We now report the first confirmed case of murine typhus in the state of Campeche, which occurred in a male patient who exhibited fever, thrombocytopenia, hyperbilirubinemia, and a rash. Furthermore, the patient reported having had previous contact with Rickettsia reservoirs.
Asunto(s)
Humanos , Masculino , Femenino , Adulto , Tifus Endémico Transmitido por Pulgas/diagnóstico , Rickettsia typhi , Trombocitopenia , Ceftriaxona/uso terapéutico , Tifus Endémico Transmitido por Pulgas/tratamiento farmacológico , Tifus Endémico Transmitido por Pulgas/sangre , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa , Doxiciclina/uso terapéutico , Exantema , Fiebre , MéxicoRESUMEN
The Arc two-component system modulates the expression of numerous genes in response to respiratory growth conditions. This system comprises ArcA as the response regulator and ArcB as the sensor kinase. ArcB is a tripartite histidine kinase whose activity is regulated by the oxidation of two cytosol-located redox-active cysteine residues that participate in intermolecular disulfide bond formation. Here, we report that the ArcB protein segment covering residues 70-121, fulfills the molecular characteristics of a leucine zipper containing coiled coil structure. Also, mutational analyses of this segment reveal three different phenotypical effects to be distributed along the coiled coil structure of ArcB, demonstrating that this motif is essential for proper ArcB signaling.
Asunto(s)
Proteínas de Escherichia coli/química , Proteínas de Escherichia coli/metabolismo , Leucina Zippers , Proteínas de la Membrana/química , Proteínas de la Membrana/metabolismo , Proteínas Quinasas/química , Proteínas Quinasas/metabolismo , Secuencia de Aminoácidos , Escherichia coli/enzimología , Proteínas de Escherichia coli/genética , Proteínas de la Membrana/genética , Modelos Moleculares , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Mutagénesis Sitio-Dirigida , Mutación , Monoéster Fosfórico Hidrolasas/metabolismo , Proteínas Quinasas/genética , Análisis de SecuenciaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease that is probably a T cell-mediated autoimmune condition which is strongly associated with streptococcal throat infections. Although some groups have associated the involved response with different streptococcal antigens, M protein has been described as the major virulence factor of Streptococcus pyogenes. Thus, it is necessary to describe some features of the cellular responses to this streptococcal antigen. METHODS: Proliferation and Th1/Th2 cytokine production of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in response to total soluble extracts from type M5 S. pyogenes with (TSE37Sp) and without (M(-)TSESp) M protein were analyzed in 10 psoriatic patients and 10 healthy controls. RESULTS: PBMC from both patients and controls proliferated to both extracts. Responses to M(-)TSESp were significantly lower than those to TSE37Sp (P < 0.05). PBMC IL-2 and gammaIFN production after TSE37Sp stimulus was much higher than after M(-)TSESp antigenic stimulation in both groups (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, IL-4 production was quite low in both groups and in response to both extracts. We found a differential production of IL-10 between groups. PBMC from healthy controls responded to TSE37Sp with a much higher production of this cytokine as compared to the responses showed to M(-)TSESp while the cells from psoriatic patients responded without differences in the production of IL-10. CONCLUSION: Results obtained suggest an important Th1 response to M protein in psoriatic patients which could be associated with the cellular responses involved in psoriasis, while healthy subjects respond in a probably non-Th2 IL-10 producing regulatory T cells fashion.