Jenna Rychert

ARUP Laboratories, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is replacing traditional methods for identifying microorganisms in the clinical laboratory. This relatively simple technique overcomes many of the challenges of identifying bacteria and fungi. As the technology has evolved, the expansion of the databases containing spectra of known organisms has allowed for the identification of species with similar phenotypic, genotypic, and biochemical properties that was not previously possible. This has resulted in improvements in clinical care including improving the diagnosis of infections caused by relatively rare species and decreasing the time to diagnosis. In many cases, this leads to a reduction in the time to appropriate therapy and even a decrease in the length of hospital stays. However, it is not without its limitations. Inherent similarities between organisms and a limited number of spectra in the database can lead to poor discrimination between species, as well as misidentifications. These errors occur with relatively low frequency and can typically be overcome with supplemental testing. The adoption of MALDI-TOF MS in the clinical microbiology laboratory is revolutionizing infectious disease diagnosis and clinical care.

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2019/4.1142 View / Download Pdf

Dicle Hazirolan1, Gulten Sungur1

1Health Sciences University, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ophthalmology Department, Ankara, Turkey

Human herpes viruses are the most common etiologic agents in posterior viral uveitis. They remain latent in the infected host with a risk of reactivation that depends on various factors, including virulence, host immunity, age and comorbidities. Acute retinal necrosis (ARN), progressive outer retinal necrosis (PORN), and CMV retinitis are the most frequent forms. Posterior viral uveitis may occur in atypical clinical entities as non-necrotising herpetic retinitis (NNHR) and focal posterior viral retinitis. The spectrum of herpetic retinopathies might start with focal retinitis, the mildest form, and followed by more severe forms as NNHR, PORN and ARN. The differential diagnosis of atypical viral retinitis is difficult clinically, as it can mimic various kinds of retinitis. The prognosis of the atypical disease is better than other forms of necrotizing retinopathies. A viral etiology must be considered in cases of sight-threatening and atypical posterior uveitis that is unresponsive to conventional corticosteroid treatment.

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2019/3.1138 View / Download Pdf

Fangling Wu1, 2, Chuan-Fan Ding1, 2*

1Institute of Mass Spectrometry, School of Materials Science & Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China

2Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

A relatively rigid and good electrical conductive copper filter severed as a substrate for the paper spray named Electro-Filtering Paper Spray Ionization (EFSI) is mini reviewed. The copper filter is used to increase the conductivity and pressure tolerance for the paper substrate, which can insure sufficient, efficient and direct sample-solvent extraction for different types of solid samples, and also a low voltage is required for paper spray. The capability and reliability of EFSI-MS were demonstrated experimentally for indirect high-throughput component analysis or the desired ion signals for a wide range of solid samples by selecting and optimizing different extraction solvents, which is not feasible with conventional ESI or direct paper spray methods. Simultaneously, trace targeted substance for the large-volume sample can be effective extracted and pre-concentration by the optimized solvent for direct mass spectrometry analysis with no or extremely minimal sample preparation effort for the EFSI method. Besides, with the attractive features of cost-effectiveness, rapid, process simplicity and high-throughput, the potential and novel applications of the EFSI-MS or EFSI-MS-MS can focused in the fields of environment, bio-science, food safety, and in-vitro diagnostics in clinical routine analysis are expected in the future work, where substantial time and labor could be saved when investigating the potential causes of disease.

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2019/3.1140 View / Download Pdf

Aaron W. Miller1,2

1Department of Urology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

2Department of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences, Cleveland, OH, USA

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2019/3.1141 View / Download Pdf

Sylvia Lemos Hinrichsen1

1Tropical Diseases Department, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Cidade Universitária s/n, Recife-Pernambuco, Brazil

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2019/3.1136 View / Download Pdf

Márió Gajdács

Department of Pharmacodynamics and Biopharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2019/2.1139 View / Download Pdf

Leonardo D’Aiuto1*, Nicholas Radio2, Vishwajit L. Nimgaonkar1

1Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, 3811 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA, US

2Thermo Fisher Scientific, Cellular Imaging and Analysis, 100 Technology Drive, Pittsburgh, PA, US

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2019/2.1137 View / Download Pdf

Jeel Moya-Salazar1,2*, Richard Salazar-Hernández3, Victor Rojas-Zumaran2, Wanda C. Quispe3

1School of Medicine, Faculties of Health Science, Universidad Privada Norbert Wiener, Lima, Peru

2Pathology Department, Hospital Nacional Docente Madre Niño San Bartolomé, Lima, Peru

3Cytopathology and Genetics Service, Department of Pathology, Hospital Nacional Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen, Lima, Peru

In patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), opportunistic infections occur that could compromise the health of patients. In order to determine the frequency of fungal opportunistic and superficial infections in HIV-positive men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) patients at the Hospital Nacional Guillermo Almenara, we conducted a cross-sectional retrospective study. We include Peruvian patients >18 years-old, derived from infectious or gynecological offices, with or without antiretroviral treatment.

One hundred thirteen patients were enrolled (36.7±10, range: 21 to 68 years), which 46 (40.7%) has an opportunistic fungal infection, mainly by candidiasis (23.9%), pneumocystosis (8.7%), and cryptococcosis (6.5%). Six (13%) patients had fungal coinfections, mainly by oral candidiasis and ringworm (Tinea pedis) (4.3%), and opportunistic infections have an incidence of 15.9%. Of the 17 cases of dermatophytosis, 12 (70.6%) were from Tinea pedis, 5 (29.4%) from Tinea corporis, 3 (17.6%) from Tinea unguium, and two (11.8%) from Tinea versicolor. We found significant difference between the year of HIV-infection and the year of fungal infection (p=0.001).

The frequency of opportunistic fungal infections was determined in the fourth-and-six percent of Peruvian MSM HIV-positive patients, where candidiasis, pneumocystosis, and cryptococcosis were the most frequent. We raise the importance of fungal infections in the current framework of Venezuelan migration, since this could be a new risk factor and imply changes in incidence rates, which implies new challenges for Peruvian Public Health.

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2018/2.1132 View / Download Pdf

Antonio N Gomez-Valdes*

Department of Internal Medicine, Havana University School of Medicine, Havana, Cuba

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2018/2.1131 View / Download Pdf

Lurildo R. Saraiva1*, Cleusa Santos Lapa2, Thiago Barros Saraiva Leão3

1Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil

2The Maternal and Child Institute of Pernambuco (IMIP), Recife, Brazil

3Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil

Rheumatic fever and subsequent rheumatic heart disease remain high in areas with high levels of poverty as in our country as in Pernambuco State, northeast of the Brasil. Clinical aspects peculiar to the disease, once easily found in rich countries, are still present in our infirmaries, including curious alterations in the electrocardiogram. Elongated QTc and cardiac arrhythmias can be recorded in about 30% of acute cases, with the possibility of sudden death. Cardiac surgery imposes itself for the cure of heart failure rebel against newly introduced drugs in medical practice.

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2018/1.1133 View / Download Pdf

D.J. Rivadeneira1*, H.S. Luo1

1Department of Gastroenterology, Renmin Hospital, Wuhan University, China

Intestinal schistosomiasis caused by the Schistosoma japonicum is located mainly in the East Asian region. Schistosomiasis is part of the neglected tropical diseases that affects mostly the poor population; although its incidence has dropped in these years, schistosomiasis caused by S. japonicum still is a prevalent disease. Adult worms reside in the mesenteric veins and excrete eggs that migrate through the intestinal wall and pass out with the stool. The clinical manifestations depend on the stage of the disease, the intestinal schistosomiasis mostly affects the colon, but it can also affect the small intestine. This review’s purpose is to highlight the background and importance of the intestinal manifestations caused by Schistosoma japonicum.

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2018/1.1134 View / Download Pdf

Sibel Yurt1, Gamze Kirkil2

1Yedikule Chest Disease and Chest Surgery, Education and Research Hospital, University of Health Science, Istanbul, Turkey

2Department of Chest Diseases, Firat University Faculty of Medicine, Elazig, Turkey

Pleural tuberculosis is the most common cause of pleural effusion (PE) worldwide. To date, diagnosis of pleural TB relies on either insensitive, unspecific, or time consuming methods often leading to defer initiation of therapy. A search for reliable least invasive diagnostic test for tuberculosis has resulted in identification of many diagnostic tests over the years, the most qualified one is adenosine deaminase (ADA). The best cut-off value of pleural ADA may vary depending on the incidence of tuberculosis pleural effusion (TBE). Using a cut off value of 35 U/L is reported that the sensitivity of ADA in diagnosis of tuberculous pleural effusion was 85.7%. Another biomarker widely using for TB PE is interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) cytokine. T-SPOT.TB has very high sensitivity in detection of TPE and is widely used for investigating the prevalence of TB infection.

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2018/1.1129 View / Download Pdf

Gisle Schmidt*

Sofienbergt 3b, N-0551 Oslo, Norway

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2018/3.1128 View / Download Pdf

Ellen S. Pierce*

13212 East Blossey Avenue, Spokane Valley, Washington, USA

Infectious agents are known causes of human cancers. Human papillomaviruses and species of fungi are associated with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Esophageal adenocarcinoma is a complication of Barrett’s esophagus, the replacement of the normal squamous epithelium lining the esophagus by gastric or intestinal columnar mucous epithelium with or without goblet cells. As intestinal metaplasia of the stomach is the precursor lesion of Helicobacter Pylori-associated gastric cancer, a microorganism may cause the metaplasias of the esophagus that are the precursors of esophageal adenocarcinoma. Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), the cause of a chronic gastrointestinal enteropathy in domestic ruminants and a suspected zoonosis, results in bovine small and large intestinal goblet cell hyperplasia. MAP colonization of human gastric mucus and/or invasion of cardiac surface mucus cells, and resulting proliferation and proximal migration, may result in the metaplasias of Barrett’s esophagus. MAP therefore may be one infectious cause of Barrett’s esophagus-associated esophageal adenocarcinoma.

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2018/3.1126 View / Download Pdf

Georgios Pavlou, Isabelle Tardieux*

Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB), Team Membrane dynamics of parasite-host cell interactions, CNRS UMR5309, INSERM U1209, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular single-celled eukaryotic parasite with an impressive ability to invade virtually all nucleated cells from all warm-blooded animals, within a second time-scale. The invasive T. gondii tachyzoite achieves this feat by injecting a multi-unit nanodevice in the plasma membrane and underlying cortical cytoskeleton of the targeted cell that serves as an anchor point to withstand the parasite invasive force. Whether this nanodevice could also contribute at the latest step of invasion when the budding entry vesicle pinches off of the plasma membrane as a parasitophorous vacuole had not been yet addressed. Using fluorescent versions of both a parasite nanodevice component and a reporter for the target plasma membrane in conjunction with quantitative high-resolution live imaging, Pavlou et al. characterized the nanodevice toroidal shape once inserted in the membrane as well as its stretching and shrinking when accommodating the passage of the several micron-sized ellipsoid-shaped tachyzoite. Tracking in real time the motion of internal eccentric markers allowed defining the tachyzoite final rotation along the long axis which imposes a twisting motion on its basal pole and directs closure of the torus hence promoting both sealing and release of the entry vesicle. Monitoring distinct host cell plasma markers allowed Pavlou et al. to propose that the twisting motion could also act as an initial mechanical trigger for the transition to the intracellular lifestyle. Their publication therefore brings evidence for a key new contribution of the nanodevice to end the high-speed multi-step invasion process.

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2018/3.1125 View / Download Pdf

Jitendra H. Vaghela*

Senior resident, Department of Pharmacology, Government Medical College, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2018/3.1116 View / Download Pdf

Federica Migliardo1,2*, Hatem Tallima3, Rashika El Ridi3

1Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale D’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina, Italy

2Laboratoire de Chimie Physique, UMR8000, Université Paris Sud, 91405 Orsay cedex, France

3Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Cairo 12613, Egypt

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2018/3.1127 View / Download Pdf

P Batra1, P Mathur1*, M. C. Misra2, M Kumari1, O Katoch1, F Hasan1

1JPNATC, Department of Lab Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

2Department of Surgery, Mahatma Gandhi University of Medical Sciences & Technology, Rajasthan, India

Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP) is the most commonly acquired ICU infection worldwide affecting nearly 10-30% of ventilated patients and accounting for nearly 25% of all types of ICU infections. VAP has been associated with increased morbidity, mortality, duration of ICU stay, duration of mechanical ventilation and nearly 50% of the ICU antibiotic prescription. After understanding the pathogenesis of VAP, various preventive measures have been tried by various authors. The currently accepted preventive measures are being used in most centres as the VAP prevention bundle. This includes: elevation of the head of the bed between 30oand 45o, daily sedation interruption and assessment of readiness to extubate, daily oral care with Chlorhexidine, peptic ulcer disease prophylaxis and deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis. In the current manuscript, we will be discussing the available preventive measures. Other measures which have been shown to be effective include selective oropharyngeal and digestive tract decontamination, use of antimicrobial coated ET tubes. However, more studies need to be done to see if these can be included in the VAP prevention bundle.

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2018/3.1122 View / Download Pdf

Junaid Jibran Jawed, Subrata Majumdar*

Division of Molecular Medicine, P-1/12, C.I.T. Scheme VII-M, Kolkata-700054, West Bengal, India

Leishmaniasis is a spectrum of disease caused by the infection of protozoan parasite Leishmania mainly affecting the antigen presenting cell of the host. The disease is although considered as neglected tropical disease still it is not completely eradicated. Majority of the issues related to the therapeutic approach is due to increased cytotoxicity of the drugs, less effectiveness, high cost and occurrence of drug resistance. Therefore, recent advancement in the field of parasitology has taken into consideration of the specific arms of immunity which can be triggered with the help of natural products, synthetic molecules or parasite specific ligands which helps in the restoration of host protective immunity and recovery from the infection. Therefore, in this review, we have highlighted the recent advancement in the field of Leishmania research taken into consideration of the therapeutic perspective. We have shown that apart from therapeutic potential of the available drugs and vaccination approach, the immune-therapy are emerging as the modern regime of treatment where the effectiveness of the therapy is significantly increased and making it safer and promising.

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2018/3.1120 View / Download Pdf

Vas Dev*

Senior Scientist (Retired), National Institute of Malaria Research, New Delhi, India

Long-lasting insecticidal nets are being promoted as evidence-based intervention for malaria vector control globally. In keeping with increased procurement and supplies, it was mandated to monitor and evaluate field-distributed nets for residual bio-efficacy and physical integrity. Towards this objective, a simplified study protocol is proposed which can be conveniently employed to assess the current bio-efficacy to help programme officials making informed decisions for additional logistics enabling net replacement in due time.

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2018/2.1123 View / Download Pdf

Gyanshankar P. Mishra1*, Jasmin D. Mulani2

1Department of Respiratory Medicine, Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India

2Department of Biochemistry, Government Medical College, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India

Recently the report of the first National Anti-Tuberculosis Drug Resistance Survey (NDRS) from India was released on the occasion of World TB Day this year, i.e., 24th March 2018. The salient features were as follows: 1. MDR-TB is 6.19% (CI 5.54–6.90%) among all TB patients with 2.84% (CI 2.27–3.50%) among new and 11.60% (CI 10.21–13.15%) among previously treated TB patients. 2. Among MDR-TB patients, additional resistance to any fluoroquinolones was 21.82% (17.33–26.87%), and 3.58% (1.8–6.32%) to any second-line injectable drugs. 3. Among MDR-TB patients, additional resistance to at least one drug from each of the two classes, i.e., fluoroquinolone and second-line injectable drugs (XDR-TB) was 1.3% (0.36–3.30%). 4. Any first- or second line drug resistance among all TB patients is 28.0% (CI 26.77– 29.29%) with 22.54% (CI 21.10–24.10%) among new and 36.82% (CI 34.64–39.04%) among previously treated TB patients. 5. Any isoniazid resistance is 11.06% (CI 9.97–12.22%) and 25.09% (CI 23.1–-27.11%) among new and previously treated TB patients, respectively. 6. Any pyrazinamide resistance is 6.95% (CI 6.07–7.91%) and 8.77% (7.53–10.13%) among new and previously treated TB patients, respectively. The current article reviews the findings of the survey along with their practical implications in the present-day clinical scenario.

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2018/2.1117 View / Download Pdf

Mesele Damte Argaw1,2*, Thandisizwe Redford Mavundla2, Binyam Fekadu Desta1,2, Wondwosen Shiferaw Abera1, Kassa Daka Gidebo3, Temesgen Ayehu Bele4, Dereje Dillu4

1USAID Transform: Primary Health Care, JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2University of South Africa, Department of Health Studies, Pretoria, South Africa

3Welaita Sodo University, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences and Medicine, Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia

4Federal Ministry of Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2018/2.1118 View / Download Pdf