Vaccine Development for Prescottella Equi

AbstractPrescottella equi (formerly Rhodococcus equi) is an intracellular pathogen that causes pyogranulomatous pneumonia in Thoroughbred foals. There is currently no vaccine available for the prevention of this disease in foals despite years of research. Cell mediated immunity is considered crucial for overcoming an infection caused by this pathogen. The virulence associated protein (VapA) is a well characterized immunogenic protein associated with this pathogen and was used to develop DNA and recombinant protein vaccines in this study. Vaccine candidates and live P. equi based vaccine were tested in BALB/c mice. Mice were challenged with virulent P.equi 2 weeks following the last boost and IgG subtypes and bacterial clearance from spleen and liver determined. The DNA vaccine elicited a significant IgG2a response indicating a Th1 biased immune response. The IFN gamma response from DNA and recombinant VapA vaccinated mice was moderate. The results of the challenge study showed that neither the recombinant VapA protein nor DNA vaccine enhanced clearance of P. equi in this model

Complications chirurgicales des avortements clandestins: a propos de 51 cas observés dans deux hôpitaux de Yaoundé.

Le but de cette étude était de décrire les complications des avortements provoqués dans la clandestinité et imposant un traitement chirurgical. Il s’agit d’une étude rétrospective transversale portant sur les malades opérés dans les services de Chirurgie de l’Hôpital central et du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Yaoundé du 1er Janvier 2004 au 31 Décembre 2008. Les variables d’étude étaient l’âge, le statut matrimonial, les antécédents gynécologiques, les antécédents d’avortement antérieur, le mode, l’indication chirurgicale et l’état général des patientes; les lésions découvertes en peropératoire, leur traitement et l’évolution postopératoire. Cinquante une patientes ont été retenues pour cette étude menée pendant une durée de quatre ans, soit une moyenne de 12,7 cas par an. L’âge des patientes variait entre 15 ans et 41 ans avec une moyenne de 30 ans; 33 patientes (64,7%) avaient un âge situé entre 15ans et 25 ans. 6 patientes (11,7%) étaient multipares et 4 patientes étaient primipares (7,8%). Treize patientes (25,42%) avaient déjà subi une interruption volontaire de grossesse sans complication. Quarante-neuf patientes (96%) étaient arrivées avec un tableau de péritonite ; 43 patientes (84,22%) étaient classées ASA III (American Association of Anesthesiologists). Les lésions chirurgicales étaient à type de perforations ou de déchirures utérines dans 20 cas (39,21%), annexielles dans 9cas (17,64%), digestives dans 16 cas (31,37%) et urinaires dans 4 cas. Le traitement a associé au traitement de la péritonite, les sutures utérines, digestives et vésicales ; les gestes d’exérèse comprenaient deux hystérectomies et cinq salpingectomies. Il a été réalisé des gestes de dérivation dont deux cystostomies et deux colostomies. La mortalité était de 15,6%. L’étude recommande une éducation des femmes en matière de contraception et de planning familial, et surtout une politique sociale permettant de réduire le nombre des avortements clandestins.MOTS CLES: Avortement clandestin- Complications - Chirurgie

Características físico-químicas e fitoquímicas de batata-doce roxa (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) em duas épocas de plantio e de colheita.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi caracterizar físico-química e fitoquímicamente um genótipo de batata-doce roxa, cultivado em duas épocas de plantio e de colheita, em locais diferentes dentro de uma mesma área de produção

The Play Behaviours of Roma Children in Transylvania

The Roma children of Transylvania are probably the most materially deprived in Europe. They often live in one-room shacks made from wood and mud, with no running water, no sanitation, and sometimes no heating. Many rely on charity for their food and medicines. But, are they play deprived? This paper summarises an observational study of the play behaviours of children in a small Roma village. It highlights the striking contrast between the abject poverty that characterises their lives and the general happiness of the children. These children live their limited lives to the full. They ‘play everywhere and with everything’, but not in the generally accepted sense of that phrase. The usual niceties of privacy, personal possessions and property boundaries are irrelevant here. Their play is rich in imagination and creativity; it is living proof of Nicholson’s theory of loose parts

Characterisation of the opposing effects of G6PD deficiency on cerebral malaria and severe malarial anaemia.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is believed to confer protection against Plasmodium falciparum malaria, but the precise nature of the protective effecthas proved difficult to define as G6PD deficiency has multiple allelic variants with different effects in males and females, and it has heterogeneous effects on the clinical outcome of P. falciparum infection. Here we report an analysis of multiple allelic forms of G6PD deficiency in a large multi-centre case-control study of severe malaria, using the WHO classification of G6PD mutations to estimate each individual's level of enzyme activity from their genotype. Aggregated across all genotypes, we find that increasing levels of G6PD deficiency are associated with decreasing risk of cerebral malaria, but with increased risk of severe malarial anaemia. Models of balancing selection based on these findings indicate that an evolutionary trade-off between different clinical outcomes of P. falciparum infection could have been a major cause of the high levels of G6PD polymorphism seen in human populations

Rhodococcus equi (Prescottella equi) vaccines; the future of vaccine development

For decades researchers have been targeting prevention of Rhodococcus equi (Rhodococcus hoagui/Prescottella equi) by vaccination and the horse breeding industry has supported the ongoing efforts by researchers to develop a safe and cost effective vaccine to prevent disease in foals. Traditional vaccines including live, killed and attenuated (physical and chemical) vaccines have proved to be ineffective and more modern molecular-based vaccines including the DNA plasmid, genetically attenuated and subunit vaccines have provided inadequate protection of foals. Newer, bacterial vector vaccines have recently shown promise for R. equi in the mouse model. This article describes the findings of key research in R. equi vaccine development and looks at alternative methods that may potentially be utilised.C. Giles, T. Vanniasinkam, S. Ndi, and M. D. Barto