PfHRP2 and PfLDH antigen detection for monitoring the efficacy of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) in the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An assessment of the accuracy of two malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) for the detection of <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>histidine-rich protein 2 (<it>Pf</it>HRP2) or <it>Pf </it>lactate dehydrogenase (<it>Pf</it>LDH) was undertaken in children aged between six and 59 months included in an anti-malarial efficacy study in Benin.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In Allada (Benin), 205 children aged 6-59 months with falciparum malaria received either artesunate-amodiaquine (ASAQ), artemether-lumefantrine (AL), or sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP). Children included in the study were simultaneously followed by both RDT and high-quality microscopy for up to 42 days.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At the time of inclusion, <it>Pf</it>HRP2-based tests were positive in 203 children (99%) and <it>Pf</it>LDH-based tests were positive in 204 (99.5%). During follow-up, independent of the treatment received, only 17.3% (28/162) of children effectively cured were negative with the <it>Pf</it>HRP2 RDT at day 3, with a gradual increase in specificity until day 42. The specificity of antigen detection with the <it>Pf</it>LDH test was 87% (141/162) on day 3, and between 92% and 100% on days 7 to 42. A statistical difference was observed between the persistence of <it>Pf</it>HRP2 and <it>Pf</it>LDH antigenaemia during follow-up in children treated with artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) but not with SP.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although both RDTs are as sensitive as microscopy in detecting true malaria cases, the <it>Pf</it>HRP2 RDT had very low specificity during follow-up until day 28. On the other hand, the <it>Pf</it>LDH test could be used to detect failures and, therefore, to assess anti-malarial efficacy.</p

Systems genetics identifies Sestrin 3 as a regulator of a proconvulsant gene network in human epileptic hippocampus

Peer reviewe

INTERET DE LA BIOPSIE CONJONCTIVALE DANS LE DIAGNOSTIC DE LA MALADIE DE NIEMANN PICK

Conjunctival biopsies in two children suffering from type A Niemann Pick's disease showed the characteristic lesions of the disease and led to a very early diagnosis.SCOPUS: NotDefined.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Diagnosis of type A Niemann Pick's disease by conjunctival biopsy

Electron microscopic examination of the conjunctiva of four children affected with Niemann Pick's disease revealed a widespread storage process. The epithelium, the connective tissue cells, the endothelial cells and the pericytes of the capillaries are filled with lysosomal inclusions with pleomorphic structure. The nerve fibres show destructive process of the myelin sheaths and accumulation of lipid material in the Schwann cells. The extension of the lesions is similar, as shown by morphologic and morphometric analysis in early and terminal stages of the disease. Conjunctival biopsy allows an early and secure diagnosis of Niemann Pick's disease, and should be performed when the clinical symptoms suggest a lysosomal disorder.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Diagnostic des maladies lysosomiales de stockage par l'étude ultrastructurale de la biopsie conjonctivale

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Differential diagnosis of type A, B and C Niemann-Pick disease by conjunctival biopsy. An ultrastructural study of 16 cases

Conjunctival biopsies have been performed in 16 patients suffering from type A, B or C Niemann-Pick disease. They displayed significantly different lesions by electron microscopy: all cells were severely affected in type A and showed the lysosomal storage of pleomorphic membranous structures, more or less altered by the embedding procedure. In type B, every cell also contained rather similar inclusions, which were however far less numerous than in type A. On the contrary in type C, the fibroblasts were essentially involved and presented mainly an accumulation of characteristic multivesicular inclusions. These alterations were evident in the first months of life in patients with type A and C, but were significant only after the age of 2 1/2 years in patients with type B. The topography and the fine structure of the second material allow the differential diagnosis of these three forms of Niemann-Pick disease.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Validity of geothermal heat flow density estimations

International audienceThe few heat flow measurements that exist mean that each measurement becomes a regional evaluation. However, heat flow depends largely on the geological context. In this paper, we study configurations which may disturb heat flow density distribution : thermal conductivity contrast between two areas, free or mixed convection cells, forced convection in a dipping layer, hot springs deriving from bedrock. As a case study, a geothermal anomaly which has been observed near Vittel (Vosges, France) is analyzed according to the principles outlined above. The only hypothesis consistent with the observations is that hot springs occurring along the Vittel fault disturb the normal regional heat flow which is evaluated at being about 80 mWm^-2. Conclusions concerning the representativeness of heat flow measurements are drawn up

Mise en evidence d'un phénomène de refraction thermique entre le granite de Beauvoir et son encaissant : mesures et modélisation

International audienceThe thermal conductivity has been measured on 25 different samples of rock ranging from a depth of 80 to 900 m in the Echassières borehole (Deep Drilling Project GPF, Massif Central, France). The thermal conductivity of the Bl granite rocks increases from 2.8W/m/C at 180m in depth t0 3.5 W/m/C at 480 m, whilst it is nearly constant in the B2 and B3 granite types at 3.4 W/m/C. These variations are related to the quartz content of the rocks (increase of the quartz content with depth for the Bl type, and constant quartz proportion for the B2 and B3 types). A foliation of the Beauvoir granite with a dip of 40° has been reported from the orientation of micas by Gagny, Jacquot (1986) and by Bernier (1987). This foliation produces no major anisotropy in the thermal conductivity. Additional measurements of quartz orientations have been made using a texture goniometer) showing random quartz crystal orientations. The micaschists of the Sioule series situated at the roof of the Beauvoir granite have a thermal conductivity anisotropy, such that the vertical and horizontal principal conductivities are 2.2 and 3.2 W/m/C respectively. The unusually high mean vertical heat flow of 150 mW/m2 (increasing to.160 mW/m2 at the bottom) calculated using measured temperatures in the borehole is incompatible with the regional mean values reported in the Massif Central, and gives evidence of heat refraction around the borehole resulting from the great thermal conductivity variations from one rock type to another. The shape of the Beauvoir granite has been reconstructed in a 2D vertical section from the preliminary field data. The heat transfer around the Echassières borehole has been determined by numerical simulation and several hypotheses have been tested. The most relevant model involves a mean regional heat flow of 135 mW/m2, a compatible value with some previous measurements reported by Vasseur (1982). From the methodological point of view, this study shows that the interpretation of heat flow measurements made at a regional scale may be significantly affected by heat refraction around high conductivity plutons. A careful interpretation of measured temperatures and heat transfer is necessary in order to obtain reliable regional heat flow densities, as shown by Danis et Royer (1986) in a sedimentary context

Steady state geothermal model of the crust and the problem of the boundary conditions : application to a rift system, the southern Rhinegraben

International audienceSeismic, gravity and magnetotelluric data are used to model the two-dimensional heat transfer beneath an E-W vertical cross section ranging from the Black Forest, Rhinegraben to the southern Vosges. The temperature field at the present time has been calculated taking into account the effect of temperature on thermal conductivity and the radiogenic heat sources. Heat flow density conditions at depth, computed by solving iteratively the heat equation and comparing the heat flow measured at the surface with the calculated one, have been used. As the resulting heat flow condition at depth is very sensitive to the interpolation method used to estimate the heat flow values at the surface, a confidence interval of the thermal field is then proposed by varying the possible mantle heat flow conditions using a Monte Carlo method. Arguments based on petrological considerations suggest that a temperature condition could be used at the Moho. The resulting model involves regional surface heat flow densities ranging from a normal crustal value of 70 mW m−2 to a highest value of 105 mW m−2, in agreement with actual measurements. The results are compatible with those obtained by the German KTB Program on the Black Forest (Gehlen et al., 1986) and on the Swiss traverse (Rybach, 1979). They suggest that the regional high heat flow (105 mW m−2) measured in the southern Vosges is caused by the high radiogenic elements content (especially thorium) of the Crêtes sub-alkaline granite and by an asymmetry in the lithospheric heating. High heat flow density values observed along the Rhinegraben give evidence of heat refraction phenomena around high conductivity rocks

Etudes ultrastructurales oculaires dans les céroide-lipofuscinoses

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