Evaluation of latex Agglutination Test in the Diagnosis of Visceral Leishmaniasis in the Sudan

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) poses a major heath problem in the Sudan. Early diagnosis and treatment are the main stay of the control measures to contain the disease. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the performance of a newly developed test (KAtex) for the detection of urinary leishmania antigen in VL and to investigate its prognostic potential. A prospective study was conducted in Um-El-Khir Kala-azar diagnostic and treatment center, Gedarif state, eastern Sudan between June 2002-April 2004. Parasitological confirmation was achieved by positive lymph gland smear in 42(54.5%) out of 77 studied VL suspects. The test was positive in all confirmed cases indicating a sensitivity of 100%. The KAtex test was significantly more sensitive than microscopy of lymph gland aspirate (P=000). The direct agglutination test (DAT) was performed on 61 of the 77 studied suspects. The test was positive in 56(91.8%) of the cases; 54 of those cases were also positive by KAtex. No significant difference was found between the two tests (P=0.687). A total of 104 healthy endemic controls without past history of VL (58) from Rahad River Area and 46 from Barbar El-Fugara village Atbara Area and 70 healthy non endemic controls (Khartoum State) without past history of travel to the endemic area were studied. The KAtex was negative in all control samples indicating a specificity of 100%. The KAtex test was significantly more sensitive than microscopy of lymph gland aspirate (P=000). The direct agglutination test (DAT) was performed on 61 of the 77 studied suspects. The test was positive in 56 (91.8%) of the cases; 54 of those cases were also positive by the KAtex. No significant difference was found between the two tests (P=.0687). A total of 104 healthy endemic controls without past history of VL (58 from Rahad River Area and 46 from Barbar El-Fugara Village Atbara Area) and 70 healthy non endemic controls (Khartoum State) without past history of travel to the endemic area were studied. The KAtex was negative in all control samples indicating a specificity of 100%. To investigate the ability of KAtex to detect sub clinical infection, 58 healthy endemic controls were tested with both KAtex and DAT. The KAtex was negative in all the individuals while the DAT was positive in 8(13.8%) of the subjects. The test was performed on 11 cases who had been investigated for a test of cure (TOC i.e. parasitoloy after completion of treatment). The test was negative in 10 cases who had negative TOC and was positive in the single case who had a positive TOC. In addition, the KAtex was performed for 12 PDKL patients in whom the test was found to be negative. Furthermore. The KAtex test was carried out for 20 confirmed VL cases one and three months after completion of their treatment; all patients had negative KAtex results during the follow up period. Cross –reaction of KAtex test was not observed with other disease, including pulmonary tuberculosis (35cases), malaria (35cases), enteric fever (25cases), urinary schistosomiasis (10cases), patients with urinary tract infection (15cases) and proteinuria (15cases). It can be concluded that the KAtex is a sensitive, specific, simple and rapid test for the diagnosis of active VL. The test has shown promise to assess the treatment failure. However, it seems that the test doses not have the ability to diagnose sub clinical infection. In view of the results obtained in the present study, the test may be recommended as routine diagnostic technique of VL particularly at field level

Safety and Immunogenicity of COVID-19 BBIBP-CorV Vaccine in Children 3–12 Years Old

Background and Objectives: In the current COVID-19 pandemic, children below the age of 12 could manifest COVID-19 symptoms and serve as a reservoir for the virus in the community. The present study was conducted to evaluate the reactogenicity, and immunogenicity of BBIBP-CorV, prior to involving this age group in the vaccination program in the kingdom of Bahrain. Subjects and Methods: The study included 582 children from 3 to 12 years old of Bahraini and non-Bahraini nationality, all of which contributed to the reactogenicity study. Of those, 401 contributed to the immunogenicity study. All children received 2 doses of BBIBP-CorV inactivated virus 3 weeks apart. To assess reactogenicity, children were followed up for 5 weeks to evaluate any vaccine-related adverse events (AE). To assess immunogenicity, blood was collected on day 0 and day 35 to assess antibody titer against S, N, and neutralizing antibody. Results: Of the 582 participants, (45.4%) were female, (54.61%) were male, with 49% in 9–12 age group. Of the 401 children contributing to the immunogenicity study, 274 (68.3%) had no prior exposure to COVID-19. The overall incidence of AE was 27.7%. No significant difference was found among different age groups. The most frequent AE was local (at the injection site) and occurred in 16% of children, followed by fever in 9.3%. No serious adverse events were reported. The Seroconversion rate was 100% among children with no prior exposure to COVID-19. Children with previous COVID-19 exposure had higher averages of anti-S (2379 U/mL compared to 409.1), anti-N (177.6 U/mL compared to 30.9) and neutralizing antibody (93.7 U/mL compared to 77.1) than children with no prior exposure at day 35. Conclusions: Two doses of COVID-19 BBIBP-CorV on the subjects aged between 3 to 12 has good safety and tolerance and can induce an effective immune response and neutralizing antibody titer

Prophylactic supplementation of resveratrol is more effective than its therapeutic use against doxorubicin induced cardiotoxicity.

Resveratrol (RSV), a polyphenolic compound and naturally occurring phytoalexin, has been reported to exert cardio-protective effects in several animal studies. However, the outcome of initial clinical trials with RSV was less effective compared to pre-clinical studies. Therefore, RSV treatment protocols need to be optimized. In this study we evaluated prophylactic versus therapeutic effect of resveratrol (RSV) in mitigating doxorubicin (Dox)-induced cardiac toxicity in rats. To investigate prophylactic effects, RSV was supplemented for 2 weeks along with Dox administration. After 2 weeks, Dox treatment was stopped and RSV was continued for another 4 weeks. To study therapeutic effects, RSV treatment was initiated after 2 weeks of Dox administration and continued for 4 weeks. Both prophylactic and therapeutic use of RSV mitigated Dox induced deterioration of cardiac function as assessed by echocardiography. Also RSV treatment (prophylactic and therapeutic) prevented Dox induced myocardial damage as measured by cardiac enzymes (LDH and CK-MB) in serum. Which was associated with decrease in Dox induced myocardial apoptosis and fibrosis. Interestingly our study also reveals that prophylactic use of RSV was more effective than its therapeutic use in mitigating Dox induced apoptosis and fibrosis in the myocardium. Therefore, prophylactic use of resveratrol may be projected as a possible future adjuvant therapy to minimize cardiotoxic side effects of doxorubicin in cancer patients

Safety and immunogenicity of COVID-19 BBIBP-CorV vaccine in children 3-12 years old

Background and objectives: In the current COVID-19 pandemic, children below the age of 12 could manifest COVID-19 symptoms and serve as a reservoir for the virus in the community. The present study was conducted to evaluate the reactogenicity, and immunogenicity of BBIBP-CorV, prior to involving this age group in the vaccination program in the kingdom of Bahrain.Subjects and methods: The study included 582 children from 3 to 12 years old of Bahraini and non-Bahraini nationality, all of which contributed to the reactogenicity study. Of those, 401 contributed to the immunogenicity study. All children received 2 doses of BBIBP-CorV inactivated virus 3 weeks apart. To assess reactogenicity, children were followed up for 5 weeks to evaluate any vaccine-related adverse events (AE). To assess immunogenicity, blood was collected on day 0 and day 35 to assess antibody titer against S, N, and neutralizing antibody.Results: Of the 582 participants, (45.4%) were female, (54.61%) were male, with 49% in 9-12 age group. Of the 401 children contributing to the immunogenicity study, 274 (68.3%) had no prior exposure to COVID-19. The overall incidence of AE was 27.7%. No significant difference was found among different age groups. The most frequent AE was local (at the injection site) and occurred in 16% of children, followed by fever in 9.3%. No serious adverse events were reported. The Seroconversion rate was 100% among children with no prior exposure to COVID-19. Children with previous COVID-19 exposure had higher averages of anti-S (2379 U/mL compared to 409.1), anti-N (177.6 U/mL compared to 30.9) and neutralizing antibody (93.7 U/mL compared to 77.1) than children with no prior exposure at day 35.Conclusions: Two doses of COVID-19 BBIBP-CorV on the subjects aged between 3 to 12 has good safety and tolerance and can induce an effective immune response and neutralizing antibody titer.</div

The impact of chronic fentanyl administration on the cerebral cortex in mice: Molecular and histological effects

Purpose: Fentanyl, a fully synthetic opioid, is widely used for severe pain management and has a huge abuse potential for its psychostimulant effects. Unlike other opioids, the neurotoxic effects of chronic fentanyl administration are still unclear. In particular, little is known about its effect on the cerebral cortex. The current study aims to test the chronic toxicity of fentanyl in the mice model. Methods: Adult male Balb/c mice were chronically treated with low (0.05 mg/kg, i.p) and high (0.1 mg/kg, i.p) doses of fentanyl for 5 consecutive weeks, and various neurotoxic parameters, including apoptosis, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammatory response were assessed in the cortex. Potential histological as well as neurochemical changes were also evaluated. Results: The results of this study show that chronic fentanyl administration induced intense levels of apoptosis, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation in the cerebral cortex. These findings were found to be correlated with histopathological characteristics of neural degeneration and white matter injury. Moreover, fentanyl administration was found to reduce the expression of both NMDA receptor subunits and dopamine receptors and elevate the level of epidermal growth factor (EGF). Conclusion: Fentanyl administration induced neurotoxic effects in the mouse cerebral cortex that could be primarily mediated by the evoked oxidative-inflammatory response. The altered expression of NMDA receptors, dopamine receptors, and EGF suggests the pernicious effects of fentanyl addiction that may end in the development of toxic psychosis.This study is funded by a grant from the Deanship of Scientific Research, Yarmouk University , Jordan (Grant # 29/2021 ). Open access of this article is generously funded by Qatar National Library (QNL).Scopu

Primers and annealing temperature for real-time PCR.

<p>Primers and annealing temperature for real-time PCR.</p

Distribution of NMBR in the pig digestive system.

<p>The NMBR immunostaining results in the parotid gland (A), submandibular gland (B), liver (C), pancreas (D), esophagus (G), stomach (E), duodenum (F), jejunum (H), ileum (I) and rectum (J). High magnification of NMBR-positive cells in the intralobular ducts (1) (denoted by an arrow) (a); the ducts (b); the hepatocytes (1) (denoted by an arrow) and the central vein (c); the pancreatic islets (1) (denoted by an arrow) (d); the mucous glands (1) (denoted by an arrow) (g1) and the skeletal muscle of the muscular layer of the esophagus (1) (denoted by an arrow) (g2); the chief cell and parietal cell of the fundic gland (1) (denoted by an arrow) (e); the absorptive cell and lymphocyte of the intestinal villi (1) (denoted by an arrow) (f); the villus (1) (denoted by an arrow) (h1 and i1) and muscular layer (1) (denoted by an arrow) (h2 and i2) in the jejunum and ileum; the simple columnar epithelium (1) (denoted by an arrow) (j1) and muscular layer (1) (denoted by an arrow) (j2) in the rectum. Negative controls in the parotid gland (A0), submandibular gland (B0), liver (C0), pancreas (D0), esophagus (G0), stomach (E0), duodenum (F0), jejunum (H0), ileum (I0) and rectum (J0). Scale bars in (E) = 200 μm, (A, F, G, H, I, J, E0, F0, G0, H0, I0, and J0) = 100 μm, (B, C, D, B0, C0 and D0) = 50 μm, (a, b, c, d, e, f, g1, g2, h1, h2, i1, i2, j1 and j2) = 20 μm.</p

NMB and NMBR mRNA expression pattern in the reproductive axis throughout the sow estrous cycle.

<p>NMB and NMBR expression patterns in the hypothalamus (A and D), pituitary (B and E), and ovaries (C and F) are shown. Relative levels of NMB and NMBR mRNA were calculated as shown in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0151871#pone.0151871.g003" target="_blank">Fig 3</a>. Values are the mean ± SEM values of three pigs per phase group. Relative to the estrus group, an asterisk denotes a significant difference. *<i>P</i> < 0.05; **<i>P</i> < 0.01.</p

Distribution of NMBR in pig lymphatic organs.

<p>The NMBR immunostaining results in the spleen (A), the thymus (B) and the jejunum lymph node (C). High magnification of NMBR-positive cells in the periarterial lymphatic sheath (1) (denoted by an arrow), the trabecula and the ellipsoid (2) (denoted by an arrow) (a1 and a2); the thymic medulla and thymic corpuscle (1) (denoted by an arrow) (b1 and b2); the lymphoid nodule (1) (denoted by an arrow), the trabecula (2) (denoted by an arrow) (c1 and c3) and the diffuse lymphatic tissue (3) (denoted by an arrow) (c2). Negative controls in the spleen (A0), the thymus (B0) and the jejunum lymph node (C0). Scale bars in (B, C and C0) = 100 μm, (A, A0 and B0) = 50 μm, (a1, b1, c1 and c2) = 20 μm, (a2 and c3) = 10 μm, (b2) = 5 μm.</p

NMB and NMBR mRNA expression patterns alone the reproductive axis over the course of male pig sexual development.

<p>NMB and NMBR expression patterns in the hypothalamus (A and D), pituitary (B and E), and testis (C and F) are shown. Relative levels of NMB and NMBR mRNA were calculated as shown in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0151871#pone.0151871.g003" target="_blank">Fig 3</a>. Values are mean ± SEM values for three pigs per phase group. Relative to the 3d group, an asterisk denotes a significant difference. *<i>P</i> < 0.05; **<i>P</i> < 0.01.</p