Isolated lip dermatitis (atopic cheilitis), successfully treated with topical tacrolimus 0.03%

Exfoliative and erosive cheilitis, may be a source of speech and chewing discomfort, but may also be an aesthetic issue for the patients affected. Such a clinical presentation may implicate a variety of inflammatory conditions, including atopic (eczematous) cheilitis. Topical and systemic agents, e.g. corticosteroids, have been used to treat inflammatory lip conditions. Topical tacrolimus has also been used in some inflammatory lip conditions. We performed a retrospective clinical analysis of atopic cheilitis patients. Between 2015 and 2020, we addressed 7 (seven) patients with atopic dermatitis affecting only lips and were diagnosed as atopic-eczematous cheilitis. They were treated with 0.03 per cent topical tacrolimus ointment and responded completely. These cases represent an underreported atopy / eczema event;-few cases of atopic cheilitis without concomitant dermal lesions appear in the literature. We are also showing and discussing yet another application of tacrolimus in a local atopic form of inflammation affecting the lips

Μελέτη του διακολπικού αποκλεισμού σε άτομα με αυξημένο δείκτη μάζας σώματος και εμφάνιση αρρυθμιών

Εισαγωγή: Ακόμα και σήμερα, ο διακολπικός αποκλεισμός αποτελεί μία παραμελημένη οντότητα. Υπάρχει ένα ερευνητικό υπόβαθρο που έχει αναδείξει τη συσχέτιση μεταξύ του υψηλού δείκτη μάζας σώματος και της παρουσία διακολπικού αποκλεισμού και αυξημένης διασποράς του κύματος Ρ. Επίσης η παχυσαρκία συνδέεται με τη συχνότερη εμφάνιση αρρυθμιών και κολπικής μαρμαρυγής. Σκοπός: Να μελετηθεί η παρουσία διακολπικού αποκλεισμού σε άτομα με παχυσαρκία καθώς και συσχέτιση που μπορεί να έχει με τη συχνότητα εμφάνισης κολπικής μαρμαρυγής στον πληθυσμό αυτό. Μέθοδος: Τον πληθυσμό της μελέτης αποτέλεσαν 60 ασθενείς με αυξημένο δείκτη μάζας σώματος σε επίπεδα παχυσαρκίας, δηλαδή με BMI ≥ 30kg/m2. Η ομάδα ελέγχου απαρτίστηκε από 29 νοσηλευόμενους με φυσιολογικό δείκτη μάζας σώματος. Καταγράφηκαν τα σωματομετρικά στοιχεία των συμμετεχόντων στη μελέτη, το ιστορικό τους, η εμφάνιση αρρυθμιών και η φαρμακευτική τους αγωγή. Ελήφθη εργαστηριακός έλεγχος και σημειώθηκε το λιπιδαιμικό προφίλ όλων των ασθενών. Όλοι οι συμμετέχοντες στη μελέτη επανεκτιμήθηκαν στις 30 ημέρες. Εκτιμήθηκε σε όλους το μέγιστο εύρος του κύματος Ρ (Pmax), το ελάχιστο εύρος του κύματος Ρ (Pmin), η διασπορά του κύματος Ρ (Ρd) καθώς και η παρουσία διακολπικού αποκλεισμού και αρρυθμιών. Αποτελέσματα: Δε σημειώθηκε στατιστικώς σημαντική διαφορά ανάμεσα στις δύο ομάδες ως προς το φύλο, την ηλικία, το ιστορικό καρδιακής ανεπάρκειας, σακχαρώδη διαβήτη, δυσλιπιδαιμίας και χρόνιας αποφρακτικής πνευμονοπάθειας. Το μέγιστο εύρος (Pmax) και η διασπορά του κύματος P(Pd) ήταν σημαντικά διευρυμένα στην ομάδα των παχύσαρκων ασθενών. Επίσης η παρουσία διακολπικού αποκλεισμού ήταν σημαντικά συχνότερη στους ασθενείς με αυξημένο δείκτη μάζας σώματος. Η εμφάνιση αρρυθμιών ήταν σημαντικά αυξημένη στην ομάδα των παχύσαρκων, δεν σημείωσε όμως συσχέτιση με την παρουσία διακολπικού αποκλεισμού. Τροχοπέδη αποτέλεσε η παρουσία ηλεκτροκαρδιογραφικών κριτηρίων παρουσίας διάτασης του αριστερού κόλπου. Η μόνη αρρυθμία που σημειώθηκε ήταν η κολπική μαρμαρυγή. Συμπεράσματα: Η έρευνα κατέδειξε τη συχνότερη εμφάνιση του διακολπικού αποκλεισμού στα άτομα με αυξημένο δείκτη μάζας σώματος, όπως επίσης και την παρουσία ευρύτερου μέγιστου Ρ (Pmax) και διασποράς του Ρ(Pd). Οι αρρυθμίες ήταν σημαντικά συχνότερες στην ομάδα των παχύσαρκων ασθενών, δεν φάνηκε όμως να σχετίζονται με την παρουσία διακολπικού αποκλεισμού.Introduction: Even nowadays, interatrial block keeps being a neglected entity. There is a research background that has highlighted the correlation between high body mass index and the presence of interatrial block and high P-wave dispersion. On the other hand, obesity is associated with more frequent occurrence of arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation. Method: The study population consisted of 60 patients with increased body mass index at obesity levels, ie with BMI> = 30kg / m2. The control group was composed of 29 hospitalized patients with normal body mass index. The somatometric data of the participants, their medical history, the occurrence of arrhythmias and their medication were recorded. Laboratory exams were obtained and the lipidemic profile of all patients was noted. All participants in the study were re-evaluated in 30 days. Maximum P-wave duration (Pmax), minimum P-wave duration (Pmin), P dispersion (Pd) and the presence of interatrial block and arrythmias were evaluated. Results: No significant difference was noted regarding age, sex, medical history of heart failure, diabetes, dyslipidaimia and cronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Maximum P-wave duration and P-wave dispersion were significantly prolonged in the odese group, while the prevalence of interatrial block was significantly more often in patients with increased body mass index. Prevalence of arrhythmias was significantly greater in the obese group, however no correlation was observed between arrhythmias and interatrial block. The presence of electrocardiographic criteria of left atrial dilatation was a problem. The only arrhythmia that occurred was atrial fibrillation. Conclusions: The present research showed the greater prevelance of interatrial block in individuals with increased body mass index, as well as the presence of prolonged maximum P-wave duration (Pmax) and P-wave dispersion (Pd) . Arrhythmias were significantly more frequent in the group of obese patients, but did not appear to be related to the presence of interatrial block

Pyrethroid resistance mechanisms in the major malaria vector species complex

Pyrethroids remain the most important class of insecticides for controlling malaria mosquitoes. Resistance to pyrethroids in the major African malaria vector Anopheles gambiae was detected soon after the introduction of this insecticide class in the 1970s but the strength, and distribution, of this resistance has greatly accelerated in the 21st century. In this review we summarise the current understanding of the mechanisms underpinning this resistance, including new discoveries on the genetic basis of established mechanisms such as changes in the neuronal target site of pyrethroids, and latest understandings on less well characterized mechanisms such as insecticide sequestration. Many gaps remain in our understanding of the genetic pathways controlling these resistance associated genes, and for many, the causal resistance mutations remain elusive; this is a key obstacle in the development of informative panels of genetic markers that would aid in the monitoring and management of insecticide resistance in malaria vectors

Identification and Detection of a Novel Point Mutation in the Chitin Synthase Gene of Culex Pipiens Associated With Diflubenzuron Resistance

Diflubenzuron (DFB) is one of the most used insecticides in mosquito larval control including that of Culex pipiens, the proven vector of the recent West Nile Virus epidemics in Europe. Two mutations (I1043L and I1043M) in the chitin synthase (CHS) putative binding site of DFB have been previously reported in Cx. pipiens from Italy and associated with high levels of resistance against this larvicide

Rapid identification of mosquito species and age by mass spectrometric analysis.

Background A rapid, accurate method to identify and to age-grade mosquito populations would be a major advance in predicting the risk of pathogen transmission and evaluating the public health impact of vector control interventions. Whilst other spectrometric or transcriptomic methods show promise, current approaches rely on challenging morphological techniques or simple binary classifications that cannot identify the subset of the population old enough to be infectious. In this study, the ability of rapid evaporative ionisation mass spectrometry (REIMS) to identify the species and age of mosquitoes reared in the laboratory and derived from the wild was investigated. Results The accuracy of REIMS in identifying morphologically identical species of the Anopheles gambiae complex exceeded 97% using principal component/linear discriminant analysis (PC-LDA) and 84% based on random forest analysis. Age separation into 3 different age categories (1 day, 5–6 days, 14–15 days) was achieved with 99% (PC-LDA) and 91% (random forest) accuracy. When tested on wild mosquitoes from the UK, REIMS data could determine the species and age of the specimens with accuracies of 91 and 90% respectively. Conclusions The accuracy of REIMS to resolve the species and age of Anopheles mosquitoes is comparable to that achieved by infrared spectroscopy approaches. The processing time and ease of use represent significant advantages over current, dissection-based methods. Importantly, the accuracy was maintained when using wild mosquitoes reared under differing environmental conditions, and when mosquitoes were stored frozen or desiccated. This high throughput approach thus has potential to conduct rapid, real-time monitoring of vector populations, providing entomological evidence of the impact of alternative interventions

Fitness costs of key point mutations that underlie acaricide target-site resistance in the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae

The frequency of insecticide/acaricide target-site resistance is increasing in arthropod pest populations and is typically underpinned by single point mutations that affect the binding strength between the insecticide/acaricide and its target-site. Theory predicts that although resistance mutations clearly have advantageous effects under the selection pressure of the insecticide/acaricide, they might convey negative pleiotropic effects on other aspects of fitness. If such fitness costs are in place, target-site resistance is thus likely to disappear in the absence of insecticide/acaricide treatment, a process that would counteract the spread of resistance in agricultural crops. Hence, there is a great need to reliably quantify the various potential pleiotropic effects of target-site resistance point mutations on arthropod fitness. Here, we used near-isogenic lines of the spider mite pest Tetranychus urticae that carry well-characterized acaricide target-site resistance mutations to quantify potential fitness costs. Specifically, we analyzed P262T in the mitochondrial cytochrome b, the combined G314D and G326E substitutions in the glutamate-gated chloride channels, L1024V in the voltage-gated sodium channel, and I1017F in chitin synthase 1. Five fertility life table parameters and nine single-generation life-history traits were quantified and compared across a total of 15 mite lines. In addition, we monitored the temporal resistance level dynamics of populations with different starting frequency levels of the chitin synthase resistant allele to further support our findings. Three target-site resistance mutations, I1017F and the co-occurring G314D and G326E mutations, were shown to significantly and consistently alter certain fitness parameters in T. urticae. The other two mutations (P262T and L1024V) did not result in any consistent change in a fitness parameter analyzed in our study. Our findings are discussed in the context of the global spread of T. urticae pesticide resistance and integrated pest management

An overview of functional genomic tools in deciphering insecticide resistance

In this short review, we highlight three functional genomic technologies that have recently been contributing to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underpinning insecticide resistance: the GAL4/UAS system, a molecular tool used to express genes of interest in a spatiotemporal controlled manner; the RNAi system, which is used to knock-down gene expression; and the most recently developed gene editing tool,CRISPR/Cas9, which can be used to knock-out and knock-in sequences of interest