Detection of Anthrax Spores from the Air by Real-Time PCR

炭疽菌によるエアロゾル汚染防止対策の一環として、炭疽菌芽胞を大気と共に吸引してメンブランフィルターに回収し、その検出をリアルタイムPCRで行った。本システムにより、10個の芽胞を1時間以内に検出することができ、その結果は培養試験による結果と完全に一致した

A Simple and Sensitive Detection System for Bacillus anthracis in Meat and Tissue

食肉及び組織中の炭疽菌の検出法を確立するために、本菌の新鮮培養液を段階希釈し、各希釈液を食肉に接種後、鋳型DNAを調製してPCRを行った。その結果、標的とした毒素遺伝子及び莢膜遺伝子が増幅され、各増幅断片は制限酵素処理により予想されたサイズのフラグメントに切断されることを確認した。本PCRシステムによる結果はBCA寒天を用いた培養試験の結果と完全に一致した

A Research Agenda for Helminth Diseases of Humans: Social Ecology, Environmental Determinants, and Health Systems

In this paper, the Disease Reference Group on Helminth Infections (DRG4), established in 2009 by the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), with the mandate to review helminthiases research and identify research priorities and gaps, focuses on the environmental, social, behavioural, and political determinants of human helminth infections and outlines a research and development agenda for the socioeconomic and health systems research required for the development of sustainable control programmes. Using Stockols' social-ecological approach, we describe the role of various social (poverty, policy, stigma, culture, and migration) and environmental determinants (the home environment, water resources development, and climate change) in the perpetuation of helminthic diseases, as well as their impact as contextual factors on health promotion interventions through both the regular and community-based health systems. We examine these interactions in regard to community participation, intersectoral collaboration, gender, and possibilities for upscaling helminthic disease control and elimination programmes within the context of integrated and interdisciplinary approaches. The research agenda summarises major gaps that need to be addressed

Short-Course, High-Dose Rifampicin Achieves Wolbachia Depletion Predictive of Curative Outcomes in Preclinical Models of Lymphatic Filariasis and Onchocerciasis

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) and onchocerciasis are priority neglected tropical diseases targeted for elimination. The only safe drug treatment with substantial curative activity against the filarial nematodes responsible for LF (Brugia malayi, Wuchereria bancrofti) or onchocerciasis (Onchocerca volvulus) is doxycycline. The target of doxycycline is the essential endosymbiont, Wolbachia. Four to six weeks doxycycline therapy achieves >90% depletion of Wolbachia in worm tissues leading to blockade of embryogenesis, adult sterility and premature death 18–24 months post-treatment. Long treatment length and contraindications in children and pregnancy are obstacles to implementing doxycycline as a public health strategy. Here we determine, via preclinical infection models of Brugia malayi or Onchocerca ochengi that elevated exposures of orally-administered rifampicin can lead to Wolbachia depletions from filariae more rapidly than those achieved by doxycycline. Dose escalation of rifampicin achieves >90% Wolbachia depletion in time periods of 7 days in B. malayi and 14 days in O. ochengi. Using pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modelling and mouse-human bridging analysis, we conclude that clinically relevant dose elevations of rifampicin, which have recently been determined as safe in humans, could be administered as short courses to filariasis target populations with potential to reduce anti-Wolbachia curative therapy times to between one and two weeks

Detection of Anthrax Spores from the Air by Real-Time PCR

炭疽菌によるエアロゾル汚染防止対策の一環として、炭疽菌芽胞を大気と共に吸引してメンブランフィルターに回収し、その検出をリアルタイムPCRで行った。本システムにより、10個の芽胞を1時間以内に検出することができ、その結果は培養試験による結果と完全に一致した

A Simple and Sensitive Detection System for Bacillus anthracis in Meat and Tissue

食肉及び組織中の炭疽菌の検出法を確立するために、本菌の新鮮培養液を段階希釈し、各希釈液を食肉に接種後、鋳型DNAを調製してPCRを行った。その結果、標的とした毒素遺伝子及び莢膜遺伝子が増幅され、各増幅断片は制限酵素処理により予想されたサイズのフラグメントに切断されることを確認した。本PCRシステムによる結果はBCA寒天を用いた培養試験の結果と完全に一致した