BACTERIOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE FARMED MUSSEL (MYTILUS GALLOPROVINCIALIS) AND ITS IMPACT ON PUBLIC HEALTH

The present study was carried out to assess the bacteriological quality of the cultured mussel "Mytilus galloprovincialis" and its impact on public health and to study the influence of the three physicochemical variation (environmental) factors: medium temperature (TS), pH and salinity (SL). The exploration of the bacteriological quality of the mussels "Mytilus galloprovincialis"  was carried out by research and enumeration of Total flora (TF), Total coliform (TC), Fecal coliform (FC), Escherichia coli (EC), Fecal streptococci(FS) and  Staphylococcus aureus (SA), using specific techniques and methods. Likewise, for environmental factors, they were evaluated by typical instruments. The results of the bacterial count revealed that the means of the isolated bacteria were 2.27 ± 0.24 log10 cells / 100ml, 3.34 ± 0.51 log10 cells / 100ml, 2.64 ± 0.72 log10 cells / 100ml, 0.94 ± 1.63 log10 cells / 100ml, 1.85 ± 1.61 log10 cells / 100ml and 0.63 ± 1.09 log10 cells / 100ml, respectively for TF, TC, FC, EC, FS and  SA. The study of the influence of the three variation factors on the development of the bacterial indicators tested for mussels showed that the majority of the correlations between the six bacterial indicators and the physicochemical parameters are high (r> 0.5) except for four correlations which are weak (r <0.5), one between FS and pH (r = 0.4042; R2 = 0.1633), the second between TF and SL (r = 0.2515; R2 = 0.0632), the third between TC and SL (r = 0.3516; R2 = 0.1236) and the fourth between FS and SL (r = 0.0249; R2 = 0.0006). In conclusion, the consumption of the mussel “Mytilus galloprovincialis” can pose risks to public health. For this, the establishment of a quality policy, aimed at popularizing good hygiene practices

Ligand-Capped Ultrapure Metal Nanoparticle Sensors for the Detection of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Disease in Exhaled Breath

International audienceHuman cutaneous leishmaniasis, although designated as one of the most neglected tropical diseases, remains underestimated due to its misdiagnosis. The diagnosis is mainly based on the microscopic detection of amastigote forms, isolation of the parasite, or the detection of Leishmania DNA, in addition to its differential clinical characterization; these tools are not always available in routine daily practice, and they are expensive and time-consuming. Here, we present a simple-to-use, noninvasive approach for human cutaneous leishmaniasis diagnosis, which is based on the analysis of volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath with an array of specifically designed chemical gas sensors. The study was realized on a group of n = 28 volunteers diagnosed with human cutaneous leishmaniasis and a group of n = 32 healthy controls, recruited in various sites from Tunisia, an endemic country of the disease. The classification success rate of human cutaneous leishmaniasis patients achieved by our sensors test was 98.2% accuracy, 96.4% sensitivity, and 100% specificity. Remarkably, one of the sensors, based on CuNPs functionalized with 2-mercaptobenzoxazole, yielded 100% accuracy, 100% sensitivity, and 100% specificity for human cutaneous leishmaniasis discrimination. While AuNPs have been the most extensively used in metal nanoparticle-ligand sensing films for breath sensing, our results demonstrate that chemical sensors based on ligand-capped CuNPs also hold great potential for breath volatile organic compounds detection. Additionally, the chemical analysis of the breath samples with gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry identified nine putative breath biomarkers for human cutaneous leishmaniasis

Design of multi-epitope peptides containing HLA class-I and class-II-restricted epitopes derived from immunogenic Leishmania proteins, and evaluation of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses induced in cured cutaneous leishmaniasis subjects

International audienceHuman leishmaniasis is a public health problem worldwide for which the development of a vaccine remains a challenge. T cell-mediated immune responses are crucial for protection. Peptide vaccines based on the identification of immunodominant T cell epitopes able to induce T cell specific immune responses constitute a promising strategy. Here, we report the identification of human leukocyte antigen class-I (HLA-I) and -II (HLA-II)-restricted multi-epitope peptides from Leishmania proteins that we have previously described as vaccine candidates. Promastigote Surface Antigen (PSA), LmlRAB (L. major large RAB GTPase) and Histone (H2B) were screened, in silico, for T cell epitopes. 6 HLA-I and 5 HLA-II-restricted multi-epitope peptides, able to bind to the most frequent HLA molecules, were designed and used as pools to stimulate PBMCs from individuals with healed cutaneous leishmaniasis. IFN-γ, IL-10, TNF-α and granzyme B (GrB) production was evaluated by ELISA/CBA. The frequency of IFN-γ-producing T cells was quantified by ELISpot. T cells secreting cytokines and memory T cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. 16 of 25 peptide pools containing HLA-I, HLA-II or HLA-I and -II peptides were able to induce specific and significant IFN-γ levels. No IL-10 was detected. 6 peptide pools were selected among those inducing the highest IFN-γ levels for further characterization. 3/6 pools were able to induce a significant increase of the percentages of CD4+IFN-γ+, CD8+IFN-γ+ and CD4+GrB+ T cells. The same pools also induced a significant increase of the percentages of bifunctional IFN-γ+/TNF-α+CD4+ and/or central memory T cells. We identified highly promiscuous HLA-I and -II restricted epitope combinations from H2B, PSA and LmlRAB proteins that stimulate both CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses in recovered individuals. These multi-epitope peptides could be used as potential components of a polytope vaccine for human leishmaniasis

Parasite Load Decrease during Application of a Safe and Easily Applied Antileishmanial Aminoglycoside Cream

<p>Parasite Load Decrease during Application of a Safe and Easily Applied Antileishmanial Aminoglycoside Cream</p

Summary of subject enrollment, treatment, and follow-up.

<p>Values are numbers of study subjects. Of the 74 subjects screened, 26 failed screening, most commonly due to having only one lesion that was already substantially healed (17 subjects). Forty-eight subjects were randomized, 24 in each study group. In the polyurethane group, one subject was discontinued due to an unsatisfactory result (enlargement of the index lesion at day 20). In the gauze-and-tape group, two subjects failed to return to the study site and were lost to follow-up. Forty-seven of 48 randomized subjects received a full 20-day course of WR 279,396 as planned in the protocol; one subject in the polyurethane group failed to return for further treatment after day 6.</p

Baseline characteristics of study patients.

<p>Baseline characteristics of study patients.</p

Geometric mean aminoglycoside concentrations in superficial and deep dermis.

†<p>Number of samples tested.</p><p>*Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test two-sided p-value for superficial versus deep dermis.</p>‡<p>Number of samples with detectable levels.</p><p>[Note: The lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) was 20.0 ng/mL for paromomycin, 2.64 ng/mL for gentamicin C1, 2.45 ng/mL for gentamicin C1a, 4.25 ng/mL for gentamicin C2, and 50 ng/mL for total gentamicin.]</p

Parasite load fold-reduction ratios.

†<p>The parasite load fold-reduction ratio is calculated as parasite load at day 1 divided by parasite load at day 10.</p><p>*Polyurethane group versus gauze-and-tape group.</p

Summary of Adverse Events.

†<p>Total adverse events encompasses all intensities. Mild  =  no interference with daily activities; moderate  =  interferes with daily activities; severe  =  daily activities interrupted.</p><p>*Subjects with multiple symptoms were counted in all applicable symptom categories.</p>‡<p>In skin surrounding the index lesion.</p><p>Localized infections generally occurred at the biopsy site, although a causal relationship to the biopsy was not established.</p>§<p>One subject suffered from pre-existing anemia and cardiac arrhythmia.</p><p>Mild, clinically insignificant elevations in serum creatinine were noted in both subjects at day 10 and resolved by day 20.</p