Environmental factors affecting malaria parasite prevalence in rural Bolifamba, South- West Cameroon

The impact of some environmental factors on malaria parasite prevalence was investigated in rural Bolifamba, Cameroon. The study population comprised 1454 subjects aged 0 – 65 years. Malaria parasite prevalence was higher in the rainy (50.1%) than in the dry season (44.2%) with a significant difference (P=0.001) in mean parasite density between seasons. Individuals 15 years (37.4%). Malaria parasite prevalence (P=0.001) and parasite density (P=0.03) were higher in the individuals of wooden plank houses than those of cement brick houses. Inhabitants of houses surrounded by bushes or garbage heaps and swamps or stagnant water showed higher malaria parasite prevalence and densities compared with those from cleaner surroundings. Anopheles gambiae (63.8%) and A. funestus (32.8%) were associated with perennial transmission of malaria. Our data indicates that poor environmental sanitation and housing conditions may be significant risk factors for malaria parasite burden in Bolifamba. African Journal of Health Sciences Vol. 13 (1-2) 2008: pp. 20-2

Genome-wide analysis of ivermectin response by Onchocerca volvulus reveals that genetic drift and soft selective sweeps contribute to loss of drug sensitivity

Treatment of onchocerciasis using mass ivermectin administration has reduced morbidity and transmission throughout Africa and Central/South America. Mass drug administration is likely to exert selection pressure on parasites, and phenotypic and genetic changes in several Onchocerca volvulus populations from Cameroon and Ghana-exposed to more than a decade of regular ivermectin treatment-have raised concern that sub-optimal responses to ivermectin's anti-fecundity effect are becoming more frequent and may spread.Pooled next generation sequencing (Pool-seq) was used to characterise genetic diversity within and between 108 adult female worms differing in ivermectin treatment history and response. Genome-wide analyses revealed genetic variation that significantly differentiated good responder (GR) and sub-optimal responder (SOR) parasites. These variants were not randomly distributed but clustered in ~31 quantitative trait loci (QTLs), with little overlap in putative QTL position and gene content between the two countries. Published candidate ivermectin SOR genes were largely absent in these regions; QTLs differentiating GR and SOR worms were enriched for genes in molecular pathways associated with neurotransmission, development, and stress responses. Finally, single worm genotyping demonstrated that geographic isolation and genetic change over time (in the presence of drug exposure) had a significantly greater role in shaping genetic diversity than the evolution of SOR.This study is one of the first genome-wide association analyses in a parasitic nematode, and provides insight into the genomics of ivermectin response and population structure of O. volvulus. We argue that ivermectin response is a polygenically-determined quantitative trait (QT) whereby identical or related molecular pathways but not necessarily individual genes are likely to determine the extent of ivermectin response in different parasite populations. Furthermore, we propose that genetic drift rather than genetic selection of SOR is the underlying driver of population differentiation, which has significant implications for the emergence and potential spread of SOR within and between these parasite populations

Prospective Observational Study on acute Appendicitis Worldwide (POSAW)

Background: Acute appendicitis (AA) is the most common surgical disease, and appendectomy is the treatment of choice in the majority of cases. A correct diagnosis is key for decreasing the negative appendectomy rate. The management can become difficult in case of complicated appendicitis. The aim of this study is to describe the worldwide clinical and diagnostic work-up and management of AA in surgical departments.Methods: This prospective multicenter observational study was performed in 116 worldwide surgical departments from 44 countries over a 6-month period (April 1, 2016-September 30, 2016). All consecutive patients admitted to surgical departments with a clinical diagnosis of AA were included in the study.Results: A total of 4282 patients were enrolled in the POSAW study, 1928 (45%) women and 2354 (55%) men, with a median age of 29 years. Nine hundred and seven (21.2%) patients underwent an abdominal CT scan, 1856 (43.3%) patients an US, and 285 (6.7%) patients both CT scan and US. A total of 4097 (95.7%) patients underwent surgery; 1809 (42.2%) underwent open appendectomy and 2215 (51.7%) had laparoscopic appendectomy. One hundred eighty-five (4.3%) patients were managed conservatively. Major complications occurred in 199 patients (4.6%). The overall mortality rate was 0.28%.Conclusions: The results of the present study confirm the clinical value of imaging techniques and prognostic scores. Appendectomy remains the most effective treatment of acute appendicitis. Mortality rate is low.</p

Prospective Observational Study on acute Appendicitis Worldwide (POSAW)

Acute appendicitis (AA) is the most common surgical disease, and appendectomy is the treatment of choice in the majority of cases. A correct diagnosis is key for decreasing the negative appendectomy rate. The management can become difficult in case of complicated appendicitis. The aim of this study is to describe the worldwide clinical and diagnostic work-up and management of AA in surgical departments.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects of monepantel on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors from Ascaris suum and Oesophagostomum dentatum

Zolvix ® is a recently introduced anthelmintic drench containing monepantel as the active ingredient. Monepantel has been demonstrated to act on deg-3/des-2 containing nAChRs in several nematodes as a positive allosteric modulator. The drug produces hypercontraction of nematode muscle. We investigated the effects of monepantel on muscle strips isolated form adult Ascaris suum. The drug did not significantly increase baseline tension when applied on its own. Contractions induced by acetylcholine and several cholininomimetic anthelmintics where antagonized by monepantel. Further investigation revealed that the antagonism was non-competitive in nature. We also investigated the effect of monepantel on nAChRs from O. dentatum heterologously expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes. We investigated the effects of monepantel on OD3, a levamisole preferring nAChR subtype, OD4, a pyrantel preferring subtype and ACR-16 a nicotine preferring subtype. For each subtype tested monepantel applied in isolation produced no measureable currents, nor did it produce currents in the presence of choline. When monepantel was continuously applied it reduced the amplitude of acetylcholine induced currents in a concentration dependent manner for the three nAChR subtypes tested. In all three cases monepantel acted as a non-competitive antagonist on the expressed receptors. ACR-16 was particularly sensitive to monepantel inhibition. Our findings suggest that the mode of action of monepantel is more complex than previously described.Book of Abstract

What is changing in the surgical treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors after multidisciplinary approach? A comprehensive literature's review

INTRODUCTION: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) represent the most common mesenchymal neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract. Surgery is the only curative treatment for GIST. The aim of our review was to highlight the changes in the surgical treatment of GIST after the introduction of TKI therapy in a multimodality management (neo-adiuvant or adiuvant setting). EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: We carried out a review of the recent literature about surgical treatment of GIST according to its anatomical location and size according to PRISMA STATEMENT to systematic review. We searched the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, and EMBASE, limited to the final search date [31/12/2015], limited to English language publications. We used the search terms "GIST" in combination with the terms "surgery" or "multidisciplinary approach" or "TKI therapy" or "neo-adiuvant - adiuvant treatment". EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: The optimal surgical technique to achieve the best results in terms of Overall Survival, Relapse Free Survival and Disease Free Survival is oncological resection with disease free margins. Proper preoperative staging is essential to decide the surgical approach. Data reported in literature showed that laparoscopic approach to GIST obtains the same oncological results as conventional surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The medical oncologist, radiologist and surgeon must collaborate to determine the appropriateness of primary surgery, with curative intent, after neoadiuvant therapy or as palliative treatment. Laparoscopy is feasible and safe for small GIST, but there is no international consensus for large GIST yet. The introduction of imatinib as neoadjuvant therapy with the goal of reducing tumor size, minimizes surgical morbidity and, in some cases, makes operable the inoperable cases. In addition, the use of imatinib in the adjuvant setting, to eradicate micrometastases and to prevent recurrence, has shown promising results in reducing relapse rates

Management of peritoneal carcinomatosis from colorectal cancer: Review of the literature

Background: Today, we do not have a universally accepted evidence on how to treat peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) from colorectal cancer (CRC) in international guidelines. Methods: The present study is a review of the literature investigating current strategies to treat CRC PC. Results: Despite the progresses of systemic chemotherapy, the presence of PC among patients with metastatic CRC reduces the overall survival to 30 %, and only 4 % of patients with PC from CRC treated are alive for 5 years. Many trials evaluate the combined treatment of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) for CRC PC, suggesting a survival benefit in highly selected patients. Only one trial is randomized and presents some biases. The two main prognostic factors are Peritoneal Cancer Index (PCI) and completeness of cytoreduction score (CC score). There is no universal agreement on how to approach the synchronous presence of PC and liver metastasis with a curative intent during the same procedure. A growing interest among the scientific community has arisen about systematic second-look surgery and HIPEC treatment in high-risk patients. Conclusion: Current evidences suggest that CRS and HIPEC might be beneficial in highly selected patients affected with PC from CRC. Anyway, today, there is a shortage of well-designed phase 3 trials. © 2014 Springer-Verlag