High Efficacy of Praziquantel in Schistosoma haematobium-Infected Children in Taraba State, Northeast Nigeria: A follow-up study

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the efficacy of praziquantel in reducing urinary schistosomiasis prevalence, parasite burden and morbidity rates among a previously reported sample of Schistosoma haematobium-infected children. In addition, predisposing factors for reinfection one year post-treatment were also determined. Methods: This prospective follow-up study was conducted between March 2014 and February 2015 among 675 previously reported children with urinary schistosomiasis in the Murbai and Surbai communities of Ardo Kola, Taraba State, Nigeria. A single dose of 40 mg/kg of praziquantel was administered to each infected child, with a second dose administered one month later if necessary. The number of S. haematobium eggs in urine samples was calculated at baseline and post-treatment. Results: At four weeks post-treatment, the overall cure rate was 98.1%. Among children with low and heavy parasite burdens at baseline, egg reduction rates (ERRs) were 100% and 96.5%, respectively. The vast majority of children with microhaematuria (98.7%) and proteinuria (98.6%) at baseline were cured at follow-up. Following a second dose, the ERR, overall and morbidity cure rates increased to 100%. At one year post-treatment, 272 infected children (40.3%) were re-assessed; of these, 51 children (18.8%) were reinfected. Close proximity to bodies of water (odds ratio [OR] = 1.23, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.998–1.530; P = 0.05) and fishing (OR = 2.23, 95% CI: 0.828–6.040; P = 0.01) were significant factors that predisposed children to reinfection. Conclusion: A moderate rate of reinfection was noted. Governmental and nongovernmental organisations in Nigeria should collaborate on mass treatment and health education campaigns to reduce the incidence of urinary schistosomiasis reinfections.Keywords: Urinary Schistosomiasis; Praziquantel; Treatment Outcome; Follow-Up Study; Nigeria

Comparative Haematological Safety Profiles of AT+SP AND AQ+SP for the Treatment of Uncomplicated PlasmodiumFalciparum Malaria in Children

Haematological profiles serve as strong indicators of recovery and the safety of antimalarial drugs in children. The present study evaluated the safety of Artesunate + Sulphadoxine-Pyrimethamine (AT+SP) and Amodiaquine + Sulphadoxine-Pyrimethamine (AQ+SP) combination therapies in the treatment on thirteen different haematological and a biochemical parameters. The study was carried out in malaria holo-endemic settlements in northern Nigeria, among 313 children with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria randomly selected, between July and September, 2012 using therapeutic efficacy protocols on antimalarial drugs. There were no cases of lympopenia, and recoveries were faster in AT+SP than AQ+SP for leucocytosis (37.5% vs 17.39%), anaemia (82.23% vs 78.03%), thrombocytopenia (90.13% vs 88.20%), monocytosis (30.92% vs 28.01%) and eosinophilia (31.68%) than AQ+SP (18.01%) in 28 days. Conversely, the recoveries from AQ+SP were higher than AT+SP for neutrophilia (32.89% vs 38.45%), and ALT (76.31% vs 78.33%) over 28 days. In contrast, there were slight adverse effects in both drugs on leucopenia, thrombocytosis, neutropenia, lympocytosis and monocytopenia in the range of 1.97 - 20.50% for AT+SP compared to 3.29 - 11.18% for AQ+SP. Except for monocytopenia, the adverse effects due to AT+SP was higher compared to AQ+SP

Research ethics committees: agents of research policy?

The purpose of this commentary is to describe the unintended effects ethics committees may have on research and to analyse the regulatory and administrative problems of clinical trials. DISCUSSION: The Finnish law makes an arbitrary distinction between medical research and other health research, and the European Union's directive for good clinical trials further differentiates drug trials. The starting point of current rules is that clinical trials are lesser in the interest of patients and society than routine health care. However, commercial interests are not considered unethical. The contrasting procedures in research and normal health care may tempt physicians to continue introducing innovations into practice by relying on unsystematic and uncontrolled observations. Tedious and bureaucratic rules may lead to the disappearance of trials initiated by researchers. Trying to accommodate the special legislative requirements for new drug trials into more complex interventions may result in poor designs with unreliable results and increased costs. Meanwhile, current legal requirements may undermine the morale of ethics committee members. CONCLUSION: The aims and the quality of the work of ethics committees should be evaluated, and a reformulation of the EU directive on good clinical trials is needed. Ethical judgement should consider the specific circumstance of each trial, and ethics committees should not foster poor research for legal reasons

DQB1*0602 rather than DRB1*1501 confers susceptibility to multiple sclerosis-like disease induced by proteolipid protein (PLP)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with pathogenic autoimmunity primarily focused on major CNS-myelin target antigens including myelin basic protein (MBP), proteolipidprotein (PLP), myelin oligodendrocyte protein (MOG). MS is a complex trait whereby the HLA genes, particularly class-II genes of HLA-DR15 haplotype, dominate the genetic contribution to disease-risk. Due to strong linkage disequilibrium in HLA-II region, it has been hard to establish precisely whether the functionally relevant effect derives from the DRB1*1501, DQA1*0102-DQB1*0602, or DRB5*0101 loci of HLA-DR15 haplotype, their combinations, or their epistatic interactions. Nevertheless, most genetic studies have indicated DRB1*1501 as a primary risk factor in MS. Here, we used 'HLA-humanized' mice to discern the potential relative contribution of DRB1*1501 and DQB1*0602 alleles to susceptibility to "humanized" MS-like disease induced by PLP, one of the most prominent and encephalitogenic target-antigens implicated in human MS.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The HLA-DRB1*1501- and HLA-DQB1*0602-Tg mice (MHC-II^-/-), and control non-HLA-DR15-relevant-Tg mice were immunized with a set of overlapping PLP peptides or with recombinant soluble PLP for induction of "humanized" MS-like disease, as well as for ex-vivo analysis of immunogenic/immunodominant HLA-restricted T-cell epitopes and associated cytokine secretion profile.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>PLP autoimmunity in both HLA-DR15-Tg mice was focused on 139-151 and 175-194 epitopes. Strikingly, however, the HLA-DRB1*1501-transgenics were refractory to disease induction by any of the overlapping PLP peptides, while HLA-DQB1*0602 transgenics were susceptible to disease induction by PLP139-151 and PLP175-194 peptides. Although both transgenics responded to both peptides, the PLP139-151- and PLP175-194-reactive T-cells were directed to Th1/Th17 phenotype in DQB1*0602-Tg mice and towards Th2 in DRB1*1501-Tg mice.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>While genome studies map a strong MS susceptibility effect to the region of DRB1*1501, our findings offer a rationale for potential involvement of pathogenic DQ6-associated autoimmunity in MS. Moreover, that DQB1*0602, but not DRB1*1501, determines disease-susceptibility to PLP in HLA-transgenics, suggests a potential differential, functional role for DQB1*0602 as a predisposing allele in MS. This, together with previously demonstrated disease-susceptibility to MBP and MOG in DRB1*1501-transgenics, also suggests a differential role for DRB1*1501 and DQB1*0602 depending on target antigen and imply a potential complex 'genotype/target antigen/phenotype' relationship in MS heterogeneity.</p

Mobile Phones and Social Signal Processing for Analysis and Understanding of Dyadic Conversations

Social Signal Processing is the domain aimed at bridging the social intelligence gap between humans and machines via modeling, analysis and synthesis of nonverbal behavior in social interactions. One of the main challenges of the domain is to sense unobtrusively the behavior of social interaction participants, one of the key conditions to preserve the spontaneity and naturalness of the interactions under exam. In this respect, mobile devices offer a major opportunity because they are equipped with a wide array of sensors that, while capturing the behavior of their users with an unprecedented depth, are still invisible. This is particularly important because mobile devices are part of the everyday life of a large number of individuals and, hence, they can be used to investigate and sense natural and spontaneous scenarios

Susceptibility of Aedes aegypti pupae to neem seed kernal extracts

Laboratory bioassays were conducted to evaluate the pupicidal activity of neem (Azadirachta indica) seed kernel extracts (NSKE) on Aedes aegypti. The neem seed kernel powder was sequentially extracted with hexane, benzene, ethyl acetate, acetone, DMSO, 2-propanol, ethanol, methanol and dstiledwater. Ten concentratons (0.0, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 50, 10.0,15.0 and 20.0%) of the neem extracts were used for the bioassays. Each treatment was replcated five times. Twenty-laboratory strains of Aedes aegypti pupae were exposed to each concentration Pupae were not fed durng the exposure periods. Pupal mortality was assessed after 1 and 24 hoursof exposure. The results of the effects of 1h exposure indicated decreased pupicidal mortality whdecreasing extracts toxicity thus: ethyl acetate (LC50= 0.06%) > acetone > (LC50 = 0.29%) > benzene (LC50 = 0.82%) > hexane (LC50 = 3.13%) and propanol (LC50 = 763%). No pupal mortality was observed with extracts from Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), ethanol, methanol and distilled water. The results of the effect of extract for 24h exposure indicated pupicidal mortality in2-propanol (LC50 = 0.67%) and ethanol (LC50 = 1.70%). No pupcida mortality was observed wth hexane, benzene, ethyl acetate, acetone, Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), methano and distiled water extracts. The ability of some neem extracts to kill Aedes pupae at relativey low concentrations presents an alternative to the use of synthetic pesticides for control of mosquitoes. This techniqueis environmental friendly, biodegradable, less expensive, and locally available in mosquito endemicarea. Potentials for adoption in mosquito management programmes cannot be overemphasized. Keywords: Azadirachta indica, Aedes aegypti, PupicidalAnimal Research International Vol. 3 (1) 2006 pp. 403-40

Liver conditions of Schistosoma-mansoni-infected mice treated with some Nigerian medicinal plants.

In vivo experiments conducted to determine the anti-schistosomal potency of Bauhinia rufescens (L), Erythrina senegalensis (D) and Jatropha curcas (L) revealed varoius levels of potency. Twenty-five male albino mice aged between 4-5 weeks and weighing between 15-20 grammes obtained from National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), Vom, Plateau State, were challenged each with 130-150 cercariae by tail immersion technique. At day 40 post infection, the mice were divided into five groups of five animals each. Praziquantel was administered orally to group 1 consisting of 5 mice at the rate of 200 mg/kg body weight (bw). Groups 2, 3 and 4 were administered orally with 2 mg each of methanolic leaf extracts of B. rufescens, E. senegalensis and Jatropha curcas over 5 consecutive days at a daily rate of 0.1 ml (0.4 mg) per animal. Group 5 (untreated control) was administered with 0.5 ml of liquid paraffin. Experimental infected mice were sacrificed by cervical dislocation 10 days post treatment and their liver harvested, weighted and scored based on the number of granulomata. Average liver weight of 2.4, 2.8, 2.8 and 3.2 gm and a mean liver score of 2.09, 2.13, 2.06 and 2.18 were recorded for mice treated with extracts of B. rufescens, E. senegalensis, J. curcas and the blank control respectively. No statistical difference were observed at