Fulminant Cerebral Malaria in a Swiss Patient

Abstract : Malaria remains the most important parasitic disease worldwide. Falciparum malaria is a medical emergency and requires immediate diagnosis and treatment. Cerebral malaria is a rapidly progressive, potentially fatal complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection. This case, including post-mortem observations, histology, and laboratory diagnosis, emphasizes the necessity of appropriate advice regarding malaria prophylaxis before travel to an endemic area. Malaria should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with fever and/or nonspecific flu-like symptoms after traveling to endemic countrie

Abdominaler Schmerz

Zusammenfassung: Abdominalschmerzen können Ausdruck einer Vielzahl intra- und extraabdomineller Erkrankungen sein. Angesichts dieses breiten ätiologischen Spektrums gilt es, im Initialstadium der Diagnostik zielgerichtet vorzugehen, um ohne Zeitverzug die Ursache und damit letzlich die Dringlichkeit weitergehender Maßnahmen zu bestimmen. Ziel dieser Evaluation ist eine initiale risikostratifizierte Triagierung des Patienten. Im Gegensatz zu somatischen Ursachen abdominalen Schmerzes ist eine derartige kausale Therapie bei funktionellen Erkrankungen des Gastrointestinaltraktes zum gegenwärtigen Zeitpunkt nur sehr begrenzt möglich, sodass hierbei der Fokus auf eine bedarfs- und symptomadaptierte Behandlung gelegt werden sol

Morphine-like action of enkephalin analog FK 33-824 on motility of the isolated rat colon.

ABSTRAC

Does the food ingredient pectin provide a risk for patients allergic to non-specific lipid-transfer proteins?

Pectin, a dietary fiber, is a polysaccharide that is widely used in food industry as a gelling agent. In addition, prebiotic and beneficial immunomodulatory effects of pectin have been demonstrated, leading to increased importance as food supplement. However, as cases of anaphylactic reactions after consumption of pectin-supplemented foods have been reported, the present study aims to evaluate the allergy risk of pectin. This is of particular importance since most of the pectin used in the food industry is extracted from citrus or apple pomace. Both contain several allergens such as non-specific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTPs), known to induce severe allergic reactions, which could impair the use of pectins in nsLTP allergic patients. Therefore, the present study for the first time was performed to analyze residual nsLTP content in two commercial pectins using different detection methods. Results showed the analytical sensitivity was diminished by the pectin structure. Finally, spiking of pectin with allergenic peach nsLTP Pru p 3 led to the conclusion that the potential residual allergen content in both pectins is below the threshold to induce anaphylactic reactions in nsLTP-allergic patients. This data suggests that consumption of the investigated commercial pectin products provides no risk for inducing severe reactions in nsLTP-allergic patients

Genetic variations in VEGF and VEGFR2 and glioblastoma outcome

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors (VEGFR) are central components in the development and progression of glioblastoma. To investigate if genetic variation in VEGF and VEGFR2 is associated with glioblastoma prognosis, we examined blood samples from 154 glioblastoma cases collected in Sweden and Denmark between 2000 and 2004. Seventeen tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in VEGF and 27 in VEGFR2 were genotyped and analysed, covering 90% of the genetic variability within the genes. In VEGF, we found no SNPs associated with survival. In VEGFR2, we found two SNPs significantly associated to survival, namely rs2071559 and rs12502008. However, these results are likely to be false positives due to multiple testing and could not be confirmed in a separate dataset. Overall, this study provides little evidence that VEGF and VEGFR2 polymorphisms are important for glioblastoma survival

Isothermal Microcalorimetry, a New Tool to Monitor Drug Action against Trypanosoma brucei and Plasmodium falciparum

Isothermal microcalorimetry is an established tool to measure heat flow of physical, chemical or biological processes. The metabolism of viable cells produces heat, and if sufficient cells are present, their heat production can be assessed by this method. In this study, we investigated the heat flow of two medically important protozoans, Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and Plasmodium falciparum. Heat flow signals obtained for these pathogens allowed us to monitor parasite growth on a real-time basis as the signals correlated with the number of viable cells. To showcase the potential of microcalorimetry for measuring drug action on pathogenic organisms, we tested the method with three antitrypanosomal drugs, melarsoprol, suramin and pentamidine and three antiplasmodial drugs, chloroquine, artemether and dihydroartemisinin, each at two concentrations on the respective parasite. With the real time measurement, inhibition was observed immediately by a reduced heat flow compared to that in untreated control samples. The onset of drug action, the degree of inhibition and the time to death of the parasite culture could conveniently be monitored over several days. Microcalorimetry is a valuable element to be added to the toolbox for drug discovery for protozoal diseases such as human African trypanosomiasis and malaria. The method could probably be adapted to other protozoan parasites, especially those growing extracellularly

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE

X-ray emission from the Sombrero galaxy: discrete sources

We present a study of discrete X-ray sources in and around the bulge-dominated, massive Sa galaxy, Sombrero (M104), based on new and archival Chandra observations with a total exposure of ~200 ks. With a detection limit of L_X = 1E37 erg/s and a field of view covering a galactocentric radius of ~30 kpc (11.5 arcminute), 383 sources are detected. Cross-correlation with Spitler et al.'s catalogue of Sombrero globular clusters (GCs) identified from HST/ACS observations reveals 41 X-rays sources in GCs, presumably low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). We quantify the differential luminosity functions (LFs) for both the detected GC and field LMXBs, whose power-low indices (~1.1 for the GC-LF and ~1.6 for field-LF) are consistent with previous studies for elliptical galaxies. With precise sky positions of the GCs without a detected X-ray source, we further quantify, through a fluctuation analysis, the GC LF at fainter luminosities down to 1E35 erg/s. The derived index rules out a faint-end slope flatter than 1.1 at a 2 sigma significance, contrary to recent findings in several elliptical galaxies and the bulge of M31. On the other hand, the 2-6 keV unresolved emission places a tight constraint on the field LF, implying a flattened index of ~1.0 below 1E37 erg/s. We also detect 101 sources in the halo of Sombrero. The presence of these sources cannot be interpreted as galactic LMXBs whose spatial distribution empirically follows the starlight. Their number is also higher than the expected number of cosmic AGNs (52+/-11 [1 sigma]) whose surface density is constrained by deep X-ray surveys. We suggest that either the cosmic X-ray background is unusually high in the direction of Sombrero, or a distinct population of X-ray sources is present in the halo of Sombrero.Comment: 11 figures, 5 tables, ApJ in pres