Praziquantel in clonorchiasis and opisthorchiasis

A single stool examination revealed pathogenic intestinal parasites in 462 (58%) of 796 vietnamese and cambodian refugees. 56 (7.0%) were infected with Clonorchis sinensis and/or Opisthorchis viverrini. These patients received Praziquantel in a dosage of 20 mg/kg bwt. p.day on 3 consecutive days. Parasitological controls were completed after 12 months. No further excretion of eggs could be detected in 88% of the patients. Concurrent infections with other trematodes and cestodes were also cured. Nematode infections remained uninfluenced. No change of haematological and biochemical parameters could be observed during therapy. Diarrhea and epigastric pain were common side effects, which are probably not effects of the drug itself. They rather seem to be due to the release of parasitic antigens. This is also indicated by a further increase of circulating Ig E after therapy

Eating For Two: How Metabolism Establishes Interspecies Interactions in the Gut

In bacterial communities, “tight economic times” are the norm. Of the many challenges bacteria face in making a living, perhaps none are more important than generating energy, maintaining redox balance, and acquiring carbon and nitrogen to synthesize primary metabolites. The ability of bacteria to meet these challenges depends heavily on the rest of their community. Indeed, the most fundamental way in which bacteria communicate is by importing the substrates for metabolism and exporting metabolic end products. As an illustration of this principle, we will travel down a carbohydrate catabolic pathway common to many species of Bacteroides, highlighting the interspecies interactions established (often inevitably) at its key steps. We also discuss the metabolic considerations in maintaining the stability of host-associated microbial communities

The Intestinal Microbiota and Viral Susceptibility

Many infections start with microbial invasion of mucosal surfaces, which are typically colonized by a community of resident microbes. A growing body of literature demonstrates that the resident microbiota plays a significant role in host susceptibility to pathogens. Recent work has largely focused on the considerable effect that the intestinal microbiota can have upon bacterial pathogenesis. These studies reveal many significant gaps in our knowledge about the mechanisms by which the resident community impacts pathogen invasion and the nature of the ensuing host immune response. It is likely that as viral pathogens become the focus of studies that examine microbiota–host interaction, substantial effects of resident communities exerted via diverse mechanisms will be elucidated. Here we provide a perspective of the exciting emerging field that examines how the intestinal microbiota influences host susceptibility to viruses

Modelling attitudes to climate change — an order effect and a test between alternatives

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015. Quantum-like models can be fruitfully used to model attitude change in a social context. Next steps require data, and higher dimensional models. Here, we discuss an exploratory study that demonstrates an order effect when three question sets about Climate Beliefs, Political Affiliation and Attitudes Towards Science are presented in different orders within a larger study of n = 533 subjects. A quantum-like model seems possible, and we propose a new experiment which could be used to test between three possible models for this scenario

Komplizierte Malaria tropica

Bei elf von 43 nichtimmunen Patienten mit Malaria tropica traten eine oder mehrere Organkomplikationen auf: zerebrale Malaria, akute respiratorische Insuffizienz, akutes Nierenversagen, Sekundärinfektion, Autoimmunhämolyse, spontane Milzruptur und akute Pankreatitis. Die Parasitämie betrug 0,1 bis 60 %. Initiale antiparasitäre Therapie mit Chinin parenteral führte in neun Fällen zu rascher Rückbildung der Parasitämie. Zusätzlich wurde ein zweites schizontozides Mittel entsprechend der Resistenzlage gegeben. Die supportive Therapie umfaßte intensivmedizinische Überwachung mit Bilanzierung von Elektrolyt- und Wasserhaushalt sowie gegebenenfalls eine frühzeitige Hämodialyse und (oder) endotracheale Intubation mit PEEP-Beatmung. In einem Fall mit exzessiver Parasitämie wurde eine Austauschtransfusion durchgeführt. Heparin wurde nur bei nachgewiesener disseminierter intravasaler Gerinnung gegeben, Corticosteroide nur bei persistierender Autoimmunhämolyse. Alle Patienten überlebten ohne zurückbleibende Defekte. Die retrospektive Analyse zeigt, daß neben einer raschen spezifischen Therapie die supportive Behandlung der einzelnen Organkomplikationen für Verlauf und Prognose der komplizierten Malaria tropica mitentscheidend ist

Zur Diagnose eingeschleppter viszeraler Leishmaniosen (Kala-Azar)

Five cases of Kala-Azar carried in from the Mediterranean area between May 1977 and March 1979 suggest that in this age of mass tourism these diseases, considered by us as rarities until now, may become more common. In all cases considerable difficulties in diagnosis were first encountered. Serology was always indicative, the indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT) being found very reliable. In 4 of the 5 cases the identity of the pathogen was previously established by different methods

Links between environment, diet, and the hunter-gatherer microbiome

The study of traditional populations provides a view of human-associated microbes unperturbed by industrialization, as well as a window into the microbiota that co-evolved with humans. Here we discuss our recent work characterizing the microbiota from the Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania. We found seasonal shifts in bacterial taxa, diversity, and carbohydrate utilization by the microbiota. When compared to the microbiota composition from other populations around the world, the Hadza microbiota shares bacterial families with other traditional societies that are rare or absent from microbiotas of industrialized nations. We present additional observations from the Hadza microbiota and their lifestyle and environment, including microbes detected on hands, water, and animal sources, how the microbiota varies with sex and age, and the short-term effects of introducing agricultural products into the diet. In the context of our previously published findings and of these additional observations, we discuss a path forward for future work

Genomic and Metabolic Studies of the Impact of Probiotics on a Model Gut Symbiont and Host

Probiotics are deliberately ingested preparations of live bacterial species that confer health benefits on the host. Many of these species are associated with the fermentation of dairy products. Despite their increasing use, the molecular details of the impact of various probiotic preparations on resident members of the gut microbiota and the host are generally lacking. To address this issue, we colonized germ-free mice with Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, a prominent component of the adult human gut microbiota, and Bifidobacterium longum, a minor member but a commonly used probiotic. Simultaneous whole genome transcriptional profiling of both bacterial species in their gut habitat and of the intestinal epithelium, combined with mass-spectrometric analysis of habitat-associated carbohydrates, revealed that the presence of B. longum elicits an expansion in the diversity of polysaccharides targeted for degradation by B. thetaiotaomicron (e.g., mannose- and xylose-containing glycans), and induces host genes involved in innate immunity. Although the overall transcriptome expressed by B. thetaiotaomicron when it encounters B. longum in the cecum is dependent upon the genetic background of the mouse (as assessed by a mixed analysis of variance [ANOVA] model of co-colonization experiments performed in NMRI and C57BL/6J animals), B. thetaiotaomicron's expanded capacity to utilize polysaccharides occurs independently of host genotype, and is also observed with a fermented dairy product-associated strain, Lactobacillus casei. This gnotobiotic mouse model provides a controlled case study of how a resident symbiont and a probiotic species adapt their substrate utilization in response to one another, and illustrates both the generality and specificity of the relationship between a host, a component of its microbiota, and intentionally consumed microbial species