Understanding and controlling asthma in Latin America: A review of recent research informed by the SCAALA programme.

Asthma is an important health concern in Latin America (LA) where it is associated with variable prevalence and disease burden between countries. High prevalence and morbidity have been observed in some regions, particularly marginalized urban populations. Research over the past 10 years from LA has shown that childhood disease is primarily non-atopic. The attenuation of atopy may be explained by enhanced immune regulation induced by intense exposures to environmental factors such as childhood infections and poor environmental conditions of the urban poor. Non-atopic symptoms are associated with environmental and lifestyle factors including poor living conditions, respiratory infections, psychosocial stress, obesity, and a diet of highly processed foods. Ancestry (particularly African) and genetic factors increase asthma risk, and some of these factors may be specific to LA settings. Asthma in LA tends to be poorly controlled and depends on access to health care and medications. There is a need to improve management and access to medication through primary health care. Future research should consider the heterogeneity of asthma to identify relevant endotypes and underlying causes. The outcome of such research will need to focus on implementable strategies relevant to populations living in resource-poor settings where the disease burden is greatest

Urban wild meat consumption and trade in Central Amazonia

The switch from hunting wild meat for home consumption to supplying more lucrative city marketsin Amazonia can adversely affect some game species. Despite this, information on the amounts of wild meateaten in Amazonian cities is still limited. We estimated wild meat consumption rates in 5 cities in the State ofAmazonas in Brazil through 1046 door-to-door household interviews conducted from 2004 to 2012. With thesedata, we modeled the relationship between wild meat use and a selection of socioeconomic indices. We thenscaled up our model to determine the amounts of wild meat likely to be consumed annually in the 62 urbancenters in central Amazonia. A total of 80.3% of all interviewees reported consuming wild meat during an averageof 29.3 (CI 11.6) days per year. Most wild meat was reported as bought in local markets (80.1%) or hunted by afamily member (14.9%). Twenty-one taxa were cited as consumed, mostly mammals (71.6%), followed by reptiles(23.2%) and then birds (5.2%). The declared frequency of wild meat consumption was positively correlated withthe proportion of rural population as well as with the per capita gross domestic product of the municipality(administrative divisions) where the cities were seated. We estimated that as much as 10,691 t of wild meat mightbe consumed annually in the 62 urban centers within central Amazonia, the equivalent of 6.49 kg per person peryear. In monetary terms, this amounts to US$21.72 per person per year or US$35.1 million overall, the latter figureis comparable to fish and timber production in the region. Given this magnitude of wild meat trade in centralAmazonia, it is fundamental to integrate this activity into the formal economy and actively develop policies thatallow the trade of more resilient taxa and restrict trade in species sensitive to hunting

A Deep Insight into the Sialome of Rhodnius neglectus, a vector of chagas disease

Background Triatomines are hematophagous insects that act as vectors of Chagas disease. Rhodnius neglectus is one of these kissing bugs found, contributing to the transmission of this American trypanosomiasis. The saliva of hematophagous arthropods contains bioactive molecules responsible for counteracting host haemostatic, inflammatory, and immuneresponses. Methods/Principal Findings Next generation sequencing and mass spectrometry-based protein identification were performed to investigate the content of triatomine R. neglectus saliva.We deposited 4,230 coding DNA sequences (CDS) in GenBank. A set of 636 CDS of proteins of putative secretory nature was extracted from the assembled reads, 73 of them confirmed by proteomic analysis. The sialome of R. neglectus was characterized and serine protease transcripts detected. The presence of ubiquitous protein families was revealed, including lipocalins, serine protease inhibitors, and antigen-5. Metalloproteases, disintegrins, and odorant binding protein families were less abundant. Conclusions/Significance The data presented improve our understanding of hematophagous arthropod sialomes, and aid in understanding hematophagy and the complex interplay among vectors and their vertebrate hosts