Search results for "mania"

Disease severity in patients with visceral leishmaniasis is not altered by co-infection with intestinal parasites

2017

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a neglected tropical disease that affects the poorest communities and can cause substantial morbidity and mortality. Visceral leishmaniasis is characterized by the presence of Leishmania parasites in the spleen, liver and bone marrow, hepatosplenomegaly, pancytopenia, prolonged fever, systemic inflammation and low body mass index (BMI). The factors impacting on the severity of VL are poorly characterized. Here we performed a cross-sectional study to assess whether co-infection of VL patients with intestinal parasites influences disease severity, assessed with clinical and haematological data, inflammation, cytokine profiles and BMI. Data from VL patients was s…

Direct-acting antivirals and visceral leishmaniasis: a case report

2019

Abstract Background Visceral leishmaniasis is a vector-borne parasitic disease caused by protozoa belonging to the genus Leishmania. The clinical presentation of visceral leishmaniasis strictly depends on the host immunocompetency, whereas depressive conditions of the immune system impair the capability to resolve the infection and allow reactivation from sites of latency of the parasite. Case presentation We describe a case of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) that occurred in a patient with chronic hepatitis C treated with direct-acting antiviral drugs (DAA). The hypothesized mechanism is the alteration of protective inflammation mechanisms secondary to DAA therapy. Downregulation of type II an…

Invasive Species as Hosts of Zoonotic Infections: The Case of American Mink (Neovison vison) and Leishmania infantum

2021

Leishmania infantum produces an endemic disease in the Mediterranean Basin that affects humans and domestic and wild mammals, which can act as reservoir or minor host. In this study, we analyzed the presence of the parasite in wild American minks, an invasive species in Spain. We screened for L. infantum DNA by PCR using five primer pairs: Two targeting kinetoplast DNA (kDNA), and the rest targeting the ITS1 region, the small subunit of ribosomal RNA (SSU) and a repetitive sequence (Repeat region). The detection limit was determined for each method using a strain of L. infantum and a bone marrow sample from an infected dog. PCR approaches employing the Repeat region and kDNA (RV1/RV2 primer…

Analysis of DNA Polymerases Reveals Specific Genes Expansion in Leishmania and Trypanosoma spp.

2020

Leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis are largely neglected diseases prevailing in tropical and subtropical conditions. These are an arthropod-borne zoonosis that affects humans and some animals and is caused by infection with protozoan of the genera Leishmania and Trypanosoma, respectively. These parasites present high genomic plasticity and are able to adapt themselves to adverse conditions like the attack of host cells or toxicity induced by drug exposure. Different mechanisms allow these adapting responses induced by stress, such as mutation, chromosomal rearrangements, establishment of mosaic ploidies, and gene expansion. Here we describe how a subset of genes encoding for DNA polymerases …

Parasite Clearance in Leishmaniasis in Resistant Animals Is Independent of the IL-23/IL-17A Axis

2015

Ultrastructural findings from paraffin embedded tissue in intraoral lesions caused by Leishmania infantum

2017

Development of a New Antileishmanial Aziridine-2,3-Dicarboxylate-Based Inhibitor with High Selectivity for Parasite Cysteine Proteases

2015

ABSTRACT Leishmaniasis is one of the major neglected tropical diseases of the world. Druggable targets are the parasite cysteine proteases (CPs) of clan CA, family C1 (CAC1). In previous studies, we identified two peptidomimetic compounds, the aziridine-2,3-dicarboxylate compounds 13b and 13e, in a series of inhibitors of the cathepsin L (CL) subfamily of the papain clan CAC1. Both displayed antileishmanial activity in vitro while not showing cytotoxicity against host cells. In further investigations, the mode of action was characterized in Leishmania major . It was demonstrated that aziridines 13b and 13e mainly inhibited the parasitic cathepsin B (CB)-like CPC enzyme and, additionally, ma…

New aziridine-based inhibitors of cathepsin L-like cysteine proteases with selectivity for the Leishmania cysteine protease LmCPB2.8

2018

Abstract In the present work a series of aziridine-2,3-dicarboxylate inhibitors of papain-like cysteine proteases was designed, synthesized and tested. The compounds displayed selectivity for the parasitic protozoon Leishmania mexicana cathepsin L-like cysteine protease LmCPB2.8. The computational methods of homology modelling and molecular docking predicted some significant differences in the S2 pocket of LmCPB2.8 and cruzain, a related enzyme from Trypanosoma cruzi. Due to the presence of Tyr209 in LmCPB2.8 rather than Glu208 in cruzain sterically demanding, lipophilic ester groups (inhibitor 7d, 9d, 12d and 14d) are predicted to occupy the S2 pocket of the Leishmania protease, but do not…

Parasites Dampen Dendritic Cell Activation to Ensure Their Survival

2017

Dendritic cells (DCs) are critical for induction of protective immunity against Leishmania major. However, DC activation occurs only several weeks after parasite transmission. Parasites synthesize a macrophage-inducible C-type lectin (Mincle) ligand. Engagement of Mincle by the parasite ligand dampens DC activation, thus delaying induction of interferon-γ-producing T cells responsible for parasite eradication.

Genetic tools discriminate strains of Leishmania infantum isolated from  humans and dogs in Sicily, Italy

2020

Background Leishmaniasis is one of the most important vector-borne diseases and it represents a serious world health problem affecting millions of people. High levels of Leishmania infections, affecting both humans and animals, are recognized among Italian regions. Among these, Sicily has one of the highest prevalence of Leishmania infection. Methodology/Principal Findings Seventy-eight Leishmania strains isolated from human and animal samples across Sicily, were analyzed for the polymorphic k26-gene and genotypes were assigned according to the size of the PCR products. A multilocus microsatellite typing (MLMT) approach based on the analysis of 11 independent loci was used to investigate po…