Clinical and microbiological parameters of naturally occurring periodontitis in the non-human primate .

: Non-human primates appear to represent the most faithful model of human disease, but to date the oral microbiome in macaques has not been fully characterized using next-generation sequencing. : In the present study, we characterized the clinical and microbiological features of naturally occurring periodontitis in non-human primates (). : Clinical parameters of periodontitis including probing pocket depth (PD) and bleeding on probing (BOP) were measured in 40 adult macaques (7-22 yrs), at six sites per tooth.

Evaluating seroprevalence to circumsporozoite protein to estimate exposure to three species of Plasmodium in the Brazilian Amazon.

Background: Brazil has seen a great decline in malaria and the country is moving towards elimination. However, for eventual elimination, the control program needs efficient tools in order to monitor malaria exposure and transmission. In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether seroprevalence to the circumsporozoite protein (CSP) is a good tool for monitoring the exposure to and/or evaluating the burden and distribution of Plasmodium species in the Brazilian Amazon.

Field trial of efficacy of the Leish-tec® vaccine against canine leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum in an endemic area with high transmission rates.

Background: Because domestic dogs are reservoir hosts for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Brazil, one of the approaches used to reduce human disease incidence is to cull infected dogs. However, the results of controlled intervention trials based on serological screening of dogs and killing of seropositive animals are equivocal. A prophylactic vaccine to protect dogs from being infectious to the sand fly vector could be an effective strategy to provide sustained control.

The influence of intestinal parasites on Plasmodium vivax-specific antibody responses to MSP-119 and AMA-1 in rural populations of the Brazilian Amazon.

Background: Polyparasitism is a common condition in humans but its impact on the host immune system and clinical diseases is still poorly understood. There are few studies of the prevalence and the effect of malaria-intestinal parasite co-infections in the immune response to malaria vaccine candidates. The present study determines whether the presence of malaria and intestinal parasites co-infection is associated with impaired IgG responses to Plasmodium vivax AMA-1 and MSP-119 in a rural population of the Brazilian Amazon.