Endemic Chromoblastomycosis Caused Predominantly by Fonsecaea nubica, Madagascar.

Chromoblastomycosis is an implantation fungal infection. Twenty years ago, Madagascar was recognized as the leading focus of this disease. We recruited patients in Madagascar who had chronic subcutaneous lesions suggestive of dermatomycosis during March 2013-June 2017.

Sporotrichosis in the Highlands of Madagascar, 2013-2017.

Sporotrichosis is a saprozoonotic fungal infection found mostly in tropical and subtropical areas. Few case reports in Madagascar have been published. To document sporotrichosis epidemiology in Madagascar, we conducted a cross-sectional study.

Chromoblastomycosis and sporotrichosis, two endemic but neglected fungal infections in Madagascar.

Chromoblastomycosis and sporotrichosis are endemic fungal infections of tropical and subtropical regions, including Madagascar. The causal fungi develop in the soil or on plants and infect humans through wounds, either directly (wounding by the plant, through thorns, for example), or through the contact of an existing wound with contaminated soil. For this reason, the lesions predominantly occur on the limbs, and these fungi principally infect people working outside with bare hands and/or feet.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Formation and Persistence, along with the Production of Quorum Sensing-Dependent Virulence Factors, Are Disrupted by a Triterpenoid Coumarate Ester Isolated from Dalbergia trichocarpa, a Tropical Legume.

Recently, extracts of Dalbergia trichocarpa bark have been shown to disrupt P. aeruginosa PAO1 quorum sensing (QS) mechanisms, which are key regulators of virulence factor expression and implicated in biofilm formation. One of the active compounds has been isolated and identified as oleanolic aldehyde coumarate (OALC), a novel bioactive compound that inhibits the formation of P.

Endemic malagasy Dalbergia species inhibit quorum sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1.

Various species of the plant genus Dalbergia are traditionally used as medicine for sundry ailments and some of them have been shown recently to quench the virulence of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Cell-to-cell communication mechanisms, quorum sensing (QS) in particular, are key regulators of virulence in many pathogenic bacteria. Screening n-hexane extracts of leaves, roots and bark of endemic Malagasy Dalbergia species for their capacity to antagonize QS mechanisms in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 showed that many reduced the expression of the QS-regulated genes lasB and rhlA.

Newcastle disease virus in Madagascar: identification of an original genotype possibly deriving from a died out ancestor of genotype IV.

In Madagascar, Newcastle disease (ND) has become enzootic after the first documented epizootics in 1946, with recurrent annual outbreaks causing mortality up to 40%. Four ND viruses recently isolated in Madagascar were genotypically and pathotypically characterised. By phylogenetic inference based on the F and HN genes, and also full-genome sequence analyses, the NDV Malagasy isolates form a cluster distant enough to constitute a new genotype hereby proposed as genotype XI.

[The current epidemiological situation of cysticercosis in Madagascar].

Being associated to fecal-oral transmission, cysticercosis is contracted either by auto-infection or by ingestion of food contaminated with eggs from the pork tape worm (Taenia solium). In the stomach, the larvae named cysticercus (Cysticercus cellulosae) hatches from the eggs and invades the host through the mucosa membrane. Human cysticercosis occurs in highly prevalent proportions in many developing countries including Madagascar where hygiene conditions are deplicable.

[Trichobezoars, a little known clinical entity].

A voluminous trichobezoar was discovered in an 11-year-old girl without major clinical implications. The diagnosis was made by endoscopy and surgery was performed without complications.

[Diagnosis of neurocysticercosis: a case report].

Neurocysticercosis is the most frequent parasitosis of central nervous system in the world. Neurological manifestations are in relation with locations number and topography, inflammatory reactions level and state of development of the parasite. Epilepsy is the main revealing symptom.

[Cysticercosis in the port of Mahajanga: more frequent than we thought!].

A seroepidemiological survey was carried out in July 1999 to assess the prevalence of cysticercosis in general population in the Mahajanga City (West of Madagascar). Blood specimens were collected from a randomised sample including 626 individuals more than 2 years old. ELISA and confirmative immunoblot techniques (EITB) were used to measure Cysticercus cellulosae antibodies.

Humoral immune response in chromoblastomycosis during and after therapy.

A longitudinal study was carried out in Madagascar, the most important focus of chromoblastomycosis (P. Esterre, A. Andriantsimahavandy, E.

Molecular epidemiology of Fonsecaea pedrosoi using mitochondrial DNA analysis.

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 49 clinical Fonsecaea pedrosoi isolates (18 isolates from Japan, 17 from Madagascar, 7 from Argentina, 5 from Venezuela, 1 from Costa Rica and 1 unknown) was studied. The 49 isolates were composed of 20 isolates of Type 1, 16 of Type 2, 12 of Type 4 and 1 of a new mtDNA type, Type 7, which was closely related to Type 2. On the bases of the results of 120 isolates of the present (49 isolates) and previous (71 isolates) studies, F.

Serological diagnosis of human cysticercosis by use of recombinant antigens from Taenia solium cysticerci.

A Taenia solium metacestode cDNA expression library in the lambda ZAPII vector was screened with pooled sera from patients with neurocysticercosis. Sixty primary clones were identified and shown to belong to two classes. The clones NC-3 and NC-9 did not reveal any significant homologies to sequences deposited in the databases and were further characterized.

Neurocysticercosis: a major aetiological factor of late-onset epilepsy in Madagascar.

To assess the impact of cysticercosis on public health in Madagascar, we compared patients > 15 years with late-onset epilepsy to non-epileptic controls in a matched case-control study. The association between epilepsy and cysticercosis was studied by enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot (EITB) assay for antibodies specific to Taenia solium. The EITB assay was performed on 104 pairs of sera specimens and on 95 pairs of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens.

[Natural history of chromoblastomycosis in Madagascar and the Indian Ocean] [Natural history of chromoblastomycosis in Madagascar and the [Natural history of chromoblastomycosis in Madagascar and the Indian Ocean].

The natural history of chromoblastomycosis was studied in Madagascar by analysing the characteristics of 1323 confirmed cases observed since 1955, including 45 patients receiving a new antifungic drug (terbinafine) during a multicentric study organized in 1995. The surveys data, conserved by the histopathology laboratory in the Institut Pasteur of Madagascar during 40 years, permit this retrospective analysis. The description of two ecosystems, one in the North with Fonsecaea pedrosoi evolving in the tropical rainforest and one in the South with Cladophialophora carrionii (41% of the whole sample) isolated in the spiny desert, demonstrates that the deforestation, in order to product charcoal and to build houses, is the primary factor associated with this disease.

Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies in patients with chromomycosis.

Objective: Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) are a family of antibodies that react to proteins within neutrophil granules and monocyte lysosomes, and occur prominently in sera from patients with systemic necrotizing vasculitis. The cytoplasmic staining pattern (c-ANCA) is very sensitive and specific for Wegener's granulomatosis (WG), and most commonly results from reactivity with proteinase 3 (PR3). The features of tissue damage in the fungal infection chromomycosis, in particular polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) infiltration and granuloma formation, bear a resemblance to that seen in WG.

High prevalence of serological markers of cysticercosis among epileptic Malagasy children.

Neurocysticercosis (i.e. cerebral localization of the metacestode larvae of Taenia solium) is believed to be a major cause of late onset epilepsy in non-Muslim developing countries.

Forty years of chromoblastomycosis in Madagascar: a review.

Confirmed cases of chromoblastomycosis in Madagascar from 1955 through 1994 were studied retrospectively. The total number of cases reported was 1,343, of which 98.5% were confirmed by histopathology.

Treatment of chromomycosis with terbinafine: preliminary results of an open pilot study.

In an open trial, long courses (6-12 months) of terbinafine at a dosage of 500 mg/day were administered orally to 43 patients with a diagnosis of chromomycosis. Sixteen patients (37.2%) had previously relapsed after one or two courses of thiabendazole.

[Neurocysticercosis: pediatric aspects].

Neurocysticercosis is the most frequent parasitosis of the central nervous system in the world. Due to the extension of the pandemy, and the importance of the migrations from endemic countries, this parasitosis is being diagnosed with increasing frequency in France. Epilepsy is the main revealing symptom.

[Particularities in the immune response in ocular cysticercosis].

In addition to the unique physiological and immunological features of the eye, previously presented, some parasitic factors of recent knowledge are induced during ocular cysticercosis. A modulation of the immune response of the host, mediated by larval products (a soluble RNA-peptide, some metacestode surface sphingoglycolipids) seems to occur in vivo. These recent findings lead us to make a critical review of the antigenic profiles obtained by Enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot assay (EITB) on samples collected from malagasy patients.

[Particularities of the immune response in neurocysticercosis].

Unique physiological and immunological features of the brain, as previously presented, explain the limitation of local inflammatory reactions and the existence of intrathecal specific IgG production. In addition, some parasitic factors of recent knowledge are induced during neurocysticercosis, which could be involved in vivo in a modulation of the immune response by larval products (a soluble RNA-peptide, some metacestode surface sphingoglycolipids). These recent findings lead us to make a critical review of the antigenic profiles obtained by enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot (EITB) on samples collected from patients suffering from simple or multiple neurocysticercosis.

[Intravitreous cysticercosis. Spontaneous course. Apropos of a case].

We report a case of intravitreous cysticercosis in a 54-year-old woman from Madagascar. Since the patient refused surgical treatment, the lesion evolved toward blindness. The authors highlight the interest of surgical treatment and discuss the role of praziquantel which might increase local inflammatory reactions with subsequent severe damage.