Contrasting Disease Progression, Microglia Reactivity, Tolerance, and Resistance to Infection in Two Mouse Strains.

Our study investigated the innate immune response to infection by assessing microglial phenotypic changes and sickness behavior as inflammatory response markers post-ocular tachyzoite instillation. Disease progression in Swiss albino mice was compared with the previously documented outcomes in BALB/c mice using an identical ocular route and parasite burden (2 × 10 tachyzoites), with saline as the control. Contrary to expectations, the Swiss albino mice displayed rapid, lethal disease progression, marked by pronounced sickness behaviors and mortality within 11-12 days post-infection, while the survivors exhibited no apparent signs of infection.

Physical durability and insecticidal activity of long-lasting insecticidal nets in Cruzeiro do Sul, Brazil.

Vector control is one of the principal strategies used for reducing malaria transmission. Long-lasting insecticidal bed nets (LLINs) are a key tool used to protect populations at risk of malaria, since they provide both physical and chemical barriers to prevent human-vector contact. This study aimed to assess the physical durability and insecticidal efficacy of LLINs distributed in Cruzeiro do Sul (CZS), Brazil, after 4 years of use.

Behavioral and Neuropathological Changes After Ocular Conjunctival Infection in BALB/c Mice.

Ocular infection with causes toxoplasmosis in mice. However, following ocular infection with tachyzoites, the cause of the accompanying progressive changes in hippocampal-dependent tasks, and their relationship with the morphology and number of microglia, is less well understood. Here, in 6-month-old, female BALB/c mice, 5 μl of a suspension containing 48.

Plasmodium falciparum from Pará state (Brazil) shows satisfactory in vitro response to artemisinin derivatives and absence of the S769N mutation in the SERCA-type PfATPase6.

Objective: To evaluate the in vitro efficacy of artesunate (ATN) and artemether (ATH) against Plasmodium falciparum isolates from the Brazilian Amazon state of Pará and to search for mutations and/or altered copy numbers in the putative resistance-associated pfcrt, pfmdr1 and pfATPase6 genes.

Methods: In vitro efficacy of ATN and ATH was successfully measured in 56 freshly collected P. falciparum isolates, using a conventional WHO microtest with minor modifications.