Two mosquito salivary antigens demonstrate promise as biomarkers of recent exposure to P. falciparum infected mosquito bites.

Background: Measuring malaria transmission intensity using the traditional entomological inoculation rate is difficult. Antibody responses to mosquito salivary proteins like SG6 have been used as biomarkers of exposure to Anopheles mosquito bites. Here, we investigate four mosquito salivary proteins as potential biomarkers of human exposure to mosquitoes infected with P.

Sexually Transmitted Infections in People with Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are more commonly seen in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (PWH). Routine sexual history taking and appropriate multisite screening practices support prompt identification and treatment of patients, which in turn reduces morbidity and spread of STIs including HIV. Nucleic acid amplification testing has high accuracy for diagnosing many of the major STIs.

Two mosquito salivary antigens demonstrate promise as biomarkers of recent exposure to infected mosquito bites.

Background: Measuring malaria transmission intensity using the traditional entomological inoculation rate is difficult. Antibody responses to mosquito salivary proteins such as SG6 have previously been used as biomarkers of exposure to mosquito bites. Here, we investigate four mosquito salivary proteins as potential biomarkers of human exposure to mosquitoes infected with : mosGILT, SAMSP1, AgSAP, and AgTRIO.

Hepcidin-guided screen-and-treat interventions for young children with iron-deficiency anaemia in The Gambia: an individually randomised, three-arm, double-blind, controlled, proof-of-concept, non-inferiority trial.

Background: Iron deficiency is the most prevalent nutritional disorder worldwide. Iron supplementation has modest efficacy, causes gastrointestinal side-effects that limit compliance, and has been associated with serious adverse outcomes in children across low-income settings. We aimed to compare two hepcidin-guided screen-and-treat regimens designed to reduce overall iron dosage by targeting its administration to periods when children were safe and ready to receive iron supplementation, with WHO's recommendation of universal iron supplementation.

Type I Collagen Signaling Regulates Opposing Fibrotic Pathways through αβ Integrin.

Fibrosis is characterized by fibroblast activation, leading to matrix remodeling culminating in a stiff, type I collagen-rich fibrotic matrix. Alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) apoptosis is also a major feature of fibrogenesis, and AEC apoptosis is sufficient to initiate a robust lung fibrotic response. TGF-β (transforming growth factor-β) is a major driver of fibrosis and can induce both AEC apoptosis and fibroblast activation.

Hepcidin-guided screen-and-treat interventions against iron-deficiency anaemia in pregnancy: a randomised controlled trial in The Gambia.

Background: WHO recommends daily iron supplementation for pregnant women, but adherence is poor because of side-effects, effectiveness is low, and there are concerns about possible harm. The iron-regulatory hormone hepcidin can signal when an individual is ready-and-safe to receive iron. We tested whether a hepcidin-guided screen-and-treat approach to combat iron-deficiency anaemia could achieve equivalent efficacy to universal administration, but with lower exposure to iron.

Hepatic Autophagy Deficiency Compromises Farnesoid X Receptor Functionality and Causes Cholestatic Injury.

Autophagy is important for hepatic homeostasis, nutrient regeneration, and organelle quality control. We investigated the mechanisms by which liver injury occurred in the absence of autophagy function. We found that mice deficient in autophagy because of the lack of autophagy-related gene 7 or autophagy-related gene 5, key autophagy-related genes, manifested intracellular cholestasis with increased levels of serum bile acids, a higher ratio of tauromuricholic acid/taurocholic acid in the bile, increased hepatic bile acid load, abnormal bile canaliculi, and altered expression of hepatic transporters.

Host iron status and erythropoietic response to iron supplementation determines susceptibility to the RBC stage of falciparum malaria during pregnancy.

Anaemia and malaria are both common in pregnant women in Sub-Saharan Africa. Previous evidence has shown that iron supplementation may increase malaria risk. In this observational cohort study, we evaluated P.

The role of the red blood cell in host defence against falciparum malaria: an expanding repertoire of evolutionary alterations.

The malaria parasite has co-evolved with its human host as each organism struggles for resources and survival. The scars of this war are carried in the human genome in the form of polymorphisms that confer innate resistance to malaria. Clinical, epidemiological and genome-wide association studies have identified multiple polymorphisms in red blood cell (RBC) proteins that attenuate malaria pathogenesis.

Late diagnosis and atypical brain imaging of Aicardi-Goutières syndrome: are we failing to diagnose Aicardi-Goutières syndrome-2?

Unlabelled: Aicardi-Goutières syndrome (AGS) is a rare disorder with in utero or postnatal onset of encephalopathy and progressive neurological deterioration. The seven genetic subtypes of AGS are associated with abnormal type I interferon-mediated innate immune response. Most patients with AGS present with progressive microcephaly, spasticity, and cognitive impairment.

Anemia Offers Stronger Protection Than Sickle Cell Trait Against the Erythrocytic Stage of Falciparum Malaria and This Protection Is Reversed by Iron Supplementation.

Background: Iron deficiency causes long-term adverse consequences for children and is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide. Observational studies suggest that iron deficiency anemia protects against Plasmodium falciparum malaria and several intervention trials have indicated that iron supplementation increases malaria risk through unknown mechanism(s). This poses a major challenge for health policy.

Efficacy and safety of hepcidin-based screen-and-treat approaches using two different doses versus a standard universal approach of iron supplementation in young children in rural Gambia: a double-blind randomised controlled trial.

Background: Iron deficiency prevalence rates frequently exceed 50 % in young children in low-income countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended universal supplementation of young children where anaemia rates are >40 %. However, large randomized trials have revealed that provision of iron to young children caused serious adverse effects because iron powerfully promotes microbial growth.

Evaluation of a new website design for iwantthekit for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomonas screening.

The www.iwantthekit.org provides Internet-based, at-home sexually transmitted infection screening.

Host iron status and iron supplementation mediate susceptibility to erythrocytic stage Plasmodium falciparum.

Iron deficiency and malaria have similar global distributions, and frequently co-exist in pregnant women and young children. Where both conditions are prevalent, iron supplementation is complicated by observations that iron deficiency anaemia protects against falciparum malaria, and that iron supplements increase susceptibility to clinically significant malaria, but the mechanisms remain obscure. Here, using an in vitro parasite culture system with erythrocytes from iron-deficient and replete human donors, we demonstrate that Plasmodium falciparum infects iron-deficient erythrocytes less efficiently.

RBC barcoding allows for the study of erythrocyte population dynamics and P. falciparum merozoite invasion.

Plasmodium falciparum invasion of host erythrocytes is essential for the propagation of the blood stage of malaria infection. Additionally, the brief extracellular merozoite stage of P. falciparum represents one of the rare windows during which the parasite is directly exposed to the host immune response.

Independent lineages of highly sulfadoxine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum haplotypes, eastern Africa.

Sulfadoxine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum undermines malaria prevention with sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine. Parasites with a highly resistant mutant dihydropteroate synthase (dhps) haplotype have recently emerged in eastern Africa; they negated preventive benefits of sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine, and might exacerbate placental malaria. We explored emerging lineages of dhps mutant haplotypes in Malawi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Tanzania by using analyses of genetic microsatellites flanking the dhps locus.

Influence of host iron status on Plasmodium falciparum infection.

Iron deficiency affects one quarter of the world's population and causes significant morbidity, including detrimental effects on immune function and cognitive development. Accordingly, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends routine iron supplementation in children and adults in areas with a high prevalence of iron deficiency. However, a large body of clinical and epidemiological evidence has accumulated which clearly demonstrates that host iron deficiency is protective against falciparum malaria and that host iron supplementation may increase the risk of malaria.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma with a syncytial-type multinucleated giant tumor cell component: implications for differential diagnosis.

A component of syncytial-type multinucleated tumor giant cells is uncommon in clear cell renal cell carcinoma, and the histogenesis, incidence, and clinical implications of this finding are not well understood. We retrieved 13 such tumors from our pathology archives in patients with a median age of 60years, comprising 1.5% of clear cell renal cell carcinomas.

Antibody signature of spontaneous clearance of Chlamydia trachomatis ocular infection and partial resistance against re-challenge in a nonhuman primate trachoma model.

Background: Chlamydia trachomatis is the etiological agent of trachoma the world's leading cause of infectious blindness. Here, we investigate whether protracted clearance of a primary infection in nonhuman primates is attributable to antigenic variation or related to the maturation of the anti-chlamydial humoral immune response specific to chlamydial antigens.

Methodology/principal Findings: Genomic sequencing of organisms isolated throughout the protracted primary infection revealed that antigenic variation was not related to the inability of monkeys to efficiently resolve their infection.

Electron microscopic analysis of a spherical mitochondrial structure.

Mitochondria undergo dynamic structural alterations to meet changing needs and to maintain homeostasis. We report here a novel mitochondrial structure. Conventional transmission electron microscopic examination of murine embryonic fibroblasts treated with carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), a mitochondrial uncoupler, found that more than half of the mitochondria presented a ring-shaped or C-shaped morphology.

Malignant Brenner tumor of the ovary with transformation to trabecular carcinoid: an immunocytochemical and electron microscopic study.

Ovarian Brenner tumors are typically of surface epithelial-stromal origin; however, cases associated with mature cystic teratoma and/or struma ovarii possibly have a teratomatous derivation. Although argyrophil cells have been described in ovarian Brenner tumors and in urinary bladder epithelium, we are not aware of any previous reports of carcinoid arising from a malignant Brenner tumor of the ovary. In this study, we describe an 85-year-old woman who had a low-grade malignant Brenner tumor with progressive proliferation of neuroendocrine cells and transformation to trabecular carcinoid as demonstrated by immunocytochemistry and electron microscopy.