Screening for parasite infections in immigrant children from low-income countries.

Introduction: In Spain, minors represent approximately 20% of the immigration flow. Many of these immigrants come from countries in the tropics and sub-tropics where intestinal parasitic infections caused by helminths and protozoa are one of the major causes of human disease. The main objective of the present work was to describe parasite infections in a group of immigrant children.

Should parasitic disease be investigated in immigrant children with relative eosinophilia from tropical and sub-tropical regions?

Background: Immigrants to Spain are mainly from low- and middle-income countries, and around 20% are children. Absolute eosinophilia is defined as >0.45×10 eosinophilic leucocytes/L of peripheral blood.

Unraveling heterogeneous susceptibility and the evolution of breast cancer using a systems biology approach.

Background: An essential question in cancer is why individuals with the same disease have different clinical outcomes. Progress toward a more personalized medicine in cancer patients requires taking into account the underlying heterogeneity at different molecular levels.

Results: Here, we present a model in which there are complex interactions at different cellular and systemic levels that account for the heterogeneity of susceptibility to and evolution of ERBB2-positive breast cancers.

A Fasciola hepatica-derived fatty acid binding protein induces protection against schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma bovis using the adjuvant adaptation (ADAD) vaccination system.

Several efforts have been made to identify anti-schistosomiasis vaccine candidates and new vaccination systems. The fatty acid binding protein (FAPB) has been shown to induce a high level of protection in trematode infection. The adjuvant adaptation (ADAD) vaccination system was used in this study, including recombinant FABP, a natural immunomodulator and saponins.

In vitro and in vivo studies for assessing the immune response and protection-inducing ability conferred by Fasciola hepatica-derived synthetic peptides containing B- and T-cell epitopes.

Fasciolosis is considered the most widespread trematode disease affecting grazing animals around the world; it is currently recognised by the World Health Organisation as an emergent human pathogen. Triclabendazole is still the most effective drug against this disease; however, resistant strains have appeared and developing an effective vaccine against this disease has increasingly become a priority. Several bioinformatics tools were here used for predicting B- and T-cell epitopes according to the available data for Fasciola hepatica protein amino acid sequences.

Identifying phenotypes involved in susceptibility to Schistosoma mansoni infection in F1B6CBA mice.

Schistosomiasis is a disease with a strong genetic component influenced by socioeconomic and ecological factors. Epidemiological studies have identified several genetic regions involved in the schistosomiasis susceptibility. However, it is not well known what physiological traits are predisposing to the disease.

Relevance of eosinophilia and hyper-IgE in immigrant children.

Immigrants from undeveloped countries are a growing problem in Europe. Spain has become a frequent destination for immigrants (20% of whom are children) because of its geographic location and its historic and cultural links with Africa and Latin America. Eosinophilia is frequent in adult immigrants, travelers and expatriates coming from tropical areas.

Study of hydatidosis-attributed mortality in endemic area.

Background: Cystic hydatid disease is still an important health problem in European Mediterranean areas. In spite of being traditionally considered as a "benign" pathology, cystic echinococcosis is an important cause of morbidity in these areas. Nevertheless, there are few analyses of mortality attributed to human hydatidosis.

Safety of the combined use of praziquantel and albendazole in the treatment of human hydatid disease.

There is still no well-established consensus about the clinical management of hydatidosis. Currently, surgery continues to be the first therapeutic option, although treatment with anti-parasitic drugs is indicated as an adjuvant to surgery to decrease the number of relapses and hydatid cyst size. When surgery is not possible, medical treatment is indicated.

Schistosoma mansoni experimental infection in Mus spretus (SPRET/EiJ strain) mice.

Most Schistosoma mansoni experimental infections are developed in several inbred strains of Mus musculus as definitive host. In contrast, Mus spretus is unexplored in Schistosoma infection studies. Mus spretus provides a high variation of immunological phenotypes being an invaluable tool for genetic studies and gene mapping.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of artemisinin based therapies for the treatment and prevention of schistosomiasis.

Background: Chemotherapy based on repeated doses of praziquantel is still the most effective control strategy against Schistosomiasis, however artemisinin derivatives emerged as a family of compounds with schistomicide activity. The aim of the present work is to compare the efficacy of artemisinin-based therapies in the treatment and prophylaxis of human schistosomiasis. The design of this work involved a quantitative systematic review and meta-analysis.