Plasmodium falciparum adhesion domains linked to severe malaria differ in blockade of endothelial protein C receptor.

Cytoadhesion of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes to endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) is associated with severe malaria. It has been postulated that parasite binding could exacerbate microvascular coagulation and endothelial dysfunction in cerebral malaria by impairing the protein C-EPCR interaction, but the extent of binding inhibition has not been fully determined. Here we expressed the cysteine-rich interdomain region (CIDRα1) domain from a variety of domain cassette (DC) 8 and DC13 P.

A rare primary immunodeficiency.

A 9-year-old girl presented with failure to thrive, chronic mucopurulent nasal discharge, recurrent skin pustules and recurrent episodes of purulent ear discharge since 2 years of age. She had coarse facial features with extensive eczema, multiple pyoderma scars, florid dental caries, retained primary dentition, hypermobile joints and a woody induration of the vulva. Autosomal dominant hyper-IgE syndrome was suspected and confirmed by very high serum IgE levels.

Myristicin and phenytoin toxicity in an infant.

A developmentally normal infant presented with repeated episodes of afebrile status epilepticus following nutmeg ingestion. He had developed two episodes of afebrile status epilepticus and had received different treatments earlier, but the details of treatment were not available. On admission, he redeveloped convulsions and loading doses of phenytoin, phenobarbitone and midazolam were administered.

Encephalopathy in an infant with infantile spasms: possible role of valproate toxicity.

An infant presented with global developmental delay and infantile spasms. EEG was suggestive of hypsarrhythmia. She was started on sodium valproate, clonazepam and adrenocorticotropic hormone injection.

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome unmasking acute glomerulonephritis.

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a recently described condition, wherein there is vasogenic oedema, seen on neuroimaging, predominantly over the parieto occipital regions of the cerebrum. Though, as the name implies, the condition is reversible, there may be fatalities and neurological sequelae. We are reporting a 9-year-old female child in whom the typical clinical and neurological findings of PRES were caused by an atypical presentation of acute glomerulonephritis.

Glycan masking of Plasmodium vivax Duffy Binding Protein for probing protein binding function and vaccine development.

Glycan masking is an emerging vaccine design strategy to focus antibody responses to specific epitopes, but it has mostly been evaluated on the already heavily glycosylated HIV gp120 envelope glycoprotein. Here this approach was used to investigate the binding interaction of Plasmodium vivax Duffy Binding Protein (PvDBP) and the Duffy Antigen Receptor for Chemokines (DARC) and to evaluate if glycan-masked PvDBPII immunogens would focus the antibody response on key interaction surfaces. Four variants of PVDBPII were generated and probed for function and immunogenicity.

DC8 and DC13 var genes associated with severe malaria bind avidly to diverse endothelial cells.

During blood stage infection, Plasmodium falciparum infected erythrocytes (IE) bind to host blood vessels. This virulence determinant enables parasites to evade spleen-dependent killing mechanisms, but paradoxically in some cases may reduce parasite fitness by killing the host. Adhesion of infected erythrocytes is mediated by P.

Biotinidase deficiency--clinching the diagnosis rapidly can make all the difference!

A 2-month-old male infant, born of second degree consanguineous parentage, presented with seizures not responding to phenytoin and phenobarbitone. His perinatal period had been uneventful and there was no family history of seizures. On examination, he had failure to thrive, perioral and perianal rash, alopecia with hypopigmented hair, seborrhoeic dermatitis, bilateral blepharitis, respiratory distress and stridor.

Limb body wall complex in a still born fetus: a case report.

We report the case of a male, low birth weight, stillborn fetus of 36 weeks gestation with limb body wall complex. An interesting and rare feature noted in the propositus was the absence of the left subclavian artery and complete absence of the left upper limb. These findings seem to favor the vascular theory in the pathogenesis of this condition.

Snake bite mimicking brain death.

A 6 year old girl woke up with pain and increasing swelling over the left hand and difficulty in breathing. On examination, she had swelling of the left forearm and hand, flaccid quadriparesis and was in respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation. Two clean puncture wounds were identified on the left thumb.

Swapping the substrate specificities of the neuropeptidases neurolysin and thimet oligopeptidase.

Thimet oligopeptidase (EC 3.4.24.

Hypomelanosis of ito.

Four-year-old boy presented with hypopigmented skin lesions since birth and seizure of recent onset. He had psychomotor retardation and hemi hypertrophy of left half of body. Computerised tomography scan findings were suggestive of hemimegalencephaly.