Eosinophils, basophils and myeloid-derived suppressor cells in chronic Loa loa infection and its treatment in an endemic setting.

Background: Chronic infection by Loa loa remains an unsolved immunological paradox. Despite harboring subcutaneously migrating adult worms and often high densities of microfilariae, most patients experience only relatively mild symptoms, yet microfilaricidal treatment can trigger life-threatening inflammation. Here, we investigated innate cell populations hypothesized to play a role in these two faces of the disease, in an endemic population in Gabon.

Burden of disease in Gabon caused by loiasis: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Loiasis is a highly prevalent helminth infection found in distinct regions of sub-Saharan Africa. The disease has been considered to be of minor clinical significance, but this belief is being increasingly challenged by recent evidence. We aimed to prospectively quantify the overall burden of disease caused by loiasis in an endemic region of Gabon, using disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).

[Development of malaria vaccines-state of the art].

Globally, 3.1 billion people live in areas endemic for malaria (the tropics and subtropics). Annually, around 200 million fall ill, and around 500,000 persons die as a result of this infection.

Ivermectin for causal malaria prophylaxis: a randomised controlled human infection trial.

Objective: Ivermectin is safe and widely used for treating helminth infections. It also kills arthropods feeding on treated subjects, including malaria vectors. Thus, ivermectin mass drug administration as an additional tool for malaria control is being evaluated by WHO.

Natural infection of Plasmodium brasilianum in humans: Man and monkey share quartan malaria parasites in the Venezuelan Amazon.

Background: The quartan malaria parasite Plasmodium malariae is the widest spread and best adapted human malaria parasite. The simian Plasmodium brasilianum causes quartan fever in New World monkeys and resembles P. malariae morphologically.

Loa loa-does it deserve to be neglected?

More than 10 million people in western and central Africa are estimated to be infected with Loa loa filarial nematodes. Like most other infectious diseases, L loa filariasis (loiasis) covers a wide range of symptoms. Severe complications have been reported; however, most observations are anecdotal, typically in travellers.

Naturally acquired immune responses to malaria vaccine candidate antigens MSP3 and GLURP in Guahibo and Piaroa indigenous communities of the Venezuelan Amazon.

Background: Malaria transmission in most of Latin America can be considered as controlled. In such a scenario, parameters of baseline immunity to malaria antigens are of specific interest with respect to future malaria eradication efforts.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in two indigenous population groups in Amazonas/Venezuela.

A rapid malaria appraisal in the Venezuelan Amazon.

Background: While the federal state of Amazonas bears the highest risk for malaria in Venezuela (2007: 68.4 cases/1000 inhabitants), little comprehensive information about the malaria situation is available from this area. The purpose of this rapid malaria appraisal (RMA) was to provide baseline data about malaria and malaria control in Amazonas.

Plasmodia express two threonine-peptidase complexes during asexual development.

Threonine-peptidases of the T1-family are multi-subunit complexes with broad substrate specificity. In eukaryotes, at least 14 genes encode subunits of the prototypic T1 threonine-peptidase, the proteasome. The proteasome determines the turnover of most proteins and thereby plays a fundamental role in diverse processes such as protein quality control, signal transduction, and cell cycle regulation.

Serum IgG3 to the Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein 2 is strongly associated with a reduced prospective risk of malaria.

The merozoite surface protein 2 (MSP2) of Plasmodium falciparum is recognized by human antibodies elicited during natural infections, and may be a target of protective immunity. In this prospective study, serum IgG antibodies to MSP2 were determined in a cohort of 329 Gambian children immediately before the annual malaria transmission season, and the incidence of clinical malaria in the following 5 months was monitored. Three recombinant MSP2 antigens were used, representing each of the two major allelic serogroups and a conserved region.

Immunoproteomics of Helicobacter pylori infection and relation to gastric disease.

The Gram negative bacterium Helicobacter pylori is a human pathogen which infects the gastric mucosa and causes an inflammatory process leading to gastritis, ulceration and cancer. A systematic, proteome based approach was chosen to detect candidate antigens of H. pylori for diagnosis, therapy and vaccine development and to investigate potential associations between specific immune responses and manifestations of disease.