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Costa CHN, Chang KP, Costa DL, Cunha FVM. From Infection to Death: An Overview of the Pathogenesis of Visceral Leishmaniasis. Pathogens 2023; 12:969. [PMID: 37513817 PMCID: PMC10384967 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens12070969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2023] [Revised: 07/02/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Kala-azar, also known as visceral leishmaniasis (VL), is a disease caused by Leishmania infantum and L. donovani. Patients experience symptoms such as fever, weight loss, paleness, and enlarged liver and spleen. The disease also affects immunosuppressed individuals and has an overall mortality rate of up to 10%. This overview explores the literature on the pathogenesis of preclinical and clinical stages, including studies in vitro and in animal models, as well as complications and death. Asymptomatic infection can result in long-lasting immunity. VL develops in a minority of infected individuals when parasites overcome host defenses and multiply in tissues such as the spleen, liver, and bone marrow. Hepatosplenomegaly occurs due to hyperplasia, resulting from parasite proliferation. A systemic inflammation mediated by cytokines develops, triggering acute phase reactants from the liver. These cytokines can reach the brain, causing fever, cachexia and vomiting. Similar to sepsis, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) occurs due to tissue factor overexpression. Anemia, hypergammaglobulinemia, and edema result from the acute phase response. A regulatory response and lymphocyte depletion increase the risk of bacterial superinfections, which, combined with DIC, are thought to cause death. Our understanding of VL's pathogenesis is limited, and further research is needed to elucidate the preclinical events and clinical manifestations in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos H N Costa
- Centro de Investigações em Agravos Tropicais Emergentes e Negligenciados, Instituto de Doenças Tropicais Natan Portella, Universidade Federal do Piauí, Rua Artur de Vasconcelos 151-Sul, Teresina 64002-510, PI, Brazil
| | - Kwang-Poo Chang
- Department of Microbiology/Immunology, Center for Cancer Cell Biology, Immunology & Infection, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
| | - Dorcas L Costa
- Centro de Investigações em Agravos Tropicais Emergentes e Negligenciados, Instituto de Doenças Tropicais Natan Portella, Universidade Federal do Piauí, Rua Artur de Vasconcelos 151-Sul, Teresina 64002-510, PI, Brazil
| | - Francisco Valmor M Cunha
- Departament of Physiotherapy, Centro Universitário Uninovafapi, Rua Vitorino Orthiges Fernandes, 6123-Uruguai, Teresina 64073-505, PI, Brazil
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Castillo M, Alexander N, Rubiano L, Rojas C, Navarro A, Rincon D, Bernal LV, Lerma YO, Saravia NG, Aronoff-Spencer E. Randomized trial evaluating an mHealth intervention for the early community-based detection and follow-up of cutaneous leishmaniasis in rural Colombia. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2023; 17:e0011180. [PMID: 36972285 PMCID: PMC10079216 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0011180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2022] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In Latin America, cutaneous leishmaniasis primarily affects dispersed rural communities, that have limited access to the public health system and medical attention. Mobile health (mHealth) strategies have shown potential to improve clinical management and epidemiological surveillance of neglected tropical diseases, particularly those of the skin. METHODS The Guaral +ST app for Android was designed to monitor cutaneous leishmaniasis treatment and assess therapeutic response. We carried out a randomized trial in the coastal municipality of Tumaco in southwestern Colombia, with parallel arms comparing a) follow-up aided by the app to b) standard institution-based follow-up. Treatment was prescribed according to national guidelines. Follow-up of therapeutic response was scheduled at the end of treatment and at 7, 13 and 26 weeks after the start of treatment. The primary endpoint was the proportion of participants who were monitored at or around week 26, allowing outcome and effectiveness of treatment to be determined. RESULTS Follow-up of treatment and outcome assessment was achieved in significantly more patients in the intervention arm than the controls, Of the 75 participants in the two randomized arms, 74 had information on whether or not treatment was followed and outcome determined at or around week 26. Among these, 26/49 (53.1%) were evaluated in the intervention arm, and none (0/25, 0%) in the control arm (difference = 53.1%, 95% confidence interval 39.1-67.0%, p<0.001). Of the 26 participants evaluated at or around week 26 in the intervention arm, 22 (84.6%) had cured. There were no serious adverse events, nor events of severe intensity among patients monitored by CHW using the app. CONCLUSION This study provides proof of concept for mHealth to monitor treatment of CL in remote and complex settings, deliver improved care and to provide information to the health system on the effectiveness of treatment as it is delivered to affected populations. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION ISRCTN54865992.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mabel Castillo
- Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas, CIDEIM, Cali, Colombia
- Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia
| | - Neal Alexander
- Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas, CIDEIM, Cali, Colombia
- Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia
| | - Luisa Rubiano
- Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas, CIDEIM, Cali, Colombia
- Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia
| | - Carlos Rojas
- Facultad Nacional de Salud Pública, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
| | | | | | | | - Yenifer Orobio Lerma
- Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas, CIDEIM, Cali, Colombia
- Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia
| | - Nancy Gore Saravia
- Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas, CIDEIM, Cali, Colombia
- Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia
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Del Castillo AM, Castro MDM, Cossio A, García Luna JA, Rincón D, Castillo RM, Prieto MD, Rebellón-Sánchez DE, Navarro A, Alexander N. Sensitivity and Specificity of the Remote Evaluation of Therapeutic Response in Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Using Photographs from a Mobile Application. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2022; 107:tpmd220164. [PMID: 35895332 PMCID: PMC9490675 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.22-0164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) primarily affects people in remote settings with limited access to health services. mHealth tools offer an opportunity to overcome knowledge gaps about clinical response to treatment. We evaluated the validity of the Guaral+ST mobile application for the remote assessment of therapeutic response in patients with CL, through photographs of lesions captured with the app by community health volunteers. Patients with confirmed CL were followed at weeks 13 and 26 after completion of treatment to assess therapeutic response in two clinical settings in southwest Colombia. Direct evaluation of lesions performed by an experienced physician was considered the reference standard. Photographs of lesions taken by CHV or nurse assistants with the mobile app, were independently evaluated by three physicians to define clinical response. A summary measure of clinical outcome defined by the three physicians was considered the index test. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were estimated. Interrater reliability (kappa) was calculated. Among 53 participants with CL who had at least one follow-up visit, the sensitivity of therapeutic response evaluation through photographs taken with the Guaral+ST app, compared with direct evaluation by an expert physician, had high validity with sensitivity of 100% (95% confidence interval: 80.5-100%) and specificity of 97.2% (95% confidence interval: 85.5-99.9%). The chance-adjusted agreement (κ) was > 0.8, which is conventionally characterized as almost perfect. The high accuracy of the remote evaluation of photographs for the assessment of therapeutic response supports the use of mHealth tools for improving access to treatment follow-up for CL.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Maria del Mar Castro
- Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas (CIDEIM), Cali, Colombia
- Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia
| | - Alexandra Cossio
- Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas (CIDEIM), Cali, Colombia
- Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia
| | - Jonny Alejandro García Luna
- Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas (CIDEIM), Cali, Colombia
- Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia
| | - Domiciano Rincón
- Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia
- Grupo i2t, Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia
| | - Ruth Mabel Castillo
- Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas (CIDEIM), Cali, Colombia
- Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia
| | - Miguel Darío Prieto
- Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas (CIDEIM), Cali, Colombia
| | | | - Andrés Navarro
- Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia
- Grupo i2t, Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia
| | - Neal Alexander
- Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas (CIDEIM), Cali, Colombia
- Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia
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Goonoo N, Laetitia Huët MA, Chummun I, Karuri N, Badu K, Gimié F, Bergrath J, Schulze M, Müller M, Bhaw-Luximon A. Nanomedicine-based strategies to improve treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:220058. [PMID: 35719886 PMCID: PMC9198523 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2022] [Accepted: 04/14/2022] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Nanomedicine strategies were first adapted and successfully translated to clinical application for diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. These strategies would no doubt benefit unmet diseases needs as in the case of leishmaniasis. The latter causes skin sores in the cutaneous form and affects internal organs in the visceral form. Treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) aims at accelerating wound healing, reducing scarring and cosmetic morbidity, preventing parasite transmission and relapse. Unfortunately, available treatments show only suboptimal effectiveness and none of them were designed specifically for this disease condition. Tissue regeneration using nano-based devices coupled with drug delivery are currently being used in clinic to address diabetic wounds. Thus, in this review, we analyse the current treatment options and attempt to critically analyse the use of nanomedicine-based strategies to address CL wounds in view of achieving scarless wound healing, targeting secondary bacterial infection and lowering drug toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nowsheen Goonoo
- Biomaterials, Drug Delivery and Nanotechnology Unit, Center for Biomedical and Biomaterials Research, University of Mauritius, Réduit 80837, Mauritius
| | - Marie Andrea Laetitia Huët
- Biomaterials, Drug Delivery and Nanotechnology Unit, Center for Biomedical and Biomaterials Research, University of Mauritius, Réduit 80837, Mauritius
| | - Itisha Chummun
- Biomaterials, Drug Delivery and Nanotechnology Unit, Center for Biomedical and Biomaterials Research, University of Mauritius, Réduit 80837, Mauritius
| | - Nancy Karuri
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, Private Bag 10143 – Dedan Kimathi, Nyeri, Kenya
| | - Kingsley Badu
- Vector-borne Infectious Disease Group, Theoretical and Applied Biology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
| | - Fanny Gimié
- Animalerie, Plateforme de recherche CYROI, 2 rue Maxime Rivière, 97490 Sainte Clotilde, Ile de La Réunion, France
| | - Jonas Bergrath
- Department of Natural Sciences, University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Heisenbergstrasse 16, D-53359 Rheinbach, Germany
| | - Margit Schulze
- Department of Natural Sciences, University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Heisenbergstrasse 16, D-53359 Rheinbach, Germany
| | - Mareike Müller
- Physical Chemistry I & Research Center of Micro- and Nanochemistry and (Bio)Technology (Cμ), Department of Chemistry and Biology, University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Strasse 2, 57076 Siegen, Germany
| | - Archana Bhaw-Luximon
- Biomaterials, Drug Delivery and Nanotechnology Unit, Center for Biomedical and Biomaterials Research, University of Mauritius, Réduit 80837, Mauritius
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