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Rivera D, Santos D, Carmant L, García HH, Pimentel R, Wiebe S, Aponte V, González L, Castillo JC, Matos B, Paliza JM, Fermín R, Stoeter P, Pérez-Then E. [Diagnosis of neurocysticercosis in patients with epilepsy living in the south-western Dominican Republic]. Rev Neurol 2024; 78:109-116. [PMID: 38349319 DOI: 10.33588/rn.7804.2023289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/15/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Neurocysticercosis (NCC), a possible cause of epilepsy with limited epidemiological data in the Dominican Republic, is endemic in four provinces in the country's south-western region. This study aimed to determine the association between NCC and epilepsy among people living in these endemic regions, and to obtain preliminary data on the prevalence of NCC in these provinces. PATIENTS AND METHODS A case-control design was used, consisting of 111 patients with epilepsy with unknown causes, and 60 controls without epilepsy or NCC. The diagnosis of NCC was based on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of the skull, as well as Western immunoblotting for serum antibodies using Taenia solium, following the criteria of Del Brutto et al. RESULTS. NCC was found in 27% of the epileptic patients (n = 30/111) and in 5% of the controls (n = 3/60); the probability of the epileptic patients having NCC was seven times higher than the controls (odds ratio = 7.04, 95% confidence interval: 2.04-24.18; p < 0.001). The participants' sociodemographic characteristics, including their age, sex, level of education, occupation, and province of residence presented no statistical significance in terms of their association with NCC. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that NCC is strongly associated with epilepsy in the south-western region of the Dominican Republic, and highlights the need for public health measures to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of both diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Rivera
- Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
- Centros de Diagnóstico y Medicina Avanzada y de Conferencias Médicas y Telemedicina, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
| | - D Santos
- Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
- Hospital Dr. Luis Eduardo Aybar, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
| | - L Carmant
- Ministerio de Salud y Asuntos Sociales, Québec, Canadá
| | - H H García
- Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Perú
| | - R Pimentel
- Centro de Educación Médica de Amistad Dominico-Japonesa, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
| | - S Wiebe
- University of Calgary, Calgary, Canadá
| | - V Aponte
- Sistema Nacional de Salud, Madrid, España
| | - L González
- Hospital Pedro Emilio de Marchena, Monseñor Nouel, República Dominicana
| | - J C Castillo
- Two Oceans in Health, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
| | - B Matos
- Centro Médico Anacaona, San Juan, República Dominicana
| | - J M Paliza
- Neurorradiología Diagnóstica SA, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
| | - R Fermín
- Centros de Diagnóstico y Medicina Avanzada y de Conferencias Médicas y Telemedicina, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
| | - P Stoeter
- Centros de Diagnóstico y Medicina Avanzada y de Conferencias Médicas y Telemedicina, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
| | - E Pérez-Then
- Two Oceans in Health, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
- Universidad Dominicana, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
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Díaz-Jaramillo M, Pinoni S, Matos B, Marcoval A, Diniz MS. Stress responses to warming in the mussel Brachidontes rodriguezii (d'Orbigny, 1842) from different environmental scenarios. Aquat Toxicol 2020; 228:105647. [PMID: 33038724 DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2020.105647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2019] [Revised: 09/09/2020] [Accepted: 09/21/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The intertidal mussel B. rodriguezii is a representative species from hard bottom substrates where both anthropogenic and natural stressors are present. Pre-exposure to these different stressors can modify the tolerance to additional stressors such as warming. Moreover, this tolerance can vary depending on intraspecific variables such as the organism's sex. The effects of warming and its intraspecific variability in representative coastal species are crucial to understanding the tolerance to future environmental scenarios. The mussels were collected in different environmental scenarios, including low (Control), chemical (Harbour) and natural stressed (Estuary) sites, and then exposed to different water temperatures (10-30 °C) for 14 days. Lethal and sublethal responses were evaluated in different mussel populations. Thus, cumulative death rate, air survival time, heat shock proteins (HSC70/HSP70), total ubiquitin, catalase (CAT), glutathione-s-transferase (GST) and lipid peroxidation (TBARS) were assessed in mussels from different areas and different sexes. The results revealed diminished air survival time and high cumulative mortality rate in mussels collected at the harbour and those exposed to higher temperatures, respectively. The sublethal responses of the field animals showed different patterns according to the different areas investigated. Besides, the results revealed that these differences were also observed between sexes. Regarding the sublethal responses in mussels exposed to warming, the interactive effects of temperature and sites showed a strong influence on all biochemical parameters analyzed (p < 0.001). Therefore, harbour mussels showed a distinct pattern compared to other locations and reflecting the most damaging effects of warming. The influence of sex and its interactions with warming were also crucial in most of the sublethal responses (p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis was performed with all sublethal responses, and the different warming scenarios showed different groups according to the sites. In the predicted warming scenarios, males showed no differences between sites. In contrast to males, females showed differences between sites in the predicted and the worse-case warming scenarios. Our results highlight the importance of compensatory mechanisms in the mussel warming tolerance like HSP70. The influence of sex is also crucial in understanding warming tolerance in mussels chronically exposed to pollutants in their natural environment. Also, lethal endpoints are essential for understanding the non-reversibility signature of the observed biochemical responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Díaz-Jaramillo
- IIMyC, Estresores Múltiples en el Ambiente (EMA), FCEyN, UNMdP, CONICET, Funes 3350 (B7602AYL), Mar del Plata, 7600, Argentina.
| | - S Pinoni
- IIMyC, Estresores Múltiples en el Ambiente (EMA), FCEyN, UNMdP, CONICET, Funes 3350 (B7602AYL), Mar del Plata, 7600, Argentina
| | - B Matos
- UCIBIO-REQUIMTE, Department of Chemistry, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal
| | - A Marcoval
- IIMyC, Laboratorio de Acuicultura, FCEyN, UNMdP, CONICET, Funes 3350 (B7602AYL), Mar del Plata, 7600, Argentina
| | - M S Diniz
- UCIBIO-REQUIMTE, Department of Chemistry, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal
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Abreu A, Matos B, Silva C, Silva MC, Dias H, Amendoeira J, Silva M. P18 The influence of alcohol in the practice of safe sex in adolescence. Eur J Public Health 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckz095.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- A Abreu
- Health Higher School of Santarém, Monitoring Unity of Health Indicators (UMIS), Polytechnic Institute of Santarém, Santarém, PORTUGAL
| | - B Matos
- Health Higher School of Santarém, Monitoring Unity of Health Indicators (UMIS), Polytechnic Institute of Santarém, Santarém, PORTUGAL
| | - C Silva
- Health Higher School of Santarém, Monitoring Unity of Health Indicators (UMIS), Polytechnic Institute of Santarém, Santarém, PORTUGAL
| | - MC Silva
- Health Higher School of Santarém, Monitoring Unity of Health Indicators (UMIS), Polytechnic Institute of Santarém, Santarém, PORTUGAL
| | - H Dias
- Health Higher School of Santarém, Monitoring Unity of Health Indicators (UMIS), IPSantarém Research Unit, Polytechnic Institute of Santarém, Santarém, PORTUGAL
- Centre for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), University of Porto, Porto, PORTUGAL
| | - J Amendoeira
- Health Higher School of Santarém, Monitoring Unity of Health Indicators (UMIS), IPSantarém Research Unit, Polytechnic Institute of Santarém, Santarém, PORTUGAL
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Health (CIIS), Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon, PORTUGAL
| | - M Silva
- Health Higher School of Santarém, Monitoring Unity of Health Indicators (UMIS), IPSantarém Research Unit, Polytechnic Institute of Santarém, Santarém, PORTUGAL
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Abstract
Summary
Here we report the case of a diagnostic and treatment challenge in a four-month old dog from England, presented with one-month history of unproductive cough. Antigen blood test for Angiostrongylus vasorum infection was negative. Thoracic radiographs revealed a generalised bronchointerstitial pattern and bronchoscopy showed moving nematodes in the mucus of the bronchial wall. Additionally, Baermann technique revealed a high burden of larvae per gram of faeces. Morphological and molecular analyses confirmed that they were first stage larvae of Crenosoma vulpis. The infection was firstly treated with a spot-on solution containing 10% imidacloprid + 2.5% moxidectin, but the dog was still positive after 13 days. Therefore, a seven-day course of fenbendazole was prescribed. This represents one of the youngest dogs ever reported naturally infected by C. vulpis. The scant number of reported cases of crenosomosis has led practitioners to consider it as a rare parasitic disease in dogs, delaying a correct and targeted on-time diagnosis. Further studies are needed to perceive the real prevalence of this lungworm and to understand if it is a rare parasite or just rarely diagnosed.
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Affiliation(s)
- B. Matos
- CIISA, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, ULisboa, Portugal
| | - V. Colella
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, Italy
| | - A. M. Alho
- CIISA, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, ULisboa, Portugal
| | - D. Otranto
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari, Italy
| | - R. Doyle
- The Wylie Veterinary Centre, Upminster, Essex, UK
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Abstract
Iron overload is a major concern in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection because excess iron can promote hepatocyte damage by activating iron-mediated lipid peroxidation. This may also facilitate viral replication. The objective of this pilot study was to test the hypothesis that Puerto Rican HCV patients have an altered serum iron (SIR) profile. Twenty-three HCV patients and 38 non-HCV controls were compared in terms of their serum iron, iron-binding capacity, percent saturation of transferrin, available binding capacity, and ferritin. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.01, Student's t-test) were found between the HCV patients and the non-HCV controls for SIR, transferrin saturation, and ferritin. The mean SIR concentration and transferrin saturation were 25% higher in HCV patients relative to controls. HCV patients had a mean ferritin value 48% higher than controls. These pilot study data indicate that Puerto Rican HCV patients have an altered iron balance and may be more susceptible to iron-induced oxidative stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Rojas
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ponce School of Medicine, Puerto Rico, USA
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