scholarly journals Highly diluted natural complex (M2) effects on leishmanias

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (47) ◽  
pp. 115-116
Author(s):  
Katia Fialho Nascimento ◽  
Jenifer Pendiuk Gonçalves ◽  
Maurício Baum ◽  
Izanara Pritsch ◽  
Magda Clara Vieira da Costa Ribeiro ◽  
...  

Introduction: Leishmaniosis is regarded as a serious public health issue either by its magnitude, morbidity or mortality. Depending on Leishmania species disease ranges from cutaneous, which is relatively confined and controlled, until a progressive and fatal visceral disease [4]. In order to complete their lifecycle Leishmania undergo transformations in the vector digestive tract to get to metacyclic infective form [3,5]. Those include secretion of the “promastigote secretory gel” (PSG) that protect parasites from digestive enzymes. PSG acts on survival and colonization of parasites inside the vector, on transmission and infection development in mammals, and also facilitates and increases transmission [1,2]. Drugs used for leishmaniosis treatment show high toxicity and several side effects, leading patients to quit the treatment and consequently generating resistant strains. The search for new therapeutic approaches is considered a strategic research priority by the World Health Organization. Highly diluted natural products show efficacy in modifying immunological response by stimulating the immune system through macrophages activation, then favoring the organism in many pathological conditions. Aim: To assess the direct action of M2 treatment on promastigotes of different Leishmania species. Methods: 3x106 were cultured in the presence of 20% of M2 plus booster 1% doses every 24h for up to 96h at 25ºC in humidified incubator and then submitted to assays for determining mitochondrial activity by MTT (5mg/mL), cell proliferation trough cell counting on Neubauer chamber and rosettes formation (around PSG) by light microscopy. Results of 3 independent experiments were statistically analyzed using t-test. Results: M2 treatment changed mitochondrial metabolic activity in all tested Leishmania strains. L. amazonensis proliferation decreased after 96h treatment and likewise the rosettes formation (total, closed and open ones). Discussion: Our data show that Leishmania cultures treated with M2 present decreased number of rosettes and these rosettes may be slowing the production of PSG, that is typically synthesized by Leishmania during metacyclic infective phase. Rosettes are also a place for fusion between 2 or more leishmanias, a process that involves nuclear and kinetoplast genetic material exchange. Conclusion: M2 acts on L. amazonensis promastigote forms by reducing the total number of rosettes (the same for open and closed rosettes) that are related to infective form of promastigotes, which produce PSG while on rosettes. This result suggests that M2 treatment is capable of decreasing Leishmania infectivity. Although our results are preliminary, these changes open new perspectives for the disease treatment and/or prevention using M2.

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 1138-1147
Author(s):  
Bruno Rivas-Santiago ◽  
Flor Torres-Juarez

Tuberculosis is an ancient disease that has become a serious public health issue in recent years, although increasing incidence has been controlled, deaths caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis have been accentuated due to the emerging of multi-drug resistant strains and the comorbidity with diabetes mellitus and HIV. This situation is threatening the goals of World Health Organization (WHO) to eradicate tuberculosis in 2035. WHO has called for the creation of new drugs as an alternative for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, among the plausible molecules that can be used are the Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs). These peptides have demonstrated remarkable efficacy to kill mycobacteria in vitro and in vivo in experimental models, nevertheless, these peptides not only have antimicrobial activity but also have a wide variety of functions such as angiogenesis, wound healing, immunomodulation and other well-described roles into the human physiology. Therapeutic strategies for tuberculosis using AMPs must be well thought prior to their clinical use; evaluating comorbidities, family history and risk factors to other diseases, since the wide function of AMPs, they could lead to collateral undesirable effects.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nitigya Sambyal ◽  
Poonam Saini ◽  
Rupali Syal

Background and Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder that has emerged as a serious public health issue worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), without interventions, the number of diabetic incidences is expected to be at least 629 million by 2045. Uncontrolled diabetes gradually leads to progressive damage to eyes, heart, kidneys, blood vessels and nerves. Method: The paper presents a critical review of existing statistical and Artificial Intelligence (AI) based machine learning techniques with respect to DM complications namely retinopathy, neuropathy and nephropathy. The statistical and machine learning analytic techniques are used to structure the subsequent content review. Result: It has been inferred that statistical analysis can help only in inferential and descriptive analysis whereas, AI based machine learning models can even provide actionable prediction models for faster and accurate diagnose of complications associated with DM. Conclusion: The integration of AI based analytics techniques like machine learning and deep learning in clinical medicine will result in improved disease management through faster disease detection and cost reduction for disease treatment.


Author(s):  
Katarzyna Dereń ◽  
Justyna Wyszyńska ◽  
Serhiy Nyankovskyy ◽  
Olena Nyankovska ◽  
Marta Yatsula ◽  
...  

Overweight and obesity, as well as underweight in children and adolescents, pose a significant public health issue. This study aimed to investigate the secular trend of the incidence of underweight, overweight, and obesity in children from Ukraine in 2013/2014 and 2018/2019. The studies were conducted in randomly selected primary and secondary schools in Ukraine. In total, 13,447 children (6468 boys and 6979 girls) participated in the study in 2013/2014 and 18,144 children (8717 boys and 9427 girls) participated in 2018/2019. Measurements of body weight and height were performed in triplicate. Underweight, overweight, and obesity were diagnosed according to the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO). In the group of girls, a significant difference between 2013/2014 and 2018/2019 measurements was found only among 7-year-olds. The percentage of girls at this age exceeding the body mass index (BMI) norm was lower in the 2018/2019 study. In boys, a significant difference was also found in 7-year-olds, and, as in girls, a lower share of overweight and obesity was found in 2018/2019. But for the ages of 12, 13, and 15, the significant differences had a different character—more overweight or obese boys were found in the 2018/2019 study. The proportion of underweight children was similar for the majority of age groups in both genders and did not differ in a statistically significant way.


2021 ◽  
pp. 2979-2983
Author(s):  
Hamong Suharsono ◽  
Ali Ghufron Mukti ◽  
Ketut Suryana ◽  
I. Wayan Masa Tenaya ◽  
Dilasdita Kartika Pradana ◽  
...  

Background and Aim: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute infectious respiratory disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and has spread rapidly globally, resulting in a pandemic. In humans, the main routes of transmission are respiratory droplets and close contact with infected individuals or through contact with an object infected with the virus, followed by touching mouth, nose, or eyes. It is assumed that SARS-CoV-2 was originated in wild animals and was then transmitted to humans. Although some wildlife and domestic animals can be naturally or experimentally infected with the virus, the intermediate hosts that transmitted it to humans are still unknown. Understanding the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 associated with possible zoonotic transmission of intermediate hosts is considered critical. Reportedly, cats or dogs living with COVID-19-positive humans tested positive for the disease, suggesting that the virus was transmitted to the animals from humans. Information regarding the epidemiological investigation and comprehensive studies is limited. Therefore, it is still unclear how high is the correlation of infection in humans and pet animals, especially those living together. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the pets of patients with COVID-19 who were hospitalized at the Wangaya hospital, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. Materials and Methods: A total of seven clinically asymptomatic pets (six dogs of different races and sexes and a cat [age, 360-2920 days]) were included in this study. These animals belonged to patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection from August to November 2020. Nasal swab and nasopharyngeal samples were collected from the pets individually under anesthetic condition and were collected 6-12 days after confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in owners and hospitalization at the Wangaya Hospital. The swab samples were then processed for RNA isolation and tested using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for SARS-CoV-2, in accordance with the World Health Organization manual 2020. Results: RT-PCR results for all seven RNA samples, prepared from the swab samples, were negative. For the samples, all PCR products were below the threshold limit, suggesting no genetic material belonging to the samples tested. Conclusion: This was the first preliminary study of COVID-19 on pets in pandemic using RT-PCR. The study tested a very limited quantity of samples, and all of them were negative. However, the way in which the samples were prepared was considered appropriate. Therefore, in further studies, testing of more samples of pets of more individuals with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection is required.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-241
Author(s):  
Claudia Seitz

Abstract The current pandemic outbreak of corona virus SARS-CoV-2 shows the need for comprehensive European cooperation in drug development and the importance of genetic material and sequence data in research concerning this unknown disease. As corona virus SARS-CoV-2 is spreading across Europe and worldwide, national authorities and the European Union (EU) institutions do their utmost to address the pandemic and accelerate innovation to protect global health. In order to be prepared and to be able to respond immediately to serious epidemic and pandemic diseases, the EU has already adopted the Decision No (EU) 1082/2013 on serious cross-border threats to health. The World Health Organization (WHO) has established a global system to collect genetic material and information to protect a global influenza pandemic outbreak. The article describes the current legal landscape under EU and international law.


2012 ◽  
Vol 141 (5) ◽  
pp. 1061-1069 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. HUANG ◽  
L.-J. LIANG ◽  
N.-M. HOU ◽  
X. ZHANG ◽  
W.-Z. SU ◽  
...  

SUMMARYAnnual H3N2 subtype influenza outbreaks in Guangdong, China are a severe public health issue and require ongoing monitoring of emerging viral variants. The variation and evolution of haemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes of influenza isolates from Guangdong during 2007–2011 and others from GenBank were analysed using Lasergene 7.1 and MEGA 5.05, and serological analysis of antigens was determined by haemagglutination inhibition (HI). Susceptibility to antiviral drugs was correlated with genetic mutations. Phylogenetic analysis and alignment of HA and NA genes were performed on 18 Guangdong isolates and 26 global reference strains. The non-synonymous (dN) evolutionary rate of HA1 was 3·13 times that of HA2. Compared with the A/Perth/16/2009 vaccine HA gene, homologies of Guangdong isolates were between 98·8–99·7% and 98·0–98·4% in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Amino-acid substitutions were found in five epitopes of HA1 from Guangdong isolates between 2007 and 2011, especially in epitopes B (N160K) and D (K174R/N). The K189E/N/Q and T228A mutations in the receptor-binding site (RBS) occurred in the 2010 strains, which affected the antigenicity of HA1. The antigenicity of the epidemic H3N2 isolates in 2010 was somewhat different from that of A/Perth/16/2009. The Guangdong H3N2 isolates were determined to be oseltamivir-resistant with IC50 of 0·396±0·085 nmol/l (n=17) and zanamivir-resistant with IC50 of 0·477±0·149 nmol/l (n=18). Variations were present in epitopes B and D, two sites in the RBS and two glycosylation sites in the Guangdong H3N2 HA1 gene. The majority of the Guangdong H3N2 isolates were sensitive to oseltamivir and zanamivir. Compared to the World Health Organization 2012 vaccine strains, Guangdong H3N2 strains varied genetically and antigenically to some degree.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajithkumar P ◽  
Dr. Ratna Prakash

Prosocial behaviour refers to the behaviours that benefit people (Penner, Dovidio, Piliavin, & Schroder, 2005). Prosocial behaviours are performed to benefit others, rather than to benefit the self. Typically, pro-social behaviors are an outgrowth of positive experiences and emotions (Aydinli et al, 2013). Feelings of empathy, compassion, and sympathy are also associated with helping, particularly when individuals recognize a moral obligation to care for others. According to World Health Organization, Pro-social behavior can emerge, however, from traumatic and painful experiences. Cardiac arrest is a major public health issue, with more than 500000 deaths of children and adults per year even in developed countries. Despite significant scientific advances in care of cardiac arrest victims, there remain striking disparities in survival rates for both in-hospital and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. It is seen that survival can vary among geographic regions by as much as 6-fold for victims in pre-hospital setting. For out of hospital cardiac arrest victims, the key determinants of survival are the timely performance of first responder or bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation for those in ventricular fibrillation and pulse less ventricular tachycardia. Only a minority of cardiac arrest victims receive potentially lifesaving bystander CPR, thus indicating that there should be some hindrances for the first responders from the general public to perform this in the right time (Bhanji et al, 2015).


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-441
Author(s):  
Caio Ricardo Eich ◽  
Barbara Scariot Colombelli ◽  
Kattlyn Larissa Candido ◽  
Luciana Oliveira De Fariña

Em 11 de março de 2020, a Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS) decretou a pandemia do COVID-19, causado pelo vírus SARS-CoV-2, responsável por mais de 4,5 milhões de mortes até o momento. Esta nova realidade exigiu respostas por parte das autoridades e da população, a fim de mitigar a propagação do vírus e evitar o colapso do sistema de saúde, assim como estudos de vigilância em saúde, que possibilitaram um melhor entendimento dos mecanismos de transmissão do vírus e possibilitaram identificar zonas de risco dentro de cidades ou ambientes públicos. Este estudo tem o objetivo de identificar a presença do SARS-CoV-2 dentro da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, a qual fornece serviços de saúde para a população local, assim como realizar um controle interno no Laboratório de Bioquímica Molecular (LaBioqMol) da universidade, onde são realizados testes de RT-PCR semanalmente. Foram coletadas 21 amostras de áreas frequentemente tocadas por pessoas, cuja presença do RNA viral e de material genético humano foi identificada por RT-PCR. Em nenhuma das amostras foi detectado a presença do vírus. Entretanto, em 8 (38,1%) das amostras foi verificada a amplificação do gene RNaseP, indicando a presença de células humana. Este estudo auxilia no controle e garantia de qualidade do LaBioqMol e fortalece a visão de que a contaminação do ambiente pelo SARS-CoV-2 é provavelmente menos frequente do que foi anteriormente sugerido no início da pandemia.   On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) decreed the pandemic of COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, responsible for more than 4.5 million deaths to date. This new reality demanded responses from the authorities and the population in order to mitigate the spread of the virus and avoid the collapse of the health system, as well as health surveillance studies, which enabled a better understanding of the mechanisms of virus transmission and made it possible to identify risk zones within cities or public environments. This study aims to identify the presence of SARS-CoV-2 within the Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, which provides health services to the local population, as well as to perform an internal control at the university's Molecular Biochemistry Laboratory (LaBioqMol), where RT-PCR tests are performed weekly. Twenty-one samples were collected from areas frequently touched by people, and the presence of viral RNA and human genetic material was identified by RT-PCR. In none of the samples was the presence of the virus detected. However, in 8 (38.1%) of the samples the RNaseP gene amplification was verified, indicating the presence of human cells. This study assists in quality control and assurance at LaBioqMol and strengthens the view that environmental contamination by SARS-CoV-2 is probably less frequent than was previously suggested at the beginning of the pandemic.


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-51
Author(s):  
Dr Nanjunda

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) have become a serious public health issue among the rural people in India because of a unique health culture and health seeking behavior. Most rural people are suffering from different types of STDs because of cultural fabrics, poverty, illiteracy, ignorance and poor access to effective treatment. The World Health Organization has also warned that India could be the next nation with the highest number of unreported STD cases, resulting in devastating consequences. This current study, conducted in a rural part of the Hassan district of Karnataka, South India, examined the perceptions and knowledge regarding STDs among rural people. A focus group study conducted among selected purposive samples of both infected (with STD) and non-infected rural people. This study has found that STDs were more prevalent among people in the age group of 25-28 years (50.6%)male respondents (62.6%), people with a low level of literacy (42.2%), professional truck drivers (38.6%), people in the lower income groups (64%), and unmarried people (56%). This study also found vaginites and herpes are the most common types of STDs found among the respondents. The majority of the respondents were not aware about the onset and symptoms of the STDs. People were too shy to seek treatment even from the local healers. Effective public health policies and health promotion programs should be developed regarding the holistic and inclusive health development for the rural people with special references to STDs. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/seajph.v3i2.20040 South East Asian Journal of Public Health Vol.3(2) 2013: 47-51


Author(s):  
Seema Mihrshahi ◽  
Danielle Jawad ◽  
Louise A. Richards ◽  
Kylie Hunter ◽  
Mahalakshmi Ekambareshwar ◽  
...  

Childhood overweight and obesity is a worldwide public health issue. Our objective was to describe planned, ongoing and completed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) designed for the prevention of obesity in early childhood. Two databases (World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, ClinicalTrials.gov) were searched to identify RCTs with the primary aim of preventing childhood obesity and at least one outcome related to child weight. Interventions needed to start in the first two years of childhood or earlier, continue for at least 6 months postnatally, include a component related to lifestyle or behaviors, and have a follow up time of at least 2 years. We identified 29 unique RCTs, implemented since 2008, with most being undertaken in high income countries. Interventions ranged from advice on diet, activity, sleep, emotion regulation and parenting education through individual home visits, clinic-based consultations or group education sessions. Eleven trials have published data on child weight related outcomes to date, though most were not sufficiently powered to detect significant effects. Many trials detected improvements in practices such as breastfeeding, screen time and physical activity in the intervention groups compared to the control groups. Further follow-up of ongoing trials is needed to assess longer-term effects.


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