BackgroundThe Atlixco municipality, Puebla State, at a mean altitude of 1840 m, was selected for a study of Fasciola hepatica infection in schoolchildren in Mexico. This area presents permanent water collections continuously receiving thaw water from Popocatepetl volcano (5426 m altitude) through the community supply channels, conforming an epidemiological scenario similar to those known in hyperendemic areas of Andean countries.Methodology and FindingsA total of 865 6–14 year-old schoolchildren were analyzed with FasciDIG coproantigen test and Lumbreras rapid sedimentation technique, and quantitatively assessed with Kato-Katz. Fascioliasis prevalences ranged 2.94–13.33% according to localities (mean 5.78%). Intensities were however low (24–384 epg). The association between fascioliasis and the habit of eating raw vegetables was identified, including watercress and radish with pronouncedly higher relative risk than lettuce, corncob, spinach, alfalfa juice, and broccoli. Many F. hepatica-infected children were coinfected by other parasites. Entamoeba histolytica/dispar, Giardia intestinalis, Blastocystis hominis, Hymenolepis nana and Ascaris lumbricoides infection resulted in risk factors for F. hepatica infection. Nitazoxanide efficacy against fascioliasis was 94.0% and 100% after first and second treatment courses, respectively. The few children, for whom a second treatment course was needed, were concomitantly infected by moderate ascariasis burdens. Its efficacy was also very high in the treatment of E. histolytica/E. dispar, G. intestinalis, B. hominis, H. nana, A. lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, and Enterobius vermicularis. A second treatment course was needed for all children affected by ancylostomatids.ConclusionsFascioliasis prevalences indicate this area to be mesoendemic, with isolated hyperendemic foci. This is the first time that a human fascioliasis endemic area is described in North America. Nitazoxanide appears as an appropriate alternative to triclabendazole, the present drug of choice for chronic fascioliasis. Its wide spectrum efficacy against intestinal protozooses and helminthiasis, usually coinfecting liver fluke infected subjects in human endemic areas, represents an important added value.

T. cruzi infection was identified in human beings, vectors, and possibly in domestic reservoirs, in communities located over 2,000 meters above sea level.

We analyzed the geographic distribution using ecological niche modeling of three species of triatomines distributed in the Mexican state of Puebla. Punctual records were gathered for a period of 5 yr of fieldwork sampling. We used the genetic algorithm for rule-set production (GARP) to achieve the potential distribution of the ecological niche of triatomines. The models showed that Triatoma barberi and Meccus pallidipennis are sympatric and widely distributed in the central-southern part of the state, whereas T. dimidata is restricted to the northern mountains of the state with no overlapping among other species, M. bassolsae was not modeled because of the scarce number of locality records. We highlighted the warm and dry conditions in southern Puebla as important potential areas for triatomine presence. Finally, we correlated the species potential presence with the human population at risk of acquiring Chagas disease by vector-borne transmission; it is showed that M. pallidipennis presents the highest values of both ecological and poverty risk scenarios representing the main potential vector in the state.

We analyzed the geographic distribution using ecological niche modeling of three species of triatomines distributed in the Mexican state of Puebla. Punctual records were gathered for a period of 5 yr of fieldwork sampling. We used the genetic algorithm for rule-set production (GARP) to achieve the potential distribution of the ecological niche of triatomines. The models showed that Triatoma barberi and Meccus pallidipennis are sympatric and widely distributed in the central-southern part of the state, whereas T. dimidata is restricted to the northern mountains of the state with no overlapping among other species, M. bassolsae was not modeled because of the scarce number of locality records. We highlighted the warm and dry conditions in southern Puebla as important potential areas for triatomine presence. Finally, we correlated the species potential presence with the human population at risk of acquiring Chagas disease by vector-borne transmission; it is showed that M. pallidipennis presents the highest values of both ecological and poverty risk scenarios representing the main potential vector in the state.

The objective of present study was to determine the prevalence of natural caprine fasciolosis in the Mixteca region of Mexico using coproantigen and serum IgG1 ELISA tests for comparative purposes. A total of 1070 serum and faecal samples were analyzed for IgG1 antibodies and coproantigens, using ELISA with E/S products as antigen and a monoclonal antibody-based sandwich ELISA. Prevalence of 73.46% was found using the serological ELISA and a percentage of 77.20 was found for coproantigen ELISA. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity for serum ELISA were 86.7% and 96.4%, and for the coproantigen ELISA they were 93.1% and 97.8%, respectively. The seropositive samples were further categorized as low, medium, or high positivity. Results show a great proportion of low and medium positive goats when the serum ELISA test was used. Correlation coefficients between coproantigens and seropositivity were statistically significant (P < 0.01) for low seropositivity (r = 0.93) and medium seropositivity (r = 0.84). The accuracy of faecal antigen ELISA was higher compared to indirect ELISA serological test. Two ELISAs were shown to be useful for demonstrating the current status of F. hepatica infection in the endemic areas and can be employed in studies on epidemiology as well as anthelmintics treatment for preventing economic loss and the risk of transmission to humans.

Background: Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world and it is necessary to develop new strategies for its treatment because most therapies have limited access to many types of tumors, as well as low therapeutic efficacy and high toxicity. Objective: The present research aims to identify recent patents of drug delivery nanostructured systems that may have application in improving cancer treatment. Methods: Recent patents regarding the drug delivery nanostructured systems for cancer treatment were obtained from the patent databases of the six main patent offices of the world: United States Patent and Trademark Office, European Patent Office, World Intellectual Property Organization, Japan Patent Office, State Intellectual Property Office of China and Korean Intellectual Property Office. Results: A total of 1710 patent documents from 1998 to 2017 including &quot;drug delivery nanostructured systems for cancer treatment&quot; were retrieved. The top five countries in patent share were USA, China, South Korea, Canada and Germany. The universities and enterprises of USA had the highest amount of patents followed by institutions from China. Conclusion: There is a strong tendency for the development of new nanostructured systems for the release of drugs; particularly, in recent years, the development of nanoparticles has focused on nanodiscs, gold nanoparticles and immunoliposomes.

No abstract

El riesgo sanitario de los triatominos como vectores de Trypanosoma cruzi está relacionado con la domiciliación de especies originalmente selváticas que logran adaptarse a hábitats humanos, encontrando variadas fuentes de alimento y refugio. Para el control de estos insectos se utiliza la fumigación residual con insecticidas piretroides, pero debido a la resistencia de los triatominos a insecticidas químicos y altos costos de fumigaciones permanentes, alternativamente se ha probado con éxito el potencial de algunos hongos entomopatógenos como controladores biológicos. Sin embargo, se desconoce el efecto de dosis sub letales sobre parámetros reproductivos, siendo estos factores muy importantes en el crecimiento poblacional y colonización de nuevos hábitats. En este trabajo probamos el efecto de una concentración de conidios baja de Beauveria. bassiana (1 x 10⁸ conidios/ml) en los parámetros reproductivos de hembras de Meccus pallipennis inoculadas en el estadio adulto, contabilizando diariamente el número de huevos puestos y eclosionados en un periodo de 44 días. No se registró inhibición de la oviposición, todas las hembras pusieron huevos, pero la infección fúngica redujo un 63% la fertilidad de las hembras tratadas. El rendimiento reproductivo de las hembras control fue de 56.7 ± 3.8 huevos /hembra/vida mientras que el rendimiento de las hembras infectadas fue de 20.8 ± 2.9 huevos /hembra/vida encontrando diferencias significativas entre las medias de los grupos. (p<0.0008). No se detectaron diferencias significativas en el porcentaje de eclosión entre ambos grupos (p=.3737). El sistema reproductor de las hembras infectadas no presento variación en el tamaño de las estructuras, sin embargo, se observaron organismos sin filamento terminal, germario, y las ovariolas vacías, con algunos ovocitos desprendidos del vitelario. Confirmamos la presencia de B. bassiana en la genitalia y ovocitos. Durante el diseño experimental se observó que los machos tratados con B. bassiana no completaron el patrón de cópula.