No abstract

ABSTRACT. The aim of this study was to detect evidence of Toxoplasma gondii using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based techniques in oysters (Crassostrea rhizophorae) obtained from the southern coastal region of Bahia, Brazil. A total of 624 oysters were collected, and the gills and digestive glands were dissected. Each tissue sample was separated into pools containing tissues (of the same type) from three animals, leading to a total of 416 experimental samples for analysis (208 samples each from the gills and digestive glands). Molecular analysis using PCR-based detection of the T. gondii AF 146527 repetitive fragment yielded negative results for all samples. However, when nested-PCR was used for detection of the T. gondii SAG-1 gene, 17 samples were positive, with the gills being the tissue with maximal detection of the parasite. These positive results were confirmed by sample sequencing. It is therefore suggested that C. rhizophorae oysters are capable of filtering and retaining T. gondii oocysts in their tissue. This represents a risk to public health because they are traditionally ingested in natura.

Abstract. In chronic schistosomiasis mansoni the major pathologic lesions are granulomas surrounding eggs deposited in host tissues. Parasite ova release antigenic material that sensitize the host, resulting in the development of delayed-type hypersensitivity granulomas. The objectives of the present study were to assess the ability of components of the host granulomatous response to induce biochemical and biologic alterations in eggs in vitro, and to correlate these with the capacity of ova to induce granulomas in vivo. An assay of egg tricarboxylic acid cycle activity was developed by use of 2-['4C]acetate as substrate and measurement of accumulation of released '4C02. Addition of human granulocytes (96% neutrophils, 4% eosinophils) to eggs (cell/ egg ratio 1,000:1) and heat-inactivated normal human serum reduced predicted egg '4CO2 generation by 15.6±3.0%. This effect was greater in the presence of sera of subjects with schistosomiasis (25.6±2.8% reduction) or when complement was present (24.4±4.0%). Autologous eosinophils and neutrophils were equally effective in decreasing egg 2-[14C]acetate metabolism (25.6 and 21.4% reductions, respectively). Since the biological role of schistosome eggs relates to their ability to hatch and produce miracidia, we evaluated the effect of granulocytes and sera on this function. The hatching rate of eggs incubated with normal serum was 52.8±3.3 miracidia/100 eggs; this value decreased to 37.0±2.6 when granulocytes were added (P < 0.01). Granulocytes plus antibody-or complement-containing sera led to hatching rates of 23 and 20 miracidia/l00 eggs. When

Combination BRAF/MEK inhibition has shown improved response rates and longer progression-free and overall survival for patients with -mutant metastatic melanoma. A 63-year-old female with widely metastatic V600E-mutant melanoma was treated with dabrafenib/trametinib. Ten weeks into therapy, she was treated conservatively for a partial bowel obstruction involving a lesion in the distal ileum. She presented two weeks later with CT evidence of a high-grade bowel obstruction with perforation. Emergent surgery was performed. Intraoperative inspection and pathologic analysis of the resected specimen revealed no evidence of melanoma. Seven months postoperatively she is disease free and fully functional. Rapid BRAF/MEK inhibitor-induced regression of small bowel lesions can result in bowel perforation, which is critical to distinguish from the consequences of disease progression.