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We report the case of a 2-year-old girl with acute-onset divergent strabismus and ptosis in the right eye. She had an exotropia of 45Δ for near, eyelid ptosis affecting the visual axis, adduction, limitations of up- and downgaze, and a discrete mydriasis in the right eye. Neurological conditions were ruled out. Serology was positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The patient was managed conservatively with ocular physiotherapy and close visual acuity monitoring. On follow-up examination at 1 month, there was marked improvement of the exotropia (25Δ for near), adduction, ptosis, and mydriasis.

O envelhecimento condiciona a uma progressiva redução na capacidade fisiológica e na diminuição da habilidade de respostas ao estresse ambiental, levando a um aumento da suscetibilidade e vulnerabilidade as doenças, principalmente as parasitoses. Parasitose é o termo usado para definir toda afecção causada por agentes parasitários, incluindo suas manifestações patológicas. O objetivo desse estudo foi descrever o perfil epidemiológico das parasitoses intestinais que afetam os idosos no Brasil nos últimos 10 anos e catalogar quais os principais parasitas em maior prevalência e por que atingem os idosos nas regiões do país. O estudo foi realizado através de revisão integrativa da literatura sem aplicação de meta-análise sobre o tema parasitoses intestinais no Brasil nos anos de 2009 a 2018. Nesse estudo dos artigos mostrou que foram analisadas amostras parasitológicas de idosos, com idade entre 65 a 80 anos, sexo feminino e masculino, residentes em casas de repouso na zona urbana, com maior prevalência dos parasitas comensais Entamoeba coli e Endolimax nana e a técnica mais utilizada foi a de Hoffman. Existe necessidade de estudos mais completos sobre a situação das taxas de prevalência de parasitoses intestinais em idosos no Brasil dada a escassez de trabalhos voltados para o tema em questão.

In this study, Moringa oleifera flower extract and a trypsin inhibitor (MoFTI) isolated from it were evaluated for anti-protozoal activity against Trypanosoma cruzi and cytotoxicity to mammalian cells. The presence of flavonoids was remarkable in the HPLC fingerprints of the extract at 254 and 360 nm. Amino acid sequences of peptides derived from in-gel digestion of MoFTI were determined. Both the extract and MoFTI caused lysis of T. cruzi trypomastigotes with LC of 54.18 ± 6.62 and 41.20 ± 4.28 μg/mL, respectively. High selectivity indices (7.9 to >12) for T. cruzi cells over murine peritoneal macrophages and Vero cells were found for the extract and MoFTI. The results show that MoFTI is a trypanocidal principle of the flower extract.

Seaweeds present a wide variety of interesting bioactive molecules. In the present work we evaluated the biological activity of the dichloromethane/methanol (2:1) extract (DME) from the brown seaweed Dictyota mertensii against Leishmania amazonensis and its cytotoxic potential on mammalian cells. The extract showed significant inhibitory effect on the growth of promastigote forms (IC 50 = 71.60 μg/mL) and low toxicity against mammalian cells (CC 50 = 233.10 μg/mL). The DME was also efficient in inhibiting the infection in macrophages, with CC 50 of 81.4 μg/mL and significantly decreased the survival of amastigote forms within these cells. The selectivity index showed that DME was more toxic to both promastigote (SI = 3.25) and amastigote (SI = 2.86) forms than to macrophages. Increased NO production was observed in treated macrophages suggesting OPEN ACCESSMolecules 2014, 19 14053 that besides acting directly on the parasites, the DME also shows an immunomodulatory effect on macrophages. Drastic ultrastructural alterations consistent with loss of viability and cell death were observed in treated parasites. Confocal microscopy and cytometry analyzes showed no significant impairment of plasma membrane integrity, whereas an intense depolarization of mitochondrial membrane could be observed by using propidium iodide and rhodamine 123 staining, respectively. The low toxicity to mammalian cells and the effective activity against promastigotes and amastigotes, point to the use of DME as a promising agent for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

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Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease cause great impact on social and economic aspects of people living in developing countries. The treatments for these diseases are based on the same regimen for over 40 years, thus, there is an urgent need for the development of new drugs. In this scenario, Asteraceae plants (a family widely used in folk medicine worldwide) are emerging as an interesting source for new trypanocidal and leishmanicidal compounds. Herein, we provide a non-exhaustive review about the activity of plant-derived products from Asteraceae with inhibitory action toward Leishmania spp. and T. cruzi . Special attention was given to those studies aiming the isolation (or identification) of the bioactive compounds. Ferulic acid, rosmarinic acid, and ursolic acid ( Baccharis uncinella DC.) were efficient to treat experimental leishmaniasis; while deoxymikanolide ( Mikania micrantha ) and (+)-15-hydroxy-labd-7-en-17-al ( Aristeguietia glutinosa Lam.) showed in vivo anti- T. cruzi action. It is also important to highlight that several plant-derived products (compounds, essential oils) from Artemisia plants have shown high inhibitory potential against Leishmania spp., such as artemisinin and its derivatives. In summary, these compounds may help the development of new effective agents against these neglected diseases.

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