Branchcabrera9262

BACKGROUND Strongyloides stercoralis is a soil-transmitted helminth, endemic in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in northern Australia with estimates of prevalences up to 60%. Hyperinfection in the setting of immunosuppression is a rare but well-recognised cause of significant morbidity and mortality. However, the morbidity associated with chronic uncomplicated infection is less well characterised. METHODS This retrospective case-control study measured the prevalence of symptoms potentially attributable to S. stercoralis infection and their association with seropositivity. Records of primary healthcare presentations were reviewed for symptoms in the 12 months before and after an ivermectin mass drug administration (MDA) in a remote Aboriginal community. RESULTS One hundred and seventy-five S. stercoralis seropositive cases were matched with 175 seronegative controls. The most frequently reported symptom overall in the 12 months prior to the MDA was cough followed by abdominal pain, weight loss/malnutrition, diarrhoea and pruritis. Seropositive cases were not more likely than matched controls to have symptoms typically attributed to strongyloidiasis. In the seropositive cohort, we found no difference in symptoms in the 12 months before and after an ivermectin MDA despite a reduction in seroprevalence. CONCLUSION We found no evidence to suggest that S. stercoralis seropositivity was associated with increased symptoms when compared to matched seronegative controls. Treatment with ivermectin did not reduce symptoms in seropositive cases. Without evidence to support that population-based screening or treatment programs reduce symptoms, the emphasis must remain on identifying and managing those few individuals with immunosuppression that predisposes them to potentially life-threatening hyperinfection. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Management of acute cholecystitis in high-risk and non-surgical candidates includes endoscopic (transpapillary or transmural stenting) or percutaneous drainage of the gallbladder (GB).1-5 Endoscopic cannulation of the cystic duct (CD) for transpapillary GB drainage in such cases can be technically challenging and difficult given narrowing of cystic duct orifice from edema, stones and valves in the cystic duct, and angulation of the cystic duct takeoff.1-5 Here we describe a novel technique, using no special equipment that can be utilized for selective CD cannulation in cases of angulated CD takeoff. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.SLC2A3 encodes the predominantly neuronal glucose transporter 3 (GLUT3), which facilitates diffusion of glucose across plasma membranes. The human brain depends on a steady glucose supply for ATP generation, which consequently fuels critical biochemical processes, such as axonal transport and neurotransmitter release. Besides its role in the central nervous system, GLUT3 is also expressed in nonneural organs, such as the heart and white blood cells, where it is equally involved in energy metabolism. In cancer cells, GLUT3 overexpression contributes to the Warburg effect by answering the cell's increased glycolytic demands. The SLC2A3 gene locus at chromosome 12p13.31 is unstable and prone to non-allelic homologous recombination events, generating multiple copy number variants (CNVs) of SLC2A3 which account for alterations in SLC2A3 expression. Recent associations of SLC2A3 CNVs with different clinical phenotypes warrant investigation of the potential influence of these structural variants on pathomechanisms of neuropsychiatric, cardiovascular, and immune diseases. In this review, we accumulate and discuss the evidence how SLC2A3 gene dosage may exert diverse protective or detrimental effects depending on the pathological condition. Cellular states which lead to increased energetic demand, such as organ development, proliferation, and cellular degeneration, appear particularly susceptible to alterations in SLC2A3 copy number. We conclude that better understanding of the impact of SLC2A3 variation on disease etiology may potentially provide novel therapeutic approaches specifically targeting this GLUT. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Cellular Physiology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.Solitary pulmonary capillary hemangiomas (SPCHs) are recently recognized, rare benign lesions that form solitary nodules owing to capillary proliferation. These lesions are usually detected incidentally as small ground-glass nodules (GGNs) on computed tomography (CT), and progressively enlarge over time. The radiological distinction from peripheral lung cancers is particularly challenging. However, to date, there have been no reports on progressive changes in the central density of SPCH on CT. An asymptomatic 49-year-old man was referred to our hospital for an abnormal shadow that was detected on chest CT during medical check-up. He was subsequently followed-up with chest CT. The nodule increased in size, and the central area became progressively denser. He underwent surgery 5 years and 10 months after the first visit owing to suspicion of lung cancer. Despite the collapse of the surgical specimen by artifacts, histopathological examination revealed a diagnosis of SPCH; collagenous fibers were found in the walls of the intralesional capillaries. The patient is presently alive without any recurrence, 6 months after the operation. In this case, the SPCH demonstrated a GGN with progressively increasing density of the central solid area on the CT. This remarkable feature made the preoperative distinction from lung cancer particularly difficult. © 2020 Japanese Society of Pathology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a major cause of infection related morbidity and mortality in kidney transplantation. The most significant risk for developing CMV infection after transplant depends upon donor (D) and recipient (R) CMV serostatus. In 2012, our Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) began a novel pre transplant CMV prevention strategy via matching deceased kidney donors and recipients by CMV serostatus. Prior to the matching protocol, our distribution of seropositive and seronegative donors and recipients were similar to the United States at large. After the matching protocol, high risk D+R- were reduced from 18.5% to 2.9%, while low risk D-R- were increased from 13.5% to 24%. There was no adverse effect on transplant rates and no differential effect on waiting times for R+ vs R- after the protocol was implemented. This protocol could be implemented on a regional or national level to optimize low and high risk CMV seroprofiles and potentially improve CMV related outcomes in kidney transplantation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Yersinia ruckeri causes enteric redmouth disease (ERM) that mainly affects salmonid fishes and leads to significant economic losses in the aquaculture industry. An increasing number of outbreaks and the lack of effective vaccines against some serotypes necessitates novel measures to control ERM. Importantly, Y. ruckeri survives in the environment for long periods, presumably by forming biofilms. How the pathogen forms biofilms and which molecular factors are involved in this process, remains unclear. Yersinia ruckeri produces two surface-exposed adhesins, belonging to the inverse autotransporters (IATs), called Y. ruckeri invasin (YrInv) and Y. ruckeri invasin-like molecule (YrIlm). Here, we investigated whether YrInv and YrIlm play a role in biofilm formation and virulence. Functional assays revealed that YrInv and YrIlm promote biofilm formation on different abiotic substrates. Confocal microscopy revealed that they are involved in microcolony interaction and formation, respectively. The effect of both IATs on biofilm formation correlated with the presence of different biopolymers in the biofilm matrix, including extracellular DNA, RNA and proteins. Moreover, YrInv and YrIlm contributed to virulence in the Galleria mellonella infection model. Taken together, we propose that both IATs are possible targets for the development of novel diagnostic and preventative strategies to control ERM. © 2020 The Authors. Environmental Microbiology published by Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.CLINICAL RELEVANCE Choroideremia is a progressive X-linked inherited rod-cone dystrophy. Patients present with nyctalopia and progressive visual field loss, but visual acuity remains well preserved early on. This study showed that low-luminance visual acuity may be a useful clinical outcome measure during earlier disease stages. BACKGROUND Choroideremia is a progressive X-linked inherited rod-cone dystrophy. Patients present with nyctalopia and progressive visual field loss. However, visual acuity remains well preserved until late in the disease process, limiting its usefulness as a clinical trial endpoint across the disease spectrum. Visual acuity measurements under low-luminance and low-contrast conditions may be affected sooner and have been suggested as early markers in other ocular diseases. This study assesses whether low-luminance visual acuity and low-contrast visual acuity provide useful endpoints in choroideremia clinical trials. METHOD Standard high-contrast and low-luminance visual acuity was obtaance. A strong positive correlation was found between low-luminance and high-contrast visual acuities (ρ = 0.818, p  less then  0.001) and 2.5 per cent low-contrast and high-contrast visual acuities (ρ = 0.671, p  less then  0.001). CONCLUSION The low-luminance visual acuity test may be a useful additional clinical trial outcome measure for early-to-moderate disease, when high-contrast visual acuity is preserved. © 2020 The Authors. Clinical and Experimental Optometry published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Optometry Australia.Uncultured members of the Chloroflexi phylum are highly enriched in numerous subseafloor environments. Their metabolic potential was evaluated by reconstructing 31 Chloroflexi genomes from 6 different subseafloor habitats. The near ubiquitous presence of enzymes of the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway, electron bifurcation, and ferredoxin-dependent transport-coupled phosphorylation indicated anaerobic acetogenesis was central to their catabolism. Most of the genomes simultaneously contained multiple degradation pathways for complex carbohydrates, detrital protein, aromatic compounds, and hydrogen, indicating the coupling of oxidation of chemically-diverse organic substrates to ubiquitous CO2 reduction. Such pathway combinations may confer a fitness advantage in subseafloor environments by enabling these Chloroflexi to act as primary fermenters and acetogens in one microorganism without the need for syntrophic H2 consumption. While evidence for catabolic oxygen respiration was limited to two phylogenetic clusters, the presence of genes encoding putative reductive dehalogenases throughout the phylum expanded the phylogenetic boundary for potential organohalide respiration past the Dehalococcoidia class. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. check details This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.