Plos One
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Malaria is a major public health problem in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Despite progress achieved over the past decade in the fight against malaria, further efforts have to be done such as in the surveillance and the containment of Plasmodium falciparum resistant strains. ⋯ But new mutations have been identified, especially the M476K, occurred in the same position that the M476I previously identified in the F32-ART strain, strongly resistant to artemisinine. Antimalarial first-line treatments currently in use in Democratic Republic of Congo are not associated with emergence of molecular markers of resistance.
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Burn-induced inflammation leads to impaired immune responses resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. T-cells are central in the immune response and circulating CD4 and CD8 T-cells have been used to evaluate immune status; however, the role of these T-cell subsets in the burn wound is unknown. ⋯ The infiltrating burn wound αβ T-cells likely act to quell inflammation. In contrast wound γδ T-cells were activated with elevated CD4 and CD69 expression. Thus, these two distinct T-cell subsets likely differentially regulate the burn wound inflammatory response.
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Fluid overload is known to be associated with increased mortality in patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) who are critically ill. In this study, we intended to uncover whether the adverse effect of fluid overload on survival could be applied to all of the patients with AKI who received continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). ⋯ Our study demonstrates that the adverse effect of fluid overload on survival is more evident in patients with sepsis or with more severe illness, and that it might not apply to patients without sepsis or with less severe illness.
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Isoflurane anesthesia has been shown to be responsible for cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and development of AD in the older age groups. However, the pathogenesis of AD-related cognitive impairments induced by isoflurane anesthesia remains elusive. Thus, this study was designed to investigate the mechanism by which isoflurane anesthesia caused AD-related cognitive impairments. ⋯ Abeta plaques were observed only in those ISO groups sacrificed at 3 or 7 d. Our data indicate that aged rats exposed to isoflurane had increased APP mRNA expression and APP protein depletion, with Aβ42 peptide overproduction and oligomerization, resulting in formation of Abeta plaques in the hippocampus. Such effects might have contributed to cognitive impairments, including in spatial memory, observed in these rats after isoflurane anesthesia.
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Chronic cocaine use has been associated with impairments in social cognition, self-serving and antisocial behavior, and socially relevant personality disorders (PD). Despite the apparent relationship between Machiavellianism and stimulant use, no study has explicitly examined this personality concept in cocaine users so far. In the frame of the longitudinal Zurich Cocaine Cognition Study, the Machiavellianism Questionnaire (MACH-IV) was assessed in 68 recreational and 30 dependent cocaine users as well as in 68 psychostimulant-naïve controls at baseline. ⋯ However, Machiavellianism was not correlated with measures of cocaine use severity (r<-.15). Both recreational and dependent cocaine users display pronounced and stable Machiavellian personality traits. The lack of correlations with severity of cocaine use and its temporal stability indicates that a Machiavellian personality trait might represent a predisposition for cocaine use that potentially serves as a predictor for stimulant addiction.