Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of the method of Fast Elimination of Malaria by Source Eradication (FEMSE) in Moheli island of Comoros. Methods Based on the FEMSE project, parasite positive cases were given a standard treatment course of ARTEQUICK (artemisinin plus piperaquine) plus primaquine: two tablets for adults at 0 hour and two tablets at 24 hours, a total of 4 tablets during one treatment course. One time of Mass Drug Administration (MDA) was for the children with parasite carrier rate less than 10%. Two times of MDA was for the children with parasite carrier rate more than 10%, and the interval between the two MDA was 42 days. Coverage rate for MDA and population carrier rate were observed. Results The number of people taking the first MDA of Artequick-Primaquine was 32,519 (the whole population registered at the same time being 37,243, 367 infants under 6 months old not involved), and the coverage rate for MDA was 88.2%. The population involved in the second MDA was 35,370 (the whole population registered at the same time being 37,112, 335 infants under 6 months old not involved), and the coverage rate for MDA was 96. 2%. Parasite carrier rate was 22.95% (281/ 1,224) before MDA, 1.41% (28/1, 987) two months after MDA and 0. 33% (8/2,458) four months after MDA, with a decrease of 98.56% . Conclusion The decrease of parasite carrier rate from 22. 95% to 0. 33% before and after MDA indicates that MDA of Artequick-Primaquine based on FEMSE can decrease the parasite carrier rate in a short time, without any obvious side effects. Further decrease of parasite carrier rate and incidence will be achieved if the measures for clearing malaria are fully implementated during the consolidation phase.

Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is one of the most common complications in coronavirus disease 2019 patients suffering from acute lung injury (ALI). In ARDS, marked distortion of pulmonary architecture has been reported. The pulmonary lesions in ARDS include hemodynamic derangements (such as alveolar edema and hemorrhage), vascular and bronchiolar damage, interstitial inflammatory cellular aggregations, and eventually fibrosis. Bleomycin induces ARDS-representative pulmonary damage in mice and rats; therefore, we used bleomycin model mice in our study. Recently, Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) was implicated in the development of ARDS and ALI. Methods: In this study, we evaluated the efficiency of a TLR9 blocker (ODN2088) on bleomycin-induced pulmonary damage. We measured the apoptosis rate, inflammatory reaction, and fibroplasia in bleomycin- and bleomycin + ODN2088-treated mice. Results: Our results showed a significant amelioration in bleomycin-induced damage to pulmonary architecture following ODN2088 treatment. A marked decrease in pulmonary epithelial and endothelial apoptosis rate as measured by cleaved caspase-3 expression, inflammatory reaction as indicated by tumor necrosis factor α expression, and pulmonary fibrosis as demonstrated by Van Gieson staining and α-smooth muscle actin immunohistochemistry were observed following ODN2088 treatment. Conclusions All these findings indicate that blocking downstream TLR9 signaling could be beneficial in prevention or mitigation of ARDS through hemodynamic derangements, inflammation, apoptosis, and fibrosis.

BACKGROUND: Skeletal muscle injuries are frequent clinical challenges due to associated fibrosis and disability.Regenerative medicine is an emerging promising strategy for such cases. The aim of this study was to compare between the effects of bone marrow-mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) versus adipose tissue stromal cells (ADSCs) on regeneration and re-innervation of skeletal muscle laceration injury in Wistar rats at different time intervals. METHODS: Six young male rats were used as a source of allogenic MSCs. Eighty-four adult female rats were divided into: Group I (control), Group II (Untreated Laceration): right gluteal muscle was lacerated and left for spontaneous healing, Group III (BM-MSCs): right gluteal muscle was lacerated with concomitant local intramuscular injection of 1 x 106 BM-MSCs in the lacerated muscle, Group IV (ADSCs): right gluteal muscle was lacerated with concomitant local intramuscular injection of 1 x 106 ADSCs in lacerated muscle. Rats were sacrificed after one, two and eight weeks.Muscles were processed to prepare sections stained with H&E, Mallory’s trichrome and immune-histochemical staining (neurofilament light chain). RESULTS: A significant increase in collagen fibers and failure of re-innervation were noticed in untreated laceration group. BM-MSCs-treated groups showed regeneration of muscle fibers but with increased collagen fibers. Meanwhile, ADSCs showed better regenerative effects evidenced by significant increase in the number of myotubes and significant decrease in collagen deposition. Re-innervation was noticed in MSCs-injected muscles after 8 weeks of laceration. CONCLUSION Both BM-MSCs and ADSCs improved regeneration of skeletal muscle laceration injury at short- and long-term durations. However, fibrosis was less in ADSCs-treated rats. Effective re-innervation of injured muscles occurred only at the long-term duration.

BACKGROUND: Skeletal muscle injuries are frequent clinical challenges due to associated fibrosis and disability.Regenerative medicine is an emerging promising strategy for such cases. The aim of this study was to compare between the effects of bone marrow-mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) versus adipose tissue stromal cells (ADSCs) on regeneration and re-innervation of skeletal muscle laceration injury in Wistar rats at different time intervals. METHODS: Six young male rats were used as a source of allogenic MSCs. Eighty-four adult female rats were divided into: Group I (control), Group II (Untreated Laceration): right gluteal muscle was lacerated and left for spontaneous healing, Group III (BM-MSCs): right gluteal muscle was lacerated with concomitant local intramuscular injection of 1 x 106 BM-MSCs in the lacerated muscle, Group IV (ADSCs): right gluteal muscle was lacerated with concomitant local intramuscular injection of 1 x 106 ADSCs in lacerated muscle. Rats were sacrificed after one, two and eight weeks.Muscles were processed to prepare sections stained with H&E, Mallory’s trichrome and immune-histochemical staining (neurofilament light chain). RESULTS: A significant increase in collagen fibers and failure of re-innervation were noticed in untreated laceration group. BM-MSCs-treated groups showed regeneration of muscle fibers but with increased collagen fibers. Meanwhile, ADSCs showed better regenerative effects evidenced by significant increase in the number of myotubes and significant decrease in collagen deposition. Re-innervation was noticed in MSCs-injected muscles after 8 weeks of laceration. CONCLUSION Both BM-MSCs and ADSCs improved regeneration of skeletal muscle laceration injury at short- and long-term durations. However, fibrosis was less in ADSCs-treated rats. Effective re-innervation of injured muscles occurred only at the long-term duration.