Ocular toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by the infection with Toxoplasma gondii through congenital or acquired routes. Once the parasite reaches the retina, it proliferates within host cells followed by rupture of the host cells and invasion into neighboring cells to make primary lesions. Sometimes the restricted parasite by the host immunity in the first scar is activated to infect another lesion nearby the scar. Blurred vision is the main complaint of ocular toxoplasmic patients and can be diagnosed by detection of antibodies or parasite DNA. Ocular toxoplasmosis needs therapy with several combinations of drugs to eliminate the parasite and accompanying inflammation; if not treated it sometimes leads to loss of vision. We describe here clinical features and currently available chemotherapy of ocular toxoplasmosis.
Animals ; Antiprotozoal Agents/therapeutic use ; Humans ; Toxoplasma/*isolation & purification ; Toxoplasmosis, Ocular/*drug therapy/parasitology

Leishmaniasis, a neglected disease caused by Leishmania protozoans, primarily affects people in tropical and subtropical areas. Chemotherapy based on the use of pentavalent antimonials, amphotericin B, paromomycin, miltefosine and liposomal amphotericin B is currently the only effective treatment. However, adverse effects, long-term treatment and the emergence of parasite resistance have led to the search for alternative treatments. Natural products used in traditional medicine provide an unlimited source of molecules for the identification of new drugs, and the Amazon region has abundant biodiversity that includes several species of plants and animals, providing a rich source of new products and compounds. Although the literature describes numerous promising compounds and extracts for combating Leishmania protozoans, the results of such research have not been embraced by the pharmaceutical industry for the development of new drugs. Therefore, this review focused on the antileishmanial activity of extracts, isolated compounds and essential oils commonly used by the local population in the Brazilian Amazonian region to treat several illnesses and described in the literature as promising compounds for combating leishmaniasis.
Animals ; Antiprotozoal Agents ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Brazil ; Humans ; Leishmania ; drug effects ; genetics ; growth & development ; Leishmaniasis ; drug therapy ; parasitology ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

Post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) is a rare disease. This is a solitary case report from Orissa, India. We describe a case of PKDL in a 55-year-old male who presented with multiple nodular lesions over face, trunk, and extremities. The patient had been to an endemic area of kala-azar and had a previous history of leishmaniasis. Fine needle aspiration cytology samples from skin nodules revealed Leishmania amastigotes.
Antimony Sodium Gluconate/therapeutic use ; Antiprotozoal Agents/therapeutic use ; Humans ; India ; Leishmania/isolation & purification ; Leishmaniasis, Visceral/diagnosis/drug therapy/*parasitology/pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Skin/*parasitology/pathology

Babesia gibsoni is an intraerythrocytic apicomplexan parasite that causes piroplasmosis in dogs. B. gibsoni infection is characterized clinically by fever, regenerative anemia, splenomegaly, and sometimes death. Since no vaccine is available, rapid and accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment of infected animals are required to control this disease. Over the past decade, several candidate molecules have been identified using biomolecular techniques in the authors' laboratory for the development of a serodiagnostic method, vaccine, and drug for B. gibsoni. This review article describes newly identified candidate molecules and their applications for diagnosis, vaccine production, and drug development of B. gibsoni.
Animals ; Antigens, Protozoan/*diagnostic use/*immunology ; Antiprotozoal Agents/*isolation & purification/pharmacology ; Babesia/*drug effects/immunology/*isolation & purification ; Babesiosis/*diagnosis/drug therapy/prevention & control ; Dogs ; Drug Discovery/methods ; Protozoan Vaccines/*immunology

OBJECTIVETo identify more effective and less toxic drugs to treat animal toxoplasmosis.

METHODSEfficacy of seven kinds of sulfonamides against Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) in an acute murine model was evaluated. The mice used throughout the study were randomly assigned to many groups (10 mice each), which either remained uninfected or were infected intraperitoneally with tachyzoites of T. gondii (strains RH and CN). All groups were then treated with different sulfonamides and the optimal treatment protocol was determined candidates. Sulfadiazine-sodium (SD) was used for comparison.

RESULTSThe optimal therapy involved gavaging mice twice per day with 250 mg/kg bw of sulfachloropyrazine-sodium (SPZ) for five days. Using this protocol, the average survival time and the time-point of 50% fatalities were prolonged significantly compared with SD treatment. Treatment with SPZ protected 40% of mice from death, and the heart and kidney tissue of these animals was parasite-free, as determined by nested-PCR. SPZ showed excellent therapeutic effects in the treatment of T. gondii in an acute murine model and is therefore a promising drug candidate for the treatment and prevention of T. gondii in animals.

CONCLUSIONSIt can be concluded that the effective drug sulfachloropyrazine may be the new therapeutic options against animal toxoplasmosis.

Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Antiprotozoal Agents ; administration & dosage ; DNA, Protozoan ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Heart ; parasitology ; Kidney ; parasitology ; Mice ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sulfanilamides ; administration & dosage ; Survival Analysis ; Toxoplasma ; drug effects ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Toxoplasmosis ; drug therapy ; Treatment Outcome

No abstract available.
Albendazole/therapeutic use ; Animals ; Antiprotozoal Agents/therapeutic use ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Eosinophilia/*diagnosis ; Humans ; Liver Abscess/*diagnosis/parasitology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Toxocara canis/*isolation & purification ; Toxocariasis/*diagnosis/drug therapy/parasitology

In November 2007, a 46-year-old male Thai patient presented with chronic abdominal pain for over 3 years. Colonoscopy revealed a small parasite of about 2 x 1 mm in size attached to the cecum mucosa. The worm was removed endoscopically, fixed, and stained for morphological observations. The specimen was identified as Anchitrema sanguineum (Digenea: Anchitrematidae), a trematode first reported in a reptile, Chamaeleo vulgaris, from Egypt, and then sporadically found in the intestines of insectivorous bats and other mammals. The patient was treated with praziquantel but no more worms were found in his stool. His symptoms improved slightly but not cured completely. It remains unclear whether the chronic abdominal pain of the patient was caused by this trematode infection. Whatever is the pathogenicity of this trematode, this is the first human case of A. sanguineum infection in the literature.
Abdominal Pain/*etiology ; Animals ; Antiprotozoal Agents/therapeutic use ; Cecum/parasitology ; Colonoscopy ; Humans ; Intestinal Mucosa/parasitology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Praziquantel/therapeutic use ; Thailand ; Trematoda/*isolation & purification ; Trematode Infections/*diagnosis/drug therapy/pathology

OBJECTIVEFor the birth, to improve the quality of the population, to explore the prevention and treatment of early pregnancy TORCH infection, and treatment of patients with positive eugenics and guidance.

METHODSEnzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) testing of all the objects in the peripheral blood-money pathogen-specific antibodies LgM. Person in charge of testing. In strict accordance with the instructions. Reagents from Shanghai magnolia biotechnology institute.

RESULTThe total number of 319 cases of positive, with a total infection rate: 3.28%, TOX-IgM, RV-IgM, CMV-IgM, HSV (II)-IgM infection rate of 0.103 percent, 2.64 percent and 0.309 percent, 0.237 percent; 319 cases of TORCH infected persons are to receive treatment for the treatment of wrap, with a total negative rate of 97.49 percent.

CONCLUSIONDetection of TORCH infections to ensure early diagnosis, early treatment and early prevention is necessary.

Antibodies, Protozoan ; blood ; immunology ; Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; immunology ; Antiprotozoal Agents ; therapeutic use ; Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; Cytomegalovirus ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin M ; blood ; immunology ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious ; drug therapy ; immunology ; parasitology ; virology ; Rubella virus ; drug effects ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; Simplexvirus ; drug effects ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; Toxoplasma ; drug effects ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; Treatment Outcome

Plants used for traditional medicine contain a wide range of substances that can be used to treat various diseases such as infectious diseases. The present study was designed to evaluate the antileishmanial effects of the essential oil and methanolic extract of Myrtus communis against Leishmania tropica on an in vitro model. Antileishmanial effects of essential oil and methanolic extract of M. communis on promastigote forms and their cytotoxic activities against J774 cells were evaluated using MTT assay for 72 hr. In addition, their leishmanicidal activity against amastigote forms was determined in a macrophage model, for 72 hr. Findings showed that the main components of essential oil were alpha-pinene (24.7%), 1,8-cineole (19.6%), and linalool (12.6%). Findings demonstrated that M. communis, particularly its essential oil, significantly (P<0.05) inhibited the growth rate of promastigote and amastigote forms of L. tropica based on a dose-dependent response. The IC50 values for essential oil and methanolic extract was 8.4 and 28.9 mug/ml against promastigotes, respectively. These values were 11.6 and 40.8 mug/ml against amastigote forms, respectively. Glucantime as control drug also revealed IC50 values of 88.3 and 44.6 mug/ml for promastigotes and amastigotes of L. tropica, respectively. The in vitro assay demonstrated no significant cytotoxicity in J774 cells. However, essential oil indicated a more cytotoxic effect as compared with the methanolic extract of M. communis. The findings of the present study demonstrated that M. communis might be a natural source for production of a new leishmanicidal agent.
Animals ; Antiprotozoal Agents/isolation & purification/*pharmacology/toxicity ; Cell Line ; Cell Survival/drug effects ; Cyclohexanols/isolation & purification/pharmacology/toxicity ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Leishmania tropica/*drug effects/physiology ; Macrophages/drug effects ; Mice ; Monoterpenes/isolation & purification/pharmacology/toxicity ; Myrtus/*chemistry ; Oils, Volatile/isolation & purification/*pharmacology/toxicity ; Plant Extracts/isolation & purification/*pharmacology/toxicity

Plants used for traditional medicine contain a wide range of substances that can be used to treat various diseases such as infectious diseases. The present study was designed to evaluate the antileishmanial effects of the essential oil and methanolic extract of Myrtus communis against Leishmania tropica on an in vitro model. Antileishmanial effects of essential oil and methanolic extract of M. communis on promastigote forms and their cytotoxic activities against J774 cells were evaluated using MTT assay for 72 hr. In addition, their leishmanicidal activity against amastigote forms was determined in a macrophage model, for 72 hr. Findings showed that the main components of essential oil were alpha-pinene (24.7%), 1,8-cineole (19.6%), and linalool (12.6%). Findings demonstrated that M. communis, particularly its essential oil, significantly (P<0.05) inhibited the growth rate of promastigote and amastigote forms of L. tropica based on a dose-dependent response. The IC50 values for essential oil and methanolic extract was 8.4 and 28.9 mug/ml against promastigotes, respectively. These values were 11.6 and 40.8 mug/ml against amastigote forms, respectively. Glucantime as control drug also revealed IC50 values of 88.3 and 44.6 mug/ml for promastigotes and amastigotes of L. tropica, respectively. The in vitro assay demonstrated no significant cytotoxicity in J774 cells. However, essential oil indicated a more cytotoxic effect as compared with the methanolic extract of M. communis. The findings of the present study demonstrated that M. communis might be a natural source for production of a new leishmanicidal agent.
Animals ; Antiprotozoal Agents/isolation & purification/*pharmacology/toxicity ; Cell Line ; Cell Survival/drug effects ; Cyclohexanols/isolation & purification/pharmacology/toxicity ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Leishmania tropica/*drug effects/physiology ; Macrophages/drug effects ; Mice ; Monoterpenes/isolation & purification/pharmacology/toxicity ; Myrtus/*chemistry ; Oils, Volatile/isolation & purification/*pharmacology/toxicity ; Plant Extracts/isolation & purification/*pharmacology/toxicity