Observaciones autoecológicas en Liolaemus nitidus (Lacertilia: Iguanidae)

In an attempt to provide background information that may lead to a more comprehensive understanding of the genus Liolaemus, the paper documents some basic features of the autecology of Liolaemus nitidus. The study was carried out at two typical localities where L. nitidus is found: at the coast north of Santiago de Chile, and at the Andes ranges east of Santiago. The following parameters were investigated: microhabitat utilization, preferred body temperatures, diet, weight of gonads and of fat bodies, and frequency of regenerated tails. The main findings reported are:

1. Liolaemus nitidus is preferentially a rock‐dweller, although, when available, it can also be found perching on branches of the bromeliad Puya chilensis.

2. Preferred field body temperatures, evaluated with a quick‐registering Schultheis thermometer, indicate that L. nitidus has a preferendum of about 35.4°C. This mean preferred body temperature is not statistically different from the laboratory preferendum reported in the literature.

3. The diet of L. nitidus was found to vary with body size. Small individuals tend to eat mostly insects, whereas larger individuals tend to have more plant material in their guts. Total gut content is nevertheless relatively heavier for small than for large individuals. These facts are interpreted in the light of previous results obtained with Liolaemus species, and in relation to food availability. Regarding food availability, the above results are consistent with the hypothesis that arthropods are relatively scarce in the xerophytic areas where L. nitidus lives, and therefore these lizards complement their diet with plant material. Arthropod content of the guts was analyzed by size and taxonomic order. The findings are that mean prey size, and size of the largest and of the smallest prey in each stomach tend to be positively correlated with body size of the lizard, thus suggesting prey selectivity. On the other side, the orders most preyed upon by L. nitidus are Coleopterans, Hymenopterans (fundamentally ants), and Homopterans.

4. Correlations between either relative gonad weight or relative weight of the fat bodies, versus dry weight of the lizards are significant and positive. These results suggest that L. nitidus is a relatively K‐selected species, where there is a premium for somewhat delayed reproduction and perhaps larger clutches. Heavier fat bodies in the mountain population are interpreted in terms of length of the growing season and different needs to accumulate energy reserves for the unfavorable season.

5. Frequency of regenerated tails is greater in adults than in juveniles, but does not differ between sexes, suggesting that risk of predation would be more associated with the span of time the lizard is exposed to the environment than with differential behavior of males and females.

Results are interpreted and compared, when available, with data for other Liolaemus species.

These comparisons suggest that L. nigromaculatus and L. chiliensis, two species of similar size and ecological requirements as to L. nitidus, could be among the potentially severest competitors in limiting the geographic distribution of this species.     

Antígenos del paracoccidioides brasiliensis para las Reacciones serológicas

Summary The sera from normal subjects gave negative results with the following antigens used in the complement-fixation tests: 1) polysaccharide prepared according toFava Netto's technic; 2) a filtrate of shaked cultures followingAjello et al.'s technic; 3) an aqueous extract of mechanically disrupted yeast cells ofP. brasiliensis.The sera from patients of S.A. blastomycosis gave positive c.f. tests with the three antigens with titer ranging from 1/20 to 1/5, 160. Antigen No 2 gave in 11/18 cases higher titers than the other antigens.Immunodiffusion tests gave positive results with the antigen no 2. The sera from 10 cases of histoplasmosis gave cross reactions with the antigen No 3, in 5/10 cases with the antigen No 2 and in not any case with the antigen No 1.     

Características Neuropsicológicas y Aproximación Diagnóstica a la Demencia Parkinson y a la Demencia por Cuerpos de Lewy

When approaching the neurophysiological characteristics and diagnostic approach to Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD) and Lewy body dementia (LBD), the first idea that comes to mind is that both types of dementia fall within the group of subcortical dementias, with the practical implications that this observation entails. We should therefore leave our knowledge of Alzheimer's dementia and other cortical dementias to one side as, in most cases, these forms of dementia do not correspond clinically or diagnostically to subcortical dementias. Therefore, the clinical and therapeutic approach of PDD and LBD differs from that of cortical dementias in form, if not in essence.     

Revisión Crítica de Investigaciones y Literatura Micológicas Durante Los Años 1950–1960 en Ecuador

Sumario En este trabajo se hace una revisión de los artículos publicados sobre Micología Médica, durante la década de 1950 a 1960, en la República del Ecuador.Por el estudio de este material se advierte que por el esfuerzo de pocos investigadores se ha logrado poner de manifiesto, en el período considerado, la mayor parte de las afecciones micósicas que tienen importancia en Patología humana y que, como era de esperarse, existían en el País.Conviene señalar que por el accidente geográfico de los Andes, el Ecuador posee por un lado, regiones típicamente tropicales en la parte del litoral y en la región oriental o amazónica y por otro lado una serie de matices climáticos cuando se asciende desde las planicies hasta la meseta interandina de clima templado o frío. Por ello en este trabajo se menciona siempre la procedencia de los pacientes, la cual se ubica fácilmente en el mapa que se adjunta.Las micosis superficiales por dermatofitos se encuentran tanto en la costa como en la sierra, pero en la primera región se reparten por igual los casos de microsporias y de tricoficias, en tanto que en la sierra predominan las microsporias.En la costa se han identificado las siguientes especies de dermatofitos:T. tonsurans, T. rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, T. violaceum yT. album;M. canis, M. Audouinii yM. gypseum. Hasta ahora no hay datos ciertos de la existencia deT. Schoenleinii en el País.De micosis profundas se describieron casos de Blastomicosis Sudamericana, Histoplasmosis, Coccidioidomicosis, Cromoblastomicosis, Rhinosporidiosis, Criptococcosis, Geotricosis, Micetomas y Moniliasis.La mayor parte de estas afecciones se encontraron en sitios de la costa, que es zona en general baja, cálida y húmeda.Sin embargo, los casos de Coccidioidomicosis procedieron de valles de la sierra, que no obstante encontrarse en esa región tienen clima semi-tropical. Aún más, alguno de los casos de Blastomicosis Sudamericana ocurrió en uno de esos valles.En el examen de tierras para investigar hongos patógenos, se encontró entre los dermatofitos,M. gypseum yT. mentagrophytes. En 109 muestras de tierra de provincias de la costa y sierra, se encontró dos vecesH. capsulatum, 1 vezCriptococcus sp., dos vecesNocardias y varias veces especies del géneroAspergillus.

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Summary In this paper a survey is made of published articles about Medical Mycology during the decade 1950 to 1960 in the Republic of Ecuador.Through the study of this material it is noticed that due to the efforts of only a few investigatiors it has been possible to discover, during this period, most of the mycotic affections which are important in human pathology, and as it was expected they really existed in the country.It is convenient to mention that due to the geographical site of the Andes, Ecuador has for one side, typical tropical regions at the part of the litoral and to the oriental region; and for another side several climatic conditions when going up from the low lands to the interandean plateau with a temperate or cold climate. That is why the origin of the patients is always mentioned which is easily located on the included map.The superficial mycoses due to dermatophytes are found in the coastal as in the interandean region, but in the first one the cases of microspories and tricophyties are equaly distributed, meanwhile in the interandean zone the microspories predominate over the other.The following species have been identified on the coast:T. tonsurans, T. rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, T. violaceum andT. album; M. canis, M. Audouinii andM. gypseum. Until now there are no sure facts about the existence ofT. Schoenleinii in the country.The following deep mycoses have been observed: South American Blastomycosis, Histoplasmosis, Coccidioidomycosis, Chromoblastomycosis, Rhinosporidiosis, Cryptococcosis, Geotricosis, Mycetomas and Moniliasis.The greatest part of these affections were found in places of the coast, which is a zone generally low, warm, and humid.However, the cases of Coccidioidomycosis originated from valleys of the interandean zone.Even more, some of the cases of South American Blastomycosis occurred in one of those valleys.In soil surveys, in order to investigate pathogens, there were found among dermatophytes,M. gypseum andT. mentagrophytes. From 109 samples of soils from litoral and interandean provinces, there occurred: twiceH. capsulatum, onceCriptoccocus spp., twiceNocardias and many times species ofAspergillus genus.

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Director del Instituto Nacional de Higiene Leopoldo Izquieta Perez Guayaquil-Ecuador.     

Diagnóstico microbiológico de las micosis invasoras

The prognosis of invasive fungal infections (IFI) depends on the speed of diagnosis and treatment. Conventional diagnostic methods are of low sensitivity, laborious and too slow, leading to the need for new, faster, and more efficient diagnostic strategies.There are several techniques for diagnosing a candidemia that are faster than the conventional blood culture (BC). Once yeast growth in BC is detected, species identification can be speeded up by mass spectrometry (30 minutes), commercialised molecular techniques (60-80 minutes) or fluorescent in situ hybridization (90 minutes). The combined detection of biomarkers (antimicellium, mannan and anti-mannan or β-glucan) has shown to be of greater use than their individual use. Commercialised nucleic acid amplification techniques (Septifast®, T2Candida®) are very reliable alternatives to BC. The detection of the capsular antigen of Cryptococcus, by means of latex agglutination or immuno-chromatography, is a valuable technique for cryptococcosis diagnosis.Direct microscopic examination and culture of representative specimens is used for the conventional diagnosis of IFI by filamentous fungi. Detection of galactomannan and β-glucan are considered diagnostic criteria for probable invasive aspergillosis and probable IFI, respectively, despite the lack of specificity of the latter. The detection of fungal volatile organic compounds in breath is an interesting diagnostic strategy in pulmonary infections. Although widely used, nucleic acid detection techniques are not considered diagnostic criteria for IFIs caused by moulds in consensus documents, due to their lack of standardisation. However, they are the only alternative to culture methods in invasive infections by Scedosporium/Lomentospora, Fusarium, zygomycetes, or dematiaceous fungi.     

Valoración de la utilidad del test de estimulación intraarterial con calcio en el diagnóstico de localización del hiperinsulinismo endógeno

Background and objectiveThe aim of this study was to assess the utility of arterial calcium stimulation with hepatic venous sampling (ASVS) in the localization of tumors in patients with endogenous hyperinsulinism not detected with other methods.Patients and methodsWe performed a retrospective study of 26 patients admitted to our hospital for hypoglycemia who underwent ASVS because the source of hyperinsulinism was not clearly identified by other imaging techniques. The histopathological result in patients who underwent a surgical procedure was considered the reference for statistical study of the accuracy of this technique. Statistical analysis was performed by comparing proportions with the chi-squared test with Yates’ correction for contingency tables, and Cohen′s kappa coefficient as a measure of interrater agreement between two observations.ResultsSurgery was performed in 17 patients, 13 with positive ASVS and the remaining four with negative results. An insulinoma was removed in 12 patients, and 10 of these were detected in the ASVS. A total of 76.9 % of positive ASVS tests corresponded to a histological diagnosis of insulinoma, and 83% of these insulinomas were positive in ASVS. This association was statistically significant (chi cuadrado = 7.340; p = 0.012). Two of three patients with nesidioblastosis had a positive response in the ASVS. A good and statistically significant agreement was obtained between histopathologic diagnosis and ASVS results (κ=0.556, p = 0.007).ConclusionsASVS is a useful procedure in the localization diagnosis of endogenous hyperinsulinism not detected by other imaging tests. This technique allows tumors in the pancreatic gland to be identified and may be useful in the choice of the surgical technique to be used.