Barefoot Plantar Pressure Indicates Progressive Neurological Damage in Patients with Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 Infection

Background

The human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 (HTLV-1) is a retrovirus associated with neurological alterations; individuals with HTLV-1 infection may develop HTLV-1 associated myelopathy / tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). Frequent neurological complaints include foot numbness and leg weakness. In this study, we compared the distribution of the body weight on different areas of the foot in HTLV-1 patients with HAM/TSP, asymptomatic HTLV-1 patients, and healthy individuals.

Methodology

We studied 36 HTLV-1 infected patients, who were divided in two groups of 18 patients each based on whether or not they had been diagnosed with HAM/TSP, and 17 control subjects. The evaluation included an interview on the patient’s clinical history and examinations of the patient’s reflexes, foot skin tactile sensitivity, and risk of falling. The pressure distribution on different areas of the foot was measured with baropodometry, using a pressure platform, while the patients had their eyes open or closed.

Main Findings

The prevalence of neurological disturbances—altered reflexes and skin tactile sensitivity and increased risk of falling—was higher in HTLV-1 HAM/TSP patients than in HTLV-1 asymptomatic patients. The medium and maximum pressure values were higher in the forefoot than in the midfoot and hindfoot in both HTLV-1 groups. In addition, the pressure on the hindfoot was lower in HAM/TSP patients compared to control subjects.

Conclusions

The neurological disturbances associated with HTLV-1 infection gradually worsened from HTLV-1 asymptomatic patients to HAM/TSP patients. Baropodometry is a valuable tool to establish the extent of neurological damage in patients suffering from HTLV-1 infection.     

Aldosterone Induces Renal Fibrosis and Inflammatory M1-Macrophage Subtype via Mineralocorticoid Receptor in Rats

We aimed to evaluate macrophages heterogeneity and structural, functional and inflammatory alterations in rat kidney by aldosterone + salt administration. The effects of treatment with spironolactone on above parameters were also analyzed. Male Wistar rats received aldosterone (1 mgkg^-1d^-1) + 1% NaCl for 3 weeks. Half of the animals were treated with spironolactone (200 mg kg^-1d^-1). Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were elevated (p<0.05) in aldosterone + salt–treated rats. Relative kidney weight, collagen content, fibronectin, macrophage infiltrate, CTGF, Col I, MMP2, TNF-α, CD68, Arg2, and SGK-1 were increased (p<0.05) in aldosterone + salt–treated rats, being reduced by spironolactone (p<0.05). Increased iNOS and IFN-γ mRNA gene expression (M1 macrophage markers) was observed in aldosterone + salt rats, whereas no significant differences were observed in IL-10 and gene ArgI mRNA expression or ED2 protein content (M2 macrophage markers). All the observed changes were blocked with spironolactone treatment. Macrophage depletion with liposomal clodronate reduced macrophage influx and inflammatory M1 markers (INF-γ or iNOS), whereas interstitial fibrosis was only partially reduced after this intervention, in aldosterone plus salt-treated rats. In conclusion, aldosterone + salt administration mediates inflammatory M1 macrophage phenotype and increased fibrosis throughout mineralocorticoid receptors activation.     

Long-Lasting Immune Protection and Other Epidemiological Findings after Chikungunya Emergence in a Cambodian Rural Community,April 2012

The East/Central/South African genotype of Chikungunya virus with the E1-A226V mutation emerged in 2011 in Cambodia and spread in 2012. An outbreak of 190 cases was documented in Trapeang Roka, a rural village. We surveyed 425 village residents within 3–4 weeks after the outbreak, and determined the sensitivity and specificity of case definitions and factors associated with infection by CHIKV. Self-reported clinical presentation consisted mostly of fever, rash and arthralgia. The presence of all three clinical signs or symptoms was identified as the most sensitive (67%) and specific (84%) self-reported diagnostic clinical indicator compared to biological confirmation by MAC-ELISA or RT-PCR used as a reference. Having an indoor occupation was associated with lower odds of infection compared with people who remained at home (adjOR 0.32, 95%CI 0.12–0.82). In contrast with findings from outbreaks in other settings, persons aged above 40 years were less at risk of CHIKV infection, likely reflecting immune protection acquired when Chikungunya circulated in Cambodia before the Khmer Rouge regime in 1975. In view of the very particular history of Cambodia, our epidemiological data from Trapeang Roka are the first to support the persistence of CHIKV antibodies over a period of 40 years.     

Is it really you,Orthotrichum acuminatum? Ascertaining a new case of intercontinental disjunction in mosses

Intercontinental disjunct distributions are a main issue in current biogeography. Bryophytes usually have broad distribution ranges and therefore constitute an interesting subject of study in this context. During recent fieldwork in western North America and eastern Africa, we found new populations of a moss morphologically similar to Orthotrichum acuminatum. So far this species has been considered to be one of the most typical epiphytic mosses of the Mediterranean Basin. The new findings raise some puzzling questions. Do these new populations belong to cryptic species or do they belong to O. acuminatum, a species which then has a multiple‐continent disjunct range? In the latter case, how could such an intercontinental disjunction be explained? To answer these questions, an integrative study involving morphological and molecular approaches was conducted. Morphological results reveal that Californian and Ethiopian samples fall within the variability of those from the Mediterranean Basin. Similarly, phylogenetic analyses confirm the monophyly of these populations, showing that O. acuminatum is one of the few moss species with a distribution comprising the western Nearctic, the western Palaearctic and Palaeotropical eastern Africa. Pending a further genetic and phylogeographical study to support or reject the hypothesis, a process of long‐distance dispersal (LDD) is hypothesized to explain this distribution and the origin of the species is suggested to be the Mediterranean Basin, from where diaspores of the species may have migrated to California and Ethiopia. The spore release process in O. acuminatum is revisited to support the LDD hypothesis, © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2016, 180 , 30–49.     

Circadian rhythm in locomotor activity in the burrower crayfish Procambarus acanthophorus (Villalobos 1948)

Crayfish Procambarus acanthophorus is a burrower that spends long periods building deep tunnels to reach the water table during the dry season; thus, its survival entertains a close ecological relationship with the sediment. The aim of this work was to determine whether the properties of the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity could be modified by the sediment availability. Experiments were conducted in both aquaria filled with sediment or filled with water, under cycles of Bright and Dim Illumination (BI:DI, 12:12 h) or under continuous DI:DI. The rhythm of locomotor activity was entrained with the photoperiod in aquaria with sediment or water; however, statistical differences between conditions were obtained comparing the period and the level of activity under free-running. These data suggest that the substrate’s sensorial perception could be encoded as a significant ecological parameter that exerts influence in the physiological mechanisms that control the temporal order in P. acanthophorus.     

Diversity and trophic structure of insects associated with grains of three maize landraces in San Agustín Loxicha,Oaxaca, Mexico

Diversity and trophic structure of grain insect communities were examined in Olotillo, Nal‐Tel and Comiteco maize landraces cultivated within a milpa agroecosystem by Zapotec ethnic groups in Mexico. Higher insect diversity was expected in Olotillo, whose cultivation comprises a wide variety of agroecosystems, and low insect abundance in Nal‐Tel with small grains and thick testa. Forty Olotillo cobs were collected at low, medium and high elevations, and 40 each of Nal‐Tel at low elevation and Comiteco at high elevation. Cobs were monitored for 30 days under controlled laboratory conditions until all insects emerged. Thickness of testa of 400 grains from each landrace was measured. Community composition and trophic structure were described and standard diversity indices were estimated. A total of 9,708 insects, corresponding to five orders, 24 families and 36 species, were recorded, with six species not previously reported in this region. Insect guilds were composed of 70% phytophages, 22% parasitoids and 8% predators. Species richness was S = 27, 16 and 8 in Olotillo, Comiteco and Nal‐Tel, respectively. Nal‐Tel and Olotillo had the highest diversity index values (H′ = 1.32 and 1.2, respectively) and no significant differences; Comiteco had the lowest value (H′ = 0.65) and differed significantly from the other landraces. Comiteco and Olotillo, which have large grains and thin testa, showed higher insect abundance than Nal‐Tel, which has small grains and thick testa and showed lower abundance. Results support our hypotheses and highlight the role of traditional crop management in insect agrobiodiversity maintenance and conservation.     

Fischerella thermalis: a model organism to study thermophilic diazotrophy,photosynthesis and multicellularity in cyanobacteria

Extremophiles - The true-branching cyanobacterium Fischerella thermalis (also known as Mastigocladus laminosus) is widely distributed in hot springs around the world. Morphologically, it has been...