Impact of pyrethroid-impregnated curtains on Phlebotomus papatasi sandflies indoors at Khartoum, Sudan

Laboratory and field investigations were made in an endemic focus of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Khartoum State, Sudan, to evaluate the effects of permethrin-impregnated curtains on the human-biting activity, nocturnal activity and resting behaviour of the vector sandfly Phlebotomus papatasi (Diptera: Psychodidae) indoors. Laboratory bioassays showed that curtains impregnated with 0.5, 1.0 or 1.5 g/m2 permethrin all gave 100% mortality within 24h of exposure of P. papatasi for 3 min. Under natural field conditions, the biting activity indoors and the resting density of P. papatasi were significantly reduced (P<0.001 and P=0.036, respectively) in rooms provided with permethrin-impregnated curtains as compared to control rooms left without curtains or fitted with unimpregnated curtains. No significant difference was found between the numbers of nocturnally active P. papatasi collected in rooms provided with impregnated curtains and rooms left without curtains or provided with unimpregnated curtains (P=0.377). Evidently P. papatasi was not repelled by these doses of permethrin on curtains, but the survival rate of sandflies collected from test rooms provided with permethrin-impregnated curtains was significantly reduced (P=0.036). We conclude that use of permethrin-impregnated curtains may provide a good control method for P. papatasi and other endophilic and/or endophagic sandfly vectors of leishmaniasis.     

Exercise without weight loss is an effective strategy for obesity reduction in obese individuals with and without Type 2 diabetes.

It is unclear whether chronic exercise without caloric restriction or weight loss is a useful strategy for obesity reduction in obese men with and without Type 2 diabetes (T2D). We examined the effects of exercise without weight loss on total and regional adiposity and skeletal muscle mass and composition in lean men and in obese men with and without T2D. Twenty-four men participated in 13 wk of supervised aerobic exercise, five times per week for 60 min at a moderate intensity (approximately 60% peak oxygen uptake). Total and regional body composition was measured by magnetic resonance imaging. Skeletal muscle composition was determined using computed tomography. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed using a graded maximal treadmill test. Body weight did not change within any group in response to exercise (P > 0.1). Significant reductions in total, abdominal subcutaneous, and visceral fat were observed within each group (P < 0.01). The reduction in total and abdominal subcutaneous fat was not different (P > 0.1) between groups; however, the reduction in visceral fat was greater (P < 0.01) in the obese and T2D groups by comparison to the lean group. A significant (P < 0.01) increase in total skeletal muscle, high-density muscle area, and mean muscle attenuation was observed independent of group, and these changes were not different between groups (P > 0.1). Accordingly, whole body fat-to-muscle ratio was increased (P < 0.01) independent of groups. In conclusion, regular exercise without weight loss is associated with a substantial reduction in total and visceral fat and in skeletal muscle lipid in both obesity and T2D.