Arboviruses as an unappreciated cause of non-malarial acute febrile illness in the Dschang Health District of western Cameroon.

Acute febrile illness is a common problem managed by clinicians and health systems globally, particularly in the Tropics. In many regions, malaria is a leading and potentially deadly cause of fever; however, myriad alternative etiologies exist. Identifying the cause of fever allows optimal management, but this depends on many factors including thorough knowledge of circulating infections. Arboviruses such as dengue (DENV) cause fever and may be underdiagnosed in sub-Saharan Africa where malaria is a major focus. We examined cases of fever in western Cameroon that tested negative for malaria and found 13.5% (13/96) were due to DENV, with 75% (9/12) of these being DENV serotype 2 infections. Two complete DENV2 genomes were obtained and clustered closely to recent isolates from Senegal and Burkina Faso. The seroprevalence of DENV in this region was 24.8% (96/387). Neutralizing antibodies to DENV2 were detected in all (15/15) seropositive samples tested. Chikungunya (CHIKV) is an arthritogenic alphavirus that is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, the same principal vector as DENV. The seroprevalence for CHIKV was 15.7% (67/427); however, CHIKV did not cause a single case of fever in the 96 subjects tested. Of note, being seropositive for one arbovirus was associated with being seropositive for the other (Χ2 = 16.8, p<0.001). Taken together, these data indicate that Aedes-transmitted arboviruses are endemic in western Cameroon and are likely a common but underappreciated cause of febrile illness. This work supports the need for additional study of arboviruses in sub-Saharan Africa and efforts to improve diagnostic capacity, surveillance systems, and arbovirus prevention strategies.

Cytotoxic Effect of Spondias cytherea Fruit Extract in Murine Melanoma Model In Vivo and In Vitro.

Cancer is a disease resulting from the deregulation of cell growth control, caused by an interaction between dietary, genetic, and environmental risk factors. Melanoma accounts for about 4% of cancers diagnosed; however they represent 75% of skin cancer-related deaths, with the incidence and death rates having increased globally over the past few decades. Spondias cytherea is a plant from the family Anacardiaceae. Its usage in the treatment of wounds, sores, and burns is reported from several countries, but the anticancer effects of the fruit have not yet been studied. We thus set out to evaluate the effects of S. cytherea fruit extract (SpE) on the epithelial to mesenchymal transition in the mouse melanoma model. B16-F10 cells cultured in varying concentrations of SpE showed a dose-dependent reduction in the ability to form colonies, which then migrate to fill up the wounded area. SpE downregulated the expression of AKT/nuclear factor kappa B/cyclooxygenase-2 (Akt/NF-κB/COX-2) responsible for cell proliferation, and reduced CD133 expression. This led to in vivo tumor shrinkage at the dose of 450 mg/kg body weight (bw). Low-level expression of vimentin on mesenchymal cells and increased E-cadherin expression on epithelial cells were observed in treated cells. The number of vasculogenic mimicry tubes that formed also decreased significantly at 450 mg/kg bw. These results suggest that S. cytherea fruit can become a useful source for chemotherapeutic drugs in the future.