The presence of leukocytes in ex vivo assays significantly increases the 50-percent inhibitory concentrations of artesunate and chloroquine against Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum.

Plasmodium species ex vivo sensitivity assay protocols differ in the requirement for leukocyte removal before culturing. This study shows that the presence of leukocytes significantly increases the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of P. vivax and P. falciparum to artesunate and chloroquine relative to results with the paired leukocyte-free treatment. Although leukocyte removal is not an essential requirement for the conduct of ex vivo assays, its use has important implications for the interpretation of temporal and spatial antimalarial sensitivity data.

The effect of multimodal stimulation and cutaneous application of vegetable oils on neonatal development in preterm infants: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Preterm newborns admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit are deprived of sensory stimulation. Tactile/kinaesthetic stimulation results in weight gain. Studies involving the cutaneous application of vegetable oils have shown improvement in somatic growth and on skin barrier function. OBJECTIVE: To assess the neurodevelopmental and biological benefits of the simultaneous use of multimodal stimulation (SMS) and the cutaneous application of vegetable oils. Setting Tertiary referral centre serving the Poitou-Charentes region of France. METHODS: Randomized controlled trial of 49 low-risk preterm infants, born at 31- to 34-week gestation. Each infant was randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups, Sensori-Tonico-Motor (STM) touch for 10 days with either: sweet almond oil, ISIO4 blended oil, or placebo - normal saline, or to a control group who did not receive any intervention. The primary outcome was weight gain. Secondary outcomes were linear growth, neurological maturation, psychomotor development and number of days of admission. Analysis was by intention-to-treat. RESULTS: The group who received STM with ISIO4 oil demonstrated enhanced weight gain (+57%, 95% CI 37-76) compared with controls (P = 0.030). All STM groups showed shorter admission times (mean reduction 15 days, 95% CI 23-50 days hospitalised, P = 0.005), and an increase in body length (P = 0.030). Both groups of oil massaged babies (almond and ISIO4) showed an increased neurological score (P = 0.001) compared to controls. The infants receiving ISIO4 oil had an associated increase in psychomotor scores (P = 0.028), time spent in quiet wakefulness (P = 0.036), improved orientation (P = 0.036), and enhanced development of the oculomotor (P = 0.012) and sensorimotor (P = 0.003) systems. An additional benefit seen was improved moisturization (P = 0.001), and quicker recovery of dermatological conditions. No adverse dermatological events were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of STM and cutaneous application of oils to healthy preterm babies resulted in enhanced weight gain and neurological development, and a shorter stay in hospital.

Mucociliary clearance in adult asthma.

Severe impairment of mucociliary clearance (MC) in hospitalized asthmatics has recently been demonstrated in peripheral and central airways. MC was also shown to improve with clinical recovery and hospital discharge (2). In the present study, we measure MC in chronic, stable asthma in subjects with a wide range of obstruction to see if MC was related to the severity of chronic disease. We separated the subjects into those with severe obstruction with expiratory flow limitation during tidal breathing (FL subjects) and those without tidal flow limitation (NFL subjects) to see if the presence of chronic flow limitation was associated with regional MC abnormalities. Seventeen asthmatic patients were studied. Mucociliary clearance was assessed using inhaled radioaerosol and serial measurements of the retention of radioactivity over 2 h. By controlling breathing pattern, the initial pattern of deposition in the lungs was matched, with all subjects having a predominance of particles in the central airways. This pattern was normalized for regional lung volume using a xenon equilibrium scan and expressed as a specific central to peripheral (sC/P) ratio. The percentage retention of deposited radioactivity at 120 min ranged from 19 to 83% (mean, 52%). FL subjects had a mean retention at 120 min of 66% (range, 55 to 83%). The NFL subjects had a mean retention at 120 min of 33% (range, 19 to 51%). Throughout the 2-h study period, retention by the FL group was significantly greater than that of the NFL group with separation of 95% confidence intervals.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)