[Interferon gamma as an immunological strategy for the treatment of human leishmaniasis]. / El interferon gamma com estrategia immunológica para el tratamiento de la leishmaniasis humana.

T lymphocytes from patients with visceral leishmaniasis treated in vitro with leishmania antigens are unable to proliferate and to produce gamma interferon. These patients have negative specific skin tests. Opposite results are obtained in patients with another clinical form of the disease named mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, in which both tests are positive. Nevertheless, patients with visceral leishmaniasis or mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, refractory to chemotherapy (antimonium complex), were cured when treated with antimonium in combination with gamma interferon, in spite of different immunological profiles. Different interpretative hypotheses of the reversion of chemoresistance induced by gamma interferon are discussed.

Clinical healing of antimony-resistant cutaneous or mucocutaneous leishmaniasis following the combined administration of interferon-gamma and pentavalent antimonial compounds.

In an open trial, longer courses of pentavalent antimonials (Sbv) at sub-optimal doses (10 mg/kg body weight), in association with recombinant human interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) (100 micrograms/m2 of body surface area) were administered, by daily intramuscular injections, to 13 patients with diagnoses of cutaneous or mucocutaneous leishmaniasis unresponsive to Sbv. Four patients presented with large skin ulcers, and 9 had mucosal involvement as the main manifestation, the latter affecting the nose (3 cases), nose and septum (2 cases), nose and oral cavity (1 case), and nose, pharynx and larynx (3 cases). Except for one case with severe involvement of the upper respiratory tract, the lesions were fully resolved by the end of therapy (mean duration 40 +/- 12 [SD] d, range 30-60 d) in the 11 patients who completed therapy. The main side effects were headache and fever (7 cases), together with leucopenia and eosinophilia (4 cases). It is concluded that combined administration of low doses of Sbv plus IFN-gamma may provide a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of antimony-resistant cutaneous or mucocutaneous leishmaniasis. The possible mechanisms by which IFN-gamma contributes to resolution of the disease are discussed.

El interferon gamma como estrategia inmunologica para el tratamiento de la leishmaniasis humana / The interferon gamma as an immunological strategy for the human leishmaniasis treatment

Los enfermos afectados de leishmaniasis visceral poseen tests cutáneos específicos negativos. Los linfocitos T de esos enfermos no proliferan ni sintetizan interferon gamma cuando son tratados in vitro por los antígenos de leishmanias. Se observa lo inverso en las leishmaniasis cutáneo-mucosas donde los tests son positivos. Sin embargo, los enfermos refractarios al tratamiento por antimonio, presentando una u otra de estas dos formas de leishmaniiasis, curan cuando son tratados por antimonio combinado al interferon gamma. Numerosas interpretaciones de la inversión de la resistencia a la quimioterapia inducida por interferon gamma pueden ser considaeradas: acción sobre el sistema de tipo MDR (multidrug resistance), modulación de las sub-poblaciones linfocitarias o acción sobre las poblaciones linfocitarias o acción sobre las poblaciones celulares de las lesiones de la leishmaniasis (AU)

El interferon gamma com estrategia immunológica para el tratamiento de la leishmaniasis humana. / [Interferon gamma as an immunological strategy for the treatment of human leishmaniasis]

T lymphocytes from patients with visceral leishmaniasis treated in vitro with leishmania antigens are unable to proliferate and to produce gamma interferon. These patients have negative specific skin tests. Opposite results are obtained in patients with another clinical form of the disease named mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, in which both tests are positive. Nevertheless, patients with visceral leishmaniasis or mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, refractory to chemotherapy (antimonium complex), were cured when treated with antimonium in combination with gamma interferon, in spite of different immunological profiles. Different interpretative hypotheses of the reversion of chemoresistance induced by gamma interferon are discussed.

El interferon gamma como estrategia inmunologica para el tratamiento de la leishmaniasis humana / The interferon gamma as an immunological strategy for the human leishmaniasis treatment

Los enfermos afectados de leishmaniasis visceral poseen tests cutáneos específicos negativos. Los linfocitos T de esos enfermos no proliferan ni sintetizan interferon gamma cuando son tratados in vitro por los antígenos de leishmanias. Se observa lo inverso en las leishmaniasis cutáneo-mucosas donde los tests son positivos. Sin embargo, los enfermos refractarios al tratamiento por antimonio, presentando una u otra de estas dos formas de leishmaniiasis, curan cuando son tratados por antimonio combinado al interferon gamma. Numerosas interpretaciones de la inversión de la resistencia a la quimioterapia inducida por interferon gamma pueden ser considaeradas: acción sobre el sistema de tipo MDR (multidrug resistance), modulación de las sub-poblaciones linfocitarias o acción sobre las poblaciones linfocitarias o acción sobre las poblaciones celulares de las lesiones de la leishmaniasis

[Gonococcal arthritis during pregnancy. Considerations apropos of a case]. / Artritis gonocóccica durante el embarazo. Consideraciones a propósito de un caso.

A pregnant teenager was admitted with uterine contractions, metrorrhagia, migrating polyarthralgia and left knee arthritis with effusion. Disseminated gonococcal infection and arthritis of the knee were diagnosed by bacteriologic methods. Complete recovery followed appropriate antibiotic therapy. The outcome of pregnancy was timely and uneventful.

Lipids and lipogenic enzymes in adipose tissue of castrated male goats.

Male goats ("Criolla Argentina" breed), castrated at 45 days of age, showed altered lipid metabolism 180 days after castration as compared to control goats. Subcutaneous, perirenal and omental adipose tissues of castrated goats showed increases in fatty acid synthetase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and NADP-isocitrate dehydrogenase activities. Castration increased the amount of total lipids and triglycerides, but did not modify the amount of cholesterol, phospholipid and protein in the three types of adipose tissue. The incorporation of [1-14C]acetate into fatty acids of subcutaneous and perirenal adipose tissue was increased in castrated goats in relation to noncastrated goats. Our results suggest that removal of gonadal steroids increases significantly the rate of lipogenesis in adipose tissue of male goats.