Possible zoonotic implications of the discovery of the advanced third stage larva of Gnathostoma turgidum (Spirurida: Gnathostomatidae) in a Mexican fish species.

Gnathostomiasis in humans is acquired by consumption of any infected second intermediate host or paratenic host. This includes amphibians, snakes and poultry as well as fish. In this work we report for the first time in Mexico the presence of an AdvL3 of Gnathostoma turgidum in the musculature of a wild fish (Gobiomorus dormitor, which also acts as intermediate host for the larvae of G. binucleatum and G. lamothei), from the Papaloapan River, Veracruz; previously, larvae of G. turgidum had only been recorded in amphibians in Mexico and in wild swamp eels from Tampa, Florida, USA. The larva found is extremely small (approximately 1,500 by 140 microns in length and width, respectively), and was obtained by artificial digestion with pepsin after examining the musculature against the light between two glass plates, a method by which it went unnoticed. Our finding of an AdvL3 in this fish, together with a previous molecular phylogenetic analysis revealing that the five species involved in human infections do not nest in the same clade, suggest that all species in the genus are potentially zoonotic. In this context, we strongly recommend the identification of larvae extracted from human patients at specific level, in order to know the role played by the 3 species distributed in Mexico in human cases of gnathostomiasis.

Supplementation with Phaseolus vulgaris Leaves Improves Metabolic Alterations Induced by High-Fat/Fructose Diet in Rats Under Time-Restricted Feeding.

Time-restricted feeding and food enriched in polyphenols are strategies to prevent or reduce metabolic disorders. Bean leaves (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) are a recognized source of polyphenolic compounds, whose effects on metabolic pathways are not well studied. We evaluated the combined effects of dietary supplementation with Phaseolus vulgaris leaves (10% w/w) (BL) and a 7-h daytime-restricted feeding protocol (RF) under a hypercaloric diet (high fat + high fructose) (HFFD) on the metabolic parameters related to glucose and lipid handling. Adult male Wistar rats were treated for 8 weeks with standard and HFFD diets with or without BL. The results showed that RF improved metabolic alterations induced by HFFD (e.g., hepatic steatosis, increased triacylglycerols, and serum lipoproteins). Supplementation with BL significantly enhanced this effect and downregulated the mRNA expression of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism genes in the liver. These results indicate that dietary supplementation with BL enhances the benefits elicited by RF.

Accurate method for rapid biomass quantification based on specific absorbance of microalgae species with biofuel importance.

The development of microalgae culture technology has been an integral part to produce biomass feedstock to biofuel production. Due to this, numerous attempts have been made to improve some operational parameters of microalgae production. Despite this, specialized research in cell growth monitoring, considered as a fundamental parameter to achieve profitable applications of microalgae for biofuels production, presents some opportunity areas mainly related to the development of specific and accurate methodologies for growth monitoring. In this work, predictive models were developed through statistical tools that correlate a specific micro-algal absorbance with cell density measured by cell count (cells∙per ml), for three species of interest for biofuels production. The results allow the precise prediction of cell density through a logistic model based on spectrophotometry, valid for all the kinetics analysed. The adjusted determination coefficients ( r adj 2 ) for the developed models were 0·993, 0·995 and 0·994 for Dunaliella tertiolecta, Nannochloropsis oculata and Chaetoceros muelleri respectively. The results showed that the equations obtained here can be used with an extremely low error (≤2%) for all the cell growth ranges analysed, with low operational cost and high potential of automation. Finally, a user-friendly software was designed to give practical use to the developed predictive models.