The Vivax Surveyor: Online mapping database for Plasmodium vivax clinical trials.

INTRODUCTION: Recurrent P. vivax infections are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Although radical cure can reduce recurrent infection, it is confounded by antimalarial resistance and the lack of safe and effective hypnozoitocidal treatment. This study documents the available literature of published clinical trials of P. vivax, providing an up to date, online, open access tool to view and download available information. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines to identify prospective P. vivax therapeutic clinical trials with at least 28 days follow-up published between 1st January 1960 and 12th October 2016. Treatment arms and evidence of chloroquine resistance were mapped to trial sites. RESULTS: Since 1960, a total of 1152 antimalarial clinical trials with a minimum 28 days follow-up have been published, of which 230 (20.0%) enrolled patients with P. vivax and were included. Trials were conducted in 38 countries: 168 (73.0%) in the Asia-Pacific, 13 (5.7%) in Africa and 43 (18.7%) in the Americas. The proportion of antimalarial trials assessing P. vivax rose from 10.7% (12/112) in 1991-1995, to 24.9% (56/225) in 2011-2015. Overall, 188 (81.7%) P. vivax trials included a chloroquine treatment arm, either alone or in combination with primaquine, and 107 (46.5%) trials included a chloroquine treatment arm with early primaquine to assess radical cure. There has been a recent increase in treatment arms with artemisinin derivatives. Of the 131 sites in which chloroquine resistance could be quantified, resistance was present in 59 (45.0%) sites in 15 endemic countries. CONCLUSIONS: Over the last 20 years there has been a substantial increase in clinical research on the treatment of P. vivax, which has generated a greater awareness of the global extent of chloroquine resistance. The WWARN open access, online interactive map provides up to date information of areas where drug resistant P. vivax is emerging.

Screening of antimicrobial activities in red, green and brown macroalgae from Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain).

Extracts from 44 species of seaweed from Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) were screened for the production of antibacterial and antifungal compounds against a panel of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, mycobacteria, yeasts and fungi. A total of 28 species displayed antibacterial activity, of which six also showed antifungal activity. Asparagopsis taxiformis and Cymopolia barbata were the species with the strongest activities against the broadest spectrum of target microorganisms. All the species with antibacterial activity were active against gram-positive bacteria, whereas only two species, A. taxiformis and Osmundea hybrida, were active against mycobacteria. The production of secondary metabolites with antimicrobial activities by the macroalgae was also studied under different conditions, although no common trend for bioactivity was observed.

Screening of basidiomycetes for antimicrobial activities.

As a part of a screening programme developed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of basidiomycetes, 317 isolates representing 204 species collected in Spain were screened against a range of human clinical pathogens and laboratory controls. Extracts from 45% of the isolates, representing 109 species, showed antimicrobial activity. Antibacterial activity was more pronounced than antifungal activity. The proportion of extracts from basidiomycetes showing antimicrobial activity was similar to or above that obtained for representative orders of Ascomycetes, such as Pezizales and Xylariales, but lower than that produced by members of the orders Diaporthales, Eurotiales, Hypocreales, Leotiales and Sordariales. Suprageneric taxa (orders and families) did not show pronounced differences in their antimicrobial activities though such differences were observed at the genus level, suggesting that the ability to produce these bioactive compounds is not homogenously distributed amongst the basidiomycetes. Isolates from some species showed large differences in their ability to produce metabolites with antimicrobial activity, possibly reflecting genetic differences at the infraspecific level.