Secondary infection of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis in lactating rats is sensitive to dietary protein content.

Lactating mammals usually exhibit a breakdown of immunity to parasites, i.e. they have larger worm burdens than their non-lactating counterparts. Here, we tested the hypothesis that a secondary infection with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis in lactating rats is sensitive to dietary protein content. We also tested whether this infection affects host food intake. Rats either remained uninfected throughout the study or were given a single infection before mating (primary infection) and re-infected on day 2 of lactation (secondary infection) with 1600 infective larvae. Infected rats were fed foods during lactation formulated to supply 100 (low protein; LP), 200 (medium protein; MP) or 300 (high protein; HP) g crude protein per kg DM; non-infected rats were fed either the LP or HP food. Litter size was standardized to ten pups between parturition (day 0) and secondary infection (day 2). Ten days after secondary infection, MP and HP rats had excreted fewer nematode eggs, and had fewer adult nematodes in their small intestine and nematode eggs in their colon than the LP rats. Primary infection increased food intake in late pregnancy, and increased maternal body weight and litter size at parturition. Secondary infection did not affect mean food intake, maternal and litter weight, although food intake was reduced for 1 d following infection. These results support the view that a secondary infection with N. brasiliensis is sensitive to dietary protein content, and that the latter infection does not impair lactational performance. Future studies may focus on elucidating the nutritional sensitivity of immune responses underlying the reduced secondary N. brasiliensis infection.

Clinical and parasitological characteristics of puerperal malaria.

BACKGROUND: Women with semi-immunity to malaria who live in regions where the disease is endemic are at increased risk for more frequent and severe episodes of malaria during pregnancy. Recent findings indicate that this increased risk might persist beyond delivery, but the underlying mechanisms for this change in risk are poorly understood. METHODS: One hundred fifty women were included in a cohort study in Lambaréné, Gabon, and were actively followed up weekly for 10 weeks after delivery, as were nonpregnant control women who had been matched to them by location and age. Parasites in samples of placenta and blood were genotyped by use of polymerase chain reaction amplification of the merozoite surface antigen 2 gene and the subtelomeric variable open reading frame gene of Plasmodium falciparum. RESULTS: Eleven puerperal women had cases of clinical malaria, compared with 1 control woman (rate ratio, 9.8; P=.006). Eighteen puerperal women had P. falciparum parasitemia, compared with 6 control women (rate ratio, 2.7; P=.03). Five of 16 puerperal women (31%) with parasitemia on follow-up had identical parasites in their placentas and blood, and 11 of these cases (69%) were the result of reinfection. Puerperal women remained at equal risk for the development of parasitemia throughout the first 10 weeks after delivery. Use of bed nets, use of chloroquine prophylaxis during pregnancy, presence of malaria episodes during pregnancy, gravidity, and age were not associated with the acquisition of parasitemia during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with nonpregnant women, puerperal women have a considerably increased risk for the development of malaria and/or parasitemia. This increased risk is caused both by the recurrence of P. falciparum parasitemia and by the increased susceptibility to new infections, although the latter plays a more significant role.

Peripartal excretion of Eimeria oocyst by cows on Swedish dairy farms and the age of calves at first excretion.

Faecal samples were collected 3 times a week for 6 weeks from 22 paripartal cows and for up to 15 weeks after birth from 27 calves in 3 herds, to determine the numbers of Eimeria oocysts excreted and the age at which the calves first excreted oocysts. Only low numbers of oocysts were excreted by the cows and no oocysts were detected in 93% of the samples. However, half the cows excreted oocysts at least once. The age at which the calves first excreted oocysts ranged from 2.5 to at least 15 weeks, and there was a significant difference between the herds in their mean age at first excretion. Oocysts of Eimeria alabamensis, E. auburnensis, E. bovis and E. ellipsoidalis were found in numbers ranging from 7 to 8450 oocysts per gram faeces. About 50% of the calves excreted oocysts before they were transferred to group pens. The primary source of infection of the calves was probably their penmates or the previous occupants of the pens, and the cows probably played a subsidiary role.

Prevalence of six sexually transmitted disease agents among pregnant inner-city adolescents and pregnancy outcome.

115 pregnant girls aged 13-17 years were investigated during the third trimester for endocervical infection with six sexually transmissible microorganisms. Specimens from 21 patients destroyed the tissue cell monolayers for propagation of Chlamydia trachomatis, but 11 were no longer toxic when recultured after freezing or with additional antimicrobial agents; Trichomonas vaginalis was present in 76% of the toxic specimens. C trachomatis was recovered from 37% of 105 specimens. T vaginalis was recovered from 34% of the 115 subjects, candida from 38%, Mycoplasma hominis from 70%, and Ureaplasma urealyticum from 90%. Neisseria gonorrhoeae was cultured from 1 of 12 girls infected earlier in pregnancy. T vaginalis infection, alone or with C trachomatis or candida, was associated with low gestational age and low birthweight. C trachomatis and candida infections alone had no effect on pregnancy outcome.

Búsqueda de micoplasmas en 50 casos de sepsis puerperal

Se realiza el estudio de 50 pacientes en dos hospitales de Ciudad de La Habana, para la búsqueda de micoplasmas en casos de infecciones pueroerales; por el mismo tiempo, se toma un grupo 50 puérperas normales como control. A las pacientes se les tomó muestra de loquios y pus (en casos de rafias infectadas); al grupo control se le tomó loquios solamente. Se emplearon materiales y métodos adecuados para el aislamiento de micoplasmas y bacterias (tanto aerobias como anaerobias). En los resultados se encuentra que mayor porcentaje de pacientes que de controles tuvo aislamiento de micoplasmas; esta diferencia fue estadísticamente significativa (P < 0,05). El Ureaplasma urealyticum fue aislado en el 80 (por ciento) del total de los micoplasmas encontraoos, el M hominis en el 15 (por ciento); y el M fermentans en el 5(por ciento) restante(AU)