Delirium is a common, serious, yet poorly understood syndrome. Growing evidence suggests cerebral metabolism is fundamentally disturbed; however, it has not been investigated using 2-F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) in delirium. This prospective study thus explored FDG PET patterns of cerebral glucose metabolism in older inpatients with delirium. A particular emphasis was on the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), a key region for attention, which is a central feature of delirium. Delirium scans were compared with post-delirium scans using visual analysis and semi-quantitative analysis with NeuroQ; 13 participants (8 female, median 84 y) were scanned during delirium, and 6 scanned again after resolution. On visual analysis, cortical hypometabolism was evident in all participants during delirium (13/13), and improved with delirium resolution (6/6). Using NeuroQ, glucose metabolism was higher post-delirium in the whole brain and bilateral PCC compared to during delirium ( p < 0.05). Greater metabolism in both PCCs correlated with better performance on a neuropsychological test of attention, the WAIS-IV Digit Span Test forwards, and with shorter delirium duration. This research found widespread, reversible cortical hypometabolism during delirium and PCC hypometabolism was associated with inattention during delirium.

Plasmodium falciparum resistance to artemisinin has emerged in the Greater Mekong Subregion and now poses a threat to malaria control and prevention. Recent work has identified mutations in the kelch propeller domain of the P. falciparum K13 gene to be associated artemisinin resistance as defined by delayed parasite clearance and ex vivo ring stage survival assays. Species specific primers for the two most prevalent human malaria species, P. falciparum and P. vivax, were designed and tested on multiple parasite isolates including human, rodent, and non- humans primate Plasmodium species. The new protocol described here using the species specific primers only amplified their respective species, P. falciparum and P. vivax, and did not cross react with any of the other human malaria Plasmodium species. We provide an improved species specific PCR and sequencing protocol that could be effectively used in areas where both P. falciparum and P. vivax are circulating. To design this improved protocol, the kelch gene was analyzed and compared among different species of Plasmodium. The kelch propeller domain was found to be highly conserved across the mammalian Plasmodium species.

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