A TaqMan-based real-time PCR qualitative assay for the detection of three species of malaria parasitesPlasmodium falciparum, P. ovale, and P. vivax-was devised and evaluated using 122 whole-blood samples from patients who had traveled to areas where malaria is endemic and who presented with malaria-like symptoms and fever. The assay was compared to conventional microscopy and to an established nested-PCR assay. The specificity of the new assay was confirmed by sequencing the PCR products from all the positive samples and by the lack of cross-reactivity with Toxoplasma gondii and Leishmania infantum DNA. Real-time PCR assay showed a detection limit (analytical sensitivity) of 0.7, 4, and 1.5 parasites/l for P. falciparum, P. vivax, and P. ovale, respectively. Real-time PCR, like nested PCR, brought to light errors in the species identification by microscopic examination and revealed the presence of mixed infections (P. falciparum plus P. ovale). Real-time PCR can yield results within 2 h, does not require post-PCR processing, reduces sample handling, and minimizes the risks of contamination. The assay can therefore be easily implemented in routine diagnostic malaria tests. Future studies are warranted to investigate the clinical value of this technique.

Detection of Plasmodium ovale by use of a nested PCR assay with a novel Plasmodium ovale primer set was superior to detection of Plasmodium ovale by real-time PCR assays. Nested PCR was also better at detecting P. malariae. The detection of P. ovale in many patients first admitted >2 months following their return to Italy indicated that P. ovale relapses are common.

No abstract

No abstract

Literature has shown that immunosuppression observed in systemic mycosis can be related to damage in primary lymphoid organs. We have studied the immunopathological alterations induced experimentally by Paracoccidioides brasiliensis in these organs. In this work, thymic alterations induced in BALB/c mice during acute and chronic stages of infection are described. It was observed that P. brasiliensis is able to invade the thymic microenvironment, inducing severe atrophy characterized by degeneration of the cortical area, organ weight decrease, loss of corticomedullary delimitation and increase in histiocyte number. Occurrence of polymorphonuclear infiltration in the subcapsular area was also observed. Our results demonstrate that P. brasiliensis induces profound thymic atrophy and raises the question of whether this could be a fungal strategy to achieve successful establishment in the host over the long term.