BackgroundVisceral leishmaniosis is a potentially life-threatening illness caused by a protozoan parasite of the genus Leishmania. It is found mainly in areas where both the parasite and its vector are endemic and is one of the most challenging infectious diseases in the world to control. HIV infected patients are vulnerable to Leishmania infections, and the main reservoir hosts of Leishmania infantum parasites are domestic dogs. Here, we evaluated the long-term efficacy of treatment with meglumine antimoniate plus allopurinol (G1) compared to miltefosine plus allopurinol (G2) in dogs naturally infected L. infantum.MethodsEighteen dogs with leishmaniosis were divided into the following two groups: G1 (n = 9) was treated subcutaneously with meglumine antimoniate (100 mg/kg/day/30 days) plus allopurinol (10 mg/kg/per day/30 days), while G2 (n = 9) was treated orally with miltefosine (2 mg/Kg/day/30 days) plus allopurinol (10 mg/kg/day/30 days). Thereafter, the same dose of allopurinol was administered to both groups for 6 years. Leishmania DNA in lymph node aspirates from the G1 and G2 dogs was quantified by real-time quantitative PCR at baseline and every 3 months for 24 months, and then at 28, 36, 48, 60 and 72 months. At each assessment, the dogs were examined for signs of disease, and their clinical scores were recorded.ResultsBoth combination therapies produced significant clinical improvements in the dogs, with a significant reduction in the parasitic load in the lymph nodes of the dogs from both groups after 3 months of treatment. Clinical relapses were observed in four dogs from G2 (miltefosine/allopurinol), and just one dog from G1 (meglumine antimoniate/allopurinol). All dogs that relapsed had increased clinical scores, and increased anti-Leishmania antibody titers and parasitic loads in their lymph nodes.ConclusionsLong-term, the clinical and laboratory findings of the G1 dogs were more stable than those of the G2 dogs, thus indicating that meglumine antimoniate had better clinical efficacy than miltefosine. The results suggest that treatment with allopurinol as a maintenance therapy is crucial for stabilizing the care of canine leishmaniosis.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-015-0896-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. This content downloaded from 129.96.252.188 on Tue, 29 Dec 2015 17:38:08 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions REVIEWS MANUALS AND INDEXES Folklore. Storia, Obbietto, Metodo, Bibliografia. By Raffaele Corso. (Naples: R. Pironti e Figli, fourth edition, 1953. Pp. 226, photographs, appendices.)As many readers may know, Raffaele Corso, pupil of the great Italian folklorist Giuseppe Pitre, has for many years held the chair of ethnography at the Istituto Universitario Orientale of Naples, and is the able editor of Folklore. Rivista di tradizioni popolari, which he founded in 1925.Twenty years have passed since Corso published his manual of folklore (Rome, I923). That this handbook was well received is attested by the fact that a 2d edition was issued in 1943, and a 3d in 1946. Corso's book is a real contribution to the study of folklore, for, when he wrote it, no one had thought of writing a book that would give the folklorist the fundamental principles of his discipline, and orient him in the field of folkloristic research. Paul Sebillot's Le folklore, it is true, had already appeared in France, but in this work there was nothing concerning the history, objectives, schools, or bibliography of folklore. It was only after the publication of Corso's manual that other similar works began to appear in Latin countries: A. Van Gennep's Le folklore (I924) in France, and G. Cocchiara's Folklore (1927) in Italy. After the 2d and 3d editions of Corso's book, other important works of a kin nature were written in Italy: G. Cocchiara's Gli studi delle tradizioni popolari in Italia (1947) and Storia del folklore in Europa (1952), and P. Toschi's little volume II folklore (1951). Since Corso's manual was first published, great progress has been made in Italy in the study and teaching of folklore; indeed, at the present time folklore is taught in many of the country's universities.The latest edition of Corso's manual is not merely a reprinting of the older ones; 3I4 3I4Journal of American Folklore Journal of American Folklore monials were rendered to him in Italy and abroad. Highly significant was the Festschrift volume published in his honor under the auspices of the Argentine Asociacion Tucumana de Folklore, in which appeared writings by more than 60 scholars on both sides of the Atlantic.

Canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) due to Leishmania infantum infection is a zoonotic disease prevalent in the areas of South America and the Mediterranean. Infected dogs as reservoirs can contribute to disease transmission and can be a scourge to public health. Therefore, early diagnosis of infected dogs may play a pivotal role in circumscribing disease progression. Invasive tissue aspiration and insufficient serological methods impair a single assay for prompt CVL diagnosis. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the potential of Leishmania donovani isolated membrane protein, LAg, for the diagnosis of CVL through immunological assays. Initially, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was done with Brazilian dog sera to evaluate the performance of LAg in diagnosing CVL and found sensitivity and specificity of 92.50% and 95%, respectively. The study further confirmed the diagnostic efficacy of LAg in a dipstick format. The dipstick test of canine sera from three centers in Brazil and one center in Italy collectively showed sensitivity values in the range of 53.33% to 100% in recognizing symptomatic dogs and specificity values between 75% and 100% to rule out healthy dogs. Moreover, a rapid immunochromatographic test was developed and optimized using LAg. This test was able to identify 94.73% of CVL of Brazilian origin with specificity of 97.29%. The current results highlight the reactive potential of the L. donovani antigen, LAg, for L. infantum CVL diagnosis and support our previous findings, which suggest the utility of LAg for the diagnosis of both L. donovani and L. infantum human VL in a variety of endemic regions. LAg as a diagnostic candidate may be employed to identify comprehensive CVL cases in epidemiological areas.