Cutaneous Lesions in Blastocystis hominis Infection

Valsecchi, R.; Leghissa, P.; Greco, Vincenzo

doi:10.1080/00015550410025949

Cited by 56 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Interestingly, accumulating case reports also suggest a causal link between Blastocystis and cutaneous lesions (19,28,39,90,115,120,148,184,278). In those studies, the presence of the parasite was seen concurrently in patients with acute or chronic urticaria (19,28,115,278), delayed-pressure urticaria (39), angioedema (148), and palmoplantar pruritis (120). Treatment of the parasite leads to the resolution of both the infection and cutaneous lesions.…”

Section: Infection and Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was also suggested that Blastocystis molecules may activate the complement pathway with the generation of anaphylotoxins C3a and C5a. The interactions of these molecules with mast cells and basophils induce histamine release and subsequent related skin disorders (278). Some studies suggested an association between Blastocystis infection and the use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory medications, although the significance of this association is unknown (28,90).…”

Section: Infection and Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The symptoms from this group were abdominal pain (76.9%), diarrhea (50%), distention (32.6%), and urticaria (5.7%), suggesting an association between parasite density and pathology. Other signs and symptoms associated with Blastocystis infections include fecal leukocytes (60,89,116,206,208,280), eosinophilia (75,124,161,215,280,307), and cutaneous rashes, particularly urticaria (19,28,278).…”

Section: Infection and Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Future studies should investigate the presence of Blastocystis-specific IgE as an indication of parasitespecific allergic responses. The possibility of IgE-independent allergy mechanisms also exists and should be considered (278), since some studies showed that patients with Blastocystis-associated urticaria have IgE levels within the normal range (39,80,115,184,278). Eosinophils were recently postulated to play a direct role in the pathology of urticaria (226), and it may be interesting to investigate if there is any association between Blastocystis and eosinophil-mediated urticaria.…”

Section: Infection and Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In instances where treatment is warranted, metronidazole is the most frequently prescribed antibiotic (39,155,161,165,267,278). Various drug regimens for metronidazole have been prescribed, ranging from 250 to 750 mg three times a day for 10 days (155, 161, (184) or cotrimoxazole (TMP-SMX) (16).…”

Section: Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extreme anoxia tolerance in embryos of the annual killifishAustrofundulus limnaeus: insights from a metabolomics analysis

Podrabsky

Lopez

Fan

et al. 2007

Journal of Experimental Biology

129

154

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SUMMARY The annual killifish Austrofundulus limnaeus survives in ephemeral pond habitats by producing drought-tolerant diapausing embryos. These embryos probably experience oxygen deprivation as part of their normal developmental environment. We assessed the anoxia tolerance of A. limnaeus embryos across the duration of embryonic development. Embryos develop a substantial tolerance to anoxia during early development, which peaks during diapause II. This extreme tolerance of anoxia is retained during the first 4 days of post-diapause II development and is then lost. Metabolism during anoxia appears to be supported mainly by production of lactate, with alanine and succinate production contributing to a lesser degree. Anoxic embryos also accumulate large quantities of γ-aminobutyrate (GABA), a potential protector of neural function. It appears that the suite of characters associated with normal development and entry into diapause II in this species prepares the embryos for long-term survival in anoxia even while the embryos are exposed to aerobic conditions. This is the first report of such extreme anoxia tolerance in a vertebrate embryo, and introduces a new model for the study of anoxia tolerance in vertebrates.

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