Chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial effects of Tunisian Limoniastrum guyonianum Durieu ex Boiss extracts.

In the present investigation, extracts obtained from L. guyonianum Durieu ex Boiss. aerial parts were used to evaluate total phenolic, flavonoid and tannin contents. A study of antioxidant activities of the prepared samples was carried out on the basis of 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2-2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenz-thiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS+.) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. Moreover, the efficiency of methanolic, chloroformic and petroleum ether extracts and the deriving fractions from the methanolic extract was tested against human bacterial and fungal pathogenic strains using micro dilution method in 96 multiwell microtiter plate. Furthermore, leaves and stems extracts were subjected to RP-HPLC for phenolic compounds identification. Results showed that polyphenolic contents and antioxidant activities varied considerably as function of solvent polarity. Moreover, antiradical capacities against DPPH, ABTS(+.) and reducing power were maxima in methanol aerial parts extract which showed the highest polyphenol contents (134mg CE/g DW). The antimicrobial activities showed that methanolic, chloroformic and petroleum ether extracts were found to be most potent against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus with MIC values of 23 and 46µ.mL(-1), respectively. The fractions F(13) and F(16) have a great antifungal potential against Candida glabrata, Candida krusei and Candida parapsilesis (MIC=39µ.mL(-1)). The RP-HPLC analysis lead the identification of gallic, procatechuic and trans-cinnamic acids, methyl-4-hydroxybenzoate, n-propyl-3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoate, epicatechin, naringin and myricetin in L. guyonianum Durieu ex Boiss. leaves and stems extracts.

Cutaneous alternariosis in a renal transplant recipient.

Alternariosis is a fungal infection that is usually described in immunocompromised patients. We report a case of cutaneous alternariosis in a renal transplant recipient caused by Alternaria tenuissima. The diagnosis was supported by histopathologic (ie, yeastlike cells, filamentous structures) and mycologic findings from a cutaneous biopsy. Cutaneous lesions regressed 1 month following a decrease in the dosage of immunosuppressive therapy. The patient also was treated with intravenous amphotericin B followed by oral fluconazole without improvement. Cryotherapy remarkably accelerated healing of the lesions.

Deafness and blindness in a renal transplant recipient with cryptococcal meningitis.

Infections are a major determinant of outcome in kidney transplantation. Opportunistic pathogens are common in kidney recipients and several organs can be affected. Central nervous system infection in transplant recipients is a medical emergency. There is limited information in the literature concerning post-transplantation cryptococcal infection. Deafness and blindness are not classic findings. We report a case of meningocerebral cryptococcosis complicated by deafness and blindness after kidney transplantation. Physicians need to consider the possibility of Cryptococcus neoformans when symptoms persist despite empiric antimicrobial therapy.

Isolation and molecular characterization of recombinant Echinococcus granulosus P29 protein (recP29) and its assessment for the post-surgical serological follow-up of human cystic echinococcosis in young patients.

We synthesized recombinant Echinococcus granulosus protoscolex recP29 antigen to be preliminarily assessed by ELISA and immunoblotting. RecP29-serology was carried out on 54 young patients with cystic echinococcosis (CE). Patients were classified into either cured (CCE) (n=40) or non-cured (NCCE) (n=14) CE patients. RecP29 ELISA showed a gradual decrease of antibody concentrations in all CCE cases that were initially (before treatment) seropositive to this antigen (25 out of 40) or that seroconverted following treatment. A complete seronegativity was reached within 3 years post-surgery in all of these cases. Conventional HCF ELISA yielded seronegativity in only 10% of initially recP29-seropositive CCE patients (P=0.086). Likewise, recP29 immunoblotting yielded seronegativity in 93% of 29 out of 40 initially recP29-immunoblot-positive CCE patients after 3 years follow-up, compared with 72% in the HCF immunoblotting (P=0.060). Eleven out of 14 NCCE patients were initially positive by recP29 ELISA, and 10 out of these maintained a marked anti-recP29 antibody reactivity until the endpoint of the follow-up period. All 14 NCCE cases were initially seropositive by recP29 immunoblotting, and 13 cases remained seropositive until the end of the study. Thus, recombinant P29 protein appears prognostically useful for monitoring those post-surgical CE cases with an initial seropositivity to this marker.

Assessment of Echinococcus granulosus somatic protoscolex antigens for serological follow-up of young patients surgically treated for cystic echinococcosis.

Echinococcus granulosus protoscolex soluble somatic antigens (PSSAs) were assessed for their prognostic value in the serological follow-up of young patients treated for cystic echinococcosis (CE), compared to conventional hydatid fluid (HF) antigen. Based on different clinical courses and outcome of infection, as well as imaging findings, patients were retrospectively classified into two different groups including either cured CE (CCE; i.e., absence of active cysts or presence of inactive cysts, respectively) and noncured CE (NCCE) patients still presenting active cysts at the end of an up to 5-year follow-up period. An immunoglobulin G (IgG)-PSSA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed a gradual decrease in antibody levels in CCE cases, reaching seronegativity in 20% of the cases at least within 5 years postsurgery. In comparison, the conventional IgG-HF ELISA showed a significantly lower progressive decrease in antibody levels, serology becoming negative in only 15% of CCE patients at the endpoint of the follow-up period. Serological analysis of PSSA by immunoblotting yielded an interesting immunoreactive double band of 27 and 28 kDa that, in 15 (75%) of 20 CCE cases, exhibited a rapid decrease and subsequent disappearance of respective antibody reactivities within 3 years postsurgery. Conversely, anti-27- and -28-kDa antibody reactivity strongly persisted until the endpoint of the follow-up period in all of the five NCCE patients. Further analysis of the 27- and 28-kDa doublet by using affinity-purified antibodies showed that the double band was not detectable in HF. Furthermore, a predominantly IgG4 subclass-restricted humoral immune response against the 27- and 28-kDa antigens was demonstrated in seroreactive CE patients. Overall, an anti-27- and -28-kDa response appeared to correlate with cyst activity. In conclusion, PSSA represents a useful candidate to carry out a serologic follow-up of CE subsequent to treatment and deserves further respective evaluation for other age groups of CE patients.

[Confirmation by PCR of the existence in Tunisia of Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar]. / Confirmation par l'amplification genique de l'existence en Tunisie des deux especes : Entamoeba histolytica ET entamoeba dispar.

AIM: Amibias are illness in Tunisia diagnosed until now on the sole basis of the morphological aspects of the parasite. Our aim is to report the first Tunisian results concerning the molecular identification of E. histolytica/E. dispar, METHODS: 25 stools presenting cysts and/or vegetative shapes of E. histolytica/E. dispar were gathered at the "Laboratoire de Parasitologie Hôpital La Rabta Tunis" between 2001and 2004 for PCR. The stools came from 24 subjects, one of them having two samples: 9 Tunisian patients, 5 adressed to the hospital services for abdominal pains or diarrheas and 4 adressed for a systemic tracking (food manipulation), and 15 foreign students for which a tracking is done each fall. RESULTS: The identification showed thus for the Tunisian patients the presence of : E. histolytica alone for a patient (food manipulator) 11%. E. histolytica associated to E. dispar for two patients 22%. E. dispar alone for six patients 67%. Nearly similar results has been obtained for foreign student's samples: E. histolytica alone in one case (7%), E. histolytica associated to E. dispar in four cases (26%) and E. dispar alone in 10 cases (67%). CONCLUSION: These results show therefore the existence in Tunisia the two species E. histolytica and E. dispar for symptomatic or non symptomatic patients. The distinction between the two species is very important on the therapeutic level as well as the epidemiologic and public health level.