Opportunistic Pulmonary Bordetella hinzii Infection after Avian Exposure.

We report 2 cases of pulmonary Bordetella hinzii infection in immunodeficient patients. One of these rare cases demonstrated the potential transmission of the bacteria from an avian reservoir through occupational exposure and its persistence in humans. We establish bacteriologic management of these infections and suggest therapeutic options if needed.

Influence of amodiaquine on the antimalarial activity of ellagic acid: crystallographic and biological studies.

In the search for new antimalarial drugs, design of hybrid molecules is recommended to improve biological activity and to decrease the risk of parasite resistance development. Ellagic acid, as an inhibitor of Plasmodium glutathione, presents an original mode of action and thus appears as a promising antiplasmodial compound. A new complex (AQ-EA) consisting of the well-known antimalarial drug, amodiaquine, and ellagic acid was obtained. The studied crystal structure of AQ-EA showed that the triclinic centrosymmetrical unit cell of the crystal contains two molecules of amodiaquine (AQ) and two symmetrically independent molecules of ellagic acid (EA). The packing of the molecules in the crystal is dominated by hydrogen bonds between AQ and EA. The antiplasmodial activity of the hybrid complex AQ-EA was also determined and compared with the values of IC50 for AQ and EA separately. Potentiation assays between both molecules were conducted to understand the pharmacological interactions between AQ and EA against Plasmodium falciparum in vitro. The hybrid complex AQ-EA (IC50 of 47 nm) showed improved antiplasmodial activity in comparison with EA alone.

Synthesis, structures, and antimalarial activities of some silver(I), gold(I) and gold(III) complexes involving N-heterocyclic carbene ligands.

A series of mono-and dinuclear silver(I) and mononuclear gold(I) complexes containing bis(N-heterocyclic carbene) (NHC) or N-functionalized NHC ligands were synthesized and fully characterized by spectroscopic methods and, in some cases, by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The in vitro antiplasmodial and antifungal activities of a previously described family of N-functionalized bis(imidazolium) proligands and their corresponding silver(I), gold(I) and gold(III) complexes but also the new here described compounds were investigated in a chloroquine-resistant strain of Plasmodium falciparum, and against two Candida strains, respectively. For the first family, interesting antiplasmodial and antifungal activities were found for the dinuclear silver(I) species but they also showed strong hemolytic properties. Pharmaco-modulations leading to the second series of complexes allowed notably increase in the antiplasmodial activity, in particular of the mononuclear gold(I) complexes with IC(50) values up to 330 nM, without any hemolysis.