Effect of isoniazid on antigen-specific interferon-γ secretion in latent tuberculosis.

Treatment of persons with latent tuberculosis (TB) infection at greatest risk of reactivation is an important component of TB control and elimination strategies. Biomarkers evaluating the effectiveness of treatment of latent TB infection have not yet been identified. This information would enhance control efforts and assist the evaluation of new treatment regimes. We designed a two-group, two-arm, randomised clinical study of tuberculin skin test-positive participants: 26 with documented contact with TB patients and 34 with non-documented contact. Participants in each group were randomly assigned to the immediate- or deferred-isoniazid treatment arms. Assays of in vitro interferon (IFN)-γ secretion in response to recombinant Rv1737 and overlapping synthetic peptide pools from various groups of immunodominant proteins were performed. During isoniazid therapy, a significant increase from baseline in the proportion of IFN-γ responders to the 10-kDa culture filtrate protein, Rv2031, Rv0849, Rv1986, Rv2659c, Rv2693c and the recombinant Rv1737 protein was observed (p⩽0.05). The peptide pool of Rv0849 and Rv1737 recombinant proteins induced the highest percentage of IFN-γ responders after isoniazid therapy. The in vitro IFN-γ responses to these proteins might represent useful markers to evaluate changes associated with treatment of latent TB infection.

New Species of Rhabdosynochus Mizelle and Blatz 1941 (Monogenoidea: Diplectanidae) From the Gills of the Cultured Centropomus viridis (Perciformes) in the Mexican Eastern Tropical Pacific.

PURPOSE: There are currently nine monogenoidean species of Rhabdosynochus infecting the gill lamellae of wild and cultured centropomid fishes from tropical and subtropical waters of the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans. The purpose of the present study was to describe the morphological distinctiveness of two new species of Rhabdosynochus found on the cultured Centropomus viridis collected from floating cages from the Mexican eastern Tropical Pacific in 2018. METHODS: monogenoideans were fixed with 4-5% formalin solution, observed and measured as temporary or permanent mounts stained with Gomori's trichrome, and mounted in Canada balsam. Other specimens were mounted on slides using a mixture of lactic acid (LA) and glycerin-ammonium picrate (GAP) and then remounted in Canada balsam to obtain measurements of the haptoral structures and copulatory complex. Illustrations were prepared with the aid of a drawing tube using a Leica microscope DM 2500 with Nomarski interference contrast. RESULTS: Rhabdosynochus viridisi n. sp. is mainly differentiated from all other congeneric species in the shape and size of their copulatory complexes, i.e., length 75-105 µm vs. 45-55 µm in R. alterinstitus, 26-44 µm in R. volucris, 19-22 µm in R. lituparvus, 21-37 µm in R. siliquaus, 48-75 µm in R. hargisi, 37-44 µm in R. hudsoni and 44-61 µm in R. guanduensis. Rhabdosynochus pacificus n. sp. differs from all other species of the genus in having an accessory piece (one subunit) distally twisted. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the morphometric differences of the two new species described above, the number of valid species of Rhabdosynochus has now increased to 11. These two new species of Rhabdosynochus represent the first described species of the genus on C. viridis.

Fecal Bacterial Communities in treated HIV infected individuals on two antiretroviral regimens.

Intestinal microbiome changes that occur in HIV positive individuals on different antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens are important to understand, as they are potentially linked with chronic inflammation and microbiome-linked comorbidities that occur at increased incidence in this population. We conducted a cross-sectional study comparing the fecal microbiomes of HIV-uninfected (HIV SN) to HIV-infected individuals on long-term ART (HIV+ LTART) from Mexico using 16S ribosomal RNA (16sRNA) targeted sequencing. These individuals were on two ART regimens based on either Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (EFV) or ritonavir-boosted Protease Inhibitors (PI) with the same backbone of Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors. Microbiome diversity was reduced in treated HIV infection compared to HIV SN (p < 0.05). Several operational taxonomic units (OTUs) related to the Ruminococcaceae family including Faecalibacterium prausnitzii were depleted in EFV and PI compared to HIV SN and negatively correlated with intestinal gut dysfunction as measured by the intestinal fatty binding protein (p < 0.05). This is the first report to address the fecal bacterial communities in HIV-infected individuals on two ARV regimens from Mexico.