Cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by members of Leishmania braziliensis complex in Nayarit, State of Mexico.

An epidemiological study was carried out in the northern Mexican state, Nayarit. Fourteen patients with possible cutaneous leishmaniasis skin lesions gave positive Montenegro skin tests. Biopsies were taken from the skin ulcer and analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with specific primers for the Leishmania mexicana complex; however all biopsies were not amplified. PCR carried out with specific primers for the L. braziliensis complex resulted in the amplification of all patient DNA. DNA from 12 out of 14 biopsies gave positive amplification with primers species specific for L. (Viannia) braziliensis and hybridized with a species specific L. (V.) braziliensis probe. These results demonstrate the presence in Nayarit of at least two members of the L. braziliensis complex. Most of the cutaneous lesions were caused by L. (V.) braziliensis and two by another species belonging to the L. braziliensis complex. As far as we are aware, this is the first report of L. (V.) braziliensis in Nayarit. The main risk factor associated with the contraction of this disease in Nayarit is attributed to working on coffee plantations.

Visceral leishmaniosis caused by Leishmania (L.) mexicana in a Mexican patient with human immunodeficiency virus infection.

A 36 year old male was admitted in December 1997 to hospital with afternoon fever, malaise and hepatosplenomegaly. He also had a dry cough, dyspnoea and anaemia. Pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis carinii and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection were documented. The HIV infection was confirmed in 1997 with 290,000 virus copies. The patient had been in the Mexican State of Chiapas which is known to be endemic for visceral leishmaniosis (VL) and localized cutaneous leishmaniosis (LCL). The visceral symptoms were diagnosed as VL and the causal agent was identified as Leishmania (L. ) mexicana. Identification of Leishmania was carried out by the analysis of amplified DNA with specific primers belonging to the Leishmania subgenus and by dot blot positive hybridisation of these polymerase chain reaction derived products with kDNA from the L. (L. ) mexicana MC strain used as probe. This is the first case in Mexico of VL caused by a species of Leishmania that typically produces a cutaneous disease form.

Aetiology of visceral leishmaniasis in Mexico.

Two children with visceral leishmaniasis (VL), were studied by DNA analysis. DNA from liver biopsy samples from both patients, was amplified by PCR with broad primers specific for the Leishmania subgenus. DNA from the patient from Chiapas was also amplified with primers specific for the Leismania donovani complex and hybridised with a probe specific for L. donovani complex. The second patient, who is the first reported case of visceral leishmaniasis in the Mexican state of Tabasco, where localised cutaneous leishmaniasis and DCL predominate, had a co-infection with Toxoplasma gondii. The DNA from this patient was not amplified with primers specific for the L. donovani complex, did not hybridise with a probe specific for the L. donovani complex, but did hybridise with kDNA from a Mexican Leishmania mexicana strain used as a probe. We therefore, suggest that members of the L. donovani or L. mexicana complexes cause VL in Mexico.

Ileo meconial familiar complicado no asociado a fibrosis quística: presentación de casos clínicos / Complicated familiar meconium ileus non associated with cyst fibrosis: Clinical cases

Se reportan los casos de tres pacientes pediátricos, hermanos consanguíneos, que presentaron al nacimiento una de las tres formas clínicas de íleo meconial. Aun cuando es un caso de presentación familiar, se realizaron estudios genéticos en los que fue posible descartar alteración genética asociada con fibrosis quística o enfermedad de Hirschsprung, considerándose a estos pacientes portadores de una enfermedad meconial familiar, poco descrita en la literatura internacional

Listeriosis materno-fetal: reporte de tres casos / Maternal-fetal Listeriosis: Report of three cases

Los reportes de listeriosis en mujeres embarazadas en Estados Unidos indican 12 a 17 por ciento de casos, mientras que en Europa se reporta una incidencia de 0.5 a 3 por ciento. En México no existen estadísticas confiables, sólo hay reportes aislados como los realizados en 1989 por el Hospital Infantil de México (HIM) en forma conjunta con el Instituto Nacional de Perinatología; en siete casos se identificaron como factores de riesgo antecedentes de procesos infecciosos de vías urinarias, así como datos de corioamnionitis al inicio de trabajo de parto. Posteriormente, el HIM realizó otro reporte aislado de tres casos de listeria neonatal por exámenes de laboratorio, y en estudio retrospectivo se concluyó que los factores de riesgo para la madre y el producto eran de estrato socioeconómico bajo, antecedentes de infección vaginal en el último trimestre del embarazo y convivencia con perros. A diferencia de lo publicado, los caos que presentamos provienen de estratos socioeconómicos altos y con buenos hábitos higiénico-dietéticos; el cuadro clínico materno no corresponde con lo descrito en otras series, ya que las manifestaciones clínicas se presentaron al inicio de trabajo de parto y la mayoría de estas pacientes comparten el antecedente de la presencia de abortos de repetición

Listeriosis neonatal: reporte de un caso / Neonatal listeriosis: A case report

Se presenta el caso de un recién nacido pretérmino de 34 semanas de edad gestacional y cuya madre inicia con picos febriles de hasta 39§C 72 horas antes del nacimiento, así como con datos de actividad uterina. Se corrobora infección de vías urinarias, por lo que se hospitaliza e inicia manejo con cefalosporinas de segunda generación, así como uteroinhibidores. La evolución es incidiosa, y debido a la presencia de datos de sufrimiento fetal se realiza cesárea urgente; se observa salida de líquido meconial +++. El producto nace con apnea primaria y muere a las siete horas de vida extrauterina. El estudio histopatológico demostró la presencia de microabscesos y granulomas diseminados, lo que se corrobora en la mayoría de los órganos con las manifestaciones clínicas de listeria temprana, conocido como síndrome de granulomatosis infantiséptica

Identification of Mexican Leishmania species by analysis of PCR amplified DNA.

Leishmania parasites isolated into culture from patients with LCL or DCL from four different Mexican states were characterised using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), hybridisation with specific probes, and isoenzymes. PCR of the parasites showed that 10 of 11 of those isolates were members of the mexicana complex. This was confirmed in seven cases by isoenzymes. Restriction enzyme digests of PCR products of Mexican isolates showed the isolates to be different from the L.(L.) mexicana reference strain BEL21. Two (C2 and AM) of the isolates were shown to be a possible mixed infection between mexicana and braziliensis complex members. With a second set of samples from different patients from Campeche state, PCR of 14 biopsies indicated the presence of braziliensis complex members in six of the samples. The results showed that most of our isolates of Leishmania which come from the states of Tabasco and Veracruz are members of the Leishmania mexicana complex, but they seem to be different from the L.(L.) mexicana BEL21 reference strain. By hybridisation most of the biopsies (seven out of 14) from Campeche belong to the L. braziliensis complex and two out of 14 to L. mexicana complex and three out of 14 hybridised with both complexes, and two biopsies were negative. In Campeche, which is very close to Tabasco state and has border with Guatemala, we found members of the L. mexicana and L. braziliensis complexes.

Ascitis quilosa: reporte de un caso y revisión de la literatura / Chylous ascitis: case report and literature review

Se reporta el caso de una paciente con ascitis quilosa masiva, debida a una neoplasia maligna de origen epitelial y cuyo foco primario no se puede precisar, a pesar de utilizar todos los procedimientos diagnósticos disponibles, que incluyó laparatomía exploradora. Siendo una entidad poco común en la práctica clínica se hace una revisión de la literatura sobre aspectos etiológicos, fisiopatológicos y terapeúticos

Treatment of refractory rheumatoid arthritis--the thalidomide experience.

In an open study, 17 patients (16 women, 1 man) with refractory or severe rheumatoid arthritis were treated with thalidomide. Two withdrew from the study in the first weeks. Thirteen patients received 531 +/- 63 mg/day of thalidomide for 18.8 +/- 8.8 weeks; in 2 the dose was 300 mg/day during 62 and 65 weeks. Seven patients attained complete remission, 5 partial remission, and the last 3 no improvement at all. Remissions lasted 6 years in 1 patient, 2 years in 3, 1 year in one, and varied between 8 months and 8 weeks in 7. After relapse, 5 patients received a 2nd course of treatment and attained remission again. This lasted 24, 10, and 9 months in 3; two are taking 100 mg/day of thalidomide as a maintenance dose and remain asymptomatic after 36 and 30 months. The side effects were drowsiness, constipation, hard swelling of the lower limbs, erythema of the face and limbs with local pruritus or burning sensation, hair loss, cough, nasal obstruction, fever, and skin and mucosal dryness. In 8 patients there was mild eosinophilia (less than 10%) and in 2 leukopenia. A 33-year-old woman showed amenorrhea up to 2 months after stopping treatment. After a 2nd course of treatment, 2 patients developed peripheral sensory neuropathy, which resolved spontaneously in 6 months. We believe these findings justify controlled trials with this agent.