Comparative allele distribution at 16 STR loci between the Andean and coastal population from Peru.

In the present study, we analysed the allelic distribution of 16 autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) performed on unrelated individuals from seven different Peruvian cities, three highland Andean cities and four coastal ones. The loci investigated were F13A01, FESFPS, vWA, CSF1PO, TPOX, TH01, D16S539, D7S820, D13S317, D5S818, D19S253, F13B, D21S11, LPL and D8S1179 y D3S1358. The allele frequency, statistical parameters, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and population pair comparison across all loci were determinate. The combined matching probability for the 16 loci was 5.41136 x 10(-15) and the combined probability of exclusion (PE) was 0.999998307. The results showed new local databases for the evaluation of Andean and coastal Peruvian populations in human identity testing.

Detección rápida de resistencia a drogas en Mycobacterium tuberculosis mediante PCR-SSCP y PCR-heteroduplex / Quick detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug resistance using PCR-SSCP and PCR-heteroduplex

Objetivo: Detectar tempranamente la susceptibilidad a las drogas antituberculosas rifampicina e isoniacida mediante PCR y electroforesis conformacional. Materiales y métodos: Se implementaron dos ensayos de amplificación de los genes rpoB y katG y mediante Heteroduplex y SSCP se determino la susceptibilidad antituberculosa de 31 muestras clínicas procedentes de pacientes con diagnóstico de tuberculosis pulmonar baciloscopia positiva. La caracterización fenotípica de la susceptibilidad, se realizó empleando el método de las proporciones. Resultados: Los ensayos de PCR detectaron hasta 2,5 pg de ADN genómico de M. tuberculosis; no amplificando ADN de otras micobacterias y bacterias comunes de la flora bucal. Se encontró una concordancia general entre la detección molecular y convencional de la susceptibilidad a rifampicina e isoniacida de 96.7 por ciento y 83,9 por ciento (p<0,05), respectivamente. Sin embargo sólo en pacientes con antecedente de tratamiento se presentó una concordancia del 100 por ciento y 90,9 por ciento (p<0,05) para rifampicina e isoniacida, respectivamente. Además, este sistema de detección de resistencia puede emitir resultados 48 horas después de la recepción de la muestra clínica. Conclusiones: Estos sistemas se presentan como una excelente alternativa para la identificación temprana de pacientes infectados con bacilos de M. tuberculosis drogoresistentes. Potencialmente se podrán dirigir óptimos y oportunos esquemas terapéuticos que contribuiran con el control y prevención de la transmisión de cepas multidrogo-resistentes que afectan en gran medidad a la salud pública d nuestro país

Lack of prediction of mefloquine and mefloquine-artesunate treatment outcome by mutations in the Plasmodium falciparum multidrug resistance 1 (pfmdr1) gene for P. falciparum malaria in Peru.

We assessed whether mutations in the Plasmodium falciparum multidrug-resistance gene 1 (pfmdr1) (C1034S, D1042N, and Y1246D) would predict treatment outcome during a 28-day in vivo treatment trial in the Peruvian Amazon. Mefloquine (MQ) was compared with mefloquine-artesunate (MQ-AS) in a randomized, multi-clinic protocol for the first time in the Americas. Of 115 patients enrolled in the in vivo arm, 97 patients were eligible for molecular analysis. All 97 patients remained parasite-free during 28 days of follow-up (MQ, n = 46; MQ-AS, n = 51), indicating 100% clinical efficacy of the MQ and MQ-AS treatment regimens. The reported MQ-sensitive alleles (C1034, D1042, and Y1246) were present in 48.5% (n = 47) of the cases, whereas 49 isolates (50.5%) contained the D1246 mutation reported to confer MQ resistance in vitro. However, neither this mutation nor a double mutation (S1034, D1246; n = 16) was predictive of MQ treatment outcome.

Effect of dengue-1 antibodies on American dengue-2 viral infection and dengue haemorrhagic fever.

In Iquitos, Peru, no cases of dengue haemorrhagic fever have been recorded in individuals infected with dengue-1 virus followed by American genotype dengue-2 (American dengue-2) virus. We assayed serum samples collected in Iquitos that tested positive for antibodies of monotype dengue-1 and monotype dengue-2 using a plaque reduction neutralisation test to determine their ability to neutralise the infectivity of two dengue-1 viruses, two American dengue-2 viruses, and two Asian dengue-2 viruses. Sera positive for the dengue-1 antibody neutralised dengue-1 viruses and American dengue-2 viruses much more effectively than Asian dengue-2 viruses. Neutralisation of American dengue-2 virus by sera positive for dengue-1 antibodies may account for the absence of dengue haemorrhagic fever in individuals infected with dengue-1 in 1990-91 followed by American dengue-2 virus in 1995 in Iquitos, Peru.

Genetic polymorphism of Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Loreto, Peru.

Eight genotypes of Plasmodium falciparum were detected after analysing blood samples obtained from 30 Peruvian jungle-dwelling patients in Loreto, a high transmission area for P. falciparum, using amplification of the polymorphic marker gene GLURP (glutamate-rich protein). Genotypes I (GLURP450) and VIII (GLURP800) were the most common (15/30 and 13/30, respectively). This single copy gene showed 15 patients to be infected with a single genotype of P. falciparum; the other 15 were infected with mixed genotypes, one of them with 4 genotypes. These findings are compatible with a high genetic complexity of P. falciparum. Further investigations are needed, using this and other markers, in order to design malaria control measures in Peru.

Isolation and characterization of Leishmania infantum cDNA encoding a protein homologous to eukaryotic elongation factor 1 gamma.

This paper reports the isolation and characterization of a complementary deoxyribonucleic acid clone showing sequence homology with genes coding for the eukaryotic elongation factor 1 gamma (EF-1 gamma). The clone encodes an open reading frame of 404 amino acids corresponding to a deduced molecular mass of 46.2 kDa. Database searches revealed 30-64% sequence identity between the Leishmania infantum EF-1 gamma and several eukaryotic homologues. Southern blot analysis indicated that 2 genes tandemly organized were present in the L. infantum genome. The 3' untranslated regions of these 2 genes differed in size. Southern hybridization and pulsed field gel electrophoresis showed that EF-1 gamma genes are highly conserved among members of the Leishmania genus and must be clustered in a single chromosomal locus.

Acidic ribosomal proteins and histone H3 from Leishmania present a high rate of divergence

Another additional peculiarity in Leishmania will be discussed about of the amino acid divergence rate of three structural proteins: acidic ribosomal P1 and P2b proteins, and histone H3 by using multiple sequence alignment and dendrograms. These structural proteins present a high rate of divergence regarding to their homologous protein in Trypanosoma cruzi. At this regard, L. (V.) peruviana P1 and T. cruzi P1 showed 57.4 per cent of divergence rate. Likewise, L. (V.) braziliensis histone H3 and acidic ribosomal P2 protein exhibited 31.8 per cent and 41.7 per cent respectively of rate of divergence in comparison with their homologous in T. cruzi.

Identificación de una nueva proteína en Leishmania (Viannia) preuviana / Identification of a new protein in Leishmania (Viannia) peruviana

El análisis de la secuencia nucleótidica y aminoacídica de un clon de la biblioteca de expresión en fagogt11 de Leishmania (Viannia) peruviana, estableció identidad parcial con los genes de las proteínas acídicas ribosomales P2 de Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum. Este hallazgo unido a ciertos dominios genómicos conservados, sugeridos de la comparación de 14 secuencias de otras proteínas P1 eucarióticas, confirman que la secuencia del inserto de clon codifica la proteína acídica ribosomal P1 de L. (V.) peruviana denominada LpP1. Este es el primer reporte sobre este tipo de proteína en el género Leishmania

Diagnóstico molecular para leishmaniasis / Molecular diagnosis for leishmaniasis

El potencial diagnóstico de epitopes inmunodominantes seleccionados fue ensayado satisfactoriamente a fin de obtener una prueba serodiagnóstica alternativa para la Leishmaniasis Tegumentaria Americana. Dos proteínas recombinantes prometedoras de L. (v.) peruviana referidas como T-26-U2/T26-U4 fueron reconocidas por sueros individuales de pacientes con Leishmaniasis Tegumentaria Americana usuando Western Blot. La sensibilidad de la prueba fue de 86 con sueros permanetes con Leishmaniasis peruana

Proteínas inmunodominantes de Brucella melitensis evaluadas por wetern blot / Immunodominant proteins of Brucella melitensis assessed by western blot

Se separaron extractos de proteínas totales de Brucella melitensis en gel 15 SOS-PAGE. Su seroreactividad fue analizada por Western Blot con resultados satisfactorios. Para éste propósito sueros controles negativos (n=03), sueros de pacientes con brucelosis (n=34), cólera (n=12), tifoidea (n=02) y tuberculosis (n=22) fueron usados. Esta prueba inmunodiagnóstica detectó bandas seroreactivas altamente específicas (100) correspondientes a 8,14,18, un complejo de 25-48 y 58kDa. La sensibilidad del test fue del 90 usando los sueros antes mencionados