Body Fitness Health

Friday, April 15, 2011

[AlternativeAnswers] How different strains of parasite infection affect behavior differently

_http://www.vetscite.org/publish/items/006522/index.html_
(http://www.vetscite.org/publish/items/006522/index.html)

5 April 2011

How different strains of parasite infection affect behavior differently

/Toxoplasma gondii/ infects approximately 25 percent of the human
population. The protozoan parasite is noted for altering the behavior of
infected hosts. Jianchun Xiao and colleagues of the Johns Hopkins School
of Medicine find clear differences in the manipulation of host gene
expression among the three clonal lineages that predominate in Europe
and North America, "despite the high level of genetic similarity among
them," says Xiao. Type I infection largely affects genes related to the
central nervous system, while type III mostly alters genes that modulate
nucleotide metabolism. Type II infection does not alter expression of a
clearly defined set of genes. The research is published in the March
2011 issue of the journal Infection and Immunity. Indeed, /T. gondii/
can play its infected rodent hosts like a piano, converting rats' and
mice's natural aversion to feline odors into an attraction, presumably
to enable the parasite's sexual cycle. /T. gondii/ can reproduce
sexually only in cats. Investigations of effects on humans have found an
increased risk of traffic accidents, and other reckless behavior, as
well as links to hallucinations.

"Toxoplasma infections, at least for mice, are so variable in their
severity and heavily dependent on which strain is doing the infecting,"
says Xiao. "Understanding the differential effects caused by these
strains could enable predicting the outcome of infection and point out
directions to be explored in future studies to eliminate transmissions
or cure disease. If Toxoplasma is linked to schizophrenia, this could
lead to new treatments of that disease as well." "It is noteworthy that
we found vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor 2 (VIPR2) was
upregulated by all three Toxoplasma strains," says Xiao. VIPR2 "is
linked to schizophrenia in some recent publications. Since the tropism
of Toxoplasma for brain has been linked with specific behavioral changes
and psychosis in humans, this finding will have some fundamental
significance for understanding the correlation between Toxoplasma and
psychosis."

Science Daily

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[AlternativeAnswers] A prospective study on the role of CXCL13 in Lyme neuroborreliosis.

Neurology. 2011 Mar 22;76(12):1051-8.

A prospective study on the role of CXCL13 in Lyme neuroborreliosis.

Schmidt C, Plate A, Angele B, Pfister HW, Wick M, Koedel U, Rupprecht TA.

Department of Neurology, Amper Kliniken AG, Krankenhausstr. 15, 85221
Dachau, Germany _mail@dr-tobias-rupprecht.de_
(mailto:mail@dr-tobias-rupprecht.de) .

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The definite diagnosis of acute Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB)
requires detection of an increased Borrelia burgdorferi-specific
antibody index (AI). The B burgdorferi AI, however, is negative in up to
20% of patients with early LNB and can remain elevated for years after
adequate therapy; both of these factors can make the diagnosis
difficult. Recent retrospective studies suggested the chemokine CXCL13
as a potential biomarker for LNB. To evaluate its diagnostic value, we
conducted a prospective study.

METHODS: From March 2008 to August 2009, CSF and serum samples from all
patients in whom a B burgdorferi-specific AI was requested (n = 692) and
CSF analysis revealed CSF pleocytosis (n = 192) were included in the
study. Because of the low number of patients with untreated LNB, 13
additional retrospectively selected samples of patients with untreated
LNB were added. CXCL13 concentrations were measured by ELISA and
receiver operating characteristic curves were generated.

RESULTS: CSF CXCL13 was highly elevated in all patients with untreated
acute LNB (mean = 15,149 pg/mL) compared with that in the patients
without LNB (mean = 247 pg/mL). At a cutoff of 1,229 pg/mL, the
sensitivity of CXCL13 was 94.1%, which is higher than the AI (85.7%).
Only 7 patients (5 with a CNS lymphoma and 2 with bacterial meningitis)
had a CXCL13 level above the cutoff, resulting in a specificity equal to
the AI of 96.1%.

CONCLUSIONS: CXCL13 shows high sensitivity and specificity for acute,
untreated LNB. This novel marker appears to be helpful in clinically
atypical cases and, in particular, in early stages of the disease when
the B burgdorferi AI is (still) negative.

PMID: 21422457 [PubMed - in process]

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Re: [AlternativeAnswers] Post Nasal Drip Remedies??

i have the same problem and looking for relief as well. please explain the nasal douche?
Thanks,
Lora

--- On Mon, 4/11/11, cheryl bullock <cooee.shari@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: cheryl bullock <cooee.shari@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [AlternativeAnswers] Post Nasal Drip Remedies??
To: AlternativeAnswers@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, April 11, 2011, 10:04 AM

i am unsure if this will work -but i use to get sinus and have the whole thing going on- tickly sore throat -dripping nise- blocked sinuses- i use to wipe my nose so much i would get a scap around the rim of my nose-- i tried many pills and formulas-finally surgery-which worked---------- however i use to use a nasal douche and it gave me relief-if u dont know how to use one -let me know and i'l explain how

--- On Mon, 4/4/11, ladyeyessogreen . <plmchaney@gmail.com> wrote:

From: ladyeyessogreen . <plmchaney@gmail.com>
Subject: [AlternativeAnswers] Post Nasal Drip Remedies??
To: AlternativeAnswers@yahoogroups.com
Received: Monday, 4 April, 2011, 3:34 AM

I was wondering if anyone has some info on remedies for Post Nasal Drip?

Mine is being caused by allergies, no cold, no congestion anywhere. Though I have no other allergy symptom. Only PND causing tremendous tickling in my throat and now my throat is raw from coughing.

I do use a neti pot 2x a day. My regular MD wants to put me on Flonase a steriod nasal spray, but I really don't want to do that unless there is no other help.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Pamela

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