Toxocariasis in a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder

A boy affected by autism spectrum disorder was admitted for persistent high fever, without shiver, for two weeks. The boy referred to abdominal pain, in the first week of fever, and to mild anorexia in the last days before admittance to our hospital centre. The father reported that the boy suffered by geophagia and coprophagia and he has been going to a didactical farm (where he has been exposed to several kinds of animals) to improve his neuropsychiatric condition. Blood analysis shows severe eosinophilia and high levels of total IgE, and abdominal echocardiography showed hepatic lesions. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot (WB) confirmed the suspicion of toxocariasis, linked to the habit of the boy to ingest ground or animal faeces in a didactic farm frequented by the boy. Treatment with albendazole and prednisone was administered with a rapid improvement of the symptoms and the laboratory findings and significant reduction of the hepatic lesion.

Toward the Knowledge of the Epidemiological Impact of Acute Rheumatic Fever in Italy

Background: To estimate the incidence of Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF) in Tuscany, a region of Central Italy, evaluating the epidemiological impact of the new diagnostic guidelines, and to analyse our outcomes in the context of the Italian overview. Methods: A multicenter and retrospective study was conducted involving children <18 years old living in Tuscany and diagnosed in the period between 2010 and 2019. Two groups were established based on the new diagnostic criteria: High-Risk (HR) group patients, n = 29 and Low-Risk group patients, n = 96. Results: ARF annual incidence ranged from 0.91 to 7.33 out of 100,000 children in the analyzed period, with peak of incidence registered in 2019. The application of HR criteria led to an increase of ARF diagnosis of 30%. Among the overall cohort joint involvement was the most represented criteria (68%), followed by carditis (58%). High prevalence of subclinical carditis was observed (59%). Conclusions: Tuscany should be considered an HR geographic area and HR criteria should be used for ARF diagnosis in this region.

Six cases of leprosy associated with allogeneic hematopoietic SCT

We report here the first six cases of leprosy associated with HLA-identical allogeneic SCT in different phases and with different findings and outcomes. Skin and peripheral nerves may be sites of leprosy associated with SCT, stressing the importance of differential diagnosis between leprosy and GVHD or drug reactions. Clinical manifestations of leprosy before or after transplantation did not influence the outcome of SCT in our cases.

Effects of exogenous hexacosanoic acid on biochemical myelin composition in weaning and post-weaning rats

X-linked Adrenoleukodistrophy (ALD) is characterized by an increase of very long chain fatty acids (VLCFA) in particular of hexacosanoic acid (HA), in tissues and fluids. The biochemical abnormality is due to the dysfunction of peroxisomal degradation of VLCFA. To-date it is unclear if the demyelination which characterizes this disease is the direct consequence of HA accumulation. In order to investigate whether the large amounts of exogenous HA could affect myelin synthesis, 500 micrograms of this fatty acid dissolved in peanut oil were administered daily and by gavage to newborn rats. Since myelin is actively synthesized during early neonatal life and it can be altered by environmental factors including diet, we analyzed lipid and protein composition of myelin after 20, 30 and 60 days of HA administration. Our results show that exogenous HA is incorporated in myelin where it determines biochemical alterations in normal rats having a functioning peroxisomal system. Even though the differences between controls and treated rats are slight, we observed in test rats, a decrease of 2'3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphohydrolase (CNPase) activity and of myelin basic protein (MBP) content at any time studied. The decrease of glycolipids (GL) was present only after 20 days of treatment. Since these parameters are related to myelin development, our data lead us to think that the myelin of the treated animals is less mature than that of controls.

Effects of glycosaminoglycans on the glomerular changes induced by Adriamycin

Glycosaminoglycans can stimulate the synthesis of glomerular basement membrane (GBM) proteins by glomerular cells and correct biochemical alterations of the GBM. In this study we examine the effects of heparin and low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) on glomerular permeability to proteins and glomerular structure in Adriamycin-treated rats. One Adriamycin dose of 5 mg/kg body weight was administered i.v. to 38 female Wistar rats. Eleven animals were also treated with heparin (250 U) administered s.c. twice daily and 7 with LMWH 6 mg/kg body weight administered s.c. twice daily. Urine samples were collected before and 30 and 60 days after the beginning of treatment to quantify albumin excretion and to characterize urinary proteins by gel filtration and electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels. Blood samples were also collected on day 60 from these rats to estimate renal permeability by gel filtration; the rats were then killed and the kidneys removed for histological analysis. Heparin administration caused a reduction in urinary albumin excretion and in the incidence of segmental glomerulosclerosis in Adriamycin-treated rats. However, heparin did not modify the selectivity of the GBM to proteins of different molecular weights. These data suggest that the effect of heparin on albuminuria may be due to changes in the negative GBM charges induced by this drug.