Disease relevance of Latin America

• There is no effective treatment for the prevalent chronic form of Chagas' disease in Latin America. Its causative agent, the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, has an essential requirement for ergosterol, and ergosterol biosynthesis inhibitors, such as the antifungal drug posaconazole, have potent trypanocidal activity [1].
• Activities of BMS 284756 (T-3811) against Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from SENTRY antimicrobial surveillance program medical centers in Latin America (1999) [2].
• In the present study, we developed cDNA probes directed at the hyperdivergent region of the VP4 gene of the five described human rotavirus VP4 alleles (Wa, DS1, M37, AU228, and 69M) and used them in hybridization assays with human rotavirus strains from Latin America and Europe to determine the distribution of the VP4 gene alleles in nature [3].
• Three phylogenetic groups of nodA and nifH genes in Sinorhizobium and Mesorhizobium isolates from leguminous trees growing in Africa and Latin America [4].
• The prevalence of epilepsy is particularly high in Latin America and in several African countries, notably Liberia, Nigeria, and the United Republic of Tanzania. Parasitic infections, particularly neurocysticercosis, are important etiological factors for epilepsy in many of these countries [5].

Psychiatry related information on Latin America

• Glue sniffing is epidemic among children living in poverty in Latin America. Previous research has shown that abused inhalants such as toluene share pharmacological properties with anxiolytic drugs, and that personality factors such as degree of anxiety have been proposed to modulate the effects of these drugs [6].
• Erectile dysfunction in Latin America and treatment with sildenafil citrate (Viagra): introduction [7].

High impact information on Latin America

• Thus, predominant rice consumption promotes vitamin A deficiency, a serious public health problem in at least 26 countries, including highly populated areas of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Recombinant DNA technology was used to improve its nutritional value in this respect [8].
• Loperamide hydrochloride was compared with bismuth subsalicylate for the treatment of acute nondysenteric travelers' diarrhea in 219 students visiting seven countries in Latin America. Subjects whose condition was not improved with therapy could elect to take trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole [9].
• Onchocercacidal effects of amocarzine (CGP 6140) in Latin America [10].
• Presence of the Mediterranean PKU mutation IVS10 in Latin America [11].
• "Gene Therapy in Latin America: From the Bench to the Clinic," a meeting sponsored by the Wellcome Trust and the United Nations University through the Biotechnology Program for Latin America and the Caribbean, took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina from May 20 to 22 [12].

Chemical compound and disease context of Latin America

• Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 5 is the third most common capsular type causing invasive diseases in children younger than 5 years in Latin America. Preliminary data on Colombian serotype 5 isolates indicated a common clonal origin associated with resistance to tetracycline (TET) and chloramphenicol (CHL) [13].
• Penicillin resistance (MIC, > or = 0.12 microgram/mL) rates varied from 27.6% in Europe to 55.7% in Latin America. Macrolide resistance was greatest in Europe and the United States. Gatifloxacin appears to be a promising new fluoroquinolone for clinical use in respiratory tract infections commonly caused by S. pneumoniae [14].
• Occurrence of single-point gyrA mutations among ciprofloxacin-susceptible Escherichia coli isolates causing urinary tract infections in Latin America [15].
• A total of 948 cultures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from patients presumed never before to have been treated for tuberculosis were collected from 30 randomly selected clusters in Latin America and tested for resistance to isoniazid, streptomycin, rifampicin, ethambutol, and thioacetazone [16].
• Among the E. coli isolates, piperacillin/tazobactam, aztreonam, extended-spectrum cephalosporins, carbapenems and amikacin constitute reasonable therapeutic options for treatment of serious UTI in Latin America (91.0-100.0% susceptible) [17].

Biological context of Latin America

• The study included 29 ETEC isolates from Latin America and Spain expressing the phenotype O153:H45 CFA/I ST plus 1 rough derivative, 2 nonmotile derivatives, and 1 O78:H12 CFA/I ST isolate, and a representative of a genetically distinct ETEC group [18].
• Acute promyelocytic leukaemia in patients originating in Latin America is associated with an increased frequency of the bcr1 subtype of the PML/RARalpha fusion gene [19].
• The analysis of epidemiological data concerning human cysticercosis point to important advances in understanding the magnitude and distribution of this parasitic disease in Latin America, as well as the relationship of the elements that conform the life cycle of Taenia solium [20].
• The presence of the P542 element was confirmed in 11 T. rangeli isolates from mammalian hosts and insect vectors originating from several countries in Latin America. Negative amplification was observed with different T. cruzi strains and other trypanosomatids [21].
• The principal distinct APL epidemiological features that so far have been described are the constant incidence with age after age 20, equal incidence in males and females and higher frequency among patients originating in Latin America. The APL-specific PML/RARalpha gene rearrangement is different in Latinos and non-Latinos [22].

Associations of Latin America with chemical compounds

• The percentages of strains susceptible to each drug by region were as follows: for gatifloxacin, North America, 99.6%; Latin America, 99.8%; Europe, 99.9%; and Asia-Pacific, 99.2%; for levofloxacin, North America, 99.6%; Latin America, 99.8%; Europe, 99.8%; and Asia-Pacific, 99.1% [23].
• Olanzapine as alternative therapy for patients with haloperidol-induced extrapyramidal symptoms: results of a multicenter, collaborative trial in Latin America [24].
• Fluconazole susceptibility was highest in the Asia-Pacific region (80.5% S, 3.9% resistant [R]) and lowest in North America (64% S, 10.3% R) and Latin America (62.1% S, 3.4% R) [25].
• Regulatory decisions in a globalised world: the domino effect of phenylpropanolamine withdrawal in Latin America [26].
• Among subjects going to Africa, Asia or Latin America, 4/32 subjects on norfloxacin and 16/30 on placebo developed diarrhoea (P = 0.0004) [27].

Gene context of Latin America

• Although many new HLA-B alleles have been produced in Latin America, their net effect has been to differentiate populations, not to increase allele diversity within a population [28].
• Systematic genetic study of Alzheimer disease in Latin America: mutation frequencies of the amyloid beta precursor protein and presenilin genes in Colombia [29].
• In a previous study, we reported increased levels of soluble receptors of interleukin-2 (sIL2-R) in children with acute Chagas' disease, one of the main parasitic infections that is endemic in Latin America. We sought to analyze the pattern of different cytokines and soluble receptors in the sera of children with chagasic infection [30].
• This is the first report of CTX-M-type enzymes in Bolivia and Peru and also the first report of the detection of CTX-M-15 in Latin America [31].
• Chagas' disease is a chronic, debilitating, multisystemic disorder that affects millions of people in Latin America. The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas' disease, has a large number of O-glycosylated Thr/Ser/Pro-rich mucin molecules on its surface (TcMuc) [32].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Latin America

• The primary use of this test is in the diagnosis and screening of donated blood in Latin America. When compared with sera positive by xenodiagnosis, the assay had a clinical sensitivity of 100% [33].
• Monthly injectable contraceptives, containing a combination of a long-acting progestogen and an estrogen, have been used in Latin America and China for many years [34].
• METHOD: Cross-sectional analysis of CF patient population data from Latin-America, Canada, and The Netherlands, under the assumption that they represent stationary populations, was used to determined and correlates hazard rates, average cores and CF progression rates [35].
• Thus, this study in Costa Rican infants supports the routine use of the pentavalent DTPw-HB/Hib vaccine as part of childhood vaccination programs in Latin America and the Caribbean [36].

References