We thank the staff at the Instituto de Medicina Tropical Alexander von Humboldt for their valuable assistance in their attention to the HTLV-1-infected people. This work was supported by the Directorate-General for Development Cooperation of the Belgian Government through the Framework Agreement with the Institute of Tropical Medicine of Antwerp and through the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR), and by the Peruvian National Board for Science and Technology (CONCYTEC).

Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 (HTLV-1) can cause HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). The objective of this study was to gain insight into the pathogenesis of HAM/TSP by focusing on the CD8(+) T-cell response. Twenty-three HTLV-1-seronegative controls (SC), 29 asymptomatic HTLV-1 carriers (AC) and 48 patients with HAM/TSP were enrolled in the study. We evaluated the production of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with Tax overlapping peptides, the expression of genes related to the CD8(+) cytotoxic T-cell response, the frequency of CD4(+) Foxp3(+) cells and of dendritic cells, and the HTLV-1 provirus load (PVL). The frequency of cells producing IFN-gamma in response to Tax 161-233, but not to Tax 11-19, discriminated patients with HAM/TSP from AC. The increased pro-inflammatory response observed in patients with H...

The biology and ecology of four medicinal species of Gentianella (Gentianaceae) were described, with emphasis on aspects related to production, including the analysis of total flavonoids. All the evaluated species were small grasses. Gentianella graminea and G. crassicaulis are perennial and G. dianthoides and G. bicolor are annual. While G. dianthoides produces abundant seeds, the others have little to moderate seed production, all with low germination capacity. Gentianella crassicaulis produces up to 90 g of dry matter/plant, while the rest produces less than 10 g of dry matter/plant. Gentianella graminea presented significantly higher levels of total flavonoids in leaves and stems compared to G. dianthoides and G. crassicaulis (p < 0,05). Three species (G. graminea, G. crassicaulis and G. dianthoides) occur in the Jalca region (2700 to 2850 m a.s.l.), along with other 30 species (of w...

This study was funded by a grant from the National Fund for Scientific, Technological Development and Technological Innovation (FONDECYT) of the National Council of Science, Technology and Technological Innovation (CONCYTEC) of Peru, Contract N° 171-2015-FONDECYT.

Allergic asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases of the airways, however it still remains underdiagnosed and hence undertreated. Therefore, an allergic asthma rat model would be useful to be applied in future therapeutic strategy studies. The aim of the present study was to develop an objective model of allergic asthma in atopic rats that allows the induction and quantification of anaphylactic shock with quantitative variables. Female Brown Norway rats were intraperitoneally sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA), alum and Bordetella pertussis toxin and boosted a week later with OVA in alum. At day 28, all rats received an intranasal challenge with OVA. Anaphylactic response was accurately assessed by changes in motor activity and body temperature. Leukotriene concentration was determined in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and total and IgE anti-OVA antibodies were quantified...