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Biomedical subjects

M Machuca

Publications and source records attributed to M Machuca.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Confirmed clinical Neospora caninum infection in a boxer puppy from Argentina.

Generalized neosporosis was diagnosed in a 2-month-old boxer puppy. The dog had a history of progressive paralysis and muscle atrophy, followed by cervical weakness, stiff jaws and dysphagia. The dog had a 1:12,800 antibody titer for Neospora caninum and was negative for antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii by the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT). After euthanasia a complete necropsy was carried out. The puppy had a megaesophagus. Microscopically, tachyzoites and tissue cysts were observed in histologic brain sections. Severe myositis was observed in esophagus and striated muscle sections and several groups of tachyzoites were associated with these lesions. Immunohistochemically, parasites in the brain and striated muscle reacted to anti-N. caninum antiserum. Western blot analysis allowed the identification of three major and four minor antigens of N. caninum tachyzoites corresponding to 30, 37, 45-kDa and 28, 29, 43, 47 and 67-kDa bands, respectively. Cerebral homogenate of the dog was inoculated into four Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus). Forty-nine days after inoculation, all the gerbils had positive IFAT titers to N. caninum (1:200, 1:400, 1:100 and 1:400). Genomic DNA was isolated from the brain, lung and striated muscle from the puppy and from the brain of one of the inoculated gerbils. The N. caninum specific primer pair Np 6/21 produced 328 bp amplicons on electrophoretic gels. This is the first confirmed clinical case of generalized canine neosporosis in Argentina.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Structural process and implementation programs of pharmaceutical care in different countries.

Pharmaceutical care started in the nineties in the United States and has rapidly extended in many other countries. Although there are different trends, such as clinical pharmacy services, cognitive services, medication management, medication review, they all share the same philosophy and objectives, namely "the responsible provision of drug therapy for the purpose of achieving definite outcomes that improve a patient's quality of life". To attain these objectives, a pharmaceutical care process has to be followed point-by-point in order to detect possible medication-related problems. Furthermore, pharmacists have to work together with patients, and ultimately with physicians to establish a care plan. This methodology requires basic skills of documentation and communication and therefore, it is important to establish implementation programs aimed at community-, hospital-, and consultant pharmacists, and to consider PC as a basic element of University teaching programs and postgraduate studies. Moreover, there are still barriers that hinder the provision of this service and have to be overcome. In this article, we have revised the implementation process and the existing projects in many countries and we conclude that despite the enormous amount of work, there is still much to be done from sides of Administration and pharmacists themselves.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed2000

Periodic occurrence of epithelial viral necrosis outbreaks in Penaeus vannamei in Ecuador.

Epizootics of an infectious cuticular epithelial necrosis virus (ICENV) occurred in cultured Penaeus vannamei in Ecuadorian shrimp farms from 1994 to 1996. There were few reports of outbreaks during 1997, but in the second half of 1998 epizootics were again reported. Histopathological examination revealed extensive tissue changes and necrosis as described for infections by what others have called Taura syndrome virus (TSV). Infiltration of haemocytes in the cuticular epithelium was also one of the characteristics in the subacute and acute forms of this disease. Electron microscopy of affected tissues demonstrated the presence of a single type of virus particle in the cytoplasm of diseased shrimps from these outbreaks and it corresponded to the published descriptions for TSV. The epizootics of ICENV were periodic in occurrence, and data indicated that they might be related to the oceanographic and climatic variations reported in the eastern Pacific from 1994 to 1998. Using 3 mo rolling averages, a statistically significant negative correlation was found between prevalence of ICENV and temperature but not temperature change. By contrast, there was a statistically significant positive correlation between prevalence of ICENV and salinity change but not salinity value. Although these data do not establish causal relationships, they suggest that laboratory tests should be conducted to determine whether low temperature and upward changes in salinity can increase shrimp susceptibility to infection and mortality by ICENV.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Detection of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in stillborn piglets in Argentina.

Fetal fluids of 738 stillborn piglets from three swine farms in Argentina were examined for antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii. Antibodies were detected in 15 samples at a 1:20 dilution in the indirect fluorescent antibody test and 10 samples were positive in the modified agglutination test (MAT) at a dilution of 1:25; four of these samples had a MAT titer of > or = 1:100. This survey indicates a low rate of congenital T. gondii infection in stillborn pigs in Argentina.

Agglutination Tests↗
PubMed1999

Neospora caninum infections in bovine foetuses and dairy cows with abortions in Argentina.

Antibodies to Neospora caninum were measured in bovine foetuses, dairy cows and beef cows in Argentina using the IFAT, the N. caninum agglutination test, and the recombinant NCDG1 and NCDG2 ELISA. Serum antibodies (IFAT titre 1:80) were found in 20 of 82 (24.4%) dairy cow foetuses and one of 22 (4.5%) beef cow foetuses. Microscopic lesions suggestive of neosporosis were seen in brains of seven of eight foetuses with IFAT titres of 1:80. Antibodies (IFAT) were found in 122 of 189 (64.5%) dairy cows that aborted. Serum antibody titres (IFAT) of 189 dairy cows that aborted were: < 1:25 (67 cows), 1:25 (four cows), 1:50 (16 cows), 1:200 (seven cows), 1:> or = 800 (95 cows). Of the 87 sera with IFAT titres of < or = 1:50, 57 had no antibodies in 1:40 dilution and 30 had titres of 1:40 in the N. caninum agglutination test. Thus, sera from at least 56 dairy cows which had aborted were seronegative both in the N. caninum agglutination test and the IFAT. The distribution of positive and negative sera was similar when measured by ELISA, except that, depending on cut-off titre, the ELISA indicated a greater number of seropositive cows that were negative by the IFAT and N. caninum agglutination test. These results suggest that transplacental transmission of N. caninum in dairy cows in Argentina is frequent.

Abortion, Veterinary↗
PubMed1989

[The aging person in Gurabo: a bio-psychosocial profile of the aging person in a community in Puerto Rico].

The Department of Family Medicine of the University of Puerto Rico Medicine School performed a census of the inhabitants 60 years and older in the community of Gurabo. A total of 1,890 elderly were interviewed 51% were female and 49% male. Sixty percent were married and twenty-five percent were widowed. Eighty two percent still lived within a family setting and only seventeen percent lived alone 86% owned their own home despite ninety percent reporting incomes below $400.00 per month. Ninety five percent have access to medical services but 63% receive services in multiples sites. Eighteen percent were functionally impaired, fourteen percent intellectually impaired and five percent had impairment in both areas. Preliminary data show that the latter group had an annual mortality rate of 15% compared to only 3.6% and 1.3% respectively in the other two group. We concluded that: 1) functional and mental impairment are indicators of increased mortality. 2) although access to health care is not a problem this health care is episodic and interrupted being provided in multiple different sites.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Consumers of oral contraceptives in a social marketing program in Honduras.

This paper presents data on the characteristics of oral contraceptive users in Honduras, obtained from a point-of-purchase survey conducted in pharmacies in 1986. The oral contraceptive Perla, provided by the Social Marketing Program, accounted for 42 percent of sales. Forty-five percent of those using Perla were considered "new" users; either they were purchasing contraceptives for the first time or had used only Perla. Almost half of those who switched to Perla previously had obtained their orals in the noncommercial sector. Brand substitution occurred among users of commercial brands at about the same rate as among Perla users (51 percent versus 55 percent). Most women switching contraceptives did so within two months of their last purchase.

Adolescent↗