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Strongyloides venezuelensis is an intestinal nematode of rats, frequently used as a model for studying human and animal strongyloidiasis. In the present study, we evaluated parasitological, serological and molecular methods for the diagnosis of experimental S. venezuelensis in rats, Rattus norvegicus. Blood and faecal samples were collected and analysed up to 60 days post infection (pi) with adult worm recovery occurring from 5 to 45 days pi. Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), serum levels of IgG antibodies increased up to 28 days pi, thereafter decreasing by day 60 pi. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays detected S. venezuelensis DNA in faecal samples of rats from 5 to 21 days pi. The present study therefore represents the first step towards improving the diagnosis of experimental strongyloidiasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both mania and psychotic symptoms are well known to result from vascular brain injury, but their pathophysiology remains largely unknown. A 69-year-old man with diabetes and hypertension was seen for sudden behaviour disturbance: euphoric, talkative and uninhibited, he continuously shouted he trusted in Medicine, called the doctor the “King of Medicine”, and repeatedly said “I love doctors, I love nurses, I love Hospitals”. He was overcompliant during neurologic exploration, clearly amused with it. Left sensitive hemi-inattention and left homonymous hemianópsia could also be found. MRI showed an acute right temporo-parieto-insular cortical infarction. The following day he was euthymic and embarrassed for what happened. When visited that afternoon by his wife, she noticed he was strangely suspicious, continuously surveilling all her moves. He progressively worsened, believing she was having affairs with several men. This delusion persisted for the following months, even on risperidone 1mg/day, culminating in Christmas Eve, when the patient shocked his family saying that his wife was having an affair with one of their sons. At this time, risperidone was discontinued and replaced by quetiapine 200mg/day, resulting in rapid fading of all symptoms. Both post-stroke mania and psychotic symptoms have been consistently associated with right hemisphere damage, but, to our knowledge, were not previously reported after the same injury. We believe our patient provides evidence that the same anatomic dysfunction, in this case a temporoparietal infarct, can cause both psychiatric phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both mania and psychotic symptoms are well known to result from vascular brain injury, but their pathophysiology remains largely unknown. A 69-year-old man with diabetes and hypertension was seen for sudden behaviour disturbance: euphoric, talkative and uninhibited, he continuously shouted he trusted in Medicine, called the doctor the “King of Medicine”, and repeatedly said “I love doctors, I love nurses, I love Hospitals”. He was overcompliant during neurologic exploration, clearly amused with it. Left sensitive hemi-inattention and left homonymous hemianópsia could also be found. MRI showed an acute right temporo-parieto-insular cortical infarction. The following day he was euthymic and embarrassed for what happened. When visited that afternoon by his wife, she noticed he was strangely suspicious, continuously surveilling all her moves. He progressively worsened, believing she was having affairs with several men. This delusion persisted for the following months, even on risperidone 1mg/day, culminating in Christmas Eve, when the patient shocked his family saying that his wife was having an affair with one of their sons. At this time, risperidone was discontinued and replaced by quetiapine 200mg/day, resulting in rapid fading of all symptoms. Both post-stroke mania and psychotic symptoms have been consistently associated with right hemisphere damage, but, to our knowledge, were not previously reported after the same injury. We believe our patient provides evidence that the same anatomic dysfunction, in this case a temporoparietal infarct, can cause both psychiatric phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]