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In six males with chronic neurological signs who, 14-41 years previously, had an episode of acute trichinellosis cardinal symptoms were chronic muscle pain and lower-neuron damage. Other findings, probably related to trichinellosis, were episodes of pyrexia, chronic gastro-intestinal and cardiac symptoms, and in one case symptomatic epilepsy with psychomotor attacks. Significant laboratory findings were a chronic leukocytosis in one case, repeated elevations of eosinophil count in three. Muscle biopsy in all patients revealed live trichinella and (or) focal myositis. The serological findings did not correlate with the biopsy ones. If the live trichinae are encapsulated, antibody titres may be negative, while they may be markedly elevated when the trichinellae are dead. Whether encapsulated larvae can be influenced by tiabendazol or mebendazol is not clear from these observations.

CO is a colorless and odorless gas produced by the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons, both of natural and anthropogenic origin. Several microorganisms, including aerobic and anaerobic bacteria and anaerobic archaea, use exogenous CO as a source of carbon and energy for growth. On the other hand, eukaryotic organisms use endogenous CO, produced during heme degradation, as a neurotransmitter and as a signal molecule. CO sensors act as signal transducers by coupling a "regulatory" heme-binding domain to a "functional" signal transmitter. Although high CO concentrations inhibit generally heme-protein actions, low CO levels can influence several signaling pathways, including those regulated by soluble guanylate cyclase and/or mitogen-activated protein kinases. This review summarizes recent insights into CO metabolism, sensing, and signaling.

""The ibuprofen primary binding site FA3-FA4 is located in domain III of human serum albumin (HSA), the secondary clefts FA2 and FA6 being sited in domains I and II. Here, the thermodynamics of ibuprofen binding to recombinant Asp1-Glu382 truncated HSA (tHSA)-heme-Fe(III) and nitrosylated tHSA-heme-Fe(II), encompassing domains I and II only, is reported. Moreover, the allosteric effect of ibuprofen on the kinetics of tHSA-heme-Fe(III)-mediated peroxynitrite isomerization and nitrosylated tHSA-heme-Fe(II) denitrosylation has been investigated. The present data indicate, for the first time, that the allosteric modulation of tHSA-heme and HSA-heme reactivity by ibuprofen depends mainly on drug binding to the FA2 and FA6 secondary sites rather than drug association with the FA3-FA4 primary cleft. Thus, tHSA is a valuable model with which to investigate the allosteric linkage between the heme cleft FA1 and the ligand-binding pockets FA2 and FA6, all located in domains I and II of (t)HSA.""

Heme endows human serum albumin (HSA) with heme-protein-like reactivity and spectroscopic properties. Here, the kinetics and thermodynamics of reductive nitrosylation of ferric human serum heme-albumin [HSA-heme-Fe(III)] are reported. All data were obtained at 20 degrees C. At pH 5.5, HSA-heme-Fe(III) binds nitrogen monoxide (NO) reversibly, leading to the formation of nitrosylated HSA-heme-Fe(III) [HSA-heme-Fe(III)-NO]. By contrast, at pHor= 6.5, the addition of NO to HSA-heme-Fe(III) leads to the transient formation of HSA-heme-Fe(III)-NO in equilibrium with HSA-heme-Fe(II)-NO(+). Then, HSA-heme-Fe(II)-NO(+) undergoes nucleophilic attack by OH(-) to yield ferrous human serum heme-albumin [HSA-heme-Fe(II)]. HSA-heme-Fe(II) further reacts with NO to give nitrosylated HSA-heme-Fe(II) [HSA-heme-Fe(II)-NO]. The rate-limiting step for reductive nitrosylation of HSA-heme-Fe(III) is represented by the OH(-)-mediated reduction of HSA-heme-Fe(II)-NO(+) to HSA-heme-Fe(II). The value of the second-order rate constant for OH(-)-mediated reduction of HSA-heme-Fe(II)-NO(+) to HSA-heme-Fe(II) is 4.4 x 10(3) M(-1) s(-1). The present results highlight the role of HSA-heme-Fe in scavenging reactive nitrogen species.