Honey is a natural product known to modulate several biological activities including cancer. The aim of the present study was to examine the phytochemical content and the antioxidant activity of Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) honey (STH) and its cytotoxic properties against human colon adenocarcinoma (HCT-116) and metastatic (LoVo) cell lines in comparison with Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) ...

In Drosophila, short-term (STH) and long-term habituation (LTH) of olfactory avoidance behavior are believed to arise from the selective potentiation of GABAergic synapses between multiglomerular local circuit interneurons (LNs) and projection neurons in the antennal lobe. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we show that synapsin (syn) function is necessary for ST...

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) and soil-transmitted-helminths (STH) are co-endemic in 58 countries which are mostly in Africa and Asia. Worldwide, 486 million school-age children are considered at risk of both diseases. In 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) established the global programme to eliminate LF by 2020. Since then, the LF elimination programme has distributed ivermectin or diethylc...

BACKGROUND Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions represent an important component of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infection control, alongside the administration of anthelmintic drugs, which are generally targeted to school-aged children. Recent modelling studies have suggested that STH control programmes should be broadened to include all age groups across the community. We des...

BACKGROUND Schistosomiasis and STH are among the list of neglected tropical diseases considered for control by the WHO. Although both diseases are endemic in Zimbabwe, no nationwide control interventions have been implemented. For this reason in 2009 the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Care included the two diseases in the 2009-2013 National Health Strategy highlighting the importance of ...

BACKGROUND Since 2001, Haiti's National Program for the Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis (NPELF) has worked to reduce the transmission of lymphatic filariasis (LF) through annual mass drug administration (MDA) with diethylcarbamazine and albendazole. The NPELF reached full national coverage with MDA for LF in 2012, and by 2014, a total of 14 evaluation units (48 communes) had met WHO eligibi...

OBJECTIVE Given that helminth infections have been shown to improve insulin sensitivity in animal studies, which may be explained by beneficial effects on energy balance or by a shift in the immune system to an anti-inflammatory profile, we investigated whether soil-transmitted helminth (STH)-infected subjects are more insulin sensitive than STH-uninfected subjects. DESIGN We performed a cros...

Globally, about 1.5 billion people are infected with at least one species of soil-transmitted helminth (STH). Soil is a critical environmental reservoir of STH, yet there is no standard method for detecting STH eggs in soil. We developed a field method for enumerating STH eggs in soil and tested the method in Bangladesh and Kenya. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) method for enumerat...

BACKGROUND Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections affect more than two out of every five schoolchildren in the poorest regions of rural China, an alarmingly high prevalence rate given the low cost and wide availability of safe and effective deworming treatment. Understanding of local knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding STH infection in rural China has until now, been sparse, altho...

BACKGROUND Children under two years of age are in the most critical window for growth and development. As mobility increases, this time period also coincides with first exposure to soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections in tropical and sub-tropical environments. The association between malnutrition and STH infection, however, has been understudied in this vulnerable age group. METHODOLOGY...