All smears from ticks were negative. The present study firstly revealed T. pestanai in Ixodidae and badgers from Italy, demonstrating the occurrence of the protozoan on the peninsula. Further studies are needed to clarify the occurrence of the only known vector of this parasite, Paraceras melis flea, as well as other putative arthropods involved in the transmission of T. pestanai.Leishmania parasites, the causative agents of leishmaniasis, are protozoan parasites with the ability to modify the signalling pathway and cell responses of their infected host cells. These parasite strategies alter the host cell environment and conditions favouring their replication, survival and pathogenesis. Since microRNAs (miRNAs) are able to post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression processes, these biomolecules can exert critical roles in controlling Leishmania-host cell interplay. Therefore, the identification of relevant miRNAs differentially expressed in Leishmania parasites as well as in infected cells, which affect the host fitness, could be critical to understand the infection biology, pathogenicity and immune response against these parasites. Accordingly, the current review aims to address the differentially expressed miRNAs in both, the parasite and infected host cells and how these biomolecules change cell signalling and host immune responses during infection. A deep understanding of these processes could provide novel guidelines and therapeutic strategies for managing and treating leishmaniasis.Immune complexes (ICs) are found in canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) and interfere with the serum detection of antibodies. Dissociation of these monovalent complexes by dissociative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) removes false-negative results and allows some characterization of antibodies and antigens. We studied the serology of dogs with suspected CVL in an endemic area, testing two Leishmania (Leishmania) [L. (L.)] infantum antigens. We analysed the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG), immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies specific to promastigote soluble extract (PSE) and low-molecular weight glycans (glycan–bovine serum albumin (BSA) complex – GBC) by conventional and dissociative ELISA. Our results showed a significant fraction of IgA ICs (46.5% for PSE and 47.6% for GBC), followed by IgG ICs (10% for PSE and 23.5% for GBC). IgM ICs were more frequent for PSE (22.7%). Hypergammaglobulinaemia in CVL would be related to the presence of IgA and IgG ICs, resulting in deficient elimination of these antibodies. Our data confirmed the presence of ICs that can generate false-negative results in conventional serology. The production of IgA antibodies and the high frequency of blockade by glycan antigens suggest the active participation of this immunoglobulin and its ICs in the immunopathology of CVL, indicating a new path for further research.
  Adherence to the Mediterranean diet has been decreasing in southern Europe, which could be linked to several cultural or educational factors. Our aim is to evaluate the extent to which economic aspects may also play a role, exploring the relationship between food prices in Portugal and adherence to the Mediterranean diet.
 
  We evaluated data from the Portuguese National Food, Nutrition, and Physical Activity Survey (IAN-AF 2015-2016) (n=3,591). Diet expenditures were estimated by attributing a retail price to each food group and the diet was transposed into the Mediterranean Diet Score used in the literature. Prices were gathered from five supermarket chains (65% of the Portuguese market share). Linear regression models were used to assess the association between different adherence levels to the MD levels and dietary costs.
 
  Greater adherence to the MD was associated with a 21.2% (p< 0.05) rise in total dietary cost, which accounts for more 0.59€ in mean daily costs when compared with low adherence. High adherence individuals (vs. low adherence) had higher absolute mean daily costs with fish (0.62€/+285.8%; p< 0.05), fruits (0.26€/+115.8%; p< 0.05), and vegetables (0.10€/+100.9%; p< 0.05). The analysis stratified by education and income level showed significantly higher mean daily diet cost only amongst higher income groups.
 
  Our findings suggest that greater adherence to the MD was positively and significantly associated with higher total dietary cost. Policies to improve population's diet should take into consideration the cost of healthy foods, especially for large low- and middle-income families.
 Our findings suggest that greater adherence to the MD was positively and significantly associated with higher total dietary cost.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/rvx-208.html  Policies to improve population's diet should take into consideration the cost of healthy foods, especially for large low- and middle-income families.Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is severely impaired in persons receiving dialysis. Malnutrition has been associated with some measures of poor HRQoL in cross-sectional analyses in dialysis populations, but no studies have assessed the impact of malnutrition and dietary intake on change in multiple measures of HRQoL over time. We investigated the most important determinants of poor HRQoL and the predictors of change in HRQoL over time using several measures of HRQoL. We enrolled 119 haemodialysis and 31 peritoneal dialysis patients in this prospective study. Nutritional assessments (Subjective Global Assessment [SGA], anthropometry and 24-hour dietary recalls) and HRQoL questionnaires (Short Form-36 [SF-36] mental [MCS] and physical component scores [PCS] and European QoL-5 Dimensions [EQ5D] health state [HSS] and visual analogue scores [VAS]) were performed at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Mean age was 64(14) years. Malnutrition was present in 37% of the population. At baseline, malnutrition assessed by SGA was the only factor independently (and negatively) associated with all four measures of HRQoL. No single factor was independently associated with decrease in all measures of HRQoL over 1 year. However, prevalence/development of malnutrition over one year was an independent predictor of 1-year decrease in EQ5D HSS and 1-year decrease in fat intake independently predicted the 1-year decline in SF-36 MCS and PCS, and EQ5D VAS. These findings strengthen the importance of monitoring for malnutrition and providing nutritional advice to all persons on dialysis. Future studies are needed to evaluate the impact of nutritional interventions on HRQoL and other long-term outcomes.