Development of specific fluorescent-antibody test for tissue form of Penicillium marneffei.

The diagnosis of penicilliosis marneffei can be difficult because the clinical manifestations mimic those of tuberculosis, histoplasmosis, and other mycotic infections. Furthermore, the tissue form of Penicillium marneffei can be confused with those of Histoplasma capsulatum and Cryptococcus neoformans. To facilitate the rapid detection and identification of P.

A tissue culture bilayer model to study the passage of Neisseria meningitidis.

A tissue culture bilayer system has been developed as a model to study the mechanisms of attachment and invasion involved in the pathogenesis of Neisseria meningitidis. The model incorporates epithelial and endothelial cell layers separated by a microporous membrane and makes it possible to observe and quantify the passage of bacteria through the multiple layers and to study the mechanisms by which they make this passage. This model is adaptable to a wide variety of microbial pathogens and can be modified by substituting any physiologically relevant eucaryotic cells for the component layers.

Morphologic and staining characteristics of a cyanobacterium-like organism associated with diarrhea.

A spherical organism 9-10 microns in diameter, seen in three outbreaks of diarrhea in Southeast Asia and the United States during the past 2 years, bore characteristics of a cyanobacterium when observed in formalin-preserved stool specimens and by electron microscopy. Organisms in freshly passed stool specimens showed an internal morula of lipid-containing globules. In fresh water, the morula divided into two sausage-shaped structures resembling the sporocysts of an isosporid coccidian.

Specific immunofluorescence staining of Treponema pallidum in smears and tissues.

To date, tissue sections prepared from Formalin-fixed tissues have not been successfully stained with Treponema pallidum subspecies-specific antibody in a direct fluorescent-antibody assay. While current methods stain T. pallidum, they do not distinguish T.

Alga associated with diarrhea in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and in travelers.

Spherical bodies resembling coccidian oocysts and measuring 8.0 to 9.0 microns in diameter were seen in the stools of eight persons with explosive, watery diarrhea.