Influence of α-Macroglobulin, Anti-Parasite IgM and ABO Blood Group on Rosetting in Clinical Isolates and Their Associations with Disease Severity in a Ghanaian Population.

Purpose: The severity of infections is associated with the ability of the infected red blood cells to cytoadhere to host vascular endothelial surfaces and to uninfected RBCs. Host blood group antigens and two serum proteins α-macroglobulin (αM) and IgM have been implicated in rosette formation in laboratory-adapted . However, there is only limited information about these phenotypes in clinical isolates.

Giardia lamblia infections in children in Ghana.

Introduction: Though giardiasis is an important public health problem in Ghana, several aspects of its epidemiology, particularly the molecular epidemiology has not been investigated adequately. This could be a major hindrance to effective surveillance and control of giardiasis in the country. The study was carried out to determine the prevalence, risk factors and genotypes of infecting children at a paediatric hospital in Ghana.

α2-Macroglobulin Can Crosslink Multiple Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocyte Membrane Protein 1 (PfEMP1) Molecules and May Facilitate Adhesion of Parasitized Erythrocytes.

Rosetting, the adhesion of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes to uninfected erythrocytes, involves clonal variants of the parasite protein P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) and soluble serum factors. While rosetting is a well-known phenotypic marker of parasites associated with severe malaria, the reason for this association remains unclear, as do the molecular details of the interaction between the infected erythrocyte (IE) and the adhering erythrocytes.

The role of chronic norovirus infection in the enteropathy associated with common variable immunodeficiency.

Objectives: A severe enteropathy of unknown etiology can be associated with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID).

Methods: S tool and archived small intestinal mucosal biopsies from patients with CVID enteropathy were analyzed by PCR for the presence of Norovirus RNA. The PCR products were sequenced to determine the relationship of viral isolates.

A parallel comparison of T-cell clonality assessment between an in-house PCR assay and the BIOMED-2 assay leading to an efficient and cost-effective strategy.

Aims: Diagnosis of T-cell lymphoproliferation is sometimes challenging, and in certain instances pathologists rely heavily on the clonality assessment results of T-cell receptor (TCR) gene rearrangement (TCR-GR). Many investigators have designed various in-house primer sets for PCR-based study targeting different loci of TCR genes. In recent years, the commercial BIOMED-2 protocols have become available.