Comparison of an amplified enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with procedures based on molecular biology for assessing human immunodeficiency virus type 1 viral load.

The sensitivity of the enzyme-linked amplified sorbent test (ELAST) was compared with those of other classic enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), with or without previous acidic immunocomplex dissociation (ICD), in a series of samples at different stages of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. The limit of viral detection of ELAST was assessed with fresh HIV-1 preparations quantified by reverse transcription-PCR and with the P24 antigen (Ag) Sanofi Pasteur Calibrator containing lyophilized virus. The P24 Ag detection capacity of ELAST was compared with that of NASBA in samples obtained from infected subjects with less than 250 CD4+ cells.

Intrathecal synthesis of proteins: from immunoglobulins to prealbumin.

The assessment of proteins intrathecal synthesis (ITS) is an essential step in the CSF analysis. It can be established qualitatively by different ratios and quantitatively by empirical formulae. Schuller and Sagar's formula was proposed 10 years ago for the calculation of IgG ITS.

Virological markers in the cerebrospinal fluid from HIV-1-infected individuals.

We analysed 127 specimens of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 118 HIV-1-infected individuals at different stages of infection. Intrathecal antibody synthesis was evident in 23 samples tested and was more frequently directed against HIV than against rubella virus, herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus or cytomegalovirus. HIV was isolated from only 14% of the 127 CSF specimens, but from 82% of CSF-paired blood samples.

[Anonymous and free-of-charge detection of human immunodeficiency virus infection. 20-months' experience at a center].

The results of 20 months' activity of the anonymous and free-of-charge detection centre of the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital group, Paris, concerning human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV) are presented. During that period, 3,480 persons consulted and 3,332 anonymous questionnaires were filled and returned: 20.5 percent of the subjects were homosexuals, 6.

Detection of antibodies to human herpesvirus-6 using immunofluorescence assay.

A serological study of human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) infection was performed by means of immunofluorescence assay on fixed HHV-6-infected cells. Comparison between indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and anticomplement immunofluorescence assay (ACIF) showed that the latter test was the most appropriate for HHV-6 serology, although both methods exhibited identical sensitivity. ACIF, which was performed on HSB2 cells infected with the HBLV strain (provided by S.

[Epidemiologic aspects of viral hepatitis at a Parisian university hospital. Apropos of 130 cases].

One hundred and thirty adults with viral hepatitis were hospitalized in the Department of Hepatology-Gastroenterology at the Hospital Salpètrière between October 1984 and October 1986. Eighty had acute hepatitis and 50 suffered from chronic hepatitis. Among the former, 15 had hepatitis A, 40 had hepatitis B and/or delta and 25 had non A-non B hepatitis.

Absence of humoral autoimmunity in peripartum cardiomyopathy. A comparative study in Niger.

The authors report a humoral immunity study in 39 black Nigerian women with peripartum cardiomyopathy. Serum immunoglobulins (IgG, IgA, IgM) assay, evaluation of serum immune complexes (immunonephelemetric method) and of heart muscle autoantibodies (indirect immunofluorescent double layer technique in heart muscle of the rat) were made. Forty breastfeeding black Nigerian women without cardiac disease were the controls.

[Prospects and current data in antiviral chemotherapy].

The advances achieved in our knowledge on the virus multiplication cycle and the challenge created by the advent of AIDS have resulted in a rational development of new antiviral agents. However, antiviral chemotherapy is hindered by several obstacles: (1) most antiviral drugs are cytotoxic, with the exception of acyclovir which owes its remarkable safety to its activation by the thymidine kinase of the herpes simplex viruses and of the varicella-zoster virus; (2) the risk of selecting resistant strains by mutation of viral enzymes is the unavoidable price to pay for the specificity of new antiviral agents which interfere with these enzymes; so far, this risk seems to apply only to immunocompromised patients; (3) latent viral infection, defined as the lack of active multiplication of the virus, cannot be eradicated by the antiviral drugs available at present since these drugs are inhibitors of viral multiplication. However, anti-sens oligonucleotides could, at least in theory, be used to treat this type of infection which is not limited to the Retroviridae or Herpesviridae families.

[Juvenile multiple myeloma. A Nigerian case].

One case of juvenile multiple myeloma of the IgG-kappa type, with lytic lesions of the skull, is reported in a 14-year old Nigerian Fulani girl. The outcome was rapidly fatal. This disease is extremely rare: only 2 other documented cases (2 girls aged 13 and 12) have been found in the literature, under the age of 15.

[Specific IgM of cytomegaloviruses and primary infection in kidney transplant patients].

In 20 renal transplant recipients suffering from symptomatic CMV infection we looked if a specific IgM response was indicative of a primary infection. By an ELISA technique we investigated the specific IgG and IgM in a pair of sera taken at the time of the transplantation and later at the time of the CMV isolation. For 7 out of 8 patients exhibiting an IgM response in the late serum, the pretransplant serum did not contain either IgG or IgM specific antibodies.

Respective roles of immune and nutritional factors in the priming of the immune response in the elderly.

Ninety-six institutionalized elderly (greater than 70 years old) (mean age: 82 +/- 7 years) subjects, negative for tetanus toxoid antibodies were primed with tetanus toxoid vaccination and dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB). Correlations were studied between some immunological parameters, nutritional parameters prior to immunization and the immune response intensity after it. Levels of tetanus toxoid specific IgG (ELISA assay) were positively correlated with monocyte phagocytosis, DNCB response and prealbumin levels, and negatively correlated with total IgG, monocyte immune degradation and tetanus toxoid lymphocyte stimulation.

Prevalence of serum antibodies to herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2: application of an ELISA technique to 100 cases of anogenital herpes.

Sera of 100 patients affected by anogenital herpes were tested by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique using partially purified antigens obtained by extraction from the nuclei of infected Vero cells. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) was isolated from the anogenital lesions of 17 patients and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) from 83 patients. The relative proportions of antibody of the IgG class to HSV-1 and HSV-2 were determined and their ratio (R) was calculated, except for 23 patients for whom the corrected optical density (COD) obtained for HSV-1 or HSV-2 antibody was less than the lower value limit of 0.

[Plasma zinc levels in elderly hospitalized subjects. Correlation with other nutritional and immunological markers and survival].

Plasma zinc levels were measured in 95 elderly patients hospitalized in a long stay unit and in 100 healthy controls under 65 years of age. Plasma zinc concentrations were significantly lower in the elderly patients, as compared to the younger subjects (p 0.001).