Cloning, yeast expression, isolation, and vaccine testing of recombinant Ancylostoma-secreted protein (ASP)-1 and ASP-2 from Ancylostoma ceylanicum.

cDNAs encoding 2 Ancylostoma-secreted proteins (ASPs), Ancylostoma ceylanicum (Ay)-ASP-1 and Ay-ASP-2, were cloned from infective third-stage larvae (L3) of the hookworm A. ceylanicum and were expressed as soluble recombinant fusion proteins secreted by the yeast Pichia pastoris. The recombinant fusion proteins were purified, adjuvant formulated, and injected intramuscularly into hamsters.

Effect of vaccination with a recombinant fusion protein encoding an astacinlike metalloprotease (MTP-1) secreted by host-stimulated Ancylostoma caninum third-stage infective larvae.

Laboratory dogs were vaccinated intramuscularly with a recombinant fusion protein (expressed and isolated from Escherichia coli) formulated with the Glaxo SmithKline Adjuvant System 02 (AS02). The fusion protein encoded Ac-MTP-1, a developmentally regulated astacinlike metalloprotease secreted by host-stimulated Ancylostoma caninum third-stage larvae (L3). Control dogs were injected intramuscularly with an equivalent amount of AS02 adjuvant alone.

Progress in the development of a recombinant vaccine for human hookworm disease: the Human Hookworm Vaccine Initiative.

Hookworm infection is one of the most important parasitic infections of humans, possibly outranked only by malaria as a cause of misery and suffering. An estimated 1.2 billion people are infected with hookworm in areas of rural poverty in the tropics and subtropics.

Effect of vaccinations with recombinant fusion proteins on Ancylostoma caninum habitat selection in the canine intestine.

Laboratory dogs were vaccinated subcutaneously with 3 different recombinant fusion proteins, each precipitated with alum or calcium phosphate. The vaccinated dogs were then challenged orally with 400 third-stage infective larvae (L3) of the canine hookworm, Ancylostoma caninum. The 3 A.

[Rates of stillbirths in Kuwaiti women with non-insulin-dependent diabetes].

The objective of the present study was to discern stillbirth rates in patients diagnosed as having NIDDM. Also, it describes sociodemographic characteristics, and diabetes related factors that distinguish women with established NIDDM who experienced repeated stillbirths from those who did not. The sample data by 99 Kuwaiti women with NIDDM who are still in the reproduction-age are from a cross-sectional survey carried out in 1995/96.

Occurrence of surgical pathogens and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns.

Objective: To assess the occurrence frequency of bacterial pathogens at the Surgical Wards, Casualty and Outpatient Department (OP) of major Kuwaiti hospital and to compare their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns.

Methods: The Automicrobic System (bioMerieux-Vitek) with respective ready-to-use cards were used for identification of isolates and their susceptibility testing. Vitek DataTrac software automatically tabulated the occurrence rate of pathogens or their antimicrobial susceptibility percentage--for defined periods of time and specified patient locations.

Epidemiological features of complicated UTI in a district hospital of Kuwait.

Records from patients admitted to the surgical or medical department or examined in the respective outpatient departments in a Kuwaiti district hospital were reviewed retrospectively to discern the demographic characteristics of patients with complicated urinary tract infections (UTI), underlying conditions, pathogens and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. Kuwaiti nationals constituted the largest group, followed by Egyptians, which in the population of 225 patients studied comprised 41% and 27%, respectively; 65 of these 225 patients (29%) had urinary stones; 33 of the 92 Kuwaiti patients (36%) had diabetes mellitus; 38 of the 60 Egyptian patients (63%) had urinary stones and 18 had bilharziasis (30%). Pathogens were isolated 353 times from 225 patients.

The minimum inhibitory concentration of seventeen antimicrobials for Salmonella isolates from septic patients.

Herein we are reporting, for the first time in Kuwait, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of Salmonella blood culture isolates vs. 17 clinically relevant antimicrobial agents. The screening of blood culture specimens was performed with the most advanced Bactec 9240 (Becton Dickinson).

Ultrastructural changes in hepatocytes induced by pregnenolone-16a-carbonitrile (PCN).

Pretreatment with pregnenolone-16a-carbonitrile (PCN) protects the rat against the toxic effects of indomethacin, digitoxin, cyclophosphamide and many other injurious agents. In experiments in vivo Selye has recently shown that conditioning by higher PCN doses gives broader "protection spectra". In the present experiments, we studied the effect of different doses of PCN on the ultrastructure of the hepatocytes.