In vitro drug sensitivity of Plasmodium falciparum in Acre, Brazil.

In Acre, the westernmost state of Brazil in the Amazon region, the sensitivity of Plasmodium falciparum to chloroquine, amodiaquine, mefloquine, quinine and sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine was determined in vitro by the Rieckmann microtechnique. The study was performed between January and June 1987; the in vitro parasite responses to all antimalarial drugs were determined according to the recommendations of WHO. Of 83 isolates of P.

[Immunodiagnostic findings in patients with kala-azar].

Using three immunoreactions (complement-fixation reaction; enzyme immune test; indirect immunofluorescence), antibody formation was tested in 66 patients with kala-azar and 74 controls (blood donors; accident patients). Moderately elevated and high antibody levels for each of three reactions were defined to provide diagnostic criteria. Moderately high or high antibody concentrations against Leishmania antigen were found in one of the three immunoreactions in 9 patients, in two of the three in 21, and in all three in 36 (55%).

Liver involvement in human schistosomiasis mansoni. Regression of immunological and biochemical disease markers after specific treatment.

Peripheral blood cholyglycine and procollagen-III-peptide were measured in 22 Zairean patients with hepatomegaly caused by S. mansoni before and after treatment with praziquantel. Circulating T-cell subsets and cutaneous in vivo delayed type hypersensitivity were assessed; serum neopterin and beta 2-microglobulin served as indicators for macrophage/lymphocyte activation.

Immune response in chronic Schistosomiasis haematobium and mansoni. Reversibility of alterations after anti-parasitic treatment with praziquantel.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from Sudanese children heavily infected with Schistosoma haematobium and S. mansoni were examined for lymphocyte subpopulations, for mitogen and antigen responsiveness, and for natural killer (NK) cell activity before and 5 months after treatment with praziquantel. The humoral immune response was simultaneously investigated by determination of parasite-specific IgG and IgE antibodies, IgE-containing circulating immune complexes, and circulating schistosome antigen.

Interleukin 2 receptor in patients with localized and systemic parasitic diseases.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to quantify soluble interleukin 2 receptor (IL-2R) in the serum of patients with helminthic and protozoal infections. The results demonstrated that levels of IL-2R were normal in patients with helminthic infections limited to the intestinal tract (ascariasis, trichuriasis), but significantly elevated in patients with systemic or long-lasting infections (strongyloidiasis, schistosomiasis, fascioliasis, opisthorchiasis). In patients infected with Schistosoma mansoni levels of IL-2R were higher in those with the hepatosplenic than in those with the intestinal form of the disease.

Liver involvement in human schistosomiasis mansoni. Assessment by immunological and biochemical markers.

In 20 patients with hepatic or hepatosplenic schistosomiasis and 82 individuals infected with S. mansoni, but without liver enlargement, serum parameters reflecting the fibrotic process and hemodynamic alterations as well as immunomodulation were examined. Included as controls were 35 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals from the study region in Northeast Brazil.

Clinical experience with metrifonate. Review with emphasis on its use in endemic areas.

Metrifonate is an excellent drug for the treatment of urinary schistosomiasis in areas with S. haematobium monoinfection. Toxicity apparently is negligible.

Kinetics of humoral response during the acute and the convalescent phase of human trichinosis.

After a common source outbreak of trichinosis in Bitburg, FRG, 107 patients, for whom time and source of infection were precisely known, were prospectively studied for a period of eight months in order to investigate the kinetics of the humoral immune response. Antibodies were assessed by IHA, and by ELISA to quantify IgG, IgM and IgE isotypes. For four different periods of the observation time sensitivity and predictive value of tests to identify acute or convalescent trichinosis were determined.

Antibodies of the IgE and IgG isotype, serum IgE and circulating immune complexes in schistosomiasis intercalatum.

Individuals in an advanced phase of infection by Schistosoma intercalatum in whom viable ova are still present in the rectal mucosa but not excreted in detectable quantity, can be distinguished clinically from a younger group of individuals excreting S. intercalatum ova in their faeces. This clear-cut distinction is underlined by findings in parameters of humoral response.

Active immunization against hepatitis B: immunogenicity of a recombinant DNA vaccine in females, heterosexual and homosexual males.

Three groups of subjects (58 females, 54 heterosexual males, and 50 homosexual males) received three doses of a recombinant DNA yeast-derived hepatitis B vaccine according to a 0, 1, and 6 month vaccination schedule. Local and general side effects were mild. Seroconversion rates after three injections were not significantly different between the groups.

Detection and quantification of circulating antigen in schistosomiasis by monoclonal antibody. II. The quantification of circulating antigens in human schistosomiasis mansoni and haematobium: relationship to intensity of infection and disease status.

Circulating cathodic and circulating anodic antigens were quantified in sera of patients infected with S. mansoni, S. haematobium or both parasites.

Detection of Dirofilaria immitis microfilariae in peripheral blood. A quantitative comparison of the efficiency and sensitivity of four techniques.

Four techniques for the detection and quantification of Dirofilaria immitis microfilariae in peripheral blood were compared, namely the conventional thick smear, thick films prepared by cytocentrifugation, filtration of blood through polycarbonate membranes, and density gradient centrifugation followed by membrane filtration. The efficiency of the methods and their sensitivity was assessed by determining quantitatively the recovery of known numbers of microfilariae from defined volumes of blood. Polycarbonate membrane filtration either alone or in combination with density gradient centrifugation showed an efficiency of 0.

The effect of metrifonate in mixed Schistosoma haematobium and Schistosoma mansoni infections in humans.

In order to examine the effect of metrifonate, 156 patients with mixed Schistosoma haematobium and mansoni infection were randomly divided into three groups and treated with metrifonate (twice 10 mg/kg body weight), oxamniquine (60 mg/kg) and praziquantel (40 mg/kg), respectively. The output of S. haematobium and S.

Human schistosomiasis: deficiency of large granular lymphocytes and indomethacin-sensitive suppression of natural killing.

Twenty-eight children infected with Schistosoma haematobium and S. mansoni were tested for natural killer (NK) cell activity in vitro using the myeloid/erythroid cell line K562 as target. In addition, the frequency of large granular lymphocytes (LGL) and the number of HNK-1+ lymphocytes were examined in peripheral blood.