Immunogenicity and safety of yellow fever vaccination for 102 HIV-infected patients.

Background: Yellow fever vaccine (17DV) has been investigated incompletely in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, and adequate immunogenicity and safety are of concern in this population.

Methods: In the Swiss HIV Cohort Study, we identified 102 patients who received 17DV while they were HIV infected. We analyzed neutralization titers (NTs) after 17DV administration using the plaque reduction neutralization test.

Immune response during adverse events after 17D-derived yellow fever vaccination in Europe.

Background: In 1999-2000, reports of fatalities after vaccination with 17D-derived yellow fever vaccine (YEL) focused mainly on cases of YEL-associated adverse events (YEL-AEs) and YEL-associated viscerotropic disease (YEL-AVD). Here, we investigated 6 recent European cases to provide insight regarding immune response involvement and to identify potential risk factors.

Methods: Clinical, microbiological, molecular biological, and immunological assays were performed on serum from 6 patients with YEL-AEs, including 5 with YEL-AVD and 1 with YEL-associated neurotropic disease (YEL-AND).

Analysis of two imported cases of yellow fever infection from Ivory Coast and The Gambia to Germany and Belgium.

Background: Yellow fever remains one of the great burdens for public health in the endemic regions in Africa and South America. The under reporting of yellow fever cases in the respective regions and lack of international interest leads to an underestimation of the constant danger in these areas. Non-vaccinated travelers take a high risk without the effective protection of YFV 17D vaccination.

Reference gene selection for quantitative real-time PCR analysis in virus infected cells: SARS corona virus, Yellow fever virus, Human Herpesvirus-6, Camelpox virus and Cytomegalovirus infections.

Ten potential reference genes were compared for their use in experiments investigating cellular mRNA expression of virus infected cells. Human cell lines were infected with Cytomegalovirus, Human Herpesvirus-6, Camelpox virus, SARS coronavirus or Yellow fever virus. The expression levels of these genes and the viral replication were determined by real-time PCR.

CCK inhibits the orexigenic effect of peripheral ghrelin.

CCK and ghrelin exert antagonistic effects on ingestive behavior. The aim of the present study was to investigate the interaction between ghrelin and CCK administered peripherally on food intake and neuronal activity in specific hypothalamic and brain stem nuclei, as assessed by c-Fos-like immunoreactivity (c-FLI) in nonfasted rats. Ghrelin (13 microg/kg body wt) injected intraperitoneally significantly increased the cumulative food intake when measured at 30 min and 1 h after injection, compared with the vehicle group (2.

Activation of the cytokine network and unfavorable outcome in patients with yellow fever.

To study the contribution of inflammatory mediators to the pathogenesis of yellow fever (YF), the serum levels of several cytokines and chemokines were measured in 7 patients with fatal YF (f-YF), 11 patients with nonfatal hemorrhagic YF (nf/h-YF), and 18 patients with nonfatal nonhemorrhagic YF (nf/nh-YF). The levels of interleukin (IL)-6, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, interferon-inducible protein (IP)-10, tumor necrosis factor- alpha , and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) were all statistically significantly higher in the patients with f-YF than in those with nf/nh-YF. In patients with nf/h-YF, only levels of IP-10 and IL-1RA were significantly elevated.

External quality control assessment in PCR diagnostics of dengue virus infections.

Background: Increased travelling to countries endemic for dengue fever (DF) demands efficient laboratory diagnostics. Nucleic acid amplification techniques (NAT) are now frequently used for rapid diagnosis of imported viral diseases. Different PCR systems are available.

Two immunocytochemical protocols for immunofluorescent detection of c-Fos positive neurons in the rat brain.

The immediate-early-gene product c-Fos is a well known marker of neuronal activation in the central nervous system. Thus, immunocytochemical methods to detect c-Fos in the brain are important tools in experimental studies that aim to map activated brain areas on a cellular level. Accordingly, we describe here two alternative protocols for c-Fos detection which are based on an indirect immunofluorescence technique.

Detection of yellow fever virus: a comparison of quantitative real-time PCR and plaque assay.

Yellow fever virus quantitation is performed routinely by cultivation of virus containing samples using susceptible cells. Counting of the resulting plaques provides a marker for the number of infectious particles present in the sample. This assay usually takes up to 5 days before results are obtained and must be carried out under L2 or L3 laboratory conditions, depending on the yellow fever virus strain used.