ESAT-6 and Ag85A Synthetic Peptides as Candidates for an Immunodiagnostic Test in Children with a Clinical Suspicion of Tuberculosis.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is being underdetected in children as most are smear-negative. This work was aimed at evaluating ESAT-6 and Ag85A synthetic peptides' serodiagnostic potential for diagnosing children having a clinical suspicion of TB.

Methods: The study involved 438 children: 77 Creole nonindigenous (13 suspected of having TB and 64 healthy ones) and 361 Warao indigenous children (39 suspected of TB and 322 healthy children).

Clinical factors affecting the efficacy of melasma treatment using the Q-switched 1064 Nd: YAG laser mode in a group of Venezuelan female patients.

The influence of melasma risk factors on the effectiveness of laser toning treatment in Venezuelan females was investigated. Clinical evaluation was performed (n = 64) including ultrasound and thyroid hormone profile. All patients underwent face exposure with laser toning, eight sessions weekly.

Intestinal parasitic infections and atopic dermatitis among Venezuelan Warao Amerindian pre- school children.

Background: We evaluated the influence of intestinal parasitic infection on food sensitization associated to the severity of Atopic Dermatitis (AD) in a group of Warao Amerindian pre- school children.

Methods: Feces examinations were performed in fresh stool specimens. Diagnosis of AD was done according to Hannifin and Rajka criteria and SCORAD index.

[Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of rotavirus infection in children of Cumaná, Venezuela].

The detection rate of group A human rotavirus (HRV-A), as well as its association with clinical and epidemiological parameters, was studied in children younger than 5 years old with acute diarrhea attending to the University Hospital "Antonio Patricio de Alcalá" of Cumaná, between march 2006 and september 2007. Of 241 fecal samples collected in this study, 47 (19.5%) were positive to HRV-A by immunoassay.

[Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli associated with acute diarrhea in children of Cumaná, Venezuela].

To establish the prevalence of strains of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) associated to acute diarrhea in children of Cumaná, Venezuela, stool samples were taken from 200 children aged < 5 years with acute diarrheal disease, and from 30 healthy children used as control. Isolation and bacterial identification was performed by conventional biochemical tests and stool cultures. The presence of pathogenic genes of each type of DEC was investigated by the technique of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), determining the genes eae and bfp (EPEC), st and lt (ETEC), ipaH and virF (EIEC) Stx1/Stx2 (STEC), aafII (EAEC) and daaE (ADEC).

Ascaris lumbricoides: an overview of therapeutic targets.

A. lumbricoides is the largest of the common nematode parasites of man and has been associated with intestinal pathology, respiratory symptoms and malnutrition in children from endemic areas. Current anthelmintic treatments have proven to be safe.

Antibody responses and resistance against Ascaris lumbricoides infection among Venezuelan rural children: the influence of ethnicity.

We studied the production of anti parasite antibodies and the resistance against A. lumbricoides infection among the school population of three different Venezuelan ethnic groups: Warao Amerindians, Afro- Americans and white 'Creole' descendents. The prevalence and intensity of A.

Role of the low affinity IgE receptor (CD23) on the IgE response against Ascaris lumbricoides in Warao Amerindian children from Venezuela.

The objective of this study was to investigate the immune mechanisms against gastrointestinal helminths involved in the production of IgE, particularly the role of the low affinity IgE receptor (CD23) in Amerindian Warao children from the Orinoco Delta, Venezuela. We studied a group of unselected (n = 159) Warao school children with high prevalence and intensity of helminthic infection and a similar non- parasitized (n = 70) control group of a "creole" community also located at the Delta of the Orinoco. The levels of total and specific anti-Ascaris IgE, determined by ELISA, were extremely higher in the Warao children (p < 0.

Associations of a novel IL4RA polymorphism, Ala57Thr, in Greenlander Inuit.

Background: A novel IL4RA polymorphism, Ala57Thr, was identified in Greenlander Inuit.

Objective: We sought to determine whether the novel Thr57 allele is population specific and to assess the associations of Ala57Thr and Ile50Val with atopy in 2 Inuit populations.

Methods: Ala57Thr and Ile50Val were genotyped in 651 Inuit living in Denmark, 1295 Inuit living in Greenland, and 1329 individuals from 7 populations from widely differing global locations.

The role of parasites in genetic susceptibility to allergy: IgE, helminthic infection and allergy, and the evolution of the human immune system.

There have been numerous studies in the mouse illustrating the dichotomy of T cell responses, with the common classification orchestrated around Th1 vs. Th2 responses. This classification is now widely applied to human disease as well and the generic conclusion is that the Th1 responses are more likely to occur secondary to specific microbiologic insult but also inflammatory responses.

Secretory IgA antibody responses in Venezuelan children infected with Giardia duodenalis.

We standardized and evaluated an ELISA technique for the detection of total and specific anti-Giardia duodenalis secretory IgA antibodies (sIgA). Samples of saliva and serum of 161 Venezuelan schoolchildren were analysed. After stool examination, 66 children were diagnosed to be infected with Giardia duodenalis, 22 with other protozoa, and 73 non-parasitized.

Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in Warao lineage communities of Delta Amacuro State, Venezuela.

The purpose of this study was the evaluation of Helicobacter pylori infections in children and adults from two indigenous communities of Delta Amacuro State, Venezuela, that differ in hygienic conditions of the housing. The evaluation was performed in 98 children (mean age 7 +/- 3.37 years) and their mothers (33.

Variations in the serum levels of soluble CD23, nitric oxide and IgE across the spectrum of American cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Serum IgE levels and the expression of low affinity receptor for IgE (Fc epsilon RII/CD23) are increased in cutaneous leishmaniasis. The ligation of CD23 receptor by IgE-anti-IgE immune complexes results in nitric oxide (NO) production, which is a critical leishmanicidal factor. Human monocytes/macrophages express Fc epsilon RII/CD23 after activation with IFN-gamma and IL-4.