Publications by authors named "Luz Toribio"

Article Synopsis
  • * A comprehensive review analyzed 169 records, focusing on 53 studies that evaluated the accuracy of various antibody and antigen tests using human serum or urine, revealing challenges in data interpretation due to variability in results.
  • * Notably, a new multi-antigen print immunoassay showed high sensitivity and specificity for detecting both parenchymal and extraparenchymal cysts, while point-of-care tests also showed potential but need additional validation, particularly in resource-limited settings.
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Article Synopsis
  • - Neurocysticercosis is a significant parasitic disease, and diagnosing it often requires neuroimaging, which can be hard to access in poor rural areas.
  • - A new, quick point-of-care (POC) test was developed to detect urinary antigens, improving diagnosis by identifying individuals who need further imaging.
  • - The POC assay showed a 73.6% overall agreement with the standard Ag-ELISA, performing especially well in nonreactive and positive sample groups, making it a practical and noninvasive option for community screening.
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Background: Antigen detection in Taenia solium cysticercosis confirms viable infection in the intermediate host (either pig or human). The reference B158/B60 monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based Ag-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has acceptable levels of sensitivity and specificity in human neurocysticercosis with multiple brain cysts, although its sensitivity is lower in cases with single brain cysts, whereas in porcine cysticercosis the assay specificity is affected by its frequent cross-reaction with Taenia hydatigena, another common cestode found in pigs. Our group has produced 21 anti-T.

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Monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a complementary diagnosis technique for neurocysticercosis (NCC), which detects circulating parasite antigen (Ag) indicative of viable infection and Ag levels that correlate well with the parasite burden. In this study, we compared the performance of two Ag-ELISA techniques for the detection of NCC. We assessed the agreement between our in-house TsW8/TsW5 Ag-ELISA and the widely used B158/B60 Ag-ELISA for measuring antigen levels in the sera from 113 patients with calcified, parenchymal, and subarachnoid NCC.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study tested a dipstick assay for detecting Taenia solium antigen in urine from 30 patients with neurocysticercosis and 10 healthy individuals.
  • The test successfully identified the antigen in 29 out of 30 patients while showing no positive results in healthy controls.
  • The findings suggest that this urine antigen test could be a practical tool for diagnosing neurocysticercosis and identifying at-risk patients in regions with limited medical resources.
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Objective.: To explore the feasibility of developing a sheep model of neurocysticercosis (NCC) by intracranial infection with T. solium oncospheres.

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Background: Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is the infection of the human central nervous system (CNS) by Taenia solium larvae that cause significant neurological morbidity. Studies on NCC pathophysiology, host-parasite interactions or therapeutic agents are limited by the lack of suitable animal models. We have previously reported that carotid injection of activated T.

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Mitochondria are complex organelles that play a critical role within the cell; mitochondrial dysfunction can result in significant cell damage or death. Previous studies have demonstrated the promising therapeutic effects of autologous mitochondria transplantation into ischemic cardiac tissue; however, few studies have examined the in vivo effects of mitochondria infusion into the brain. The aim of this study is to report a procedure for carotid infusion of autologous mitochondria into porcine brains.

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Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a major neglected tropical zoonotic disease caused by the tissue-dwelling larval stage of the cestode parasite Echinococcus granulosus. For individuals suspected of CE, the diagnostic standard is imaging using ultrasonography, X rays, or computed tomography. These resource-demanding and expensive procedures are rarely available in endemic rural areas where CE is most prevalent.

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The use of L protein coupled magnetic particles for the concentration and purification of immunoglobulin M (mIgM) monoclonal antibodies against Taenia solium was evaluated. Three concentration methods and different elution times were evaluated and the ratio of particles to the ratio of mIgM was optimized. It is demonstrated that: 1) with the use of magnetic particles, a previous concentration of mIgM is not required, which reduces the manipulation of the antibodies and improves the recovery, 2) the use of a binding buffer can be omitted, since the pH of most cell culture supernatants are neutral, and 3) longer elution times (~ 45 minutes) are needed to increase recovery to a level greater than 80%.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Diagnosing NCC is complicated and expensive, often involving blood tests and advanced imaging, which can be challenging in areas with limited resources.
  • * The study suggests that detecting cell-free DNA in urine could be a more accessible and sensitive diagnostic method for NCC, potentially improving current testing approaches.
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