Status and solutions to medical device regulations for improving the healthcare landscape in Africa.

For different reasons most African countries have a poor public healthcare system compared to developed countries. Despite an increasing number of patients they often lack skilled health workers as well as basic medical equipment. This paper focuses on the development of an affordable and sustainable system for medical device regulations to provide safe, effective and quality healthcare products for Africa.

Ezrin, maspin, peroxiredoxin 2, and heat shock protein 27: potential targets of a streptococcal-induced autoimmune response in psoriasis.

Psoriasis is an HLA-Cw6-associated T cell-mediated autoimmune disease of the skin that is often triggered by streptococcal angina. To identify keratinocyte proteins, which may become psoriatic autoantigens as the result of an immune response against streptococci, rabbits were immunized with heat-killed Streptococcus pyogenes. Streptococcal immunization induced Ab formation against various human keratinocyte proteins.

Detection of the 47-kilodalton membrane immunogen gene of Treponema pallidum in various tissue sources of patients with syphilis.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect the 47-kDa immunogen gene of Treponema pallidum in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), skin lesions, and serum, but less consistently in purified granulocytes or ejaculates of patients with manifest and latent syphilis. Therefore, skin lesions and PBMCs may serve as the most reliable sources for a PCR-based diagnosis of syphilis.

[Continuous recording of cardiac output volume with the OptiQ system--experiences with clinical application].

This report discusses initial experiences with the clinical application of continuous cardiac output measurement (OptiQ SvO2/CCO-System). The system was used in 9 intensive care patients suffering either global cardiac insufficiency or systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Continuous cardiac output measurement was recorded during a period of stable blood pressure conditions and compared with the results of the conventional thermodilution method (bolus technique) in these patients.

Analysis of the TCRBV repertoire of T cells in normal, human skin: evidence for a restricted diversity.

Alpha beta T cells constitute an important component in the first line of immunologic defense in human skin. In order to determine the local selection forces driving T cell diversity, we studied the T cell receptor repertoire in normal human skin and compared it with that of matched blood samples. Using semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction the expression of T cell receptor beta-chain V genes was determined.