Performance of eight commercial immunoassays for the detection of cytomegalovirus-specific IgM antibodies in pregnancy - no test fits all needs.

Detection of cytomegalovirus (CMV)-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies as first-line serologic diagnosis plays an important role in identifying CMV primary infection during pregnancy. The performance characteristics of eight commercially available CMV IgM assays were compared. Sensitivity and IgM antibody kinetics were assessed using 100 acute phase and follow-up sera from 39 pregnant women with a well-defined onset of CMV primary infection.

Low-level positive results in the Liaison CMV IgG II assay may misclassify pregnant woman as immune.

The aim of this study is to report on the specificity in the low-positive range of the Liaison CMV IgG II assay for determination of cytomegalovirus immune status in pregnancy. Sera with test results between 12.0 and 40.

Primary cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in pregnancy: Diagnostic value of CMV PCR in saliva compared to urine at birth.

Background: Due to its ease of collection saliva was recently recommended as the preferred specimen, not only for screening, but also for diagnosis of congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection.

Objective: To compare the diagnostic performance of saliva PCR to urine PCR in infants born to mothers with primary CMV infection during pregnancy.

Study Design: We retrospectively analyzed available data of infants tested for CMV DNA in urine and saliva at birth.

The value of CMV IgG avidity and immunoblot for timing the onset of primary CMV infection in pregnancy.

Background: Primary CMV infections in pregnancy are usually asymptomatic and only detected by serology. Estimating the onset of infection is a major diagnostic goal, since primary infections around conception and in early gestation hold a higher risk for congenital disease than those in later pregnancy.

Objectives: To assess the ability of serological supplementary CMV assays to date the onset of primary infection.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) seroprevalence in pregnant women, bone marrow donors and adolescents in Germany, 1996-2010.

In Germany, studies on the IgG seroprevalence in pregnancy and in women of childbearing age are rare. Therefore, we retrospectively evaluated the CMV IgG seropositive rate in 40,324 pregnant women as well as in 31,093 female and male bone marrow donors over 15 consecutive years (1996-2010). Furthermore, the result of a study conducted in 1999 investigating 1,305 healthy adolescents with known ethnicity was included.

Intrauterine transmission and clinical outcome of 248 pregnancies with primary cytomegalovirus infection in relation to gestational age.

Background: The risk of intrauterine cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and disease in the fetus or newborn largely depends on time of primary maternal infection during pregnancy.

Objectives: Prospective cohort study of pregnancy outcome in relation to gestational age at primary maternal CMV infection.

Study Design: In a total of 248 pregnancies with primary infection the onset of infection was determined by IgG seroconversion, IgG avidity and/or onset of clinical symptoms.

The G protein-coupled receptor Gpr1 and the Galpha protein Gpa2 act through the cAMP-protein kinase A pathway to induce morphogenesis in Candida albicans.

We investigated the role in cell morphogenesis and pathogenicity of the Candida albicans GPR1 gene, encoding the G protein-coupled receptor Gpr1. Deletion of C. albicans GPR1 has only minor effects in liquid hypha-inducing media but results in strong defects in the yeast-to-hypha transition on solid hypha-inducing media.

Cyclic AMP mediates the cell cycle dynamics of energy metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

We have investigated the role of 3',5'-cyclic-adenosine-monophosphate (cAMP) in mediating the coupling between energy metabolism and cell cycle progression in both synchronous cultures and oscillating continuous cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. For the first time, a peak in intracellular cAMP was shown to precede the observed breakdown of trehalose and glycogen during cell cycle-related oscillations. Measurements in synchronous cultures demonstrated that this peak can be associated with the cell cycle dynamics of cAMP under conditions of glucose-limited growth, which was found to differ significantly from that observed in synchronous glucose-repressed cultures.