Ocular surface sphingolipids associate with the refractory nature of vernal keratoconjunctivitis: newer insights in VKC pathogenesis.

Background: The etiopathogenesis of vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) is incompletely understood. Bioactive lipids play a key role in allergic disorders. This study focused on the sphingolipid metabolism on the ocular surface of VKC and to explore if it has a contributory role in the refractoriness of the disease.

Altered retinoid metabolism gene expression in chronic Stevens-Johnson syndrome.

Background: Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), a blistering disorder of the skin and mucous membrane, leads to ocular morbidity in >60% of cases. Retinoids are vital micronutrients for vision, regulating corneal and conjunctival cell proliferation, differentiation and immune function. This prospective case-control study probed for alterations in retinoid metabolism by evaluating retinoic acid receptor signalling in the conjunctival cells of patients with SJS.

Ocular surface cytokine profile in chronic Stevens-Johnson syndrome and its response to mucous membrane grafting for lid margin keratinisation.

Background: To study the tear cytokine and the conjunctival and oral mucosal marker profile in chronic ocular Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and their alteration following mucous membrane grafting (MMG) for lid margin keratinisation (LMK).

Methods: In a 1-year prospective study, SJS cases (n=25) and age-matched/sex-matched healthy controls (n=25) were recruited. Tear specimen (Schirmer's strip), conjunctival and oral mucosal imprints were collected from controls and SJS cases pre-MMG and post-MMG (at first follow-up, n=17).

Increased parasite surface antigen-2 expression in clinical isolates of Leishmania donovani augments antimony resistance.

Resistance to sodium antimony gluconate (SAG) is a major cause of therapeutic failure in a large proportion of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) cases. Determinants of SAG resistance have been widely studied; however, the mechanism operating in clinical isolates is poorly understood. In the present study, expression of parasite surface antigen-2 (PSA-2) gene was studied in clinical isolates of Leishmania donovani comprising of antimony resistant (n=10) and sensitive (n=4) parasites.

Genetic typing reveals monomorphism between antimony sensitive and resistant Leishmania donovani isolates from visceral leishmaniasis or post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis cases in India.

Resistance to pentavalent antimonials has emerged as a major hurdle to the treatment and control of visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar (KA), caused by Leishmania donovani. In India, over 60% of KA patients are unresponsive to the first-line drug sodium antimony gluconate (SAG). Resistance determinants in laboratory strains are partly known; however, the mechanism operating in field isolates is not well understood.

Diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis: developments over the last decade.

Diagnostic parameters for visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a potentially fatal parasitic disease caused by Leishmania donovani, have been redefined in the last decade with the development of serological and molecular tests, though a definitive diagnosis still banks on the century-old parasitological methods in many areas. Recombinant antigens have improved performance of serodiagnostic methods. Serology-based tests, rk39 antigen dipstick, and direct agglutination test commonly employed in the field are highly sensitive methods, however, fail to distinguish past infections.

Comparative in vivo expression of amastigote up regulated Leishmania genes in three different forms of Leishmaniasis.

In Old World Leishmania infections in India, Leishmania donovani is responsible for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) while L. tropica is responsible for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in humans. The molecular differences between the two species of Leishmania and within the same species causing distinct pathologies that govern the outcome of infection and pathogenesis in the human host are unknown.

Presence of anti-Lepp12 antibody: a marker for diagnostic and prognostic evaluation of visceral leishmaniasis.

The diagnostic potential of recombinant Lepp12 (rLepp12) antigen cloned from Leishmania infantum was assessed in L. donovani infections by Western blotting. Ninety-two serum samples, including 30 patients with active kala-azar (KA), 17 post-treated KA patients (KA-PT), 20 post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) patients and 25 controls, were analysed for rLepp12, rK39 and DAT positivity.