Characterization by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of the humoral immune response in patients with neurocysticercosis and its application in immunodiagnosis.

The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was standardized for the search for specific antibodies in human neurocysticercosis. A crude cysticercal extract and two partially purified antigenic fractions were used, as well as serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples of different groups of subjects. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies were detected in serum and CSF, with a sensitivity of 85 and 90%, respectively.

Iliac arteriovenous fistula as a complication of lumbar disc surgery. Report of two cases and review of literature.

Vascular lesions following surgery of the lumbar disc are very infrequent, and exceptionally an arteriovenous fistula can developed. An important proportion of the reported cases were previously diagnosed as deep venous thrombosis, because this kind of pathology was not suspected. Postsurgical arteriovenous fistula produces severe haemodynamic disturbances, and congestive heart failure will develop if they are left to their natural course without intervention.

Host--parasite relationship in cysticercosis: immunologic study in different compartments of the host.

Cysticerci parasitize several mammalian species, including man, in which the parasitic disease shows unique characteristics since cysticerci are established mainly in immunologically privileged sites and can survive for many years. The study of the human immune response to cysticerci is helpful in diagnosis and could perhaps also aid in preventing or curing the disease. Anti-cysticercus IgG can be detected in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of almost all patients with neurocysticercosis, by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); antibodies of the other classes are found less frequently.

Abdominal aortic aneurysms. Results of surgical treatment.

One hundred and twenty-one aneurysms of the abdominal aorta were operated on during a ten year period (1971-1981). Elective surgery was carried out in 89 patients (73.5%).

Effect of oral contraceptive use on the erythrocytic glutathione reductase and aspartate aminotransferase activities in women with or without clinical signs of vitamin deficiency.

The effect of the chronic use of combined oral contraceptives (OCs) on the "activity coefficients" (alpha = coenzyme-stimulated activity/basal activity) of erythrocytic glutathione reductase and aspartate aminotransferase was studied in 2 groups of 90 female volunteers each; 1 of the groups, from the state of Yucatan in southeast Mexico, presented clinical lesions of vitamin deficiency, while the other group, from Mexico City, did not have any clinical evidence of vitamin deficiency. One half of the women (45) in each group were chronic OC users and the other half were not. The results were analyzed comparing OC users with non-users in each location.

Lipid composition and catalytic properties of sarcoplasmic reticulum from normal and dystrophic chicken muscle.

The lipid composition of sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles isolated from the pectoralis muscle of dystrophic chickens (line 413) and of the genetically related line of normal chickens (line 412) were studied. The total lipid content in the dystrophic preparation was increased by 12% when compared to the normal. The increase was restricted to the neutral lipids in the membrane, with a significant increase of 25% in the cholesterol and of 23% in the triacylglycerol contents.

A monoclonal antibody detaches embryonic skeletal muscle from extracellular matrices.

We have described a monoclonal antibody that rounds and detaches chick skeletal myoblasts and myotubes from extracellular substrata. The antibody also inhibits the attachment of myogenic cells to a gelatin-coated substratum but has no detectable effect on myoblast fusion. The cellular response to antibody treatment varies with differentiation and cell type.