Association between Schistosomiasis mansoni and hepatitis C: systematic review.

Objective: To perform a systematic review of the prevalence of the HCV/ S. mansoni co-infection and associated factors in Schistosoma mansoni -infected populations.

Methods: The bibliographic search was carried out using the Medline, Lilacs, SciELO, Cochrane Library and Ibecs databases.

Immunological diagnosis of tuberculosis based on recombinant antigens ESAT-6 and CFP-10 in children from an endemic area in northeast Brazil.

Diagnostic tests for tuberculosis (TB) using interferon gamma (IFN-γ) responses produced by T lymphocytes after stimulation by early secretory antigen target 6 (ESAT-6), culture filtrate protein 10 (CFP-10) or purified protein derivate (PPD) were carried out using ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) in whole blood culture supernatants from children with suspected TB disease (n=21), latent TB infection (LTBI; n=17) and negative controls (NC; n=21) from Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. The results were analysed using the ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curves and the areas under the curve (AUC) generated varied from 0.5 to 1.

Discriminating acute from chronic human schistosomiasis mansoni.

Specific immunoglobulin (IgA, IgG and IgM) responses to different antigen targets (soluble eggs antigen--SEA, soluble worm adult protein--SWAP and keyhole limpet hole--KLH) were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in patients with acute and chronic schistosomiasis, as well as patients without schistosomiasis. SEA IgA and KLH IgM presented high discriminatory powers to distinguish acute from chronic schistosomiasis, with calculated areas under the curve (AUCs) of 0.88 and 0.

Preliminary results in the immunodiagnosis of tuberculosis in children based on T cell responses to ESAT-6 and PPD antigens.

The aim of this work was to study the difference in interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) production by T lymphocytes after early secretory antigen target 6 (ESAT-6) or purified protein derivate (PPD) stimulation in whole blood culture supernatants from children with suspected tuberculosis (TB) disease (n = 21), latent TB infection (n = 16) and negative controls (NC) (n = 22) from an endemic area in Brazil. The concentration of IFN-gamma (pg/ml) was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and the differences in the IFN-gamma levels for each group were compared and evaluated using an unpaired Student's t-test; p values < 0.05 were considered significant.

Evaluation of tests based on the antibody response to keyhole limpet haemocyanin and soluble egg antigen to differentiate acute and chronic human schistosomiasis mansoni.

Specific IgG and IgM responses to soluble egg antigen (SEA) and keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH) were measured by ELISA in patients with acute and chronic schistosomiasis. The tests based upon IgM and IgG antibodies responses to KLH presented the best diagnostic discrimination, and can be used in conjunction with clinical and epidemiological data to the differential diagnosis of acute schistosomiasis.