Community diagnosis of Bancroftian filariasis.

The objective of this study was to find the best tests for efficiently estimating the true prevalence of Bancroftian filariasis in endemic areas. The study population comprised 427 people over 10 years of age in an endemic village in Egypt. Four tests were evaluated; a standardized clinical examination, night blood examinations for microfilariae (50 microL thick films and 1 mL membrane filtration), and a test for circulating filarial antigen.

Ehrlichiosis presenting as a life-threatening illness with features of the toxic shock syndrome.

Objective: To describe clinical and laboratory features of patients with severe ehrlichiosis, some of whom presented with toxic shock syndrome (TSS)-like illnesses, and to report, to our knowledge, the first documented fatal case of ehrlichiosis in a child.

Design: Case series.

Setting: Tertiary-care medical center.

Onchocerca volvulus: monoclonal antibodies to immune complex-associated parasite antigens.

Improved methods for diagnosis of onchocerciasis are needed. We have recently identified immune complex-associated parasite antigens in sera from onchocerciasis patients. The goal of this study was to produce monoclonal antibodies to these antigens that might be used in antigen detection assays.

Preliminary evaluation of recombinant Onchocerca volvulus antigens for serodiagnosis of onchocerciasis.

Serodiagnostic assays for onchocerciasis based on native antigens are hampered by the scarcity of antigen, and they suffer from poor specificity. The present study was designed to evaluate the diagnostic utility of recently described recombinant Onchocerca volvulus antigens OC 3.6 and OC 9.

Vaccination with recombinant filarial paramyosin induces partial immunity to Brugia malayi infection in jirds.

Vaccination with irradiated infective larvae induces partial protective immunity to infection with the filarial nematode Brugia malayi in jirds. Prior studies have shown that such immunization stimulates a much stronger antibody response to recombinant and native filarial paramyosin than that seen after normal infection. To determine whether vaccination with recombinant paramyosin could induce protective immunity to larval challenge, jirds were immunized with either B.

[The median functional slope of the tibia. Principle. Technique of measurement. Value. Interest].

The tibial slope is an important datum in knee surgery; the levelling by a uni- or bicompartmental prosthesis preserving both cruciate ligaments requires to maintain this slope. The postoperative rehabilitation of the A.C.

Differential roles of Fc gamma RII and Fc gamma RIII in immune complex stimulation of human neutrophils.

Insoluble immune complexes (IIC) stimulate human neutrophils through Fc gamma receptors. Freshly isolated human neutrophils express two FcR subclasses, FcRII and FcRIII. We explored the role of FcRII and FcRIII in this activation process by selectively binding each FcR subclass with the Fab fragments of the respective anti-FcR monoclonal antibodies (MFab) before exposure to IIC.

Use of a recombinant antigen (OC 3.6 cDNA) for the serological diagnosis of onchocerciasis in exposed Nigerian children.

We evaluated a recombinant antigen (OC 3.6 cDNA) expressed in pMAL TM vector for the diagnosis of onchocerciasis in children living in an endemic focus of forest-type onchocerciasis in Nigeria. Using the Western blot with the maltose-binding fusion protein as antigen, 91 per cent of mf-positive children and 24 per cent of endemic normal children were positive.

Brugia malayi: antibody responses to larval antigens in infected and immunized jirds.

Vaccination with irradiated third stage Brugia malayi larvae (L3) has been reported to induce partial protective immunity to L3 challenge in jirds. The purpose of this study was to identify antigens that may be targets of protective immunity in this model. Jirds were immunized by s.

Field evaluation of IgG4 serology for the diagnosis of onchocerciasis in children.

IgG4 serology was evaluated for early diagnosis of onchocerciasis in children living within an endemic focus of forest-type onchocerciasis in Nigeria. IgG4 serology proved to be more sensitive than conventional skin snip examination being able to detect 42% of infected children as opposed to 24% by snip examination. Furthermore, age was not a limitation to the technique within the 8-12 y spectrum.

Identification of paramyosin as a potential protective antigen against Brugia malayi infection in jirds.

Vaccination of jirds with irradiated infective larvae of Brugia malayi has been reported to provide partial immunity to larval challenge. In the present study, we found that sera from vaccinated animals recognized larval antigens with apparent molecular weights of 97, 55-60, and 10 kDa that were not recognized by sera from infected animals. A B.

Molecular cloning and characterization of recombinant parasite antigens for immunodiagnosis of onchocerciasis.

Immunological cross-reactivity among nematodes has hampered the development of specific serodiagnostic assays for onchocerciasis. In the present study, an Onchocerca volvulus adult worm complementary DNA expression library was differentially screened with human sera from patients infected with O. volvulus and with an omnibus anti-nematode serum pool comprised of sera from patients infected with Brugia malayi, Loa loa, Wuchereria bancrofti, Mansonella perstans, Strongyloides stercoralis, Ancylostoma duodenale, Ascaris lumbricoides, and Dracunculus medinensis.

Changes in circulating parasite antigen levels after treatment of bancroftian filariasis with diethylcarbamazine and ivermectin.

This study assessed changes in circulating parasite antigen levels after diethylcarbamazine (DEC) and ivermectin treatment of bancroftian filariasis to determine effects of these drugs on adult Wuchereria bancrofti in vivo. Thirty adult Haitians with microfilaremia were treated with 1 mg of ivermectin to reduce counts of microfilariae. Later, subjects were treated with either one or two 200 micrograms/kg doses of ivermectin or with 12 daily 6 mg/kg doses of DEC.

Calcium changes in immune complex-stimulated human neutrophils. Simultaneous measurement of receptor occupancy and activation reveals full population stimulus binding but subpopulation activation.

Immune complexes (ICs) induce an initial transient increase in cytosolic intracellular calcium [( Ca2+]in) levels in human neutrophils (PMN). Changes in PMN [Ca2+]in were measured with the fluorescent calcium indicator Indo-1 ( [1-[2-amino-5-(6-carboxylindol-2-yl]-phenoxyl]-2-(2'-amino-5 '- methylphenoxy]ethane-N,N,N'N'-tetraacetic acid), at the level of individual cells by flow cytometry. Two kinds of immune complexes (ICs) were used in this study: an insoluble (IIC) and a more soluble less valent immune complex (SIC) with fewer available Fc receptor binding ends per molecule of SIC than IIC.

Effect of CGP 20376 on Brugia malayi and parasite antigenemia in jirds.

This study was designed to investigate the activity of CGP 20376, a benzothiazole derivative, against Brugia malayi in jirds and to illustrate the utility of parasite antigen detection as a means of monitoring drug efficacy in filariasis. Drug treatment was 100% effective in jirds treated 3 or 24 days after infection. Microfilaria and adult worm counts were reduced (relative to counts in sham-treated control animals) by 96% and 95%, respectively, in animals treated 153 days after infection.

Evaluation of a monoclonal-antibody based antigen assay for diagnosis of Wuchereria bancrofti infection in Egypt.

Conventional methods for diagnosis of Wuchereria bancrofti infection are insensitive and often impractical because of the need for night blood collections. A sensitive and specific antigen detection assay has been developed for W. bancrofti, which is based on a monoclonal antibody (AD12) that binds to a repeated epitope on a 200 kDa adult worm excretion product present in sera from infected humans.

[Non-aplastic N2 operated bronchial cancers. Multifactorial analysis of the prognosis].

The marked disparity of the published 5-year survival rates (0 to 3%) for non-anaplastic, operated N2 lung cancers would suggest the marked heterogeneity of the patients studied. We prospectively studies 97 N2 tumours for which "curative" resection was performed between 1983 and 1986. The overall survival rate was 28% at 3 years, 19% at 4 years and 12% at 5 years.

Circulating immune complex-associated parasite antigens in human onchocerciasis.

This study identified and characterized parasite antigens in sera from humans infected with Onchocerca volvulus. Immune complexes were precipitated from human sera with polyethylene glycol and analyzed by immunoblot with rabbit antibodies to O. volvulus.

Simultaneous flow cytometric measurements of thrombin-induced cytosolic pH and Ca2+ fluxes in human platelets.

Human platelets exhibit an extremely rapid increase in cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentrations ((Ca2+]in) and a dose-dependent cytoplasmic pH change ((pH]in) upon thrombin stimulation. A cytoplasmic alkalinization, maximal by 60 s, is preceded by a very rapid acidification, which is masked by the alkalinization when saturating thrombin doses are used. Using the pH probe 2',7'-bis-(carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein we report here the kinetics of simultaneous cytoplasmic pH and Ca2+ changes in thrombin-stimulated platelets, measured in single cells by flow cytometry.

Measurement of superoxide release in the phagovacuoles of immune complex-stimulated human neutrophils.

Immune complex stimulation of human neutrophils elicits, among other events, the formation of phagocytic vacuoles into which the products of the stimulus activated oxidative burst and degranulation are released. In order to monitor burst activity in the phagocytic vacuole, we have developed a fluorochrome-coupled derivative of this neutrophil agonist. The fluorochrome 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein (DCFH) (the nonfluorescent, reduced form of 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein (DCF] has been covalently linked to bovine serum albumin (BSA), which can be used to form an immune complex with anti-BSA immunoglobulin.

Simultaneous flow cytometric measurements of cytoplasmic Ca++ and membrane potential changes upon FMLP exposure as HL-60 cells mature into granulocytes: using [Ca++]in as an indicator of granulocyte maturity.

Treatment of human leukemic HL-60 cells with N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) induces them to mature until they reach granulocytoid morphology 3-6 d later. We have reported a maturation-dependent ability of these cells to respond to phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), as evaluated by membrane depolarization and by oxidative burst product formation (Newburger et al.: J.

IgG4 subclass antibody serology for onchocerciasis.

Antibodies to phosphorylcholine and carbohydrate determinants responsible for much of the cross-reactivity among nematodes are subclass restricted in humans and absent in the IgG4 subclass. Total IgG and IgG4 antibody responses to Onchocerca volvulus were examined by enzyme immunoassay and by immunoblot. Significant background IgG reactivity was detected in both assays in US control sera and sera from patients with intestinal nematode infections, but background reactivity was negligible in the IgG4 assays.

Circulating parasite antigen in Brugia pahangi-infected jirds.

The Mongolian jird is used widely in filariasis research for studies of protective immunity, pathogenesis, and therapy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate parasite antigen detection as a means of noninvasively monitoring Brugia pahangi infection in jirds. A parasite antigen with Mr of 105-110 kDa was identified in sera from i.