Aim: Cryptogenic forms of epileptic encephalopathies (EE) with their well-known features of drug-resistance, mental deterioration and partial response to immunotherapies are ideal candidates for screening for neuronal autoantibodies (NAA).
Method: Fifty consecutive pediatric patients with a diagnosis of EE of unknown cause were included. Nine NAAs were tested by ELISA, RIA or cell-based assays. Clinical features of seronegative and seropositive patients were compared.
Results: NAAs were found in 7/50 (14%) patients. They were N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor in two (4%), glycine receptor in two (4%), contactin-associated protein-like 2 in one (2%), glutamic acid decarboxylase in one (2%) and type A gamma aminobutyric acid receptor in one patient (2%). Furthermore, serum IgGs of two patients negative for well-characterized NAAs, showed strong reactivity with the uncharacterized membrane antigens of live hippocampal neurons. There were no significant differences between seropositive and seronegative patients by means of epilepsy duration, anti-epileptic drug resistance, EE type, types of seizures, seizure frequencies, EEG features or coexisting autoimmune diseases. Some seropositive patients gave good-moderate response to immunotherapy.
Discussion: Potential clues for the possible role of autoimmunity in seropositive patients with EE were atypical prognosis of the classical EE type, atypical progression and unusual neurological findings like dyskinesia.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.braindev.2018.06.002 | DOI Listing |
PLoS One
January 2025
Worldwide Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Bristol Myers Squibb, Princeton, NJ, United States of America.
Background: Belatacept is approved for the prophylaxis of organ rejection in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-seropositive kidney transplant recipients and is associated with a risk of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD).
Methods: Data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network were used to examine patterns of belatacept use, describe patient characteristics, and estimate risk of PTLD in EBV-seropositive, kidney-only transplant recipients receiving belatacept- or calcineurin inhibitor (CNI)-based immunosuppression as part of US Food and Drug Administration-mandated safety monitoring.
Results: During the study period (June 15, 2011-June 14, 2016), 94.
Transpl Infect Dis
January 2025
Unit of Infectious Diseases, Hospital Universitario "12 de Octubre", Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital "12 de Octubre" (imas12), Madrid, Spain.
Background: Kidney transplant (KT) recipients at intermediate risk for cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection constitute a potential target for individualized prevention strategies informed by the CMV-specific cell-mediated immunity (CMV-CMI). The optimal method for the functional assessment of CMV-CMI in this group remains unclear.
Methods: We included 74 CMV-seropositive KT recipients that did not receive T-cell-depleting induction and were managed by preemptive therapy.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis
January 2025
Department of Radiology, Assam Medical College & Hospital, Dibrugarh, Assam, India.
Background: Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) is a disease commonly caused by Aspergillus fumigatus and other Aspergillus species characterized by cavitary lung lesions. Tea garden population is an agrarian population of Assam, mostly associated with tea plantations. Assam is a major tea-producing state with 803 tea gardens producing approximately 50% of the total tea in India, of which 177 are present in the Dibrugarh district alone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough the highlands of East Africa lack the geo-ecological landmarks of Rift Valley fever (RVF) disease hotspots to participate in cyclic RVF epidemics, they have recently reported growing numbers of small RVF clusters. Here, we investigated whether RVF cycling occurred among livestock and humans in the central highlands of Kenya during inter-epidemic periods. A 2-year prospective hospital-based study among febrile patients (March 2022-February 2024) in Murang'a County of Kenya was followed by a cross-sectional human-animal survey.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVaccines (Basel)
December 2024
Vaccine Bio Research Institute, College of Medicine, Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Republic of Korea.
Background: Varicella can lead to severe complications in immunocompromised children, including those undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) or chemotherapy. Preventing primary varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection is crucial in these populations to mitigate morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of the live attenuated MAV/06 varicella vaccine in pediatric patients post-HSCT and post-chemotherapy.
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