Serological Diagnosis of Trypanosoma rangeli Infected Patients. A Comparison of Different Methods and its Implications for the Diagnosis of Chagas' Disease

Venous blood from 65 Panamanian schoolchildren living in an area endemic for both Trypanosoma cruzi and T. rangeli were screened for the presence of these parasites. Trypanosoma rangeli were isolated and cultured from four individuals. Serological tests of all 65 sera were performed, including immunohaemagglutination (IHA), indirect immunofluorescence assay (IF) and ELISA using both T. rangeli and T. cruzi as antigens, as well as T. cruzi synthetic peptides in an ELISA assay. Results indicated a higher immunoreactivity to T. rangeli preparations than to T. cruzi within the studied population, which could be divided into four 'serological responder' groups. Interestingly, the panel of SAPA and other T. cruzi synthetic peptides were not useful in the discrimination of patients. Furthermore, patients from whom parasites had been isolated could not be distinguished from those of two other groups. Significant immunoreactivity to T. cruzi preparations was displayed in all responder sera, despite total lack of evidence of infection with this parasite. The immunobiological significance of T. rangeli infection is unclear, but these data indicate that it is a compounding problem in the accurate diagnosis of pathological T. cruzi infection by serological analysis. The relationship of these cohabiting species, in respect to infection outcome and immunological activation, is discussed.     

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Serological Diagnosis of Chagas' Disease Employing a Trypanosoma cruzi Recombinant Antigen That Consists of Four Different Peptides

Serological tests to detect Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies have been used for screening blood donors, for epidemic studies, and for diagnosis of probably infected persons. Among different tests, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with total, semipurified, or synthetic antigens has been widely used, mainly due to its easy automation. Aiming to improve serological studies concerning Chagas' disease, we have developed and evaluated a new test, the TcF-ELISA, using an artificially engineered recombinant antigen, which contains tandem sequences of different T. cruzi-specific peptides. The sensibility of the TcF-ELISA was determined with 101 serum samples from chagasic patients well-defined by clinical and epidemiological criteria. The specificity was determined with 39 serum samples from leishmaniasis or kala-azar patients and 150 serum samples from nonchagasic blood donors from Sao Paulo, Brazil. The TcF-ELISA showed 100% sensitivity and 98.94% of specificity. Compared with conventional ELISA (with semipurified T. cruzi epimastigote antigens), the TcF-ELISA showed advantages; for example, it distinguishes better between reagent and nonreagent serum and provides better precision and a lower occurrence of leishmaniasis cross-reactions. Our studies demonstrate high reproducibility between two different lots of the TcF ELISA and its applicability for the serological diagnosis of Chagas' disease.     

Celiac Disease and Immunoglobulin A Deficiency: How Effective Are the Serological Methods of Diagnosis?

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency is 10 to 15 times more common in patients with celiac disease (CD) than in healthy subjects. Serological tests have become the preferred methods of diagnosing CD in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. However, commercially available serological methods are limited in that they detect only the IgA isotype of antibodies (with the exception of IgG gliadin assays); hence, IgA-deficient patients with CD may yield false-negative serology. Fifteen pediatric patients with CD and 10 IgA-deficient pediatric patients without CD were examined for IgA and IgG antibodies to endomysium, gliadin, and tissue transglutaminase. Twenty-five specimens from patients with IgA deficiency were examined. Fifteen were from patients with CD, and 10 were patients without CD. All 15 IgA-deficient patients with CD were positive for endomysium antibodies of the IgG isotype and for IgG gliadin antibodies. All but one of the IgA-deficient patients with CD were also positive for IgG tissue transglutaminase antibodies. None of the IgA-deficient patients without CD were positive for any of the antibody markers. All the specimens examined were also negative for IgA-specific antibodies to endomysium, gliadin, and tissue transglutaminase. IgG-specific antibody tests for endomysium, gliadin, and tissue transglutaminase are useful for the identification of IgA-deficient patients with CD. IgG antibody tests along with tests routinely being used in clinical laboratories can reliably detect all active patients with CD. In addition, the levels of these CD-specific IgG antibodies could be used to monitor patient dietary compliance.     

Respiratory Complications Lead to the Diagnosis of Chronic Granulomatous Disease in Two Adult Patients

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a primary immunodeficiency associated to multiple life-threatening bacterial and fungal infections, beginning in childhood. There are rare cases of diagnosis in adulthood. We describe here two cases of late diagnosis in adults: a 45-year-old woman and 59-year-old-man. CGD diagnosis should be considered in adult patients with unexplained infectious diseases with tissue granuloma.     

Two Methods for Rapid Serological Diagnosis of Acute Leptospirosis

Leptospirosis is a common and underdiagnosed zoonosis. Two rapid assays for serological diagnosis of acute leptospirosis in diagnostic laboratories, the immunoglobulin M (IgM)-dipstick assay and the indirect hemagglutination assay (IHA), were evaluated and compared with standard assays. Sera were examined from 104 patients admitted to a hospital for investigation in a leptospirosis diagnostic protocol. Specimens for serology were taken on days 1 and 4 of the patients' hospital stay. Antibodies were detected using an IgM-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), microscopic agglutination test (MAT), an IgM-dipstick assay, and an IHA. Fifty-one patients were found to have leptospirosis. The sensitivity of the IgM-dipstick assay was 98%, its specificity was 90.6%, its positive predictive value was 90.9%, and its negative predictive value was 98%. The sensitivity of the IHA was 92.2%, its specificity was 94.4%, its positive predictive value was 95.9%, and its negative predictive value was 92.7%. The standard IgM-ELISA and MAT, were positive in the first samples tested from 67 and 55% of the cases, respectively, and the rapid IgM-dipstick assay and IHA were positive in 71 and 49%, respectively, in the first sample tested. Both rapid assays are highly sensitive and specific. Neither requires specialized equipment, and both are suitable for use in diagnostic laboratories.     

Phenotypic Prenatal Diagnosis of Chronic Granulomatous Disease: A Useful Tool in The Absence Of Molecular Diagnosis

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is an inherited immunodeficiency disorder affecting the microbicidal function of the phagocytes. It is characterized by susceptibility to recurrent infections leading to significant morbidity and mortality. Antibacterial and antifungal prophylaxis, though, has significantly reduced the rate and severity of the infections; the breakthrough infections still remain a challenge. Currently, allogenic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the only curative option which is very expensive and unavailable for many due to lack of suitable donor. Thus, prenatal diagnosis (PND) forms an important component of management in the affected families. PND is challenging in families approaching late in pregnancy with an uncharacterized molecular defect. In such cases, PND can be performed by analysis of NADPH activity of fetal blood (FB) neutrophils at 18–20 weeks of gestation. Cord blood samples at 18 weeks of gestation from healthy control were used to establish normal ranges for NBT and DHR. PND was offered for six pregnancies (NBT: n = 3, DHR: n = 6) with index cases of CGD confirmed by abnormal NBT and DHR analysis. NBT and DHR tests were found to be negative for all the six cases, confirming the same on samples post‐delivery. NBT and DHR tests offer a rapid and sensitive PND of CGD in the absence of facilities for molecular diagnosis. It was observed that addition of CD15 along with CD45 led to an accurate DHR analysis. It is recommended to perform the diagnosis with adequate precautions only at centres with considerable experience and expertise in the diagnosis of CGD.     

Excretory-Secretory Antigens of Trypanosoma cruzi Are Potentially Useful for Serodiagnosis of Chronic Chagas' Disease

The reactivities of sera from chronic chagasic patients against the trypomastigote excreted-secreted antigens (TESA) of Trypanosoma cruzi strains with different biodemes were analyzed by TESA-blot and TESA–enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Although both tests presented high sensitivity and specificity, TESA-ELISA is more appropriate for screening a larger number of samples.     

先天性心脏病的分子生物学研究

先天性心脏病的分子生物学研究谢进生（北京心肺血管疾病研究所－安贞医院心外科北京１０００２９）ＡｂｓｔｒａｃｔＦｏｒａｌｏｎｇｔｉｍｅ，ｉｔｈａｄｂｅｎｖｉｅｗｅｄｔｈａｔｍｏｓｔｃｏｎｇｅｎｉｔａｌｈｅａｒｔｄｉｓｅａｓｅｓ（ＣＨＤ）ａｒｅｃａｕｓｅ...     

早期慢性阻塞性肺疾病诊断与防治研究

慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）是以持续气流受阻进行性发展为特征的一种可预防和治疗的疾病。COPD发病率、致残率较高,严重威胁人类健康安全。目前,早发现、早诊断、早治疗是我国COPD防治的重要手段。我国早期COPD病例数量大,不同患者症状存在明显差异性。研究早期COPD诊治情况,有望探索对患者进行个体化治疗的方法,进一步促进临床治疗策略的制定,提高慢性阻塞性肺疾的临床诊治研究水平。本文现就COPD早期的诊治研究进行综述,以期为临床诊治慢性阻塞性肺疾提供理论参考依据。     

Evaluation of Eight Serological Tests for Diagnosis of Imported Schistosomiasis

The diagnosis of schistosomiasis in individuals from countries where the disease is not endemic is challenging, and few data are available on the accuracy of serological diagnosis in those patients. We evaluated the performance of eight serological assays, including four commercial kits, in the diagnosis of imported schistosomiasis in individuals from areas where the disease is not endemic, including six enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays using three different antigens, an indirect hemagglutination assay, and an indirect immunofluorescent-antibody test. To analyze the assays, we used a total of 141 serum samples, with 121 derived from patients with various parasitic infections (among which were 37 cases of schistosomiasis) and 20 taken from healthy volunteers. The sensitivity values for detection of schistosomiasis cases ranged from 41% to 78% and were higher for Schistosoma mansoni than for S. haematobium infections. Specificity values ranged from 76% to 100%; false-positive results were most frequent for samples from patients with cestode infections. By combining two or more tests, sensitivity improved markedly and specificity decreased only moderately. Serological tests are useful instruments for diagnosing imported schistosomiasis in countries where the disease is not endemic, but due to limitations in test sensitivities, we recommend the use of two or more assays in parallel.     

Serological Methods for Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori Infection and Monitoring of Eradication Therapy

 Several methods can be used to diagnose Helicobacter pylori infection. Invasive methods include detection of the bacterium in gastric biopsy specimens by culture, immunohistochemistry, rapid urease tests, or the polymerase chain reaction. Noninvasive or less invasive detection methods include the urea breath test and serological methods. The urea breath test is based on the detection of ¹³CO₂ or ¹⁴CO₂ in breath, produced by bacterial urease in the stomach after labelled urea is swallowed. Serological methods are based on the detection of Helicobacter pylori-specific antibodies in serum, saliva, or urine. In this review, the performance and diagnostic value of several serological methods, such as enzyme immunoassay, rapid office-based assays, and Western blot, will be discussed in relation to biopsy-based methods and the urea breath test. In addition, the value of serological assays for monitoring eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection following treatment will be discussed. The diagnostic performance of properly evaluated serological assays is comparable to that of biopsy-based methods and the urea breath test. To monitor eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection following therapy, quantitative enzyme immunoassays can be used, especially in patients with high pretreatment antibody titres.     

Improvements in Methods for Disease Diagnosis and Monitoring

Biomedical Engineering - A review is made of the main scientific studies presented in the section Methods and Means of Diagnosis and Treatment of Various Diseases of the XIVth International...     

整体护理在慢性肺源性心脏病合并心衰护理中的应用价值

目的 探讨整体护理在慢性肺心病合并心衰护理中的应用价值。方法 采用电脑随机的方式,将我院于2016年4月~2017年4月收治的慢性肺心病合并心衰患者70例,随机划分为两组,其中对照组采用常规护理,研究组在常规护理基础之上进行整体护理,对比分析两组患者临床护理效果。结果 研究组患者护理总有效效率显著优于对照组,组间护理效果比较,差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）。经过整体护理后的研究组,FEV1、LVEF、6MWD各项指标改善情况优于对照组各项指标（P<0.05）。结论 整体护理在慢性肺心病合并心衰护理中,可为患者临床治疗效果提供助力,缓解患者临床各项指标,具备临床推广价值。     

Serological confirmation of Chagas' disease by a recombinant and peptide antigen line immunoassay: INNO-LIA chagas

Although screening for Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies is mandatory in most South American countries, current tests are insensitive and have poor specificity. A recently optimized line immunoassay (the INNO-LIA Chagas assay) for the serological confirmation of Chagas' disease was evaluated at a large blood bank in S?o Paulo, Brazil. Sera from blood donors who reacted in at least one of three serological screening assays (n = 1,604) and who returned for a follow-up were retested, and the donors were interviewed to assess their epidemiological risk. The results obtained by the confirmatory assay evaluated in this study were compared to those obtained by the three different screening assays. Upon consideration of the consensus results obtained by the three different screening assays as a "gold standard," the INNO-LIA Chagas assay showed a sensitivity of 99.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 98.3 to 99.9) and a specificity of 98.1% (95% CI, 96.6 to 99.0) for positive (n = 503) and negative (n = 577) sera. The INNO-LIA Chagas assay confirmed the results for significantly larger numbers of positive samples of at-risk individuals independent of the number of positive screening tests (P = 0.017, Mantel-Haenszel test). In conclusion, the INNO-LIA Chagas assay reliably confirmed the presence of antibodies to T. cruzi and can be implemented as a confirmatory assay for Chagas' disease serology.     

超敏C反应蛋白对冠心病诊断的临床应用

目的 研究血清hs-CRP(超敏C反应蛋白)水平随冠心病患者病变严重程度的变化规律,阐明hs-CRP对冠心病诊断的临床意义.方法 将106例冠心病患者分为三组:稳定性心绞痛组(SAP)44例、不稳定性心绞痛组(UAP)33例、心肌梗死组(AMI)29例,采用日立7150全自动生化分析仪免疫比浊法,比较各组患者血清hs-CRP含量的差异.结果 hs-CRP水平与冠心病的病变程度呈正相关.结论 检测患者hs-CRP水平有利于冠心病高危人群的发现并积极进行预防,减少严重事件的发生.