Mebendazole retention enema for severe Trichuris trichiura (whipworm) infection: a case report

The authors report a case of massive Trichuris trichiura infection, resulting in severe anaemia and congestive cardiac failure in a 9-year-old Iban boy, who was resistant to the usual oral anthelmintic treatment, but promptly responded to mebendazole retention enema. This patient also had an associated Entamoeba histolytica infection.     

Effect of glucocorticosteroid hormones on T lymphocytes in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

Results of clinicoimmunological observation of 75 patients are presented. The aim of the observation was to show clinical efficiency of glucocorticosteroid hormones, their influence on T-immunity and immunoregulatory subpopulations in the patients with pulmonary tuberculosis The glucocorticosteroid hormones used in combination with tuberculostatics accelerated fading of the exudative phase of tuberculous inflammation and at the early stages of the treatment increased the frequency of destructions healing in the lungs. However, 10 to 15 days after the start of their use immunodepressive action on T-lymphocytes was detected. The hormones had the most pronounced suppressive effect on lymphocyte blast cell transformation with mitogen persisting even after discontinuation of their use.     

The persistence of the corpus luteum of pregnancy into lactation in the marsupial bandicoot, Isoodon macrourus

The bandicoot is unique among marsupials in possessing a corpus luteum of pregnancy which continues to secrete progesterone during lactation. Different factors which may influence the activity of this corpus luteum were examined. There was no correlation between the number of pouch young and the plasma progesterone concentration. Similarly, bromocriptine did not appear to cause a dramatic decrease in plasma progesterone early in lactation, however, it may induce premature regression of the corpus luteum late in lactation. Corpora lutea were not observed in the ovaries of two out of six bandicoots treated with bromocriptine late in lactation. Although the corpus luteum may influence ovarian activity early in lactation, and corpus luteum does not appear to influence reproduction late in lactation. Removal of corpora lutea at Day 30 of lactation caused an abrupt decline in plasma progesterone; however, the birth of the subsequent litter occurred on Days 58 and 61 (N = 2), births normally occurring on Day 60.     

Association of tuberculosis and M. tuberculosis-specific antibody levels with HLA

In the search for HLA-linked immune response genes that control susceptibility to tuberculosis, we performed HLA typing and measured antibody titers to well-defined Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigenic determinants in 101 patients with sputum smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis and 64 healthy controls from Surabaya, Indonesia. HLA-DR2 and DQw1 were associated with sputum smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (attributable risk = 36% and 39%, respectively), while DQw3 was associated even more strongly with the control group (preventive fraction = 57%). Antibody titers to the TB71 and TB72 epitopes of the 38-kDa protein, present only on tubercle bacilli, were strongly associated with DR2 (Pcorr = .001 and .024, respectively). The association of both the disease and the antibody response to the 38-kDa antigen of M. tuberculosis with Class II HLA genes HLA-DR2 indicates that Ir-gene-mediated regulation of the immune response to this antigen may be of pathogenic significance for the development of sputum smear-positive tuberculosis.     

Molecular cloning and expression of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain Aoyama B peptide antigen genes in Escherichia coli--a gene encoding 15 kD antigen (AT 01)

A genomic library of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain Aoyama B in Escherichia coli K-12 was constructed by cloning Sau 3A I cleaved M. tuberculosis Aoyama B chromosomal DNA into pUC18, pUC181 or pUC182. Clones reacting with anti-PPDs-rabbit-serum were screened by immunoblotting among 3 x 10(4) clones. Seven clones were selected; designating pAT 01, pAT 101, pAT 102, pAT 103, pAT 104, pAT 105 and pAT 201. On Western blotting, they were shown to produce 15 kD (pAT 01, pAT 101, pAT 105), 18 kD (pAT 103) and 60 kD (pAT 102, pAT 201) peptide antigens. Restriction endonuclease map of each of the above clones was composed, and putative coding frames of anti-PPDs-rabbit-serum reactive peptides were deduced by analysing deletion derivatives. Nucleotide sequence of pAT 01, encoding for 15 kD peptide antigen was analyzed, and a Hinf I-Hinf I fragment in pAT 01 was subcloned into pUC 18 lambda CPL 1 to determine the direction of its reading frame. The origin of promoter that drives cloned mycobacterial genes in E. coli was discussed.     

Helminthiases among the population of northwestern Siberia. 1. Opisthorchiasis and mixed invasion in the native inhabitants of the Ob River basin and their clinical course

The use of multifactor statistic analysis for screening population of the northern part of the Ob river basin for helminthiasis allowed the authors to reveal a significant feedback between manifested opisthorchiasis and other types of this disease course in both sexes. The main component analysis indicates that the tentatively control group of males is presented by adolescents (14-17 years old) who are likely to be infected with Opisthorchis without evidence of its clinical manifestations. The correlation analysis demonstrated also a direct relationship between the age and manifest opisthorchiasis, as well as double mixed invasion of males (r-0.15 and 0.26, p less than 0.05 and 0.01, respectively). The first three main components explain about 55% variance in the correlation matrix of initial parameters and allow to reveal the variance source, taking into account, along with differentiation of 4 groups of opisthorchiasis patients, also the age- and sex-dependent combination of opisthorchiasis with other helminthic invasions.