Children with heavy Trichuris infestation were compared with paediatric amoebic dysentery patients and normal children. Heavy Trichuris infestation was diagnosed by visualization of worms on anoscopy. Patients with heavy Trichuris infection had a longer duration of disease, more frequent hospitalization and a higher rate of rectal prolapse than did patients with amoebiasis. Five Trichuris children also had clubbing. Trichuris patients had lower mean haematrocrits (27%) and serum albumin (3-3 gm%) than did patients with amoebiasis (32% and 3-7 gm% respectively). Coinfection with Shigella and Salmonella was significantly increased in patients with heavy Trichuris infection compared to both amoebic and control group children. Trichuris patients were infected with Entamoeba histolytica more frequently (46%) than normal children. Heavy Trichuris infection is the probable cause of symptoms and signs seen in these patients.
Serum samples were obtained from 43 children 14 years old or younger in Malaysia and Guatemala. The levels of the serum glycoprotein alpha 2-macroglobulin (alpha 2-M) were assayed by two methods: the trypsin-binding assay of Ganrot (Clin. Chim. Acta 14:493, 1960) and a radial immunodiffusion assay against alpha 2-M antiserum. The two methods gave the same results. When serum alpha 2-M levels were plotted against serum vitamin A concentrations, they were significantly correlated (r = 0.505, P less than 0.001); children with serum vitamin A levels greater than 40 micrograms/100 ml had alpha 2-M levels of 3.71 +/- 0.79 mg/ml (mean +/- SD, n = 13), while those with level less than 40 micrograms/100 ml had alpha 2-M levels of 2.78 +/- 0.51 mg/ml (n = 30); the difference was significant (P less than 0.001). Normal, apparently healthy children had alpha 2-M levels of 3.90 +/- 0.39 mg/ml. Most of the children sampled suffered from a variety of infections; of these, measles appeared to counteract the effect of vitamin A deficiency by elevating alpha 2-M levels. Vitamin A-deficient children with measles had alpha 2-M levels not significantly lower than those of normal children. The difference between deficient and normal values of alpha 2-M was still significant (P less than 0.05) when expressed per milligram of serum protein, showing that the effect was not caused by lowered serum protein concentrations associated with protein-calorie malnutrition, from which most of the deficiency children suffered.
Levels of immunoglobulins G, A, M and E as well as complement components C3c and C4 have been determined in populations in various endemic areas in Peninsular Malaysia and also in filariasis patients. High immunoglobulin levels were seen. In the microfilarial-negative group IgG was 2009 mg% while IgE was 3967 I.U./ml. In the filariasis group, Wuchereria bancrofti patients had significantly higher levels of IgG, IgM and IgE, namely, 3314 mg%, 804 mg% and 18400 I.U./ml respectively. The significance of these levels is discussed.
Matched MeSH terms: Complement System Proteins/analysis*
The present research is on a milky sap obtained from the Antiaris toxicaria tree (Moraceae) which is called Upas or Ipoh in Indonesia. The crude sap was administered to anesthetized rats, and changes in electrocardiogram (ECG) and systemic blood pressure was observed. Biologically and pharmacologically active components were extracted from the crude sap by means of water-acetone solution. Based on the strength of chemical qualitative detection tests of the sap extract (SE), cardiac glycosides are supposed to be the main components. The SE inhibited the Na+-, K+-ATPase (EC 3.6.1.3) which was partially purified from guinea pig heart muscle. When the SE and, concurrently, authentic ouabain were applied to isolated frog heart muscles, the fall of twitch tension was observed after the increased tension on mechanograms. These facts suggest that the main components of the milky sap are cardiac glycosides, and glycosides affect Na+, K+-ATPase activity of muscle membrane and heart muscle contraction.
Blood samples were collected from 24 immature male, 55 immature female and 99 mature female water buffalo kept at an experimental farm in the Northern Territory. Haematological analysis was performed on blood collected in dipotassium--ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid while biochemical analysis was performed on serum and plasma (for glucose) samples. Haematological values of mature buffalo were similar to those recorded for swamp buffalo in Malaysia. Blood cell appearances were similar to those reported for adult Indian river buffalo though values recorded for red cell components were higher. Statistical analysis revealed no significant differences between immature male and female buffalo. Red cell components, eosinophils, total plasma and serum proteins, albumin, gamma globulins, inorganic phosphate and the enzyme gamma-glutamyl transferase were significantly higher for mature female buffalo when compared to immature females. Reasons for the differences were not fully determined but the effect of age and nutritional status in combination with a variable period of domestication were considered.
Purified preparations of Getah virus strains have been analysed by sodium-dodecyl-sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) to reveal their structural proteins. Two envelope proteins (E1 and E2) and core protein (C) were found with the prototype AMM2021 strain both under reducing and nonreducing conditions, while separation of E1 and E2 was observed only under nonreducing conditions for 3 strains isolated in Japan. Limited digestion by Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease revealed difference in the peptide patterns of E1 between AMM2021 and Japanese isolates. Mobility of E1 and E2 was slower for the virus grown in BHK21 cells compared with the virus grown in Aedes albopictus cells, indicating host-controlled modification on the envelope glycoproteins.
Hemagglutination activity, structural protein profiles and neutralization assays were used in a comparative study of bovine herpesvirus 1 strains from the U.S.A., Canada, Great Britain, Denmark and Malaysia with equine, feline and human herpesviruses in order to further characterize the bovine herpesvirus 1 hemagglutinin. Bovine herpesvirus 1 strains of different geographical origins all showed hemagglutinating activity for mouse erythrocytes; furthermore, feline herpesvirus 1 was also shown to hemagglutinate mouse erythrocytes. Analyses of partly purified viruses showed that a distinctive and specific polypeptides profile is associated with each species of herpesviruses used in our study; strains of bovine herpesvirus 1 from North America, Europe and Southeast Asia however, presented a remarkable similarity as to their electrophoretic protein patterns. A protein similar to the 97-kDa bovine viral hemagglutinin was not identified with the hemagglutinating feline herpesvirus. An important neutralization epitope on the bovine viral hemagglutinin was also not found on feline, equine and human herpesviruses but was identified on all bovine strains tested from North America, Europe and Southeast Asia stressing the importance of the bovine hemagglutinin for eventual prophylactic purposes.
Bungarus candidus venom exhibited high hyaluronidase, acetylcholinesterase and phospholipase A activities; low proteinase, 5'-nucleotidase, alkaline phosphomonoesterase and phosphodiesterase activities and moderately high L-amino acid oxidase activity. SP-Sephadex C-50 ion exchange chromatographic fractionation of the venom and Sephadex G-50 chromatography of the major lethal venom fractions indicate that the venom contains at least two highly lethal, basic phospholipases A with LD50 (i.v.) values of 0.02 micrograms/g (F6A) and 0.18 micrograms/g (F4A), respectively; as well as two polypeptide toxins with LD50 (i.v.) values of 0.17 micrograms/g and 0.83 micrograms/g, respectively. The major lethal toxin is the basic lethal phospholipase A, F6A, which accounts for approximately 13% of the venom protein and has a mol. wt of 21,000.
A modified version of the standard 2-site sporozoite enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) as the substrate chromogen solution was adapted for rapid detection and identification of Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax circumsporozoite (CS) proteins. The TMB-ELISA was evaluated using sporozoites from experimentally infected mosquitoes and laboratory colonized uninfected mosquitoes. Our data indicate comparable sensitivity levels between the TMB-ELISA and the standard ELISA, i.e., 50 P. falciparum or P. vivax sporozoites/50 microliters of test solution. Reactions inherent to the method were specific and background reactivity was minimal. The TMB-ELISA is rapid (1 hr), simple, uses a minimal amount of monoclonal antibodies, and is suitable for use in a wide range of laboratories.
Current studies were undertaken to determine the presence of a specific antigenic protein on the outer membrane of Salmonella typhi. Immunoblot analysis using sera from patients with fevers revealed that the 50 kD band was specifically recognized only by typhoid sera. The 50 kD band located on the outer membrane is protein by nature and is not a Vi (capsular), dH (flagellar), or O9 (somatic) antigen of S. typhi. These results indicate the usefulness of the specific antigen in the development of a serodiagnostic test for typhoid fever since antibodies of both the IgM and IgG class responses were obtained.
Twelve pleomorphic adenomas of minor salivary gland origin were examined for the distribution of S-100 protein, detected using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) method. Strong S-100 protein immunoreactivity was noted in areas containing plasmacytoid cells, stellate and spindle cells against a myxochondroid or hyalinous stroma, and solid epithelial areas. Tubular and duct-like structures showed variable stainability. Stromal tissue and normal salivary glands were generally negative for S-100 protein. These findings were compared with those reported elsewhere.