DESIGN: Retrospective study.
METHODS: Results from 108 intradermal allergy tests, 25 IgE serological assays and immunotherapy outcomes in 37 dogs were retrospectively analysed. Immunotherapy outcomes were determined as excellent, good, modest or failure using a global assessment of efficacy matrix which incorporated pruritus scores, lesion severity, medication requirements, and owner and clinician opinion.
RESULTS: The most common positive reactions in intradermal allergy tests were Red clover (59%), Dermatophagoides farinae (29%), Tyrophagus putrescentiae (28%), Yellow dock (25%) and Malassezia pachydermatis (24%). In the IgE serological tests, Yorkshire fog grass (40%), Yellow dock (36%), Kentucky bluegrass (36%) and T. putrescentiae (36%) were the most commonly reported positive results. The outcome of allergen-specific immunotherapy was judged to be excellent in 20% of dogs, good in 15%, modest in 18% and a failure in 47%.
CONCLUSION: As has been reported in other geographical areas, environmental mites and plant pollens frequently gave positive reactions in allergy tests in South Australia. However, the prevalence of individual allergen reactions differed between intradermal and IgE serological tests, with M. pachydermatis being identified as a common cause of hypersensitivity in intradermal tests but not in IgE serological assays. Immunotherapy was judged to be a beneficial treatment in 35% of dogs but was essentially unsuccessful in 65%.
METHODS: The antioxidant activity of the cold water extract from food-grade Spirulina platensis was assessed using both chemical and cell-based assays. In the cell-based assay, mouse fibroblast cells (3T3) cells were incubated for 1 h in medium containing aqueous extract of Spirulina or vitamin C (positive control) at 25, 125 and 250 μg/mL before the addition of 50 μM 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) or 3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS). The cells were incubated for another 24 h before being assessed for cell death due to apoptosis using the Cell Death Detection ELISA Kit. Spectrophotometric assays based on DPPH and ABTS were also used to assess the antioxidant activity of the extract compared to vitamin C and vitamin E (positive controls).
RESULTS: Spirulina extract did not cause cytotoxic effect on 3T3 cells within the range of concentrations tested (0 - 250 μg/mL). The extract reduced significantly (p < 0.05) apoptotic cell death due to DPPH and ABTS by 4 to 5-fold although the activity was less than vitamin C. Based on the DPPH assay, the radical scavenging activity of the extract was higher than phycocyanin and was at least 50% of vitamin C and vitamin E. Based on the ABTS assay, the antioxidant activity of the extract at 50 μmug/mL was as good as vitamin C and vitamin E.
CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that aqueous extract of Spirulina has a protective effect against apoptotic cell death due to free radicals. The potential application of incorporating Spirulina into food products and beverages to enhance their antioxidant capacity is worth exploring.
METHODS: A total of 3317 respondents age 2 years old to 60 years old were recruited in this study from August to November 2017. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the level of IgG antibody against the toxoid of C. diphtheriae in the blood samples of respondents. We classified respondent antibody levels based on WHO definition, as protective (≥0.1 IU/mL) and susceptible (
METHODS: An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to evaluate the usefulness of USM.TOXO1 antigen for the detection of IgG antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii in human sera. Whereas the reactivity of the developed antigen against IgM antibody was evaluated by western blot and Dot enzyme immunoassay (dot-EIA) analysis.
RESULTS: The diagnostic performance of the new antigens in IgG ELISA was achieved at the maximum values of 85.43% and 81.25% for diagnostic sensitivity and specificity respectively. The USM.TOXO1 was also proven to be reactive with anti- T. gondii IgM antibody.
CONCLUSIONS: This finding makes the USM.TOXO1 antigen an attractive candidate for improving the toxoplasmosis serodiagnosis and demonstrates that multiepitope antigens could be a potential and promising diagnostic marker for the development of high sensitive and accurate assays.
METHODS: This prospective cross-sectional study consecutively recruited 494 patients with suspected dengue from a health clinic in Malaysia. Both RDTs were performed onsite. The evaluated ELISA and reference tests were performed in a virology laboratory. The reference tests comprised of a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and three ELISAs for the detection of dengue NS1 antigen, IgM and IgG antibodies, respectively. The diagnostic performance of evaluated tests was computed using STATA version 12.
RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity of ViroTrack were 62.3% (95%CI 55.6-68.7) and 95.0% (95%CI 91.7-97.3), versus 66.5% (95%CI 60.0-72.6) and 95.4% (95%CI 92.1-97.6) for SD NS1 ELISA, and 52.4% (95%CI 45.7-59.1) and 97.7% (95%CI 95.1-99.2) for NS1 component of SD Bioline, respectively. The combination of the latter with its IgM and IgG components were able to increase test sensitivity to 82.4% (95%CI 76.8-87.1) with corresponding decrease in specificity to 87.4% (95%CI 82.8-91.2). Although a positive test on any of the NS1 assays would increase the probability of dengue to above 90% in a patient, a negative result would only reduce this probability to 23.0-29.3%. In contrast, this probability of false negative diagnosis would be further reduced to 14.7% (95%CI 11.4-18.6) if SD Bioline NS1/IgM/IgG combo was negative.
CONCLUSIONS: The performance of ViroTrack Dengue Acute was comparable to SD Dengue NS1 Ag ELISA. Addition of serology components to SD Bioline Dengue Duo significantly improved its sensitivity and reduced its false negative rate such that it missed the fewest dengue patients, making it a better point-of-care diagnostic tool. New RDT like ViroTrack Dengue Acute may be a potential alternative to existing RDT if its combination with serology components is proven better in future studies.