Immunological profile of teeth with inflammatory periapical disease from chronic liver disease patients.

AIM: To evaluate the mRNA expression levels of the cytokines interferon-γ, tumour necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-10, IL-6, VEGF, and AGT and the chemokine CCL2/MCP-1 in periapical interstitial fluid associated with root canal infections before and after the reduction of the bacterial load using a cleaning procedure. METHODOLOGY: The case group included 11 patients with chronic liver disease, and the control group included 11 healthy patients. Clinical samples were taken from teeth with pulp necrosis. After cleaning and drying the canal, three paper points were introduced into the root canal and passed through the root apex (2 mm) into the periapical tissues for 1 min. The samples were collected immediately after root canal cleaning and 7 days later to characterize those gene expression levels using real-time PCR. The data were subjected to the Shapiro-Wilk and the Wilcoxon tests. RESULTS: In the control group, significantly increased expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IFN-γ and TNF-α was observed in teeth with restrained bacterial loads (day 7) (P < 0.05). Similarly, increased TNF-α expression was found on day 7 in the liver group (P < 0.05). No differences were observed in the expression levels of the IL-1ß, IL-10 and, IL-6, MCP-1/CCL-2 and VEGF between the first collection (day 0) and second collection (day 7), over time in either group. CONCLUSION: Chronic liver disease patients exhibited sufficient immunologic ability showing relatively similar expression levels of cytokines, chemokines and angiogenic factors in periapical samples compared with the responses from no-chronic liver disease patients. The outcomes of this study suggest that liver impairment did not compromise the periapical immune response.

Immunoenzymatic assy (ELISA) in mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, kala-azar, and Chagas' disease: an epimastigote Trypanosoma cruzi antigen able to distinguish between anti-Trypanosoma and anti-Leishmania antibodies.

Areas where mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, kala-azar and Chagas' disease are prevalent often overlap in Latin America. Due to a variable degree of cross-reactivity between the three etiological agents and antibodies synthesized during the course of the disease, a test able to distinguish between them is greatly needed. Saline-extracted antigen from live Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes behaved towards Chagas' disease sera in immunoenzymatic assays (ELISA) with the same specificity and sensitivity as the antigen used routinely for such tests. In tests using mucocutaneous leishmaniasis or kala-azar sera, the live T. cruzi antigen showed a much lower geometric mean titer (GMT) than the standard T. cruzi antigen. In ELISA tests with L. braziliensis antigen a higher GMT was seen with kala-azar sera than with those from cases of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis. Also, sera from Vale do Ribeira leishmaniasis showed higher GMT with an L. donovani antigen than with a homologous one. Such discrepancies were not seen in immunofluorescence tests employing the same sera and antigens.

Zinc kinetics in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients.

Zinc has an important role in the control of carbohydrate metabolism, and diabetic patients are at risk for zinc deficiency. However, there are conflicting data concerning nutritional zinc status. In order to investigate this topic, 10 normal and 10 insulin-dependent diabetic patients were studied following venous zinc tolerance test. Our results found no evidence of zinc deficiency or of changes on the kinetic parameters of zinc in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus following a venous zinc tolerance test.

Intoxicaçäo natural por plantas tóxicas produzindo distúrbios nervosos em búfalos (Bubalus bubalis) no Estado do Paraná / Natural intoxication by poisonous plants, which produce nervous disturbs in buffalos (Bubalus bubalis) in the state of Paraná

Descrevem-se casos de intoxicaçäo natural por plantas tóxicas em búfalos com alteraçöes no sistema nervoso central, especialmente no cerebelo. Devido ao tipo de criaçäo dos animais, foi impossível determinar a planta, ou as plantas responsáveis pelo quadro clínico.

Seroepidemiology of cutaneous leishmaniasis from Ribeira do Iguape Valley. IgM and IgG antibodies detected by means of an immunoenzymatic assay (ELISA).

A presenca de anticorpos de classe IgM e descrita numa serie de soros de leishmaniose cutanea e de individuos normais do Vale do Ribeira, Estado de Sao Paulo, Brasil. A especificidade do anticorpo foi demonstrada pela absorcao de soros IgM-positivos com gamaglubulina agregada pelo calor. Os anticorpos IgM anti-L. braziliensis estavam presentes em casos nao tratados de leishmaniose cutenea e em 43, 21% dos soros de individuos normais da mesma area. Anticorpos de classe IgG estavam presentes em 86,0% dos casos clinicos de leishmaniose cutanea

Modificação na epidemiologia da leishmaniose tegumentar no vale do ribeiro, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil / ?

A partir do estudo de 229 casos de pessoas suspeitas de possuírem leishmaniose tegumentar, os autores sugerem estar ocorrendo modificação no comportamento epidemiológico desta moléstia na região do Vale do Ribeira, Estado de São Paulo. Do total estudado, 28,38% mostraram-se positivos no diagnóstico parasitológico para a doença. Porém, o que mais chamou a atenção foi o fato de que 80% dos pacientes leishmanióticos tinham ocupações de doméstica, estudante, professor, ou eram menores, não estando, portanto, em contacto profissional com a mata. Esse fato, associado ao comportamento antropofílico e eurítopo do vetor (Psychodopygus intermedius) e a seus hábitos crepusculares e noturnos, leva a concluir que esta parasitose deve estar sendo transmitida no domicílio e no peridomicílio nessa região, assumindo assim um aspecto de doença não profissional