La paragonimosis en escolares del Valle de Condebamba, Cajamarca, Perú / Paragonimosis in school children from Condebamba valley, Cajamarca, Perú

Se realizó un estudio de la prevalencia de parafonimosis en escolares de educación primaria de tres localidades del valle de Condebamba, Departamento de Cajamarca, utilizando la intradermorreacción y el examen de heces. De las 77 intradermorreacciones practicadas 2 fueron positivas (2,6 por ciento), las cuales también fueron positivas por contrainmunoelectroforesis. Todas las 77 muestras de heces examinadas fueron negativas a huevos de paragonimus. Estos resultados muestran una declinación de casos de paragonimosis humana en el valle de Condebamba

Comparison and variation of different methodologies for the detection of autoantibodies to nuclear antigens (ANA).

Interest in the assessment of autoantibody specificity stems from the need for an autoantibody marker capable of predicting clinical events in autoimmune disorders. However, the multiplicity of epitopes present on autoantigenic particles, the quantitative and qualitative heterogeneity of autoantibodies, as well as the nature of the tests, mean that each of the assays used in their determination have different characteristics. The aim of this study was to compare the specificities of different ANAs using four commercial assays. The routine method used for the detection of ANA is indirect immunofluorescence on Hep-2 cells. The assays used were: counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and two immunoblotting assays. Kappa statistic was applied to evaluate the consistency between tests. Kappa index is a measure of agreement between categorical data. Kappa has a maximum of 1.00 when the agreement is perfect, a value of zero indicates no agreement better than chance, and negative values show worse than chance agreement. For SS-B antibodies, there was a good concordance between all four methods used (Kappa 0.66-0.74). For anti RNP antibodies, the results for CIE/ELISA (Kappa 0.60) were consistent as were the two immunoblot methods (Kappa 0.69). For anti Scl-70 (topoisomerase I) antibody, results from the ELISA and CIE methods were totally consistent (Kappa 1.00). In spite of the high prevalence of anti SS-A/Ro antibodies, the agreement between the methods was poor, without statistical significance. Finally, for Sm antibodies, more consistent results were obtained between CIE/ELISA (Kappa 0.51) and between one of the immunoblotting methods and ELISA (Kappa 0.54). In conclusion, CIE concurs mostly with ELISA for anti-RNP, Scl-70, Sm and SS-B antibodies, but with some disagreement for SS-A antibodies.

[The molecular parameters of a meningococcal serogroup B protein-polysaccharide vaccine]. / Izuchenie molekuliarnykh parametrov meningokokkovoi belkovo-polisakharidnoi vaktsiny serogruppy B.

Methods for the evaluation of the molecular parameters of B polysaccharide (B-PS) in meningococcal protein-polysaccharide vaccine of group B are proposed. The comparison of two proposed methods, the passive hemagglutination inhibition test and rocket immunoelectrophoresis (RIEP), has shown that the latter method has the highest degree of correlation with the chemical method of the detection of B-PS, which is often hindered by lactose added as a bulking agent. RIEP may be recommended for the standardization and control of the commercial preparations of group B meningococcal vaccine. B-PS contained in the vaccine is known to be in a highly polymeric state: its yield is 66.4 +/- 1.7% to Kd = 0.25 and 85.3 +/- 1.2% to Kd = 0.5. B-PS contained in the prepared vaccine has been found to be highly stable. Outer membrane proteins of meningococci, forming a noncovalent complex with capsular B-PS, seem to stabilize its structure and prevent the depolymerization of molecules.

Diagnostic tests for amoebic liver abscess: comparison of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE).

The liver abscess is the most frequent extraintestinal complication of intestinal amoebiasis: its diagnosis is suggested by the clinical picture but it must be confirmed by paraclinic tests. Themost stringent diagnosis requires identification of E. histolytica. But this is possible only in a few cases. Serological tests greatly improve the diagnosis of this severe complication of amoebiasis. We compared the Enzyme Linfed Immunosorbent Assay and the Counterimmunoelectrophoresis techniques. Both techniques were used to detect amoebic antibodies in 50 control patients, 30 patients with liver abscess and 30 patients with intestinal amoebiasis. All the sera from control patients gave negative results in both techniques. When analysing the sera from patients with intestinal amoebiasis, 10% of them were positive by ELISA but non by CIE. The sera of patients with liver abscess, we found that 90% were positive by the ELISA method and 66.6% by the CIE technique. In patients with amoebic liver abscess, the results showed that the ELISA was more sensitive than the CIE, as it presented a higher sensitivity (100%) than that of the CIE technique (66%).

[The diagnostic evaluation of rapid sputum technics for Pneumococcus in community-acquired pneumonia. The usefulness of Bayes theorem for clinical application]. / Evaluación diagnóstica de las técnicas rápidas del esputo frente neumococo en la neumonía adquirida en la comunidad. Utilización del teorema de Bayes para su aplicación clínica.

This study aimed to quantify the diagnostic value of immunological techniques and methods for rapid analysis of sputum for pneumococcus, using sensitivity and specificity values reported in the literature to calculate positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV) according to Bayes formulas. Diagnostic gains of the test are calculated and compared to pretext probability. We located articles reporting sensitivity and specificity of counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE), coagglutination (CoA) and latex agglutination (LA) tests. We also calculated the probability ratios for the three tests. LA achieved the best overall diagnostic utility rating. CoA had the highest PPV, whereas LA offered the highest NPV. CIE was the least useful. These three tests are more useful at intermediate levels of prevalence of pneumococcus, which coincide with estimate in our population. We conclude that LA and CoA are of greater diagnostic utility for community acquired pneumonia, as they are useful for determining prevalence as well as for deciding initial antibiotic treatment.

Evaluation of serological tests for diagnosis of Brucella melitensis infection of goats.

Five serological assays were evaluated for the diagnosis of brucellosis in goats: the rose bengal test (RBT), complement fixation test (CFT), radial immunodiffusion (RID) with Brucella and Yersinia enterocolitica O:9 polysaccharides, counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIEP) with cytosol, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with polyclonal and protein G conjugates and smooth lipopolysaccharide (S-LPS), native hapten polysaccharide (NH), or cytosol antigens. For optimal sensitivity, RBT had to be used with sera-antigen at a 3:1 dilution. In the RID test, Brucella melitensis biotype 1 NH could not be replaced by Brucella abortus biotype 1 or Y. enterocolitica 0:9 polysaccharides. In the ELISA, S-LPS and NH gave similar results and the protein G conjugate increased the specificity. With the sera from 55 B. melitensis culture-positive goats, the sensitivity was 100% for RBT, CFT (titer > or = 4), and ELISA with S-LPS or NH; 94% for RID; and 93% for CIEP. All tests were negative (100% specific) when testing the sera from 127 brucella-free goats. Larger discrepancies among the results of the serological tests were obtained with sera from goats of areas where brucellosis is endemic. When the sera of 20 young goats vaccinated subcutaneously (10(9) CFU of B. melitensis Rev 1) and bled 6 months later were examined, the specificities were as follows: NH ELISA, 60%; CFT and S-LPS ELISA, 75%; RBT, 80%; CIEP, 90%; and RID, 94%. With the sera from 10 young goats vaccinated conjunctivally (10(9) CFU of B. melitensis Rev 1) all tests were 100% specific 4 months after vaccination. The proportion of goats giving a positive reaction after vaccination decreased faster in RID than in other tests.

Diagnóstico serológico de tuberculosis pulmonar por la técnica contrainmunoelectroforesis (CIE) / Serodiagnosis of tuberculosis by counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE)

Se estudiaron por la técnica Contrainmunoelectroforesis (CIE) 3 grupos de sueros, los cuales incluyeron 56 pacientes con tuberculosis pulmonar, 50 con otras patologías pulmonares y 75 de individuos supuestamente sanos. Se utilizaron en dicha técnica 2 extractos antigénicos celulares crudos de las cepas Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra y Mycobacterium bovis BCG elaborados según Rojas - Espinoza y Quesada - Pascual; se discute la utilidad de la CIE para el diagnóstico serológico de la tuberculosis reportando una sensibilidad de 80,35 por ciento y una especificidad de 93,33 por ciento

Aplicación del carbón inmunoensayo y la contrainmunoelectroforesis al diagnóstico serológico de Helicobacter Pylori / Aplication of carbon inmunoassay and contraimmunoelectrophoresis in serological diagnosis of Helicobacter Pylori

Se adaptaron las pruebas de carbón inmunoensayo (CIE) y contrainmunoelectroforesis (CIEF) al diagnóstico serológico de Helicobacter pylori. La primera careció de reproducibilidad, contrastando con la alta sensibilidad, sencillez y economía, con que se le ha descrito en el diagnóstico de algunas parasitosis. La CIEF mostró un nivel detectable de anticuerpos contra H. pylori sólo en el 33% y el 31% de los pacientes con gastritis o úlcera péptica respectivamente. Ni el CIE ni la CIEP, al menos como fueron descritos en este informe, podrían utilizarse en el diagnóstico serológico de H. Pylori.

Diagnóstico etiológico de meningitis por pruebas de co-aglutinación y contrainmunoelectroforesis / Etiological diagnosis of meningitis by co-aglutination and electroforesis

Con el objeto de comparar pruebas citoquímicas y rápidas de contrainmunoelectroforesis y co-aglutinación con el cultivo del LCR en sospecha de meningitis bacteriana(MB) y determinar su sensibilidad, se estudiaron 147 muestras de LCR de niños con edad de 2 meses a 12 años entre mayo 1983 y abril 1989, proveniente del servicio de aislamiento del Hospital Universitario de Maracibo, Venezuela. Se encontró que 91 pacientes (61.9 por ciento) fueron citoquímicamente compatibles con MB, y 56 (38.1 por ciento) con LCR normal o compatibles con meningitis no-bacteriana.De los 91 niños con MB, el agente etiológico se detectó en 68 (64.7 por ciento) por el cultivo, y de los cuales 47 (69.13 por ciento) fueron Haemophilus influenzae tipo b, 9 (13.23 por ciento) fueron Streptococus pneumoniae y 12 (17.64 por ciento) fueron otros microorganismos. En ningún caso se aisló la Neiseria Meningitidis. Se observó mayor positividad de la contrainmunoelectroforesis y la co-aglutinación sobre el cultivo tanto para Haemophilus influnzae como para streptococus pneumoniae. También se observó mayor sensibilidad de pruebas rápidas sobre el cultivo. Se enfatiza la importancia de aplicar las técnicas de contrainmunoelectroforesis y/o co-aglutinación a todo LCR de pacientes con sospecha de MB

Sensitized immunochemical method for the specific detection of human haemoglobin in dried biological samples.

The authors describe a modified version of counterimmunoelectrophoresis of easy performance and high sensitivity. With this method human haemoglobin can easily and specifically be determined either in fresh or dried biological samples. Glutaraldehyde pretreatment of the samples results in the development of complexes with highly favourable electrophoretic mobility and precipitating capacity. By this chemical modification and use of a double set of samples with varying antigen-antibody proportion, the sensitivity of haemoglobin detection in erythrocyte-containing haemolysate and native blood was 300 ng/ml. The examination is easily performed, and without considerable outlay, even with conventional laboratory facilities. It is equally suitable for the detection of occult colorectal bleeding and for species-specific study of blood stains of unknown origin. The authors succeeded in identifying human haemoglobin even in a 42-month dried blood stain.