Decay of antibody isotypes against early developmental stages of Schistosoma mansoni after treatment of schistosomiasis patients.

Antibodies to a number of parasite antigens are found in schistosomiasis patients, and antibodies to early developmental stages were demonstrated to be efficient immunologic markers for the diagnosis of schistosomiasis. In the present study, decay patterns of IgM and IgG antibodies against cercariae and schistosomula were investigated, in comparison to antibodies against worms and eggs in schistosomiasis patients after chemotherapy, for an investigation of seroepidemiologic aspects. Data obtained in the study of 359 serum samples from patients with Schistosoma mansoni infection, noninfected individuals, and patients followed-up for a period of 12 to 15 months after treatment provided the basis to postulate a general pattern for the kinetics of antibody decay. Before treatment, the antibody pattern was represented by a unimodal curve, which shifted to a bimodal curve after treatment, and ended with a unimodal curve similar to that for the noninfected group. Different types of antibodies were classified into four categories according to their decay features, and anti-schistosomulum IgM was classified into the moderate-decay category, whereas other antibodies to early parasite stages were classified into the slow-decay category. The present methodology permits the identification of the most suitable antibodies to be detected in field control programs for schistosomiasis or other parasitoses.

[Hepatitis B antigens systems in schistosomiasis mansoni]. / Sistemas antigênicos da hepatite B na esquistossomose mansôncia.

The authors have studied the antigenic systems HBs and HBe and B virus hepatitis in 155 patients with mansonic schistosomiasis and have found: a) 22,5% HBsAg positivity in patients with the hepatosplenic form of the disease which was associated with histologic liver alterations and 8,7% anti-HBs positivity in patients with the hepatointestinal form of the disease which was associated with a preserved liver histology; in controls they have found 1% positivity for HBsAg. b) HBeAg and anti-HBe were of good prognostic value.

Cerebrospinal fluid levels of lysozyme, IgM and C-reactive protein in the identification of bacterial meningitis.

Lysozyme (LZM), immunoglobulin M (IgM) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were determined in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients classified on the basis of clinical and laboratory findings into three groups: bacterial meningitis (n = 33), lymphocytic meningitis (n = 21) and controls (n = 54). IgM and CRP levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and LZM by the lysoplate method. Discriminant analysis demonstrated that 93.94% (31/33) and 96.97% (32/33) of patients with bacterial meningitis were correctly classified on the basis of CSF determinations of IgM and LZM, respectively. However, the measurement of CRP levels in CSF correctly classified 100% of these patients (33/33), thus representing a useful additional marker for the screening of bacterial meningitis. Moreover, no more than 4% (3/75) of patients were incorrectly classified as belonging to the bacterial group on the basis of the CRP test. Thus, CRP titres less than or equal to 80 identify cases belonging to one of the non-bacterial groups, whereas titres greater than or equal to 640 classify the bacterial group, with a very low chance of misclassification. The authors recommend that CSF IgM or LZM levels be also measured for patients with CSF CRP titres of 160 and 320, for a more accurate diagnosis. The probability of these cases being of bacterial aetiology, as calculated from the combined results of these measurements, is presented.

Prevalencia do antigeno de superficie do virus da hepatite B (HBsAg) e seu anticorpo (anti-HBs) em pacientes internados em dois hospitais psiquiatricos. / Prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsA) and its antibody (anti-HBsAg) in patients hospitalized in 2 psychiatric hospitals

A frequencia de infeccao pelo virus da hepatite B, entre pacientes psicopatas internados em dois hospitais especializados, no Estado de S. Paulo, medida pela pesquisa serica do HBsAg e anti HBs foi de 18,52% e 4,88%, respectivamente. Utilizouse o metodo da hemaglutinacao passiva. As diferentes prevalencias foram atribuidas a presenca de elevado numero de doadores profissionais de sangue entre os pacientes do primeiro nosocomio e sugeridas, fortemente, por analise estatistica (p=0,016)

Sistemas antigenicos da hepatite B na esquistossomose mansonica. / Hepatitis B antigens systems in schistosomiasis mansoni

Os autores estudaram os sistemas antigenicos HBs e HBe do virus B da hepatite em 155 doentes portadores de esquistossomose mansonica e encontraram: a) 22,5% dos doentes da forma clinica hepato-esplenica foram positivos para o HBsAg mostrando ainda alteracoes histologicas evidentes. 8,7% dos doentes da forma hepato-intestinal mostraram positividade para o anti-HBs e verificou-se preservacao da histologia hepatica. O grupo controle apresentou 1% de positividade para o HBsAg: b) o HBeAg e anti-HBe mostraram ser de valor no prognostico dos casos