QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-Tube reliability for immigrants with parasitic infections in Boston, USA.

Accurate testing and treatment for latent tuberculous infection is necessary for tuberculosis elimination. Certain parasite infections are associated with increased tuberculin skin test positivity; species-specific effects on QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-Tube (QGIT) have not been described. To determine whether infection with helminths or protozoa affects QGIT results. We retrospectively analyzed QGIT and parasite testing results for immigrants screened in Boston, MA, USA, from 2012 to 2017. We also prospectively measured cytokines in QGIT supernatants for a subset (n = 68) with 1) helminths, 2) Blastocystis hominis, 3) other protozoa, and 4) no parasites. Of 527 immigrants screened, 141 (26.8%) were QGIT-positive and 229 (43.4%) had parasites detected: 27/527 (5.1%) had helminths and 202/527 (38.3%) protozoa. Cytokine analysis revealed increased interleukin-10 concentrations with protozoa (P = 0.04), and non-significantly higher T-helper 2 concentrations with helminths compared with no parasites. No significant differences emerged in QGIT positivity or interferon-gamma concentrations in any group. Study results support the use of QGIT in parasite-endemic settings. .

Relative effectiveness of topical ketorolac and topical diclofenac on discomfort after radial keratotomy.

Two prospective, randomized, double-masked studies were conducted evaluating the analgesic effect of topical eyedrops after radial keratotomy (RK). One study of 117 consecutive initial RK procedures compared topical ketorolac (Acular) with topical diclofenac (Voltaren), and another study of 23 consecutive initial RK procedures compared topical ketorolac with a control medication (HypoTears). Topical ketorolac was significantly more effective than the control but not significantly different from topical diclofenac. The onset of analgesic effect of these topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is longer than one hour. The analgesic effect of oral acetaminophen #3 significantly augments that of topical diclofenac drops for those experiencing any discomfort by six hours after surgery.

Effect of topical diclofenac solution on discomfort after radial keratotomy.

The eyes of 65 consecutive radial keratotomy patients were treated topically with either diclofenac sodium 0.1% (Voltaren) solution or with Tears Naturale (control group) preoperatively and postoperatively in a prospective, randomized, double-masked study. During the first postoperative day, patients completed a questionnaire on discomfort level present at 15 minutes and at one, three, six, and 18 hours after surgery. Patients treated with topical diclofenac were generally more comfortable than patients in the control group. They had a significantly lower rate of "moderate" or "severe" discomfort and a higher rate of less than "mild" discomfort. Peak discomfort occurred at three hours in both groups. The prescribed optional oral analgesic was taken by 48.5% of patients in the diclofenac group and by 71.9% of those in the control group.

Validation study of gas chromatographic determination of pentachlorophenol in animal liver.

A validation study was conducted of a gas chromatographic procedure for the determination of pentachlorophenol (PCP) in chicken, pork, and beef liver. Five analysts representing 5 laboratories analyzed randomly numbered blind duplicates at 3 fortified tissue concentrations and one incurred tissue on 2 consecutive days. The PCP concentrations ranged from approximately 40 to 400 parts per billion (ppb). All data were reported to 3 significant figures in ppb. The coefficients of variation for repeatability were between 2.8 and 8.5%, except for the beef liver, at a mean value of 80 ppb PCP, where the CV was 11.3%. The CVs for reproducibility were in the range of 9.7-16.5% with little significant difference by species. The CV asymptotically approached 10% as the PCP level increased.

Interaction of reovirus with cell surface receptors. IV. The reovirus type 3 receptor is expressed predominantly on murine Lyt-2,3+ and human T8+ cells.

Reovirus type 3 binds to approximately 20% of murine and human T cells via the viral hemagglutinin, a small outer capsid polypeptide. By using purified viral particles as a ligand in a standard plate separation technique, we have been able to enrich human peripheral blood and murine splenic T cells for reovirus receptor-positive cells (reovirus 3+) to levels of 88 to 92%. Analysis of reovirus 3+ T cells with monoclonal antibodies that identify inducer and suppressor/cytotoxic cells demonstrated that in the mouse, 68% of reovirus 3+ cells were Lyt-2+, and in the human, 60% were T8+. In reciprocal experiments, when subpopulations of murine and human T cells were prepared with the use of monoclonal anti-T cell reagents, 16% of Lyt-1+ and 81% of Lyt-2+ cells bound reovirus, whereas 30% of T4+ and 65% of T8+ cells bound reovirus. To determine whether reovirus type 3 identified a functional as well as a phenotypic category of cells, an antigen-specific cytotoxic T cell assay was employed. There was complete loss of cytotoxic activity in the reovirus 3+ cell population and slight enhancement of cytotoxic activity in the cell population from which reovirus 3+ cells were removed. This suggested that reovirus was binding to functionally active suppressor cells. Furthermore, adoptive transfer of antigen-specific T cells that were enriched for reovirus 3+ cells demonstrated suppression of cytoxic T cell activity. These results suggest that reovirus type 3 may identify a structure common to a subclass of murine and human T cells and that by using the virus as a natural biologic probe for cell surface receptors, one may be able to functionally segregate murine cytotoxic from suppressor T cells.

Binding of 125I-labeled reovirus to cell surface receptors.

Quantitative studies of 125I-labeled reovirus binding at equilibrium to several cell types was studied, including (1) murine L cell fibroblasts; (2) murine splenic T lymphocytes; (3) YAC cells, a murine lymphoma cell line; and (4) R1.1 cells, a murine thymoma cell line. Competition and saturation studies demonstrated (1) specific, saturable, high-affinity binding of reovirus types 1 and 3 to nonidentical receptors on L cell fibroblasts; (2) high-affinity binding of type 3 reovirus to murine splenic lymphocytes and R1.1 cells; (3) low-affinity binding of reovirus type 1 to lymphocytes and R1.1 cells; and (4) no significant binding of either serotype to YAC cells. Differences in the binding characteristics of the two reovirus serotypes to L cell fibroblasts were found to be a property of the viral hemagglutinin, as demonstrated using a recombinant viral clone. The equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd) for viral binding was of extremely high affinity (Kd in the range of 0.5 nM), and was slowly reversible. Experiments demonstrated temperature and pH dependence of reovirus binding and receptor modification studies using pronase, neuraminidase, and various sugars confirmed previous studies that reovirus receptors are predominantly protein in structure. The reovirus receptor site density was in the range of 2-8 X 10(4) sites/cell. These studies demonstrate that the pseudo-first-order kinetic model for ligand-receptor interactions provides a useful model for studying interactions of viral particles with membrane viral receptors. They also suggest that one cell may have distinct receptor sites for two serotypes of the same virus, and that one viral serotype may bind with different kinetics depending on the cell type.