Characterisation of monoclonal antibodies for detection of Mobiluncus spp. in genital specimens.

Monoclonal antibodies were raised to the anaerobic curved rods, Mobiluncus curtisii subsp. curtisii NCTC 11656, M. curtisii subsp. holmesii NCTC 11657 and M. mulieris NCTC 11658. Three antibodies reacted with the two subspecies of M. curtisii and, when used in combination against clinical isolates, showed 100% sensitivity and specificity in immunofluorescence studies. Immunoblotting showed that two of these antibodies reacted with an epitope on a protein which had an electrophoretic mobility corresponding to a Mr of 75 Kda in the absence of a reducing agent and 82 Kda in its presence in both type strains and in clinical isolates. The third antibody reacted with an epitope in type strains which had a mobility corresponding to 75 Kda and was unaffected by a reducing agent. However, in clinical isolates the epitope was present on a protein of 75 Kda or 71 Kda, or on both. A fourth antibody showed reactivity with M. mulieris NCTC 11658 alone, but only 6 (24%) of 25 clinical isolates gave positive results by immunofluorescence. The epitope is believed to be present on a protein of greater than 90 Kda. All four antibodies were shown by immunogold staining to be directed against epitopes exposed on the cell surface.

Comparison of anal and rectal swabs in the diagnosis of anorectal gonorrhoea in women.

Among 228 women with gonorrhoea (confirmed by culture), swabs taken blindly from the anal canal gave positive results in 26.3% and those taken from the rectum under direct vision in 27.6%. Swabs from both sites gave positive results in 23.2% of patients, from the anal canal alone in 3.1%, and from the rectum alone in 4.4%. Thus, culuture of anal canal swabs seems to give as reliable results as rectal swabs when proctoscopy cannot be carried out.

Sensitivity of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to antibiotics in London (1976-78).

Three surveys of the sensitivity of pretreatment isolates of gonococci to penicillin, ampicillin, tetracycline, spectinomycin, streptomycin, and co-trimoxazole were carried out during the period 1976-78. Compared with the results of previous surveys in the London area the decline in the proportion of strains of gonococci which are insensitive to penicillin appears to have halted. No changes were found in the levels of resistance to ampicillin, tetracycline, or spectinomycin during the period surveyed, although there was a slight increase in the proportion of strains requiring concentrations of 20 microgram spectinomycin per ml for inhibition. Streptomycin resistance has decreased considerably and 91% of strains are now sensitive to 10 microgram streptomycin per ml.

A survey of beta-lactamase-producing gonococcal isolates reported in the United Kingdom 1979--80. The present trend.

104 strains of penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (P.P.N.G) from England, Scotland, and Wales were reported to the V.D. Reference Laboratory and the Communicable Disease Centre, Colindale, in 1979. By contrast, there were only 15 reported cases in 1977 and 31 in 1978. The majority of patients each year contracted their infections overseas, primarily in South-East Asia and West Africa, but in 1979 41 patients (39%) reported contracting their infections in the United Kingdom. Of these 17 were secondary contacts of patients who had acquired their infection outside the U.K., but in 8 cases the primary contact was in the United Kingdom. The current incidence of P.P.N.G. in the U.K. is low compared with that in Singapore and the Philippines, but continued epidemiological assessment is essential because not all laboratories use this reference reporting system. The number of P.P.N.G. strains reported up to October, 1980, shows a considerable increase over those seen during 1979.