IV Seminario "Salud y cooperación al desarrollo": La cooperación para el desarrollo en la prevención de las enfermedades infecciosas de naturaleza emergente y reemergentes / No disponible

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The application of biomedical engineering techniques to the diagnosis and management of tropical diseases: a review.

This paper reviews a number of biomedical engineering approaches to help aid in the detection and treatment of tropical diseases such as dengue, malaria, cholera, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, ebola, leprosy, leishmaniasis, and American trypanosomiasis (Chagas). Many different forms of non-invasive approaches such as ultrasound, echocardiography and electrocardiography, bioelectrical impedance, optical detection, simplified and rapid serological tests such as lab-on-chip and micro-/nano-fluidic platforms and medical support systems such as artificial intelligence clinical support systems are discussed. The paper also reviewed the novel clinical diagnosis and management systems using artificial intelligence and bioelectrical impedance techniques for dengue clinical applications.

Infective neuropathies.

Infective neuropathies encompass neuropathies that are among the most common in the world. Retroviral infection, which includes infection with the human immunodeficiency virus, has now spread worldwide. This virus is responsible for a number of disabling peripheral neuropathies, either from the immune reaction that follows penetration of the virus into nervous system of the host, or by opportunistic infection secondary to the major cellular immunodeficit induced by gradual destruction of lymphocytes bearing the CD4 antigen on their surface. In the other class of retroviruses, human T lymphotrophic viruses (HTLV), which are responsible for the HTLV-I-associated myelopathy or tropical spastic paraparesis, peripheral nerve involvement and inflammatory myopathy are less common and milder than in HIV infection. Leprosy continues to pose problems concerning the understanding of the immune mechanisms that lead to the various patterns of nerve lesions encountered in this condition. Chagas' disease, which is due to infection with Trypanosoma cruzi, affects more than 15 million people in Latin America. It is accompanied by mostly subclinical peripheral nerve involvement and by cardiac manifestations from lesions of the autonomic nervous system and cardiac muscle.

Serodiagnosis of Chagas' disease by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using two synthetic peptides as antigens.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for detecting antibodies against Trypanosoma cruzi. Two synthetic T. cruzi peptides, TcD and PEP2, were used. The specificity and sensitivity of the peptide ELISA were determined with 260 serum samples from individuals living in an area in which Chagas' disease is endemic. ELISAs were performed with the peptides singly or in combination. The evaluation of these tests showed that 168 (93.8%) of 179 serum samples from T. cruzi-infected patients were positive when TcD peptide was used as antigen; 164 (91.6%) samples were positive with PEP2, and 178 (99.4%) samples were positive when the two peptides were combined. Thus, the sensitivity of the ELISA using the two peptides exceeded 99%. The specificity was evaluated by using a panel of 118 serum samples that included samples from 81 individuals living in an area of endemicity with negative serology for Chagas' disease and from 37 patients from areas in which T. cruzi was not endemic but with other pathologies, such as leishmaniasis, tuberculosis, and leprosy. Only two false-positive serum samples were found in this group of individuals, giving a test specificity of more than 98%. Because these peptides can be synthesized and are very stable at room temperature, the use of such reagents can improve the standardization and reproducibility of ELISAs for the serodiagnosis of T. cruzi infection.

Patología regional argentina: enfermedades prevalentes y exóticas conminantes / Argentina regional pathology

Patologías por protozoarios: enfermedad de chagas; paludismo; leishmaniasis. Patologías por helmintos: hidatidosis; uncinariasis. Patologías por bacterias: brucelosis; lepra. Patologías por hongos: paracoccidioidomicosis; histoplasmosis. Patologías por virus: fiebre hemorrágica argentina. Patologías por intoxicaciones: hidroarsenicismo crónico regional endémico. Patologías exóticas conminantes: cólera; dengue; esquistosomiasis

Patología regional argentina: enfermedades prevalentes y exóticas conminantes / Argentina regional pathology

Patologías por protozoarios: enfermedad de chagas; paludismo; leishmaniasis. Patologías por helmintos: hidatidosis; uncinariasis. Patologías por bacterias: brucelosis; lepra. Patologías por hongos: paracoccidioidomicosis; histoplasmosis. Patologías por virus: fiebre hemorrágica argentina. Patologías por intoxicaciones: hidroarsenicismo crónico regional endémico. Patologías exóticas conminantes: cólera; dengue; esquistosomiasis

Trypsin-treated and coomassie blue-stained epimastigote antigen in a microagglutination test for Chagas' disease.

A microagglutination test using trypsin-treated and Coomassie blue-stained Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigote antigen was adapted for the diagnosis of Chagas' disease. When incorporated in the test, 2-mercaptoethanol treatment of chagasic sera had no influence on antibody titer. In contrast, titers in sera from patients with visceral leishmaniasis, African trypanosomiasis, and autoimmune disorders, subjected to similar treatment, showed remarkable decline. Accordingly, a lower cut-off point for Chagas' disease serological negativity could be taken resulting in a higher sensitivity (95.6%); the specificity was 94.7%. Similar specificities were obtained with Leishmania donovani chagasi and L. d. donovani antigens applied to homologous visceral leishmaniasis and heterologous Chagas' sera. Of 316 nonchagasic sera, only 3 with leptospirosis and 1 with leprosy showed seropositive titers prior to and after 2-mercaptoethanol treatment.

Evaluation of the micro enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for antibodies in American visceral leishmaniasis: antigen selection for detection of infection-specific responses.

This study was designed to evaluate the ELISA for diagnosis of American visceral leishmaniasis (AVL) using antigen prepared from different Leishmania isolates and from a strain of Trypanosoma cruzi. Two Leishmania donovani chagasi isolates from Bahia and Maranhão (both states of northern Brazil), one L. donovani from Sudan, one L. mexicana amazonensis isolate, and one T. cruzi isolate were used. A total of 375 sera were tested, including 119 from AVL patients, 96 from nonleishmaniasis hospitalized patients, 20 from healthy persons, 30 from patients with mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, 28 from patients with Chagas' disease, 20 from patients with tuberculosis, 21 from leprosy patients, 27 from schistosomiasis patients and 14 from patients with systemic mycoses. The antigens prepared from L. d. chagasi (Bahia) and L. m. amazonensis showed the highest sensitivity (98% and 99%, respectively) for detecting antibodies in sera from AVL patients. However, the specificity of L. d. chagasi (Bahia) antigen was better than that of L. m. amazonensis (96% vs. 86%). Comparison among the three L. donovani isolates demonstrated that the antigen prepared with the isolate from the same area where the sera originated yielded higher mean absorbance than the others. By using spectrophotometric absorbance values it was possible to use a single dilution of serum (between 1/100-1/400) since a clear separation was seen between AVL patients and controls. No patients with the other diseases who were tested gave positive results. We suggest that ELISA can be a very convenient, sensitive, and specific test for diagnosis of AVL when soluble antigen, preferably from an isolate from the test area, is used.