Low Expression of ICAM-1 in Blood Eosinophils in Patients With Active Eosinophilic Esophagitis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic and isolated inflammation of the esophagus characterized by a marked infiltration of eosinophilic leukocytes. Diagnosis and course of the disease are based exclusively on histopathology. Therefore, patients must undergo several esophageal biopsies, implying a risk associated with the procedure and considerable use of resources. Objective: The presence of active circulating eosinophils, which are quantifiable through the expression of specific cellular activation proteins in their membrane, could be consistent with histopathological findings, which are currently the only valid parameters in studies on EoE. METHODS: The activity of peripheral blood eosinophils from patients with EoE was analyzed by identifying 5 surface molecules (CD69, IL- 5Rα, CD44, ICAM-1, CD63), which are seen to be expressed by the active eosinophils in flow cytometry. The results were compared with the infiltrate of eosinophils present in patients' esophageal biopsies. RESULTS: ICAM-1 levels decreased significantly in patients with active EoE compared with nonactive EoE patients, allergic patients, and healthy controls. In patients with EoE, an inverse correlation was observed between the number of eosinophils in the esophageal biopsy and the percentage of ICAM-1 expression in peripheral blood eosinophils. No differences were observed for the remaining molecules studied. CONCLUSION: Expression of ICAM-1 in blood eosinophils could be a useful noninvasive marker for the diagnosis and assessment of patients with EoE.

Infectious agents associated with diarrhoea of calves in the canton of Tilarán, Costa Rica.

A case-control study of calves under 3 months of age was carried out by weekly visits to 15 farms in the canton of Tilarán, Costa Rica. Most farms were dedicated to beef or dual-purpose (DP) production. Faecal samples were collected over a 6-month period from a total of 194 calves with clinical signs and from 186 animals without clinical signs of diarrhoea as assessed by a scoring system. The samples were investigated for the presence of viruses, bacteria and parasites. Torovirus was detected for the first time in Costa Rica and was present in 14% of calves with diarrhoea and in 6% of the controls. Coronavirus and Rotavirus were less frequently encountered in either one of the groups (in 9 and 7% of scouring calves and in 1 and 2% of controls, respectively). Escherichia coli was detected in 94% of all the faecal samples, but isolates from only three samples from calves with diarrhoea contained the K99 antigen. Similarly, Salmonella was found only in scouring calves. Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in animals with signs of diarrhoea, while other coccidia oocysts, Strongylida and Strongyloides eggs were frequently found in animals both with and without diarrhoea. A conditional logistic regression (CLR) analysis to compare healthy and scouring calves showed a significant difference with regard to the presence of Torovirus, Rotavirus and Coronavirus.