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Biomedical subjects

A Curry

Publications and source records attributed to A Curry.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Detection of pigeon circovirus in cloacal swabs: implications for diagnosis, epidemiology and control.

Pigeon circovirus (picv) was detected in cloacal swab samples by means of a newly-developed, sensitive pcr. An initial investigation of 17 Belgian racing pigeons aged up to eight months showed that rates of detection of 88 per cent and above were achieved using samples of cloacal swab, blood and bursa of Fabricius. The sampling of 15 caged pigeons six times when they were from three to 31 weeks of age indicated that picv infections were more readily detected in cloacal swabs than in blood, and that the virus could be detected in cloacal swabs for longer periods after infection than in blood. picv infections were detected in cloacal swabs from 38 of 47 young pigeons aged from two to 31 weeks, from 12 racing lofts, which had clinical signs including diarrhoea and weight loss, regurgitation and respiratory signs. Samples from birds from two infected lofts indicated that picv could be detected in some birds for at least 27 weeks. Although nine of 14 pigeons aged from 32 to 45 weeks were virus-positive, picv was detected in only one of 18 adult pigeons that originated from four infected lofts.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2005

New data on the transmission of pigeon circovirus.

Nineteen racing pigeons aged from one to five years were examined postmortem. pcr tests showed that the spleens of 16 of them were positive for pigeon circovirus, the livers of six were positive, and blood from one of them was positive for the virus. Five of 44 embryos in embryonated eggs collected from three lofts were positive by pcr, but swabs taken from the crops of 64 adult birds which were feeding one- to 10-day-old squabs in these three lofts were negative for the viral dna.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Trachipleistophora hominis infection in the myocardium and skeletal muscle of a patient with AIDS.

OBJECTIVES: To review the literature relevant to microsporidial infection of muscle and to describe a case of human microsporidial infection involving both skeletal and cardiac muscle. METHODS: Samples from an AIDS patient with myositis have been examined by light and electron microscopy. RESULTS: We describe the findings at autopsy of a 47 year old Australian male with late stage AIDS, who had skeletal and cardiac muscle involvement with the microsporidian Trachipleistophora hominis. This is the third definitively identified case of human T. hominis infection and the first to describe infection of the myocardium. CONCLUSIONS: Microsporidial infection of muscle is rare in humans, but more work is needed to elucidate both the organisms and routes of transmission of this group of parasitic protozoa.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed2004

National epidemic of Lordsdale Norovirus in the UK.

BACKGROUND: In early 2002 reports of outbreaks of gastroenteritis reached unprecedented levels in the UK. Forty five Norovirus outbreaks were reported in January 2002. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to determine whether the outbreaks were Noroviral in origin and if so whether they represented a homogeneous or heterogeneous collection of Noroviruses by applying EIA and sequence analysis to representative faecal samples. STUDY DESIGN: Faecal specimens were collected during the week of highest incidence from 21 outbreaks in a variety of health care settings including hospitals and nursing homes. The outbreaks occurred in geographically distinct regions of the UK and samples were collected by reference laboratories in Glasgow, Manchester, Bristol and Southampton. RESULTS: The samples were all positive for Noroviruses by negative stain electron microscopy (EM) and Lordsdale virus (LV) EIA, therefore reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification and nucleotide sequencing of the Norovirus RNA polymerase gene was performed on amplicons from samples of each of the 21 outbreaks to investigate the nature and extent of diversity. All samples were very closely related to the reference Lordsdale virus genome sequence. LV was first discovered during an hospital outbreak of gastroenteritis in Southampton General Hospital in March 1993. CONCLUSIONS: Noroviruses are a major cause of outbreaks of gastroenteritis in health care settings. LV is the predominant Norovirus in the UK and was detected in outbreaks that occurred during the national peak of gastroenteritis reports in January 2002.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2004

Emerging human protozoan infections in the temperate European climate.

There has been a resurgence of interest in medical protozoology in the last twenty years or so mainly as a result of the recognition of HIV infection and the opportunistic protozoan infections associated with it. Many new species of microsporidia have been recognised as parasites causing human disease and several rare infections, such as isosporiasis, have become more commonly recognised, even in temperate climates. Some of the infections seen in temperate regions have arrived through foreign travel (tourism, work or immigration), sometimes exacerbated by immunosuppression (due to HIV, organ transplantation or malignancy). Importation of food from around the world and climate change (global warming) may also be contributing to the increase in previously rare protozoan infections now being seen in temperate regions. This article reviews the current status of these new and re-emerging human protozoan infections in temperate, rather than tropical locations.

Climate↗
PubMed2003

Evaluation of a commercial ELISA for detecting Norwalk-like virus antigen in faeces.

A commercially available enzyme immunoassay, the IDEIA Norwalk-like virus (NLV) enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA; Dako Cytomation, Ely, UK) for detecting NLV antigen in faecal samples and determining the NLV genogroup was evaluated. The performance of the ELISA was compared with that of electron microscopy and the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction by testing a panel of faecal samples collected from patients involved in outbreaks of gastroenteritis. When compared with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), the ELISA had a sensitivity and specificity of 55.5 and 98.3%, respectively. This compares with a sensitivity and specificity for EM of 23.9 and 99.2%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the ELISA for determining the aetiology of a Norwalk virus-like outbreak, based on two or more positive samples within an outbreak, were 52.2 and 100% when two samples were collected from an outbreak and 71.4 and 100% when six or more samples were collected. The ELISA correctly identified the NLV genogroups of viruses previously characterised by partial DNA sequencing. The ELISA is a suitable alternative to the preliminary screening by EM for investigating outbreaks of gastroenteritis. Outbreaks, negative by ELISA should be examined by RT-PCR in order to detect strains non-reactive in the assay and virus strains from representative ELISA positive outbreaks should be characterised fully to allow the genetic diversity of NLVs co-circulating in the population to be described.

Antigens, Viral↗
PubMed2003

Glutamine deprivation facilitates tumour necrosis factor induced bacterial translocation in Caco-2 cells by depletion of enterocyte fuel substrate.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Factors that induce luminal bacteria to cross the intestinal epithelium following injury remain poorly defined. The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction between glutamine metabolism, energy supply, and inflammatory mediators in determining the translocation of non-pathogenic bacteria across cultured enterocytes. METHODS: The effect of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) on translocation of Escherichia coli C25 across Caco-2 epithelial monolayers was studied in the presence of products and inhibitors of glutamine metabolism. Simultaneous measurements of transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and flux of lucifer yellow were used to assess effects on the paracellular pathway. Lactate dehydrogenase release was used to monitor enterocyte integrity. Imaging of monolayers in these experimental conditions was undertaken with transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: Exposure to basolateral TNF-alpha (20 ng/ml) for six hours induced translocation of E coli across Caco-2 but only if accompanied by simultaneous glutamine depletion (p<0.01). Translocation was inhibited by addition of glutamine for two hours (p<0.01) but not by an isonitrogenous mixture of non-glutamine containing amino acids. Inhibition of glutamine conversion to alpha-ketoglutarate, but not blockade of glutathione or polyamine synthesis, also induced translocation in the presence of TNF-alpha. Manipulations that induced bacterial translocation were associated with a marked reduction in enterocyte ATP levels. No effect of these treatments on paracellular permeability or lactate dehydrogenase release was observed. Conditions in which translocation occurred were associated with the presence of bacteria within enterocyte vacuoles but not the paracellular space. CONCLUSIONS: In inflammatory conditions, the availability of glutamine as an enterocyte fuel substrate is essential for the preservation of a functional barrier to microorganisms. In conditions of acute glutamine depletion, cytokine mediated bacterial translocation appears to be primarily a transcellular process.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed2003

Actin filaments in human renal tubulo-interstitial fibrosis: significance for the concept of epithelial-myofibroblast transformation.

Epithelial-myofibroblast transformation has been argued as playing a role in tubulo-interstitial fibrosis. To investigate this hypothesis, we examined 9 renal biopsy specimens from patients with chronic renal disease by light and electron microscopy. In all cases, electron microscopy confirmed light microscope observations in relation to tubulo-interstitial fibrosis-tubular atrophy, accumulation of extracellular matrix and of mesenchymal interstitial cells, and infiltration by inflammatory cells. Tubular epithelial cells (TECs) contained bundles of actin filaments: mostly lacking the focal densities typical of smooth-muscle myofilaments. The interstitium contained collagen and inflammatory cells. Some endothelial cells showed bundles of myofilaments. Free mesenchymal cells in the matrix were spindled and had sparse rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER), small attachment plaques, few actin filaments and no lamina. In one case, myofibroblasts (defined by abundant rER, myofilaments and fibronexuses) were present. Most of the mesenchymal cells, therefore, did not correspond to myofibroblasts, nor to classical fibroblasts because of the sparse rER and the presence of actin filaments. We therefore called these cells myoid stromal cells, regarding them as stromal mesenchymal elements showing partial activation towards a smooth-muscle phenotype. This paper demonstrates a greater phenotypic complexity of actin-containing stromal cells in the interstitium than previously appreciated, with only a minority conforming to true or fully differentiated myofibroblasts. The widespread presence of actin (as filaments or immunoreactivity) in both TECs and interstitial cells, combined with the absence of evidence of intermediate forms or of migration from epithelium into interstitium, may point to epithelium and interstitium as separate targets for actin upregulation as an alternative hypothesis to epithelial-myofibroblast transformation.

Actin Cytoskeleton↗
PubMed2002

Ultrastructure of Buddenbrockia identifies it as a myxozoan and verifies the bilaterian origin of the Myxozoa.

The phylogenetic affinities of Buddenbrockia, a nematode-like parasite of freshwater bryozoans, have remained unknown since it was first reported in the nineteenth century. The discovery of Buddenbrockia parasitic in Hyalinella punctata in Ohio and Plumatella repens in France has provided material for the first ultrastructural study of this animal. This has revealed the presence of polar capsules, diagnostic myxozoan features, in the body wall. Other features, which place Buddenbrockia firmly among tetracapsulid myxozoans in the Class Malacosporea, are the unusual morphology of the polar capsules, the absence of the external tube in capsulogenesis, the body wall with its unusual cell junctions and utilization of freshwater bryozoans as hosts. The ultrastructural study has established the triploblastic organization of Buddenbrockia by confirmation of the presence of an inner layer of cells and 4 sets of longitudinal muscles. Our studies have, thus, simultaneously revealed that Buddenbrockia is a myxozoan and that the myxozoans are derived from bilaterians. The latter conclusion resolves the ongoing controversy over the triploblastic versus diploblastic nature of the Myxozoa. Our studies also provide evidence that bryozoans are ancestral hosts for the myxozoans and that loss of triploblast features has characterized the major radiation of the better known endoparasites of fish and worms in the Class Myxosporea.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Genotyping of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in AIDS patients from the north west of England.

OBJECTIVES: In this study Enterocytozoon bieneusi -positive faeces samples from AIDS patients in the north west of England were investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing for potential zoonotic origins. METHODS: The ITS and flanking regions of the rDNA was amplified by PCR and product sequenced. Sequences were compared with those held on GenBank to ascribe known genotypes. RESULTS: Of 13 E. bieneusi -positive samples tested, all gave a 508 bp amplification product by PCR. The samples yielded the following: genotypes B (n=11; so far only been found in humans), D (n=1; has been reported from humans and a laboratory macaque) and K (n=1; previously identified only from a cat). CONCLUSIONS: A possible zoonotic link with cats has been demonstrated for one human case. The origin of the majority of cases in the north west of England is unknown and may indicate that genotype B is solely a human pathogen.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed2001

Interleukin 6 and C-reactive protein levels in patients with acute allergic reactions: an emergency department-based study.

BACKGROUND: Elevations of interleukin 6 (IL-6) have been described in drug-induced anaphylaxis. Although IL-6 is well known to stimulate an acute phase response, profiling acute phase protein levels, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), has, to our knowledge, never been performed in patients with acute allergic reactions. OBJECTIVE: To examine the pattern of IL-6 and CRP levels in patients with acute allergic reactions and to relate these to relevant clinical and laboratory parameters. METHODS: Plasma CRP and serum IL-6 levels were determined in 85 adult emergency department patients. These patients had been previously studied with questionnaires, physical examinations, and histamine/tryptase levels. Clinical and historical features were related to CRP and IL-6 levels. CRP and IL-6 levels were also examined for relationships with histamine and tryptase levels. RESULTS: CRP and IL-6 levels were significantly correlated with one another in the study patients (Spearman p = 0.36, P = 0.0008). Similar to histamine levels, IL-6 levels were significantly correlated with the extent of erythema manifested by the study patients. The extent of erythema was independently predicted by both IL-6 and histamine levels. Histamine levels were negatively correlated with CRP levels (Spearman p = -0.32, P = 0.003). Unlike histamine levels, IL-6 and CRP did not show significant relationships with the extent or presence of urticaria/angioedema or the presence of wheezing. IL-6 levels were correlated with the duration of symptoms before serologic sampling. An inverse correlation was observed between IL-6 levels and mean arterial blood pressure. Multivariate modeling showed significant independent effects from mean arterial pressure, duration of symptoms, erythema extent, and age in predicting IL-6 levels. Tryptase levels were higher in patients whose IL-6 levels were >20 pg/mL. CONCLUSIONS: CRP and IL-6 levels are not simple surrogate markers for histamine or tryptase release by mast cells or basophils in acute allergic reactions. Increasing IL-6 levels relate to greater erythema extent, lower mean arterial blood pressure, and a longer duration of symptoms. It would be interesting to speculate that CRP and IL-6 increases characterize a late-phase response in immediate hypersensitivity reactions. In this perspective, the inverse relationship between CRP and histamine levels could be explained. As histamine levels are waning, CRP levels are increasing. Timed studies for histamine and CRP/IL-6 levels in allergic reactions are necessary to confirm this hypothesis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2001

Growth of Trachipleistophora hominis (Microsporidia: Pleistophoridae) in C2,C12 mouse myoblast cells and response to treatment with albendazole.

The microsporidium Trachipleistophora hominis Hollister, Canning, Weidner, Field, Kench et Marriott, 1996, originally isolated from human skeletal muscle cells, inhibited myotube formation from myoblasts when grown in a mouse myoblast cell line C2,C12. Uninfected cultures readily converted to myotubes. Albendazole, a drug with known antimicrosporidial activity, was tested against T. hominis in C2,C12 cells. The drug was added when infection had reached 75% of C2,C12 cells, a level comparable to that obtained in heavily infected muscle in vivo. Doses of 1 ng/ml and 10 ng/ml had no effect on merogony or sporogony. In cultures exposed to 100 ng/ml albendazole, the C2,C12 cells remained in good condition while infection levels dropped to 25% over 7 weeks. Drug doses of 500 ng/ml and 1,000 ng/ml were deleterious to the host cells but some spores retained viability and were able to establish new infections once albendazole pressure was removed. T. hominis meronts exposed to 100 ng/ml albendazole mostly lacked the normally thick surface coat and its reticulate extensions. Meronts were not seen in cultures exposed to higher drug doses. Albendazole at a concentration of 100 ng/ml and higher had a profound effect on spore morphogenesis. There was erratic coiling of the polar tube, often involving the formation of double tubes, and chaotic disposition of membranes which could have been those of polaroplast. The in vitro susceptibility of T. hominis to albendazole was low in comparison with in vitro susceptibility of other microsporidia of human origin.

Albendazole↗
PubMed2001

Protozoan enteric infection in AIDS related diarrhea in Thailand.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of enteric protozoa and other pathogens in AIDS patients with diarrhea in Bangkok, Thailand. Of 288 consecutive patients screened in the 10 month period between November 1999-August 2000 inclusive, 55 (19.2%) had Cryptosporidium spp, 13 (4.5%) had Isospora oocyst, 11 (3.8%) had Giardia lamblia, 3 (0.9%) had Entamoeba histolytica, and 1 (0.3%) had Iodamoeba butschlii infection. The prevalence of microsporidia was 11% in this study. Of 251 patients for whom stool culture for bacteria was performed, enteric bacterial pathogens isolated were Campylobacter spp in 18 (7.1%), Salmonella spp in 11 (4.3%), and Shigella spp in 1 (0.5%). Other pathogens found in these patients were Clostridium difficile in 16/102 (15.6%). Mycobacterium spp in 18/287 (6.2%), and Strongyloides stercoralis in 23/288 (8.0%). Overall, parasitic and bacterial pathogens were identified in 140 (48.6%) patients. These pathogens were identified by the routine simple wet smear technique in 32, formalin-ether concentration method in 46, culture for S. stercoralis in 5, and culture for bacteria in 30. Additional test, using modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining, identified cryptosporidial oocyst, isospora oocyst, and Mycobacterium spp in 72. The microsporidia, initially identified by modified trichrome blue staining, all were then determined to be Enterocytozoon bieneusi by thin sectioning electron microscopy. Protozoan and bacterial pathogens were confirmed to be important etiologic agents in diarrhea in AIDS in Thailand. They were all associated with increased mortality. Routine stool examination by simple wet smear detected only one-fourth of these pathogens. Therefore all diagnostic techniques for these organisms should be made more widely available in Thailand.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed2000

Management of hospital outbreaks of gastro-enteritis due to small roundstructured viruses.

Small round structured viruses (SRSVs, Norwalk-like viruses, NLVs) are the most common cause of outbreaks of gastro-enteritis in hospitals and also cause outbreaks in other settings such as schools, hotels, nursing homes and cruise ships. Hospital outbreaks often lead to ward closure and major disruption in hospital activity. Outbreaks usually affect both patients and staff, sometimes with attack rates in excess of 50%. For this reason, staff shortages can be severe, particularly if several wards are involved at the same time. SRSVs may be spread by several routes: faecal-oral; vomiting/aerosols; food and water. Viruses may be introduced into the ward environment by any of these routes and then propagated by person-to-person spread. In an outbreak setting, the diagnosis can usually be made rapidly and confidently on clinical and epidemiological grounds, particularly if vomiting is a prominent symptom. By the time an SRSV outbreak has been recognized at ward level, most susceptible individuals will have been exposed to the virus and infection control efforts must prioritize the prevention of spread of infection to other clinical areas bycontainment of infected/exposed individuals (especially the prevention of patient and staff movements to other areas), hand-hygiene and effective environmental decontamination. This report of the Public Health Laboratory Service Viral Gastro-enteritis Working Group reviews the epidemiology of outbreaks of infection due to SRSVs and makes recommendations for their management in the hospital setting. The basic principles which underpin these recommendations will also be applicable to the management of some community-based institutional outbreaks.

Caliciviridae Infections↗