Brazilian purpuric fever, Haemophilus aegyptius, and endotoxin.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D Fumarola.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
We present the first cases of Lyme disease found in Italy. The diagnosis was based on clinical and laboratory data. The antigen used for indirect immunofluorescence (I.I.F.) was kindly supplied to us by Prof. R. Ackermann (Köln). Reciprocal titer was 64 in five patients, 128 in six, 256 in three and 512 in one. The patients came either from the Eastern Ligurian Coast or the Trieste Karst: these are consequently the first two Italian areas where Lyme disease has been recognized up to the present.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Isolation by affinity chromatography from crude culture filtrate of Aeromonas sobria of protein that cross reacted with cholera toxin (CT) revealed a toxin that produced fluid accumulation in rat ileal loops and in infant mice and caused rounding of Y1 adrenal cells. All these activities were neutralised by antiserum to CT. There was no haemolytic or cytotoxic activity associated with this CT-cross reactive cytotonic enterotoxin. CT-cross reactive material detected in enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was produced by 25% of Aeromonas isolates from faeces of children with or without diarrhoea-26% of A. sobria, 20.0% of A. hydrophila and 24% of A. caviae tested gave positive ELISA results. Most strains that produced this cytotonic enterotoxin but no cytotoxic enterotoxin were isolated from children without diarrhoea. Toxin preparations from Aeromonas spp. that completely inhibited adenosine-5'-diphosphate-induced platelet aggregation, an effect related to elevation of intracellular cAMP, were, with one exception, cross reactive with CT in ELISA.
Lipoglycans from mycoplasmas possess the ability to induce the elaboration of procoagulant activity. This represents a third endotoxic property for these polymers, in addition to the pyrogenicity and clotting of Limulus lysate reported previously. Lipoglycans from three species of Acholeplasma (A. axanthum, A. granularum, and A. oculi) stimulated the elaboration in vitro of procoagulant activity by human mononuclear cells to differing extents. Two serotypes, 3 and 4, of Ureaplasma urealyticum also exhibited this stimulatory activity. The activities of lipoglycans tested were, in decreasing order, A. oculi greater than U. urealyticum type 4 greater than A. axanthum greater than U. urealyticum type 3 greater than A. granularum.
Lymphoadenopathic Syndrome (LAS), diagnosed also with histologycal studies, is described in a polytransfused 11-year old boy affected by beta-thalassemia major. After three days of the admission he suffered a serious acute diarrhea by Aeromonas hydrophila, an opportunistic enteric bacteria demonstrated, up to date, in immunocompromised patients and never in AIDS patients. It is important to remark that beta-thalassemic patients are at high risk from HIV infections, either for the chronic need of transfusions and for the impairment of the immunological functions.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The newly recognized spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme Disease, has been examined for endotoxin-like activities as measured by the standard Farmacopea Ufficiale della Republica Italiana rabbit fever test and the Limulus amoebocyte lysate assay. The suspension of heat-killed microorganism caused a febrile response at a dose of 1 X 10(8) bacteria pro kilo. Similar results were obtained in the Limulus assay where the heat-killed spirochetes stimulated formation of solid clot until the concentration of 1 X 10(5) per ml. Both in pyrogen test and in Limulus assay heat-killed Escherichia coli exhibited a higher degree of potency. These results show that LD-Borrelia possess endotoxin-like activities which could help in understanding the pathogenesis of the clinical symptomatology of the disease.
In the present work, the capacity of Lyme disease (LD) Spirochetes to spontaneously adhere to rat lymphocytes has been evaluated. Borrelia organisms adhere to thymus, spleen, Payer's patches and peripheral blood lymphocytes in a higher frequency than that observed with Salmonella minnesota R345 (Rb) used as reference strain. Employing enriched splenic T and B cell populations, Spirochete binding to B lymphocytes is more elevated than that obtained with Salmonella, while similar percentage of T cells forms rosettes with both microorganisms. Taken together, these findings provide evidence for a novel mode of interaction between LD Spirochetes and host immune system.
A clinical epidemiological survey of Legionella pneumophila infections occurring in Italy between 1 December 1985 and 31 May 1986 was carried out to evaluate the incidence of sporadic, epidemic and nosocomial L. pneumophila pneumonia. A total of 355 cases of pneumonia were studied of which 11.5% were due to Gram positive bacteria, 11% were due to Gram negative bacteria, 7.9% were due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae, 4.5% were due to L. pneumophila and 8.5% were due to sundry aetiological agents. The remainder (45.6%) could not be diagnosed accurately. In addition, the anti L. pneumophila antibody titres were assessed. The results are discussed in terms of the occurrence of the disease in Italy and regarding the importance of considering the possibility of legionellosic aetiology when diagnosing pneumonia.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The endotoxicity of Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme Disease, a tick-borne spirochetosis, was studied using Limulus assay and pyrogen test in rabbit. Some suspensions of Ixodes ricinus and Ixodes dammini associated Borrelia were able to gelify Limulus lysate and demonstrated a febrile response in rabbit. These findings and other recent data demonstrating an endotoxin-like activity of the Lyme Disease agent are discussed in the context of the pathogenic mechanisms of the illness.
Thromboembolic complications are known in cancer patients after i.v. administration of Corynebacterium parvum. We examined the ability of this organism to induce production of procoagulant activity by human blood mononuclear leukocytes in vitro. After 4 hours incubation Corynebacterium parvum was an effective stimulant for mononuclear leukocytes, behaving in the same way as the typical gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli, whereas mononuclear cells incubated with Staphylococcus aureus were not affected. Corynebacterium parvum used was found devoid of endotoxin by the Limulus assay and was not affected by Polymyxin B, which, on the contrary, inhibited Escherichia coli-induced production of procoagulant activity. Intact Corynebacterium parvum may be required for the production of procoagulant activity and, although this specific aspect of the research will require further study, from the exposed data it is concluded that such a production could be a factor contributing to the pathogenesis of the coagulopathy following Corynebacterium parvum therapy.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.