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Biomedical subjects

E C Tramont

Publications and source records attributed to E C Tramont.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1981

Gonococcal pilus vaccine. Studies of antigenicity and inhibition of attachment.

A gonococcal pilus vaccine or placebo was injected subcutaneously or intramuscularly into 71 human volunteers. The vaccine was found to be safe. The principal adverse reaction was a complaint of a sore arm, which was caused, at least in part, to the volume of material injected. 6 of 64 (9%) volunteers receiving the larger doses also complained of malaise. The vaccine was found to be antigenic. All of the volunteers developed an immunoglobulin class-specific antibody response as measured by a solid phase radioimmunoassay. The antibody was capable of blocking the attachment of gonococci to epithelial cells. A slight antibody response was also demonstrated to gonococcal lipopolysaccharide but the antibody responsible for blocking attachment of gonococci was directed entirely at the pilus protein. The stimulated antibodies were shown to crossreact with isolated pili of heterologous gonococcal strains and to block the attachment of heterologous gonococci. Absorption of immune sera by a heterologous pilus reduced the inhibition of attachment antibodies to pre-immune level, suggesting that the immune response was directed at a common pilus determinant.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1980

Antigenic specificity of antibodies in vaginal secretions during infection with Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Antibodies in genital secretions of patients with gonorrhea have been shown to inhibit the attachment of gonococci to epithelial cells. The gonococcal antigens for which these antibodies are specific were studied by adsorption of the genital secretions from a patient infected with gonorrhea with purified lipopolysaccharide, outer membrane complex, or purified pili of homologous Neisseria gonorrhoeae and measurement of the reduction of inhibition of attachment of the gonococci to epithelial cells. The removal of antibodies was documented with the use of a solid-phase radioimmunoassay in which the amount of antibody in the adsorbed secretions that bound to a specific gonococcal antigen was shown to be reduced as compared with the amount of antibody in unadsorbed secretions. The antibody in the secretions that inhibited attachment was removed primarily by adsorption with the homologous pili, not with homologous lipopolysaccharide. A preparation of the homologous outer membrane complex that contained pili, cell-wall proteins, and lipopolysaccharide also blocked the inhibitory antibody.

Adsorption↗
PubMed1980

Inhibition of clinically significant bacterial organisms in vitro by 2-acetylpyridine thiosemicarbazones.

Antibacterial activity of 65 2-acetylpyridine thiosemicarbazones and related compounds was determined by using clinical isolates of nine bacterial genera. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 0.002 to 0.062 micrograms/ml were obtained with 23% of the compounds for Neisseria gonorrhoeae and 0.016 to 0.062 micrograms/ml with 17% of the compounds for N. meningitidis. Staphylococcus aureus was inhibited in the MIC range of 0.125 to 0.5 micrograms/ml by 18% of the thiosemicarbazones, whereas 26% inhibited group D enterococcus with an MIC of 0.25 to 2.0 micrograms/ml. Poor antibacterial activity was shown toward the gram-negative bacilli, i.e., Pseudomonas, Klebsiella-Enterobacter, Shigella, Escherichia coli, and Proteus.

Bacteria↗
PubMed1979

Failure of routine methods in the diagnosis of chronic brucellosis.

A young man who was raised on a farm and developed recurrent subcutaneous abscesses is described. Multiple cultures revealed either no growth or normal skin flora. Routine serologic evaluation for Brucella agglutinins was negative, including serial dilution to greater than 1:1,000 of the patient's sera. Brucella abortus infection was documented by the use of a binding antibody assay to measure the patient's class-specific serologic response and obtaining a positive culture by incorporating methicillin into the culture media to suppress overgrowth of staphylococci. Thus, the potential difficulty in making the diagnosis of brucellosis is demonstrated, and the use of extraordinary means, namely, specific selective media and a binding antibody assay, to make the diagnosis is emphasized.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Differences in attachment antigens of gonococci in reinfection.

On the basis of bacterial typing, pyocin typing, and antibiotic sensitivity tests, two consorts appeared to have been reinfected 34 and 41 days later, respectively, with the same gonococcal strain, suggesting a failure in these patients to develop effective immunity to reinfection. However, these tests do not measure antigens which mediate attachment, a function which may correlate with virulence. When the above infecting strains were retested in an inhibition-of-attachment assay using rabbit gonococcal antisera, the antigens mediating attachment were found to be different. Homologous antisera inhibited attachment of the homologous strain at a high titer. Absorbing the antisera with the initial infecting strain did not remove any of the blocking activity of the antisera raised to the reinfecting strai, but the latter strain did share some attachment antigens in common with the initial infecting strain. Homologous antisera also bound preferentially to pili purified from the homologous strains.

Antigen-Antibody Reactions↗
PubMed1977

Inhibition of adherence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae by human genital secretions.

Local genital antibodies to the infecting strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae were demonstrated by indirect immunofluorescence (binding antibody) and by their ability to inhibit the attachment of gonococci to epithelial cells (functional antibody). Both IgG and IgA classes of immunoglobulin were involved, and the IgA component were primarily of a secreting (11S) nature. The ability of local genital antibody to inhibit attachment appears to persist for at least a short period of time and to be relatively strain specific.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1977

Variability of the lytic susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to human sera.

The bactericidal activity of human sera for Neisseria gonorhoeae was studied. Sera were obtained from a group of patients with gonococcal infections who had acute urethritis, acute pelvic inflammatory disease, disseminated gonococcal infection, or who were asymptomatic carriers. The homologous and heterologous strains were tested with these sera. The development of serum bactericidal antibodies was not a universal event. With few exceptions, the susceptibility of a particular strain to human antibody and complement appeared to be largely independent of the particular person from whom the serum was obtained and was due instead to antigenic properties intrinsic to each individual strain. Lipopolysaccharide appeared to be the predominant antigen against which bactericidal antibodies were directed. The principal bactericidal antibody class was IgM. Blocking antibodies were not found to account for the lack of lytic activity. A correlation of bactericidal antibodies with protection from developing gonococcal infection could not be demonstrated in three pateints.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1976

Persistence of Treponema pallidum following penicillin G therapy. Report of two cases.

The isolation of Treponema pallidum from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) obtained from two adult patients, both of whom had normal CSF values except for positive fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorption (FTA-ABS) tests and both of whom had received currently recommended courses of penicillin, raises important considerations in the treatment of neurosyphilis in adults.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1976

Clinical correlation of strain differentiation of Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

An in vitro bactericidal assay that utilized a set of 20 typing antisera to Neisseria meningitidis was developed to distinguish differences in strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae based on patterns of killing. When test conditions were rigidly standardized, the method was sensitive and reproducible. Strains of gonococci from 20 unrelated patients had 20 different patterns of killing. Sets of strains of N. gonorrhoeae that were likely to be identical on the basis of clinical histories were examined. Organisms isolated from consorts reacted in an identical fashion in seven of nine instances. The two nonidentical sets of strains from consorts were also different in their antibiotic sensitivity patterns. The case history of one patient suggested that one of these strains was obtained from a source of infection other than the named consort, and a second patient was reinfected with a strain from her partner four months later. Four sets of strains were cultured at different intervals after appropriate therapy. On the basis of bactericidal patterns, the strains from one patient were the same, a finding that suggested treatment failure; the strains from other patients were not identical, a fact that suggested that patients were reinfected.

Antigens, Bacterial↗