[Endocarditis caused by Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans on a prosthetic valve].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R Cisterna.
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The aim of this work has been the production of specific monoclonal antibodies against HBV-antigens and their utilisation in order to study their distribution on liver tissue. The monoclonal antibodies anti-HBc and anti-HBs were obtained by the modified hybridoma technique. This study was performed on 50 patients affected by several chronic hepatopathies. For the detection of the antigens, avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex immunostaining was used. Both cytoplasmic and membranous HBsAg were detected in 15 out of 16 HBsAg+ patients; 8 of 12 HBsAg-/anti-HBc+ patients and 1 HBsAg-/antiHBc- patient. Cytoplasmic and nuclear HBcAg was observed in 12 of 16 HBsAg+ patients and 4 of 20 HBsAg- patients. Although the presence of serum HBsAg is an index of liver infection, in some HBsAg-/antiHB+ patients (20%) with undetectable levels of HBsAg, hepatic injury may be disclosed by the detection of other markers of active viral replication.
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We study retrospectively the viral replication state (HBV) of 50 patients with chronic hepatic alterations. The seric DNA-HBV and/or intrahepatic (molecular hybridization), the intrahepatic distribution of HBV antigens (specific monoclonal antibodies labelled with immunoperoxidase), conventional seric HBV markers (commercial enzymoimmunoessay) and the different histopathologic features. We found a correlation between DNA-HBV "in situ" and HBcAg intrahepatic and the seric DNA-HBV production. 81% of the patients with HBsAg (+) had intrahepatic HBcAg and 85% (11/13) of them showed the antigen in their cytoplasms. Patients with HBcAg also had seric and liver DNA-HBV (+). The lack of seric HBsAg did not mean that non-active replication of HBV did not exist because 20% of the patients with HBsAg (-) showed seric and "in situ" DNA-HBV and cytoplasmic HBcAg. The detection of DNA-HBV in endothelial cells and vascular elements in hepatic tissue show that the rate of the HBV host cells is greater.
We found the presence of hepatitis B virus in 17 cases of non-A-non-B hepatitis using the DNA detection technique in serum of patients with a type of chronic hepatopathy. This finding supports the needs to determine this seric marker in all patients afflicted with chronic hepatopathy before the diagnosis of hepatitis B is excluded.
The effect of treatment with clindamycin, erythromycin, rifamycin and gentamicin on the ingestion capacity of the mouse peritoneal macrophage was studied. Female six-eight week old OF1 mice were treated with minimum and maximum doses clinically used for the different antibiotics (15 and 40 mg/kg/day of clindamycin, 15 and 57.5 mg/kg/day of erythromycin, 10 and 30 mg/kg/day of rifamycin, 3 and 6 mg/kg/day of gentamicin). Two treatment periods of 72 hours and one week were assayed for each antibiotic-dose combination. Antibiotic was administered twice daily, every twelve hours. Twelve hours after the last dose was given, macrophages were obtained through peritoneal lavage and a kinetic study of Candida albicans blastospore ingestion was made. One week treatment with 15 mg/kg/day and 72 hours treatment with 57.5 mg/kg/day of erythromycin produced a significant ingestion enhancement whereas one week treatment with 57.5 mg/kg/day of erythromycin and all treatments with gentamicin gave rise to an ingestion depression. 72 hours treatment with 15 and 40 mg/kg/day and one week treatment with 15 mg/kg/day of clindamycin, 15 mg/kg/day of erythromycin and 10 and 30 mg/kg/day of rifamycin did not modify macrophage ingestion capacity. One week treatment with 40 mg/kg/day of clindamycin and 10 and 30 mg/kg/day of rifamycin gave rise to an acceleration of the ingestion process.
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Acute toxoplasmosis was induced in mice, and interferon (IFN) production in serum and by spleen cells was evaluated during the infection period. Interferon was characterized by acid-treatment and anti-IFN-alpha/beta neutralization. In order to verify the correlation between the unusual aspects of the IFN production and the induction of immunosuppression, splenocyte mitogen responsiveness was investigated concomitantly to IFN synthesis. The activity of Toxoplasma-induced serum IFN-alpha/beta increased gradually throughout all post-infection days, but IFN-gamma was not detected in the systemic circulation at any time during the infection. It was also observed that IFN-alpha/beta production and the capacity to produce IFN-gamma by spleen cells were closely and inversely correlated. As the infection progressed, more IFN-alpha/beta was produced, and the ability of spleen cells to produce IFN-gamma decreased. The observation that Toxoplasma-infected mice were concomitantly immunosuppressed (as documented by mitogen unresponsiveness and defective IFN-gamma production) in direct correlation to IFN-alpha/beta production, suggests that such IFN-alpha/beta production is an important factor associated with acute toxoplasmosis-induced immunosuppression.
Trichosporon beigelii was isolated from vaginal washings from three asymptomatic women. All three women had IgG or IgA anti-T. beigelii antibody titres greater than or equal to 20 when tested by an indirect immunofluorescence assay against the three strains isolated. Titres greater than or equal to 160 were found when each patient was tested against her own isolate. Patients with Candida albicans vulvovaginitis, or from whom C. albicans or Toruloposis glabrata was isolated from vaginal washings, or who had negative cultures for yeasts, had titres less than or equal to 20.
A total of 143 subjects have been investigated (83 adults and 60 children). All of them are relatives of 50 HBsAg carriers (26 females adults and 24 children). Relatives of these 26 females adults presents a intrafamilial prevalence of infection of 28.8% (40% in males partners). In the 24 paediatric cases, intrafamilial diffusion of HBV is more elevated 67% seropositives (72.4% of adults and 57.5% of children). Greater intrafamilial transmission of HBV are seen in chronic forms of disease. We do insist that is very necessary to investigate the immunity of HBV in relatives of HBsAg (+) subjects. Specific vaccination for those who will be seronegative should be indicated.
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The aim of the present study was to determine which types of beta-lactamases codified by plasmids are transferred by conjugation from several species of enterobacteria. To this end, 352 strains of ampicillin-resistant enterobacteria from clinical samples from the Hospital Civil of Bilbao were evaluated. Their beta-lactamase activity and their capacity to transfer this capacity by conjugation were evaluated. The several types of plasmidic beta-lactamases in the strains that conjugated and in their respective transconjugants were characterized by analytic isoelectric approach, and also the sensitivity of these stains to 20 beta-lactamic antibiotics and the size of their plasmids. Twenty different types were detected, with a clear predominance of TEM 1. Type TEM 2 was found in 19% of the strains which conjugated, and much less commonly the types SHV 1, HMS 1 and a beta-lactamase of an approximate pl of 4.9 were found. The transfer of these beta-lactamases is mediated by a great variety of plasmids and is associated with variable levels of resistance to penicillins and unstable cephalosporins. The presence of betalactamases with activity on the more stable cephalosporins has not been detected.
In this report, we describe five cases of dermatophytosis caused by dysgonic strains of Microsporum canis which occurred in the area of Bilbao (Spain). The clinical presentations and responses to treatment of these infections were apparently similar to those caused by typical strains of this species but the increasing prevalence of dysgonic and other atypical strains of M. canis and the relative stability of the dysgonic morphology are the important features shown in our study. Contact with animals was confirmed by all of the patients, but in only one case was this possible infectious origin demonstrated mycologically. One of the patients, a heroin abuser with AIDS, showed a simultaneous infection with Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes.
Six week old Swiss mice were sensitized by subcutaneous injection of 10(7) sheep red blood cells without adjuvant. One hour after sensitization, the mice were treated with erythromycin lactobionate for ten days. The minimal (15 mg/kg/day) and maximal (57 mg/kg/day) doses clinically used were assayed. The daily dose of erythromycin was administered intraperitoneally, in two injections, one every 12 hours. The kinetics of delayed type hypersensitivity reaction, measured by means of the foot-pad test, was evaluated by challenging different groups of fourteen mice with an eliciting dose of 10(8) SRBC injected into the foot-pad on days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 after sensitization. Total and 2-mercaptoethanol resistant haemagglutinating antibody titres were determined in sera obtained from mice immediately after measuring the delayed type hypersensitivity reaction. Treatment with maximal erythromycin dose gave rise to a significant enhancement of the cellular immune response, and also to an acceleration of the humoral antibody response. On the other hand, treatment with minimal erythromycin dose gave rise to a slight depression of the immune cellular response and also to a depression of the antibody production at the beginning of the humoral response.
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Sera from 109 subjects were tested for the presence of anti-Candida albicans antibodies by an indirect immunofluorescence assay. Aliquots of the sera were adsorbed with heat-killed blastospores to remove the antibodies against the surface of the yeast-phase cell wall and tested for anti-germ tube cell wall antibodies. Unadsorbed sera stained the entire cell wall of yeast and germ-tubes. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies were found in all patients with systemic candidiasis and in 81.2% of patients with Candida albicans isolated from skin and mucous membranes. IgA and IgG were found in 67.4 and 57.1%, respectively, of controls without evidence of candidiasis. After the adsorption only sera from patients with systemic candidiasis showed antibodies, predominantly IgA, against germ tube cell wall. Adsorption of the sera thus increased the specificity, efficiency, and positive and negative predictive values of the test. The test achieved the highest sensitivity in adsorbed sera for the combination of IgA and IgG.
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