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PubMed2000

Obesity: molecular bases of a multifactorial problem.

Obesity could well become the most common health problem of the 21st century. There are more opportunities to consume large quantities of food: big portions of tasty, varied food, at reasonable prices, are available everywhere. Moreover, our bodies are better adapted to combat weight loss than to combat weight gain, since for thousands of years our species evolved in circumstances where nutrients were in short supply. The response of each individual to diet and other environmental factors varies considerably, depending on the characteristics of his/her body weight control mechanisms. The differentiating element in the future, especially as regards the dietary and pharmacological control of obesity, will be knowledge of an individual's possible response depending on his/her genetic background. Obesity can occur as a result of genetic or acquired changes in three main types of biochemical processes, which are the main focus of this review: a)feeding control, which determines the sensations of satiety and hunger through processes that depend on an interplay between internal signals (notably leptin) and environmental factors; b) energy efficiency, in particular the activation of thermogenesis mediated by uncoupling proteins (UCPs) that makes it possible to dissipate part of the energy contained in food as heat instead of accumulating it as fat, and c) adipogenesis, the process by which cells specialised in fat storage (adipocytes) are formed, which is controlled by an interplay of transcription factors, including members of the C/EBP, PPARgamma and ADD families. The knowledge of a growing number of genes and molecules implicated in these three types of processes and of their metabolic relationships is leading toward a molecular understanding of the body weight regulatory system, and is paving the way for new methods of obesity control, especially pharmacological but also nutritional and possibly involving genetic intervention.

Adipose Tissue↗

PubMed2005

Antioxidant metabolite profiles in tomato fruit constitutively expressing the grapevine stilbene synthase gene.

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) tissues were transformed with a grape (Vitis vinifera L.) stilbene synthase cDNA, transcriptionally regulated by the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter. Transgenic plants accumulated new compounds, not present in either wild-type or vector-transformed plants. These were identified, by high-pressure liquid chromatography, as trans-resveratrol and trans-resveratrol-glucopyranoside. The amounts of trans-resveratrol and its piceid form were evaluated in the transgenic fruit. It was found that the content of the metabolite varied during fruit maturation to up to 53 microg/g fresh weight of total trans-resveratrol at the red stage of ripening. This metabolite accumulation was possibly dependent on a combination of sufficiently high levels of stilbene synthase and the availability of substrates. With the aim of verifing the metabolic impairment, the amounts of chlorogenic acid and naringenin in both transgenic and wild-type ripening fruit were compared and no dramatic variation in the synthesis profile of the two metabolites was noted. To our knowledge, no data are available on the assessment of the effects of the expression of the StSy gene on other antioxidant compounds present in tomato fruit. To establish whether the presence of a novel antioxidant molecule affected the redox regulation in transgenic tomato fruit cells, the effect of resveratrol accumulation on the naturally present antioxidant pool was analysed. We showed that, in transgenic fruit which accumulate trans-resveratrol, there is an increase in the levels of ascorbate and glutathione, the soluble antioxidants of primary metabolism, as well as in the total antioxidant activity. Conversely, the content of tocopherol and lycopene, which are membrane-located antioxidants, is not affected. Consistent with the increased antioxidant properties, the lipid peroxidation was lower in transformed than in wild-type fruit.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

[Effects of comprehensive interventions in community on smoking, chronic bronchitis, and asthma in rural areas of Beijing].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of comprehensive interventions in community on smoking, chronic bronchitis, and asthma in rural areas of Beijing. METHODS: Twenty-three villages in rural areas of Beijing were randomly divided into interventional (13 villages) and control villages (10 villages) in 1992. Comprehensive interventions including education of former-smokers and improvement of living environment were carried out in the interventional villages, and none was done in the control villages. In April 2000, surveys on smoking, chronic bronchitis, and asthma were carried out among 34,436 participants aged 15 or more in the interventional and control villages. During the same period, knowledge on prevention from chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), living environments, and smoking were assessed among 1658 high-risk individuals of COPD at baseline and following-up period. RESULTS: The scores of knowledge and improvement on living environments in the interventional villages were significantly higher than those in control villages (P < 0.001). The decrease rate of smoking and current smoking rate in the interventional villages were significantly higher than in the control villages (0.4% vs -0.8%, P < 0.001; 2.4% vs 1.3%, P < 0.001) in men, while not different in women (P > 0.05). Among never smokers at baseline, the accumulated incidence of smoking among people aged 15 to 24 from 1993 to 2000 was significantly lower in the interventional villages than in the control villages in men (18.9% vs 23.7%, P = 0.005) and in women (0% vs 0.7%, P = 0.005). Daily cigarettes smoked by smokers in the interventional villages were less than in control villages in both men (14.8 +/- 7.0 vs 17.2 +/- 8.2 cigs daily, P < 0.001) and women (12.8 +/- 6.9 vs 13.4 +/- 7.2 cigs daily, P = 0.088). The increase of prevalence of chronic bronchitis in the interventional villages was less than in the control villages (men: 0.9% vs 1.3%, P = 0.012; women: 0.1% vs 0.3%, P = 0.003). After the age factor is adjusted, odds ratio (OR) for accumulated incidence of chronic bronchitis from 1993 to 2000 in the interventional villages were 0.80 (95%CI: 0.60-1.07) for men, 0.76 (95%CI: 0.45-1.28) in women. The OR for asthma was not significant in both men and women. CONCLUSIONS: Comprehensive interventions in community may improve knowledge of COPD prevention and living environments, decrease the smoking rate, cigarettes smoked per day, and incidence of chronic bronchitis, but have no significant effects on asthma.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Prediction of functional sites in proteins using conserved functional group analysis.

A detailed knowledge of a protein's functional site is an absolute prerequisite for understanding its mode of action at the molecular level. However, the rapid pace at which sequence and structural information is being accumulated for proteins greatly exceeds our ability to determine their biochemical roles experimentally. As a result, computational methods are required which allow for the efficient processing of the evolutionary information contained in this wealth of data, in particular that related to the nature and location of functionally important sites and residues. The method presented here, referred to as conserved functional group (CFG) analysis, relies on a simplified representation of the chemical groups found in amino acid side-chains to identify functional sites from a single protein structure and a number of its sequence homologues. We show that CFG analysis can fully or partially predict the location of functional sites in approximately 96% of the 470 cases tested and that, unlike other methods available, it is able to tolerate wide variations in sequence identity. In addition, we discuss its potential in a structural genomics context, where automation, scalability and efficiency are critical, and an increasing number of protein structures are determined with no prior knowledge of function. This is exemplified by our analysis of the hypothetical protein Ydde_Ecoli, whose structure was recently solved by members of the North East Structural Genomics consortium. Although the proposed active site for this protein needs to be validated experimentally, this example illustrates the scope of CFG analysis as a general tool for the identification of residues likely to play an important role in a protein's biochemical function. Thus, our method offers a convenient solution to rapidly and automatically process the vast amounts of data that are beginning to emerge from structural genomics projects.

Algorithms↗

PubMed1996

The use of therapeutic drug monitoring to optimise immunosuppressive therapy.

Most experience of the therapeutic drug monitoring of immunosuppressive agents has been acquired in the field of solid organ transplantation; however, agents such as cyclosporin (cyclosporin A) are being increasingly utilised for the management of autoimmune diseases. Cyclosporin is the most widely studied immunosuppressant, but in spite of this many controversies still exist as to the optimum strategy for monitoring this drug. Owing to its widely variable pharmacokinetics and metabolism, and the absence of a simple method to measure therapeutic effectiveness, many factors should be considered. In most circumstances, measuring whole blood through concentrations of cyclosporin with a specific assay methodology is warranted. In addition, knowledge of other factors that may alter the pharmacokinetics (such as liver function, concomitant food or medications, gastrointestinal status, and time since transplantation) should be taken into account so that therapy can be appropriately adjusted. Other methods of monitoring have been investigated, such as AUC (area under the concentration-time curve) monitoring and immunological monitoring. However, further refinement of these techniques and greater experience with their efficacy must be accumulated before their role in the monitoring of cyclosporin can be defined. Tacrolimus, like cyclosporin, shares many of the difficulties in monitoring for efficacy and toxicity due largely to the variable pharmacokinetics; similarly to cyclosporin, whole blood through concentration monitoring should be utilised in combination with knowledge of the factors that may affect the pharmacokinetics. Muromonab CD3 (OKT3) is a monoclonal antibody used for the treatment and prophylaxis of acute allograft rejection. Several immunological monitoring techniques have been investigated for this agent. Monitoring CD3+ levels can assist clinicians in determining therapeutic efficacy, while measuring antimuromonab CD3 antibody titres can help determine if xenosensitisation has occurred, causing therapeutic ineffectiveness. The clinical monitoring of azathioprine, one of the first immunosuppressive agents used in transplantation, has historically been limited to monitoring complete blood counts for bone marrow suppression. However, newer techniques measuring intracellular DNA nucleotides appear to be promising. The new immunosuppressants on the horizon include mycophenolate mofetil and rapamycin. The clinical experience with therapeutic drug monitoring of these 2 compounds is scant in the literature; however, both agents have demonstrated efficacy in preventing or treating allograft rejection while maintaining a relatively well tolerated toxicity profile in recent clinical trials. Routine monitoring does not appear to be warranted for immunosuppressive therapy in autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmune Diseases↗

PubMed2002

Liquid nebulization: emerging technologies conference summary.

Most physicians and respiratory therapists are knowledgeable of the use of aerosolized drugs, but many are less familiar with the performance characteristics of the nebulizer. In fact, the general opinion is that the performance of the nebulizer is relatively unimportant. However, there is accumulating evidence that the nebulizer itself does make a difference. The decision to replace a good performing nebulizer with a poor performing nebulizer may decrease the delivered dose in half or more. Although this is less important for routine bronchodilator therapy, it may make a big difference with newer aerosolized drugs. Increasingly, the Food and Drug Administration is approving drugs to be used with a specific nebulizer brand and new nebulizer designs are becoming available for use with these drugs. There are several reasons why I think this conference was important. First, new aerosol drug formulations are becoming available and these will require better performing nebulizers. Second, we as clinicians need to be knowledgeable of the newer generations of nebulizers so that we can make informed purchase decisions. Third, and perhaps most important, we must gain an increased appreciation for aerosol therapy as a science. The proceedings of this conference do much to synthesize the current state-of-the art related to new nebulizer systems. This provides, in a complete and cogent manner, the scientific basis for which clinicians can improve their knowledge of the new generation of nebulizers.

Administration, Inhalation↗

PubMed1998

Molecular biology of colorectal cancer and clinical consequences for colorectal cancer syndromes.

Because of the accomplishments in biotechnical research in the past few decades our knowledge about the molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis has grown rapidly. Colorectal cancer has been one of the most intensively investigated tumor entities, and it seems to be well established that colorectal tumor growth is associated with an accumulation of acquired somatic mutational events in tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes. Recent progress in our understanding of the molecular basis of the most prevalent colorectal cancer syndromes, such as hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), is reflected by modifications in diagnosis and therapy. Identification and characterization of the causative genes for these colorectal cancer syndromes have enabled precise presymptomatic detection of mutations in individuals who bear an a priori risk of about 50% of developing colorectal cancer. Genotype-phenotype correlations might further increase the clinical management of hereditary colorectal cancer. Even though developments in cancer research are restricted to the minority of individuals with hereditary cancer syndromes, growing knowledge about the effect of low penetrance variations in tumor suppressor genes may affect the diagnosis and therapy of sporadic colorectal cancer.

Adenomatous Polyposis Coli↗

PubMed2001

The secretion pathway in filamentous fungi: a biotechnological view.

The high capacity of the secretion machinery of filamentous fungi has been widely exploited for the production of homologous and heterologous proteins; however, our knowledge of the fungal secretion pathway is still at an early stage. Most of the knowledge comes from models developed in yeast and higher eukaryotes, which have served as reference for the studies on fungal species. In this review we compile the data accumulated in recent years on the molecular basis of fungal secretion, emphasizing the relevance of these data for the biotechnological use of the fungal cell and indicating how this information has been applied in attempts to create improved production strains. We also present recent emerging approaches that promise to provide answers to fundamental questions on the molecular genetics of the fungal secretory pathway.

Animals↗

PubMed1997

Intense Ga-67 uptake in adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas.

Gallium-67 citrate (Ga-67) scintigraphy was performed in a patient with adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas. Intense and homogeneous uptake was observed in the tumor. Few reports have dealt with Ga-67 findings in pancreatic cancers. Ga-67 uptake in the tumor was assumed to be due to accumulation in the component of squamous cell carcinoma. This case suggested that Ga-67 citrate scintigraphy may be useful in detecting adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas. To our knowledge, no report has described findings of Ga-67 citrate scintigraphy of adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas. Radiologists should remember adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas when encountering such scintigraphic findings.

Aged↗

PubMed2004

Transforming growth factor-beta: a clinical target for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy.

Diabetic nephropathy is continuing to rise in incidence, despite awareness of tight glycemic control and blood pressure. The identification that matrix accumulation is driven by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) has led to a concerted effort to apply antifibrotic strategies for this disorder. Recent studies have not only demonstrated the beneficial effects of blocking TGF-beta on matrix accumulation but have also found that blocking TGF-beta may have important hemodynamic effects that are relevant to diabetic complications. In this article, we review the latest knowledge regarding the role of TGF-beta in diabetic kidney disease and discuss available and novel therapeutic approaches. The role of a novel antifibrotic drug, pirfenidone, may have important clinical relevance to diabetic nephropathy.

Animals↗

PubMed1979

Mutagenicity of phenanthrene and phenanthrene K-region derivatives.

Phenanthrene and 9 K-region derivatives, most of them potential metabolites of phenanthrene, were tested for mutagenicity by the reversion of histidine-dependent Salmonella typhimurium TA1535, TA1537, TA1538, TA98 and TA100 and the rec assay with Bacillus subtilis H17 and M45. The strongest mutagenic effects in the reversion assay were observed with phenanthrene 9,10-oxide, 9-hydroxyphenanthrene and N-benzyl-phenanthrene-9,10-imine. Interestingly, the mutagenic potency of the arene imine was similar to that of the corresponding arene oxide. This is the first report on the mutagenicity of arene imine. The mutagenic effects of all these phenanthrene derivatives were much weaker than that of the positive control benzo[a]pyrene 4,5-oxide. Even weaker mutagenicty was found with cis-9,10-dihydroxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene and with trans-9,10-dihydroxy-9-10-dihydrophenanthrene. The other derivatives were inactive in this test. However, 9-10-dihydroxyphenanthrene and 9,10-phenanthrenequinone were more toxic to the rec- B. subtilis M45 strain than to the rec+ H17 strain. This was also true for phenanthrene 9,10-oxide and 9-hydroxyphenanthrene, but not with the other test compounds that reverted (9,10-dihydroxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrenes; N-benzyl-phenanthrene 9,10-imine; benzo[a]pyrene 4,5-oxide) or did not revert (phenanthrene, 9,10-bis-(p-chlorophenyl)-phenanthrene 9,10-oxide, 9-10-diacetoxyphenanthrene) the Salmonella tester strains. Although the K region is a main site of metabolism and although all potential K-region metabolites were mutagenic, phenanthrene did not show a mutagenic effect in the presence of mouse-liver microsomes and an NADPH-generating system under standard conditions. However, uhen epoxide hydratase was inhibited, phenanthrene was activated to a mutagen that reverted his- S. typhimurium. This shows that demonstration of the mutagenic activity of metabolites together with the knowledge that a major metabolic route proceeds via these metabolites dose not automatically imply a mutagenic hazard of the mother compound, because the metabolites in question may not accumulate in sufficient quantities and therefore the presence and relative activities of enzymes that control the mutagenically active metabolites are crucial. N-Benzyl-phenanthrene 9.10-imine was mutagenic for the episome-containing S. typhimurium TA98 and TA100 but not for the precursor strains TA1538 and TA1535. This arene imine would therefore be useful as a positive control during routine testing to monitor in the former strains the presence of the episome which is rather easily lost.

Drug Evaluation, Preclinical↗

PubMed2004

Structure of the mature P3-virus particle complex of cauliflower mosaic virus revealed by cryo-electron microscopy.

The cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) has an icosahedral capsid composed of the viral protein P4. The viral product P3 is a multifunctional protein closely associated with the virus particle within host cells. The best-characterized function of P3 is its implication in CaMV plant-to-plant transmission by aphid vectors, involving a P3-virion complex. In this transmission process, the viral protein P2 attaches to virion-bound P3, and creates a molecular bridge between the virus and a putative receptor in the aphid's stylets. Recently, the virion-bound P3 has been suggested to participate in cell-to-cell or long-distance movement of CaMV within the host plant. Thus, as new data accumulate, the importance of the P3-virion complex during the virus life-cycle is becoming more and more evident. To provide a first insight into the knowledge of the transmission process of the virus, we determined the 3D structures of native and P3-decorated virions by cryo-electron microscopy and computer image processing. By difference mapping and biochemical analysis, we show that P3 forms a network around the capsomers and we propose a structural model for the binding of P3 to CaMV capsid in which its C terminus is anchored deeply in the inner shell of the virion, while the N-terminal extremity is facing out of the CaMV capsid, forming dimers by coiled-coil interactions. Our results combined with existing data reinforce the hypothesis that this coiled-coil N-terminal region of P3 could coordinate several functions during the virus life-cycle, such as cell-to-cell movement and aphid-transmission.

Caulimovirus↗

PubMed2003

Analysis of creep strain during tensile fatigue of cortical bone.

During fatigue tests of cortical bone specimens, at the unload portion of the cycle (zero stress) non-zero strains occur and progressively accumulate as the test progresses. This non-zero strain is hypothesised to be mostly, if not entirely, describable as creep. This work examines the rate of accumulation of this strain and quantifies its stress dependency. A published relationship determined from creep tests of cortical bone (Journal of Biomechanics 21 (1988) 623) is combined with knowledge of the stress history during fatigue testing to derive an expression for the amount of creep strain in fatigue tests. Fatigue tests on 31 bone samples from four individuals showed strong correlations between creep strain rate and both stress and "normalised stress" (sigma/E) during tensile fatigue testing (0-T). Combined results were good (r(2)=0.78) and differences between the various individuals, in particular, vanished when effects were examined against normalised stress values. Constants of the regression showed equivalence to constants derived in creep tests. The universality of the results, with respect to four different individuals of both sexes, shows great promise for use in computational models of fatigue in bone structures.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed2001

[Status epilepticus: pharmacokinetic basis of anticonvulsant treatment in adults].

In status epilepticus, the optimal efficacy of the antiepileptic drugs depends notably on effective, quickly reached and sufficiently lasting cerebral concentrations and the optimal tolerability notably on the lack of excessive storage in the brain and other tissues. So, the best efficacy-tolerability ratio of these drugs is largely determined by their pharmacokinetic properties. A linear kinetics, a not too short distribution half-life, a neither too brief nor too long elimination half-life, a fast and easy crossing of the blood-brain barrier and the lack of long-lasting accumulation in fat tissues are among the main ideal pharmacokinetic properties. Any of the antiepileptic drugs currently used in status epilepticus has all these properties together. An accurate knowledge of the pharmacokinetics is absolutely crucial to rationally decide the route of administration, the loading dose and the maintenance doses. However, pharmacokinetics must only complete, but cannot replace, the clinical experience and judgement, especially because some limitations: kinetic equations are mathematically exact but theoretical; individual kinetics in a given patient is exceptionally known in clinical practice; finally the pharmacokinetics may be significantly modified during a status epilepticus, especially of the generalized convulsive type, due to systemic consequences and complications of the seizures. In the emergency situation of status epilepticus, the correlation between the clinical efficacy and the so-called "therapeutic" plasma levels remains ill defined. The reported values are often very high and their range appears very large. Nevertheless plasma levels are useful, especially for the monitoring of the evolution; they are mandatory for nonlinear-kinetics drugs.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Protein family classification and functional annotation.

With the accelerated accumulation of genomic sequence data, there is a pressing need to develop computational methods and advanced bioinformatics infrastructure for reliable and large-scale protein annotation and biological knowledge discovery. The Protein Information Resource (PIR) provides an integrated public resource of protein informatics to support genomic and proteomic research. PIR produces the Protein Sequence Database of functionally annotated protein sequences. The annotation problems are addressed by a classification-driven and rule-based method with evidence attribution, coupled with an integrated knowledge base system being developed. The approach allows sensitive identification, consistent and rich annotation, and systematic detection of annotation errors, as well as distinction of experimentally verified and computationally predicted features. The knowledge base consists of two new databases, sequence analysis tools, and graphical interfaces. PIR-NREF, a non-redundant reference database, provides a timely and comprehensive collection of all protein sequences, totaling more than 1,000,000 entries. iProClass, an integrated database of protein family, function, and structure information, provides extensive value-added features for about 830,000 proteins with rich links to over 50 molecular databases. This paper describes our approach to protein functional annotation with case studies and examines common identification errors. It also illustrates that data integration in PIR supports exploration of protein relationships and may reveal protein functional associations beyond sequence homology.

Amino Acid Motifs↗

PubMed1999

The role of stress in anaesthetists' health and well-being.

Stress is an inevitable part of our personal and professional lives. When poorly managed, stress will accumulate to levels that become injurious to our health and well-being. Burnout is one such consequence. However, because stress is an active process, with the proper knowledge and skills, we can learn to better manage and control its level of intensity. This paper examines the stress cycle and especially those aspects that are unique to the practice of medicine and anaesthesia. Sleep deprivation and physical fatigue are analyzed as key stressors. The role of the medical marriage and dual-career relationships are scrutinized. The importance of retaining the humanistic essence of medicine is emphasized. Stress management strategies and coping responses, including self-care and humor, are discussed.

Anesthesiology↗

PubMed1998

Preclinical cellular pharmacology of LY231514 (MTA): a comparison with methotrexate, LY309887 and raltitrexed for their effects on intracellular folate and nucleoside triphosphate pools in CCRF-CEM cells.

LY231514 (N-[4-[2-(2-amino-3,4-dihydro-4-oxo-7H-pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidin-5-yl)ethy l]-benzoyl]-L-glutamic acid) is a new folate-based antimetabolite currently in broad phase II clinical evaluation. Previous in vitro studies (C. Shih et al, CancerRes 57: 1116-1123, 1997) have suggested that LY231514 could be a multitargeted antifolate (MTA) capable of inhibiting thymidylate synthase (TS), dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and glycinamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase (GARFT). The present study compared LY231514 with methotrexate, raltitrexed and a glycinamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase inhibitor, LY309887, at 300, 100, 30 and 100 nM, respectively, for their effects on intracellular folate and at 100, 66, 20 and 30 nM respectively, for their effects on nucleoside triphosphate pools in CCRF-CEM cells. Methotrexate induced an accumulation of dihydrofolate species, together with a rapid depletion of ATP, GTP and all of the deoxynucleoside triphosphates. LY309887 caused an accumulation of 10-formyltetrahydrofolate, a rapid loss of ATP, GTP and dATP, but a slower loss in dCTP, dTTP and dGTP. Both LY231514 and raltitrexed had minimal effects on folate pools. In contrast, they caused rapid depletion of dTTP, dCTP and dGTP, but induced an accumulation of dATP at different rates, with raltitrexed doing so about 2.5 times faster. Most of the observed metabolic changes could be understood on the basis of current knowledge of folate and nucleotide metabolism. We concluded that LY231514 was distinct from methotrexate, LY309887 and raltitrexed based on their metabolic effects in CCRF-CEM cells, and that in this cell line the inhibitory effects of LY231514 were exerted primarily against the thymidylate cycle and secondarily against de novo purine biosynthesis.

Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Immunologic tools in the diagnosis of amebiasis: epidemiology in the United States.

Several immunodiagnostic tests that detect antibody to Entamoeba histolytica are now available. Such tests are useful when demonstration of the etiologic agent is difficult (as in liver abscess), when routine diagnostic tests fail to disclose the organisms (as in severe intestinal disease compromised by failure of the laboratory to identify the organism or by the patient's use of interfering substances), and as epidemiologic tools for determining the prevalence of invasive disease in populations. Knowledge of the prevalence of amebiasis in the United States is incomplete because the disease is not routinely reported. Information currently available on the prevalence of amebiasis has accumulated from studies of selected groups that include children, institutionalized persons, members of extended families, immigrants, and male homosexuals.

Amebiasis↗