ABSTRACT
Dengue, a vector-borne disease remains as one of the most serious public health problems globally. Incidence of this disease is on an increasing trend and currently over a billion people in tropical and subtropical regions are at risk. In the absence of an operational vaccine, prevention of dengue virus (DENV) is primarily focused upon controlling mosquito vectors. Mosquito vector surveillance programmes require simple and rapid tools to detect mosquitoes infected with DENV. Here, we tested the commercially available DENV Detect™ NS1 ELISA kit (InBios International, Inc.) for detection of recombinant DENV-NS1 protein in Aedes mosquito samples. The kit was evaluated to find out the minimum detection limit of recombinant DENV-2 NS1 protein following the manufacturer’s instructions. Initially, the NS1 protein detection threshold of the kit was determined and later the assay was standardized for detection of NS1 protein in Aedes aegypti mosquito pools containing 5, 10 and 25 mosquitoes. The ELISA kit displayed high sensitivity towards detection of recombinant dengue virus-2 NS1 protein in mosquito pools (up to 25 mosquitoes per pool) at 25 pico gram concentration. Since the commercial NS1 ELISA is highly sensitive and follows a very simple procedure, it could be employed for DENV surveillance in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, after carrying out laboratory and field bioassays with DENV infected specimens.
ABSTRACT
The CD4+ T lymphocytes are the crucial cells in the cascade of events in forming immune response to the foreign antigen and hence monitoring the CD4+ T cell counts to understand the extent of immune deficiency is a common practice. CD4+ T cells are also the primary target cells for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Hence CD4+ T lymphocyte count is the most important marker of immune dysfunction in HIV disease progression. The estimation of CD4+ T cell counts is used to decide the initiation of anti retroviral therapy (ART), to monitor the efficacy of ART and to start treatment for opportunistic infections (OIs). To develop the threshold levels of CD4+ T cell counts, data from western countries are being used in India. The CD4+ T cell counts are known to be influenced by race and environmental factors. Hence it is important to establish the reference ranges for the CD4+ T cell counts in the target population to understand the immune dysfunction. The information on the lower limits of the CD4+ T cells count is necessary to decide the initiation and monitoring of ART. The published data on the CD4+ T cells count in healthy Indian adult population have been reviewed, analyzed and discussed in this review article. The requirement of establishment of reference ranges in Indian population is discussed.