ABSTRACT
We report the case of a 26-year-old second gravida in the third trimester of pregnancy who presented with a history of nausea, repeated vomiting and jaundice. The patient was diagnosed as acute fatty liver of pregnancy. After delivery, the condition of the patient progressed to grade IV encephalopathy and did not improve despite all intensive clinical management measures. After 3 days in grade IV encephalopathy, the patient was infused 3 x 10(8) human foetal hepatocytes. The patient's level of consciousness started improving after 24 hours of foetal hepatocyte transfusion and she recovered completely within 7 days.
Subject(s)
Acute Disease , Adult , Fatty Liver/therapy , Female , Fetal Tissue Transplantation , Hepatic Encephalopathy/therapy , Hepatocytes/transplantation , Humans , Infusions, Parenteral , Pregnancy , Pregnancy Complications/therapyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Eradication of H. pylori infection cures peptic ulcer disease and conversely, relapse is associated with reappearance of H. pylori infection. However, it is not clear whether the recurrence of ulcers following H. pylori eradication is due to recrudescence (identical strain) of the previous infection or as a result of exogenous reinfection (different strain) by another strain. The aim of the present study was to analyze the FAFLP patterns of pre and post treatment H. pylori samples to check if the recurrence was due to recrudescence or reinfection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 24 of 30 duodenal ulcer (DU) subjects screened for H. pylori infection were positive for H. pylori infection. The treatment regime included pantoprazole, ciprofloxacin and amoxicillin. The patients were called for a repeat endoscopy after one month and screened for H. pylori infection. FAFLP analysis and PCR for the cagA and vacA gene was performed for the pre and post treatment samples. RESULTS: Of the 24 positive H.pylori patients, only 6 were negative after treatment and the remaining 18 were positive for H.pylori infection. The analysis of the pre and post treatment samples of the 18 patients showed that the FAFLP profiles of the initial and follow-up pools were similar to one another. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that in the present series of patients, reinfection was due to recrudescence of infection due to incomplete eradication. The study also suggests that DNA fingerprinting by FAFLP provides discriminatory and complementary data for identifying strains of H. pylori while monitoring therapy.
ABSTRACT
A novel approach to chemicallu attenuate cercariae fo S. mansoni is presented. The method utilizes the biologically active surface proteins/glycoproteins which are essential for the survival of the organism as a target for inactivation. The inactivation was achieved by reaction with 0.01 M dimethil adipimidate, dimethyl pimelimidate or dimethyl suberimidate at pH 8.5. The cercariae lost their viability, but retained the ability to exclude trypan blue for up to 2 years when stored at 4-C in a manner similar to live cecariae and in contrast to dead cercariae witch took up the dye immediately. In addition, the attenuated cercariae reacted with monoclonal and policlonal antischistosome antibodies in an indirect immunofluorescence assay indacting the retention and preservation of surface antigens after attenuation. The immunochemical reactivity of the attenuated cercariae was preserved after storage for 2 years at 4-C as shown by reaction with antisera from infected mice and rats in IIF assay. Attenuated cercariae revealed the presence of antischistosome antibodies as early as one week after infection in mice and rats. The presence of receptors for the Fc portion of human IgG on the attenuated cercariae interfered in their use as an immunodiagnostic reagent for human schistosomiasis. The attenuated cercariae were also used to screen cultures for monoclonal antischistosome antibodies. preliminary results indicated that immunozation with attenuated cercariae was capable of imparting protective immunity in mice