ABSTRACT
Leptospirosis is a zoonosis caused by Leptospira interrogans. This disease is diagnosed by quantification of specific immunoglobulins in serum by the microagglutination test (MAT). The aims of this research were: a) to compare the protein profiles of 3 clinical isolates of bovine leptospirosis with the reference strain used for the MAT, and b) to identify the immunodomain antigens of the regional isolates through PAGE and immunoblotting techniques of bovine sera from infected, vaccinated and MAT-negative animals. Coomassie-blue stained gels revealed extensive protein similarities between pathogenic and reference strain. Most infected (8/10) and vaccinated animal sera (4/7) showed by immunoblotting a similar reactivity against the proteins from pathogenic leptospires, with a strong band of 25-30 kDa which was not detected in the reference strain. The lack of correlation between MAT and immunoblotting techniques for infected animals could be due either to the infection stage at which the diagnosis was made or to the immunoglobulin isotype involved in the response. Results obtained would confirm the antigenic differences between the 3 isolates and the reference strain.
Subject(s)
Animals , Cattle , Antigenic Variation , Antigens, Bacterial/immunology , Weil Disease/veterinary , Cattle Diseases/microbiology , Leptospira interrogans , Agglutination Tests , Antibody Specificity , Antibodies, Bacterial/blood , Antibodies, Bacterial/immunology , Antigens, Bacterial/isolation & purification , Argentina , Bacterial Vaccines , Blotting, Western , Weil Disease/blood , Weil Disease/microbiology , Cattle Diseases/blood , Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel , Leptospira interrogans , Bacterial Proteins/immunology , Bacterial Proteins/isolation & purification , Reference Standards , Staining and LabelingABSTRACT
A case of renal icterohemorrhagic leptospirosis involving a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is reported. Despite the low levels of CD4+ T lymphocytes, the clinical course of leptospirosis was similar to that observed in non-immunodepressed patients, and no worsening of AIDS occurred due to the infection by the spirochete. Serologic conversion was observed in the microscopic agglutination test, with maximum titer of 1:3,200. The patient had positive urine cultures for Leptospira interrogans for two months, whereas blood cultures were negative
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Weil Disease/diagnosis , HIV-1 , AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/diagnosis , Renal Insufficiency/diagnosis , Weil Disease/microbiology , Weil Disease/pathology , Fatal Outcome , AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/microbiology , AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/pathology , Leptospira interrogans/isolation & purification , Renal Insufficiency/microbiology , Renal Insufficiency/pathologyABSTRACT
Las fiebres recurrentes son producidas por espiroquetas del genero Borrelia y transmitidas a otros por garrapatas y piojos. Nosotros hemos estudiado la sensibilidad y especificidad de un micrometodo de concentracion para el diagnostico de la Borreliosis en sangre. Se tomo sangre de ratones que fueron inoculados previamente con una cepa de Borrelia de origen humano. Tubos de micro-hematocrito fueron llenados con sangre, centrifugados y observados a traves del microscopio. La observacion se realiza en la interface de los globulos rojos y el plasma. El micrometodo se muestra mas sensible cuando los niveles de bacteremia son bajos