Leishmania brasiliensis: isolation of carbohydrate-containing antigen and possibility of its use in the immunodiagnosis of american cutaneous leishmaniasis

A Leishmania brasiliensis e um dos agentes causadores da Leishmaniose Tegumentar Americana (LTA). A cepa 034-jcg, isolada de paciente da regiao norte do estado do Parana, Brasil, foi cultivada em meio Blood Agar Base, liofilizada e submetida a extracao com fenol-agua e o extrato obtido foi tratado com RNase I. O antigeno contendo carboidrato (AgCHO) mostrou-se imunogenico para coelhos e apresentou pelo menos uma fracao com poucas cargas negativas em pH 8,2. Este antigeno apresenta reacao cruzada com extrato fenolico do meio de cultura usado para o cultivo de promastigotas...

A medium for inducing conversion of Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum into its yeast-like form

Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum is a dimorphic fungus that, under special conditions, converts from its more common mycelial form to a yeast-like form. Achieving this conversion, however, has been problematical for researchers. The present study tested conversion rates in ten Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum strains using seven culture media, four of wich were conventional and three novel. One of our novel media, MLGema, induced complete conversion, of two strains within five days of incubation at 35 degrees centigrades, and of all strains that eventually converted by the time of the second subculturing transfer, under defined experimental conditions. MLGema is also inexpensive and easy to produce

Influence of zearalenone on some metabolic pathways of the rat liver

Zearali, a natural product isolated from Fusarium granunearum, has anabolic properties and effects glycogen catabolism in the rat liver. In the isolated perfused liver, L-lactate production, glucose release from endogenous glycogen and oxygen uptake are increased upon infusion of the compound. Fructose metabolism is only slightly affected by zearalenone, except for the transformation of fructose intoglucose which is decreased. The actiohn of zearalenone seems to be related to the amount of drug retained by the liver rather than to the concentration in the perfusion fluid