Detection by immunoblot assay of antibodies to Taenia solium cysticerci in sera from residents of rural communities and from epileptic patients in Bali, Indonesia.

Several studies from Bali have indicated the presence of Taenia solium. Relatively little has been reported, however, implicating human exposure to this parasite on Bali based upon the prevalence of anti-T. solium antibodies in asymptomatic and epileptic individuals. This study was conducted to determine by immunoblot assay and ELISA the frequency of anti-cysticercus antibodies in two groups of Balinese. Among 746 residents of four ecologic zones, 94 (13%) were positive by immunoblot. Of 74 epileptic patients from throughout the island, 10 (14%) were positive by immunoblot and 8 (11%) by ELISA; however, only 4 (22%) of the 18 sera positive in either test were positive in both assays. The previously defined high specificity and sensitivity of immunoblot indicates that T. solium cysticercosis is well established in Bali and that a significant amount of epilepsy may be due to neurocysticercosis.

Taeniasis-cysticercosis: an introduction.

Cysticercosis is caused by the establishment of Taenia solium larvae in the central nervous system, skeletal muscle and eyes of humans and pigs, after ingestion of eggs shed in human feces by the adult tapeworm. Human cysticercosis is increasingly recognized as a public health problem, especially in developing countries, and swine cysticercosis may be an important economic drain to the meat industry. The adult tapeworm is found only in human beings. Recent epidemiological data indicate that the presence of a tapeworm carrier in the close environment is a greater risk factor for acquiring cysticercosis than the spread of eggs through sewage.

Anticuerpos contra productos extracelulares del estreptococo. (Estudio inmunoelectroforetico en pacientes cardiopatas). / Antibodies against streptococcal extracellular products.(Immunoeletrophoretic study in cardiac patients

Debido a que los productos extracelulares del estreptococo se han implicado en el dano cardiaco que ocurre en la fiebre reumatica se estudio el suero de 126 pacientes cardiopatas y el de 10 personas sanas, para determinar por inmunoeletroforesis la presencia de anticuerpos contra dichos productos estreptococcicos. Los anticuerpos contra estreptoquinasa-estreptodornasa se encontraron en el 61 a 68% de los pacientes cardiopatas y en el 75% de los sujetos sanos; los anticuerpos contra el sobrenadante de cultivo de estreptococos, solo se observaron en el 6 a 7% de los pacientes y en ninguno de los sujetos sanos. Las bandas de precipitacion en inmunoeletroforesis fueron analizadas de acuerdo a sus patrones electroforeticos y de difusion. Cuando se emplearon estreptoquinasa-estreptodornasa como antigenos se reconocio mas frecuentemente a la banda A por los sueros de pacientes con fiebre reumatica activa; otras bandas se encontraron con menor frecuencia. Los sueros de individuos sanos fueron positivos contra la banda E; pero no reconocieron ni la banda B, ni la H

Paragonimus mexicanus: an antigenic analysis.

El extracto antigenico obtenido de adultos de la especie Paragonimus mexicanus se analiso por inmunodifusion doble y por inmunoelectroforesis empleando el suero hi perinmune de un conejo y los sueros de gatos infectados experimentalmente. Por inmunoelectroforesis se formaron de una banda de identid entre el suero de conejo y los de los gatos. El extracto antigenico contiene trece proteinas, segun fue revelado en un gel de poliacrilamida con dodecil sulfato de sodio