Avaliação das técnicas de imunodifusão em gel de ágar, ensaio imunoenzimático indireto e reação em cadeia da polimerase no diagnóstico da brucelose ovina / Evaluation of technical, immunodiffusion agar gel, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and polymerase chain reaction in the diagnosis of ovine brucellosis

A brucelose na espécie ovina tem recebido destaque, uma vez que se trata de uma enfermidade que acomete o sistema reprodutivo dos animais, provocando sério comprometimento no setor produtivo. Dessa forma, objetivou-se a avaliação de três métodos para o diagnóstico da brucelose ovina: o ensaio imunoenzimático indireto (ELISAi), a técnica imunodifusão em gel de ágar (IDGA) e a reação em cadeia da polimerase (PCR). Para tanto, utilizaram-se 211 amostras de sangue de ovinos oriundos de propriedades de nove municípios da microrregião homogênea de Teresina, Piauí. As 211 amostras de sangue foram submetidas aos testes sorológicos e à PCR, visando detectar anticorpos anti-B. ovis e DNA de Brucella ovis, respectivamente. Foram obtidos resultados positivos nos testes sorológicos, sendo 36 (17,06%) positivos no teste IDGA e sete (3,31%) positivos no teste ELISAi, contudo não houve resultados positivos na técnica de PCR. Dos métodos de diagnóstico utilizados neste estudo, o teste IDGA foi o que apresentou melhor desempenho na detecção de animais reagentes, quando comparado ao teste ELISAi e à PCR em amostras de sangue, e o percentual de animais soropositivos sugere uma ampla distribuição de ovinos infectados por Brucella ovis na região em estudo, o que pode causar prejuízos aos produtores.(AU)

Brucellosis in sheep has received a major focus, since it is a disease that affects the reproductive system of animals, causing serious impairment in the productive sector. Thus, three methods for the diagnosis of ovine brucellosis were evaluated as goal, the indirect Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISAi) test, the Immunodiffusion Agar Gel (AGID) technique and the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Therefore, we used 211 sheep blood samples from properties of nine municipalities of the homogeneous micro-region of Teresina, Piaui. The 211 blood samples were subjected to serologic testing and PCR to detect anti-B. ovis antibodies, and Brucella ovis DNA, respectively. Positive results in serological tests were obtained, 36 (17%) positive in the AGID test and seven (3.3%) positive to the ELISAi test, however, there were no positive results in the PCR technique. Of the diagnostic methods used in this study, the AGID test was the one that presented the best performance in the detection of reactive animals, when compared to ELISAi and PCR in blood samples and, the percentage of seropositive animals suggests a wide distribution of Brucella ovis infected sheep in the study region and could cause loss to producers.(AU)

Evaluation of the serum levels of immunoglobulin and complement factors in beta thalassemia major patients in Southern Iran

Beta-thalassemia major is one of the major health problems in our country. Many studies have confirmed the fact that, these patients have an increased susceptibility to bacterial infections. In this study, we have assessed the humoral immune system in 68 thalassemic patients by measuring their serum concentration of Immunoglobulin G [IgG], IgM, IgA, C3 and C4 in order to find out a responsible immune defect. Sixty eight beta-thalassemia major patients were enrolled randomly from referrals to Dastgheib clinic of thalassemia. The same number of case controls with matched age and sex were selected from healthy people without any history of recent or recurrent infections. Serum IgG, IgM, IgA, C3 and C4 levels were assessed using Single Radial Immunodiffusion [SRID]. Serum levels of IgG, IgM and IgA were significantly higher [P<0.01] and those of C3 and C4 were significantly lower [P<0.01] in thalassemic patients than the controls. Considering the result of analytic tests, it was revealed that, thalassemia patients show much more increase in serum immunoglobulin levels as they get older. Splenectomized patients had higher serum IgG and IgA levels than non-splenectomized patients but had no difference in serum IgM, C3 and C4. Serum ferritin level had no correlation with the changes of humoral immunity; however, patients with serum ferritin level >2500ng/ml had higher serum IgM level. These results can be due to continuous exposure to antigens, repeated infections, chronic liver disease and splenectomy but not iron overload. The only probable cause of humoral immune deficiency found in these patients is a defect in serum complement levels

Relación entre anticuerpos circulantes y cantidad de Candida albicans en materia fecal / Relation betwen circulatory antibodies and quality of candida albicans in faecal materia

Se estudió la presencia de anticuerpos contra Candida albicans, en 42 pacientes a los cuales se solicitaba cultivo micológico y recuento de levaduras en materia fecal. Por métodos estandarizados se procesaron las muestras, se cuantificó la presencia de levadura por gramo de materia fecal y se identificó a Candida albicans. Se obtuvo suero de los pacientes en el momento de llevar las muestras de heces al laboratorio. La presencia de anticuerpos se determinó por tres técnicas serológicas: aglutinación en tubo, inmunodifusión en gel de agar e inmunofluorescencia indirecta frente a levaduras y a tubos germinativos. La correlación de las tres pruebas con los resultados de los cultivos y recuento de colonias fue determinada sólo después que todos los datos fueron acumulados. Los resultados muestran que no existe correlación entre la cantidad de levaduras presentes y los anticuerpos circulantes. Ninguno de los pacientes presentaba infección diseminada o superficial evidente; se tuvo como referencia, la colonización del hongo en intestino