Bartonella henselae endocarditis in an immunocompetent adult.

We describe a case of aggressive Bartonella henselae endocarditis in an immunocompetent man who owned a cat. Aortic valve replacement was required, and his infection was diagnosed by histology, serology, and polymerase chain reaction analysis. The manifestations of his disease included mediastinal lymphadenopathy, glomerulonephritis, myocarditis, and a petechial rash; the unusual finding of a positive titer of c-antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies was noted. Serological titers were markedly elevated for > 1 year despite clinical improvement.

Fluorescent staining for leukocyte chemotaxis. Eosinophil-specific fluorescence with aniline blue.

To overcome problems associated with the quantitation of human eosinophil chemotaxis in micropore filters, we have developed a fluorescent method of specifically staining eosinophils in chemotactic filters. A neutral solution of aniline blue yielded bright green fluorescent staining of the cytoplasmic granules of eosinophils. Other leukocytes and contaminating neutrophils potentially present with eosinophils did not fluoresce with aniline blue. The fluorescent staining eosinophils within filters provided bright, non-fading images that facilitated visual microscopic counting and were of sufficiently high contrast, unlike those with conventional eosinophil stains, to allow image analyzer based enumeration of eosinophil chemotactic responses at levels through the filters. Although not cell type-specific, congo red and ethidium bromide also provided high contrast, fluorescent images of all leukocyte types within chemotactic filters. Fluorescent staining with aniline blue constitutes a rapid, stable and eosinophil-specific stain that facilitates the visual or image analyzer-based quantitation of eosinophil chemotaxis.